Sorry for the 'quality' of the photo, was taken in the dark with a camera phone. Anyway, it allows me to ask the question...
What MPG do you get from your car?
]]>Comments don't appear to be working any more, no idea why - will have to see if I can fix it another day...
Test to ensure something worked
]]>So much more could have been done with this season ending I barely even know where to start. After the absolute triumph of the 'Human Nature / Family of Blood' two-parter and 'Blink' and what happened in 'Utopia' being a bit of a sideswipe I really had talked myself into thinking this would be wonderful.
It wasn't!
It was very disappointing. I actually thought that John Simm's portrayal of the Master, while a bit pantomime, was pretty good. However, the finalé essentially could have been renamed "How Martha Saves the World and turns The Doctor into a Demi-God for five Minutes". The whole thing of her walking round the world telling everyone to think of the Doctor at a particular time was just ludicrous.
I knew it must have been bad when a colleague who is Dr. Who mad texted me after it ended with "Don't know if you watched it live but all I'll say is... Disappointing." Now, for him to say that I knew that Russell T. Davies must have really written a clunker. I was actually just about to settle down to watch it (gotta love Sky+) as it happened and my reaction to the first words of the episode (One Year Later) was one of incredulity. I just could hardly believe that a "Meanwhile..." plot device had been used.
Anyway, Martha leaves (and I'm OK with that - I was pretty sick of the mooning and puppy-dog eyes for the Doctor) which was a bit of a surprise. However, the Beeb have very widely trailed that she'll return in Season 4 and she's going to be in a few episodes of Torchwood.
So, that leaves us with "Who's (sic) going to be the new assistant? PLEASE let it be Carey Mulligan who played Sally Sparrow in Blink."
Nope, it gets announced and it's Catherine Tate. You're kidding me, right?
Russell T. Davies, let it be known that it seems like pretty much the entire Whoniverse is against this move. I've barely spotted a positive reply in over 2,500 posts.
Given the weak finalé and my personal opinion of the episodes he's written I would be happy for Russell T. Davies to step away from a writing role to a pure producing role and I suspect a lot of others feel the same.
Is Doctor Who about to Jump the Shark? I hope not, I really really do. However, this latest move (unless, of course, it's a massive bluff) makes me very nervous.
]]>Normally, Private Members Bills don't stand much of a chance of getting anywhere near becoming law. However, this one appears to be different as MPs are obviously sick of being asked to justify expenses etc.
If this does manage to get onto the books (and our coronated Prime Minister Elect is on record as saying that he won't block the bill) then this means that no more FOI requests will be honoured by parliament.
This is a shameful day for the 96 MPs who voted for the bill and the rest of the MPs who either couldn't be bothered to show up for the reading or just didn't vote.
Luckily the bill still has to get through the House of Lords (who apparently, although they are unelected, seem to speak more clearly for the people of the country than the government at the moment). I don't hold out much hope though as the government, while officially neutral on this, is broadly in favour and is showing this by providing the parliamentary time for this bill to be 'debated'.
If you agree that this is a shameful day for UK politics you can sign the Disclosure Petition on the Number 10 website. It may not do any good (after all, the vehicle tracking one didn't and that had over a million signatories) but it certainly made me feel better.
If you feel particularly strongly then lobby your MP, especially if they are one of the 96 who voted for the bill to pass into law and exempt themselves from a law every company / public body etc. etc. has to comply with.
I mean, where next? A vote to exempt themselves from speeding tickets? A vote to exempt themselves from any other law they think is OK for the proles but not for them? A vote to give themselves a gold-plated pension and massive pay increase? (Oh sorry, that last one is almost certain to happen).
I am thoroughly disgusted and disillusioned with politics in this country - I suspect it's not really any better in any of the major western democracies though? I can't really remember a time in which we were expected to just bend over and take it quite as roughly as the MPs seem to want to give it to us at the moment...
]]>While they're all essentially remakes of the Original Get a Mac ads there are a couple of spots specific to the UK, like Office at Home and Tentacle. The new "Pie Chart" one is very good too!
I wonder if this actually means we're going to start seeing the "Get a Mac" ads on TV? I sure hope so! ;-)
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Sorry for the 'quality' of the photo, was taken in the dark with a camera phone. Anyway, it allows me to ask the question...
