What can you do with the new Windows Live? Find out
This is my main blog - it's been going since 2004. It was originally my personal diary but has expanded to something more sophisticated, thanks to Blogger. Most articles on this site are unfinished and remain so. I am trying very very hard to change this! I have a sidebar on the right - please scroll down - full great web sites, articles, podcasts, etc. The tone of this blog is mostly unfocussed, and long may it remain so...
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Hoorayyyy!!
The first good news from the United States in a long time.
What can you do with the new Windows Live? Find out
What can you do with the new Windows Live? Find out
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Whinging Savers
Savers are whinging about low interest rates. It's not just whinging either, it's self righteous whinging too, indignant against those who are in debt.
What do they think the interst rate is? It's a payment received for lending money. You invest it. The bank lends it. The borrow gets into debt and pays interest. The bank puts some of that interest into your account. Without debtors there would be NO INTEREST accruing on invested money.
So enough with the self righteous whinging already! You were happy to take advantage of the good times, and the foolish banks' foolish policy of overlending becasue it paid YOU a higher interest rate. But those times are over. Get over yourself. You had it good and now you don't. I mean who do you think should pay your interest rate now? And on what basis if lending has stopped?
What do they think the interst rate is? It's a payment received for lending money. You invest it. The bank lends it. The borrow gets into debt and pays interest. The bank puts some of that interest into your account. Without debtors there would be NO INTEREST accruing on invested money.
So enough with the self righteous whinging already! You were happy to take advantage of the good times, and the foolish banks' foolish policy of overlending becasue it paid YOU a higher interest rate. But those times are over. Get over yourself. You had it good and now you don't. I mean who do you think should pay your interest rate now? And on what basis if lending has stopped?
news today
Gaza pounded amid push for truce
The UN's relief agency, Unrwa, says part of its HQ in Gaza was set on fire after being hit by Israeli shell fire. BBC news headlinesWhen is someone going to deal with this?
Miliband regrets 'war on terror'
The idea of a "war on terror" is a "mistake", putting too much emphasis on military force, Foreign Secretary David Miliband has said.
BBC news headlines
It's too late, it's stating the bleeding obvious, and tha man's a fuckwit. But this time, he's right. I would guess this is the beginning of trying to suck up to Obama, it's a pity they didn't have more back-bone during the last 8 years and st and up to the Neo-Cons. I blame Blair and New Labor - sorry Labour - for the mess we're now in just as much as I blame Bush.
New runway will demolish village
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7830275.stm
A few posh Tories lose their homes and Boris Johnson is right behind them. Does he give a fuck about the thousands in Camberwell blighted by the constant aeroplane noise? I doubt it.
I've decided to support the third runway - fuck the rich. Airlines are all going bust anyway.
Obama's 'Beast' of a car revealed
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7829475.stm
Bendy gadget future for graphene
A remarkable material called graphene could soon be used to make flexible and transparent high-speed electronics, researchers say.
BBC news headlines
The UN's relief agency, Unrwa, says part of its HQ in Gaza was set on fire after being hit by Israeli shell fire. BBC news headlinesWhen is someone going to deal with this?
Miliband regrets 'war on terror'
The idea of a "war on terror" is a "mistake", putting too much emphasis on military force, Foreign Secretary David Miliband has said.
BBC news headlines
It's too late, it's stating the bleeding obvious, and tha man's a fuckwit. But this time, he's right. I would guess this is the beginning of trying to suck up to Obama, it's a pity they didn't have more back-bone during the last 8 years and st and up to the Neo-Cons. I blame Blair and New Labor - sorry Labour - for the mess we're now in just as much as I blame Bush.
New runway will demolish village
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7830275.stm
A few posh Tories lose their homes and Boris Johnson is right behind them. Does he give a fuck about the thousands in Camberwell blighted by the constant aeroplane noise? I doubt it.
I've decided to support the third runway - fuck the rich. Airlines are all going bust anyway.
Obama's 'Beast' of a car revealed
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7829475.stm
Bendy gadget future for graphene
A remarkable material called graphene could soon be used to make flexible and transparent high-speed electronics, researchers say.
BBC news headlines
Thursday already!
I hadn;t realised how mediocre Old Harry's Game was until last night. Once you've invested in what turned out to be four hours of your time in order to travel to a venue, sit around in a "hospitality" suite for an hour, and then sit through two recordings and re-recordings where errors were made, then you start seriously questioning the worth of the material on offer. The jokes are mostly old, and often not very funny. Only the mention of sticking badges up the arseholes of angels made me laugh out loud. Nothing else did. Therefore my contribution to the recording is extremely slim, although I did clap quite a lot.
