flotsky blog - just another geek

This blog has now moved

2006-08-10T02:30:00.000+01:00

For all flotsky related things, now go to flotsky.org

Organisation is tough

2006-07-13T17:28:00.000+01:00

Right, I am going to get organised. Really. No really I am.

I have actually made a lot of strides in the past year, but I've fallen back slightly. So I am going to have a big push to sort out beyond that.

The main thing I am going to do, is to try to use two programs on my computers. Eclipse and Firefox. Essentially, Eclipse should be used for all my programming, Firefox for pretty much everything else. There are a few specific things I need to use on certain computers, eg I have little or no choice but to use Lotus Notes for work email. I will permit myself those where I have to. Where I have the option, it will be either online in Firefox, or done within Eclipse.

I'd like, ideally, to have almost everything else I need under Google. I think I will move over what needs moving as each new service becomes available. For instance, I use Yahoo Calendar for reminders and todo lists. As soon as I can get such things under Google, they will go.

This is all a bit hazy, I may have to think things through and explain more later.

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a geek divided

2006-07-12T01:56:00.000+01:00

The last in the present series of Doctor Who really seems to have divided fans into two camps, those who thought it was exceptionally sad and moving, and those that thought it was fucking stupid. I actually agree with both sides.

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doctor
who

Showchoirs

2006-07-07T11:35:00.000+01:00

I found this looking for the original last night. I had never come across the concept, which clearly appears to be a mixture of gospel choirs and competative cheerleading. I am now obsessed with finding the most obtuse track covered by a showchoir. Get on Youtube yourself and see if you can find one. Let me know in the comments any links you find!

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What am I reading and listening and doing at the moment? Well.

2006-07-06T08:31:00.000+01:00

Thought I would do a quick update on what is floating my boat at the moment, have made a push to find some new things to occupy me.

Podcasts

I used to love the Adam and Joe show on Channel 4. A pair of chaps who talk rubbish about things they love. What more do you need to know? It sounds an awful lot like 99% of all podcasts. Well they have been doing it for years and years on the telly, so they are very good at it. This podcast is actually highlights of their XFM show, and is incredibly funny. I would strongly recommend starting with the show where they discuss the astonishing R Kelly HipHopera, Trapped in the Closet.Try it yourself here.

I've listened to my first Hospital Records Podcast today, and it is some wonderful Drum and Bass to get you woken properly on a morning.

Books
After enjoying Douglas Copeland's latest book JPod, it has been down to the grindstone with my geek reading. So I have read Head First HTML & CSS, which is a starter book on writing web pages, but with a very standards-based approach. It is a very good read as a refresher for anyone who has done HTML in the past, but has fallen behind a little. Mine is pretty good, but I had never had any good training on CSS, and it was very helpful to be taught that properly in a current manner. I think the way I would put it is that if you still lay out elements on a page using tables, other than data that should go in a table, you really need to read this book.

I've moved onto reading a book about design theories called Domain Driven Design. Very heavy going, but some of the concepts have been very helpful, one of them is a very sensible approach to design called Ubiquitous Language. This is, namely, that in order for you to design a product for a customer, you all have to know and understand the terms you are talking about to a high standard. I suppose the classic explanation of this is an old story about a Brit asking a German to build him something out of bricks, and being very angry when instead of using the small british housebrick, he used the standard large German brieze block. The problem being that both sides had a different idea of what a brick was. These sort of definition issues can crop up a lot in software design, and the theory is that before you get going, you hammer them out. Makes good sense.

TV

Actually slowing down a little on the telly front, not masses around. Have been watching the World Cup and Big Brother, and then Lost, Desperate Housewives and 24. 24 came to what was almost a wonderful conclusion, they tied up the series 5 storyline perfectly, but then totally spoilt it all with the last twist, that basically made the man whom is always saving the planet, Jack Bauer, look like an utter plank.

The main thing I am looking forwards to is a repeat of 80s drama/comedy GBH, which detailed in effect the rise and fall of someone suspiciously like Derek Hatton in Liverpool. It stars Robert Lyndsey, but I had forgotten that it also has a fair bit of Michael Palin in. Cannot wait.

Gaming
It is all about the Nintendo DS these days. I have been mainly playing New Super Mario Bros, which is a wonderful old skool style scrolling platformer. Simple, but effective. Lots of planning and thought and twitch gaming in the sort of style that causes RSI in a good way. Also have Brain Training, which is interesting but slightly shallow, could do with more variations to keep the player coming back. I think it is more a statement of intent from Nintendo that they are really determined to break the age barrier on gaming, and open it up to a far broader audience. They have been very successful with this approach for Brain Training in Japan, and got a lot of mainstream press coverage over here because of it.

I have also played a little Nintendogs and Project Rub, as I picked both up very cheap.

Doing
Few projects at the moment, mainly to do with websites. I think my main is to try for a redesign of this place. I may do that as part of a move to Wordpress. I also have a couple of other web projects to get on with, that I will reveal as we go along (wooooooo).

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Another strange dream of the future

2006-07-03T09:07:00.000+01:00

Saturday night was hot. Really hot. I ended up going down to sleep on the sofa just because the windows downstairs are bigger and let in slightly more air. Really did not sleep much. Anyways, in my sweltering state, I was dreaming of communications/computer devices that everyone had. Not unlike a DS, but better looking. The main thing was that there were chat rooms everywhere. Almost visible, markings and lines on the walls in pubs that indicated what the rooms were for that particular pub, and the numbers to use to join. It all seemed to work, which was a good thing.

Have been listening this morning to the Adam and Joe podcast (just search on itunes for them). Very brutally funny.

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A-Z of Professional Blogging

2006-06-29T11:39:00.000+01:00

Just a quickie, I don't think I have as good a list of links on blogging tools and services as This list at problogger

Well worth working through here if you are trying to build and improve on your blog. Several of the services used on my blogs are listed

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Fairly lazy weekend

2006-06-26T09:00:00.000+01:00

And much better for it. Did some clothes shopping, a much-needed update to my wardrobe. Small meal out at the Red Star Noodle Bar, which just does great food. I have to be careful not to go there too much, or I'll start finding it boring.

Anyways, more shopping on the Sunday, then watched England's glorious progression towards World Cup glory, and Portugal & Holland's descent into World Cup hell, with one of the finest comedy performances by a referee in football history. 4 red cards, 16 yellow cards, in a game that only had 25 fouls.

Trying to do a lot of geek book reading this week, bring my brain up to date a little.

Funny how the week can fly by sometimes

2006-06-23T01:55:00.000+01:00

and not touch the sides. Haven't felt like writing much this week really. Nothing bad, just not in the mood at the moment. Probably need to sit down and make myself write a little this weekend, get my head back into it. That is what I shall do. That and take loads of photos of random things for no good reason. A plan. I think I shall do that, and also start to tidy up and tie together a few of my sites. Have a few domains now, could do with a couple of sessions of setting up proper email addresses for them, getting basic sites or blogs in place, and then actually get round to writing a few things. I will explain each one as I get them going properly, different names for different ideas. One I can do quite easily is flotsky.org, which I got to just point here. Wanted to learn how to set up a non-uk domain. Which I have now done.

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Opera 9 Released

2006-06-21T01:55:00.000+01:00

And you just won't find me using it, other than for a bit of testing. It is a shame, I can remember a couple of years ago when Opera was the best thing since bread. Not just sliced bread, bread. A wonderful thing. It genuinely did change the way I browsed, introduced me to keeping masses of tabs open all the time, all sorts of things.

However, it just didn't move on. I hadn't used it in ages, and so I came back to it to try out the beta. It runs like a dog, in terms of loading pages. I keep hearing how it is fast, well, it just isn't firefox. It just doesn't load a page as fast for me. I do use Fasterfox and Adblock, which may be a part of it, but I got really bored waiting.