What MPG do you get from your car?
]]>Answers at the end of the week!
]]>Anyway, onto the topic at hand ;-)
I currently shave using a well-known 3-blade razor. These have been getting more gimmicky lately, including a model that is battery powered and sends small vibrations to the head to "allow you to get a closer shave." How true this is I have no idea, I didn't fall for the hype. Geez, I only changed from a trusty 2-blade about 18 months ago!
There are now 4-blade razors on the market and I thought it couldn't get much more ridiculous.
I was wrong!
A friend forwarded me this webpage thinking I may be interested. I was, but only because this is a 5-blade razor with a blade at the back of the cartridge for trimming up. 5 BLADES
Where is it going to end? Are we going to end up with 10-blade razors the size of our heads with battery-powered handles to get 'the ultimate shaving comfort sensation'?
Stop the madness I say!
Still, I've asked them to send me one - I expect the cartridges to be incredibly expensive though. We'll see what it's like.
Hopefully I'll get one and I can post back as to whether it really is an improvement over 3 blades or it's just the load of marketing bull I expect it to be...
]]>Wow!
This is the same Home Secretary who wants to bring in ID cards, who wants to bring in the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill so ministers can change laws with immediate effect without the approval of parliament.
Remind me again, where are the Government who were meant to rid politics of the stench of sleaze and incompetence? Where are the Government who promised to be "whiter than white"? Where are the Government who promised to be "Tough on crime and tough on the causes of crime"?
Oh, that's right - they disappeared a long time ago.
This NuLabour Government is just as sleazy and incompetent as the Tories were, if not more so.
It is time we said to them (In the words of Oliver Cromwell):
"You have sat too long for any good you have been doing lately… Depart, I say; and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!"
]]>I tried to like him, I wanted to like him, I really did... But...
I just don't. Sorry Chris. I was hoping for a continuation of the Johnnie Walker legacy (Johnnie did Drivetime for 7 years) but it's just not. Gone is the decent business news, the bonhomie between Johnnie and Boseman. He misses cues, plays wrong incidental music and on both occasions I've listened has gone to the news desparately late (like over a minute late). It just feels like amateur hour.
Why oh why oh why did the Beeb bring him into this slot? What were they thinking? Stuart Maconie or Richard Allinson would have been much much better choices. Even John Inverdale was pretty good when he did it.
The fact it's been leaked that he earns £540k per annum just makes me think he's terribly overpaid for what he does. Good on him for managing to con the beeb out of that much but remember - this is over 4000 license fees!!
I know Johnnie must have been tired, Cancer treatment would take it out of anyone. I just really wish the beeb would have not used Evans and got Maconie or Allinson to do it (they could have done it on a rota basis if they didn't want to do it full-time).
It'll certainly be interesting to find out what the listener figures are for this week and how fast they've tailed off after the first "lets see what he can do then" show that people will have tunes in to.
Radio 2 have still got me for the morning drive (there's no-one worth listening to except Wogan) but Wogan is playing music recently I feel is aimed at people much older than myself (to put it kindly). They're in real danger of losing me for the drive home though. I'll just stick a CD on instead of listing to Evans prattle on about complete inanities that don't interest me.
]]>The "compromise" which was reached to allow this draconian law to be passed was the delay until after the next general election of making the cards compulsory. Essentially now, what will happen is that all your details from when you apply for a passport will go onto a second database and when you apply for a new passport after 2010 you will be forced to buy an ID card too whether you want it or not.
I have already stated my complete and total opposition to this law but am not surprised to see my local puppet MP voting with the government yet again. Aren't MP's meant to represent their constituency rather than their party? I'm not sure she's ever voted against anything this awful government has brought forward.
I am now waiting to hear from NO2ID to see what the next steps are - we obviously aren't going to get this repealed without a new government. Phil Booth has said "This is a self-destructive policy to dwarf the Poll Tax" and I think he's right. The media has been totally complicit in not putting the incredibly draconian nature of this law forward hence why most people seem quite blasé about it.
How long before they propose just chipping us at birth and have done with it?
How long before people get some backbone and start to realise that the government is meant to do the work of the people rather than oppressing them with draconian laws and fear tactics?
