tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56857972011-12-14T03:58:56.809ZOccasionally-updated blog by Chris Rand, and gateway to other pages at chrisrand.com, such as the Ipswich Town FC linksChrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comBlogger851100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1148465786937192472006-05-24T11:00:00.000+01:002006-05-24T11:16:26.973+01:00

Three gigs on consecutive weekdays - something of a record, methinks. Friday, and to the Cambridge Corn Exchange for a token dose of modern pop'n'roll, with The Zutons. Their selling point is more than just the originality of a female sax player at the forefront: they've cracked the formula of the singalong quite comfortably, although after two albums' worth, they may have to find a different

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1148300877264965002006-05-22T13:27:00.000+01:002006-06-05T08:19:16.483+01:00

Just when you think the Eurovision Song Contest is past its sell-by date, like every year, it comes back and provides you with some unmissable entertainment once more. Now, the idea of getting the public to vote, which has been running these past few years, is obviously stupid; if there was a slight regional bias in the voting before, now it's set in stone. There's simply no chance of anyone

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1147466232170888322006-05-12T21:36:00.000+01:002006-05-12T21:37:12.183+01:00

I'm delighted that Royle has gone. I didn't want him in the first place, along with all those in the North Stand who were chanting "Royle out" before he'd even been appointed nearly four long seasons ago. In all that time, I think we'd agree he really didn't win over many of the sceptics either. A few, maybe, and I'll admit at times in the second and third seasons here, his gung-ho tactics were

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1146819445851001492006-05-05T09:56:00.000+01:002006-05-05T09:57:26.040+01:00

Last night we ate at Restaurant 22 at 22 Chesterton Lane, Cambridge. I wouldn't normally think this worthy of a blog entry, but there seemed to be no record of the restaurant having a website when I scoured the search engines the day before. However, when we got there, its website was mentioned on its cards and menus, and indeed it most certainly has one. So I thought a quick link might get the

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1145982831863837602006-04-25T17:29:00.000+01:002006-04-25T17:33:51.913+01:00

Mrs R is doing the Race For Life in June, committing herself to running 5km for charidee. Doesn't sound much, 5 kilometres, but then I think: "Hang on - I'm really proud of myself for being able to run for 20 minutes on the treadmill at 10km an hour". And by my calculations, that's only three and a bit kilometres. So big respect to Dawn, who's training steadily and seems very confident she'll

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1143243583728333712006-03-24T23:30:00.000Z2006-03-24T23:40:56.276Z

They've announced the lineup for this year's Folk Festival which takes place in my back garden (-ish) and it's an intriguing one. Nice to see they've continued the trend of the last few years by avoiding the pop acts (it hasn't hurt the ticket sales, so why not?)Headlining is "a rare and exclusive UK festival appearance from the legendary Emmylou Harris" which should be interesting, and there'll

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1141930560100911602006-03-09T18:55:00.000Z2006-03-24T23:40:38.380Z

Just how long did this take to do? Utterly fantastic.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1141462154402670922006-03-04T08:48:00.000Z2006-03-04T19:30:11.006Z

There's a half-decent, half-British, half-American Half Man Half Biscuit interview on Popmatters today. It says: "A big part of America's problem, of course, is that Half Man Half Biscuit (HMHB to their friends) are so very British that, to a lazy listener, they must sound positively alien." Count the missus in on that one, and she's an Essex gel.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1140985582446248452006-02-26T20:24:00.000Z2006-02-26T20:26:22.490Z

Well, we thought so. Full marks to Sky for agreeing to exchange our new Sky+ unit for a coventional Digibox, but really, they should warn you about this in the first place. For a start, the more recent Sky+ 40Mb boxes, made by Thomson, are really noisy compared to the old ones, both in terms of their fans and a real problem with loudly accessing the hard drive almost continually (this latter "

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1136969514278021572006-01-11T08:45:00.000Z2006-01-11T08:57:46.633Z

