Cat inspects satellite hardware

Cat inspects satellite hardware
Photo uploaded to flickr 5 Mar '06, 5.44pm PST by hockeyshooter

Very friendly and apparently technically-minded cat at the agritourismo I was staying in in Poggi. This is the kit Lorenzo will be taking with him to send photos from Tibet and Everest - everest.open.ac.uk

Coast near Imperia in windy weather

Coast near Imperia in windy weather
Photo uploaded to flickr 5 Mar '06, 2.55pm PST by hockeyshooter

We've had some very windy weather (lasted three days) all along the coast. I took lots of photos of the sea battering the harbour walls.

Cat in Cervo

Cat in Cervo
Photo uploaded to flickr 4 Mar '06, 1.57pm PST by hockeyshooter

You can't go to Italy without getting at least one photo of a cat. This lazy example watched us eat lunch at a bar in the square in front of Cervo's famous church, which is still undergoing restoration.

Almond blossom

Almond blossom
Photo uploaded to flickr 3 Mar '06, 12.52pm PST by hockeyshooter

A morning walk up the hill from Poggi and the almond trees are in blossom. Lorenzo's second presentation on his Everest expedition is this evening.

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Another sunny day in Imperia
Photo uploaded to flickr 2 Mar '06, 12.01pm PST by hockeyshooter

Lunch at a little cafe near the harbour where the opening sequences of The Bourne Identity were shot.

Ligurian coast from motorway

Ligurian coast
Photo uploaded to flickr 1 Mar '06, 4.38pm PST by hockeyshooter

Well, here I am in Liguria (Italy) for the fourth time - just can't get enough of the place. Flew over with my friend's parents and sister who were by coincidence on the same easyjet flight from Luton to Nice, plus a bunch of English kids on an exchange with a school in Bordighera.

The excellent BBC TV time-travelling cop series 'Life on Mars' finished this evening - but a new series is planned for next year.

Here's a review of Canon's answer to the Nikon P1/2/3 digital compact camera with wireless. Not sure if its available in the UK yet.

"Canon Powershot SD430 - IXUS Wireless
Canon today [25 Oct 2005] announced their first wireless digicam, the Powershot SD430 ( IXUS wireless in Europe). It's a wireless version of the 5MP SD450. It's similar in it's wireless capabilities to the recently announced Nikon P1 and P2. Wireless transfer of images within a home or office to a suitably equiped printer of PC is possible."

Canon SD430 Wireless

Its also listed on dpreview.com:
Canon PowerShot SD430 Wireless digital camera specifications

Reading vs Preston

Beautiful sunny day, but biting cold wind for this Championship game of Reading vs Preston North End. All the action in the first half with one goal a-piece in the first 10 minutes then a game-winner from substitute Leroy Lita, brought on to replace Dave Kitson after his collision with the Preston keeper left him motionless on the ground. Hope you're ok now, Dave.

I couldn't get these Greasemonkey scripts to allow me to geotag my images in Flickr (I think they've been broken by the 1.5 release of Firefox), so I wrote my own script to take the text MultiMap spits out and convert it to text I could immediately paste into the 'tags' box on the Flickr page.

Technorati tags: geotag geotagging convert MultiMap Flickr

"Councils lose plants to drought
The continuing drought in the South East has led Southern Water to ask 11 Kent and Sussex councils to reconsider planting schemes for 2006. Brighton council has cancelled 500 City in Bloom baskets and troughs. Two will remain at the town hall for weddings. Crawley council has said it is taking the same action. Reservoirs which would normally be more than 90% full in February are less than 40% full after more than a year of drought conditions in the region. Rainfall for January in the South East was about 25% of the average level. Southern Water has said the region is facing the worst drought in 100 years. The Environment Agency has said the South East is facing "a major drought"."

And yet the likes of Prescott still want thousands more homes built in the South East. Ludicrious.

BBC NEWS | England | Councils lose plants to drought

Having found over the last couple of days that the Nikon P2 we bought turns out to be pretty naff in low light (its ISO setting only goes up to 400 and as soon as you zoom the lens any, its maximum aperture drops to a not-very-helpful f5.2), I was interested to read the following on Digital Photography Review:

"Perhaps the most exciting element of the COOLPIX P3 and P4, however, is the inclusion of Nikon’s innovative VR (Vibration Reduction) capability. Originally developed for Nikon SLRs, lens shift VR capability is available in two modes that compensate for camera movement to realize a shooting experience akin to shooting at shutter speeds three stops faster."

Note, though, that only the P3 offers the wireless networking that attracted me to the P1/2 in the first place - quite why the P4 doesn't have it as well, I don't know.

Nikon Coolpix P3 and P4: Digital Photography Review

"Your source for information regarding US Patent 6,985,875

A patent was awarded to a photographer on Jan 10, 2006 that could limit the way photographers capture, display and sell their photographs."

Note this Patent is registered in the USA and therefore won't affect photographers working outside that country. The patent could affect any events photographer (or even events organisers, according to the letter he has started sending out to photographers) who list photos on their site marked up with names or vehicle/bib numbers, combined with a search facility. If you're wondering why you hadn't heard of it before now, he submitted the Patent application in 1999 and its only just been granted.

Its basically yet another example of just how stupid Patents can be when applied to bloody obvious ideas.

Your source for information regarding US Patent 6,985,875

"Smoke ban 'threatens environment'
As campaigners cheer a total smoking ban, there are fears sending smokers outside will lead to a huge increase in greenhouse gas-emitting patio heaters. Labour MP Stephen Pound said when he visited Ireland recently - where a smoking ban is already in force - pub gardens were 'covered' in the heaters. Britain's greenhouse gas emissions are already up by 380,000 tonnes a year due to such devices, it is claimed."