It is utterly true that many of Firefox's best features have come from or borrowed from Opera, however they are in my browser of choice now, and work better. That is the advantage that the development work done en masse on Firefox has brought. Opera stuck to its old business model for far too long, and fell far far behind. It is, on the desktop, a dying browser. I've seen usage drop from almost 10% to well below 1%, whilst Firefox has gone exactly the other way. It is the best on mobiles at the moment (and I use it there), but Mozilla has a mobile browser on the way, and their brand alone could cause Opera big problems in that market as well.

So much as I would like to like Opera, it isn't going to happen.

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Something for the Summer

2006-06-17T15:43:00.000+01:00

Right, have been listening to some new things on my iPod today, and can definitely recommend the mashup album by the Kleptones Yoshimi Battles The Hip-Hop Robots. Basically the album by the Flaming Lips with much added rap. Probably a year or two old, but still absolutely wonderful for this weather.

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Just finished reading JPod

2006-06-15T01:44:00.000+01:00

I have just finished reading JPod by Douglas Copeland. Good read, is definitely about geeks from a somewhat geek perspective, but is more accessible I reckon than Microserfs. Mrsfb complained heavily about that being just a world she could not access, nor wished to. I think JPod is somewhat different.

For one, there are of stylist tricks and riffs I haven't seen him use before, especially the heavy use of himself as a character. Definitely reminded me of Kurt Vonnegut, the extent to which he gets involved. I think also it maybe seems more accessible as this is now a world that has geeked out more in the time since Microserfs. People's Grandparents are using ebay and dating online now. These are still ubergeeks of which he talks, but they are far less removed from most people's world now. Or maybe that is just me...

Anyway, very enjoyable, apart from where he lists circular breads of the world, and misses out one of the finest, the Stottie Cake.

And whilst I am in a photo mood, here is my work from Saturday afternoon:

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Second Child Syndrome

2006-06-14T00:39:00.000+01:00

I've mentioned it before, but my friend Emily's blog Second Child Syndrome is really worth a look. We've yet to experience the joy of crippling our finances and ruining our social life, so what she has gone through, and is going through is a different but very interesting world to me. Despite my tone, we do want to, so it is genuinely educational, but over and beyond that it is a very well-written blog, which isn't something you hear said that often. Go and have a look for yourself.

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Plenty to do, too hot to do it

2006-06-13T01:54:00.000+01:00

It is just too warm to do anything today. Was dozy at work from the heat, then when I came home could barely bring ourselves to do owt. Am determined we should be motivated and get out for a wander or two this week.

Later today I have a course in Java, which I am hoping will be a good first step in it all. Another of the skills I need to start getting under my belt.

I have fallen away from my todo list somewhat, and I think I need to get back into doing that. Will force myself to get up to date on it again tomorrow at some point.

Getting on for halfway into JPod. The thing I most relate to in it at the moment is the main character's clothing crisis. I need to think about mine, I am long overdue a Summer update. A little short of t-shirts at the moment, and we really can't have that.

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dreaming the 2.0 dotcom boom

2006-06-12T08:27:00.000+01:00

Very odd dream last night, which I will put down entirely to reading Douglas Copeland's JPod late on yesterday. My whole mind was flooded for most of the night with a vision of a new website. Possibly ripp.com. It was like a flickr, except more than that. For one it was all images, not just your own. Maybe you could see a feed of the top images in the world or something. Anyway, there was a killer USP that made it a must-use service. Can I remember it? Not a hint. I can still see the design when I focus, but anything of importance is just hazy.

Lazy weekend, cooked a nice barbeque for us on Saturday evening, including my killer lamb kebabs (killer in the sense they are really tasty, rather than undercooked). Watched plenty of World Cup football and the British GP, the latter of which was slightly dull. Alonso just got ahead, and that was the race almost.

Anyways, back in work, ready to face the week ahead. Well maybe after another coffee.

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Modern Blogger is Rubbish

2006-06-08T08:42:00.000+01:00

Blogger has gone to seed. I was doing some coding work last night on a little project in both Blogger and Wordpress, and the differences were very noticeable. For one, the Blogger servers were being just rubbish, and sometimes I couldn't log in. I was told at one point I had Javascript disabled, and then a quick refresh proved I didn't.

These sorts of problems are not frequent really, but happen every month or two. And do seem to be down to volume. Google just don't seem to be expanding the service at all.

And that goes for technical development as well. Have a look at Wordpress sometime. Categories for posts. A much clearer interface for editing your template, rather than one huge single text file. Plugins. A sidebar widget that is being developed at the moment, to make editing this important area of blogging real-estate much easier.

Then come back to Blogger, and realise that you are not only missing these, but that there is nothing that has been added for well over a year. Just stagnation. Oh alright, we got a few new templates, but that was it. I want all the above things, and more, I want a WYSIWYG template editor, made in lovely swishy AJAX, I want lots of integration with the other Google services. Show the public events on my Google calendar? Yes please. Lots of potential there, but it just isn't being realised. I'd even pay for it, I'd have a pro account if it meant I got better service and features. However I just don't see any progress coming at the moment, so I am probably moving this to Wordpress in the next few months.

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You know you are old when

2006-06-06T08:58:00.000+01:00

it takes you two days to get over going clubbing. And we are not talking hardcore rave, just some late drinks at our local indie club on Saturday night. Both of us, just as bad as each other. Still, I feel much more lively today, and mrsfb has an interview this evening, so it is a much more perky day in general.

Have installed some new stats software on the server for this site, called Awstats. Open-source and very powerful, gives me a bit more detail on what goes on at the site. Had to learn to use it for work, so was worth trying here too. Not too tricky to set up, as long as you have an understanding host who lets you run such things.

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In a grumpy not quite awake state

2006-06-01T08:55:00.000+01:00

as I am from time-to-time. Actually got some quality messing about with css and learning geek stuff yesterday. I suspect the end result will be me messing about with this blog's look and feel soon. I can feel it in my waters. I may chicken out and only do a small change to one bit. We shall see, I suppose.

Do need more sleep though, got that half-awake pout on my face. Which doesn't really suit me.

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sleep
css

Searching for emotions

2006-05-31T08:49:00.000+01:00

Emotional Search Engine for Blogs Kind of like this today, just suits my mood to find people in the same mood as me. May be a bit fussy with some browsers/machines, but looks pretty too

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Right, off to Brighton

2006-05-26T09:35:00.000+01:00

May talk to you from there. Can't wait, should be a very fun weekend

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brighton

You know you are feeling a little hung over when

2006-05-25T08:25:00.000+01:00

you wake up singing Shonen Knife's "Tortoise Brand Pot Cleaner" in your best Mark E. Smith voice.

Went to a local pub The Elm Tree to see a friend for a few beers. It was, when I first lived on the Cowley Road, a wonderfully grotty pub. And then it was "updated". A horrible job, designed to bring in a massive student clientel. Finally, this theory has failed, and it is sinking back into slight grottyness, with a good mainly rock soundtrack. Will definitely be going back there.

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Check this out

2006-05-24T09:11:00.000+01:00

Translate this site into French

Translate this site into german

Translate this site into Spanish

Translate this site into Italian

Translate this site into Japanese

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Must see if you like your scratching

2006-05-22T18:33:00.000+01:00

Cut Chemist and DJ Shadow Live, in 5 parts

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The weekend I finally became a real man

2006-05-22T08:28:00.000+01:00

This weekend, my parents visited, and I bought a powerdrill. I feel like this was the final casting-off of my childhood shroud, as I then spent Sunday morning hanging a very large mirror on the hook I had put up. For good measure, I sorted out the bit of the carpet edging that was sticking up, using a drill in a situation which was possibly inappropriate. What could be more manly that that, I ask you?

