piersonthe.net

Reasons to despair for humanity

2012-01-23T00:00:00-08:00

Part 1. I must be one of the few people in London who doesn't really mind taking the tube. Yes sometimes it's a bit cramped, in the summer it gets hot and the upgrade along with the regular signalling problems can be a pain in the arise, but overall it's not too bad.

However this post is not about the tube, it's about common decency in my fellow human beings.

This story begins and ends at Vauxhall. I was standing on the tube by the doors, waiting for them to close and allow me to continue my commute home. I heard on the platform, as probably a few of my fellow passengers did, someone haugh a loogy. "I hope he doesn't spit that onto the platform", I thought (one of my pet peeves).

He didn't.

Just as the buzzer went, announcing that the doors were closing, I felt something wet hit the back of my head.

Without turning round, as if nothing had happened (we Brits are good at that, aren't we) as I didn't want to give whoever it was the satisfaction of knowing that they had riled me I waited for the train to move off before getting out my gloves and wiping it off.

So, I ask you: why would anyone do this? I wouldn't say I'm a particular target for any kind of attack, let alone a mucus-based one. I wasn't dressed up in a suit. I wasn't even facing the doors (thankfully).

What kind of human being, would cough up phlegm and spit it at someone?

I'm not angry. I'm not even upset (although it has spurred me to write this). I'm just a bit disgusted and shocked that someone would do this to a complete stranger and find it funny (they laughed, hence why I knew it was a he not a she).

Presenting TinySharp

2012-01-03T00:00:00-08:00

One of my New Year's Resolutions was to write more code. And so I have. I present to you: TinySharp.

It's my own C# implementation of code that was originally written in Ruby by Kyle Bragger (he of Forrst fame). I then wrote a version in PHP (tidied up by Kyle) but I've wanted to write a version in C# (since most of my work is .NET related). So I did it tonight. And I'm quite proud of my work.

So clone, fork, do whatever. If you make any nice changes, please send a pull request my way.

The Truth Behind 5 Old Wives' Tales

2011-12-28T00:00:00-08:00

I was especially interested in the swimming after eating one...

[Source: Today I found out]

No I Don't Have A Facebook Account

2011-12-19T00:00:00-08:00

I don't have a Facebook account. I've not had one for over a year now. OK, I have one that I use for work (no really!) but it's completely hidden and I don't have any friends on it.

It's really starting to nark me off how websites don't allow you to use them to their full extent because I don't have a Facebook account. Take Spotify for example. I'd be more than happy to pay the £9.99 a month for Spotify Premium. But I can't use it because you need a Facebook account to even register nowadays.

It was really brought to ahead tonight with an email from the website formally known as 4SquareAnd7YearsAgo. It's an awesome website that sends you emails to tell you were you checked in on Foursquare a year ago. Sounds silly, but it's sometimes fun to see what you were up to. A bit like Photojojo, which sends you twice monthly emails with photos that you posted on Flickr a year ago (I'm not posting on Flickr so much anymore as I just take a photo and upload it to Twitter). But I digress. Anyway, so I got an email saying that they've changed their name to Timehop and are now including stuff like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. So, I clicked on the site to move my data over and they suggest that now I have to wait they can support me.

It's not like they don't already have details on me from Foursquare, and I'd be more than happy to signup with Twitter instead, but it kinda makes me feel like a second class web citizen (is that the right phrase?).

Anyway, it just made me think about how many sites don't let you sign up without Facebook. I understand why. There's a huge wealth of data available from people who link these web apps to Facebook, and it means that you the user doesn't need to fill out more stuff again, but come on guys! Not everyone wants to sign their data and privacy away to Facebook.

And it's not like I'm a person who isn't all over the web. Just google my name. And it's not difficult to get in touch with me. Hell I have my phone number on my CV which is online and easy to search. I just don't like the idea of having everything in one place. I like the share my online love.

So, to those people who are creating new web apps that you need a Facebook account to use, think of the 6,040,507,000 people in the world who don't have Facebook accounts and give us a way to use your site, give you our money and do it without having to use Facebook.

Testing @Anywhere

2011-12-14T00:00:00-08:00

Ignore this. I'm just testing @anywhere.

@pierskarsenbarg

New site

2011-12-13T00:00:00-08:00

So I've now pointed my domain name at the the site that I've got hosted on github pages. And this is what you're seeing. There might be some tweaking now and again. We'll see how much time I have.

It's Christmas (shopping) Time

2011-12-13T00:00:00-08:00

So I was planning on doing all my Christmas shopping online this year. So far it hasn't happened. I'm still planning on getting some things from Amazon (18th is apparently the last day with guaranteed delivery before Christmas) but I'm pretty sure that I'm going to have to venture into London this weekend. Which I'm really not looking forward to.

Does anyone have any suggestions on where to go in London that won't have a mass of other people (and tourists) doing the same?

How did I miss Pinterest?

2011-12-11T00:00:00-08:00

I've always prided myself at being the one person among my friends and colleagues who knew of things before everyone else. But one site that seems to have escaped my attention is Pinterest. How did I miss this? It's got all the things that I usually pick up on: social, bookmarks, the works.

Unfortunately it's on invite only at the moment. I've signed up for an invite. Does anyone know how long it takes?

One film that they HAVE to make

2011-12-06T00:00:00-08:00

Thundercats. @codingbadger tweeted tonight the Thundercats theme and it got me thinking.

I've always been a huge fan of Thundercats. I watched it as a small boy, and I've watched it again as an adult and I still love it. All the characters are awesome. It's one of those cartoons that gives a definite message (especially since they actually have a slot at the end of the program to spell it out, like so many other cartoons of the 80s did).

There is a fake trailer on Youtube (bonus points if you can name all the movies used in it) that must have taken AGES to make (apparently the creator photoshopped each individual frame), but nothing would beat an actual film being made.

Surely I can dream, can't I?

You must watch this

2011-12-02T00:00:00-08:00

The extended trailer (link to iTunes) of what I think will be THE film of the year, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. The film is of course based on the first novel from the hugely popular Millenium series by the late author, Stieg Larsson. If you haven't seen the original Swedish films, I suggest you do. They are truly excellent. Although there are a few bits that do not stick to the original books, they are definitely worth seeing.

When I heard that the films were being Americanised, I was concerned, but having watched the 8 minute long trailer I think David Fincher (director of amongst other films Fight Club and The Social Network) has so far done an excellent job.

If anyone is interested the release date is the 26th December. And I can't bloody wait.

via

Moving away from Wordpress

2011-12-01T00:00:00-08:00

So yes, as the title says above, I'm trying to move away from Wordpress. Not that Wordpress isn't any good. I just want a nicer way of creating a blog, I can't be bothered to keep a server up and running and I wanted to try something different. So I'm using Jekyll combined with Github's Pages way of doing things. It means that I'm not hosting anything, pages are fairly simple to create and update and they all use Markdown which I quite like.

Creating new pages on the move could be a bit of a pain in the backside, but I'm going to see if I can come up with a solution using the Dropbox API or something similar.

I'm using the basic layout that a few people use to start with, based on Tom Preston-Werner's blog but I'm hoping to get something a bit different done. Maybe over Christmas.

I'm also going to add disqus at some point. Not that many people actually comment, but I'd certainly feel better about it.

Letting consultants: the latest pain in my arse

2011-09-08T19:13:01-07:00

I'm in the process of looking for a flat to rent. Just a studio flat, nothing fancy (if you're reading this and you have or know about one to rent, you can get in touch with me using one of the methods here).

Now, if it weren't difficult enough to find somewhere within your budget, there is now something else to deal with - the letting "consultant". This breed of company appears (from looking at sites like Rightmove) to have many properties available to view. There are probably a fair few that don't have photos on, but if they've got that many it's acceptable that they haven't got around to photographing all of them yet. So you get in touch to arrange an time to view and then they suggest that you go and visit them to see if there are any similar available for less.

This happened to me today. I went to talk to someone at this firm. The lady seemed nice. She wanted to help me find somewhere. Then I find out that they charge (up front no less) £100 for me to become a "member" so that they can find me a property. As soon as I heard that I upped and left.

I've come across one other such company over the last couple of weeks and I doubt that will be it. They pull you in with lots of nice looking and sounding properties or flats for rent, then you find out that actually, those properties probably don't exist (or at least aren't on the books of these consultants) and then drop the bombshell of a fee to find the property.

At this point, I should probably say that I'm not cheap. There is a price for most things in this life, and usually I'm happy to pay it if necessary. And they obviously make enough money (this one had nice offices, considering the cheapness of the flats they supposedly were managing). But moving is expensive enough as well as stressful so why would I want to pay even more money, and especially up front when I'm trying to save money to put on the deposit.

So not only are there letting agents (yet another one of those "don't get me started" topics that I will talk about at some point, but not yet) out there who try to keep the majority of your deposit as a way of maintaining their profits, there are now these "letting consultants" who want even more. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure if you're very busy and have the money to stump up for someone to do the leg work then it would be great. But when you're just trying to find somewhere affordable and nice, spending more money is the last thing you want. Added to that, they make it even harder to find said property as their "listings" (and I use quotes because I'm pretty sure that a lot of the ones you find on places like Rightmove don't exist) take up half the space.

In case anyone is wondering, I am doing the leg work myself and I'm viewing a flat on Saturday, so there are proper letting agents out there who want to help (yes I'm sure they want my money as well, but if they've got flats to show me now and they don't want to charge me just to view the place, I'm interested).

Blocking Social Media in the UK? Can't be done

2011-08-12T12:52:00-07:00

Unless you've been hiding under a rock over the past week, you will have undoubtedly heard that in certain areas of London as well as other cities in the UK gangs of teenagers have been looting and stealing high value (as well as not so high value) goods from various shops. It got to the point that David Cameron cut short his holiday and recalled Parliament to discuss what was going to happen next.

Apparently the way that these riots (although I'm not so sure if riot is the right word since it just seems to be mass robbery) have been organised have been through Blackberry's BBM service as well as the usual scapegoats, Twitter and Facebook. So the government in their usual kneejerk fashion is talking about the possibility of cutting off access to these services if the rioting continues.

So this brings me onto why this cannot be done. There are (at least) two reasons why.

Firstly from a Democratic point of view:

If the government had its way and blocked access to these services, that would affect me and the millions of other residents of the UK who have nothing to do with these acts of violence. Admittedly I don't own a Blackberry, nor do I have aa Facebook account, but I use Twitter on a daily (if not hourly) basis. I haven't been involved in what's been going on. The only thing connecting me and the so-called riots is that I've been using Twitter to keep myself in what's going on from a grassroots level. So why am I getting punished? I, like I'm sure many of my fellow tweeters, would not stand for it.

The second reason why it cannot happen is a purely technical one. In an age of virtual servers, where it takes less than 5 minutes (usually far less) to have a fully functioning server, connected to the internet and serving content the government would basically have to completely cut off the UK from the rest of the world as far as the internet goes.

There is nothing they can do to stop me from setting up a proxy server in the US and routing all my traffic through that. Or setting up a server (again, outside the UK borders) as a proxy and connect that to the Twitter API to make and read tweets. Obviously if the government were to take the step in blocking UK citizens from connecting to these services then this would probably become illegal and so I would never do it, nor would I suggest that people would do the same.

So what can the government do? Firstly I would hope that they can see this stance as it is: nothing more than a knee jerk reaction. Secondly they can look to the causes of these problems: the fact that most of these kids (most seem to be under 18 so I think that justifies me calling them that) are bored and have nowhere to go except their homes since the government seems to be cutting various facilities where they could be; they also need to be taught to respect both the law and those who protect it. I don't want to go as far as suggesting that military service should be brought back but some kind of activity to teach both respect and discipline would go a long way.

Why I'm loving Quora at the moment

2011-08-12T08:22:12-07:00

I asked my first question on Quora back in October of last year. Since then I've asked 54 questions and given 140 answers. Not a huge amount, but recently I've noticed that it's very easy to get answers from people who have worked on some pretty major stuff.

For example, a couple of days ago I was watching Toy Story and had a question about it. Within 12 hours, I had an answer; not from a film buff (although that too would have been good) but from someone who actually worked on the film! This, to someone who has no connections to the industry, is a fairly remarkable thing.

More and more people are getting into Quota and this means that more and more questions can be answered by people who actually know the answers, as opposed to those who have an opinion. This is where Quota will become a phenomenal tool I. the future. And why I love it. The people on it are knowledgeable, friendly and, above all, rather than write a condescending answer to a silly question, take the time to answer in a way that enables both the asker and those who come and read the questions later to come away knowing something that hadn't known before.

Quitting Facebook

2010-11-24T00:00:00-08:00

I've been talking about doing this for a while now but last night I took the somewhat large step to delete my Facebook account. Not deactivate it, but delete it completely.

Now to those that have steered clear of the behemoth that Facebook has become you might not think that this is very impressive, but it's very easy for it to become the very hub of your social life; planning social events through it, keeping in touch with old school friends etc. and that's why it's very easy to become slightly addicted to it: logging on every couple of hours to see what's changed, what your friends are up to and so on.

I've only told one person (up until the point of writing this post) that I've done this so I'm wondering if I'm going to get any texts or emails asking me what's happened to my account and I think some of those people will ask why I've done this.

To me, Facebook over the past six months or so has been used to share links and message people; both those tasks can be done elsewhere. Therefore I don't really have a need. If people want to get in touch with me there are ample ways of doing so, be it Twitter, Google talk or even (god forbid) email.

At some point over the next couple of weeks I'm going to de-do my website. I currently use things like Posterous for blogging, Twitter for microblogging, Flickr for photos and YouTube for videos, so why do I need something like Facebook to do all of the above? If I want one location to do all of the above I can stream them into one site and allow people to view stuff there. Which is exactly what I plan to do. So goodbye Facebook. It was fun.

Alternatives to your standard or common login procedure

2010-05-27T20:23:27-07:00

Facebook. MySpace. Twitter. Foursquare. Your email client. All fairly different, but all have one thing in common. To get access to your friends/followers/the service you need to provide a username (or email address) and password. But is this the most efficient way. People who work in the security side of the IT industry say that it's not a good idea to have one password for everything - I (not that I'm suggesting I'm any kind of IT security expert) have said it to people who use the networks that I administered. But we all do it. It's not surprising that we do. We only have so much space in our heads for storing memories, so we use words or phrases that are easy for us to remember. I myself have two or three passwords and use combinations of those, depending on the requirements when we first sign up, be it that the password has to have a minimum length, or that it needs to contain at least one number or punctuation mark, or depending on how highly we regard the information that is stored within that service and want to keep it secret.

So what are the other ways that we can access these services? Some (such as large corporations) provide their users with a smart card to use with their workstation or a fob with an ever changing sequence of digits that are synchronised with a server deep within the bowels of the datacentre. Even Blizzard, the producers of World of Warcraft allow their users to purchase an authenticator to add that extra layer of security to their account. They've even gone as far as to produce applications for the iPhone or the Android phones that will produce this random sequence to make it easier.

These systems and procedures make it harder to crack the security of an account, but nowadays some services make it easier to provide authentication by outsourcing their logins to others. OpenID, OpenAuth, Single Sign On (SSO) are terms that are banded about and mean that rather than having passwords for each account, you have one username and password to remember, so you can make your password as secure as you can. OpenID is one such application; Facebook Connect is another. One web developer, Elliot Kember (@elliottkember) for example has taken to using Twitter as an authentication method on some of his web applications. It means that he doesn't necessarily have to store such things as usernames and passwords. As more and more people use sites such as Twitter and Facebook (and I think it's my dad who has neither) we're going to see more and more options to pass on the authentication of other sites to these. We already give them so much in terms of our data, so why not make them work a little for it?