These things are a disgrace and should be banned. What a disgusting waste of energy.

BBC NEWS | Politics | Smoke ban 'threatens environment'

"Blackouts 'threaten UK Olympics'
The London Olympics in 2012 are likely to be hit by electricity blackouts, according to a poll of energy experts. Three-quarters of the respondents to a survey organised by the energy company Mitsui Babcock identified blackouts as a 'serious concern'."

Not that the Olympics have got anything to do with our energy polices, but I guess they have to pick something that might just make our Government get off their collective backsides and actually do something.

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Blackouts 'threaten UK Olympics'

"Malicious worm aims to bite Apple
Mac users are being warned to be on the lookout for what is being called one of the first viruses for Apple computers. The malicious program, known as Leap-A, tries to spread via Apple's iChat instant messaging program. The worm disguises itself as images of Apple's forthcoming version of its operating system, called Leopard, and plunders buddy lists if installed.

'The important piece of advice for any iChat users running OS X 10.4 is not to accept file transfers, even if they come from someone on a buddy list,' said Kevin Hogan, Symantec security response manager. Symantec said Leap-A was a level 1 threat on its ranking system - the lowest level. Computer security firms McAfee and F-Secure also said it posed little threat."

Wonder if Apple's switch to Intel will make any difference to their susceptability to hackers...?

BBC NEWS | Technology | Malicious worm aims to bite Apple

"Legal case against US on climate
US conservation groups have begun a new legal case aimed at forcing government action on climate change. They have filed a petition with the UN arguing that Waterton-Glacier Peace Park, a protected area, is being damaged by rising temperatures. Similar actions have been lodged over sites in the Himalayas and Andes."

Further embarrasement for the Bush administration? Or perhaps the guy simply doesn't care? New Orleans disappeared under water and he didn't seem to be bothered about that. Is he going to react the same way when the whole of Florida does the same?

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Legal case against US on climate

US attacks UN Guantanamo report
The White House has savaged a UN report demanding the immediate closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison camp calling it "a discredit to the UN".

Well, isn't that a surprise?

"The US has dismissed most of the allegations as 'largely without merit', saying the five investigators never actually visited Guantanamo Bay and that detainees are treated humanely."

Then why did you refuse access to the detainees?

"The United Nations should be making serious investigations across the world, and there are many instances in which they do when it comes to human rights. This was not one of them," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.

There was a time that there was no need to investigate human rights abuses in the USA.

"And I think it's a discredit to the UN when a team like this goes about rushing to report something when they haven't even looked into the facts, all they've done is look at the allegations."

Do you deny that you have imprisoned people for years without charge or trial? I think the allegations are pretty damning on their own.

The report ends by demanding that the UN be granted full and unrestricted access to the camp's facilities, including private interviews with detainees.

Can we expect the US administration to ever grant such access to anyone?

Guitmo is a disgrace to the Constitution and to the people. The US will never again be able to point the finger at any other country in the world on the issue of human rights while it exists, and while Bush and co are in power.

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | US attacks UN Guantanamo report

I've used Analog for webserver log file analysis since the year dot, but how come it is still such pain to configure? The help files are just as naff now as they were 10 years ago. Trying to get Analog to properly recognise your log files, or spit out reports the way you want them, is very much like automated telephone help lines.

Have found that Windows XP SP2's firewall can throw a spanner into the works when transferring images over wireless from the Nikon P2. You need to create a couple of 'exceptions' on ports TCP 15740 and UDP 5353.

"Nuisance call system 'is working'
The watchdog who polices the system designed to prevent nuisance calls has dismissed claims Information Commissioner Richard Thomas is not doing enough to stop firms flouting the rules.

In an interview with the BBC News website, Mr Thomas brushed off the press criticism, saying: 'Telephone Preference Service is working incredibly well. Not enough people know they can register their details with the Telephone Preference Service but the numbers have gone up quite dramatically in recent years. If your name is on there then there is a dramatic reduction - almost elimination - of marketing calls.'"

What they don't tell you about TPS is that it can't stop calls from outside the UK and companies that just want you to answer a survey.

BBC NEWS | Politics | Nuisance call system 'is working'

Given Home Secretary Charles Clarke's failure to persuade the British Public that he needs to increase the time people can be kept in custardy without charge, and that we all really do need ID cards, it looks like the government has decided they should get someone else to try to pull the wool over our eyes. Step up one Prime-Minister-to-be (allegedy), Chancellor Gordon Brown.

BBC NEWS | Politics | Wake up to terror threat - Brown

Covered my first motocross event of the year today at Woodend near Towcester, run by the Northampton Motor Cycle Club.

NMCC, Woodend - 12 February 2006

Watford's Vicarage Road

Watford hammered Coventry 4-0 in today's Championship game at Vicarage Road. Its a slightly unusual venue to photograph at since with the front terraces slightly below pitch level, photographers are only allowed around a very small part of the field. I did manage to get some pretty decent shots, however, including the first goal going in - sadly none were published (again).

Very useful website if you're looking at IP cameras - that is webcams that have built-in webserver or image server:

IP Camera Reviews, Articles, News, Forums, Discussion and more

Crocuses

Crocuses
Photo uploaded to flickr 10 Feb '06, 4.35pm PST by hockeyshooter

I took some more test images today with the new Nikon Coolpix P2 digital camera. These were using the 2M pixel setting with the compression level set to 'standard': this noticeably takes the edge off the sharpness when you view the original image, but if you're only going to use them on the web (and are therefore likely to sharpen them) that won't matter.

"Sweden aims for oil-free economy
Sweden says it aims to completely wean itself off oil within 15 years - without building new nuclear plants. The attempt is being planned by a committee of industrialists, academics, car manufacturers, farmers and others. The country aims to replace all fossil fuels with renewables before climate change damages economies and growing oil scarcity leads to price rises."

