Monday, February 26, 2007

Software Glitch

There has been quite a lot of fuss in the US recently because their daylight saving rules recently changed. This will potentially cause quite a few problems in older software when the time is suddenly an hour wrong. I used to work in IT support and users used to scream blue murder over far more mundane matters. However, I'm glad the I wasn't the support guy who took the call from these chaps as reported in this Slashdot story.

"The new US stealth fighter, the F-22 Raptor, was deployed for the first time to Asia earlier this month. On Feb. 11, twelve Raptors flying from Hawaii to Japan were forced to turn back when a software glitch crashed all of the F-22s' on-board computers as they crossed the international date line.[...] CNN television reported that every fighter completely lost all navigation and communications when they crossed the international date line. They reportedly had to turn around and follow their tankers by visual contact back to Hawaii. According to the CNN story, if they had not been with their tankers, or the weather had been bad, this would have been serious."

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Wireless World

In our living room we have two areas with loads of cables and wires. One is around the TV and HiFi and at the other end of the room is the computer/home office. In the past I really didn't care too much. It looks a bit messy but it does the job. However, I'm now starting to think about child proofing the house for when the baby is born and starts crawling all over the place (I know it will be a while before the nipper is born never mind mobile but I'm planning ahead). It strikes me that a bunch of wires must be quite a tempting target for a kids little hands and they do so love chewing things. So I'm interested is any of you kind readers have had this dilemma and if so how you tidied everything up? Trunking? Cable Ties? New Equipment? Reduced Equipment? Cupboards? False Backs? What is the secret?

For a second I was tempted not to list the equipment for incase it attracted unsavoury burglar types, but apart from the lava lamp I think these things are pretty standard these days. And yes I know the HiFi rack needs dusting.







Television and HiFi
TV
Wireless Headphone Station
Record Deck
Video Recorder
PVR
DVD Player
5.1 Amplifier
7 Speakers
Sub Woofer
Lava Lamp
Coaxial Aerial Cable


Home Office
Computer
Printer
Scanner
Monitor
USB Hub
Wireless Router
5 Speakers
Sub Woofer
Light
Shredder
Phone Charger
Camera Charger
Phone Extension
Broadband Cable

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Getting some wheels

This weekend Ali and I eventually got around to buying some of the stuff we will need when our baby is born. I guess I would have chosen to wait till a bit closer to the due date but various folks have been worrying me by saying that some prams and car seats can take up to 6 weeks to be delivered after orders - and since Ali is due in 7 weeks we thought that was cutting things a bit fine - especially since it is not at all unheard of for babies to be born weeks early (although more commonly they are late in first births).

It really is no fun picking which stuff to get. Everyone seems to have an opinion and the last thing you want to do is "Cheap Out" on your progeny. On the other hand you don't want to be mugs and to pay through the nose unnecessarily. Should we get a push chair and a pram or a clever combination type? Do we get a car seat with a base unit or just the seat? Do we got for a trendy brand name like "Baby Bjorn" or just stick with the traditional Mclaren?

In the end we decided to go for a rather flash "Integrated Travel System". This means a base that will allow a pram or push chair attachment and will also allow you to put a car seat directly onto it so you don't need to move the kiddie when you transfer it from the car. It costs a bit more than getting separates but hopefully will be way more convenient. Or have we just been mugged?

And of course the other thing I forgot to take into account is that our existing small people, Barney and Boo, have no conception of what is for our new family member and what is for them.

Monday, February 05, 2007

Five things you don't know about me

For a while there has been a Meme going around web logs to nominate folks to reveal stuff that most readers wouldn't know about the them. If you search Google for "Five things you don't know about me" (in quotes) you get nearly 195,000 hits. Well Mike nominated me a few weeks ago. Most of the lists are quite boring but of course I'm more interesting than most people ;-) So here goes ...

1. I played a policeman in a senior school play. I had to wear the full uniform. My performance was so wooden you could have made a chest of draws out of me.

2. I've managed to forget my twin sister' birthday. Twice.

3. The first vehicle I ever owned was a 20 year old Wolverhampton Council Sherpa van. Painted yellow. I had it for nearly 10 years.

4. The first books which caught my imagination were the works of René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo. Better known as The Adventures of Asterix.

5. The first gig I ever played was at the Trogg Bar in Hull supporting a Jimi Hendrix tribute band. I played 2 songs I had written and The Boxer by Simon and Garfunkel. The applause was charitable but audible.

I think the fizz has gone out of this meme a little bit so I won't tag anyone but if you are burning to expose some obscure facts about yourself then by all means crack them out and I will happily pretend I nominated you.

Friday, February 02, 2007

Bustin' some moves

Many moons ago when I still lived in the beautiful East Yorkshire hamlet called Hull, my top friend and sometime bandmate Bonzo Jon spawned a son called Kie. He was a nice little fella and I sometimes earned a bottle of Newcastle Brown by baby sitting for him and his sisters or walking him to nursery school. Whilst it was pretty obvious that he was a lively kid - I was thrilled to get an email from John today saying that Kie has been invited to join the Urban Free Flow sponsored Parkour Team. If you don't know what Parkour is or want to see if Kie really has the skillz then watch this short video. Wow.