First game of the season for the OU First team against Scots Carlton on the MK New City Heating Sunday League. I think the final score was 3-6.

Technorati tags: football soccer photos

"Brand bonfire for 'label addict'
A journalist and music promoter is to set fire to his branded goods in a bid to generate a 'more responsible attitude' among consumers."

This guy never heard of charity shops? He'd rather waste its value than let someone else benefit? Why not auction in all off? Or sell it all on eBay for charity?

If he does go ahead with it, perhaps the relevant council should sue him under public health regulations?

BBC NEWS | UK | Brand bonfire for 'label addict'

"Surgery for museum's 'ugly' fish
A fish at a Scottish museum has undergone surgery after visitors complained it was too ugly. A harmless but unsightly growth was removed from the goldfish, which was on show at the Royal Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. The operation was paid for using coins thrown into the fish pond at the popular visitor attraction."

Hang on a minute. Supposing the fish got infected from the coins?

BBC NEWS | Scotland | Surgery for museum's 'ugly' fish

"Family homes plan will force us out, say elderly
A Conservative-led council is proposing compulsorily to demolish 160 homes and relocate their occupants, many of them elderly, so that houses for the more affluent can be built. Ironically, it is just the kind of demolition scheme that was singled out for criticism by David Cameron, the Conservative leader, on a tour of Liverpool earlier this year.

Residents are united in opposition to the plan proposed by Barrow in Furness council in Cumbria under a £46 million extension, approved by Ruth Kelly, the Communities Secretary, to the Government's troubled Pathfinder regeneration schemes."

There's little enough sense of community left in the UK now - plans like these will destroy what's left.

"Steve Warbrick, the head of regeneration at Barrow council, said that a study had shown that families were moving out of the area, and that the scheme was about getting 'a balanced, sustainable community. We want a balanced approach. But it cannot be done without some disruption,' he said. "A fair proportion of these terraces are owned by private landlords who aren't prepared to invest. We have to intervene.'"

Perhaps they don't want to 'invest'; perhaps they can't afford to? What right do you have to turf them out because of that?

Telegraph | News | Family homes plan will force us out, say elderly

"US remembers 9/11 five years on
Ceremonies are being held in the US to mark the fifth anniversary of the 11 September attacks."

Five years already since the morning I phoned my mum to say "are you watching TV?".
"What channel?" she replied.
"Any channel" I said.

And what did it achieved? Peace in the Middle East? No. America and the West out of the Middle East? No. 2973 lives lost - taken - for no reason.

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | US remembers 9/11 five years on

"Saddam 'had no link to al-Qaeda'
There is no evidence of formal links between Iraqi ex-leader Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda leaders prior to the 2003 war, a US Senate report says. The finding is contained in a 2005 CIA report released by the Senate's Intelligence Committee on Friday. US President George W Bush has said that the presence of late al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in Iraq before the war was evidence of a link.

Opposition Democrats are accusing the White House of deliberate deception. They say the revelation undermines the basis on which the US went to war in Iraq."

The other basis - the prime excuse was the presence of weapons of mass distruction - which didn't exist.

"The BBC's Justin Webb in Washington says that the US president has again and again tried to connect the war, which most Americans think was a mistake, with the so-called war on terror, which has the support of the nation."

Again and again he's lied to his nation - and his nation re-elected him. What does that say?

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Saddam 'had no link to al-Qaeda'

"Conference marks Star Trek's 40th
Star Trek cast members and fans are gathering in Seattle to celebrate the popular sci-fi show's 40th anniversary. Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols and George Takei from the original Star Trek series are among the celebrity guests attending the three-day event. They will be joined by Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis from Star Trek: The Next Generation and Majel Roddenberry, widow of late series creator Gene. The first Star Trek episode was shown in the US on 8 September 1966."

Happy birthday Star Trek.

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Conference marks Star Trek's 40th

Technorati tags: Star Trek anniversary science fiction

And once you've watched Serenity, visit Done The Impossible to order the special DVD - "the story of the rise and fall and rebirth of the cult TV show 'Firefly' as told from the perspective of the fans who helped save it". Total for the DVD to the UK is $24.80 which is about £13.

Technorati tags: Firefly Serenity science fiction

And once you've watched all of Firely, get Serenity, the movie that Jos Whedon got made against all odds after the TV series was cancelled (that's probably a first).

