With the return of no refuelling for this season, it makes trying to judge the form for the upcoming season a wildly pointless affair, at least that’s my thoughts on it anyway. Although we can see that the big names (Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes, Redbull and possibly Lada sorry meant to type Renault) are looking like they will remain at the pointy end of things.

This year has got to be the most eagerly anticipated season in F1 for a long time. Why? well there are so many reasons, there have been rule changes, driver changes, new teams, new circuits and more announced and in F1 the more new things you throw into the mix the more the anticipation builds.

Will the rule changes mean that one team gets a relative jump in performance like Brawn GP did last year? will any of the new “rookie” drivers surprise and excite people the way Hamilton’s arrival did? Will the new teams be the “mobile chicanes” or “embarrassment” that some have suggested? Will the new circuits bring new excitement to the circus?

At this point, every question brings to mind another and another and another, you get the idea. There is another reason to be excited about this season as well and it’s a doozy, something that hasn’t happened in F1 in so long that I’m not sure it’s happened since I started following the sport in 1978. There are 4 (former) F1 World Champions starting the season and they’re all in cars that I’m expecting to be highly competitive and 2 of them are in the same team! I’m starting to sound like an informercial

Monza, Parabolica, Tyre wall

But wait there’s more! (yes, i went there) As if all that wasn’t enough, there’s another big story, in fact a huge story and one that is sure to dominate a lot of F1 columns this season (it certainly has taken a lot of them in the season build up) The return of the one, the only, the legendary, Micheal Schumacher.

Without question the most successful F1 driver of all time, is he going to add to the legend or destroy it, at his age (41) and with his name already on almost every page of the f1 record book I don’t think he can destroy the legend. But what is there left for him to achieve? well for one thing he’s only 9 victories away from having 100 F1 race wins to his name and that might be enough to grab him another world title.

All these questions will start to be answered on Sunday, when the lights go out and the engines roar. I can’t wait, really I can’t, I may not sleep again until the first race is over. There is one final question that only I can answer?

Who will I be supporting this year?

Well, I’ve been called a Ferrari Fan but that’s only because some of my favourite drivers have driven for them (Giles Villeneuve, Stefan Johansen, Michael Schumacher & Felipe Massa) But I was a Schumacher fan before he was a Ferrari driver and the same goes for Felipe. Am I an Alonso Fan? well no, some of my previous posts about him should make that clear.

So I have 2 drivers to choose between from that statement alone, but I’m also a fan of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, so that could make me a Red Bull fan, but then there’s, also an up and coming driver who I think has been underrated, Nico Rosberg and finally a driver whose name alone brings memories flooding back like Jacques Villenueve’s arrival did.

That’s Bruno Senna, he like Jacques has a legendary shadow hanging over him, Uncle Ayrton, I don’t think he has a car to compete with the big boys this year but then Uncle Ayrton won in a Lotus that people didn’t rate terribly highly either.

Oh the choices, I guess I’ll just have to support them all as much as I can, I’d love to see anyone of them lift the crown at the end of the year, but there can be only one WDC 2010 and I guess when I look deep, deep down into my soul, I want to see Schumacher lift the crown again, I want to see the “old guy” (at least in F1 terms) not just beat the “young pretenders” but do it by a humiliating margin.

Why?

Oh come on do you really need me to answer that?

Schuey wins Nurburg 2006

Oh alright then, It would be the greatest comeback of all time, it would be the ultimate “never give up” story, jaysus it’d be like Rocky come to life!

And finally, here’s a thought to keep you distracted from all the other F1 goodness until sunday. I remember way back in Schuey’s early days an interview where he was asked what his ultimate goal in F1 was, his answer? to win 10 World championships, he has 7 and he’s signed to Mercedes for 3 seasons and I think he’ll need luck on his side but, I don’t see any other driver on the grid this weekend that has a chance of ever winning 10. Go Michael!

He has directed lots of movies over the years and quite a few are all time favourites of mine.

• Clerks
• Mallrats
• Chasing Amy
• Dogma
• Zack and Miri make a porno

What I love about these films is that while they deal with some serious topics, they do it in a way that is insanely funny and they don’t take themselves to seriously. I always suspected Mr. Smith had that sort of a personality, but was never certain until I saw this…

It never hurts to have a giggle at your own expense once in a while.

I watched The Godfather for the first time ever over the weekend, there’s nothing I can say about this movie that hasn’t already been said, but I do now understand why it’s regarded as one of the greatest movies of all times and I’m happy to add it to my own list of favourite movies as well.

It’s definitely worth watching if you haven’t and worth watching again if you have.