Good to see my parents, ate a nice simple meal at The Black Prince in Woodstock. We've been there once before, and it has been redone nicely since then. Very impressed with it as a good venue for a slightly posher pub lunch.

This week, I need to read a lot of geek, and do a bit of gardening. Even more plants arrived in my garden this weekend thanks to my mum, which have all duely been planted out. I am reading The Mythical Man Month at the moment, and need to get somewhat further into that.

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Genius remake of the Sony Balls advert

2006-05-22T01:01:00.000+01:00

Just go here and have a look for yourself

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Confidence 2.0

2006-05-18T08:43:00.000+01:00

I was thinking this morning on the way into work about social network technologies, as you do for fun in the morning. You don't? Anyways, I was thinking specifically about the level of fear there is for both users and non-users of these services. I'm talking both about "friend and fuck" networks like Myspace, Friendster and the like, and more general services like Flickr (for photos), Youtube (for video) and indeed blogging inself.

There is a certain fear of having your privacy invaded, that people can know too much about you. I agree that there are certain precautions one should take online, of course. I wouldn't give you my credit card details here. Well I might, but you would have to be really nice to me first. I wouldn't shout my real name all the time. I won't tell you exactly where I live. And I wouldn't discuss something on here that I should talk to my partner about instead. My attitude is that apart from that, pretty much everything is fair game. And that is where the confidence comes that I suspect a lot of people either lack or fear revealing.

I just don't think there is anything to worry about. Does it matter if someone I don't know sees my face, hears me speak? Fact of the matter is that I am one very tiny voice in a seething mass of people. So few people would see it in the first place, and one way or another I will know most of those people anyways. So why worry?

To take this further, I was also thinking about how I would feel if my child was blogging, or on Myspace. I'm not a parent yet, but if I was, I would be happy for them to do so, as long as they obeyed the same sensible behavior I do, and also I would be subscribed to their site or blog, and actually read it all. I can't see the problem about that either. I think what has scared a lot of parents is hearing in the media about what Myspace is being used for, and being scared and shocked that teenagers spend all their time talking about sex and music they themselves don't like, and expressing views they totally disapprove of.

What I think is happening is that the teenagers on Myspace are expressing their interests and beliefs in a fairly unrestrained manner, and many other people used to being very careful and private on the internet, as they have been taught to be very security-conscious as a matter of course, find that hard to handle, along with their general distaste for the unknown. They have yet to get that almost aggressive Confidence 2.0 that their children have.

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Football Crazy

2006-05-17T21:21:00.000+01:00

Sat here watching a wonderful European Cup Final, Arsenal are leading 1-0, and the match has just been a delight, fast-paced, dramatic. As I type that, the heavens have opened, and it is 1-1. Anyway, I have made a decision, I am going to try and watch some football in person next season. I am going to go to the Kassam to see Oxford play in the Conference, and I will also try and see a Premiership game or two as well.

I am not quite sure now I think about it how long it is since I have been to a game, but it is possibly over ten years. Maybe even fifteen. That is quite bad, for something that once was such a huge childhood obsession. I would also like to get to see some Motor Racing, but that is a bit harder as a non-driver. We will see.

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football

Public Enemy and Anthrax - Bring the Noise

2006-05-17T13:03:00.000+01:00

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music
video

Not a bad weekend

2006-05-16T08:59:00.000+01:00

Not the busiest of weekends, but a good one. We took it easy on the Saturday morning, then after a very late breakfast walked into Oxford, and went for a wander around the Ashmolean museum. Some very interesting things there, but laid out in a somewhat chaotic fashion. Certainly needs the update it is getting at the moment. I will have to go back sometime and take more photos around it.

After that, we bought some books, including a good one on Scandanavian design (they seem obsessed with the perfect chair, which I can dig), then went off for a tapas meal. Avoided getting rained on, and home. All good really :)

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The Ramones - I wanna be sedated

2006-05-16T08:55:00.000+01:00

One of the things I regret about my teenage years was missing out on liking The Ramones. I should have done.

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just

2006-05-14T01:18:00.000+01:00

Black

2006-05-12T15:32:00.000+01:00

I look out of my window to see that a curtain of darkness has covered the view. I can only see the faint black outlines of buildings. Shadows are everywhere, following people and cars, or just standing next to houses. Trees look like people, black as evil. An ebony black cat strolls around, its eyes glowing. There is a gloom around the town, nothing moves, as if the world had stood still.

I walk outside. Cars appear out of the gloom and murk. Back inside I fall asleep into a black, blank world, where I am unaware of anything, oblivion. In the morning the black night falls asleep, only to be woken by the yawns of the white day

I've just found this, a poem I wrote a little while ago. 28th April 1983 to be precise. I was, it is far to say, pretty fucking miserable at times when I was a kid.

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black

Cheery chap

2006-05-11T08:15:00.000+01:00

Well, much better mood now. Just one of those things where a bit more sleep helps make the world a better place. I think I am very highly tuned in such regard, it is only a matter of an hour or two's sleep either way that can turn me from happy to fed up in a stroke.

My back is behaving better at the moment. Whilst it is still sore, the exercises do make a lot of difference. I think I need to make sure I get them done every day without fail, and perhaps expand them slightly. Found myself feeling somewhat sore last night, doing them made the difference instantly. Even quicker than say if I had taken something for it. Very impressed.

The weather here the past couple of days is fantastic it must be said, I am looking out of my window at work here out at the bluest sky I have seen in ages. All the trees are a vivid bright green, I just want to be out there! Well, I guess I could do with a bit of time in the garden tonight then. Going out to see DJ Format in town tonight, late one, but I won't be drinking, so it won't be too bad tomorrow.

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World Shut Your Mouth - Julian Cope

2006-05-11T08:13:00.000+01:00

Let's start the day with something irrepressibly jolly. The mic stand in this video is fantastic, and how often do you ever want to say that?

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music
video

The Safety Dance - Men Without Hats

2006-05-10T08:54:00.000+01:00

I cannot describe how elated I was to see this video again. I have since the moment I first saw it been able to actually do the safety dance on demand. Utter musical lunacy. I must try and find anything else of theirs, just to see what the hell they were like.

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music
video

Rubbish

2006-05-10T08:40:00.000+01:00

Feel like utter rubbish today. Was all over the place last night, couldn't place it, and then today I feel crap, light-headed and generally just coldish, aching and many forms of miserable. Mrsfb is off today, I'm in work, so I strongly suspect I've got a mild version of what she has. Grrrrrr.

It also had me lucid dreaming at about 4:30am, some really strange stuff about a game and logic system involving blogging. Yes, I dream in blogs. I can't quite explain much more about it, it is all very odd, but if I do remember anything I will write about it, I seem to recall it seemed entertainingly banal.

This isn't what I wanted to write at all, I was meaning to write last night, and thought I had enough to say, but now I sound just miserable. I am, but not in a tragic way. I think in writing this I am effectively saying "pull yerself together you plank".

Let me see, other stuff is there. Have watched the Sony and Nintendo conferences from E3. Safe to say that Nintendo's presentation was somewhat bullish, they really think they have the future of gaming on their hands. Well, I think the next few days will decide that. Once all the major players in gaming magazines and websites have played with Wii, they will start to either bolster or destroy its reputation. As the control methods are so key to the success of the console, we can't judge until we have played it. What I have seen thus far looked great, but I need a go. So long to wait!