Added later:
Johnathan Ross reviewed Serenity on Film 2005 and said of it:
'This is a huge and pleasant surprise - hip, smart, funny, and exciting,
topped off by outstanding special effects'
'My overriding thought ...was: why on earth couldn't the three most recent
Star Wars films' have been a third as good as this?'
'Swashbuckling fun'
'Serenity is a guaranteed crowd pleaser'

Technorati tags: Firefly Serenity science fiction

My sci-fi-mad brother recently lent be the DVD box set of Firefly, which I'd never heard of. From Buffy creator Jos Whedon, this has got to be the most inventive, original sci-fi series ever made - better even than Farscape and the new Battlestar Galactia. Think Cowboys and Indians in space. Absolutely superb. And absolutely criminal that the Fox network cancelled it - showing such contempt for the creator, authors and cast that not all the episodes that were filmed were even shown in the USA.


Technorati tags: Firefly Serenity science fiction

Trying to backup some digital photos to a Windows data DVD using Roxio Easy DVD Creator 6 and I get the error E80070057: The parameter is incorrect. What the hell is that supposed to mean? Have software engineers learnt nothing in the last 30 years? Is it so difficult to give a human message, instead of something only a Roxio software author would understand?

Apparently it could be for one of two reasons. Firstly, I might be writing an MP3 file with an incorrect bit rate. Quite how that would affect things, I don't know. The other possibility is that my writer (a Lacie-badged NEC ND-3500AG) doesn't like my media (Sony DVD-R 16x with AccuCORE, whatever the hell that is). So I start a hunt for firmware and find both a nice, friendly flashing application (NECWinFlash), and a web page with a whole list of relevant firmware files I can try. So I take the NEC drive from the original 2.06 to 2.16 and thence to 2.18 - which worked.

Apparently one hint that things aren't all rosey on the writing front is when a write speed is not selectable in the final writing dialog box. To run a check (perhaps when trying a new brand/kind of media for the first tie) do the write in 'Test only' mode - if there is an incompatability, the disc will be ejected - and you'll be met by the kind of cryptic message above.

Jetskis at Willen Lake

Jetski
Photo uploaded to flickr 3 Sep '06, 10.26pm BST PST by hockeyshooter

Once again, Willen Lake in Milton Keynes played host to the National Jetski championships. Temperatures were down on last year, but the event still pulled in a sizeable crowd.

I've posted a gallery of photos.


Technorati tags: jetski watersports photos

Motocross at Crick

Motocross
Photo uploaded to flickr 3 Sep '06, 10.25pm BST PST by hockeyshooter

The Northamptonshire Motorcycle club hosted a motocross race near Crick this weekend. A full gallery from this event is now on line.


Technorati tags: motocross motorcross photos

"Cameron calls for emissions law
Conservative leader David Cameron has joined environmental campaigners in calling for a law on climate change to be promised in the next Queen's speech. In a letter to Tony Blair, green groups are pressing for legislation that would set targets for 3% annual cuts in greenhouse gases across the UK economy."

Time to get real, Mr Blair, and put your money where your mouth is. Our emissions have gone up since Kyoto. Becoming a world-leader in alternative energy technologies could be a real money spinner for the UK. Don't let someone else beat us to it.

"Environment Secretary David Miliband said the government was taking action at home and abroad against global warming. 'We welcome a wider debate on how we can make further progress but we need to focus on the means of achieving it, not on setting additional targets,' he said."

You're missing the point. There's been enough talk. Its time for action. Talk any more and it will be to late.

BBC NEWS | Politics | Cameron calls for emissions law

This neat little device promises to bring a little revolution to fast-working sports photographers wanting to get images from camera to client even faster than is possible already. Its basically a flash card with an 802.11 wireless transmitter built-in. There must be some clever buffering because the transmission speed even of the g-flavour of 802.11 would not be fast enough to keep up with a Canon 1D of Nikon D2H working at its top frame rate - even for a short burst.

I have to wonder if it will ever reach the market - it reminds me of the 'electronic film' designed to turn 35mm film cameras into dSLRs. Watch this space...

"It just doesn't pay to be a loyal customer
Time to buy a new mobile phone: always an exciting time for those of us who ought to get out more often. I had already decided I wanted a sleek 3G Nokia... So, how much? My local Vodafone shop quoted me £250 plus around £30 a month. I said a colleague had got one from Orange for £19 plus a comparable monthly tariff, and that down the road they were offering them for nothing on a similar monthly tariff. Sorry, he said, this was the price for existing Vodafone subscribers."

Writes Victor Keegan in The Guardian.

These big companies never learn, do they?