The only thing that troubles me about it is that some of the special effects look a little dated, I wonder how long before some idiot decides to update them ala Star Trek (the original Series) where they used CGI to update the ‘look’ of the show, or worse yet a full remake.

Although I guess it would be interesting to see what current actors are egotistical enough to think that they could match Brando or Pacino’s performances. Any suggestions? stick em in the comments

]]> http://blog.georgepratt.net/2010/02/24/the-godfather/feed/ 0 http://blog.georgepratt.net/2010/02/19/twitter-weekly-updates-for-2010-02-19/ http://blog.georgepratt.net/2010/02/19/twitter-weekly-updates-for-2010-02-19/#comments Fri, 19 Feb 2010 07:05:00 +0000 George http://blog.georgepratt.net/2010/02/19/twitter-weekly-updates-for-2010-02-19/

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-02-12 http://bit.ly/cJ1ppq #

Mornin Y'all, Bloomin WP missed a scheduled post, mumble grumble, hate starting the day in a bad mood Grrrrr #

Still, it's Friday so that should cheer me up #

"Weekends are pretty much the same when your unemployed 'cept yer workin friends come out to play" Les Claypool, Primus gotta love em #

RT @hughhefner: THe Playboy Interview with John Mayer is causing a sensation. Yes, a lot of people DO buy it for the articles;) <- lolz #

@alancostello yeah for doable do's , see that why I keep it simple in reply to alancostello #

@mbrislane or maybe this means there going to finally make zune available to the rest of the world, I know I'm in the minority but iwoot #

@jasonroe Hope everything is OK and it's just a precaution #

@mbrislane I think we're in the minority though in reply to mbrislane #

@jasonroe Great to hear in reply to jasonroe #

@anthonymcg Windows 7 + TVtuner + xbox 360 = what you want in reply to anthonymcg #

@anthonymcg We have a 3in1 broadband package from Magnet but we used to have NTL in the last place, so long as ye have an STB it's easy in reply to anthonymcg #

@MagnetNetworks seein as how yer askin, you could up my home fiber to 50Mb like our neighbours that are paying the same as us in reply to MagnetNetworks #

@MagnetNetworks it's nice to be appreciated as a long term customer in reply to MagnetNetworks #

@MagnetNetworks yup, pop me a dm and I'll give you the details in reply to MagnetNetworks #

@TheChrisD we signed almost 2 years ago to the highest available package, magent upgraded the offering but not the existing customers in reply to TheChrisD #

@TheChrisD Prolly not a bad idea, I'll let you know how I get on with @MagnetNetworks either way in reply to TheChrisD #

@MagnetNetworks thanks for taking the time to speak to me listening to feedback and saving me €20 a month, I'll be spreading the good news:) #

@TheChrisD just spoke with magnet and they sorted out the billing and a few other things as well Customer Service as it should be #

Band of Brothers http://bit.ly/cmWiYr #

@aventure and if it doesn't will it be entertaining? #

@aventure cool, usually when I say something like that it's about 30 seconds before something awful happens lol, so what was it anyways? in reply to aventure #

@aventure Fantastic idea, it gets around the problem of having out of date contact info as well if I had a dedicated server I'd be moving in reply to aventure #

so what other hosting providers have cool new toys or idea's that I might think are cool? #testingwhoslistening #

@mondellopark hmmm track team, how do I go about getting involved? #

@mondellopark or finding out whats involved? #

@MagnetNetworks you said the BB package would take 2 weeks to change, better be as quick changing the billing as the speed #

@ThatKevinSmith starvation is not a good way to promote weight loss, I know that doesn't work, Itried it, eat less more often will though in reply to ThatKevinSmith #

@mondellopark Thanks I'll give it a look over and get in touch in reply to mondellopark #

I hate the way new FB apps are popping up quicker than I can hide them, thanks to FB's "oops" message #

RT @eolai: watching the, whatever it's called – the one where the skaters go around and around really fast while dressed as sperm <-lol #

@jasonroe @darraghdoyle http://bit.ly/duWHDu #

@darraghdoyle hello in reply to darraghdoyle #

http://bit.ly/doPsXE Y'all #

@ellybabes I don't have a job, you do, whatcha doin on twitter? I know it ain't for work :p in reply to ellybabes #

@ellybabes watched it, well done in reply to ellybabes #

@damienmulley far better to listen and engage, it builds loyalty regardless of the platform and the client comes to you, no hard sell needed in reply to damienmulley #

@damienmulley @MagnetNetworks contacted me after I mentioned them indirectly and I'm now saving €20 a month, who am I going to recommend? #