That's a fantastic ambition. I do wish Blair was as forward-thinking as this.

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Sweden aims for oil-free economy

Testing wireless network with laptops

Testing wireless network with laptops
Photo uploaded to flickr 8 Feb '06, 5.20pm PST by hockeyshooter

This is the test setup for our stand-alone wireless network, albeit without the aerials. Consists of: HP nx6110 running XP Home and Wirecast streaming server software on right, Linksys WRT54G wireless router in centre, sealed lead-acid battery that it will run off in the background, Apple G3 Powerbook on left running QuickTime player tuned into webcast. Photo taken with the new Nikon P2 and transferred over the same wireless network - didn't appear to impact on video streaming at all.

It didn't take much effort getting the P2 to transfer the images immediately after taking them, but I did find that I had to disable XP's built-in firewall. Turning the resolution on the camera down to 2M pixels reduced the transmission time to about a second. With no aerials connected to the WRT it was impossible to tell how much range the camera will have.

Note that wireless image transfer will only work with Windows XP or OS X 10.3 or later. With earlier Windows, you have to use USB or a card reader. Under 2000, you don't need to install any drivers - just set the USB setting to 'Mass Storage'.


Technorati tags: wireless digital camera image transfer 802.11 Nikon Coolpix P2

Nikon Coopix P2

Nikon Coopix P2
Photo uploaded to flickr 8 Feb '06, 10.47am PST by hockeyshooter

This (rather naff) shot illustrates just how small this camera is. The P1 and P2 (the P1 offers higher resolution) are currently the only cameras that offer built-in 802.11 wireless image transfer. Hopefully I can get it working with our stand-alone experimental network.

Extremely impressed by the performance of A J Purdy and Royal Mail Special Delivery. A Nikon Coolpix P2 (which is almost unique in having built-in 802.11 wireless support) and Sandisk Extreme II 1Gb SD card that I only ordered at 16:20 yesterday afternoon by FAX arrived at 10:30 this morning. And their price was pretty much the cheapest I could find in the UK.

35mm film

expo
Photo uploaded to flickr 28 Jan '06, 11.10am PST by Luca R

This is a photo from the Liguria group on flickr. I love the design.

Sorry to hear that Reading were knocked out of the FA Cup in their fourth round replay at Birmingham this evening. Crystal Palace lost too.

Northampton played host to Rushden and Diamonds on Saturday and chalked up another win. Rushden had a goal controversially disallowed for offside. Following Wycombe's recent loss, the top three teams in League 2 are now all on 54 points with the Cobblers on 53.

Didn't realise just how dim it is on a football pitch for evening games until last night. Was covering Northampton vs Wycombe - both current contenders for promotion to League 1 - at Sixfields stadium and I had the 1D up to its highest speed of 3200 ISO and even with the lens wide open on f2.8 I was only getting 1/200 over some areas of the pitch.

Discovered an anomaly with radio buttons and JavaScript yesterday. Should you create a form that contains just a single radio button rather than a set (as might happen is the form is built dynamically using PHP), a JavaScript array of the radio button will be of undefined length, even though it contains 1 element. You can avoid generating a JavaScript error by first testing to see if the length is 'undefined', thus:

The JavaScript:

function checkForm(form) {
  if (typeof form.radioButton.length!="undefined") {
    // there must be more than one button
    var flag=0;
    for (i=0; i< form.radioButton.length; i++) {
      if (form.radioButton[i].checked) flag=1;
    }
    if (flag) return true;
  } else {
    // there's only one button - so can test directly
    if (form.radioButton.checked) {
      return true;
    }
  }
  alert ('You must check a radio button');
  return false
}

The HTML:
<FORM ACTION='somewhere.php' METHOD='post'>
<INPUT TYPE='radio' NAME='radioButton' VALUE='1'>
<!-- if there were to be more buttons, they would appear here -->
<INPUT TYPE='submit' ONCLICK='return checkForm(this.form);'>
</FORM>
Technorati tags: JavaScript form validation radio buttons

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CF sleeve for iPAQ
Photo uploaded to flickr 30 Jan '06, 10.41am PST by hockeyshooter

For Lorenzo's next mission to Everest, I've finally gotten hold of an expansion sleeve for my HP h5550 iPAQ to enable reading from a CF card - has an extra battery too. Came from BMSoftware here in the UK. From the scratches on the back, it looks second hand - I guess they're no longer made. No idea what the life of its second battery is going to be like; Lorenzo will have a 12v solar panel with him anyway for charging the satellite phone.

"ID cards are of 'limited value'
ID cards would be of 'limited value' against terror and would not have prevented the London attacks in July, says the reviewer of anti-terror laws, Liberal Democrat peer Lord Carlile. He said he had changed his mind on identity cards, which he had previously backed: 'I can't think of many terrorist incidents, in fact I can think of very few... that ID cards would have brought to an earlier end,' he told GMTV."

Time to bury this daft idea, Home Secretary.

BBC NEWS | Politics | ID cards are of 'limited value'

Today's FA Cup game of Reading vs Birmingham was nearly a disaster. Got stuck in traffic on the M1, then on the M4 at the Reading exit. All official parking by then full. Got to the ground about 5 minutes into the game. Fortunately didn't miss anything. Goals were both down the far end and I couldn't see the ball through traffic, but got one celebration shot at least. Laptop was a little flakey again - doesn't seem to like Reading's wireless network, even though I don't use it.

The teams seemed pretty evenly matched, so the 1-1 final score was no susprise. Birmingham chose to make three substitutions in one go, taking Heskey off which seemed a little odd. Reading were missing Kitson with a hamstring problem and I think with him, they'd have won.