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Back to the future

2006-05-07T02:23:00.000+01:00

Friday involved a visit to a physio. I've been having some bother with my back for a little while, just lower back pain and being a bit immobile at times, so was referred by my docs. Comforting to have been checked out and told there is nothing big wrong, just need to do some exercises to help make it more mobile. I also need to check out all places where I sit with computers and make them more ergonomic and suitable. My main monitor is now raised up quite a bit from where it was.

So I have been doing these exercises for two days now, and they are a bit tricky, because I am somewhat underagile it would appear. They do seem to be stretching me in the right places though, so all good.

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back

Election night special

2006-05-05T01:32:00.000+01:00

I am up late here watching the election night coverage. We have had local council elections, I have used my democratic right to vote, and now am doing the other important part, waiting to see what my vote has got me. It looks like we may have a Labour council once more in Oxford, but that is not definite yet.

I'm in an odd mood tonight, I feel like a load of tennis balls being dropped into a drainpipe through a funnel. If you pour in too many too quickly, the balls get jammed. That is how I feel, I've got loads of thoughts and ideas I want to get down, or get done, and from having too many I am finding myself getting bogged down. My head was racing when I got in tonight, so much I wanted to get through, and then I just couldn't. I'm a bit calmer now, and I have focused and got a couple of things done tonight. Cleaned up the right hand side of this site a little, and done a couple of other jobs. I am also going to try and do a few things at the weekend to get myself closer to where I want to be. I am hopefully going to be reading quite a bit of geek stuff over the next few weeks, to get myself a bit more learned. And more coding. And more writing. I just need to focus a bit more for a while, tune myself in. I'll do it, it is just making that so.

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election

Podcasts to check out and report back on

2006-05-04T09:46:00.000+01:00

I've found a couple of new podcasts that I need to give a go. The first is the Ricky Gervais video podcast. The free audio one was absolutely hilarious, and now he is doing the same for video. Don't know how long it will be free, so have a look whilst you can.

The other is Penny Arcade , one of the angriest and funniest gaming-related sites around. They have finally given in to the podcast trend, and I am very curious to hear them.

There should be one more here, I found yesterday that another site I really like has started podcasting now. Can I remember who it was though? The answer is clearly no...

EDIT On my way home, I discovered the last one I wanted to try out. Giant Robot is an American magazine that is obsessed with all things from the far east, and of Asian-American origin. I always try to buy a copy when I find it (clearly I should subscribe, and I shall sort that soon). Well they now have a podcast, so I need to try that out.

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These five Panda-Z Pilots now patrol my bookcase

2006-05-02T23:47:00.000+01:00

I need to learn more about Panda-Z, seem to be getting more and more into my head at the moment. I have had a quick look at the Panda-Z site, but I need to know more. My life is a constant quest for knowledge.

I have also purchased these trainers recently. I don't know what their name is, I just like them

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pandaz

May day weekend

2006-05-02T08:55:00.000+01:00

A very pleasant one at that. I got some good work done in the garden, cleared out half of the front border and planted heathers, and did some work around the back as well. Got some new clothes and shoes (the best of which I am wearing right now. Must take a pic of them whilst they look proper and new). Oh, and a new ubertelly. 32" of goodness, still a crt though, so takes up loads of space, however it doesn't cost a fortune at all. The most expensive telly we saw on Saturday was three thousand pounds, which would be a good start towards a deposit for a house. They should come with an awning you can live under then.

Will try and put some more pics of the garden and of footwear in my flickr account later then.

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mayday

Drum, Bass and the art of speed golf

2006-04-28T08:49:00.000+01:00

Okay, so tonight I am off to see Logistics, a drum'n'bass act on Hospital Records. Couple of very good friends are in town tonight, T and B. I lived with T when I moved to Oxford for good, and B is his partner, and the very person who designed the logo above this post. T got me listening to various artists on Hospital, including the wonderous London Elektricity.

I am a little nervous about tonight, because I'm not used to seeing such acts in a proper venue. The normal place I listen to them is when I play golf.

I have Links 2004 for the Xbox, which is a cracking golf game. And it ended up a while ago that I figured the perfect soundtrack for playing golf was Hospital Records material. Far more fun than other choices, and the sheer pace of the music meant you were hurriedly pressing buttons, and could get through 18 holes in about 15-20 minutes. It turned golf into almost a twitch-reflex pastime for me.

So it seems vaguely strange to my brain to go and listen to such stuff in a club. I know this belies all logic, but that is what I am used to. I make take a putter to make me feel more at ease though.

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DJ Shadow tracks played by a school band

2006-04-26T23:19:00.000+01:00

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BBC Archive

2006-04-26T20:58:00.000+01:00

A wonderful thing happened today. The BBC launched its open archive, the BBC Programme Catalogue . This is a fantastic resource, basically an online version of their own database of programmes. I believe some of the info goes back to the 30s. It isn't complete by any stretch, but what is there is great. What is also wonderful is that it is essentially open source for non-commercial usage.

What this means for me, is that I fancy a go at writing a few things here. Some searches, possibly a widget or something. We shall see.

This announcement was part of a larger press release today on the BBC's Find, play and share initiative. They are also playing up their soon to be launched media player, and a desire to create a form of myspace bringing user-content to the BBC. If they keep this up, they will be second on my list of companies I want to work for. After my present employers, that is.

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bbc
archive

Positive attitude

2006-04-26T01:26:00.000+01:00

I won this today. Apparently I have the most positive attitude in my company. Part of me feels this means we are in a whole lot of trouble.

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attitude

Weekend Music - The Flaming Lips

2006-04-22T13:58:00.000+01:00

Bit of Flaming Lips for you, Bohemian Rhapsody. Wonderfully odd video.

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music
video

We Love Katamari - 1 minute(ish) review

2006-04-21T01:56:00.000+01:00

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katamari

trainspotting - the north-east remix

2006-04-21T00:48:00.000+01:00

A couple of days ago I was minded of trainspotting, and suddenly thought about S for the first time in ages. S was an old friend from when I lived in the North-East of England. I got to know him when I started at secondary school, at what it is fair to say was a rough comprehensive, even for the North-East. He was a bit of a misfit, and got picked on a lot. So was I. Think Milhouse and Bart. Well, more Milhouse and Milhouse.

S was bullied a lot more than I was, and I think after a while he built up a thicker skin than most. He decided to unreservedly like what he liked, no matter what anyone thought. He was quite inspirational about that, and in doing so he also did it with a good sense of humour, which I think was one of the reasons we got on so well.

His biggest passion in life was trainspotting. Every weekend was spent at the station. He took long trips around the country just to be on, and look at trains. And as a good friend he tried to get me into it. It just didn't sit with me, for some reason I never got it. I think he had it as a passion from an early age, and that was the element I was missing. I think football had its place in my heart at that stage, and wasn't about to be shifted. It certainly wasn't a stigma thing (*points at wrestling blog*), it was just that it wasn't for me.

S had a major accident when we were in second year. He was hit by a car when he ran out from behind a bus. This threw him in the air some distance. He landed on the windscreen of a second car, which his hands and head went through. He was then flung over the top of this car, onto the road, and did a short distance on the ground, picking up loads of gravel in his back. He broke loads of things. He also slashed both of his wrists going through the windscreen, and only lived due to a nurse coming off duty being on the bus he ran out from behind.

I went to visit him at the hospital a few days later with a mate. And we laughed at him. Not in a mocking way, in sheer shock. We barely said a word as he explained it all to us, unveiled each injury as he told the story of what had happened. We just couldn't take it in that he was alive after it all, and the only emotion we had to offer was that. Very strange experience.

He took a long time to get over it, nearly a year out of school I think, not far off certainly. I visited when I could to his house, and we talked about the usual rubbish we normally did. I think I should have gone more, but when you're young, you don't think as much about such things.