World Cup 2010 Calendar

2010-05-19T17:16:21-07:00

So the World Cup is nearly upon us. In fact as I write this it's something like 23 days away. So I decided to put all the matches in a handy to digest format, otherwise known as a Google shared calendar.

The iCal version can be found here: http://bit.ly/worldcupcal2010ical

The XML version can be found here: http://bit.ly/worldcupcal2010xml

The HTML version (easily viewable in a browser) can be found here: http://bit.ly/worldcupcal2010html

So far it's just the Group Stages, and as soon as the results are out, I'll add the stage 2 dates in there as well.

End of one era, beginning of another

2010-05-11T22:16:17-07:00

Today, whether you had an interest in it or not, was a major day for the UK. It marks the end of a 13 year reign by a Labour government and the beginning of a Conservative/Liberal Democrat one.

I believe it's the first coalition in about 30 years and past coalitions haven't faired too well. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the shortest one lasted about 3 days so it will be very interesting to see how long this one will last. Having said that, if the government breaks down, I think that the Conservatives have enough seats to change it to a minority government, if that's possible.

The cynic in me says that another election will be called within the next 6 months, for the simple reason that the LibDems are too different from the Tories to agree on major policies and I think that will cause a large rift, which will then cause a breakdown in the coalition.

However, we shall have to see. For now, we have a new Prime Minister. There's nothing we can do about that. And a big boost in turnout, many more than was expected, which we can see from the queues at the polls and those people who were angry at not being able to execute their democratic right. At least the UK is not as apathetic as it used to be.

A bit of downtime for some

2010-05-06T20:57:51-07:00

Just a couple of things... the first is that I've moved my blog to a Rackspace Cloud server. I don't get many hits, so it was cheaper to get a bigger server than staying on Slicehost. From the off-set it seems faster, although that might be because it's from a clean install rather than an upgrade.

Therefore, as I stupidly deleted my old server a little prematurely. Those who's DNS have already updated (like Google for example) will see it, but some (like T-Mobile) who haven't updated will have to wait.

Other than that I've changed the theme of the blog. I quite like this, but who knows how long I'll keep it like this until I get bored and switch to another one.

General Election

2010-05-06T20:20:51-07:00

So today, if you haven't heard already, is the day when Brits all around the country take part in the election of the people who will govern them for possibly the next 5 years.

The pollsters are saying that it's going to be very close, with a possibly no clear outright winner in terms of parties. Whatever the outcome, tonight is going to be a very interesting result, with what is expected to be a much higher than average turnout. This probably has a lot to do with the three leader debates that have been broadcasted over the past month.

Usually it's a two horse race, with either the Labour or the Conservative parties the clear winner, but thanks to the debates the Liberal Democrats and especially the party leader Nick Clegg have been thrust into the limelight more than in past years.

The polls close in about two hours and the results as they come in will make for very interesting results. Will there be an outright winner or will we have the first hung parliament in approximately 30 years? Hopefully we'll find out tonight, but apparently there are about 20 constituencies who's votes won't be counted until the morning and those might be the crucial ones who sway it one way of the other.

Debate the second

2010-04-22T23:04:17-07:00

Ok so I didn’t write a post about he first debate. I didn’t think about it at the time and by the time I did it was a little late.

So what did I think about tonight’s debate? Firstly I thought that Cameron looked a bit ruffled. Usually one thing that you can grantee about politicians, and especially when they’re being watched by millions of people is that they are usually impeccably turned out. This week’s “not enough time in make up” award goes to Dave.

But enough about looks. I don’t think either Brown or Clegg came out on top, but I do think that they both beat Cameron by a mile. I don’t care what YouGov says, especially when their CEO is the PPC of Stanford upon Avon. Clegg didn’t have the “dark horse” edge that he had last week, but he did well. Brown also did well and came across as a worthy candidate. All Cameron seemed to offer were empty promises.

Best shot of the evening was Clegg’s comment about Brown keeping his union donors happy and Cameron keeping his donors in Belize happy. Boom!

HTC Desire

2010-04-19T20:07:43-07:00

Ok so I've had my new phone for two days now and I'm absolutely loving it. It's fast phone-wise, it's fast internet-wise (thanks to T-Mobile's HSPDA network) and is a joy to use. In fact I'm writing this post on it now, using the Wordpress Android app of course.

The screen (which I believe is an OLED display) is beautiful, crisp and clear and incredibly responsive and I'm quite happily typing this pretty quickly.

The camera is also very good. It's only 5 megapixels, but that's more than enough for me.

So, all in all it's a really pleasurable phone to use. I love Android as an operating system and I would gladly have it rather than an iPhone any day.

Daily Digest for February 10th posted by Piers Karsenbarg

2010-02-10T12:01:29-08:00

RT @rakopoulos: Testing Tweeto on Kentico CMS 5.0. Works like a charm! #Kentico [pierskarsenbarg]

RT @harper: i hate that i have a google apps account and then a google account. why can't they be the same? [pierskarsenbarg]

-- Post by Piers Karsenbarg

Daily Digest for February 9th posted by Piers Karsenbarg

2010-02-09T12:00:03-08:00

Shared Open source disk tool UltraDefrag hits version 4.0.

RT @elliottkember: WE BUILT THIS WEBSITE... WE BUILT THIS WEBSITE WITH C S S [pierskarsenbarg]

#uksnow GU8 6/10 [pierskarsenbarg]

-- Post by Piers Karsenbarg

Daily Digest for February 6th posted by Piers Karsenbarg

2010-02-06T12:01:41-08:00

Shared Using Git and Github for the Windows for newbies - Guides - GitHub.

RT @ElizabethN: So awesome it made me cry a nostalgic tear. RT @elazar Windows 3.1 implemented in JavaScript. http://tr.im/MY9g /via @co ... [pierskarsenbarg]

-- Post by Piers Karsenbarg

Daily Digest for February 5th posted by Piers Karsenbarg

2010-02-05T12:01:41-08:00

Shared Bulletproof backups for MySQL.

Shared Simple commands to manage apache2 sites and Modules | Ubuntu Geek.

-- Post by Piers Karsenbarg

Daily Digest for February 4th posted by Piers Karsenbarg

2010-02-04T12:01:43-08:00

Shared 3;) links.

A Sculpture That Perpetually Sells Itself On eBay http://post.ly/M77Q [pierskarsenbarg]

RT @sniffpetrol: MOVIE NEWS: Arnold Schwarzenegger to play a man who can't remember if he designed that throttle assembly properly in... ... [pierskarsenbarg]

-- Post by Piers Karsenbarg

Daily Digest for February 2nd posted by Piers Karsenbarg

2010-02-02T20:06:57-08:00

Shared Greasemonkey comes to Chrome - get your userscripts ready!.

Shared What user does Apache Server run as? - Ubuntu Forums.

RT @jack: Wow. "Tweet me" is now stamped on sweethearts: http://j.mp/76YCzU [pierskarsenbarg]

-- Post by Piers Karsenbarg

Daily Digest for February 1st posted by Piers Karsenbarg

2010-02-01T12:01:31-08:00

Shared Location and Map of Thistle City Barbican, London hotels, England, United Kingdom.

-- Post by Piers Karsenbarg

Daily Digest for January 31st posted by Piers Karsenbarg

2010-01-31T12:01:09-08:00

Sitting in Starbucks using the t-mobile wifi here, but speedtest.net thinks I'm in Germany http://bit.ly/bdDRzM [pierskarsenbarg]

-- Post by Piers Karsenbarg

Daily Digest for January 30th posted by Piers Karsenbarg

2010-01-30T12:01:47-08:00

Miramax dies http://post.ly/LAd2 [pierskarsenbarg]

Truth or myth challenge; test your localisation history skills here http://tinyurl.com/TruthMyth [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared jQuery Image Effects - Hover Effect w/ jQuery & CSS - jQuery Tutorial.

Hometime methings [pierskarsenbarg]

Hometime methinks [pierskarsenbarg]

Deciding what to have for breakfast [pierskarsenbarg]

-- Post by Piers Karsenbarg

Daily Digest for January 29th posted by Piers Karsenbarg

2010-01-29T12:01:55-08:00

Shared 6;) links.

Life’s Too Short For The Wrong Job | Mighty Optical Illusions http://post.ly/KzEm [pierskarsenbarg]

RT @jilliancyork: J.D. Salinger, author of 'The Catcher in the Rye,' Is Dead at 91. http://bit.ly/9Zyq0a [pierskarsenbarg]

-- Post by Piers Karsenbarg

Daily Digest for January 28th posted by Piers Karsenbarg

2010-01-28T12:01:14-08:00

RT @ryancarson: Theory: People who cross the road while other people wait for the 'Walk' sign, are usually entrepreneurs. [pierskarsenbarg]

RT @WilHarris: Most unlikely (but most hilarious) opener of the Apple shindig today: "Hi, I'm Steve Jobs and Windows 7 was my idea." [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared 5 Apple Hits and 5 Misses: Which Will the Tablet Be?.

RT @renaebair: Maybe Apple was just so clever in choosing the name for #ipad that we missed the awesomeness: http://memory-alpha.org/en/ ... [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared How to Make mailto Safe Again.

-- Post by Piers Karsenbarg

Daily Digest for January 27th posted by Piers Karsenbarg

2010-01-27T12:01:17-08:00

Shared 2;) links.

RT @BenMcCauley: I'm impressed with the amount of interaction between work and students using social media platforms. [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared nvie.com » Blog Archive » A successful Git branching model.

-- Post by Piers Karsenbarg

Daily Digest for January 26th posted by Piers Karsenbarg

2010-01-26T12:01:19-08:00

Shared 4;) links.

RT @harper This is awesome: http://github.com/lg/murder <-- very cool way of deploying [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared 9 Tips For Working with MySQL Databases » DevSnippets.

-- Post by Piers Karsenbarg

Daily Digest for January 25th posted by Piers Karsenbarg

2010-01-25T12:00:48-08:00

Shared 2;) links.

-- Post by Piers Karsenbarg

Daily Digest for January 23rd posted by Piers Karsenbarg

2010-01-23T12:01:07-08:00

The world's tallest man, Sultan Kosen, and the shortest man in the world, He Pingping, meet http://post.ly/JzCt [pierskarsenbarg]

I love it when a plan comes together [pierskarsenbarg]

-- Post by Piers Karsenbarg

Daily Digest for January 21st posted by Piers Karsenbarg

2010-01-21T12:01:11-08:00

I connected Twitter to my Flavors.me page - http://flavors.me/pierskarsenbarg #flavorsme [pierskarsenbarg]

When "wash me" just doesn't cut it http://post.ly/JdGC [pierskarsenbarg]

-- Post by Piers Karsenbarg

Daily Digest for January 19th posted by Piers Karsenbarg

2010-01-19T12:01:37-08:00

RT @RackerHacker: Real life Simpson's house - wow http://post.ly/JECG [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared GitHub for the Rest of Us Screencast.

Shared Marshall Kirkpatrick, Technology Journalist » Add One Line To Your Blog or Twitter Could Become Your Primary Identity.

-- Post by Piers Karsenbarg

Daily Digest for January 16th posted by Piers Karsenbarg

2010-01-16T12:01:46-08:00

RT @NickLongo: 55 Spectacular Login Form Designs - http://virl.com/e6091 [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared 3;) links.

Brilliant and ballsy revenge against speedtraps http://post.ly/Iohi [pierskarsenbarg]

Holy optical illusions Batman! http://post.ly/IoiZ [pierskarsenbarg]

-- Post by Piers Karsenbarg

Daily Digest for January 15th posted by Piers Karsenbarg

2010-01-15T12:01:46-08:00

Shared 3;) links.

-- Post by Piers Karsenbarg

Daily Digest for January 14th posted by Piers Karsenbarg

2010-01-14T14:31:15-08:00

Icicles melting http://post.ly/IRBt [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared Icicles melting.

Shared James Frost — From WordPress to Jekyll.

Photo: Memo sent by "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" director http://post.ly/IaQe [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared 10 PHP functions you (probably) never use.

-- Post by Piers Karsenbarg

Daily Digest for January 13th posted by Piers Karsenbarg

2010-01-13T12:00:03-08:00

RT @Jack_Scott: Ok Iceland... We surrender - you can keep your money... Now please take your weather! [pierskarsenbarg]

On my way to London town [pierskarsenbarg]

-- Post by Piers Karsenbarg

Daily Digest for January 12th posted by Piers Karsenbarg

2010-01-12T12:01:39-08:00

Is anyone else having issues getting onto Google? [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared Spiceworks Is Becoming The Facebook For IT Managers; Raises $16 Million Series C.

-- Post by Piers Karsenbarg

Daily Digest for January 11th posted by Piers Karsenbarg

2010-01-11T12:01:34-08:00

Avatar Plot Fail or Observation Win? http://post.ly/I5Vl [pierskarsenbarg]

Does anyone actually use Kubrick in a live blog? http://bit.ly/5SWkJu [pierskarsenbarg]

-- Post by Piers Karsenbarg

Daily Digest for January 9th posted by Piers Karsenbarg

2010-01-09T12:00:08-08:00

Behind the offices http://post.ly/HhHy [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared Behind the offices.

Shared 10 Tips for Optimizing MySQL Queries (That don’t suck).

-- Post by Piers Karsenbarg

Daily Digest for January 7th posted by Piers Karsenbarg

2010-01-07T12:01:13-08:00

The trains on the other platforms keep sparking. I don't know if I want to get on the train this morning. [pierskarsenbarg]

RT @Surrey_Union: Uni operating limited services today. Chancellors, Hillside and Starbucks will be open with limited service. The... ht ... [pierskarsenbarg]

-- Post by Piers Karsenbarg

Daily Digest for January 6th posted by Piers Karsenbarg

2010-01-06T12:00:49-08:00

Shared Temperature of vehicle while heading to work.

Snow on campus http://post.ly/HK39 [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared 7;) photos.

[] (http://www.flickr.com/photos/piers/4248442731/)

-- Post by Piers Karsenbarg

Daily Digest for January 5th posted by Piers Karsenbarg

2010-01-05T12:01:15-08:00

We can hear you having sex. http://post.ly/HH57 [pierskarsenbarg]

&utm_content=Google+Reader)

Shared Understanding Windows 7's 'GodMode' - windows 7 - Gizmodo&utm_con tent=Google+Reader).

Bubble Pop: Reflection Perfection http://post.ly/HHGL [pierskarsenbarg]

I call this one Trolley on Lake on Campus http://post.ly/HHRA [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared I call this one Trolley on Lake on Campus.

-- Post by Piers Karsenbarg

Lifestream

2010-01-05T08:53:34-08:00

Over the past couple of months, there has been a daily update with stuff that I've posted around the web, but for the last couple of weeks it hasn't been making a daily post. I'm not entirely sure why as it's been logging all the items correctly on the stream page. Anywho, it seems to have posted an update from stuff that I posted just before Christmas so it might be trying to catch up, but I'm not entirely sure. Hopefully normal service will be resumed shortly.

Daily Digest for January 5th posted by Piers Karsenbarg

2010-01-05T08:36:09-08:00

RT @harper: Clementine pro tip: put a couple in the freezer. Wait until frozen. Thaw just until you can peel. Then eat them up. [pierskarsenbarg]

Frozen lake on campus http://post.ly/FfLo [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared 10;) photos.

[] (http://www.flickr.com/photos/piers/4199849603/)

Watching miracle on 34th street. Is there a more christmassy film? [pierskarsenbarg]

RT @Jason: BREAKing/unconfirmed: Brittany Murphy died this morning from a heart attack. http://bit.ly/8SU7c6 [pierskarsenbarg]

How Fanboys See Operating Systems [PIC] http://post.ly/FjoK [pierskarsenbarg]

Vacation timeline http://post.ly/FlZ5 [pierskarsenbarg]

-- Post by Piers Karsenbarg

Daily Digest for December 18th posted by Piers Karsenbarg

2009-12-18T15:56:40-08:00

Milford snow part 2 http://post.ly/FRFr [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared 2;) photos.