WRT54G

WRT54G
Photo uploaded to flickr 23 Jan '06, 11.39am PST by hockeyshooter

If you ever wanted to know how much current a Linksys WRT54G uses, for example if you want to run one in the middle of nowhere off a battery and/or a solar panel, it appears to be around 280mA.

Technorati tags: WRT54G Linksys wireless router current consumption

"Time to return the Arctic favour
These days the Arctic, and to a large extent the Antarctic, has become a playground for the wealthy holidaymaker. They play out a heroic charade which bears little or no resemblance to the real explorers of yesteryear.

It is all meaningless nonsense and is still viewed by the real heroes of the Arctic, the Inuit, with bemused and bewildered amusement. So often travellers to the Arctic rely on the Arctic peoples to help, guide or share their expertise with them. Yet, when they return to their after dinner talks and ego-fanning book launches, the very people that allowed them their indulgence are hardly mentioned or even acknowledged.

The Inuit voice is almost inaudible on the world stage and one cannot help but wonder if anyone even knows they exist.

Glenn Morris (author) is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and has travelled extensively in the Arctic. His most recent expedition, Greenland by the Polar Sea, looked at the impact of climate change on the Inuit people."

The amount of ice lost in just the last 25 years is frightening.

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Time to return the Arctic favour

"TV's 'sleep' button stands accused
Britons waste the equivalent of around two power stations' worth of electricity each year by leaving TV sets and other gadgets on standby. Last June Environment Minister Elliot Morley, responding to an MP's question, revealed that electrical equipment in sleep mode used roughly 7TWh of energy and emitted around 800,000 tonnes of carbon. The government is currently reviewing the options of how to keep the UK's lights on in the future, at the same time as reducing the amount of greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere.

Norman Baker favours a 'polluter pays' approach to the standby problem: 'In the end, there has to be costs in the form of manufacturers paying something to recognize the damage they are causing. Some of these standby modes for televisions use two-thirds of the electricity that it would if it were on. I think some people think that standby is a tiny red dot that has no impact at all.'

The Energy Saving Trust's survey found that one-in-seven people questioned thought putting devices on standby was actually more energy-efficient than switching them on and off. The MTP's Matthew Armishaw clears up any confusion: 'That is largely a myth. There may have been some issues with very old electronic components, but it is certainly not the case with today's consumer electronic goods.'"

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | TV's 'sleep' button stands accused
Technorati tags: electricity power waste standby

Looks like my descision to dump Minolta for Canon has now been fully vindicated:

"Konica Minolta Announces Withdrawal Plan for Camera Business and Photo Business
In camera business, we have expanded picture-taking opportunities by developing innovative technologies such as the world's first autofocus cameras. In 1962, our camera, well-accepted for its high reliability, boarded on the US's first manned spaceship 'Friendship 7.' Also, ever since introduction of the world’s first body-integral autofocus SLR camera, Maxxum/Dynax series, in 1985, SLR cameras have become more popular among picture-takers, and we have succeeded in selling 16 million units of interchangeable lenses since then.

However, in today’s era of digital cameras, where image sensor technologies such as CCD is indispensable, it became difficult to timely provide competitive products even with our top optical, mechanical and electronics technologies."

No kidding - it took years for Minolta to get around to launching a digital SLR, by which time most of their (high-end) lens range had become hopeless out-of-date.

Konica Minolta withdraw from camera business: Digital Photography Review

Northampton vs Macclesfield

5-0 is not the sort of result you expect to see from a Northampton home game. And again, results from games of the teams above us helped us - only Leyton Orient won.

Even scarier and more invasive than ID cards:

"Britain will be first country to monitor every car journey
From 2006 Britain, is to become the first country in the world where the movements of all vehicles on the roads are recorded. A new national surveillance system will hold the records for at least two years. Using a network of cameras that can automatically read every passing number plate, the plan is to build a huge database of vehicle movements so that the police and security services can analyse any journey a driver has made over several years."

Unfortunately you need an account on the Independant website to read any more of the article.

Independent Online Edition > Transport

"ID cards 'should be compulsory'
The Lord Chancellor has said ID cards should be made compulsory if introduced in the UK. Lord Falconer told the BBC that the only way to get full benefit from the scheme was for people without a passport to carry one."

My Mum is 86. She has no valid passport. She hardly ever leaves the house. Is she going to be made to fork out for one of these things? Same with the thousands around the country who live in care homes.

There's no proof that these cards will be any safer than existing cards that use the same technologies - like credit cards. Millions of pounds are still lost to credit card fraud each year - I doubt it will take more than a couple of months for someone to either forge a card or hack into the database.

Blair and co: You can stuff your ID cards where the sun don't shine.

BBC NEWS | UK | ID cards 'should be compulsory'

"Tax plan for greener light bulbs
The government is considering an extra tax on energy inefficient light bulbs.
Costlier compact fluorescent bulbs use a fifth of the energy of Victorian- style incandescent ones, those with a filament, and last much longer."

At last, some positive action from the Government. Don't stop there - plastic bag tax next.

BBC NEWS | Politics | Tax plan for greener light bulbs
Technorati tags: light bulb tax energy efficiency

"Apple addresses iTunes concerns
Apple has made changes to its iTunes music software in response to complaints that it abused user privacy. The row blew up over a new iTunes feature that recommended other tracks users might like to buy. An investigation by bloggers found that the recommendation system used unique identifiers for each user in a way that could compromise privacy."

Well done, Apple, for listening - but make sure you've leaned a lesson from this mistake.