Wow! Two great discoveries today. Not only is Google Earth available for the Mac now, but the aerial shots of Cambridge were taken while the last Cambridge Folk Festival was on. Look! That's me and me mates on that rug, no really! Type in something like "walpole road cb1 uk" to get close. Yes - the Folk Festival and My House ...together at last!. And another shot at a nice angle captured for

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1136839593420744542006-01-09T20:42:00.000Z2006-01-09T20:46:33.436Z

Big thanks to Jon Severn, who'd squirrelled away a copy of our Tips for Prospective New Parents which we'd written soon after Alex was born. It's just a braindump of all the advice we wanted to give other new parents following our own experiences - stuff which you just knew you'd forget forever if you didn't commit it to print. We sent it to a few other people, but lost it. However, one of those

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1136667562697238332006-01-07T20:49:00.000Z2006-01-07T20:59:22.706Z

Alex (aged 4 and three-quarters) got given a game for Christmas from his Godfather Paul which becomes an immediate new entry in my list of "Best Educational Items for Toddlers ...Ever!" It's called Rush Hour and it's a logic puzzle which is apparently for eight-year-olds and upwards (certainly all grownups love it), but it hasn't so far proved insurmountable for a four-year-old, and I'd

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1133124414533834382005-11-27T20:41:00.000Z2005-11-28T17:11:30.476Z

Why is it everyone seems to think that to play our iPods in the car we want some stupid bit of plastic on a stalk, with wires going in to the back of the existing hi-fi, all at great installation expense? What we want is an in-car hi-fi which you can slam the iPod into, just like a cassette (or an oldschooltastic 8-track). Why does nobody make one? Yes, something like this:Or perhaps someone does

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1132771766328353162005-11-23T18:46:00.000Z2005-11-23T18:49:26.340Z

...but ended up as a rant. Sorry Joe, but it was one of those teamsheets which would have caused 20,000 people to have been gleefully emptying their wallets if Ladbrokes had been offering odds on "this is going to be a disaster".

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1132585291530542312005-11-21T14:53:00.000Z2005-11-21T15:01:31.543Z

Yeah, OK, maybe not that definitive, I reserve the right to amend this when people remind me of something obvious which I've forgotten. But at the moment it's definitely, definitely this:1. Achtung Bono by Half Man Half Biscuit2. Takk by Sigur Ros3. Aerial by Kate Bush4. The Girl Who Couldn't Fly by Kate Rusby5. Tales from Turnpike House by St.Etienne6. You Could Have It So Much Better by Franz

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1132516332440949492005-11-20T19:32:00.000Z2005-11-21T09:34:26.093Z

I've read loads of reports about the new Google Onsite Advertiser Sign-up facility and seen one semi-decent discussion of it, but nobody quite seems to have got it yet. Advertisers can now choose a site and say to Google: "manage my ads on this site please - I'm not going to book direct any longer."For the past couple of years, I've been saying that whilst AdWords has made Google one of the

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1131962612464149982005-11-14T10:00:00.000Z2005-11-14T10:03:32.473Z

I was talking to someone the other day about the famous "Bushwacked" cut up George Bush speeches, and they asked for a link, so as a public service, here it is. I think they were produced by Chris Morris.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1131663928689909772005-11-10T23:05:00.000Z2005-11-10T23:05:28.730Z

You already want people to switch to Firefox. Now's the time to get serious about it. Google is paying $1 for each new Firefox user you refer. This is pretty amazing. Now you can advance your ideals, save people from popups and spyware hell, and make some serious money. Millions of people have heard about Firefox and are ready to switch - all they need is a friendly push.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1129456266444594602005-10-16T10:47:00.000+01:002005-10-16T10:51:06.450+01:00

This is more of a public service announcement than anything of wider interest! But sometimes when you solve a problem, you want to put the answer on the web so others in the same situation can benefit. So, if you've got a Oneforall (One For All) remote control, like I just bought, and you want it to work with a Sky+ (Sky Plus) box (the original 40Gb one, anyway), the code is 1175. I repeat (for