Andrew McDonald » Blog Archive » A Pictorial Guide to avoiding Camera Loss http://post.ly/FRq8 [pierskarsenbarg]

[](http://www.capify.org/index.php/From_The_Beginning

Decisions)

Shared From The Beginning - Capistrano.

-- Post by Piers Karsenbarg

Daily Digest for December 17th posted by Piers Karsenbarg

2009-12-17T15:56:22-08:00

Snow in Milford http://post.ly/FFWg [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared 2;) photos.

#uksnow GU8 5/10 [pierskarsenbarg]

Build (and buy) your own muppet for $129.99 http://bit.ly/7vhYuX [pierskarsenbarg]

Where's this snow I was promised? [pierskarsenbarg]

-- Post by Piers Karsenbarg

Daily Digest for December 16th

2009-12-16T12:06:46-08:00

Shared Your Pages Will Load Faster with Rails!.

Shared 4 Surprising Google Wave Uses.

Shared Your Pages Will Load Faster with Rails! | Engine Yard Blog.

Shared Evernote for Android Arrives Today [SCREENSHOTS].

GU8 5HU #uksnow [pierskarsenbarg]

Daily Digest for December 15th

2009-12-15T18:01:07-08:00

Twitter like Login with Jquery and CSS. http://post.ly/F3SO [pierskarsenbarg]

Christmas Light Hero http://post.ly/F3YR [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared Facebook friend fail.

Facebook friend fail http://post.ly/F3jG [pierskarsenbarg]

Can anyone recommend a CPU/memory monitor for Windows 2003 so we can see when the CPU/memory usage is at its highest? [pierskarsenbarg]

Remembering why I severely dislike XML [pierskarsenbarg]

Russell!! http://post.ly/FA3S [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared Create Instant Navigation Shortcuts from Android's Home Screen [Directions].

Rage vs X-Factor http://post.ly/FAPJ [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared 4;) links.

RT @garrytan 199 out of 200 applicants for programming jobs can't code at all http://post.ly/3QfV Quite shocking [pierskarsenbarg]

Daily Digest for December 14th

2009-12-14T12:08:59-08:00

RT @moleskine: We are loving the Moleskine Bauhaus notebooks so much, we're giving some away! http://bit.ly/8BqmV6 [pierskarsenbarg]

Joe is blatently going to win. The song suits him better. Ollie deservesit more [pierskarsenbarg]

Daily Digest for December 12th

2009-12-12T12:10:22-08:00

London http://post.ly/EnOc [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared 3;) photos.

Daily Digest for December 11th

2009-12-11T12:06:40-08:00

iPhone 3GS - Tesco Mobile - interest http://post.ly/EfHD [pierskarsenbarg]

YouTube - The Website Is Down- Sales Guy vs. Web Dude http://post.ly/EfIb [pierskarsenbarg]

RT @RackerHacker: These HTML checkboxes could keep me busy for hours. http://the389.com/works/drops/ [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared Website Owners Manaul Review.

Daily Digest for December 9th

2009-12-09T12:10:47-08:00

Shared Is there a.

Shared Note to self: Next time….

Shared November Wrap-Up.

RT @Surrey_Union: Thursday in Rubix - Heroes Helping Heroes - Superhero night in support of Help For Heroes - Get your tickets from... h ... [pierskarsenbarg]

How do I get Kentico sites to validate as XHTML 1.0 transitiona? For one, the id assigned to the body is invalid #kentico [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared Dragons Lair on iPhone.

RT @Jason: Our baby girl was born at 6:49am, at 7 pounds 11 ounces. 28 hours later baby and mother are fine, father is still in state of ... [pierskarsenbarg]

Random stuff

2009-12-08T10:21:21-08:00

I used to post most of the random stuff that I found on the interwebs here, but I've started using Posterous more and more. I don't think I'm going to be using it as a blogging tool as I like the flexibility that hosting my own Wordpress blog allows, but the ease of posting links and content via email is so much easier. I also love the way it handles multiple image posting - see here to see what it does.

So to see more of the stuff that you used to see here, go to http://random.piersonthe.net

I'm also going to post the RSS feed to it over there on the right -->

Daily Digest for December 7th

2009-12-07T21:48:53-08:00

RT @parsingphase: "... overdosed on a homeopathic medication ..." HOW?!? http://bit.ly/88xLyj [pierskarsenbarg]

Reselling Rackspace Cloud Servers - http://chadkeck.com/2009/11/reselling- rackspace-cloud-servers/ [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared How To Create A Local Debian/Ubuntu Mirror With apt-mirror | HowtoForge - Linux Howtos and Tutorials.

Trying to get HT503 working with Asterisk. HT503 doesn't appear in twitter search :( [pierskarsenbarg]

Daily Digest for December 5th

2009-12-05T21:50:55-08:00

Shared Editing and Testing Regular Expressions with RegExr.

RT @anniemacdj: Ryanair = SATAN'S WORK [pierskarsenbarg]

Sitting in natwest in guildford and there's a guy in here singing very loudly to himself. But he's not listening to anything [pierskarsenbarg]

Daily Digest for December 4th

2009-12-04T21:50:58-08:00

Probably the only one in the office not hungover [pierskarsenbarg]

Google DNS http://bit.ly/4PVYZL Dunno if it's noticably faster. As a lover of bandwagons I'm already using it [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared Thank You, Classic Rock.

Just had first proper haircut in about 8 years [pierskarsenbarg]

Guy I work with is selling his twitter background. Is this the start of something new @updcreative #twitterback groundslut [pierskarsenbarg]

Guy I work with is selling his twitter background. Is this the start of something new? @updcreative #twitterbac kgroundforsale [pierskarsenbarg]

RT @updcreative: This Christmas My Twitter Background is for sale #TwitterBackroundForSale for 99p per advert to appear. RT to help me f ... [pierskarsenbarg]

My first company blog post: http://design-voice.blogspot.com/2009/12 /creative-director-sells-his-twitter.html [pierskarsenbarg]

Home time. :) [pierskarsenbarg]

I wonder how much paper gets wasted with receipts. I never want them usually [pierskarsenbarg]

Creative Director sells his Twitter background space

2009-12-04T16:20:53-08:00

Our Creative Director here at Pull Digital, Paul Stratford, in an attempt to raise some extra cash for the coming holiday season has decided to put the background of his Twitter profile up for sale. We all called him crazy for doing so, but it seems to have taken off, with adverts from The Appliance Warehouse and Pure Triumph already making an appearance.

If you'd like to see your logo there, bidding starts at 99p per box to be seen by all his followers for an indefinite time and he'll stop taking applications when all the spaces have been filled.

Email paul@pulldigital.com for more information.

http://twitter.com/updcreative #twitterbackgroundforsale

(cross posted from here: http://design-voice.blogspot.com/2009/12/creative- director-sells-his-twitter.html)

Daily Digest for December 3rd

2009-12-03T21:51:03-08:00

Shared New Asynchronous Script Stops Google Analytics From Slowing Down Your Site.

Shared How to Remove (Hide) Users list at login Screen in Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic).

Does anyone know if Google indexes blogs differently to "normal" websites? [pierskarsenbarg]

RT @BenMcCauley: Order has just gone in for another barrel of RIP (because it's my fav.) and an Advent Ale. Christmas is officially here ... [pierskarsenbarg]

Daily Digest for December 2nd

2009-12-02T12:51:04-08:00

RT @robmanuel: Tom - your default friend on Myspace - will be 40 next year. [pierskarsenbarg]

Daily Digest for December 1st

2009-12-01T12:51:06-08:00

New version of Twidroid available. Very nice. www.twidroid.com [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared Simple Load Balancing on Cloud Servers.

Daily Digest for November 30th

2009-11-30T12:51:08-08:00

Finally got around to watching blood diamond. Really good film [pierskarsenbarg]

Daily Digest for November 29th

2009-11-29T12:51:10-08:00

Walking the dog. Not mine unfortunately [pierskarsenbarg]

Daily Digest for November 27th

2009-11-27T12:51:15-08:00

Shared 61 Free Apps We're Most Thankful For [Downloads].

Shared The Four DSLR Cameras for Every Budget [Digital Cameras].

Shared How to Fix Your Relatives' Terrible Computer [Tech Support].

RT @michaeltorbert Media Temple Hacked! - @mediaTemple - http://retwt.me/1KDJp will @rackspacecloud get more customers? [pierskarsenbarg]

Google reader mobile version gets a nice ui upgrade. Very pretty [pierskarsenbarg]

Buying Christmas decorations [pierskarsenbarg]

Daily Digest for November 26th

2009-11-26T12:50:29-08:00

Shared CATS WHO STARE AT.

Shared 10 of the most popular (and useful) Wordpress plugins.

Shared Stage Crew is an equal opportunities employer.

Shared I seen him maekin noms on TV.

RT @itsDanBull: Dear Mandy (an open letter to Lord Mandelson). http://bit.ly/4zDKFR #dearmandy [pierskarsenbarg]

Daily Digest for November 25th

2009-11-25T12:51:20-08:00

RT @dave_lew: delighted I dont live in America. This lot http://www.parentstv.org/ (complaining about Adam Lambert) shound like absolute ... [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared 4;) links.

Daily Digest for November 24th

2009-11-24T12:51:25-08:00

RT @ryancarson: RT @WilHarris: Awesome photos of the Large Hadron Collider - http://bit.ly/4UHE6O [pierskarsenbarg]

Not sure why, but I always thought that the LHC had a huge diameter. Doesn't look so big now [pierskarsenbarg]

RT @bloggerheads: RT @guardiannews Car crash victim trapped in a coma for 23 years was conscious http://bit.ly/8eYqsR [<- a nightmare ... [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared 2;) links.

Daily Digest for November 23rd

2009-11-23T12:51:24-08:00

I now have a little bit more respect for Danni #xfactor [pierskarsenbarg]

Daily Digest for November 21st

2009-11-21T12:51:29-08:00

Shared 4;) links.

Had a nice walk around the lake [pierskarsenbarg]

RT @jimmy_stavros: @robmanuel Any chance of retweeting @drhappymac 24hr tesco marathon for #childreninneed. http://bit.ly/1nuxA5 [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared 3;) links.

Daily Digest for November 19th

2009-11-19T14:11:33-08:00

In channies [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared Untitled.

Secrets garden centre. Can see myself having lunch here in the summer http://post.ly/Cxv8 [pierskarsenbarg]

RT @DeanCorney: #Kentico #cms provided by Pull Digital delivers success for dynamic copywriter - Gabrielle Jackson @ #conversis. [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared 20 of the Best Resources to Get Your Startup Off the Ground.

Daily Digest for November 18th

2009-11-18T14:11:36-08:00

Shared How does TechCrunch survive the TechCrunch effect?.

Shared 2;) links.

RT @colinfranks: This would impress the neighbours http://tr.im/F5hi I'd have one, but I bet it costs the equivalent of the national deb ... [pierskarsenbarg]

RT @bungledb: Perhaps we should show this to the uni trampolining lot. Somthing to aim for. http://bit.ly/146eYS [pierskarsenbarg]

Anyone know where I can find out which oil to use to top up? [pierskarsenbarg]

Daily Digest for November 17th

2009-11-17T14:11:38-08:00

Shared The Pirate Bay Tracker Shuts Down for Good.

Shared Flickr: telework / telecommute / work-from- home.

Daily Digest for November 16th

2009-11-16T14:09:44-08:00

Shared How to fully delete a git repository created with init? - Stack Overflow.

Daily Digest for November 15th

2009-11-15T14:11:21-08:00

RT @trobbins Marketplace: Tweeto, Alert-Me and new Transformations Check at the Kentico Marketplace - http://bit.ly/2sf5oL [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared Adventures in brain tumors: part one of many.

Daily Digest for November 14th

2009-11-14T14:07:07-08:00

Shared 3;) links.

Shared No. You CAN’T.

RT @teamIGNUK: 'Ere we go then! MW2 goodie bag and Family Guy Season 8 DVD to one random UK-based RT by 6pm GMT! http://twitpic.com/pcxud [pierskarsenbarg]

Sitting in starbucks on campus reinstalling vista. People can say what they like about it but it sure is a fast install [pierskarsenbarg]

It's about time!

2009-11-13T19:00:17-08:00

I've finally got round to doingwhat I've said I wanted to do pretty much since I started the first version of this blog 6 years ago, and that's writing some code to release.

So yesterday I posted my .NET wrapper to the bit.ly API. I'm hosting it on GitHub as I've wanted a chance to use Git for a while and it's free so it made a lot of sense.

I'm going to be posting more stuff there and updating the /code page here on my site.

Daily Digest for November 13th

2009-11-13T14:11:47-08:00

Shared 25 Slick PSD Website Templates Free for Download.

Shared Getting Started with Git and GitHub on Windows - Kyle Cordes.

Shared New AWS SDK for .NET Developers.

Shared Convert Xml document to String - C# Code Snippet.

Shared The Compact Office-On-A-Wall Workspace [Featured Workspace].

Shared Slicehost Forum - Out of memory with a simple WordPress blog.

Liked 2;) videos.

Kuroshio Sea - 2nd largest aquarium tank in the world - (song is Please don't go by Barcelona) Letter From the Front

New Hosting

2009-11-12T17:22:13-08:00

For the past few years, I’ve been using a Bytemark VM to host my sites, but I’ve now begun the move away from them to Slicehost. I’ve just successfully moved this blog and this weekend I’ll be moving my other sites.

This isn’t a dig at Bytemark. They’ve been awesome, but Slicehost is that little bit cheaper and they’re part of Rackspace so I’m expecting big things support-wise.

Also, they use more “default” images for their VMs (or “slices”) whereas Bytemark create their own ones and I prefer to do more myself.

Daily Digest for November 11th

2009-11-11T14:01:48-08:00

Shared 4;) links.

First #kentico web part on the marketplace http://bit.ly/tweeto [pierskarsenbarg]

Daily Digest for November 10th

2009-11-10T14:01:54-08:00

Shared HP’s “Create Amazing” Tilt-Shift Time-lapse Video..

Shared Video: Hacked Roombas Used to Play Pac-Man, Finally! [Roomba].

Shared Five Years of Firefox.

Shared A Brief Lesson in Flow Charts.

Shared I didn’t do it.

Shared Happy 40th birthday Sesame Street!.

Shared 2;) links.

Daily Digest for November 9th

2009-11-09T11:54:51-08:00

Shared 5;) links.

Shared 2;) links.

Shared pierskarsenbarg: http://twitpic.com/oqvaq.

Whats that phrase about chickens and counting them before they're hatched? http://twitpic.com/oqvaq [pierskarsenbarg]

Daily Digest for November 5th

2009-11-05T14:00:27-08:00

Shared 3;) links.

Daily Digest for November 4th

2009-11-04T14:05:15-08:00

Shared Boot OS X, XP, and Ubuntu from a Mac [Operating Systems].

Shared 4;) links.

Shared Tip/Trick: How to Run a Root “/” Site with the Local Web Server using VS 2005 SP1 - ScottGu's Blog.

Test [pierskarsenbarg]

Test for @Kentico_cms [pierskarsenbarg]

One more test for @Kentico_cms #kentico (sorry guys) [pierskarsenbarg]

blah [pierskarsenbarg]

Anyone got any good suggestions for hosted support systems? Like zendesk [pierskarsenbarg]

Daily Digest for November 3rd

2009-11-03T14:19:03-08:00

Shared 4;) links.

UKFast just added me on twitter just after going to their website with twitter logged in on another tab. Coincidence? [pierskarsenbarg]

Should have been @UKFast [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared Load balancing at Github: Why ldirectord? | Anchor Web Hosting Blog.