BBC NEWS | Technology | Apple addresses iTunes concerns

CD-R lifetimes not what you thought
"...expert physicist Kurt Gerecke that works for IBM Deutschland has warned users not to use CD-R's for long term backups. His advice is that if you don’t want to keep backing up the same discs every few years use magnetic tape backup instead. Kurt went on to say that unlike pressed CD’s, burnt CD-R’s lifetime is much shorter with lifetime ranging from just 2 to 5 years depending on the quality of the disc."

I've got tens of thousands of photos on CD-R, some from film (for which I still have the negs and could therefore re-scan them) and some from digital SLR (for which there are not originals).

CD-R's lifetime not as long as you think - CD Freaks.com

Having spent a good portion of Saturday afternoon getting soaked shooting photos of Reading vs Coventry, I thought it would be a good idea to look into getting a proper rain cape. I noticed that very few of the other photographers were using the 'real thing', but I now realise why.

Cameras Underwater list the Ewa-Marine C-500 at just shy of £80 each - which by anyone's reckoning is a lot of money for a bit of clear plastic and some velco.




Using this as a basic design, I thought about making my own. I took two A4-sized clear ring binder sleeves, cut off most of the edges and joined them together with ordinary clear sticky tape. It just happens that they are just big enough to go over the hood for my 300/2.8 so I don't even need to use Velco to attach it. Its not exactly robust, but given how cheap it was (pennies) if it gets torn or too creased, I just bin it and make another.

Technorati tags: DIY rain cape waterproof SLR camera

Reading vs Coventry, Championship

Was at Reading's rather spiffy Madejski stadium today. Wasn't much fun covering this game in the rain: must get myself a proper rain hood - which even many of the other pros didn't appear to have.

Following on from my iTunes post below, to those who ask "what's all the fuss about", what should we expect next? An email saying "we notice you have just listened to 'Angels' by Robbie Williams, but from our records we find that you have not bought that track from the iTunes Music Store. To save you time and effort, we have charged the cost of the track to your registered credit card account. Thank you for using this service".

"Snooping fears plague new iTunes
Apple has been criticised over a new version of its iTunes program that can keep track of a user's listening habits. The latest update includes a feature that recommends tracks similar to the music being played via iTunes.

Soon after the update was released, blogger Marc Garrett wrote a journal entry about MiniStore and the data it passes back to Apple. Further work by other bloggers such as Kirk McElhearn found that the data being sent back to Apple to make the recommendations included artist, title, genre as well as unique identifiers for a computer and iTunes account."

I'm not happy about this at all. I don't mind sending data about what I'm listening too - I use Audioscrobbler, now lastFM, but I effectively do so anonymously. iTunes ties this data directly to me via the account that I use to buy tunes via the built-in shop. I've paid for this music - I don't expect to be targeted by more advertising.

BBC NEWS | Technology | Snooping fears plague new iTunes

Technorati tags: iTunes spyware adware MiniStore

Robin Cousings at BETT 2006

BETT 2006, Olympia, London
Photo uploaded to flickr 11 Jan '06, 8.44pm PST by hockeyshooter

I was in London today to take photos at the first Making The News competition at London's Olympic exhibition hall. Robin Cousins, MBE, was doing a great job of presenting the prizes - makes a change to have a celeb that's so cooperative.

Blogging takes another step with this "post your own news site" which is interestingly hosted in Canada.

NowPublic is a site where you can publish news about events you care about. It's easy and let's face it, you are more interesting than your television. You can use NowPublic to share your photos and videos, get coverage of news you care about, and read news that you won't see anywhere else.

The owners of the site emailed me in response to a photo I'd posted on Flickr suggesting I upload it to illustrate a story on Tony Blair.

Developing New Stories | The News is NowPublic.com

Received my new home phone today - another item bought on eBay (its very addictive, you know). Its a BT Relate SMS, which means not only does it use Caller Display to show who's calling you (provided you have entered their number into its phone book) but you can also use it to send and receive text messages. And it doesn't require a SIM card to do this either - messages are billed straight to your normal BT home account (receiving messages is free). Neat. One thing about the phone that did come as a surprise however was its requirement for 4 AA batteries: I guess if you're going to spend the time filling up a 100-number memory, you don't want to loose it all by unplugging it.

Watched the first episode of time-travelling cop show Life On Mars last night and was extremely impressed. It is very well cast (John Simm, from the equally superb State of Play) and acted, and they have gone to enormous effort recreating 1970s London. What a contrast to the vacuous offering from Channel 4 at the same time: Celebrity Big Brother.

Went haring down town today to catch a train to London, only to find that it now costs £5 to park your car on a Saturday. Five pounds. In change. Exact change. Who carries five quid in change in their pocket these days? And why are they charging for parking in the first place? That's a whole quarter of my train fare again. Doesn't exactly encourage you to use the train, does it? In fact unless you're going at least fifty miles or so, its probably cheaper to drive. And what exactly do you get for your five pounds? I guess it must go to pay the dozens of armed guards that will be keeping an eye on your motor in your absence - not, coz there aren't any guards at all.

Crystal Palace vs Northamton Town, FA Cup 3rd Round

My first go at shooting professional football, at Selhurt Park about an hour before kickoff - I got there early! Palace won 4-1, including two rather dubious penalties, so the Cobblers are now out of the FA Cup and free to concentrate on their promotion drive (well, you've got to find a positive in everything, haven't you?).

Spotted what I at first thought was a song thrush on a fence post in our garden this morning, only to realise it was actually a kestrel. I raced to get my camera out but I couldn't get it to focus fast enough - it was very dark and I was trying to shoot through double glazing. As soon as I had it in the frame it suddenly swooped down after a bluetit on our peanut feeder, and they both flew some incredible aerobatics as the poor wee thing tried to escape - which I think it did. A few weeks back I'd seen a lot of blackbird feathers on the lawn so I'm guessing the kestrel had visited before and managed to make a kill. Whilst I'm thrilled to see a kestrel in the garden, I'd rather he not eat our song birds, which are rare enough as it is!