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1126859061050026542005-09-16T09:20:00.000+01:002005-09-16T09:27:21.836+01:00

"The Storr: Unfolding Landscape" was a remarkable 'environmental animation' created this summer on the Isle of Skye, which four of us in the Pro-Talk team (Jackie, Laura, Tony and I) were able to take part in. Participants - there were up to 200 each night for seven weeks - trekked 1500 feet up a rocky hillside, in the darkness at midnight, to a Skye natural landmark, The Old Man of Storr. On the

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1124879818527680362005-08-24T11:36:00.000+01:002005-08-24T11:36:58.533+01:00

Woo! Google's instant messaging system seems to be here. And it works with other clients including, and most excitingly, iChat on the Mac. Now off to test!

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1124489915006659132005-08-19T23:16:00.000+01:002005-08-19T23:18:35.013+01:00

This is getting depressing. Look, if someone has to go, why can't it be one of the bad guys?

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1123529593797012432005-08-08T20:32:00.000+01:002005-08-08T20:33:13.803+01:00

Why is it always the good guys?

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1123423459548142132005-08-07T15:02:00.000+01:002005-08-07T15:45:49.743+01:00

A very satisfying start to the season, given the way that most teams (especially Ipswich) often look so disjointed at this stage. Cardiff will punch above their weight this season, with a decent manager and a lot of experienced players, and we can probably count ourselves fortunate to have got them right at the beginning while they're still getting sorted. They were a solid opposition, and it was

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1123542755086947992005-08-06T18:55:00.000+01:002005-08-09T00:15:50.093+01:00

What is it about supporting a football team which suspends all rationality and common sense? The company I work for, with my encouragement and the support of fellow directors, is "sponsoring the kit" of Ipswich Town's reserve goalie this season. Why? Because it's a great bit of publicity? Hardly. It just gives us an absurd thrill to see something of ours in the team's match programme each week.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1122922863377066772005-08-01T19:43:00.000+01:002005-08-01T20:28:12.360+01:00

Yep, it was another cracking Cambridge Folk Festival. There can't be a better music festival in the UK, can there? Everyone seems to have such a good time, there's no trouble, and the atmosphere simply couldn't be any more relaxed. So, what were the highlights? Kate Rusby was as adorable as ever, and launched her new album The Girl Who Couldn't Fly a month ahead of it being in the shops. Needless

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1122625125302417942005-07-28T09:14:00.000+01:002005-07-29T09:18:45.310+01:00

I do love the Cambridge Folk Festival, and we're set for another great weekend here. Looking forward to The Blind Boys Of Alabama, Mavis Staples, Kate Rusby, Idlewild, KT Tunstall, Hayseed Dixie and the Peatbog Faeries.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1118127632254810112005-06-07T07:58:00.000+01:002005-06-08T13:42:26.086+01:00

Not the most gripping of subjects, admittedly, but I'm just making this reference to pneumatic grippers from Bosch Rexroth as a bit of an experiment. These things are important, you know. As are these pages.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1118011235440015942005-06-05T23:40:00.000+01:002005-06-06T19:19:36.513+01:00

Colin Mathews has been hard at it, and here's another good piece from him:an Autocad2006 review which should prove popular.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1117555120032890482005-05-31T16:58:00.000+01:002005-05-31T16:58:40.080+01:00

...I thought I'd better put out an update following the entry 3 months ago admitting that I was joining the "Fit Camp" at the health club. It's gone brilliantly! Started Fit Camp at 14st 11lbs, ended it six weeks later at 14st 4lbs. Also lost 2.1in from my waist! Six weeks further on still, and naturally, although I haven't kept up the exercise or diet regimes quite to Fit Camp standard,

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1113581627922825492005-04-15T17:13:00.000+01:002005-08-01T19:42:26.760+01:00

Your expected outcome: LabourWrong! Your actual outcome:Labour -12 Conservative -53 LibDem 69UKIP -21 Green 22You should vote: Liberal DemocratThe LibDems take a strong stand against tax cuts and a strong one in favour of public services: they would make long-term residential care for the elderly free across the UK, and scrap university tuition fees. They are in favour of a ban on smoking in

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1109402270518789862005-02-26T07:12:00.000Z2005-02-26T07:19:47.440Z

Looks like the Lynne Truss Backlash is well under way, brought to you courtesy of Sky Sports (and the landlord of The Rock, Cherry Hinton Road, Cambridge, who must have thought when the banner arrived that at least it would be a talking point).