The actors were Andy Hamilton (the writer and playing Satan), Jimmy Mulville, Robert Duncan (formerly in Drop The Dead Donkey), Annette Crosbie (One Foot In The Grave, Calendar Girls), Philip Pope, and Michael Fenton Stevens. Paul Mayhew-Archer was producing - and told us a few jokes at the start to warm us up.
Thanks to the Woolwich link (abreviated to W'wich Arsenal on the DLR information boards because the alternative would be Woolwich Arse) got back to W'wich around 11.00, home by 11.30, and eating fish and chips, drinking wine and watching Seinfeld shortly after midnight.
Of course all this sitting up late type behaviour is playing havoc with me getting into work on time, thank the lord for informal flexi time. But next week I start at our Holborn office, so informal flexi time goes out fo the window and I ahve to start getting up at 7.30 and getting into work by 9.00.
My clothes order came today. The nice Irish woman, short, attractive, a bit like Ellaine from Seinfeld, came over with the parcel and asked if I was the person addressed on the label. She only knows me as Steve. In it are the items I ordered - I tried them on in the loo - very nice.
The actors were Andy Hamilton (the writer and playing Satan), Jimmy Mulville, Robert Duncan (formerly in Drop The Dead Donkey), Annette Crosbie (One Foot In The Grave, Calendar Girls), Philip Pope, and Michael Fenton Stevens. Paul Mayhew-Archer was producing - and told us a few jokes at the start to warm us up.
Thanks to the Woolwich link (abreviated to W'wich Arsenal on the DLR information boards because the alternative would be Woolwich Arse) got back to W'wich around 11.00, home by 11.30, and eating fish and chips, drinking wine and watching Seinfeld shortly after midnight.
Of course all this sitting up late type behaviour is playing havoc with me getting into work on time, thank the lord for informal flexi time. But next week I start at our Holborn office, so informal flexi time goes out fo the window and I ahve to start getting up at 7.30 and getting into work by 9.00.
My clothes order came today. The nice Irish woman, short, attractive, a bit like Ellaine from Seinfeld, came over with the parcel and asked if I was the person addressed on the label. She only knows me as Steve. In it are the items I ordered - I tried them on in the loo - very nice.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night
It's 5 O'Clock and for the past two hours the office has been filling up with people, and now feels more like a social venue than a place of work, with laughter and loud conversation coming from all directions, and I CANNOT CONCENTRATE ENOUGH TO GET ANY WORK DONE. So I'm putting wheels in motion for my change of location, where I suspect a quieter atmosphere persists.
Deaths in Gaza have passed the 1000 mark. I've been watching the news on this since it started over xmas, and could see the pro Israel propaganda machine kicking in on about day three of the slaughter. The timing seems to be to get one last mass murdering action in before GW hands over to Obama.
I can't help thinking - What bastards! - and us too for letting it happen. There is no defence that Israel can use to justify this slaughter, the deaths of hundreds of civilians, and a one sided slaughter of the elected authorities in Gaza.
Of to see a recording of Radio Four's Old Harry's Game in the minute. It's an enjoyable programme and this must be the third series at least. I put in for a Mozza Radio 2 special ticket too, but will have to wait to hear if I get one.
Are you a PC? Upload your PC story and show the world
Deaths in Gaza have passed the 1000 mark. I've been watching the news on this since it started over xmas, and could see the pro Israel propaganda machine kicking in on about day three of the slaughter. The timing seems to be to get one last mass murdering action in before GW hands over to Obama.
I can't help thinking - What bastards! - and us too for letting it happen. There is no defence that Israel can use to justify this slaughter, the deaths of hundreds of civilians, and a one sided slaughter of the elected authorities in Gaza.
Of to see a recording of Radio Four's Old Harry's Game in the minute. It's an enjoyable programme and this must be the third series at least. I put in for a Mozza Radio 2 special ticket too, but will have to wait to hear if I get one.
Are you a PC? Upload your PC story and show the world
Monday, January 12, 2009
ancestors
I was surprised my mum gave me a load of old photos over xmas - she didn't want to keep them.
This is the family my Great Grandmother worked for - she's the one in the maid's uniform 2nd from left
I'm not quite sure who all these people are - but they are from my mum's family taken around the time of the war - or soon after.