@damienmulley time is money though, finding the balance is the key in reply to damienmulley #

@smccarron so who is it and how are they going to do it? in reply to smccarron #

@smccarron I take it your under NDA or similar? in reply to smccarron #

@smccarron Either way it's gotta my inner monkey curious in reply to smccarron #

I'd forgotten how tiring/boring studying can be *Yawns* #

@DarrenByrne No throwing my missus in fact just keep yer hands to yerself matey!!! in reply to DarrenByrne #

@sineadkeogh give em hell in reply to sineadkeogh #

@sineadkeogh ah yer too much of a softy in reply to sineadkeogh #

OSI stack, TCP/IP Stack Stacks of learning and my brain is now fried, enough edumacation, time for some http://bit.ly/a7g53u #

@regi Decided it's about time I got something official to say I know about networks so I'm working through some of Fas's online courses in reply to regi #

@mneylon all of it as far as I can tell in reply to mneylon #

WTF Snow??? #

]]> http://blog.georgepratt.net/2010/02/19/twitter-weekly-updates-for-2010-02-19/feed/ 0 http://blog.georgepratt.net/2010/02/17/band-of-brothers/ http://blog.georgepratt.net/2010/02/17/band-of-brothers/#comments Wed, 17 Feb 2010 08:08:51 +0000 George http://blog.georgepratt.net/?p=416 I recently watched Band Of Brothers in it’s entirety for the first time, I had seen bits of it when it originally aired but not the entire show. Having now watched it in full, I’d rate it as highly (possibly even higher) as Saving Private Ryan.

It’s a magnificent piece of Television and the kind of thing that should be made mandatory viewing for everyone. It gives you a sense of just how horrific that part of human history was in a way that nothing else has ever given me.

Image via Wikipedia

After about the third or fourth episode I was thinking that a slightly light hearted post along the lines of “I played with toy soldiers as a child, but never had even the faintest idea of what war was like until I saw this” but once I saw the episodes where they discover the “camps” there is no way I could trivialise what this show is really about.

It was created to remind us all of one of the darkest moments in human history and to help us remember just how easily a bully can force ordinary people to abide the most extraordinary things, the cruelty and inhumanity of one crazy individual is one thing but the real horror of what happened is not Hitler’s story, it’s the soldiers that followed those orders, it was the local communities that turned a blind eye to what was happening around them.

The message of the series (to me anyway) was not how great the US army was, but to remind us all to speak out when we see injustice, not to sit back and pretend it’s not happening.

If we see something really wrong in society and we don’t speak out then we are no better that the ones doing wrong. It applies to every level of society, from the kids in the school yard that don’t take part in the bullying but don’t try to stop it, the boss that orders you to do something that you know is morally wrong but you justify it to yourself anyway, to acceptance of a corrupt political system, that fails to bring criminals to justice, thus passively encouraging all sorts of abhorrent behaviour.

What do you see in our world that shouldn’t be there? have your say below.

]]> http://blog.georgepratt.net/2010/02/17/band-of-brothers/feed/ 3 http://blog.georgepratt.net/2010/02/15/the-home-of-the-future/ http://blog.georgepratt.net/2010/02/15/the-home-of-the-future/#comments Mon, 15 Feb 2010 16:03:03 +0000 George http://blog.georgepratt.net/?p=419 Back in the eighties, when I was growing up, there were lots of TV documentaries which were basically futurists telling us all about how the world could be, my favourite sub-genre was ‘the home of the future’ type shows and there were lots of them. Oh sure, I was a fanatical ‘Tomorrows World‘ fan as well, but I was and still am a bit of a dreamer, which I guess is why I was drawn to these types of TV.

Fast forward twenty years and I now live in a home where I’m connected to the ‘information super-highway‘ in every room, my home entertainment system allows me to watch the TV I want to watch, whenever I want to watch it and even allows me to pause it (when the doorbell/phone ring) or rewind when I miss a bit and we have our own house-bot.

All these thing’s were simply thoughts and idea’s to that 80’s kid (vinyl and cassette were the norm) but now they’re a reality and nowhere near as expensive or difficult to put together as you might think. You may even be surprised to find that a lot of this technology is already in your home and just needs to be enabled.

I’m going to put together a few posts about the technology that Elly and myself use on a daily basis and how it impacts our lives, both the positive and negative aspects, as well as some futurism of my own.

So stay tuned for updates and in the meantime why not leave a comment letting me know what crazy idea’s from your own childhood/teenage years have made it (or not) into mainstream technology and the kind of things that you would like to see make it in the next few years.

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