Guardian Unlimited Technology | Technology | It just doesn't pay to be a loyal customer

Just noticed this on VodaFone's PAYG price plans:

"Calls to 0800 services (080 and 0500) 30p per minute daytime 10p per minute evening and weekends"

So a call to a free number costs you money - more money in fact for evenings and weekends than to a normal number. Sounds a bit off to me.

Vodafone - Pay As You Talk Price Plans

"Human intelligence does not evolve at the speed the Dept of Education would like us to believe."

Superb comment from someone signing themselves as "Silverwhistle, Glasgow" in response to today's announcement that GCSE results are up again on last year, with over 98% having received pass grades.

BBC NEWS | Education | One in five GCSEs awarded A* or A

"Cows also 'have regional accents'
Cows have regional accents like humans, language specialists have suggested. They decided to examine the issue after dairy farmers noticed their cows had slightly different moos, depending on which herd they came from."

Well worth visiting this story as they have recordings of different moos.

BBC NEWS | UK | Cows also 'have regional accents'

"Milton Keynes gets high speed net
Milton Keynes looks set to become the first British town to get a high-speed wireless network based on so-called Wimax technology.

Wimax (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) gives users access to the net at multi-megabit speeds over areas many kilometres in size.

Wimax has been touted as a rival to the wi-fi technology that is already used in thousands of hotspots around the world. So far Wimax is not widely used. Users need expensive hardware, and the specifications to use it in conjunction with other wireless technologies or to roam are not complete."

So, what you're saying is, its going to be widely available in MK, but hardly anyone will either have, or be able to afford, the kit needed to access it?

BBC NEWS | Technology | Milton Keynes gets high speed net

Now compare the above with this article, published in March, which suggests "regulatory, security and spectrum problems may limit the widespread use of Wimax. One cell could theoretically allow hundreds of business connections at 1.5 mbps and thousands of residential connections at 256 kbps. Chip giant Intel described Wimax as a 'disruptive' technology that has the potential to upset the business models of both mobile phone firms and traditional net suppliers.".

There could well be a few thousand customers for broadband in MK and I can't see them being at all impressed with 256 kbps.

BBC NEWS | Technology | Doubts raised over Wimax's future

"A-level grade As up again to 24%
Almost a quarter of UK A-level entries were awarded the top grade this year, results published on Thursday show. The proportion of entries given an A was 24.1%, up 1.3 on last year, said the Joint Council for Qualifications. The overall A-level pass rate rose for the 24th year, by 0.4 to 96.6%. There were markedly more entries for maths."

Turn up and spell your name right and you'll pass. "Dumbing down - we're not dumbing down". Yeah, right. A-levels are now completely meaningless.

BBC NEWS | Education | A-level grade As up again to 24%

"Mexicans' 'nine-month' sea ordeal
Three Mexican fishermen who say they spent about nine months drifting across the Pacific Ocean have been rescued. They said they survived on rain water, sea birds and fish after the engine on their eight-metre (25ft) boat broke down. They were eventually picked up by a Taiwanese tuna trawler close to the Marshall Islands on 9 August."

This is an incredible story. Gives you a sense of scale for the world's oceans.

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Mexicans' 'nine-month' sea ordeal

"Horse beds down on court papers
Domino's owner said she was at the end of her tether
An allergic horse which cannot go near hay without using an inhaler has found a unique alternative - shredded court papers.

Domino, a 15-year-old 5ft 5in (1.7m) tall cob, suffers severe allergies to hay, straw, tree and grass pollen. Now Domino has become a "natural recycler" of waste paper from courts in Knowsley and St Helens - he eats and beds down on piles of shredded paper from the courts at his stable in Merseyside."

Ah, now isn't that nice?

BBC NEWS | England | Merseyside | Horse beds down on court papers

"Dear blank...
Raunchy novelist Jilly Cooper is backing a campaign to get men to write more love letters and thereby improve their literacy. But how do you go about it?

One in five have never received a love letter, and half haven't had one for a decade, a government survey of 2,000 women suggests.

The survey, from the Department for Education and Skills, said 77% of women would prefer to receive a love letter to an e-mail or text. And yet just as the e-mail is inexorably killing the ordinary letter, so it seems its predations are dooming the love letter."

BBC NEWS | Magazine | Dear blank...

This article prompts my Mum to remember that Dad, before they were married, was a bit of a poet himself, having studied the classics in school. She quotes "Full many a rose is born to blush unseen. And waste its sweetness on the desert air." A quick Google search reveals this to be from Thomas Gray's Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard. There must be romanticism in the Valentine blood.