Daily Digest for November 2nd

2009-11-02T13:57:13-08:00

In the 11 sq miles that makes up Witley parish council, is domestic violence so bad they they need an awareness week? [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared 3;) links.

Daily Digest for October 31st

2009-10-31T13:57:34-07:00

Shared Toby, Dave & Ian Explain XKCD.

Anyone know of any good VOIP softphones that work with Asterisk? #asterisk #voip [pierskarsenbarg]

Daily Digest for October 30th

2009-10-30T13:57:57-07:00

Posted piers checked in @ near Bishopsgate.

What's it called when you take a photo in a particular way so that the people and objects look like a model village? [pierskarsenbarg]

Got it! Tilt shift [pierskarsenbarg]

Daily Digest for October 29th

2009-10-29T14:00:19-07:00

Shared Virtual Hosting With Proftpd And MySQL (Incl. Quota) On Ubuntu 9.04.

Shared Those ads are just so fly – literally.

Shared Trick Out Google Apps for Your Domain - Gmail - Lifehacker.

Shared Automatic Dialer With Asterisk And GNUDialer.

Of to the big smoke. First client meeting [pierskarsenbarg]

Daily Digest for October 28th

2009-10-28T14:01:50-07:00

Shared Elliot Jay Stocks on WordPress for Designers.

Daily Digest for October 27th

2009-10-27T14:01:49-07:00

Shared List of Articles - The Rackspace Cloud -- Cloud Servers Knowledge Base.

Shared Setting up a Mac to Work with Git and GitHub.

Shared Preparing An Ubuntu Machine For Upgrade.

Daily Digest for October 26th

2009-10-26T14:03:21-07:00

Shared Nachos.

Daily Digest for October 24th

2009-10-24T15:04:21-07:00

Shared 4;) links.

RT @Zeb09 Elected :D well done! [pierskarsenbarg]

Daily Digest for October 23rd

2009-10-23T15:01:53-07:00

Shared 4;) links.

Another test for @Kentico_CMS [pierskarsenbarg]

Testing #hashtag for @Kentico_CMS [pierskarsenbarg]

Testing #kentico for @Kentico_CMS [pierskarsenbarg]

Got my #donut today! On a G1 of all things :) [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared 2;) links.

Daily Digest for October 22nd

2009-10-22T14:59:24-07:00

Test status for kentico [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared j/k paging Javascript.

Daily Digest for October 21st

2009-10-21T15:01:48-07:00

Shared Hurl is now open!.

Daily Digest for October 20th

2009-10-20T14:58:18-07:00

Shared Twenty questions for the BNP | Sunny Hundal | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk.

Daily Digest for October 19th

2009-10-19T15:01:48-07:00

Shared Top 10 Most Common Coding Mistakes in WordPress Plugins " planetOzh.

Shared Using Stored Procedures with ASP.NET.

Daily Digest for October 18th

2009-10-18T15:10:40-07:00

Whats with all the fireworks tonight? Its not even november yet [pierskarsenbarg]

Daily Digest for October 17th

2009-10-17T15:01:50-07:00

Just created a new list at http://twitter.com/pierskarsenbarg/ussu. Only got @BenMcCauley @Surrey_Union and @NickEntwistle on there so far [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared 10 Classic Animal Photobombs.

Daily Digest for October 16th

2009-10-16T15:01:48-07:00

Shared Pizza pi.

Testing to see where this goes http://post.ly/8gz1 [pierskarsenbarg]

This is the subject http://post.ly/8h4d [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared 2;) links.

Shared Coding4Fun : Flickr-ing about with .NET.

Daily Digest for October 15th

2009-10-15T15:01:48-07:00

Shared Open Source Flickr Photo Gallery Using jQuery - Web Development Blog | User Friendly Thinking.

Daily Digest for October 14th

2009-10-14T14:59:53-07:00

Shared LINK: Javascript for paging posts with 'j' and 'k'.

Daily Digest for October 11th

2009-10-11T15:00:02-07:00

At Greek night. Probably one of the best nights at #surreyuni [pierskarsenbarg]

Daily Digest for October 9th

2009-10-09T15:01:48-07:00

Shared 5;) links.

Finished work. Going for a meal with now ex-colleagues and then day off tomorrow #unemployedbum [pierskarsenbarg]

Has gone public. Sitting in starbucks with surrey ad and a coffee [pierskarsenbarg]

Is on the balcony [pierskarsenbarg]

Daily Digest for October 8th

2009-10-08T14:58:59-07:00

RT @ThisIsSka The best thing about working from home is that you don't have to wear trousers. [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared 6 Ways To Integrate Twitter Into Your Site.

Shared 3;) links.

Daily Digest for October 7th

2009-10-07T14:58:54-07:00

Shared What is a browser?.

Shared 4;) links.

Shared Manpage of VSFTPD.CONF.

Daily Digest for October 6th

2009-10-06T15:01:48-07:00

Shared 10 Monty Python clips to celebrate their 40th birthday.

Shared A Metro Map of Google Acquisitions.

Shared 2;) links.

Daily Digest for October 3rd

2009-10-03T14:59:05-07:00

Shared 3;) links.

Feeling the effects of Mr Beam [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared Build a Voice App in the Cloud and Enter the Twilio + App Engine Developer Contest.

Shared Useful & Practical jQuery Visual Cheat Sheet.

Daily Digest for October 2nd

2009-10-02T14:59:52-07:00

Shared 2;) links.

Daily Digest for October 1st

2009-10-01T17:12:55-07:00

Listened to Total Eclipse Of The Heart - Bonnie Tyler.

Shared 7;) links.

Listened to Dromi Tou Pouthena - Giorgos Margaritis.

Shared Google Wave First Look [Screenshot Tour].

Waiting for my #donut [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared 3;) links.

RT @goowaveinvites we got some google wave invites... you need one? RT this !! #googlewave #wave [pierskarsenbarg]

Hey, it's worth a try [pierskarsenbarg]

Daily Digest for September 30th

2009-09-30T13:16:52-07:00

Shared 40+ Desert Island Web Development Tools « Smashing Magazine.

Shared Human Tetris on Skateboards.

Shared Debian: Installing Mailman with Exim4.

Wishing I could be at Freshers' Fayre today. [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared 6;) links.

Daily Digest for September 29th

2009-09-29T13:16:49-07:00

HAHAHA http://twitpic.com/j9oje [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared 2;) links.

RT @arrington to the beach! #jealousy [pierskarsenbarg]

Daily Digest for September 28th

2009-09-28T13:15:29-07:00

Shared How to connect iPhone/iPod Touch (Using USB) in Karmic/Jaunty/Intrepid/Hardy.

Daily Digest for September 27th

2009-09-27T12:25:36-07:00

Shared View online files using the Google Docs Viewer.

At guildford court waiting for the freshers to arrive #surreyfreshers [pierskarsenbarg]

Daily Digest for September 26th

2009-09-26T13:16:37-07:00

Shared 3;) links.

Posted piers checked in @ Southsea.

Daily Digest for September 25th

2009-09-25T12:19:12-07:00

Shared 4;) links.

Shared My tech talk on Tornado (video and slides) - Bret Taylor's blog.

Daily Digest for September 24th

2009-09-24T13:16:48-07:00

Shared Other People’s Responses to the fact that I am a Computer Science Major.

Shared Quickly Scan Your Gmail Spam for Missed Messages [Spam].

Shared The Beginner's Guide to Tricking Out Your WordPress Blog [WordPress].

Shared Other People’s Responses to the fact that I am a Computer Science Major.

Shared Announcing the WebsiteSpark Program.

Shared 3;) links.

Daily Digest for September 23rd

2009-09-23T13:16:51-07:00

Shared 12;) links.

Posted piers checked in @ Hounslow.

RT @Surrey_Union Only 100 freshers combined tickets remaining. http://bit.ly/3MwsPN [pierskarsenbarg]

RT @daverage I love the fact that Apple have to lie about ipod nano video. Advert says at the end...Screen Images Enhanced!! [pierskarsenbarg]

How do others use twitter faves? I use it to fave stuff on my phone that i want to look at later [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared Carsonified » Meet @HelloApp, Making Conferences More Fun.

Just seen the new audi tt. Looks very much like the audi in I, Robot [pierskarsenbarg]

Daily Digest for September 22nd

2009-09-22T13:16:49-07:00

Shared 8;) links.

Just heard @nickentwistle on eagle news [pierskarsenbarg]

RT @rackcloud Goodbye summer, HELLO #ZIPTEMBER! Threadless hoodies only $30 all week! (please RT for a chance to win one!) http://thrdl.es/ [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared 3;) links.

Daily Digest for September 21st

2009-09-21T13:15:34-07:00

Shared 5;) links.

Daily Digest for September 20th

2009-09-20T13:15:36-07:00

RT @AndyVale just got told by Twitter that 'this page does not exist.' I replied with 'YOUR MUM DOESN'T EXIST!' Technically I was right. [pierskarsenbarg]

Daily Digest for September 19th

2009-09-19T13:16:48-07:00

Just watched determined brown. No effect whatsoever. Anyone else? [pierskarsenbarg]

Oops meant derren not determined [pierskarsenbarg]

Loving OpenID

2009-09-18T15:57:54-07:00

I love OpenID. I've been using it for quite a while but recently found and installed a plugin to this very blog to enable it as an OpenID provider (if you don't have a blog that you can use as a provider then there is a pretty good list of a lot of well known sites that also acts as OpenID providers.

So now, rather than logging in using lots of different user IDs or and passwords, you can just use one. So now, I just tap in the URL to my blog and I never have to worry about it again.

Daily Digest for September 18th

2009-09-18T13:14:31-07:00

Shared how girls react to boy wearing axe.

Shared Unclog a Toilet with Dishwasher Detergent [Plumbing].

Shared 6;) links.

Shared Alanis Morrisette's "Ironic" Really IS Ironic.

RT @BenMcCauley I'm 5 fans off 4000 on one of the facebook fan pages I run. [pierskarsenbarg]

Daily Digest for September 18th

2009-09-18T13:14:30-07:00

Shared how girls react to boy wearing axe.

Shared Unclog a Toilet with Dishwasher Detergent [Plumbing].

Shared 6;) links.

Shared Alanis Morrisette's "Ironic" Really IS Ironic.

RT @BenMcCauley I'm 5 fans off 4000 on one of the facebook fan pages I run. [pierskarsenbarg]

Daily Digest for September 17th

2009-09-17T13:14:50-07:00

Shared Why (and How) to Root Your Android Phone.

Shared Announcing the Microsoft AJAX CDN.

Listened to Groove Is in the Heart - Deee-Lite.

Listened to Infinity 2008 (Klaas Vocal Edit) - Guru Josh Project.

Shared Myna: Garage Band in Your Web Browser.

Shared 4;) links.

Shared Google Acquires reCAPTCHA.

Shared How to Unlock the Amazing Secret of Unlimited Productivity.

Shared 2;) links.

New job

2009-09-16T12:25:25-07:00

It's been about a week now since I handed in my notice, so it's probably about time that I posted something up here. Yes, I've got a new job!

I'm going to be working for a company called Pull Digital (take a look at the website to see what they do), doing web development (.NET, some Sharepoint stuff by the looks of things) and I'm excited.

Some people have said that they find moving to a new company stressful, but I've never found that. I relish the challenge of meeting new people, working out how the company works and finding my niche amongst people who have their own unique way of working.

I've really enjoyed my time at UK Web Sites, but I felt that it was time to move on, meet new people and move on with my career.

Daily Digest for September 15th

2009-09-15T17:49:42-07:00

Shared How to Debug in PHP.

Heard about Patrick Swayze on the radio this morning but didn't realise Keith Floyd died as well http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8256260.stm [pierskarsenbarg]

Listened to The Road I'm On - 3 Doors Down.

Does Buttons actually know that this campaign exists#GetButtonsOnTwitter [pierskarsenbarg]

Listened to Shake It - Metro Station.

Daily Digest for September 14th

2009-09-14T17:50:57-07:00

Shared 3;) links.

Listened to Lady (Hear Me Tonight) (radio edit) - Modjo.

Listened to Roses - OutKast.

Daily Digest for September 12th

2009-09-12T17:49:38-07:00

Shared Remembering 9/11, from space.

Shared Favourite cheat sheets for web design.

Love this http://bit.ly/dp4lj [pierskarsenbarg]

When oh when is Buttons going to get on twitter#getbuttonsontwitter [pierskarsenbarg]

Watching movie trailers on apple website before doing some washing up [pierskarsenbarg]

Daily Digest for September 11th

2009-09-11T17:51:48-07:00

In channies about 6 ft away from Robert Winston [pierskarsenbarg]

Daily Digest for September 10th

2009-09-10T17:51:49-07:00

Shared CARRIER PIGEONS: Still Faster Than ADSL.

Shared 50% of Geeks are Sexy Readers will go try this right now.

Shared 4;) links.

Shared Studio 'pulls out of He-Man film'.

Daily Digest for September 9th

2009-09-09T17:51:00-07:00

Shared 3;) links.

Shared UK Man Decries Sex On Candy Wrappers [Packaging].

Shared 500 Internal Server Error.

Daily Digest for September 8th

2009-09-08T17:50:39-07:00

Shared Nio security system: As seen on YouTube.

Shared 2;) links.

Daily Digest for September 7th

2009-09-07T17:49:39-07:00

Shared Nerd Venn Diagram.

Just realised I'm 7 off 1500 tweets. Well, now 6 [pierskarsenbarg]

Shared 4;) links.

Daily Digest for September 6th

2009-09-06T17:51:04-07:00

Watching some we before heading to @clrrowancole 's house [pierskarsenbarg]

Daily Digest for September 5th

2009-09-05T12:01:47-07:00

Shared Zombie lawn ornament serves as an excellent neighbor deterrent

Shared Want a Crash-Proof Site? A Paint-by-Numbers Guide to Using (and Surviving) Amazon S3

Shared 3;) links.

Daily Digest for September 3rd

2009-09-03T12:02:44-07:00

Shared Nine surprisingly useful single serving sites

Listened to Alive - P.O.D.

Shared Gladinet releases cloud-to-cloud backup

Shared Speed up your Web App by 1000% with 1 Line of SQL

Shared Nebudroid turns your Android phone into a NES controller

Shared How to build your own Carputer

Shared Customer Bills Companies For Time Wasted — Pret A Manger Actually Pays Up [Funny]

Shared 4;) links.

What is going on with this weather [pierskarsenbarg]

Daily Digest for September 1st

2009-09-01T15:11:48-07:00

RT @TechCrunch Breaking: Disney To Acquire Marvel Entertainment For $4 Billion http://bit.ly/4DTkWa by @robinwauters [#]

Shared How to Create Bulletproof Sessions

Doesn't feel like I've just had a three day weekend. Really could do with an extra week [#]

RT @joethepeacock Blogged: The Insane Energy Drink Experiment http://bit.ly/g9dJV This looks awesome. I might try something similar one day [#]

Shared 2;) links.

Shared The secret to becoming a mermaid

Daily Digest for August 31st

2009-08-31T15:09:24-07:00

Sitting in Chancellors, abusing the wifi [#]

No one should have to sit through Funny People. A likely candidate for Worst. Film. Ever. [#]

Daily Digest for August 29th

2009-08-29T15:09:07-07:00

Shared pierskarsenbarg: http://twitpic.com/foyjx

Civic centre being knocked down http://twitpic.com/foyjx [#]

Liking new twidroid. Wish there was a button on the screen for new tweet. Now there are 2 things to push rather than one [#]

Daily Digest for August 28th

2009-08-28T15:11:48-07:00

Listened to Strong Again - N-Dubz

Daily Digest for August 27th

2009-08-27T15:12:02-07:00

Shared 2;) links.