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1106610568568653982005-01-24T23:40:00.000Z2005-01-24T23:49:28.570Z

Having just watched the concluding episode of the first series of the Battlestar Galactica remake, I went on to the net to find out if and when the second series was coming. I assumed (as you would) that the Americans had seen the first series months ago, and if there was a second series, it might have already started there. That's what we're used to, after all. Wronggggg. Amazingly, it's only

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1105762752591005092005-01-15T04:19:00.000Z2005-01-15T04:19:12.593Z

...and href="http://www.dslextreme.com/users/exstatica/psychic.swf">this is alovely implementation of one. Top marks, that man.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1103578722878284602004-12-20T21:36:00.000Z2004-12-20T21:38:42.876Z

Colin's done another great piece, a Cosmic Blobs review. This wild and wacky piece of software could actually turn out to play a great role in education.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1102154549512036982004-12-04T10:02:00.000Z2004-12-04T10:02:29.513Z

...part 45,308: teach women how to turn a mobile phone on. Look, the poweris (virtually) free, why DO they all switch their phones off when they takethem out with them? "Er hi, just replying to your message earlier today,sorry, I had my phone switched off". Why? WHY?

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1100217032228069652004-11-11T23:47:00.000Z2004-11-16T12:19:34.340Z

The map of Jesusland and the United States of Canada which has been doing the rounds is absolute genius. I can't even track down who did the original to give them credit. It just says so much, in such a simple graphic.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1100181474720313482004-11-11T13:57:00.000Z2004-11-16T11:24:48.690Z

The great Steve Satan is making one of his sporadic appearances on the airwaves during November 2004 on 87.7 Commonwealth FM ...bringing the world to Bristol, it says here. Presumably through the medium of Super Sounds. Listen in on Thursday nights from 10PM online.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1099908103347639502004-11-08T10:01:00.000Z2004-11-08T10:01:43.346Z

Just a random thought which went through my head which should be committedto print: my Top Three Least Favourite Footballers. No surprises really. Atnumber three, the disgraceful Dennis Wise: even my three-year-old, athis first football match the other week, said: "Daddy, will the policemancome round and catch the yellow one-nine who keeps shouting andkicking?".At number two, the most arrogant,

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1099576040143205882004-11-04T13:41:00.000Z2004-11-04T13:47:20.143Z

Naturally, like any European I don't give a stuff about whether Americans want to ban gay marriages, make various tax cuts, etc ...it's entirely their affair, and doesn't affect me. Good luck to them, whatever. The reason I'm depressed about their election result is that as far as I can see, this damned illegal occupation of Iraq (which we in the UK should never have been involved in) is going to

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1099078262872099372004-10-29T20:31:00.000+01:002004-10-30T06:43:11.463+01:00

It was one of the most wild pieces of invective against George W Bush I've yet read, but Charlie Brooker's "Screen Burn" column in The Guardian last week apparently went over the top at the end when it said: "John Wilkes Booth, Lee Harvey Oswald, John Hinckley Jr - where are you now that we need you?" Now the column seems to have been removed from the newspaper's website. It's a shame really,

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1097435249319026322004-10-10T20:02:00.000+01:002004-10-10T20:07:29.320+01:00

Palace got a win at last, so now the Canaries are the only Premiership side without a victory. No side which has failed to win in its first five games of a Premiership season has ever managed to avoid relegation, so with eight winless games under their belt, Naarij may be heading for certain doom. And how we will laugh at their hopeless one-season adventure. Only because they'd do the same to us,

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1096362292182708852004-09-28T09:54:00.000+01:002004-09-28T10:05:07.036+01:00

...because when you're number one for the term, well, there's nothing to bounce back from, is there? I thank you. Thanks for the nice link from this bouncebackability-related site which is running me a close second. I'm still waiting for the call, Helsbells...

