Wednesday 28 February 2007

"A software glitch forced 12 United States Air Force F-22A Raptor stealth fighters to cancel their first overseas flight. The jets were flying from Hawaii to Japan when they were forced to turn back after suffering problems with their navigation systems. Retired Air Force general Don Shepperd told CNN Television that the onboard navigation, communications and fuel systems crashed as the planes crossed the International Date Line."

Is this an early April Fool joke?

Stealth fighters hit by software crash - vnunet.com
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"A photographer's Downing Street petition against 'proposed restrictions' on rights to take pictures in public has confused many into wrongly believing that the government is planning such a move. It seems that the petition was largely fuelled by a photo enthusiast's idea to launch a self-styled ID Card and has nothing to do with future government policy whatsoever."

In our ever-encompassing nanny state, its easy to believe this Government would consider such legislation, probably claiming photos in public places "aids terrorism". Fortunately, the rumours are tosh.

No.10 petition fuels photo rights confusion news - Amateur Photographer - The world's number one weekly photography magazine

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Tuesday 27 February 2007

The petrol station on my route to work has hiked their price for normal unleaded three times in the last week - its now back up to 87.9p a litre. Apparently the reason is the oil industry's concerns over Iran's nuclear ambitions. More likely concern that the USA will bomb the crap out of them.

BBC Commodities prices over three months
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At last: finally managed to get Blog This working again, under Firefox 1.5.
Aqua4iTunes Homepage - Restore aqua to iTunes 7: "Are you one of those people who thinks iTunes 7 fell out of the ugly tree, hit every branch on the way down, and then got hit repeatedly with the ugly stick? If you are, then Aqua4iTunes can help!"

Found the above in my search for a way to get iTunes 7.0.2 to adjust its volume with the cursor up and down arrow keys, like the previous version did. Now you have to hold Command down to do that. Why do software developers have to fiddle with things?

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It shouldn't be too difficult, should it, to post a blog entry? Yet my new (Intel) iMac conspires to make list just as difficult as it possibly can. Came with the latest release of OS X installed (10.4.8) and Firefox 2. I found some text on a web page I wanted to blog, right-click, and - oh - where's my 'Blog This' entry? Of course, there isn't one because I haven't installed the necessary extension. Off to the Firefox website, into Extensions, extensions for blogging, find Blog This, install extension - doesn't work. Only works with Firefox 1.5.x. Try to get installer for 1.5.x - no way.

Friday 23 February 2007


Photo from flickr"Meacher enters Labour leader race
Veteran MP and former minister Michael Meacher has launched a challenge to Gordon Brown for the Labour leadership, promising a left-wing agenda. He called for Trident nuclear weapons to be scrapped, huge investment in renewable energy, curbs on City bonuses and nationalisation of the railways.
"

Good grief - a socialist leader of the Labour party? Whatever next?! There's no doubt that Brown would continue the Thatcherite policies of Blair, so this guy would provide an excellent alternative.

BBC NEWS | Politics | Meacher enters Labour leader race


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Thursday 22 February 2007


It seems that a good many drivers are still ignoring the law banning the use of mobile phones whilst driving. This very evening, I watched as the driver of a small blue car negotiated the tight turn into Sandy Lane, narrowly avoiding two other cars, all the time yakking away with a handset in his right hand.

BBC NEWS | Magazine | Careless talk
DoT | THINK! advice - mobile phones
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Sunday 18 February 2007



Happy Chinese New Year. Starting today is Year of the Fire Boar (golden pig) - celebrated only once every 60 years.

BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | China ushers in year of the pig
Wikipedia | Chinese New Year

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Sunday 11 February 2007


I covered West Ham vs Watford yesterday for my new photo agency, Pinnacle. Because of the very low level of the seating, photographers are restricted to two sunken pits. Watford outplayed The Hammers and deserved their win - from the TV replay, their penalty was fully justified.

"Miliband defends bird flu moves
Environment Secretary David Miliband has defended the government's handling of Hungarian poultry imports after the outbreak of bird flu in Suffolk. He said a ban on imports from Hungary, where the infection is thought to have originated, would have breached EU rules and provoked retaliation.
"

Isn't this pathetic? Something that could be a risk to human health can't be banned. How long did it take Britain's exports of beef to continue after France unilaterally banned them? Three years?

BBC NEWS | UK | Miliband defends bird flu moves

Friday 9 February 2007

If you're trying to get Flash Media Server 2 working under Fedora Core 6, you might find that although the server will install and run, you cannot use the web-based admin client (fms2_console). The Flash movie loads into the web page, but you can't see anything other than some empty text boxes. The key is that you need a more recent version of the Flash plugin. Version 9 is now available as an RPM to download and install. Visit http://www.adobe.com/downloads/ and click the link to 'get Adobe Flash Player'. The page you visit should detect that you are running Linux and give you two download options. As it suggets, use rpm instead of yum and the install should work just fine. Restart the browser and you should now see all of the admin application.

Thursday 8 February 2007


"'Yellow box' plan to beat muggers
Yellow lines are to be painted on the pavement around cash machines across the UK in a Home Office initiative to reduce the number of muggings. Home Office minister Vernon Coaker said the so-called 'privacy spaces' were a 'simple common sense' measure that had been shown to cut crime. The job of painting the lines will be given to young offenders.

The government is under pressure to tackle street crime after figures last month showed it was on the rise. Pilots have shown that 'privacy spaces' can reduce crime at bank machines and we're working with industry to roll these out,' said Mr Coaker.
"

So you'll be safe until you walk two feet. How pathetic - and typical of this Government's efforts at reducing crime. I bet they wasted a few thousands on consultancy to come up with this joke.

BBC NEWS | Politics | 'Yellow box' plan to beat muggers

"Man admits using 'police siren'
A man who pretended to drive an unmarked police car by fixing a blue siren to his car has pleaded guilty to careless driving. The local authority care worker was given seven points on his licence and fined £250 at Perth Sheriff Court.
"

What's a blue siren? And how can displaying a coloured light be "careless driving"? I bet a good solicitor could have got him off. Frankly I'm surprised the police even bothered - I see blue lights on cars, even lorries, pretty much every day.

BBC NEWS | Scotland | Tayside and Central | Man admits using 'police siren'

Lots of snow


Photo from flickrRear view
Photo uploaded to flickr 8 Feb '07, 10.44am GMT PST by hockeyshooter

We've had a good 4 inches or so of snow this morning and its still snowing now. Of course, this being Britain, it means half the country has been brought to a halt - I'm sure the Scandinavians have a good laugh at our expense.

Wednesday 7 February 2007

Blogging from a widget on my new iMac...

Thursday 1 February 2007


"Plan to ban standard light bulbs
A Californian politician is aiming to bring in a law banning the sale of traditional light bulbs in the state. California Assemblyman Lloyd Levine wants incandescent light bulbs banned by 2012, in favour of energy-saving fluorescent lights.

The planned legislation would be known as the How Many Legislators Does It Take To Change A Light Bulb Act. The Democrat intends to introduce his bill this week. He has already forced retailers to recycle more plastic.
"

I certainly hope the British Government follow this lead.

BBC NEWS | Business | Plan to ban standard light bulbs

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