"Trial bid to stop belching cattle
Aberdeen scientists are carrying out commercial trials on a feed additive which they hope will stop cows from producing large amounts of methane.

Cattle are capable of producing 500 litres of the potent greenhouse gas every day, mostly through belching. Researchers at the Rowett Research Institute have found a way of cutting back on the methane produced by ruminants like sheep and cows."

How about a Rennie, about a foot square?

BBC NEWS | Scotland | Trial bid to stop belching cattle

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Northampton Town managed to loose against Peterborough today - the Cobbler's first league loss since the end of October. It was a pretty pathetic performance - again.

Vodafone Mobile Connect card

Vodafone Mobile Connect card
Photo uploaded to flickr 30 Dec '05, 5.30pm PST by hockeyshooter


Managed to persuade a Vodafone Mobile Connect card to work with the Pay-As-You-Go SIM card I use in my Nokia 6230 today. The card is a 3G/GPRS/WiFI PCMCIA device that basically works as a modem over Vodafone's mobile network, enabling me to send photos from sporting events almost anywhere in the UK. The card reverts to using GPRS if 3G isn't available in the area (like where I live, it appears). I did have to tweak one settings to get it to work with a PAYG SIM - that is the 'APN' which I had to change from 'internet' to 'pp.vodafone.co.uk' - information gleaned from the staggeringly helpful 3G Forum.

Technorati tags: 3G GPRS Vodafone mobile connect PCMCIA card

"Star Trek is 'most missed' series
Sci-fi series Star Trek is the show most people want to see returned to their TV screens, a survey has found. Originally broadcast in the US in 1966, it topped a poll of more than 1,000 viewers commissioned by UK interactive TV firm Home Media Networks."

Paramount were so stupid to have cancelled Enterprise.

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Star Trek is 'most missed' series

Technorati tags: Star Trek Enterprise

Its snowing!

Its snowing!
Photo uploaded to flickr 27 Dec '05, 11.20am PST by hockeyshooter

Some snow overnight, but more coming down this morning. Quite big chunks of it too! Just a shame, from the kids' point of view, that its a few days late.

Northampton vs Mansfield

Another league 2 win for the Cobblers puts them fourth in the table. The final scored owed much to Mansfield keeper Kevin Pressman who made some terrific saves. But he was beaten by a free kick from David Hunt that may turn out to be goal of the season. As a neighbour spectator rightly commented "I didn't know we'd signed David Beckham".

Today saw the annual Boxing Day "Wild and Woolly" motocross event at Blisworth near Northampton. Not quite as cold last year, but still pretty muddy. I think more riders took part too. Congratulations to whoever it was keeping the numbers clear - made a change to be able to work out who was on each bike. But somehow I managed to completely miss #26 - sorry Pete.

"The Campaign Against Political Correctness believes in free speech and thinks that the silent majority have been left without a voice for too long. We believe that people should be proud to be British and not ashamed to protect Britain's history from those who want to re-write it."

New Tories are even considering making PCness an election issue.

"Tory MP Philip Davies, who was elected this year, said he wanted to wage a campaign against 'this silliness'. He cited the example of a Somerset museum which took BC (Before Christ) off labels to avoid 'offence'."

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Christmas day 2005
Photo uploaded to flickr 25 Dec '05, 2.10pm PST by hockeyshooter

Rushmere lake, Heath and Reach, on Christmas day 2005.

You have received a new message

Christmas day 2005
Photo uploaded to flickr 25 Dec '05, 1.47pm PST by hockeyshooter

The Ouzel, near Heath and Reach, on Christmas day 2005.

I have finally managed to send a photo from an HP h5550 iPAQ to the Internet (in this case an account on Fotki) via satellite phone. I found I needed the Thuraya people to enable data transmission on the account. Once I had the right serial cables, had QuickLink Mobile software talking to the phone, and with the account enabled, I was able to establish a data connection using their own service. No further networking settings were needed on the iPAQ. Alas, again Fotki's image embedding doesn't work, so I can't display the image here - all I can do is provide a link to the web page it is on.

Technorati tags: photo transmission satellite phone iPAQ

"Senate blocks Alaska oil drilling
The US Senate has narrowly blocked a Republican-led attempt to allow drilling for oil in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Supporters of the plan fell four votes short of the number needed to prevent opponents using a filibuster - or delaying tactic - to derail the vote."

This is marvellous news. Just goes to show there are some in the US Government who have respect for the environment.

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Senate blocks Alaska oil drilling

Technorati tags: Alaska Arctic refuge oil drilling

Have been playing a lot more with this image browsing/editing/uploading software for the iPAQ and I must say that, given it is so incredibly cheap, it is fantastic to use. It just needs a few more features and settings and it could then compete favourably with another, much more expensive option that I have also bought.

"Ramp creates power as cars pass
A road ramp that uses passing cars to generate power has been developed. Dorset inventor Peter Hughes' Electro-Kinetic Road Ramp creates around 10kW of power each time a car drives over its metal plates. More than 200 local authorities had expressed an interest in ordering the £25,000 ramps to power their traffic lights and road signs, Mr Hughes said. Plates in the ramp move up and down as vehicles pass over them, driving a generator. Depending on the weight of the vehicle passing overhead, between five and 50kW can be generated."

Interesting idea, but the energy has got to come from somewhere, and that's got to be from the vehicles that go over them. Which means burning extra fuel. So is this really such a good idea?

BBC NEWS | England | Somerset | Ramp creates power as cars pass

Technorati tags: vehicle kinetic power generation ramp

"Congress presses for torture ban
The US House of Representatives has supported a call to ban cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of foreign terrorism suspects. It voted 308 to 122 to back a measure passed by the Senate to include the ban in new defence spending legislation. The symbolic move by both chambers is not binding on the White House, but is seen as highly embarrassing."