Daily Digest for August 26th

2009-08-26T15:11:48-07:00

Shared CKEditor v3.0 - A Complete Rewrite of FCKeditor

Shared The Linux Baby Rocker

Shared Jenga pistol 2

Daily Digest for August 25th

2009-08-25T15:08:54-07:00

Shared 3;) links.

Shared 2;) links.

Daily Digest for August 24th

2009-08-24T15:11:48-07:00

Shared Tech Support Cheat Sheet

Shared How to Create Totally Secure Cookies

Daily Digest for August 22nd

2009-08-22T15:10:59-07:00

Shared 2;) links.

Just bought batteries so I can watch Saturday kitchen [#]

Daily Digest for August 21st

2009-08-21T15:12:39-07:00

Shared 10;) links.

Keep forgetting its Friday today. That's what working a 2 day week will do to you [#]

Shared Carsonified » How to Get Started with the Twitter API

Daily Digest for August 20th

2009-08-20T15:14:43-07:00

Shared How to Get Started with the Twitter API

Shared How To Install Asterisk For Your First PBX Solution

Shared 9;) links.

Daily Digest for August 10th

2009-08-10T15:11:56-07:00

Off to athens with @elizabethsimos! At terminal 2 now [#]

Daily Digest for August 8th

2009-08-08T15:10:11-07:00

Shared memcached: More Cache = Less Cash!

Shared Gadgets : Bluetooth Watch with Caller ID Display

Listened to Excuse Me Mr. - No Doubt

Listened to Starlight - The Supermen Lovers

Listened to Summer Girls - LFO

Listened to F.E.A.R. - Ian Brown

Shared Empire: Image Gallery

Shared 3;) links.

Shared Top 10 Computer Hardware Fixes and Upgrades [Lifehacker Top 10]

At work. On a saturday. Doing stuff with images. [#]

Shared How Not to Demolish a Building [Demolition]

Shared 3;) links.

Shared Carsonified » Want to Write for Think Vitamin?

Shared Director John Hughes dead at 59

Shared 4;) links.

Shared Umm… I luv dis

Daily Digest for July 29th

2009-07-29T11:00:44-07:00

Shared Why Coke beat Pespi for the last 100+ years

Shared 5;) links.

Listened to Thriller - Fall Out Boy

RT @BenMcCauley England will host 2015 World Cup http://bit.ly/47h5kJ [#]

Shared Text Rotation with CSS

Shared Feed cushion

RT @spam If you gave your login and password info to TwitViewer, we strongly suggest you change your password now. Thanks! [#]

Shared Best. Comment. Ever.

Shared Example C# usage

Daily Digest for July 28th

2009-07-28T11:00:19-07:00

Shared 2;) links.

Shared SlickMap CSS – a way of displaying a neat sitemap directly from HTML unordered list navigation

Not sure why I bother watching newsnight. Or any news program for that matter. Swine flu bores me [#]

Shared 10;) links.

http://www.compucars.co.uk [#]

Shared Video: iPhone 3GS can tether... to an RC plane

RT @BenMcCauley Part of the Students' Union price list in 1976 http://twitpic.com/akapt [#]

Shared [OTA Exchange Mail] APK from MyTouch ROM floating on the Sapphire forum - xda-developers

In Portsmouth. Out for dinner tonight with the family. [#]

Its the usual story. Me and dad waiting for mum and bryony [#]

Don't you just hate it when you wake up, feel really tired still but can't get back to sleep? [#]

And now it seems that whatever is going on in Southsea today (famers market??) is blasting out the Wombats. At 9am :( [#]

Thank the lord they've stopped the music. [#]

Now there's some local radio DJ on. It's not even 10am FFS [#]

Now I remember. It's the race for life today. Boy do i feel like a tool [#]

Ah. Local radio at its finest [#]

They're playing Higher and Higher by Jackie Wilson. Half expecting the Statue of Liberty to walk past [#]

Now music from HSM. Are they trying to make me go deaf? [#]

Shared Corporate Hierarchy [PIC]

Has new pillows thanks to the parents :) [#]

Shared 4;) links.

Shared Writing Decisions: Headline tests on the Highrise signup page - (37signals)

Wates house has the pansiest hand dryers in the world. Ever. [#]

Shared Sam Raimi to direct WoW movie

Shared 2;) links.

Shared Sam Raimi to direct WoW movie

I was a 6 yr-old model in Brides magazine #lameclaimtofame [#]

Liked 2;) videos.

Kuroshio Sea - 2nd largest aquarium tank in the world - (song is Please don't go by Barcelona) Letter From the Front

Shared Virtually delicious

Shared 5;) links.

RT @bloggerheads RT @nhsdirect Kindly RT: For swine flu INFORMATION, call 0800 1 513 513, for swine flu TREATMENT call 0800 1 513 100 #NPFS [#]

Is it just me that finds booking flights very stressful. Always worried that I'm clicking something wrong [#]

Oooh thunder! [#]

Shared HOW TO: Build Your Personal Brand on LinkedIn

Shared 8;) links.

Shared The launch years of today’s most popular websites

Eating cupcakes with morning coffee kindly brought in by a colleague celebrating his birthday [#]

Rules of the smartphone

2009-07-28T10:30:03-07:00

Rule #1: Don’t look at your smartphone in the morning until you get to work. Peeking at your email or phone messages before you have dressed or had breakfast will create unnecessary distraction, worry, and stress. If you’re married with children, it will also prevent you from being engaged with your family during breakfast. In fact, don’t even look at your smartphone during the drive to work; again, it would serve no purpose as you can’t—or, at least, you shouldn’t—be thumb typing during your commute (unless you’re on a train or bus and you can respond to your phone and email messages).

Rule #2: Don’t look at your smartphone during the day unless you are ready to act on it. It’s not uncommon for businesspeople to look at their smartphones as they head into a meeting or just before a conference call. The primary consequence of doing this is that you will be distracted from your next task. You will be thinking about what you found on your smartphone instead of focusing on the task ahead.

Rule #3: Turn off all smartphones during meetings. In fact, every company should have a “no smartphone” rule for all meetings. There are few things more irritating, distracting, and productivity-killing than having people at a meeting looking at and typing into their smartphones. They are clearly not paying attention to the meeting and, therefore, unable to contribute in any meaningful way. It also distracts others at the meeting. It wastes time and prolongs meetings because no one is focusing on the agenda. Quality and productivity suffer too because the lack of full engagement means that effective problem solving and decision making will be nearly impossible.

Rule #4: Don’t check your smartphone less than 30 minutes before you go to bed. If there are calls or emails you think you must respond to you, you will get to bed later and you’ll get riled up, so you’ll have a harder time falling asleep. The reality is that, in most cases, they can wait until morning, so best not to look. At worst, choose a time between 30 and 60 minutes before bedtime when you take a last look at your smartphone. At best, commit to not checking your smartphone at all in the evening.

Rule #5: Don’t do your smartphone when you are doing life. In other words, don’t look at your smartphone if you are interacting with others, doing something that is supposed to clear your mind of work, such as exercise, meditation, having a meal, watching a movie, or hanging out with family or friends.. There is nothing more annoying to family and friends than to be with you when you are making business calls or responding to email—why are you even with them if you’re with them in body only? It’s okay to check your smartphone periodically, but ONLY IF you don’t interrupt more important life stuff and ONLY IF you are expecting something that you may have to act on quickly

I have a smartphone. My girlfriend has a smartphone. They are often both going off with emails, (in my case) tweets, texts etc - although during the evenings it seems to be me more than her. I'm going to try to follow these for a while.

Stolen Lovingly lifted from Jason Langridge

Guilfest 2009

2009-07-10T11:50:16-07:00

It's that time of the year again. After having missed out on Guilfest last year (due to a conflict with my mother's birthday) I'm going back to Stoke Park this weekend. Bands that I'm looking forward to seeing are Motorhead, Athlete, Lightening Seeds, Toploader, possibly Pendulum and DJ Yoda if we can get into the tent, Brian Wilson, The Wailers and probably a few more. Slight disappointed that Hundred Reasons aren't playing any more, but c'est la vie.

If I get the chance I'll post some photos from my phone to Twitter, otherwise I'll post the ones I take with my camera on FB and Flickr on Sunday night/Monday at some point.

Surrey does the Mongol Rally

2009-07-04T14:25:01-07:00

Bright and early (well about midday) I was up at Chancellors to see off the team from USSU who were starting on their adventure, driving from Guildford to Mongolia. The idea is that they drive there and then auction off the vehicles they travel in.

I'd like to wish them the best of luck and look forward to reading their blog updates. I'll post a link when I find out the URL. I've already post my photos from the launch on Facebook and Flickr.

[Update]So far they've reaced Amsterdam (I believe). For more info you can view their Mongolia Blog[/Update]

Old London Town

2009-06-20T08:07:23-07:00

Going up to London later today to see Wesley. He's been over for a week exploring the country.

Summer Films 2009 - revisited

2009-06-14T18:51:30-07:00

As you can see from my post on Summer Films 2009 I seem to be getting through them fairly quickly. The only one I haven't seen that't been out is X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but I'm hoping that it's still in the cinemas somewhere. I'm hopefully going to see Transformers at some point over the next couple of weeks and then it's just a case of waiting until the rest come out in the cinema.

Taste for Politics

2009-06-11T12:19:40-07:00

Yesterday saw the launch of Taste for Politics, a site for people with any inclination, affiliation or opinion to post articles to. I've got in touch with a few politically minded people so I'm hoping that they will help me write a few articles to get it started.

The theme is one I found online, but I'm hoping to get one of my designer colleagues to help me out there.

Another film for the summer of 2009

2009-05-19T15:30:58-07:00

I've just seen the trailer for the new Sherlock Holmes movie. Definately one to add to the Summer Films 2009 post.

Brand Timeline

2009-05-19T08:46:01-07:00

I like this image of brands that one might interact with throughout the day.

http://dearjanesample.wordpress.com/2008/05/19/fun-with- brands/

I am a geek

2009-05-12T13:26:48-07:00

Nuff said.

Summer Films 2009

2009-05-05T13:35:26-07:00

Just a list of the films that I'd like to see over the summer. Hopefully I'll get to see all of them. They're not in any particular order:

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - Trailer
Star Trek - Trailer
X-Men Origins - Wolverine - Trailer
Fast & Furious - Trailer
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs - Trailer
Angels and Demons - Trailer
G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra - Trailer
Public Enemies - Trailer
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen - Trailer
Terminator Salvation - Trailer
Sherlock Holmes - Trailer - make sure you watch it in HD

Yes I know there are plenty more films coming up over the next three months, but those are the ones I'm most looking forward to.

And I'm definately planning on having a Harry Potter marathon before July 17th.

Cupcakes r us

2009-05-01T00:52:49-07:00

Just got the cupcake updatw on my G1. I'm typing this with the soft keyboard. Not too shabby. Not quite sure how to exit the keyboard but I'm sure I'll work that out soon enough.

New Transformers 2 Trailer

2009-04-30T08:39:53-07:00

It's not very good quality and the sound skips a bit, but you get a decent idea of how truely AWESOME!! this is going to be.

http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/04/29/latest- transformers-2-trailer/

Relaxing weekend

2009-04-25T14:57:38-07:00

This is turning out to be a very nice weekend. Just sitting in my room, watching some movies. Just relaxing.

Seth Rogan doing comedy at 13!!

2009-04-21T08:59:59-07:00

You definately need to watch this. It's awesome!

[Via]

New Transformers 2 Sneak Peak

2009-04-19T08:19:28-07:00

This video is awesome. That's all I can say.

Bassett Holt

2009-04-15T14:07:37-07:00

View Larger Map

Congrats to Tash and Ian

2009-04-12T17:50:39-07:00

:-)

Originally uploaded by Stan160

Just a bit of a congrats to Tash and Ian who announced their engagement today. Also (although there isn't really a photo from the Collins camp - yet) a congrats to Vicki and Ian on becoming pregnant for the first time.

Seems everyone is either dropping sprogs or getting married at the moment.

Particle physics

2009-04-09T12:18:24-07:00

"At its very essence, particle physics is the same as Michael Bay's career: it just smashes shit together and records what happens."

Taken from this month's Empire magazine. Love it.

Ok, so I'm a hypocrite

2009-03-24T09:39:57-07:00

I didn't exactly say I wasn't ever going to use Songbird again. But since they've updated their iPod add-on, I thought I'd give it another go. So far so good. I still have all my music.

Songbird fixed - worth another look?

2009-03-20T11:47:35-07:00

According to Lifehacker the songbird issue that I might have mentioned a couple of times has been fixed.

The question that I'm asking myself is do I want to risk it again? I've now found out that there are a couple of tools for retrieving data from an iPod, and as I said before I do have all my music on my laptop and my iPod is generally plugged into my computer at work.

However, winamp is working quite nicely for me at the moment, so I could just continue with that. Decision, decisions.

The spelling of names

2009-03-20T11:28:51-07:00

Hi. My name is Piers Karsenbarg and I'm an... oh wait that's wrong. Seriously though, I'm always the first to admit that my name is fairly unusual. It's even got to the stage where if someone asks me what my name is, I just go right ahead and spell it, because I know they'll get it wrong. Generally spelling it something along the lines of Pierce Carsenberg.

Anyway (and there was a point to this) that was all a big lead up to me posting this:

[Via]

The Very Hungry Caterpiller on Google

2009-03-20T09:55:26-07:00

The Very Hungry Caterpiller on Google

Originally uploaded by piers

Two reasons:

1) I LOVE THIS BOOK

2) It's apparently the first day of spring (according to Google anyway)

Songbird issues with iPod part the second

2009-03-17T10:04:32-07:00

Ok, so it's not an ideal situation, but at least they've accepted there is a problem. As I said before, luckily I have iTunes on a seperate computer and it was just a case of re-syncing my iPod with it, but it seems that there are quite a few people who have had similar problems and don't have the same solution.

iPod Add-On Woes

Note: this is related to my earlier post Songbird - the magpie of media players

Over 100 posts

2009-03-13T17:18:57-07:00

And I didn't even notice. Dagnammit.

The final frontier

2009-03-13T17:14:44-07:00

This is awesome. I doubt there would be many to get it though. And I've already bought enough tshirts for today.

The best news I've heard all day

2009-03-13T17:13:07-07:00

I've always loved the book IT by Stephen King. I love it so much that I bought the miniseries on DVD (it used to be impossible to get hold of in Region 2 format - I had to buy it from Holland on eBay).

So to hear that they're going to make a film about it is excellent news. I can't wait.

[Via]

Songbird - the magpie of media players

2009-03-11T15:46:13-07:00

At work, I like to listen to music. It allows me to focus on the task in hand. I plug my iPod 5G into my computer and up until recently I was using Winamp to access and play the mp3s on there.

However, on Monday of this week I decided to try something new. I'd heard about Songbird and found that I could use it to play music off my iPod, so I downloaded and installed it and all was good. It played the music I wanted to play, it could read my iPod and play stuff from that including my playlists.

However, the one thing I hadn't done was to sync the library in Songbird with my iPod as I had a few songs in Songbird that I had recently bought and so were on my computer at work. It had asked me when I first installed it if I wanted to, and warned me that I might lose songs from my iPod. I therefore declined.

Then, this afternoon I read that there was a new version available (1.1 for those interested). Since the software could quite happily update itself without me installing anything I just let it do its thing. It asked if I wanted to update any add-ons (it's written using some Mozilla libraries so there are a few add-ons and themes, not unlike firefox) so I agredd to these.