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1096104851424666712004-09-25T10:30:00.000+01:002004-09-26T08:11:50.546+01:00

In a shameless attempt to get to No.1 on the search engines and get an invite to wear my Town shirt on Soccer AM, let's gratuitously use the word bouncebackability a lot. Is that enough? Stop Press: Seems like it was. Straight in at No.3 on the world's favourite search engine within 24 hours. Perhaps I should sell my services in search engine optimisation. Or perhaps not. Oooh, did I mention

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1095087787608237262004-09-13T16:00:00.000+01:002005-08-01T19:37:15.106+01:00

So Cherry Hinton Blue Jnr goes to his first football match, and Ipswich go top of the Championship. Of course he thinks it's always like this, doesn't he?

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1093519414021580942004-08-26T12:17:00.000+01:002004-08-26T12:26:49.066+01:00

My former flatmate and I, many years ago, loved spotting risible uses of "n" as a substitute for "and", especially in shop signs. So much so that we started taking photos of them ("Duckin'n'divin" was a favourite). If we'd had the internet in those days, we'd have put our photo gallery online and become an inexplicably popular cult site. On another theme altogether, but with us in spirit, is this

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1092648252486983732004-08-16T10:24:00.000+01:002004-08-16T10:24:12.486+01:00

Let's face it, not many of us have much of an interest in politics outsideour own country, but it's astonishing how the forthcoming US election hasgalvanised the world's attention. I doubt if any US president in history hasmade his country so disliked by the rest of the world, enemies and(reluctant) friends alike. If the whole world could vote in this election,Bush wouldn't pick up 5% of the vote

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1092174407229934062004-08-10T22:41:00.000+01:002005-08-01T19:38:52.323+01:00

Got a new car today. But the picture above is the old one, for posterity. Alex was heartbroken. Three-year-olds don't realise that people change cars. And they hate change. He's never known another one. I took a tip from a colleague and hid "a present from the new car" in the back seat when he first saw it. Now he likes the new car, because it gives him chocolate. But I'm sure he'd still like the

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1092172962433616532004-08-10T22:21:00.000+01:002004-08-10T22:22:42.433+01:00

Colin's done a great Solidworks 2005 review at CAD-Reviews.com, and he likes it a lot. Enough said.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1091697847876846382004-08-05T10:21:00.000+01:002004-08-05T10:24:24.063+01:00

I like this. How do you get web URLs from paper (or other physical media) into people's PCs, phones, TVs or whatever, when they just won't type them in? Enter the 2D barcode. It's easy to represent web URLs in this format. And guess what? Every self-respecting teenager is now walking around with their own barcode scanner (a very sophisticated one, it's true!) in the form of their camera phone.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1090874184600585372004-07-26T21:36:00.000+01:002006-02-26T21:19:37.500Z

Big respect to "professional hacker" called "Johnny" who's put a great page up showing how Google alone can find examples of "inept or foolish" people on the web. Files containing "juicy info". Files containing usernames! Files containing passwords!!! It's all here. Amazing. Or perhaps not so amazing, I guess.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1090606827625797982004-07-23T19:20:00.000+01:002004-07-23T19:20:27.626+01:00

I got shown all the machines at the Health Club today. They're very scary.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1090360292819819482004-07-20T22:51:00.000+01:002005-08-01T19:39:56.663+01:00

Need a good laugh? Ask the receptionist at our new href="http://www.nextgenerationclubs.co.uk/cambridge/index.asp">local healthclub to alert you when I finally give the gym a try, then pull up achair and giggle uncontrollably for the whole five minutes I manage to keepup the exercise.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1089871944005579622004-07-15T07:12:00.000+01:002004-07-15T07:12:24.006+01:00