Chuffed to bits to find that I've finally had one of my League football photos published in a UK national daily newspaper - The Sun - from Saturday's game at Northampton against Nottingham Forest. Can't show the photo here though as I'm working for an agency and I therefore don't have the rights to do so.

Barely a month goes by when I don't have some kind of problem with my HP Photosmart PSC 2510 all-in-one printer. The latest appears to be some kind of incompatability between its drivers and XP Home - perhaps caused by a recent update to XP itself - which causes an error in svchost.exe, otherwise known as the "Generic Host Process for Win32 Services". This is a core component of Windows and without it operating correctly, all sorts of things misbehave - any Explorer window, for example, takes ages to appear. If you look in your event log under Applications, you'll see a number of errors appear, even before you've run any applications. As soon as you uninstall the HP drivers, the problem goes away (fortunately).
The error appears to be more severe depending on how you have your "Data Execution Prevention" set. You might not have ever heard of this, but its an in-built system inside XP to stop applications doing (what Windows deems to be) naughty things.

My Computer -> Properties -> Advanced -> Peformance -> Settings -> Data Execution Prevention

This system has two basic settings - in one of them, you'll get a whole string of error messages appear as Windows starts; in the other, nothing is reported but things are going wrong in the background and you have to refer to the aforementioned Error Log to see them. You may also get reports that your XP firewall is off - even though it isn't.

I only hope that HP can resolve the problem soon, because as it is, I can't have the drivers installed and therefore can't use my printer.

Whilst working on a web project trying to add a ratings system for stories, I've found that image form elements <INPUT TYPE="image" ... > do not appear to become part of the array of elements of the form they're in. You can loop through a list of elements in JavaScript and get it to display the elements' names - but image objects simply don't appear. Try it for yourself (obviously you'll have to provide your own images):

<HTML>
<HEAD>
<SCRIPT LANGUAGE="JavaScript" TYPE="text/javascript"><!--
    function listElements() {
      form=document.forms['testForm'];
      for (var i=0;i < form.elements.length; i++) {
        alert('element '+i+' is called '+form.elements[i].name);
      }
      return false;
    }
    //-->
  </SCRIPT>
</HEAD>

<BODY>
<FORM METHOD='post' NAME='testForm'>
<INPUT TYPE="text" NAME="text"><BR>
<INPUT TYPE="image" NAME="image" ID="rating1" SRC='images/gold_star.gif'
         ONCLICK='return listElements();'><BR>
<INPUT TYPE="submit" NAME="submit"><BR>
</FORM>
</BODY>
</HTML>

Unless I'm mistaken, you'll see 'text' and 'submit' listed, but not 'image'. The upshot of this is that you cannot address images by name in this manner. This is certainly the case with IE6 and Firefox 1.5. My getaround was to address them via the document.images array. I did a lot of Googling and found that this 'bug' is alluded to in:

irt.og | Chapter 6: Beginning JavaScript

Technorati tags: HTML form image JavaScript

"China plan to protect environment
China plans to spend 1.4 trillion yuan ($175bn) over the next five years on protecting its environment. The sum - equivalent to 1.5% of China's annual economic output - will be used to improve water quality, and cut air and land pollution and soil erosion."

I wonder if they could be persuaded to fit carbon capture systems to all their coal-fired power stations?

BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | China plan to protect environment

"Air tax hike 'would hit poorest'
Raising air travel taxes would only hit poorer people, said ministers as MPs accused them of failing to stop transport that fuels global warming."

Talk about pandering to the airline industry. What a pathetic response - typical of this government. They like to wave their green flag, but they're not prepared to actuallly do anything to try to reduce global warming.

"Carbon dioxide emissions from aviation are set to rise five-fold, the Commons environmental audit committee says. It says the government has a 'fatalistic' approach to the problem. And passengers should have to pay to 'offset' the emissions from their flight by funding green projects elsewhere."

But would the government really make the money available to, for example, build more wind farms, or would it (more likely, I think) just disappear into the government coffers to fund pointless project like Identity Cards (which no one wants), Iraq (which no one wanted in the first place) and Trident (which, er, no one wants).

"Planes are not the MPs' only target. They also want bigger penalties for drivers of 'gas guzzling cars'. They welcome the recent introduction of variable Vehicle Excise Duty, which means that the lowest-carbon cars pay no road tax, while gas-guzzling 4x4s pay an increased rate of £210. But they say the measure should be extended, highlighting calls for the top band to rise to £1800. Under the plans, lower bands would be at £300 intervals down to the least-polluting cars which would be tax-free."