Once the installation was complete and the software had restarted I was amazed to see that all that was in the library was those very songs that I had on my computer. "Fine" I thought. "It just hasn't picked up my iPod yet." So I unplugged my iPod and plugged it back in again. No joy. "Maybe there's a problem with reading my iPod. Let's just see what's actually on the iPod itself... " So I looked. Those same few songs.

Thank you Songbird, for deleting my music. Luckily I have copies at home. And I have Last.FM for now.

Say what you like about Winamp, at least it doesn't delete my music.

Oh, and I've uninstalled Songbird now.

I can't wait to see this

2009-03-06T17:19:16-08:00

Very very cool.

[Via]

And the winner for the best threat in a comic strip goes to

2009-02-20T09:15:55-08:00

So, I bought Street Fighter 4

I heart Ctrl-Alt-Del

2009-02-18T10:16:06-08:00

Big meaty women

New Transformers trailer on YouTube

2009-02-17T17:16:56-08:00

I posted to Twitter the other day that the trailer for the new Transformers film was a bit lacklustre (or words to that effect). When the trailer for the first film came out, I was very excited. After all, I'm an 80s child and they were HUGE back then (if anyone asks, Bumblebee was blatently my favourite. The VW Beetle version, not the Chevy one).

But the trailer for the new one (see below) doesn't excite me in the slightest. Sure, I'll go and see it, but I'm really hoping the full length film is a whole lot better than the trailer says it is.

As usual make sure you click to see the High-Res version, but see for yourself. As for me, I'm not holding my breath.

The Universe is Really Really Big

2009-02-17T15:26:59-08:00

[Via]

Wrong in so many ways

2009-02-16T16:15:33-08:00

[Via]

Simpsons in HD*

2009-02-16T14:12:18-08:00

*Probably only in America though.

Make sure you click the "HQ" button.

[Via]

The Death of a Friend

2009-02-16T13:25:59-08:00

Taken from here:

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as: Knowing wen to come in out of the rain; Why the early bird gets the worm; Life isn’t always fair; and maybe it was my fault.

Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don’t spend more than you can earn) and reliable strategies (adults, not children, are in charge).

His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition.

Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children.

It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an Aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.

Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims.

Common Sense took a beating when you couldn’t defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault.

Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement.

Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his wife, Discretion, by his daughter, Responsibility, and by his son, Reason.

He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights I Want It Now Someone Else Is To Blame I’m A Victim

Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, join the majority and do nothing.

I am not a booking agent

2009-02-16T12:56:03-08:00

Today I received what has to be one of the most random emails ever. It wasn't spam in the sense that it was offering me viagra or something along those lines, but it was spam in the sense that I haven't signed up to any lists that should send me this kind of thing.

I've posted the email at the bottom of this post, but basically it was an email that was sent out advertising "celebrities" (and when you read the email you'll see why I put the quotes in) that will come and do "performances" (known in the industry as "PAs").

Now, let me explain why this is random. I am not a booking agent. For anywhere. I work part time in a students' union nightclub but I definately don't work on the events team. So how they even got my email address I have no idea as the one it got sent to has nothing to do with that place.

So if there are any PR companies out there who are trying to get their "celebrity" acts on stage, please do not email me. Ever. There is no point. Especially if you're trying to market them by the fact that they are cheap. Because that would make me want to book them even less.

Here's the email I got sent:

Dear All

With the credit crunch amongst us, its always good to know that some acts wont exactly break the bank, but will still be a great attraction for your customers! Some of the acts that I am putting out for £1000 or less are listed below! Let me know if any of these take your interest and I can give you more details!

SKINS - THOMAS/NAOMI Thomas or Naomi from the hit TV show 'Skins' are available on their own for a personal appearance within this price bracket! The show is proving such a hit this year on E4 that it will be debuting on Channel 4 very shortly!! The perfect student PA!
SHIPWRECKED Available in a variety of groups, Shipwrecked is still a massive draw, pulling in the viewers every Sunday on T4 and repeated on the Saturday. A perfect PA for students and under 18's and is one of our most popular PA's.
SCOTT ROBINSON - 5IVE GREATEST HITS SET He came third on Celebrity Scissorhands, was one fifth of the massive 5IVE, and is available to sing all their Greatest hits plus a meet & greet. A huge attraction who is constantly rebooked! Will sing all the hits including the number one singles 'Keep on Moving' and 'If ya Getting down'.
BRADLEY MCINTOSH - SCLUB 7 JO OMEARA - SCLUB 7 Both S Club 7 stars are available for solo shows consiting of original material & S Club numbers. Following the success of S Club 3, their profile is currently sky high!
CHRIS BROOKS/DES PAUL - CAPITAL FM Both Chris Brooks & Des Paul from Londons prestigious Capital FM are available for DJ sets either together or solely. A perfect addition for any London nightclub or surrounding suburb.
ACTS UNDER £300 I have a selection of high quality girlbands and solo acts available for promo fees, for more information please ask!
Many Thanks

Matt Wynter

New Tattoo

2009-02-11T11:04:35-08:00

As I wrote in my last post, I've just got a new tattoo. The design is one I've wanted to get done for about 5 or 6 years, so to finally have it done is a real milestone for me.

It was originally going to be my first tattoo, but I chickened out and got a smaller one instead. However, I've finally got it done and am very happy with the result. It's still going through its manky scabby stage (sounds worse than it actually is) but the photos that I've taken so far can be found in this set on Flickr.

If anyone is curious, I got it done at Jon Nott Custom Tattoos up Manor Road in Guildford by Aimée Lou.

New Years' Resolutions - an Update

2009-02-09T09:41:03-08:00

Ok, I'd like to draw your eye back to my post on my New Years' Resolutions that I posted at the beginning of last month. If you haven't read it yet feel free to... I'll wait....

Ok, done? Right. Well, I'm very pleased to say that I've started one of them, and completed another! So, my list now looks like the following:

Start an LLB with the OU - not for any career purposes. I just want to do. It's only part time so it will take a good 5-6 years to do.
Start work on one of my start-up ideas - I have a few at the moment but don't seem to have time to sit down and make a start on any of them. That's going to change!
Actively search down more freelance work - this has been pretty static over the past few years, but I'd like to get back into it. I've got a couple of things in the pipeline which should come to fruition soon.
One more - try to hunt down (through Google cache and the way back machine) some of the old posts that were deleted by the crappy people at Netbunch (I would link through to them, but it seems the domain name is up for sale. Funny that)
And another - That tattoo I want of the dragon? Yup I'm going to get it done this year (hopefully sooner rather than later) - I've taken a couple of photos, but haven't got around to uploading them yet. I've kind of started number 1. I have at least pre-registered for my first module. So although I've not officially started, I've at least got the ball rolling.

25 things about me

2009-02-04T14:33:06-08:00

I posted this as a note on my facebook profile, but I thought I would post it here as well:

I broke my arm when I was 6 and I can't twist it round
I have seven tattoos
I love black pudding
It took me 4 attempts over a period of 9 years to pass my driving test
My all time favourite film is Lost in Translation
I've met Terry Pratchett and got him to sign a card for a friend who's appendix had exploded
I'd like to own a bar one day
The smell of cat food makes me retch
At some point in my life I want to run my own business
I've been wearing glasses for over 20 years
There is photographic evidence that I first got into computers when I was 5
I only have two phobias (that I can think of) - needles and jellyfish
I'm only superstitious about magpies and three drain covers in a row (is that weird enough for you Wes?)
I really want to visit Japan (that might have something to do with my favourite film)
When I was very young (3 or 4 maybe?) I got lost in Harrods. After panicking, my mum found me in the food hall being fed by a nice lady who worked there
I've never skied or snowboarded
I am allergic (though not severely) to cherry tomatoes and gala melons

18.I shave my hair very short, but if it was long it would be quite wavy. Some might say curly.

The album that I put on if I'm feeling really down is Meatloaf's Bat Out of Hell 2. There's nothing quite like having that blasting out of a stereo
I'm a bit strange when it comes to some food. I eat most things except fish. However i like some fish, like cod (but only when in the form of fish fingers or battered from the local chippy) and smoked salmon. But I don't like cooked salmon.
If I ever have any daughters I will be incredibly protective over them. Think of that scene from Bad Boys 2 (http://youtube.com/watch?v=o3NQaU7awPI)
There is nothing better than the taste of something that has been barbecued
I really like Dr Pepper and wish we could get it on draught over here
Even though I sucked my thumb for many years, I have never needed braces
I used to work in the restaurant and various cafés in Debenhams in Guildford. The customer lift there (allegedly) isn't earthed properly and I ALWAYS used to get a shock from the buttons. To this day, I can't touch a button in a lift with bare skin. That's pavlov for you.

Gmail redesigned

2009-01-29T09:43:07-08:00

One of the big items of news yesterday was that Gmail had been "taken offline" (see here for more details). Now, that doesn't mean a lot to me as with my G1 I can have my gmail offline all the time and have done since last month, so I was far more interested to see that they've also done a bit of a redesign on the system as well.

Gone is the green label for labels, and in general the colours have turned more pastelly, more asthetically pleasing.

I have to admit I quite like it.

Google Image Love

2009-01-13T15:00:55-08:00

Looking through the stats for my Flickr photos today and came across two referrals from Google images, both of which bring back links to my Fire and Air tattoos.

A search for water tattoos was also bringing back my Water tattoo, but not until page 5.

I'm assuming this is because of this forthcoming film, so more people are buying the books.

Nestle DVD Goodness

2009-01-13T10:28:41-08:00

So we finally got around to ordering DVDs for a whole pound(!) from play.com on Sunday and I've now had two out of three emails to confirm that they've been dispatched. Films ordered were Surf's Up, Hoodwinked and Open Season. Personally I wasn't a great fan of the third but haven't yet seen the other two so I can't pass judgement on the other two.

Hopefully will get Hoodwinked today or tomorrow (since I got the "we've sent this" email on the 11th) and I've just had the Surf's Up email today so that should mean some good cartoon viewing over the weekend.

Disqus is gone

2009-01-12T15:09:20-08:00

Wasn't getting any love from it. So I took it off. Nuff said.

Thundercats Ho!

2009-01-12T11:22:24-08:00

Ok, so it's a fan-made movie and there are definate hints of Troy, Pitch Black and Garfield in there, but it's still a damn good attempt to make a trailer for the Thundercats movie due out 2010(next year woo!!1!):

New Year, New Look

2009-01-12T10:12:04-08:00

Yes, I've changed the theme. Again. I found this one that I quite liked. There might be a few changes in links etc whilst I fix it.

New Years' Resolutions

2009-01-02T10:29:31-08:00

Didn't do one of these last year. However, I have a couple of things that I'd like to do, so it makes a bit of sense to put them here.

Ok then, here we go:

Start an LLB with the OU - not for any career purposes. I just want to do. It's only part time so it will take a good 5-6 years to do.
Start work on one of my start-up ideas - I have a few at the moment but don't seem to have time to sit down and make a start on any of them. That's going to change!
Actively search down more freelance/contracting work - this has been pretty static over the past few years, but I'd like to get back into it. I've got a couple of things in the pipeline which should come to fruition soon.
One more - try to hunt down (through Google cache and the way back machine) some of the old posts that were deleted by the crappy people at Netbunch (I would link through to them, but it seems the domain name is up for sale. Funny that)
And another - That tattoo I want of the dragon? Yup I'm going to get it done this year (hopefully sooner rather than later) I think that's about it. Just have to wait and see how they all go.

A couple of things

2008-12-18T10:17:02-08:00

I got a new phone on Monday. The T-Mobile G1 (otherwise known as the Google Phone). Very very nice. Very easy to use. Syncs email/contacts/calendar with my google apps account very quickly.

I've just bought a couple of tracks off Amazon MP3 store - Friendly Fire's Paris and Jeff Buckley's version of Hallelujah (none of that X-Factor crap for my MP3 player!) if anyone's interested. I was so impressed at how it all just worked. Yes I had to download an extra piece of software for it, but that was only about 700KB. The tracks downloaded very quickly (are Amazon using their own version of CloudFront for it?) and since they're DRM free could just copy them straight to my G1 and play them instantly.

Very very impressed with both my purchases.

WP 2.7 available and installed

2008-12-11T09:50:45-08:00

That is all.

A busy week

2008-11-15T10:53:23-08:00

I think I've just about caught up with my sleep now. It's been a busy week. Most evenings spent working on CompuCars which finally went live about half 7 on thursday morning (I wasn't actually there when it went live, having been in the office until 1am and then was back in the office at 9am to make sure there was someone in to fix any bugs that were let over).

Last night was at the I.C.E. in London. Was a good night. Food was awesome! Didn't have my camera, but there are some photos floating around.

And the rest of the weekend? Possibly Xmas shopping. Or at least thinking about it.

Is it an early winter?

2008-10-29T13:08:32-07:00

Even though I was doubting whether the summer was coming along, there's absolutely no doubt in my mind that winter has most definately arrived.

This morning for the first time (admittedly I've not had it for that long) I had to scrape ice off my car and apparently it snowed a little bit last night. It's been giving me ice warnings for a couple of weeks now (it beeps at me when the temperature gets below 3°C outside) but there hasn't actually been much ice on the roads or anything. I suppose I should start keeping an eye out.

In Guildford it's fairly easy to predict when it's going to snow heavily (last night doesn't count): usually never before January and usually never after the beginning of April. By heavily I mean like this and this.

A couple of people have said that it's early, being October and all, but it is the end of October remember. I think winter is right on time this year.

All I Want For Xmas

2008-10-27T21:24:29-07:00

Guitar Hero: World Tour

HELL YES! Anyone wants to buy me this for my birthday/Xmas, I would definately love you for ever.

Disqus

2008-10-27T21:20:49-07:00

I'm trying out Disqus for comments rather than using the standard Wordpress. You don't have to register to leave a comment, but if you do then you can view all your comments in one place.

W

2008-10-15T12:22:34-07:00

The bit that really made me laugh (and everyone in the office to look strangely at me) was that the guy who is playing Karl Rove in W played Dobby the House Elf in the Harry Potter films.

I always knew there was something evil about that elf...

[nod]

Ok, so I lied

2008-10-13T12:15:42-07:00

There wasn't a post later. Oh well. I got too involved in watching the Dog Whisperer and then 2 Fast 2 Furious. Both very good if you need something to have on the TV that you don't really want to pay attention to.

Work is very busy at the moment. We're redoing our main website and it's just busy busy busy. Having said that, I've still got some days holiday remaining, so I need to start working out what I'm going to do with them. I can't carry them over to the new year, so once I've got this project finished I might start working 4 day weeks. I plan to work between Xmas and New Year as it's generally quiet (it was last year) client-wise so I can get a load of internal stuff done.

What else is happening? The flat is looking good now. More and more floor space is starting to appear. We still haven't had a housewarming of any sort, but it's not a huge flat so I don't know how many people would fit comfortably. Probably won't end up having one.

Fetish night at the Union is happening on Friday. Will probably be working it as usual. Always a good night to work :) - it's too busy to enjoy as a punter but working as behind the bar is always a good way of passing the night with friends.

Test Post

2008-10-12T16:45:10-07:00

I've just installed Windows live Writer. Just a test post to try it out.

More later...

Twitter no longer sending sms updates to UK

2008-08-14T08:28:49-07:00

In my emails this morning I had one from the guys at Twitter saying that they were no longer sending updates to mobile phones. I understand why they've done this. In the US the user pays to receive text messages whereas over here it's the sender that pays. The email quotes that it would cost them approximately $1000 per user per year so it's understandable why they'd shut this service off.

However, this means that this is one less way to get your twitter fix, and no real way to get real time updates if you don't have am iPhone or a Blackberry.

Now, I prefer not to get my updates via text. I find it too distracting, although I do use it if there's some newsworthy event on where I want to receive up to the minute info, but of course that won't be happening anymore.

Hopefully this means that the guys at twitter will be spending more money and time on getting the xmpp feed up and running for everyone, but in the mean time it looks like I'll be strapped to my laptop if i want to get the latest.