Went to see Fahrenheit 9/11 lastnight, and well worth the effort. Film critics don't like it because theythink its lack of objectivity damages the documentary genre, and because thepublicity it's generating overshadows more worthy films, but this stuffneeds to get to the widest possible audience, and who cares how it's done?One of the most frightening things for me was the suggestion - not

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1089195237334272252004-07-07T11:13:00.000+01:002006-02-26T21:20:55.656Z

I love all the campaigns to ban Comic Sans on the web, particularly, of course, bancomicsans.com, of which the highlight is the statistics page. This demonstrates how all communications will be in Comic Sans by 2030 and shows what it would mean. Actually, I've changed my mind, it'd be rather fun.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1089096649256809512004-07-06T07:50:00.000+01:002004-07-06T07:50:49.256+01:00

As the new Chelsea manager decides he wants to trim his squad down to a corecouple of dozen players, I look at the Ipswich squad and realise we haveabout twenty players in total, of which half a dozen are youngsters who havevirtually no first-team experience. We'll be struggling to fill the benchsome weeks if we're unlucky with injuries and suspensions. And this is ateam which finished 5th in the

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1088681726899668992004-07-01T12:35:00.000+01:002004-07-01T12:35:26.900+01:00

I read an article today about how quickly hard-disk-based music had changedthe author's outlook on his music collection, and I realised I was incomplete agreement. Six months ago I'd have been of the school which said"downloadable music has its place, but unless it has a massive costadvantage or something, I'll always want proper CDs". After all, it was awrench to go from nice big vinyl album

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1088438632750853602004-06-28T17:03:00.000+01:002006-03-06T15:18:51.396Z

A massive word of praise for Photobox, the online print processing service. I uploaded a couple of photos to them on Friday teatime, one to be made into a big enlargement, and incredibly the prints arrived in the post on Saturday morning. Quality was superb, prices reasonable. Why would anyone want to buy inkjet printers and expensive photographic paper to print their own photos when you can get

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1088202206247698152004-06-25T23:23:00.000+01:002004-06-25T23:23:26.246+01:00

CAD-Reviews.com is a new venture which my long-term colleague Colin Mathews and I will be rolling out over the next few weeks. Please feel free to take a look, and let us know what you think! It's basically a resource of all the CAD software reviews (and some hardware too) which Colin has done over the past few years.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1088150261450249972004-06-25T08:57:00.000+01:002004-11-16T12:27:30.880Z

(by Alex Rand, aged 3 and a bit) 1. Casey Jnr. Train ride (Fantasyland) 2. It's a Small World ride (Fantasyland) 3. Alice's Curious Labyrinth maze (Fantasyland) 4. Le Pays des Contes de Fees boat ride (Fantasyland) 5. Peter Pan show (Adventureland) 6. Dumbo the Flying Elephant ride (Fantasyland) 7. Tarzan show (Frontierland) 8. watching Big Thunder Mountain (Frontierland) 9. eating at the

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1088054777543483222004-06-24T06:26:00.000+01:002006-03-06T15:20:01.186Z

The iTunes Music Store is good but it's a worldwide market and whether AllOfMP3.com is legal or not outside Russia, it's certainly offering Russian-style prices to the masses. Buy now before Bush bombs Russia on the orders of the US record industry.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1079369644138138692004-03-15T16:46:00.000Z2004-06-22T15:28:16.593+01:00

You don't have to be a music fan to find this a work of genius. Someone's cut up the ravings of the councillor trying to push through the insane "guided bus" scheme and made a dance version of "The Wheels on the Bus" out of it. While you're at it, if you're a Cambridge resident, you have until the end of March to write to the Department of Transport to add your voice to the huge numbers of people

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1076280132876293592004-02-08T22:42:00.000Z2004-02-08T22:46:00.950Z