One thing I do remember from this time was that S got into computers, and famously claimed at one point to have hacked the British Rail network computer and scheduled special train journeys of his own design. Impressive stuff, however I wasn't convinced as he didn't have a modem, and only had a ZX81. He would always make fantastical bizarre claims, some of which were made up, some of which weren't, and it was hard to tell. Not in a bullshitter sort of way, more you were never quite sure when he was taking the piss, when he believed it, and when it was real. The running over was totally real, luckily that is the only time I have anyone ever injured that badly.

We stayed good mates until I moved away. Not long before I did, a new lad started at the school. He fell in with S and I, and we all got on well. After I had gone, they became best mates, and it was odd, it was almost as if he had been sent as a replacement. Anyway, he got much more into the trainspotting than I ever did, and they spent most weekends at the local station together. Until about six months later, when the new lad committed suicide by jumping in front of a train.

Didn't know much about it, just heard it through the grapevine, but was all a bit of a shock. I stayed in touch with S for a year or so, and then we just gradually faded away, didn't see each other, and stopped writing. Nothing happened to end it bar distance and general moving on.

Was just strange having all these memories triggered from the one word

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trainspotting

I was sure that youtube would have some MC 900ft Jesus

2006-04-20T12:49:00.000+01:00

and I was right:

Bloody love this track, I think I am going to have to make the effort and track down his albums. If you need to know more about him, have a look at This fan site

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Returning mush of stuff

2006-04-20T08:35:00.000+01:00

Well hello, back to blogging proper after that little interlude. Have returned from Devon, and have been back at work a couple of days. Should try and remember to write properly about a few things, but as a summary for now, in my flickr photos down there on the right are loads of pics from Paignton Zoo. We had a cracking meal at Abode in Exeter, and I now have to think about how you bake gnocchi, because that is what they appeared to do, and it was gorgeous. Had a very good trip, basically.

I am presently loving both Animal Crossing and We Love Katamari, the latter of which caused me to have some very strange dreams about rolling up everything around me. It is a must have game for the PS2, really have to write about that some more.

And I have a set of new stuff to find and listen to in terms of podcasting, as well as thinking about if I want to do more videoblogging (I may well). Finally, I have a couple of longer things about days gone past I have to write about, one of which is the mysterious post I mentioned a little while back. Will try and get caught up over the next week. I have lots to do at the moment, so little time in comparison. Well once I factor in being a lazy bastard that is.

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And it is hello from me

2006-04-19T01:40:00.000+01:00

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videoblog

Partial Fix for the Firefox Memory Leak

2006-04-13T01:22:00.000+01:00

This may help your firexfox memory leak

I've tested this, and I give it the thumbs up, does seem to make a difference on windows

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firefox

I'm in a 50:50 mood

2006-04-11T08:38:00.000+01:00

Somewhat odd and halfway today.

On the upside:
-Day 2 of a 3 day week, then off to Devon for a few days visiting family, which will be good fun. That is a big upside actually.

-Loving the Animal Crossing. I think that needs a review soon, but unsurprisingly, it is a very good thing

On the downside:
-Left ankle hurting a lot last night for no good reason. My body is all out of wack with the back issue, and I think being cold and walking oddly may have hurt it. Fine today, but was a bit sore last night. Still, get to see the docs about it soon now.

-Have something difficult to write on here. It isn't that it is highly personal really, that it is emotionally difficult to write about this thing, it is just literally hard to write. I've had the post in my head for a week, and I can't quite put it together yet. I'm just finding it annoying, and it may well be when I am on holiday I will sit down and do it, clear it out of my system. I hate to be all precious, but I do have a slightly fractuous author side to me, and I won't rest until I get this done.

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Underrated films I should get around to watching again

2006-04-10T21:15:00.000+01:00

I ran out of podcasts to listen to on the way home, so I had to move onto this weird old thing I used to listen to called music. Kraftwerk in particular, which was very relaxing as I walked home. I drifted off a little, my mind turning to my selection of films that I have to get round to watching again.

I am a lazy film viewer. My to watch shelf is well, pretty much a shelf. Lots of good intentions and all that, but just don't seem to get around to it always.

Part of the problem with this is that it forces further down the list things I have seen one or more times before, and this was what I was pondering today, the less popular films from my list. What follows are some of the highlights:

Freddie Got Fingered

I've probably lost half the people reading this immediately. To the majority of people Tom Green is an terrible comedian, and even worse filmmaker. I see him as Cartman grown up and slimmed down, with a fucking huge dose of some things he should have left alone at college, and a terrifying set of issues with his parents. I have never found him easy to watch, but then why should everything be easy?

Okay, I'm not going to labour this one too long, but you should give this film a go because 1) Rip Torn is in it. Artie from the Larry Sanders show. As his dad. 2) It has got a cute charm (honest) in the Jerry Lewis, Adam Sandler feelgood mode. Sort of. 3) It is screamingly funny. IF you like South Park and suchlike when it is on the very edge of taste.

Subway

This is a great eighties French film set in the Paris Metro. I've got it on video tape, and only watched it once, as it is dubbed so badly it is almost unwatchable. I saw it on TV first of all, with subtitles and it was great. It has occured to me recently that the DVD version might have the subtitles restored, so I can watch it again.

It just has a fantastic sense of French eighties cool, Christophe Lambert with shocking white punk hair, dudes skating and playing funk bass, and a whole literally underground subculture. Well overdue another viewing.

Hudson Hawk

Again, a very maligned film. And I can't necessarily defend it. The film is a battlefield between Bruce Willis and Michael Lehmann (the director of Heathers, a great little movie). it was rumoured that there was something like 147 script rewrites, and it looks like it. I believe myself every good idea is from Lehmann and every bad from Willis. There are some wonderful ideas in there.

The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course

Okay, this is probably the hardest sell of the lot, and I've picked a couple of notorious stinkers there. This film is just absolutely barking, and paints Steve Irwin as quite barking too. I found it utterly hilarious, and I just need to see it once more in my lifetime to believe it was actually that funny. I may however have been drunk at the time.

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai

This truely is in a different league to the other films. I love them all, but this film is genuinely one of the best there is for me. Wu Tang Clan member making the soundtrack - check. Samurai philosophy - check. French guy selling ice cream - check. Ancient and useless Mafia guys - check. Forrest Whittaker being stunning - check. It is just designed to appeal to every part of me, also having many elements of French cinema that I love (and should be far more knowledgable about). It is great, but not many people seem to have heard of it.

So those are the underloved films that I love. What about you?

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film

Good post about blogging

2006-04-07T11:51:00.000+01:00

I'm trying not to geek out too much on here these days, at some stage I will sort out my proper geek blogging, and put such stuff on there. It only seems fair, I have already deprived you lucky people of my wrestling thoughts at

Anyways, this is a very sensible set of points to remember about the overall aims of trying to blog, what you should think of. Tips for Pro Bloggers

I agree with them that I should maybe think about clearing up the clutter on the right hand side a bit. I might have to follow their advice there. Maybe have a junk page for putting various things on, a bit like a virtual shoving things under the bed.

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blogging

New Look

2006-04-07T00:48:00.000+01:00

Well we have a slightly new look here, thanks to my friend B, who has very kindly helped me come up with a new logo. I need to tinker with things a little more, host all the images here for speed, and get some other little bits sorted. I'm very happy with it, tell me what you think!

Saw this on the way to work

2006-04-05T08:55:00.000+01:00

We used to get a burnt out car a week round this bit of Oxford, this seems a little old skool. Bonus points for trying to crash it through the underpass though

Back woes and answers

2006-04-05T08:34:00.000+01:00

As I've mentioned before, I'm having a bit of trouble with my back at the moment. Lower back pain, probably sciatic I think (had it before, waiting to see the docs). Anyway, found something wonderful last night, a stick-on heat patch. Slap it on the problem area, and then it warms up.