Again - not sure who - think its my grandad's family in the 1920s - looks like Bigbury
That's my Grandad front left - aged about 10. This was taken in the early 30sChoose the perfect PC or mobile phone for you. Click here
Dinky Little Railway
Got up a bit later than I planned,which means I'll be in work quite late today making up the hours.
This is in part due to the state of my sinuses making me quite groggy first thing.
Breakfast was toast with strawberry jam.
at work i sent out my standard information pack to the new rep and realised it needed updating; continued to compile incidents from the past year, checked recently received environmental inspections, and personal stuff - sorted out the Rufu Wainwright CDs I'm sending back.
I got into work today using the new Woolwich Arsenal DLR link. I reckon it now takes about an hour and ten minutes if all goes well, and I'll never have to go to North Greenwich again.
This is in part due to the state of my sinuses making me quite groggy first thing.
Breakfast was toast with strawberry jam.
at work i sent out my standard information pack to the new rep and realised it needed updating; continued to compile incidents from the past year, checked recently received environmental inspections, and personal stuff - sorted out the Rufu Wainwright CDs I'm sending back.
I got into work today using the new Woolwich Arsenal DLR link. I reckon it now takes about an hour and ten minutes if all goes well, and I'll never have to go to North Greenwich again.
Dodgy Little Rollercoaster
Another late start. Didn't go on walk, but did have to see through my rash promise to make pasties today.
It was a good day for getting laundry done, drinking cheap Italian wine, reading a hundred pages of Michael Palin's Python diaries, and trying on my some of my old clothes to see if they were worth keeping.
After 3.00 I ventured out on the bike to explore the Thameside path between Thamesmead and Erith.
Pictures to be posted asap.
Pasties successful.
Bed at 1 am.
It was a good day for getting laundry done, drinking cheap Italian wine, reading a hundred pages of Michael Palin's Python diaries, and trying on my some of my old clothes to see if they were worth keeping.
After 3.00 I ventured out on the bike to explore the Thameside path between Thamesmead and Erith.
Pictures to be posted asap.
Pasties successful.
Bed at 1 am.
Saturday 10th January
It was so nice in bed that I didn't get out. I've got everything at hand in bed with the exception of the toilet, which was finally why I did make the relatively painless journey - about 10 feet - into the loo to empty my bladder.
Got back into bed and listened to Adam And Joe. Wonder how I can get a coffee without getting up. Finally at 12 I emerged, be-gowned, hair sticking up, and headed for the kettle, and cold bombay potatoes for breakfast.
Still have some sorting out to do in my room. I've managed to sort out a lot of my clothes I have odd things on the floor, on the bed, hanging up in random places. I've hung up my T Shirts, shirts, trousers into drawers, etc. I've left other drawers for electrical stuff like walkman and USB leads, all my bathroom stuff in one drawer.
my books have been stacked - all the US history stuff in one big pile, lifestyle and music stuff where I can reach it from the bed.
Once I was up and dressed decided to have a stroll up the high street.
Trawled the charity shops and found an old book on Tony Hancock, and another on Buddhism. Went to the library and took out Will Self's Book of Dave and Charles Bukowski's Post Office. Finally went to the Turkish supermarket - olives, taramasolata, hummus, chick peas, diced lamb, etc, and nipped to Lidl for some basics, pitta bread, onions, milk.
Finished off bottle of wine and beer in evening, cooked fish and chips, read - went to pub with Paul at 9.30....followed up by drunken conversation intot he early hours accompanied by a random selection of tracks from my mp3 player.
Got back into bed and listened to Adam And Joe. Wonder how I can get a coffee without getting up. Finally at 12 I emerged, be-gowned, hair sticking up, and headed for the kettle, and cold bombay potatoes for breakfast.
Still have some sorting out to do in my room. I've managed to sort out a lot of my clothes I have odd things on the floor, on the bed, hanging up in random places. I've hung up my T Shirts, shirts, trousers into drawers, etc. I've left other drawers for electrical stuff like walkman and USB leads, all my bathroom stuff in one drawer.
my books have been stacked - all the US history stuff in one big pile, lifestyle and music stuff where I can reach it from the bed.
Once I was up and dressed decided to have a stroll up the high street.
Trawled the charity shops and found an old book on Tony Hancock, and another on Buddhism. Went to the library and took out Will Self's Book of Dave and Charles Bukowski's Post Office. Finally went to the Turkish supermarket - olives, taramasolata, hummus, chick peas, diced lamb, etc, and nipped to Lidl for some basics, pitta bread, onions, milk.
Finished off bottle of wine and beer in evening, cooked fish and chips, read - went to pub with Paul at 9.30....followed up by drunken conversation intot he early hours accompanied by a random selection of tracks from my mp3 player.