OK, I've got myself an iPod at last. Lovely bit of technology, and the way it hoovers up everything from iTunes on your Mac is quite astonishing. OK, I've made Dawn into a bit of an iPod Widow for the past fortnight, frantically organising all my iTunes library on the iMac. But I'm sure she understands. However, there's one major disappointment with the iPod: it can't handle iTunes' crossfades

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1074588546375847672004-01-20T08:49:00.000Z2004-01-20T08:50:31.640Z

b3ta is good at any time, but the best of b3ta 2003 is its greatest hits (or at least its Now That's What I Call Music Vol.700). Links to loads of those sites you'd heard about but never actually seen, such as How Many People Share Your Name? and those False Perspective Photos.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1073901343350949172004-01-12T09:55:00.000Z2004-01-12T09:57:01.483Z

At last, an easy way to stick RSS feeds into your web pages. Feedroll is great, and it works.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1072109747809402092003-12-22T16:15:00.000Z2003-12-22T16:16:45.250Z

And this is utter genius. Type in some words and they get sung back at you (as long as they're fairly common words, that is) in the form of samples from songs. Wow.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1072109458009922572003-12-22T16:10:00.000Z2003-12-22T16:11:55.496Z

The Human Clock - A Photo for Every Minute of the Day is just the nicest thing on the internet, ever. If you need to smile, take a look.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1070670664659775062003-12-06T00:22:00.000Z2003-12-06T00:31:45.340Z

So my new iMac didn't come with the Panther OS (see below) and I had to wait for a copy, but it eventually came and I did a nice clean install. All the groovy Apple iLife apps appeared ...except iDVD. How odd. A trawl of the newsgroups unearthed a lot of people asking the same question. But they also showed how to get it from the original system software DVD which comes with the iMac. It's on the

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1069764937170367792003-11-25T12:55:00.000Z2003-12-21T17:45:20.763Z

That Jonny Wilkinson, eh? I don't know if this is a good thing, but never have I been hugged by so many strangers in a pub.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1069059684128396412003-11-17T08:48:00.000Z2003-12-21T17:44:59.046Z

Just got a new iMac. Very nice. But disappointing service from local dealer Cancom (although I suspect it'll be the same elsewhere). Only in response to a casual query as I left the shop ("everything's all the latest version etc is it?") did the sales assistant point out that the iMac didn't have the latest Panther OS on it. Apparently I have to call Apple to get it, and pay more than ten quid

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1065707744350178622003-10-09T14:55:00.000+01:002003-10-09T14:55:43.713+01:00

The "Alien Invasion" Movie from Greenpeace with Jim Broadbent and Eddie Izzard is fan-blinkin-tastic* and you should watch it online now.* That's called a Tmesis. I knew watching QI was going to be worth it.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1065025950614167772003-10-01T17:32:00.000+01:002003-10-01T17:32:30.310+01:00

Big respect to Councillor Geoff Heathcock who replied (unprompted) to me by post following a letter I put in the local paper about the accountability of local councillors. Very impressive. And yes, he will have my vote next time.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1063608081455621662003-09-15T07:41:00.000+01:002003-09-15T07:41:21.393+01:00

The new "Cambridge Leisure" park at the corner of Cherry Hinton Road and Hills Road is coming on well. It'll be fun to have cinemas and a bowling alley within walking distance. Looking at the site plans however, I don't see any sign of the bridge over to the railway station which was mentioned at one stage. I could do with that.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1063386264518835252003-09-12T18:04:00.000+01:002003-09-12T18:04:24.530+01:00

Without your knowledge or explicit permission, the Windows networking technology which connects your computer to the Internet may be offering some or all of your computer's data to the entire world at this very moment! Shields Up! is a great site which quickly checks the security of your computer's connection to the Internet. Cool.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1063118000246855532003-09-09T15:33:00.000+01:002003-09-09T15:33:20.340+01:00

And as the sound of the overture to Wagner's Tannhauser fades into the background, I'm indebted to Mudd Radio for its archive of four episodes of the long-lost "Saturday Night Fry" radio series, available as MP3 downloads. Now let's hope BBC Radio Seven gets around to broadcasting the whole of Stephen Fry's 1988 gem. Now let's talk Strom...