If anyone wants to view the content, you can view it on the Twitter Blog.

Where did this come from?

2008-08-05T23:31:12-07:00

I don't own a Mac. Or a Macbook (although I am tempted). I don't own an iPhone. I do however have a 5th Generation iPod (aka a "video" iPod). No, that iPod has no internet connection. It has no calendar software, nor can it send, receive or have email "pushed" to it.

So why, when I go to my Control Panel in windows, do I see this (click the image for the full size view):

I'm assuming that it came with the latest version of iTunes when I downloaded it the other day, but I never asked for it. I don't even think it asked me if I wanted to install anything to do with it. And I thought it was bad when Microsoft used to install things without my say so.

Apple, you're taking liberties!!

(Apologies for the bad image editing. Photoshop was never my forté)

Time to start getting excited

2008-07-24T20:35:18-07:00

Over the past month or so, Emma and I have been looking for a flat to rent for the next year (or more) in Guildford. We found one we liked and I found out today, that all they need is her landlord's reference and then it's all go! We take on ownership a week today (although we won't pick up the keys until Saturday because Emma won't be around until then) and I have to admit that I'm quite excited.

The most exciting thing was that for the first time in God knows when I've actually passed a credit check. My credit is pretty poor due to some not too bright decisions with a credit card (i.e. getting one); in fact it's so bad that I've always said that if someone manages to steal my identity and get a credit card in my name then I'd like to know how they actually managed to get one since I can't.

Anyway, I'm very much looking forward to next weekend so that we can move in!!

Reverse Graffiti

2008-06-24T09:12:27-07:00

There's something about this that I really like. I woinder if there's anything like this in the UK? Anyone know?

Via

So damn true

2008-05-30T08:25:49-07:00

From

Back and photos already done

2008-05-29T23:48:15-07:00

I think this is the fastest that I've had photos uploaded after a holiday.

You can see them in my Flickr account. The big-ass boat right at the end is the new Queen Victoria (quite apt having visited Osbourne House that very day), the latest Cunard boat. The reason it's so blurry is because we were quite far away so I had to use the digital zoom as well as the optical one on my camera.

All the more reason to look into a DSLR.

A busy week ahead

2008-05-19T11:23:03-07:00

It's finally week 15 of semester 2 at UniS. Which means it's end of year show (EOYS). It's looking like an awesome lineup and generally it's going to be a fantastic couple of days. Wednesday it's Hed Kandi, Thursday it's Zane Lowe (the day I'm working so VERY excited about that) and Friday day it's Thorpe Park during the day and then Vernon Kay in the evening. Then sleep all day on Saturday (although if I'm up to it I might head up to London to pick up a certain person's birthday present - chances are I'll do it the weekend after though).

Then, on Sunday Emma and I are motoring down to Portsmouth, catching the ferry across to the Isle of Wight for two days. As of now we don't have any plans, but Em is (supposed to be) doing some Googling for stuff to do. I want to go to Osbourne House as I haven't been there for at least ten years. Who knows where else we'll go? Maybe the needles, maybe Black Gang Chine (or at least what's left of it).

Needless to say I plan to take lots of photos. But that's nothing new now, is it?

Stuff what I tweeted on 2008-05-17

2008-05-17T23:59:59-07:00

Portsmouth - winning the FA cup for the first time since 1939!! #

Stuff what I tweeted on 2008-05-16

2008-05-16T23:59:59-07:00

Getting sick of XML and SOAP. Want to go to bed #
@ryancarson Very cool signage #
Afternoon is really dragging today #
Listening to last night's zane low show on iplayer. Can't wait to see him next week #
Not a big fan of XML #

Stuff what I tweeted on 2008-05-15

2008-05-15T23:59:59-07:00

Finally got my SOAP request to work #

Stuff what I tweeted on 2008-05-14

2008-05-14T23:59:59-07:00

@ryan_g_adams Twhirl has friendfeed too #
@ryan_g_adams Ah, don't think that's possible. Personally I turned off FF... was getting info overload #

Stuff what I tweeted on 2008-05-13

2008-05-13T23:59:59-07:00

@elliotjaystocks Did you stay to the end of the credits? #
Learning how to use SOAP #
@elliotjaystocks Without giving too much away, it involved an uncredited Samual L Jackson (see IMDB to see who he plays) #
The office is defiantely coming down with something - me included #
Listening to (and really enjoying) the new pendulum album. #

Stuff what I tweeted on 2008-05-12

2008-05-12T23:59:59-07:00

Note to self: don't try to get a prescription sorted at lunch time #
@nicepaul How much does/will Silverback cost? #

Stuff what I tweeted on 2008-05-11

2008-05-11T23:59:59-07:00

Back from the gym and the car wash. Scrabble is looking nice and shiny now #
@centernetworks is FF still down? Works fine for me (UK) #
@Scobleizer When's the third mahalo video coming out? #
God i <3 microwave popcorn #

Stuff what I tweeted on 2008-05-10

2008-05-10T23:59:59-07:00

Its always fun to leave work when dawn is breaking #

Stuff what I tweeted on 2008-05-09

2008-05-09T23:59:59-07:00

The number of tweets in twitterlocal... what time period is that over? Or is it from the launch of the site? #
@Reynolds How many emails to sort through? #
Would have thought I'd reached 1000 updates so far. Obv need to tweet harder #
@nicepaul do it! #
@Reynolds Mmm toad in hole. Home made or bought? #
@Whatleydude Every day is 'be sexually inappropriate with your friends day' #
From the University of State the Bleeding Obvious http://tinyurl.com/3z8kf8 #

Twitter Updates for 2008-05-08

2008-05-08T23:59:59-07:00

Looking forward to the end of the month and my 5 day extended weekend! #

Are we going to have a summer this year?

2008-05-08T13:47:54-07:00

Last summer was a shocker. "What summer?" I hear you cry. Exactly. Now, one side of me loved last year, as it meant that I had no hayfever whatsoever.

However, I can already feel the pollen taking effect. My eyes are itchy. I'm sneezing more than I usually do. So a bad sign for the hayfever, but it's a good sign for the nice hot summer that we missed out on last year. The summer before was awesome: lots of opportunities for barbeques, drinking in the evenings etc. etc.

I really hope that it stays like this.

Dislaimer: I take no responsibility for jinxing the weather.

Twitter Updates for 2008-05-07

2008-05-07T23:59:59-07:00

@mbites Is this not portable enough? http://tinyurl.com/568qgj #

Bank Holidays

2008-05-05T18:09:41-07:00

I love bank holidays. Not because I don't have to go to work (I'm really enjoying my job at the moment) but because Emma and I always do something. Since she works at weekends, we don't often get to spend a lot of time doing stuff together so we make sure that we defintely do something on Bank holidays.

Today was no different. Up early (kind of) we went to The Vyne, a 16th century house near Basingstoke, then drive back to The Good Intent, a really nice pub in Puttenham, then off to Puttenham common for a walk.

Was a really hot day, and we're both tired. But it was a really really nice day. Roll on the summer holiday!

Update: Just added the photos to Flickr

Thorpe Park seems a lot smaller than it seems on the ground

2008-04-28T16:11:48-07:00

I was looking up Thorpe Park on t'internet (I'm going there in a few weeks time) and was looking at how to get there on Google Maps.

The last time I went there was in October and it seemed quite big, area wise. But having looked on Google Maps, it looks really small.

Can't believe I haven't posted this yet...

2008-04-18T08:57:06-07:00

It's been just over a week now, but last Tuesday I finally passed my driving test!! It's only taken me about 9 years to do so. I'm going down to Portsmouth tomorrow to test drive a car (a Peugeot 307 to be precise). It all depends on a couple of financial things, but with any luck I'll be driving it back up to Guildford on Sunday night.

Upgrade succesful

2008-03-29T16:14:57-07:00

I've just upgraded to the latest version of Wordpress (2.5 for those interested). No problems with it so far. New dashboard looks nice. Might take a little while to find my way around it as a few things have changed, but not so bad so far.

Gym gymeny gym gym - update

2008-02-18T14:33:21-08:00

Ok, this is more of an ego stroking post than anything else. I just wanted to say that I'm very impressed with myself for going to the gym 3 times in the past 7 days. I think that 3 times a week is enough at the moment and with the other things that I do should keep me busy. I'm tempted to go at a weekend too, but not sure when, as I go on both Friday and Monday and I don't really want to hurt myself. Maybe Saturday afternoon would be a good time, as I'm generally quite bored whilst Emma's at work. I'll try going this Saturday and see how I feel.

I've also got a two week "check" with one of the guys from the gym, so I get to find out how much weight I've lost (I don't trust the scales at home!)

Putting effort in

2008-02-11T12:42:02-08:00

I think I say this every so often, but this week I'm definately going to make a concerted effort to start on this project that I've been wanting to do for ages. It's going to be quite a major undertaking as it's going to involve a few web services. I was thinking about doing it in RoR but I think I'm going to stick with what I know best (i.e. PHP).

I've had a database schema in my head now for a while, so I need to get that into a database (or at least the first implementation of it) and then actually start working on the site. There's going to be a fair bit going on in the background as well, since there's quite a lot of stuff like video encoding (which is where the web services will come in as I plan to use AWS to do a lot of the hardcore stuff). But that will come later.

The thing that bothers me is that the site is very heavily based on User Generated Content (seems to be a bit of a buzzword at the moment), but it's content that I can't put together myself. Don't want to give too much away at this point, but it involves music and unsigned bands. Now, I'm not a band, so I can't put stuff up. If anyone has any thoughts about how best to do this, then please please let me know.

[RoR]: Ruby on Rails [AWS]: Amazon Web Services

Gym gymeny gym gym

2008-02-06T09:54:00-08:00

Yup, today is my second session at the gym. Last week I had a check up which said I was overweight (but not obese woot!) which was not unexpected (I am a little on the podgy front). I have to admit I'm quite looking forward to starting to work out again. Lets hope that I can keep this going this time. I'm doing some Bupa scheme which says that I'm supposed to go at least twice a week. Since I have to walk past the gym on my way to and from work, I'm constantly reminded that I should be going and Godalming's not exactly far from Guildford so weekends aren't out of the question.

links for 2008-01-30

2008-01-30T00:52:46-08:00

How to create CSS layouts without using FLOAT

links for 2008-01-29

2008-01-29T00:42:39-08:00

YUI: CSS Grid Builder

Could be useful

Apropos Comics : Apropos of Something

(tags: hacks humor webcomic)

Danny's Vista Setup

Could be quite useful. Might take a proper look at some point

(tags: computer microsoft optimization vista)

One to show Emma

links for 2008-01-28

2008-01-28T00:38:57-08:00

Web 2.0 workplaces [PICS] - UADDit

Youtube Mobile

2008-01-25T00:31:05-08:00

I've just installed the new youtube app for my n95 and I have to admit I'm impressed. I was expecting far more lag than I got and although sometimes it had to catch up with itself, I'm just assuming that was more to do with the network than anything else. Now I just need to remember that I only have a gig a month data plan so I mustn't watch too much.

RIP Heath Ledger

2008-01-23T12:03:57-08:00

Woah. Here's a guy that I've never met. Never spoken to. Never even seen in person. But I can't help but feel strangely sad that he's now dead. It's a strange feeling. I almost feel slightly wierd about it. As if I shouldn't and I'm just being silly. Who knows.

Picture credit: Getty via BBC

The meaning of irony

2008-01-23T10:52:49-08:00

I got an email yesterday from Fasthosts. Yes that Fasthosts. The tag line? "Risk Free Web Hosting!".

Oh the irony.

Wavelog

2008-01-23T10:40:59-08:00

I've been looking to a way to post to this here blog from my N95 for a while and had heard good things about Wavelog (just released). I'm going to have a play over the next couple of weeks. You'll see the results here.

Test

2008-01-23T10:38:23-08:00

Just trying a post using Wavelog. Just to see how it goes.

links for 2008-01-23

2008-01-23T00:50:03-08:00

UK's number one router open to VoIP hijacking | The Register

This is worrying. I know quite a few people with a BT Home Hub.

(tags: security BT VoIP)

links for 2008-01-22

2008-01-22T00:40:35-08:00

Another one. This looks quite a good one

(tags: development rails tutorials)

80s Cartoons - the best 80s Cartoons site on the net!

Real nostalgia site.

(tags: cool england history music reference)

links for 2008-01-19

2008-01-19T00:40:55-08:00

piracy2.jpg (JPEG Image, 370x522 pixels)

So so true

(tags: dvd humour)

comic24.jpg (JPEG Image, 724x516 pixels)

I shouldn't like this but I do

(tags: comic)

Best IDE/Editor for Ruby on Rails? - jesse crouch’s log » Blog Archive

(tags: rails ide editor)

links for 2008-01-18

2008-01-18T00:38:11-08:00

ONLamp.com -- Rolling with Ruby on Rails

As I think it's about time i looked at RoR

links for 2008-01-17

2008-01-17T00:45:37-08:00

Why Can't I Own a Canadian?

Very very funny

(tags: funny humour laws stupid)

Geek Culture - No.1 in MMORPG, MMOG, MMO, Online Gaming Community and Guild Hosting!

(tags: humour photos)

Computer Languages History (preview)

(tags: development Programming history technology)

8fmd9mw.jpg (JPEG Image, 900x642 pixels)

(tags: internet)

116.gif (GIF Image, 400x439 pixels)

(tags: comics funny)

So true. Even more so since my clients are car salesmen....

(tags: humour webdesign design)

The Pro-Choice Argument | Canucklehead.ca | Canucklehead

(tags: humour pro- choice)

HTTP Response Codes

(tags: useful)

(tags: computer drivers microsoft)

Country List for Form Menu

(tags: Programming tutorial)

Links

2008-01-15T14:52:05-08:00

The previous post was me testing del.icio.us (my bookmarking tool of choice)'s "post to blog" tool. I might leave it to do its thing for a while. I'm also trying StumbleUpon at the moment to find new content, so some of that I'll probably post to del.icio.us and thereby to the blog.

I'll try it for a while. I might keep it. I might not. Who knows?

links for 2008-01-15

2008-01-15T14:23:32-08:00

CSS Cheat Sheet

Holiday photos

2008-01-15T09:43:46-08:00

Only just realised that I hadn't posted a link to my photos yet. Well, here they are

Not my weekend

2008-01-13T14:56:59-08:00

I've been back from Center Parcs for a couple of days now (well, since late Friday night) and it's really not been my weekend. Yesterday I was feeling quite crappy due to a head cold (probably due to some little bastard in the pool) and today I'm biting down on a sandwich and find that half my tooth has cracked off! So I've not really been that lucky.

I've had a look in the mirror andthere doesn't seem to be much left. I'm really hoping that they can rebuild the tooth rather than removing it and putting something there in its place as that sounds really painful.

And I'm going to have to miss some of tomorrow's work. So it's really not going well.

Center Parcs

2008-01-06T22:49:04-08:00

Last time I went to Center Parcs was about a month before I went to University. It's really odd to think of all that's happened over the past (just over) 5 years since then.

Anyway, I'm going to be incommunicado until Friday evening, although I will probably be reading the occasional email. I'll post as many photos I can onto my Flickr account.

So this is Christmas

2007-12-25T09:51:46-08:00

And what have I done? I don't really know if I'd call this year a busy one. It doesn't really feel like it. I can't believe it's nearly a year since Emma and I went to Rome for New Year. So what has happened since then?

There's been another holiday, this time to Menorca. We took less photos, but this was less a sight seeing holiday, which Rome definately was, than a "getting away" holiday. The next one is in a couple of weeks to Center Parcs which will definately not be a relaxing holiday, but I'm really looking forward to it.