I wore one all last night, and I can't tell you the difference, it is unreal. It has just helped to get rid of so much tension back there, I hurt so much less. Obviously if you have a back issue, the first thing you need to do is speak to a doctor, but if you need something to soothe the pain, you have to try these. What is making me giggle today is that I rejected patches for giving up smoking this time (still going by the way, lost track of how long that is in the scheme of things, but it isn't an issue at the moment), but I end up wearing one for my back instead.

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back

Very relaxed weekend

2006-04-03T09:16:00.000+01:00

Well I can't really complain about that for a weekend. Lots of relaxation, got some good chores done around the house, walked to town and bought loads of fish (you need to have me cook fresh scallops from the fishmongers in the covered market for you. My word they were good). Got some good doses of sport and animal crossing in, watching both the F1 GP from Australia, and half of Wrestlemania. Will watch the other half tonight.

Also a bit of geekery, for one it looks like the transfer from 1and1 to textdrive has worked okay. If you have any thoughts, that it is getting to you faster/slower, let me know. Looks slightly quicker to me, and also I think the site is now out of its frames hell.

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Weekend Music goodness

2006-04-01T13:05:00.000+01:00

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gorillaz

Warning - This blog may disappear for a bit

2006-03-31T16:53:00.000+01:00

Just to let you know, I am changing the dns on the flotsky domain this weekend. So we could disappear for a bit. You should be able to read the rss feed still. See you on the other side!

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Of Mice and Boney M

2006-03-30T01:41:00.000+01:00

I was thinking today about the extended album version of Rasputin by Boney M. What I liked about it was that rather than just extend the groove as most dance records of there age did, they wrote another couple of verses, so you learn even more about the history of Rasputin. My only regret is that it wasn't part of some larger concept album to teach European history. I can't think of anyone else who could effectively relate the rise of Hitler, the French Revolution and the establishment of
the EEC over a disco beat.

There was a total eclipse today as well, but it was only very partial here in Britain, and we didn't really notice it. I saw a proper one in Cornwall in 1999, one of the strangest and most wonderful experiences I have had. What was also odd was that I stayed there for 3 days, just along the coast in Devon, and every day we were there, we drove right through the little town where my future wife's parents lived. During the eclipse I was looking across the bay back at Exeter, and at that very town also. I feel there was a little connection, a little glimpse of future being made there.

Tonight thought, it is just raining a lot.

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The Pinball Museum of France

2006-03-27T01:47:00.000+01:00

I have promised myself, should I ever get rich or win the lottery, I will open a pinball museum. This fellow has already achieved my dream Pinball Museum

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pinball

The Smiling Assassin

2006-03-27T00:52:00.000+01:00

My brother-in-law has started (after a little nagging from me) his first blog, mainly devoted to following Liverpool Football Club, and reviewing games. Well worth a look I say.

The Smiling Assassin

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A tale of two jugglers

2006-03-26T19:23:00.000+01:00

Once upon a time there was a juggler called Chris Bliss. Chris had a routine that was the finale to his act, where he juggled in time to a Beatles song. It was quite impressive, to the untrained eye (I am mainly an untrained eye, let me say). Watch it:

Now, this video did the rounds on the internet. And caught the eye of a juggler called Jason Garfield. Jason wasn't that impressed by the video, he felt it was simplistic compared to his skills. So he made the Chris Bliss Diss, where he mimicked the original routine, but with 5 balls, and mocked the pomposity of the original act. I have never seen sarcastic juggling before. See it yourself:

There are moments in this second video that just had me wide-eyed at the skill. Now when I said earlier that I am mainly an untrained eye, it is because I have an interest in a similar area, the Diabolo. I'm alright at it, but watching these two videos suddenly got me wondering if there was any Diabolo activity on youtube now. Yes. Yes there is:

I'm not up to this standard, but I can do some of the tricks, and am using this as inspiration to try more. If I ever got really good, I would try and recreate the Chris Bliss Diss in diabolo form. A lot of work mind.

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And what have I done now?

2006-03-24T01:32:00.000Z

I did it. I went and set up a wrestling blog. I know.

Wrestling With Consciousness

It is an almost all-wrestling (with some occasional cheese reviews) blog, and gets me writing on a consistant single subject, which I think is a more formal blog environment. Good writing practice, and means you don't have to read about it here. Bonus. If you do like wrestling though, I recommend you give it a go.

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How Nintendo nearly wrecked my back

2006-03-21T10:23:00.000Z

I was mentioning earlier that I'm having a bit of trouble with the sciatic nerves in my back. I thought it might be worth mentioning how I damaged them in the first place. Gameboy.

When I first went to university, after a few months I decided to treat myself to the latest in console gaming, the original Gameboy. Complete with Tetris in all its blocky glory (good game actually. The one time I used the link up on that original machine was against some kid who also had one on a coach trip from Carmarthen to London. I beat him by some fantastic amount, can't remember the score but it was the work of a couple of hours total gaming dominence over an 8 year old kid. He was well gutted). I would play it everywhere, lying on the floor, leaning over a sofa, in bed, just made the most of it. All my fault, just being young and wasting my life playing games.

Eventually this posture nightmare came back to haunt me. My back just started to seize up, to the point of immobility one night. I was put on valium to relax the muscles, and spent a whole week in the outer reaches of space. Total fucking of the brain there, a horrible drug. Did do the job though.

I've been lucky, it has stayed away a long time. We will see how we get on, I'm sure the physios will sort me out.

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ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

2006-03-21T08:54:00.000Z

Right, couple of decisions have been made. Firstly, I am going to try and set a regular time to blog. After tea, whilst we watch Deal or No Deal. I'm only sat there being sarcastic, so it is time to put that time to better use.

Secondly, I am going to try and start up a wrestling blog, to be written in the same timeframe. What I am hoping is that I can write some sensible lengthy pieces about a subject I love. I think it would do my writing good to have a regular theme to write about like that. Will work on and announce that quite soon hopefully.

Finally, just worth mentioning that I am having some back pain at the moment. Have been to the docs, and have got a referral to a physio unit for a couple of sessions. Causing me quite a bit of discomfort at the moment, not much fun, but at least I am starting to get it sorted

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Gaming Walkthrough Fest

2006-03-18T23:12:00.000Z

Atic Atac:

Jet Set Willy:

Manic Miner:

Sabre Wulf:

All of these are old games I played to death and loved. Absolutely fantastic to see them all again.

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gaming
retro

Second child syndrome

2006-03-16T01:31:00.000Z

I must give a quick plug to a friend of mine, Em, who is starting a blog about her pregnancy with her second child. She is a very good writer, and I thoroughly assure you there will be more to it than just complaining about piles. Although she may, I do not wish to suggest she shouldn't. Anyway, have a look at Second Child Syndrome to see what I mean, Em can get you into it better than I can plug her.

As a side note, this is post 400 on this blog. Go me.

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Less than memorable moments from Top of the Pops

2006-03-15T01:36:00.000Z

Was talking about this very topic on a message board somewhere. The first one that came to mind was the drunk bloke waving into camera during a performance of Seven Tears by the Goombay dance band that was
shown ten weeks in a row or something. It was certainly at number 1 for a couple of months. He became an old friend you
looked out for after a while. He looked quite lonely in some ways, the rest of the crowd was much younger and watching the band, he looked out of place and time.

Others I remember include:

The Scotland team with John Gordon Sinclair and BA Robertson. I think it was 1982 (86 at absolute latest). Whereas 78 was the year of hope and failure, this team looked like it knew it would lose the world cup. During this very performance.