Goes to show most US politicians weren't prepared to accept Condi Rice's brush-off that appears to have placated their European counterparts (at least to some extent). But what exactly does not binding on the White House mean?

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Congress presses for torture ban

Mobile photo sending

Mobile photo sending
Photo uploaded to flickr 13 Dec '05, 3.11pm PST by hockeyshooter

Have been spending the day juggling with an iPAQ h5550, a Navman GPS/Compact Flash sleeve, a Nokia 6230 mobile phone and various bits of software, trying to send photos to the Internet. Have come across SPB Imageer, which at just $15 does a pretty neat job as image browser, simple editor and Internet sender. Sadly it can only send to Fotki, alas, and not Flickr - which is a real shame because although Fotki go to a lot of effort to make images linkable (so that you can embed them into your blog, for example) I could not get it to work here. So I had to manually copy the images to my Flickr account instead. So far I've only had it work via my own wireless network, so the next challenge is to use the Nokia as a GPRS modem (although I have a feeling the service, on my Vodafone account, isn't actually enabled) via Bluetooth.

This is the most stunning image I've seen this morning of the huge cloud of smoke still being produced by the fire. The Fire Brigade said they would not be able to start putting out the fires until they had a large supply of foam - if they started too soon, and then ran out, the fire would just take hold again. That white thing bottom right isn't a farm gate - its a five story building.

Luton airport still operating as normal, but with the M1 closed, it might be difficult getting there. The Fire Brigade are sending appliances from all around the area, but it will be a difficult fire to fight because of the extreme heat and the danger of further explosions.

Sky News are now showing the MultiMap page with the aerial photo I blogged earlier. CNN have picked the story up. Live pictures are showing police officers wearing paper face masks. ITV News are showing a closeup view from a fixed CCTV camera.

An eyewitness is now saying "half the sky is black; there isn't a cloud in the sky - the blue half".

ITV News are emphasising the statement from Herts Police that no plane was involved - any mention of a plane was pure speculation.

One of the oil companies have just said that their employees on-site are both OK, but several companies use the site. It provides fuel to Luton Airport, which is only 10 miles away. The police are suggesting local residents keep doors and windows closed, but I'm guessing most are actually outside watching it. Live footage now being shown on BBC News shows a massive column of smoke rising hundred of feet into the sky, with flames still visible at the base of it. Witnesses heard at least three explosions.

The police have just stated they are treating the incident as an accident. There is a strange smell in the air, which I would guess is toxic. The fire continues to rage, with flames and smoke towering into the air. "A sight you wouldn't expect to see at 6 O'Clock in the morning" said one eyewitness very close to the scene, who had helped to rescue a security guard trapped in his hut at the industrial estate next to the site. He also said he did not hear a plane.

People living nearby have, according to a witness, lost the roofs of their houses!

Here's a map of where the terminal is.

There seems to be a few reports of witnesses having heard an aircraft before the explosion, but given the area is under the approach to Luton airport, that's hardly surprising. "A huge cloud of black smoke" is visible from many miles away; "gigantic" flames leaping hundreds of feet into the sky. Very little official information has yet been released. The M1 is closed in both directions.

One witness believes there to have been "very large structural damage". A hotel nearby is being evacuated. "A massive fire; explosions still happening." The fog must be dispersing there as a helicopter flew over one witness. "The sky is black with bright orange flames". Another witness said he could see "billowing white smoke; only half the facility has exploded; four or five oil containers still in tact.".

Police have officially confirmed both the incident and that there have been casualties at the Buncefield oil storage depot, Hemel Hempstead, in Hertfordshire, England. Witnesses reporting flames up to 60ft into the air. The weather is pretty cold (just below freezing, with frost on the cars) and there is quite a thick fog, so this is going to hamper the emergency services.

Technorati tags: Buncefield fuel oil storage depot explosion fire

First report from Sky News. People have reported having heard it in Milton Keynes, even further north than where I am.

According to BBC News, police have just confirmed the explosion at the fuel depot. Unconfirmed reports of injuries.

An eyewitness stuck on the now closed M1 is seeing many fire engines and ambulances. Explosions are still happening.

Buncefield Fuel Storage Depot appears to have suffered a massive explosion. Blast damage has effected buildings up to a mile away: windows blown out; one persion could open their front door.

BBC News have now picked up on it. Flames visible from several miles away.

Its now 20 minutes later and Sky News are carrying reports that the explosion was very near or in Hemel Hempstead. They're suggesting it might be at a fuel depot situated near the M1 motorway. Flames visible in the sky. More fuel tanks exploding.

I was just awake at 06:05 this morning when I heard an enormous explosion. I got up and looked out the window, but couldn't hear or smell anything else.

Technorati tags: explosion fire fuel depot England Hemel Hempstead

"Song sites face legal crackdown
The music industry is to extend its copyright war by taking legal action against websites offering unlicensed song scores and lyrics. The Music Publishers' Association (MPA), which represents US sheet music companies, will launch its first campaign against such sites in 2006.

MPA president Lauren Keiser said he wanted site owners to be jailed. He said unlicensed guitar tabs and song scores were widely available on the internet but were 'completely illegal'. Mr Keiser said he did not just want to shut websites and impose fines, saying if authorities can 'throw in some jail time I think we'll be a little more effective'."

Perhaps you'd like to let the CIA take care of these people for you? Have you actually bothered asking your artists and composers if they have any objection to kids learning to play an instrument through imitating their music?

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Song sites face legal crackdown

"Last-minute climate deals reached
Mr Clinton attacked a central plank of the Bush administration's resistance to targets for cutting emissions - that it would harm the US economy.