Admittedly it was a very recent thing, but I've changed jobs. My old job at ETS was a lot of fun, but it was time for me to move on and I'm really enjoying the work I've been doing so far at UK Websites.

Other than that, things have been ticking along nicely. I think there are definately some things that I would like to have done, and maybe in the New Year some of those things will come to fruition. However, I'm very happy with the way things have gone this year and hope that the year to come will bring some new challenges for me.

200 Feeds before New Year

2007-12-06T22:11:59-08:00

I read a lot of feeds. Possibly not as many as some people but at the time of writing I've got to 191 (see My OPML file for a list of them all - and yes I know that mine's one of them, but it comforts me to know that my posts actually get "out there"). My aim is to get to 200 feeds by New Year.

Report that spam!

2007-12-05T13:44:54-08:00

One thing I have noticed recently is that more and more spam is managing to bypass Gmail's spam filter and is successfully infiltrating my Inbox. Admittedly it's only the odd one or two, but I'm sure Google used to be better than that.

Anyone else having this problem?

Moving On

2007-11-26T00:26:31-08:00

Before a couple of weeks ago I had never resigned from a company before to move on somewhere else. Any part time jobs I had had I finished either because I got snowed under with academic work or because I started my placement year. My placement year was only a year's contract so I knew from day one when it would end. My sabb year was again only a year, so I knew when that would finish.

I've been casually looking at jobs, keeping an eye on the market. You know, just seeing whats out there. I came across one that I thought I'd be interested in, took the phone interview, met the MD and ended up with the job. A lot more money than I'm currently getting, closer to home and I get to do stuff in .NET.

The hardest part was handing in my notice. I've loved working at ETS. I like to think that I've really come part of their team and that they'll miss me.

At least I hope so. I'll miss them.

But, a new challenge awaits. New people to meet (which is one of the bits I like about a new job). The only thing that kinda sucks is that I have to work between Christmas and New Year. Having said that, Emma and I are going to Centerparcs in January and we're both really looking forward to it. It's a bit different from Rome this year, but it should be good. Then we can start thinking about and planning our summer holiday. Hopefully then I'll be able to drive (4th time lucky).

Oh the irony

2007-09-19T13:17:06-07:00

Ok, lets get the preamble out the way: iPhone blah blah Uk blah O2 blah.

Finished?

Paul Annett, over on his blog, has pointed out that even though they have been deemed great enough to be the ones to offer the iPhone (officially of course, since it's apparently very easy to unlock it to other networks) the O2 website can't be used correctly on (of all things) Safari, the very same browser that (wait for it) ships with the iPhone.

[Image from http://paulannett.co.uk]

Save Camden

2007-08-29T22:11:41-07:00

If you live in the UK and have never ventured to Camden Town, why the hell not? It's an awesome place, filled with the most wierd and wonderful collection of shops and people I have ever come across.

One part of it is known as Camden Stables and it seems some low lifes in the local council has decided to try to commercialise the area (boo! hiss!), not realising that by doing do they are robbing not only those who work there, but those people who live and breath the life-blood that is Camden.

So, I ask you to sign this petition and save this wonderful area.

(Photo lovingly stolen from XFM)

TV shows on iTunes

2007-08-29T21:13:17-07:00

Apple finally announced today that us poor folk in the UK will be able to download TV programs (but not yet movies) from the iTunes Store. Being the ever curious person that I am, I downloaded Make Love, Not Warcraft, the South Park episode thats half South Park, half WoW Machina (movies made using games for those that don't know).

On the whole, pretty cool. at only £1.89 an episode, that's not really that bad. The download was fairly speedy and the quality wasn't too bad. The only thing that lets it down is the lack of content available at the moment (no CSI and no movies yet, at least in the UK) but hopefully that will change pretty quickly, especially as Google is no longer a competitor.

More info here

Pownce invites for all!

2007-08-29T19:45:47-07:00

I have 5 Pownce invites if anyone wants one. Just post in the comments.

It pains me to say this

2007-08-21T09:41:00-07:00

... as it admits to me watching One Tree Hill, but I also love it when something as mainstream as the BBC makes a cock- up. You would have thought that one of the biggest media companies in the world would at least do a bit of research for their news. Anyone who watchs OTH would know that Chad Murrey Michaels doesn't play Nathan...

looks sheepish

I want a camper van

2007-08-19T17:27:23-07:00

I've decided that when I have passed my driving test (whenever that is) I am going to buy a VW Campervan. I don't know why, but I've always wanted one.

Thats all I wanted to say.

Who would take their laptop bag in the shower?

2007-08-17T12:46:45-07:00

Who would take their laptop bag in the shower?

Originally uploaded by piers

When will companies in the US accept that there are perfectly good customers over here?

2007-08-13T20:51:34-07:00

Ok, firstly I should state that this isn't all US companies. It could well be a small minority. Hell, there are probably companies in the UK (where I'm from) that do exactly the same thing. I'll freely admit that I haven't done an outstanding amount of research, but I can't be the only person that this is affecting.

The issue I'm referring to is one that I've seen on various websites. The one of only accepting credit cards as payment methods.

Let me start with Basecamp. It's an excellent piece of software that completely revolutionised the way people think about project management, by making it all about communication. I think the guys over at 37signals have done an excellent job. So what's my problem with them? I get fed up with only being allowed one project at a time. That's the limit you can have with the free version of their software, and due to the simple fact that I don't have a credit card I can't use this awesome piece of software as much as I'd like to. It's the same with all their software.

A simple option for them would be to add PayPal as an option. It can't be that hard. I'm aware that PayPal does charge business for the use, but don't all payment gateways?

Ok lets leave 37Signals for a moment and focus on a much bigger fish: Amazon.

Amazon have implemented Amazon Web Services, which (so I've read) are excellent and cost efficient ways of doing certain online tasks such as implementing file storage.

But yet again I can't make use of these services as I don't own a credit card.

37Signals I can forgive. They're not a big company. It could well be fairly pricey to add in a new payment method. But Amazon already accept debit cards such as Maestro or Visa Delta. Only last month I bought the latest Harry Potter book. With my Maestro card. So why can't I use that same card to pay for Amazon's SSS service?

So why am I suggesting that US companies need to start thinking outside their borders? Simple really. The US is very much a credit driven culture. Most Americans I know (and admittedly that's not many) have a credit card and don't know many more people that don't. Over here it's different. For most of the people I know, a credit card is either something that you have in case of emergency, for paying for that big expense like a holiday or for when you're putting it on the company expenses. I refuse to believe that there aren't people like me out there who either don't want one for reasons of their own or (like me) can't get one for a particular reason.

Earlier I mentioned PayPal. I know that there are a lot of people out there who don't like it because of some of their practices regarding the closing of accounts and the such like. But I like it. It enables me to be able to pay for services and items from US shops and companies online. I'm not suggesting that all companies should use them, but if they thought about making their products more accessible to people like me who don't own this particular payment method then they might open up a completely new market that they hadn't thought of or noticed before.

A couple more videos to amuse

2007-08-11T19:46:25-07:00

Those guys at CollegeHumour really make me laugh.

Facebook Off

Minesweeper

Supermarket 2.0

2007-08-11T19:41:10-07:00

Web 2.0 is all around us.

But what would it be like in real life?

Check out the video after the jump (some language NSFW, hence why the jump)

glumbert.com - Supermarket 2.0

Is this the coolest thing ever?

2007-08-10T09:32:07-07:00

Yes I know it's only a "proof of concept", but the idea of a combined DAP and CD player where you can see the CD turning is awesome!

[linky]

Someday I shall do this

2007-08-07T13:04:25-07:00

I really really want to drive across the US one day. I've been to San Fransisco. I'm probably going to Houston next year. But I'd love to drive across the country.

I've been playing with Google Maps and I think that this route is the one I'd like to take. It pretty much covers all of the major places I'd like to visit. Just to take 2 or 3 weeks to do it sounds so wonderful.

Someday.

House hunting

2007-08-06T13:21:16-07:00

I think it's time I started flat/hunting. I have to be out of my current house either on the 16th September or (depending on the landlord) the end of September and as it's already the 6th August, it's about time I started.

Ideally I'd like a studio or one bedroom flat. I've looked at a couple of sites online and they seem to have quite a few, but they're either too expensive (I'm looking for <£750ish exc bills) or too small (those who know me know I have an extraordinary amount of shit to store and I'd rather not have to pay extra for storage). One doesn't even have an oven!!

Although it may not interest you, I'm going to probably post a couple of the places I look at on here so I have some kind of record of what they look like.

Let the fun commence!

What am I, a one man Drobo marketing machine?

2007-08-03T20:07:23-07:00

Well, I've started so I'll finish. Received an email from VCI systems (the company reselling machines in the UK):

Apologies in advance for any doubling up to those correspondents who may have already received similar from the US, or been included other mail outs. A Drobo unit with no drives is £350.00 inclusive of VAT with UK shipping at £14.95 A bundled unit including 2 x 320Gb drives is also available at £499.00. We are expecting stock into the UK in the coming week. Best regards Robert Creech

So, 640 Gb with Drobo for £499? Not too bad. Probably going to wait for some reviews first (although if ayone from VCI is reading this and fancies loaning me one...)

Oops

2007-08-03T11:28:02-07:00

Oh dear. I seem to have done something a bit silly. I just got caught up in the heat of the moment.

I've signed up for the work 5 a side football match on Tuesday. It should be a lot of fun, but I haven't played for about 2 years so I'm a little nervous.

One for Wesley

2007-08-03T09:36:43-07:00

sylar-and-me

Originally uploaded by mathowie

I mentioned to Wesley a while ago that I reckoned that Matthew Haughey

looked like Sylar (evil-type guy from Heroes) and he didn't think so, but this should prove him wrong.

Drobo: The story continues...

2007-08-02T18:35:43-07:00

Wow these guys like to keep you up to date!!

I've just received another email from Drobo (see here for the last one). This one states that the £499 is including disks (although it didn't specify how much storage). If you just want the Drobo system without any disks, it's going to cost you £350 inc VAT. Now thats a bit better (since the $499 US price probably doesn't include sales tax).

I'm definately seriously thinking about getting one of these. If anyone's got one and they don't mind loaning it to me (or if VCI is reading this can I have a loaner pretty please?)

[update]Just another thing that crossed my mind... For the £499 model, how much space do you get with it? £150 you're only looking at about 150GB worth[/update]

Email from VCI Systems

2007-08-01T20:51:01-07:00

(Reminder... VCI are the company in the UK selling the Drobo)

Thank you for your recent enquiry. Drobo units are expected in the UK during the week beginning 6th August and will be priced at £499 including VAT and shipping to mainland UK. We will contact you to confirm when the stock is available. Best regards Robert Creech

Possibly a little more than I was planning on spending (£499 is about double what you'd have to pay in the States), especially as you then have to pay for your hard disks on top of that. Maybe I should buy myself one as a Christmas present. It'll give me the chance to save up...

New camera - Canon IXUS Wireless

2007-08-01T13:13:58-07:00

Wow! It's so tiny!! Since I'm at work I haven't actually had a chance to try it out yet, but when I get home I'll charge it up and give it a shot.

[update]I've just uploaded some photos. You can see them all on my Flickr page.

Javascript Issues in WP 2.2.1

2007-08-01T00:15:11-07:00

Just a quickie before I fall asleep at my keyboard: is anyone else having issues with javascript in this version of WordPress? Or is it just me and I'm doing something funny?

Drobo now available in the UK

2007-08-01T00:14:05-07:00

I first heard of Drobo from the forever bouncy Cali Lewis about a month or so ago and emailed the company to find out when it was going to be available in the UK (back then it was only available in the US).

Now I'm happy to say that I've just received an email from Data Robotics (the company that makes Drobo) saying that it's going to be available through VCI Systems. Although there isn't anything on their site at the moment, I'm sure they'll update it soon.

I've just tried to email them through the address that I was sent, but it seems to have bounced back. Not a good sign.

Radio Lab

2007-07-31T09:25:40-07:00

Wesley, one of my friends from across the pond introduced me to the Radio Lab podcasts. It's an hour long program that comes out once a month or so that focuses on incredibly varied topics from zoos to memory to death.

Presented by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, each episode concentrates on one of those subjects but talks about many different aspects. Its a history, science and general knowledge lesson all rolled into one. Each hour is made up of talk by the two presenters as well as stories and reports by experts from all over the world.

It's perfect for long journeys when you're not in the mood for music (I listen to it on my long commute to work in the mornings) and there's always something new to learn. Sometimes some of the stories aren't for the faint hearted but generally the're told intelligently but still in a way that's really easy to understand.

If you're looking for something new to listen to, but not necessarily music based, I definitely think that you should give Radio Lab a shot.

I listen to the podcast as I can't pick it up over here in the UK (although I don't generally listen to the radio unless I'm in the car and since I don't own one you can imagine how often that is).

The podcast can be found via iTunes (do a search for Radio Lab in the iTunes store) or from the Radio Labs website.

Why I'm excited

2007-07-30T18:57:15-07:00

I'm very excited today. Not because the weather has finally turned nice. Not because it's payday tomorrow (although that in itself a very exciting thought). No the reason I'm excited is because I've bought myself a new digital camera.

I used to have an Olympus mju (or however you spell it) but for some reason the sliding front stopped working about a year ago. I could have got it fixed but to be honest that was more fuss than it was worth and if it was still operational today it would have been about 4 years old.

The camera I have bought is this one. A Canon IXUS wireless. 5 mega pixels so quite an improvement on the last 3.2 MP beauty that the Olympus was. But wireless as well. Apparently I can wirelessly print to any Pictbridge printer or simply copy the photos to my (wireless) laptop.

The best thing of all though is the price. £100 including delivery. I'm pretty sure it's a typo as Amazon charges about £250 - 300 for the same one, although you can get a used one from Amazon marketplace for about £130.

So that's why I'm excited. Unfortunately it won't arrive for another week, so I won't have it for Carol and Mike's wedding on Saturday but I'll try to borrow Emma's for that day and post some up after that.

[Update - Woo it's left the warehouse. Might actually arrive here tomorrow then!

Lawyers R U.S.

2004-02-18T12:39:41-08:00

Whilst eating breakfast this morning, I was watching TV and one of those adverts for "no win no fee" compensation lawyers came up, this one offering 100% compensation if you win. However, if you win, you have to pay them a sum of money which is (probably) fairly hefty.

So, the question I want to know is: if you get 100% of the compensation, where do the lawyers' fees come from? Surely if you have major loss of earnings due to some tragic accident, then you're not going to be able to afford much, are you?

Or is this where "punitive damages" come in? I'm not a lawyer by any stretch of the imagination, but I know (or at least I think I know) that these are the damages that companies have to pay as a kind of fine, i.e. something to make sure that they don't do whatever they did again.

However, if there is an accident (not through your own fault, just like it says on the ad), do punitive damages come in? Or are those only for when people sue others?

That's another thing that I can't stand: people suing other people for silly things. Take for example, the woman who sued Janet Jackson (the whole SuperBowl half-time show incident) because she felt that she was "injured". Come on!! You see breasts every time you look in the mirror!! Grrr

And (with no offence meant to any Americans that might possibley maybe read this), all these people that sue for these little things (ok, so they might not think that they're so very little) seem to be Americans. If any Americans do read this, can they please let me know. Do they need the money or something?

Toy!!

2004-02-17T21:35:09-08:00

Cool!! Just I have just installed pocketblog which means that i can write posts on my Dell Axim.

It's harder then it looks tho....

Rewind...

2004-02-17T21:20:52-08:00

...again. Yes I know that this is the second time I've restarted my blog. But I got encouraged by friend and client Wesley from the DeepStar project.

Well, I think I'll stick with this style for now, but I'm gonna look into creating a new one. I'm pretty sure that I've said that before, but this time it's gonna happen; I hope.