Diamond Lights - Hoddle and Waddle. I saw this again recently, and what is wonderful but very poor about this is how much more into the whole thing Hoddle is compared to Waddle.

Do you remember any particularly bad performances?

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totp
bad

Performancing for Firefox 1.1.1

2006-03-15T01:19:00.000Z

Very handy extension for Firefox, blogging toolbar. Testing it out just now.

EDIT: Okay, have tested it. A wonderful extension, very stylish, and does a lot of sophisticated stuff simply. I contribute or provide admin services to several blogs, and in one fell swoop it imported all the blogger ones, and provided a lovely interface to it. Very nicely done *wears his very impressed face*

Performancing for Firefox 1.1.1 | Performancing Site

Animal Crossing, 17 days away

2006-03-14T08:50:00.000Z

To say I am excited about the prospect of a mobile Animal Crossing would be an utter understatement. One of the strangest, cutest and most downright enthralling games of the past few years, mobile, with wireless? I am so there. I normally buy my games in person, but this one has gone on order a little while back, so hopefully will be sitting in my porch on the morning of release. All impatient now just thinking about it.

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Lazy Weekend

2006-03-13T08:55:00.000Z

Didn't achieve much. Did get to go for drinks with mates, watch a lot of motor racing, and relax a lot. No bad thing. Return of the F1 cars with the Bahrain race, which was on at a right awkward time, just early enough that I could worry about missing it, whilst also late enough not to merit an alarm. Got to see it, anyways.

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My new mantra

2006-03-10T00:57:00.000Z

I'm your only friend

I'm not your only friend

But I'm a little glowing friend

But really I'm not actually your friend

On the road again

2006-03-08T08:45:00.000Z

Wow, I just spotted this and had to post it. A website with detailed descriptions of the first 99 A roads in Britain. Lengthy descriptions

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roads

Hey you, what's that sound? Everybody look what's going down.

2006-03-08T08:37:00.000Z

Well, I am starting to regain my sanity from the giving up smoking adventure. Now I just physically feel like utter crap. Going to have to have a health kick of some description soon, to try and get me over the hump of it. I feel more positive about doing so, now I have knocked the smoking on the head. It is a biggie, it does make you feel you can deal with other things. What has scared me somewhat in the past is quite how out of breathe I can get from fairly low-level activity in recent years. This is a simple combination of 1) smoking and 2) being fat. I need to start work on 2 as well now.

Just think, when I hit 40 and am a carved Adonis, we will look back on these days and laugh. A bit.

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I would love to have made a lengthy rambling post at the weekend

2006-03-06T08:59:00.000Z

However I bought Meteos for the DS. Hyper-powered Tetris in some ways. Each move is tied to music notes though, each level has its own set/style of bricks and music. Beautifully linked-up design, rare you see sound tied into the gameplay itself that distinctly.

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Full of cold, and a published software author

2006-03-03T08:56:00.000Z

I think I have covered most of what I wish to say about my illness right there. Tied into my not smoking, it is not pleasant.

In much better news, I have published my first search plugin for Firefox on the official site. It isn't a big deal, it is more the fact that it is my first piece of open source software, so I have a sense of community pride today. Go Flotsky!

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Beat Dis

2006-03-02T01:17:00.000Z

Right, something I am going to work on is a playlist in iTunes of all the records that are sampled in Beat Dis, by Bomb the Bass.

According to here

The records in it are:
BEAT DIS (Extended Dis):
Theme from Dragnet
Theme From Shaft - Isaac Hayes
Theme from Thunderbirds
Christmas Rappin' - Kurtis Blow.
Rock Steady - Aretha Franklin
Funky Drummer - James Brown
The Grunt - Fred Wesley And The J.B.'s
Theme from 'The Good, The Bad And The Ugly' - Ennio Morricone

I am sure there are others. I am going to come back to this soon and figure out.

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Google Talk - Where are you?

2006-03-01T18:26:00.000Z

Last week I was wondering why I didn't yet have Google Talk working within gmail. In fact, I was missing a few features I had heard had been released. Now mrsfb has gmail also, and her's had it all there. So I searched and searched (using google of course) until, hidden away on Google Groups, I found this little gem. Under settings, check which language you are using. If it is NOT set to US English, you won't have the new features. So if you want them, change it. I thought this was just me, but apparently a few people I know have had the same problems.

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Glam TV

2006-03-01T16:30:00.000Z

Right, I had a cracking time last night. Went to the Barbican in London to see a couple of tv plays from the 70s.

Glitter starred Toyah Wilcox and Phil Daniels. Toyah looked very young, unsurprisingly, and had no lisp whatsoever. Strange little tale about a couple of kids breaking into a TV studio so they could pretend to perform on Top of the Pops. Turned out it was all in their imagination. They are found by a "cool" Noel Edmonds, looking frighteningly skinny. They accuse him of believing he is Jesus at one point. It all breaks down and gets a bit trippy after a while, and turns out to be all in young Toyah's mind. What of course is lovely is that both Toyah and Phil Daniels did get to have chart topping records one way or another.

Jumping Bean Bag was a cautionary tale about the dangers of becoming too overtly sexual as a pop star. It started Dennis Lawson (the scottish x-wing fighter pilot) and David Dixon (Ford Prefect from the tv version of Hitchhikers) as members of a well-spoken glam rock band called Slag Bag. I think it had its tongue firmly in cheek (I don't care if it was the 70s, nobody can say lines like "I don't think this room can take the power of 5000 first-time orgasms"). Things take a turn for the worst when a fan dies at one of their concerts, overpowered by her orgasm. Stunning. What was also strange was that all the music was written for the show specially. Dennis Lawson was the drummer, and did a strange drum solo whilst singing that I can only say was rap. In 1975. Possibly the first recorded instance of rap music. Very odd.

However, the highlight of the evening was a short clip from the Russell Harty show, in I believe 1974. Harty introduced a new star, Brett Smiley, who performed his new track "Space Ace". Resplendant in a shocking pink suit, Smiley appeared to be stoned out of his very young mind, and also unaware that when singing live, you had to hold the mic fairly near to your mouth. At least within a good couple of feet, to be safe. Whilst watching it your expectations changed very quickly from wondering if you were seeing some lost genius, to wondering if a huge crook was going to come into shot from the side to pull him off.

Harty then interviewed Smiley and his manager, former Rolling Stones svengali Andrew Loog Oldham. Who appeared equally bombed. I think Harty had been taken aback by quite how bad the performance was, and to his credit, unlike today when PR means he would never have had any guests above the quality of Su Pollard ever again, he started to give Oldham quite a hard time about, well, exactly what he was thinking hoping he could make this boy a star. He didn't really have an answer.

If they had dubbed him, not let him speak to Harty, and made him stand still, he could have been a star. So near, and yet, so far! I still need to find out more about him though. What I have got thus far is that he recorded an album, Breathlessly Brett, which was lost for decades, and only released a year or two ago. There is also a book about him written by a woman that saw this aformentioned performance, and fell in love with him on the spot: Prettiest Star: Whatever Happened to Brett Smiley? by Nina Antonia. Going to have to get hold of both myself.
Few links of note about him:
Good quick biog from his current record company
An interview with Brett from 2003
An interview with Phil King about Junkshop Glam. He talks about Brett Smiley during this

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Grrrrr

2006-02-27T08:34:00.000Z

I'm still struggling with the sleep thing, is getting hard now. I won't go on about it too much, as I've noticed that I have complained enough for the google ads linked to this blog to be mainly about sleeping tablets. Wooo, thrill a minute.

As you may see, for a change I have been a busy blogging bunny over the weekend. I do particularly like those video plugins from google video, so easy to insert the code for them.