Why do they even allow the sale of some of these vehicles? Its about time vehicle manufacturers showed a little more respect for the environment. Or even any respect for the environment.

BBC NEWS | Politics | Air tax hike 'would hit poorest'

Local popstar Mark Joseph got to met rock legend Rager Daltrey recently. In a tie-up with Gibson Epiphone, he had 40 copies of a special edition guitar made for him with the cross of St.George. Mark had a stab at landing the official England world cup theme, but unfortunately missed out.

He's got a new album coming out soon, but in the mean time, one of his most successful tracks "Bringing Back Those Memories" is now available as a download through iTunes. Plus he has a podcast too with some exclusive acoustic tracks.

"Blair warns of 'arc of extremism'
Tony Blair has warned that an 'arc of extremism' is stretching across the Middle East and said 'an alliance of moderation' was needed to defeat it."

Can't see Bush signing up to that!

"Mr Blair also spoke about the conflict between Israel and Lebanon and said that the 'purpose of the provocation' that began it 'was clear' ... Mr Blair said all would be done to try to halt the hostilities in the conflict."

Except asking Israel for a cease-fire.

"And in Iraq and Afghanistan he said 'the banner was not actually regime change [although that's exactly what's been done] it was values change. What we have done therefore in intervening in this way, is probably far more momentous than we appreciated at the time,' he said."

Momentous? Catastrophic, perhaps?

This whole speech rather suggests that Blair is now finally realising that his decision to support Bush was a serious mistake and did nothing to bring peace to the Middle East.

BBC NEWS | Politics | Blair warns of 'arc of extremism'

"Oregon State University is working on wave enery generators employing permanent magnet technology
In 2005, wave energy began to splash across the pages of blogs and news sites. Of all the renewable energy generation techniques, wave generator came online line last. There’s currenty only one wave project begun in earnest of the coast of Portugal. That project uses the Pelamis, developed and manufactured by Ocean Power Delivery LTD, which incorporates hydraulic technology. Scotland also has another Pelamis project under consideration.

But make no mistake about it, wave energy extraction devices are here to stay and their potential has barely been tapped."

2005... wave enerygy began to splash... Hang on a minute - didn't we pioneer wave energy extraction about thirty years ago in the UK? Anyone remember Salter's Duck? IIRC they all sprang a leek and sank - the British media had a field day (as they always do when a British invention fails).

energy.buzz » Blog Archive » Oregon State University is working on wave enery generators employing permanent magnet technology

"High street solar panels on sale
A major British electrical retailer is selling solar panels in high street shops for the first time. Currys has launched a pilot scheme in three of its stores selling the off-the-shelf green technology. Shoppers in West Thurrock, Essex, and Fulham and Croydon in Greater London will be able to snap up the £1000 panels, manufactured by Sharp. An installed system that could halve the electricity bill of a typical three bedroom home costs £9000, Currys says."

Neat. Anything to make renewable energy more mainstream. And bring the price down. Just a shame the Government has recently decided to charge VAT on their own grants - how dim is that?!

BBC NEWS | Technology | High street solar panels on sale
BBC NEWS | Politics | VAT rules hit Energy Saving Trust

Technorati tags: renewable enery solar power Energy Saving Trust VAT

A Good Thing and a Bad Thing
The good thing:
I've joined a couple of The Wildlife Trusts. There was a guy with a stand in Homebase and we had a long chat. He knows of The Greensand Trust, but had never heard of P3. They have a nice guide book, per region, showing all their reserves, but you have to be a member to get one.

The bad thing:
I heard a bonk and saw some little white feathers fluttering to the ground. Lying on the patio was a female chaffinch, its neck broken, no sign of response. I laid it on the ground near to where we put feed out and within minutes, its mother came down and tried to feed it, then flew off.

The poor thing had missed the open 50% of the patio doors and hit the glass, possibly having been scared by some newspaper I'd left out on the table just moments before - so I feel inadvertantly responsible for the little thing's death.

Fake camera memory cards seem to be an issue at the moment on eBay. Be careful out there, folks:

"I have recently bought a 4GB Sandisk Ultra 2 on Ebay to use in my 5D and 1Dmk2 using Paypal on ebay. But when the card arrived it turned out to be a fake."