If the US 'had a serious, disciplined effort to apply on a large scale existing clean energy and energy conservation technologies... we could meet and surpass the Kyoto targets easily in a way that would strengthen, not weaken, our economies,' he said."

Well said Mr.C. Of course, it remains to be seen if the UK can reach the targets its already committed itself to for Kyoto - at the moment, our emissions are actually increasing...

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Last-minute climate deals reached

Technorati tags: global climate conference Montreal Clinton

Inuit sue US over climate policy
People living in the Arctic have filed a legal petition against the US government, saying its climate change policies violate human rights. The Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC) claims the US is failing to control emissions of greenhouse gases, damaging livelihoods in the Arctic.

I don't think they've got any chance of succeeding because they cannot prove that its pollution from the USA that's responsible for the problem (although given the USA is the most polluting nation, a sympathetic judge might just say "oh, we know its you lot"!), anything that can embarrass the Bush administration gets my support.

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Inuit sue US over climate policy

Technorati tags: Inuit Arctic climate change legal

Trailers are beginning to appear for the third X-Men movie - here's a link to a high definition one on the Apple movie trailers website (needs QuickTime 7). It looks good. Glad to see Halle Berry still in the cast, although having Famke Janssen in the cast list is a bit of a giveaway! Of course, given the spread of extreme political correctness, by the time the movie comes out it will probably be called X-Persons.

Apple - Trailers - X3 - HD

Copyright © 2005/2006 20th Century Fox

Ever wondered how Google manages to search through so many millions of pages, representing tens of terabytes of data, so quickly? According to an IEEE article, they use a network of over fifteen thousand "commodity-class" (that's off-the-shelf to you an me) machines, combined with clever software that distributes queries and includes fault-tolerance. The machines are geographically distributed, so that earthquakes, large-scale power failures and the like can't bring down the entire system. Several generations of CPU are in active service at any one time and they buy only the most cost-effective machines, rather than the fastest.

"Doctors issue warning on iPod finger, the latest hi-tech ailment
It could be time to discard the adage that an apple a day keeps the doctor away. With Apple Computer's iPod digital music player continuing to sell well, and the tiny iPod nano set to be one of the must-have gifts this Christmas, physicians are now warning that the first cases of a condition they are labelling 'iPod finger' have started to emerge.

'Handheld music machines are extremely popular and users are constantly using small, difficult buttons with the same finger in a repetitive motion,' said Carl Irwin from the British Chiropractic Association. 'The nature of modern technology means that these devices are only going to be getting smaller, and I would not be surprised if hand and finger related injuries become one of the most common repetitive strain injuries that chiropractors treat.'"


...writes Bobbie Johnson in The Guardian, Tuesday December 6, 2005. I would have thought you'd be just as likely to suffer RSI from texting with a mobile phone - and millions more people do that than listen to an iPod.

Guardian Unlimited Technology | Technology | Doctors issue warning on iPod finger, the latest hi-tech ailment

Technorati tags: ipod RSI repetitive strain injury

"Recyclers' rubbish dumped abroad
Councils are investigating what happens to their recycled rubbish after the BBC revealed 500 tonnes had been shipped unsorted to Indonesia. According to the Environment Agency, about half of the 8m tons of green bin material thrown out each year in the UK ends up overseas."

Extraordinary. Recycling material takes energy. Transporting it takes more energy. The government encourages us to recycle, specifically with its landfill tax (which has also led to flytipping) and now it turns out that we're exporting waste instead.

See Real Story, 19:30 GMT tonight on BBC1.

BBC NEWS | Programmes | Real Story | Recyclers' rubbish dumped abroad

Technorati tags: export recycling waste materials

"Sorry, prime minister, your legacy will be a disastrous foreign war
In his old age it will seem monstrously unfair to him, but Tony Blair will be remembered for one terrible misjudgment. We all enthuse about a will, if we stand to inherit something from it. It is hard to suggest, however, that the prospect of a legacy from Tony Blair is rousing the British people to excitement.

Blair will be recognised by history as a consummate politician, orator, vote-winner. It seems unlikely, however, that he will be judged to have used the power he gained to much lasting effect. To a remarkable degree, he has presided over Britain rather than ruled it.

Galling though it must be to him, Blair's legacy will be Iraq. It is plain that, whatever the outcome, it will not be a happy one. Whether or no the coalition forces swiftly depart, the saga will drag on for years, poisoning western relations with the Islamic world. It is unlikely that Iraq can be sustained as a unitary state. Much more bloodshed is to come."

...writes respected author and military historian Max Hastings in The Guardian.

Guardian Unlimited Politics | Comment | Sorry, prime minister, your legacy will be a disastrous foreign war

Technorati tags: Blair Iraq war legacy

Round Three of the FA cup as been drawn and, providing we can beat Stevenage in our replay a week Tuesday, Northampton will face Crystal Palace. But think of non-league sides Burton and Burscough (whose second round match was postponed because the pitch was unplayable), one of whom will meet Man United!

Stevenage vs Northampton, FA Cup

The Cobblers travelled to non-league Stevenage Borough for their FA Cup 2nd round game yesterday. A near capacity crowd, in front of BBC Match of the Day cameras, witnessed a to-and-fro performance, with Boro by no means outclassed by a typical lack-lustre effort from the Cobblers. Boro scored first and for a long time it didn't look like Town would manage to get a single goal after that. Things changed after a cracking shot from Town's Pedj Bjic and Boro conceeding a penalty, leaving the Cobblers fans very vocal. But Boro bounced back to force a tie just minutes later. Final score: Stevenage Borough 2 - Northampton Town 2. The replay is to be held at Sixfields, week after next.

I must apologise to the guy I splashed this morning as I drove out of Waitrose car park.