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The Pru Review

2006-02-26T18:44:00.000Z

Just a quick note to say that mrsfb is starting a new blog soon, The Pru Review. She will be reviewing books wot she has read, and given the volume and quality of what she reads, will be well worth a look to get some suggestions for what to read next. Should be something there within the next day or so I reckon

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This is somewhat amusing

2006-02-26T17:21:00.000Z

Hooked on google video at the moment it seems. This is someone's interpretation of the lyrics to a sort of emo song.

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music
video

Russia's answer to the GLC - M095

2006-02-25T12:57:00.000Z

Warning - may contain swearing. I say may, I don't speak any russian, so I have no idea if it does on not. I do like their tru gangsta tactic of hanging about it a kids playground like bigger kids.

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music
video

two hours sleep

2006-02-24T08:12:00.000Z

and I am slightly lacking in inspiration and positive thought. I actually have a large, mindless task to do here, I think that might be my best option for sanities sake.
I'm fucked if I am letting the smoking win though, I am mainly, apart from sleep, getting there...

I am now a George Clooney fan.

2006-02-24T01:23:00.000Z

I never was not a fan. Now, however, I am a massive fan. Why? Because of this simple quote from him:

The actor says political debate and argument is necessary. "That's what sparked me for this film and Good Night, and Good Luck," he commented. "I said I'm not going to be quiet because someone has called me a traitor."

"It's the most ridiculous argument I've ever heard. The most patriotic thing you can do in a country is question the government."

Loud and obnoxious

2006-02-23T20:10:00.000Z

I liked it, bit strange and sweary, so don't play it at work or owt. Or if you don't like loud obnoxious dance music.

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music
video

Sleep, sweet sleep,

2006-02-23T09:24:00.000Z

a nectar that fills the soul with warmth, soothes the mind's edges gently. Yes I slept. I had to cheat slightly, I used an oil burner near the bed with some rose oil in. Did the trick fantastically, dropped off after about 15 minutes. Did remember to blow the candle out before I went over as well. Bonus. Don't ask me why, I don't like the thought of sleeping pills, never have.

I notice google have launched their Web Design client today. You get 100MB of space with it too. I bet anything they start offering Domains and proper hosting within 6 months. Makes a lot of sense for them I reckon. If they build a lot of the "nasty" bits of organising domains and the like into a nice easy google-style interface, they could get a lot of business. Add in your Google Adsense, your blog, etc into one big manageable package, and you are really getting a lot of stuff bundled together.

In fact, one of the things that annoys me most about Google at the moment is that I do use a lot of their services, but it doesn't seem linked up enough yet. I should login once, then flip between the services using handy links. Just doesn't work like that though.

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Very Tired now

2006-02-22T08:59:00.000Z

Just not sleeping since I gave up. Very spaced out and tired at the moment, but can't get to sleep at all. On the upside have now watched the first four episodes of 24, which are cracking nonsense :)

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sleep

Slept some of last night

2006-02-21T09:04:00.000Z

which I think is an improvement. Was up at 4am watching 24 mind, not the best viewing for that time, but still good. Starting to really get myself back now, am through the worst of the cold turkey thing it would seem. Good. I reckon by the weekend, I'll have the sleeping back, and be starting to properly hack up some grot from my lungs. Am expecting a cold/massive cough to arrive any day soon.

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smoking

I think I am allowed another day of feeling weird of so

2006-02-20T08:34:00.000Z

then I have do shut up about it for a bit. What is really strange is that everything lasts so long now. Time has actually slowed down for me, which is such a strange reaction to not having nicotine that I can't quite understand it. I feel like utter crap, but this is worth doing. Worth doing a hell of a lot.

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smoking

27 hours in...

2006-02-20T01:41:00.000Z

No patches either, decided to give it a go without. I have them to hand, in case I find I need them, but I want to try just to resist smoking completely. Thus far, I am irritable, moody, wired, and also getting ringing in my ears. I'm worried about sleeping soon, because I have had bad experience of that with previous attempts. However, I shall take my patches to bed, and slap one on if I am struggling. Mrsfb has been a bloody star today, put up with me being like this, and fussed over me in a nice way that has helped chill me out a lot. Early days yet, or day even, but overall, despite feeling very weird, I don't actually feel like I would kill for a ciggie. Just yet...

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smoking.

It is the weekend already

2006-02-17T08:53:00.000Z

I have had a two day week, following a few days off for R&R, which mainly involved getting some stuff sorted out in and around the house, and online, and also watching quite large amounts of the Winter Olympics. Britain won its first medal of the games, a silver in the Skeleton Bob. I was very impressed, partly because I was starting to get the impression we might not win anything. I am still not convinced we will medal in the curling, although obviously I hope so.

Off to see Coldcut tonight, which should be good fun.

Oh and thank you all for your birthday wishes :)

I will do a proper update tonight, but

2006-02-16T12:48:00.000Z

I've decided to try giving up smoking on Saturday. Hitting the patches.
Arrgghhhhhhh.

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smoking

34 today

2006-02-08T08:11:00.000Z

Happy birthday to me! I would love to regale you with a moment of wisdom from my 34 years on the planet. Hmmmmm, let me see:

You got to know when to hold ’em,
Know when to fold ’em,
Know when to walk away and
know when to run.

If I am quick, do you think I can get away with pretending that was me? I reckon, I don't think anyone else noticed.

My main present was a really nice pair of walking boots, which will encourage me onto greater feats (feets?) of walking and general getting my arse off the sofa a bit more.

I'm actually quite happy to be 34 now I think about it, I could ideally do with having my waistline from the December of my first year at college, but other than that, I think this is about as good as I have got thus far. Life is pretty good. I may check the hairline tonight mind.

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birthday

Planning ahead

2006-02-07T08:40:00.000Z

I have a little time off coming up soon, will be off work from this Friday until the Wednesday. I think I need to plan to use this time productively, make the most of it for a change. So I think I am going to have a long walk on my own one day, go up or down the river to somewhere, take the camera with me, get loads of pictures. I may try and repeat the walk we did on Sunday, with a few detours along the way. I think I may have another day spent reading stuff I could do with getting through (I have a few O'Reilly geekbooks to read at the moment). And finally a day spent knocking items off my ever expanding todo list.

Right, that does now sound like a plan. Will be visiting my parents on the Friday and Saturday, which will be good, doubley good in fact as my sister and her hubby are over from France. Can't wait to see everyone, has been too long. In fact, I better book my tickets for that right now.

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walking

A long walk

2006-02-06T08:23:00.000Z

Well the highlight of yesterday was a lengthy walk along the river. I had some new walking boots to try out, and try them out we did. Cold, but not freezing, and a couple of hours walking did us the power of good. As did the two hour snooze I had afterwards. Top way to spend a Sunday, on both counts.

We happened across this abandoned boat on the way out:

Which just looked lost and broken in something of a scary way. May go back there sometime to get photos on my proper camera (that was taken with my mobile).

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walking

Support this Site!

2006-02-03T19:59:00.000Z

Right, this page is where you can shop or find useful things, that I will get a little kickback for. (It will disappear off the main blog bit soon, but I'll add a link on the side. Its here for a couple of reasons, obviously first of all, I wouldn't mind a little bit o'cash, but also it is good practice for setting such things up for other sites I may work on. If you fancy having one of the links I build up on this page over time on your site, let me know, and I'll talk you through it (if you need the help).

First up is Rpoints:

Shop at UK sites, and earn cashback by going through this site first. Has many leading UK retailers signed up, and you earn as you shop, as well as doing other things like visiting sites for them. Also has a great freebies section, where many people post links to free stuff online. Worth a look, even if you don't sign up to it.

Next is Amazon, simply put, if you go through here and buy stuff, I get a little percentage:

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shopping