How long before we fight back?
]]>For instance, if you kicked a ball to me I'd kick it back with my left foot. If I have to throw something I'll do it left handed. If I punch I do it left-handed. I used to have a guitar (don't go there - I am not musical, as I found out) and couldn't contemplate playing it right-handed for even a second. Put a tennis racket in my right hand and I'll move it to my left. I bowl (ten pin, cricket, whatever) left-handed.
But... Give me a pool cue and I'll play right-handed. I can use a pair of scissors right-handed without an issue. I use a computer mouse in my right hand. I can use the numeric keypad on the right of the alphanumeric keyboard with no issue. As I said, I write with my right hand. I use a cricket bat right handed. I golf right-handed.
All this got me thinking as I favour one side for some tasks and the other for different tasks. This is apparently known as mixed-handedness or cross-dominance. I'd never heard of the term until a guy on the show mentioned it.
It makes me wonder whether everyone starts out mixed-handed and becomes either right or left handed by way of discovering that they're just better with that hand. I remember being erm... "encouraged" to use my right hand rather than my left to write and that (as far as I'm concerned anyway) is why I ended up using my right hand to hold a pen/pencil.
I'm especially interested in this now as I see my son grow and become more handsy with things. He's only 9 months but seems to grab for things equally with his left or right hand - I can't help but wonder which of the three things he will be... Left-Handed, Right-handed or Mixed-Handed. Hard to tell, as Carla is completely right-handed. i guess we'll just have to watch in wonderment as he grows up and learns things all on his own. Smart little tyke!
]]>Very accurate when you look at MS packaging but very funny! :-)
]]>For instance, for every million people in the UK only 19 are Knipes. I'd always believed that it was a North West (specifically Lancashire) name too and this was borne out by this website...
They must be getting lots of interest because of the current series of Who do you think you are.
If you have even the slightest interest in the distribution of your surname around the UK you should check this site out!
Where do you come from? ;-)
]]>Hmmmm.... Interesting.
As many of you will know MWSF brought the usual $HINY new toys for all lovers of his Steveness' company. These included the new i(ntel)Mac and the long-awaited replacement for the Powerbook, the MacBook Pro (which I expect at least one friend of mine to be toting round next time I see him - me, I can wait until rev B or C) as well as various software packages.
Something didn't feel quite right with the Keynote speech though and I didn't put my finger on it until I watched it recently - what the heck was Steve doing spending SO much time on software when he said about 10 minutes in to the speech that the rest of the keynote was about the Mac? It felt well... Empty! It felt like he'd had to leave stuff out at the last minute. I get the feeling something's coming and the new macs at MWSF were just pilotfish (come on, gotta love the Dr. Who references here!)
Another thing that bugged me was when the Microsoft Mac Business Unit did their bit - they only committed to the next 5 years and then only with Office. This has definitely caused a ripple in the force with me. I get the feeling MS, while understanding they are dominant, have decided that the Mac (and specifically OS X) is becoming a bit of a threat. They have pulled back from the Mac quite a bit recently quoting "business prioritisation" within the Mac Business Unit. In other words guys, the Mac BU is getting scaled back.
As announced recently they are no longer providing any new versions of Windows Media Player for the Mac (and I know, WMP sucks but there's too much content out there to ignore it). Instead, they are promoting Telestream's Flip4Mac Quicktime plugin which used to cost $10 but is now available as a basic plugin for free. Unfortunately (for me at least) this plugin works pretty badly (i.e., it doesn't work at all and causes safari to crash) when you try to get some content from the CTV website in 'high' bandwidth mode - go back to 'dialup' mode and it works fine. It is obviously a problem with the plugin as this works perfectly with WMP.
As Mac users will know, MS also dumped IE for Mac (which really sucked anyway) and shelved plans for MSN for Mac. The only products they're talking about providing are Office and MSN Messenger. There are no definitive plans for Virtual PC either.
I really do get the feeling that MS have decided to attempt to strangle OS X before it gets a real foothold.
Vista must be a real mess if they're getting even half as worried as I get the feeling they are...
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J decided he'd had enough of my not knowing how to do something so decided to show me himself! Nothing like starting young... ;-)
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