Fake 4GB Sandisk Ultra 2 CF on Ebay: Canon EOS-1D/1Ds/5D Forum: Digital Photography Review

"'Copyright whistleblower' was unfairly dismissed, tribunal rules
A tribunal has awarded £26,000 to Jewish News staff photographer David Katz who was unlawfully dismissed after revealing alleged management-endorsed systematic breaches of copyright at the title. The tribunal heard Katz allege the title had a deliberate policy of stealing pictures for use in the paper, a view shared by the former picture editor and the former production editor at the newspaper, both of whom also gave evidence."

Brave man - even though it wasn't his own rights being infringed. Good on yer, David.

Editorial Photographers UK | "Copyright whistleblower" was unfairly dismissed, tribunal rules.

"Suez: End of empire
The Times pronounced not only on Anthony Eden's life when he died in 1977 but on the life of Britain when it wrote of him: 'He was the last prime minister to believe Britain was a great power and the first to confront a crisis which proved she was not.'

The conventional verdict on the Suez operation is given by historian Corelli Barnett, who wrote about Suez in his book, The Collapse of British Power. 'It was the last thrash of empire,' he told me. 'A last attempt by a British government to do the old imperial thing in defence of far-off interests...'"

And what was the 1982 Falklands War if its wasn't exactly that? Interesting article, though.

BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Suez: End of empire

Google exec challenges Berners-Lee
A Google executive challenged Internet pioneer Tim Berners-Lee on his ideas for a Semantic Web during a conference in Boston on artificial intelligence."

The "Semantic Web" is the biggest area of research in the department where I work. Tim received an honorary degree from us in our first Virtual Degree Ceremony.

Google Director of Search Peter Norvig was first to question our Tim: "I am not against the Semantic Web. But from Google's point of view, there are a few things you need to overcome... The third problem is one of deception. We deal every day with people who try to rank higher in the results and then try to sell someone Viagra when that's not what they are looking for. With less human oversight with the Semantic Web, we are worried about it being easier to be deceptive,' Norvig said."

Good point. How many of us have done Google searches for something and just been annoyed with the results because they're simply not what you were looking for? I believe that Google themselves make matters worse through their AdWords system since they allow companies to promote themselves on the results pages. Often, when looking for equipment reviews, you end up with dozens of links to pages of dozens more links that link to retailers, and you can't find any actual information on the product itself.

"Berners-Lee agreed with Norvig that deception on the Internet is a problem, but he argued that part of the Semantic Web is about identifying the originator of information, and identifying why the information can be trusted, not just the content of the information itself."

But that's so easy to just strip out - so that's no protection at all. Its like putting a copyright notice in text next to a photo and saying "its copyright - please don't steal this image". The image can still be copied without the notice (which is precisely why I use watermarking).

At the end of the day, as Norvig alludes to, people are lazy and the Semantic Web, which requires a lot more input on behalf of the people who post the information, may well fall flat on its face because only a very small minority will adopt its frankly very complex markup process.

Google exec challenges Berners-Lee: ZDNet Australia: News: Software

The absolute "must attend" event for serious Trekkies everywhere is occouring later this year as Christies auction off "official Star Trek contents from the archives of CBS Paramount Television Studios. Over 1,000 lots from the never-before-released archives of CBS Paramount Television will include material from all of the Star Trek television series and movies, encompassing costumes, props, weapons, set dressings, detailed models of the Enterprise and various alien ship and space stations."


Sad in a way is it underlines Paramount's determination to kill off any chance of either resurrecting the (IMHO) excellent TV series 'Enterprise' or to begin another one. Perhaps next year's movie ends up so popular that they realise what a mistake they made.

STARTREK.COM : Article : 40th Aniversary Auction

Strewth, its hot! I could barely cope today and its forecast to be hotter tomorrow. I really feel for people less fortunate than I who cannot take the odd day off when they feel like it. And with no ceiling set in employment legislation, many people have to work in absurdly hot conditions. With hot weather getting more common, perhaps its time the government reviewed that?

"Criminals exploit net phone calls
The conmen aim to catch vulnerable members of society
Malicious hackers are turning to net phone systems in a bid to trick people into handing over personal details.

Security firms have identified several scams in which net phone systems are harnessed to try to catch out potential victims. In one con people are called about supposed fraudulent activity on their credit card. So far few people have been caught out but security firms expect the number of scams to grow."

BBC NEWS | Technology | Criminals exploit net phone calls

My work's department today won our annual six-a-side cricket competition. Although I didn't play in the final (I considered the game too critical to volunteer my services) I did play in three of the side's games - the first time I'd played cricket since school (so that's a good 25 years ago!). So here's a very rare photo with me actually in it.