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1062579467679686102003-09-03T09:57:00.000+01:002003-09-03T09:57:47.756+01:00

If you're thinking of publishing your website's content in RSS format (or if you don't know what RSS is), check out RSS - A Primer for Publishers and Content Providers which has been written by the good folks at EEVL alongside a project where they used and helped develop RSS feeds from the Pro-Talk websites I work for. Very well written stuff.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1062452789473700922003-09-01T22:46:00.000+01:002003-09-01T22:46:29.386+01:00

QI is a new TV series starting next week on BBC Two: "With Stephen Fry as host, guests including Alan Davies, Rich Hall and Jimmy Carr are quizzed on bizarre facts and unusual information, and points are awarded for interesting answers rather than correct ones." It sounds too good to be true. And it gets even better: Bill Bailey was shown as a guest on the trailer.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1062145682980156662003-08-29T09:28:00.000+01:002003-08-29T09:28:03.036+01:00

And while we're on an accessibility tip (see below), big respect to Matthew Somerville for creating an easy-to-use version of the UK Railways Live Departure Boards. Straight to Favo(u)rites.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1062145343387788132003-08-29T09:22:00.000+01:002003-08-29T09:22:23.546+01:00

Here's a good find: an easy-to-use version of the the Royal Mail Postcode Finder, the normal version being one of those websites which has long been criticised as an overelaborate nightmare (takes ages to load, requires pointless logging-on, etc etc). The nice version is on the Royal Mail Access Website which it has kindly designed "so that people with disabilities, including visual impairments

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1061540657926535822003-08-22T09:24:00.000+01:002003-08-22T09:25:56.386+01:00

Visit Henry Tribe's The Case for re-opening the Cambridge to Huntingdon Railway Line if you want good, regular updates on what's happening on all aspects of this subject. Also, the Milton Railway Station Campaign is campaigning for access to rail services in Milton village north of Cambridge "preferably by building our own Railway Station", and to improve rail in the region, including the

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1061466971973812082003-08-21T12:56:00.000+01:002003-08-22T08:54:17.080+01:00

Yet another example at the moment of the "all competition is good" mantra which our sadly-deluded successive governments have fallen for. This weekend the telephone directory enquiries service gets opened up to commercial alternatives. They've made the new numbers as unmemorable as possible (118 xxx, what's that all about?) so inevitably people are going to the one which advertises the most, and

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1061147068511463012003-08-17T20:04:00.000+01:002003-08-17T20:04:28.526+01:00

The Laundry Guide to Common Care Symbols: "a Man's Lexicon of the symbols on care labels". This made me laugh like a drain today Thanks B3ta

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1060989981998154022003-08-16T00:26:00.000+01:002003-08-16T01:02:12.760+01:00

Whilst the CAST.IRON people are planning to provide an alternative to the daft guided bus system north of Cambridge, plenty of people are campaigning hard to ensure everyone knows how ridiculous the bus plans are. The Hunts Post newspaper seems to be at the forefront with its Boot out the Bus campaign. Good for them.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1060989725662832852003-08-15T08:22:00.000+01:002003-08-16T01:03:01.710+01:00

Well, not yet. Met Tim Phillips today, guiding light behind CAST.IRON (The Cambridge And St. Ives Railway Organisation). The completely unwanted and unworkable Guided Bus system proposed for north of Cambridge will, as most residents know, either take years to happen and be a great white elephant, or will quietly die. What CAST.IRON plans to do is to restore regular, timetabled rail services to

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5685797.post-1061049828190650482003-08-09T21:03:00.000+01:002003-08-16T17:06:17.563+01:00

Not the best of starts to the new season for Ipswich, a one-all draw with Reading at home. Read my report for the full story.

Chrishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06966799870606281387noreply@blogger.com