Friday 9th of January
This weekend I was planning to start walking the Capital Ring from Woolwich towards Crystal Palace. I printed off the maps, downloaded the MP3 guides, and then didn't do the walk, but I feel like I did!
Friday I felt burnt out - as I usually do after the top management meeting in the morning and then attempting in an extremely noisy office to compile a list of environmental incidents in the past year and start some analysis.
While trying to work I also managed to order a couple of items of clothing - two for one offer on clearance items - both in my size and both under £15, which is the price I get them both for.
In the evening I got the Jubilee Line to North Greenwich and the bus from there to Welling. It took about 2 hours and I was spangled beyond belief. Oh how I hate travelling on buses. Collins and Herring kept me amused though - I'm always one podcast behind due to the fact that my computer at work can never access their podcast on the day it becomes available, presumably due to heavy traffic.
I had the Adam And Joe podcast too, which made me titter.
At home I drank beer, and watched tv, and listened to music, and talked to Paul, and had a curry each. Got to bed around 4 am.
Friday I felt burnt out - as I usually do after the top management meeting in the morning and then attempting in an extremely noisy office to compile a list of environmental incidents in the past year and start some analysis.
While trying to work I also managed to order a couple of items of clothing - two for one offer on clearance items - both in my size and both under £15, which is the price I get them both for.
In the evening I got the Jubilee Line to North Greenwich and the bus from there to Welling. It took about 2 hours and I was spangled beyond belief. Oh how I hate travelling on buses. Collins and Herring kept me amused though - I'm always one podcast behind due to the fact that my computer at work can never access their podcast on the day it becomes available, presumably due to heavy traffic.
I had the Adam And Joe podcast too, which made me titter.
At home I drank beer, and watched tv, and listened to music, and talked to Paul, and had a curry each. Got to bed around 4 am.
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Latest Amazon Order
I received 6 new albums from Amazon just before Xmas. Three by Sparks, two by Rufus Wainwirght and one by Talking Heads.
'Speaking In Tongues' was Talking Heads' 5th studio album, released in 1983, it is also my favourite of their studio albums. Only the live 'The Name Of This Band...' is better in my estimation. I used to have it on tape, so thought it was about time to upgrade.
'A Woofer In Tweeters Clothing' was Sparks' first proper album - and to be honest - haven't really listened to it since it arrived.
'Propaganda' Sparks 1974 release - it is beginning to grow on me although there's no obvious stand-out tracks as yet.
'Big Beat' - Sparks 1976 release - is turning out to be my favourite. "Big Boy", "I Bought The Mississippi River", "Everybody's Stupid", "Throw Her Away (and Get A New One)", and "White Women" are quickly becoming my favourites, even making me laugh out loud while I'm cycling along.
The two Wainwright albums are magnificent and I will be trying to make time to lay back - completely undisturbed - and listen to them properly.
Choose the perfect PC or mobile phone for you. Click here
'Speaking In Tongues' was Talking Heads' 5th studio album, released in 1983, it is also my favourite of their studio albums. Only the live 'The Name Of This Band...' is better in my estimation. I used to have it on tape, so thought it was about time to upgrade.
'A Woofer In Tweeters Clothing' was Sparks' first proper album - and to be honest - haven't really listened to it since it arrived.
'Propaganda' Sparks 1974 release - it is beginning to grow on me although there's no obvious stand-out tracks as yet.
'Big Beat' - Sparks 1976 release - is turning out to be my favourite. "Big Boy", "I Bought The Mississippi River", "Everybody's Stupid", "Throw Her Away (and Get A New One)", and "White Women" are quickly becoming my favourites, even making me laugh out loud while I'm cycling along.
The two Wainwright albums are magnificent and I will be trying to make time to lay back - completely undisturbed - and listen to them properly.
Choose the perfect PC or mobile phone for you. Click here
Ed Harcourt
I've just discovered Ed Harcourt. I think he's made around 6 albums so far, and I've been aware of his existence, after all he gets played quite a lot on the more serious radio stations. But I've never made the effort to listen properly to his stuff before, like I did today. D. had a few tracks by Harcourt on a home-made CD which I have put onto my little Zen pod. I have to say – I liked most of it quite a lot, and some of it, nearly as much. Very good music. I can't tell you what tracks as I don't know, but I will find out.
My two weeks in Plymouth - in pictures:
A disused railway viaduct over the River Plym
The river
The Laira Estuary
Main line railway alongside Laira Estuary
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