"Cheney sued in CIA identity case
A former CIA officer whose identity was leaked to the media is suing US Vice-President Dick Cheney. Valerie Plame is suing Mr Cheney, his former aide Karl Rove, another official Lewis Libby, and 10 others, saying they tried to destroy her career. Ms Plame's name appeared in the media in 2003 after her husband criticised the Bush government over Iraq. Her husband, ex-US ambassador Joseph Wilson, who is also suing, had said the US twisted intelligence to go to war."

Wow. But will she be able to bring the case while he's still the VP? Could it lead to someone else suing Bush?

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Cheney sued in CIA identity case

Technorati tags: CIA Cheney Vice President leak Valerie Plame

"Labour MP planning leadership bid
Left-wing backbencher John McDonnell is expected to challenge Gordon Brown for the Labour leadership when Prime Minister Tony Blair steps down. The 54-year-old represents Hayes and Harlington in west London and has been one of party's most rebellious MPs. It is thought he will make a formal announcement on his decision on Friday."

If Gordon Brown represents "more of the same", ie: Blair's idea of what Labour is, then I say good luck to the man.

BBC NEWS | Politics | Labour MP planning leadership bid

Technorati tags: New Labour Tony Blair Gordon Brown Labour leadership

Here's a good page on all the factors that make a PC noisy:

"Fans, making them quieter
Fans are the major source of computer noise followed by drive noise. It stands to reason that if you reduce the speed of the fan and reduce the fan output, you also reduce the noise."

Quiet

Related to the new HP Pavilion I've recently bought, which seems to run rather hot, I've been researching the cooling of computer cases and found this page:

"Operating Temperature vs System Reliability
At elevated temperatures a silicon device can fail catastrophically, but even if it doesn't, its electrical characteristics frequently undergo intermittent or permanent changes.

Manufacturers of processors and other computer components specify a maximum operating temperature for their products. Most devices are not certified to function properly beyond 50°C-80°C (122°F-176°F). However, in a loaded PC with standard cooling, operating temperatures can easily exceed the limits. The result can be memory errors, hard disk read-write errors, faulty video, and other problems not commonly recognized as heat related.

The life of an electronic device is directly related to its operating temperature. Each 10°C (18°F) temperature rise reduces component life by 50%*. Conversely, each 10°C (18°F) temperature reduction increases component life by 100%. Therefore, it is recommended that computer components be kept as cool as possible (within an acceptable noise level) for maximum reliability, longevity, and return on investment.

* Based on the Arrhenius equation, which says that time to failure is a function of e-Ea/kT where Ea = activation energy of the failure mechanism being accelerated, k = Boltzmann's constant, and T = absolute temperature."

Operating Temperature vs. System Reliability

Technorati tags: cooling fans electronics longevity temperature

Picked up a bargain of a new home computer from Misco in the shape of a discontinued HP Pavilion desktop PC (£400 + VAT). It has a 3.4GHz Pentium 4 with 2x200Gb hard disks and 1Gb of RAM. Bought with it a ViewSonic VA912 19" LCD monitor, which has turned out pretty amazing quality for the price (£150 + VAT).

But the machine does leave a little to be desired. Although very well made, the cooling is obviously inadequate, especially if you intend to do any gaming. From the factory, the graphics card reaches 80 dec.C after a single game of the relatively-undemanding Command and Conquer Generals: Zero Hour. To try to drop this a bit, I fitted a Thermaltake 60mm fan from Maplin in place of the expansion slots (having removed the un-required PCI modem card). Running flat out, although rather noisy (smaller fans tend to make more noise than larger ones), the temperature after the same exercise was 20 deg.C cooler.


Technorati tags: HP Pavilion computer gaming fan cooling

"Heritage body 'no' to carbon cuts
The World Heritage Committee (WHC) looks set to reject a motion calling for cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. The WHC meeting in Lithuania heard evidence that 125 sites including the Himalayas and the Great Barrier Reef are at risk from climate change. Countries which are members of the WHC are legally obliged to protect sites. Campaign groups say this can only be done by cutting emissions.

The Committee is due to make its decision on Monday. But a draft resolution circulated in advance of the vote suggests that delegates are likely to reject the motion."

If that's what they're really going to conclude, then I can see any point in their continuing existance. Absolutely pathetic.

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Heritage body 'no' to carbon cuts

Technorati tags: World Heritage Committee WHC carbon emissions climate change

"'IPod rival' speculation dampened
Microsoft has said reports that the company is planning an MP3 player to rival the iPod are based on 'speculation and rumours'. The software giant and games console firm said it did not 'have anything to announce at this time'. Unnamed music industry executives have told the New York Times that they have received briefings about the product. The iPod rival would have wireless internet capabilities to download music without a PC, said the report."

Well, if they do, you can almost guarentee it won't play MP3 files. And will almost certainly use some kind of non-standard Microsoft rights management system that will be complete incompatible with iTunes and Apple's chosen format, AAC.

And it will probably be the first kind of solid-state music player that can catch a virus!

BBC NEWS | Technology | 'IPod rival' speculation dampened

Technorati tags: Microsoft iPod MP3 player digital rights management format

"UK troops 'energise' the Taleban
The presence of British troops in Afghanistan has 'energised' the Taleban, Defence Secretary Des Browne has said. He was speaking to the Guardian, and added that the overall aim remained the creation of a 'security space' for the reconstruction of Afghanistan.

It is thought that UK reinforcements may be added to the current deployment of 3,300 in the Helmand province. Six British servicemen have died there in the last month."

Have the west learnt nothing from the years the USSR spent embroiled in their pointless adventure into Afganistan? For them it was a complete waste of lives, achieved nothing and ultimately assisted in the collapse of their nation.

Blair suggets that Afganistan posed a risk to the UK - well, it certainly does now. Drug exports have gone through the roof since the US-led invasion. Now British lives really are being marred - by crimes committed by drug addicts, fueled by Afgan-produced heroine.

BBC NEWS | UK | UK troops 'energise' the Taleban

Technorati tags: Afganistan Taleban invasion USSR drugs

"Inside Apple's iPod factories
Apple's iPods are made by mainly female workers who earn as little as £27 per month, according to a report in the Mail on Sunday [a couple of weeks back]. The report, 'iPod City', isn't available online - it offers photographs taken from inside the factories that make Apple music players, situated in China and owned by Foxconn. The Mail visited some of these factories and spoke with staff there. It reports that Foxconn's Longhua plant houses 200,000 workers, remarking: 'This iPod City has a population bigger than Newcastle's.'"

Macworld UK - Inside Apple's iPod factories

Manufacturing staff in China are low paid - its that fact that drives global companies to have stuff built there in the first place. Companies exist to make a profit - moving their manufacturing to such countries simply helps to maximise that profit.

"Apple responds to iPod factory claims
Apple has issued a statement in response to the Mail on Sunday's claims regarding working conditions within the facilities of some of its Chinese iPod manufacturing partners. 'Apple is committed to ensuring that working conditions in our supply chain are safe, workers are treated with respect and dignity, and manufacturing processes are environmentally responsible,' the statement explains. The company also explains that it is 'currently investigating the allegations regarding working conditions in the iPod manufacturing plant in China'".

Macworld UK - Apple responds to iPod factory claims

"environmentally responsible" - if you think the manufacturing process might be environmentally unsound, you should visit India, and other countries, where the millions of computers the West annually discards, are taken apart and scavened for materials.

Technorati tags: Apple ipod factory china

Are "stuck pixels" deliberate? If you own a digital camera, chances are its sensor may have one or more so-called "stuck pixels" - defects in the manufacturing process, resulting in a pixel (picture-sensing element) that doesn't work as intended and generally fires out the same data in every photo. Since the occurrence of these defects is random, my posit is that the makers are willing to not eliminate them completely since their presence makes it possible to identify the camera from which an image was produced - like a digital fingerprint, if you like.

Technorati tags: digital camera pixel defect fingerprint

Attended the first day of a local two-day Polocrosse event in very nearly 30 deg.C of heat. The organisers have provided plenty of water to cool the horses. They'll need it again tomorrow - its forecast to be hotter still.

Technorati tags: polocrosse equestrian horses

So, England bow out of the world cup, once again at the hands of Portugal. Rooney did what many predicted and misbehaved, getting himself a straight red and ejection from the game. Beckham had to be substituted off with an ankle injury from a completely unnecessary and unpenalised tackle. But England battled on with 10 men, through extra time and into penalties - at which the Portuguese keeper seemed to be very well suited to saving. Swedish coach Sven-Goran Eriksson now leaves the team, with Steve McClaren to take over.

"It is one thing to decry how the U.S. is caricatured in that part of the world, but it is quite another to live up to the caricature, or embellish it as Bush is doing. The administration's policy, which one assumes was designed to help Bush deal with his poor standing in the polls, has backfired — instead of creating the hoped-for political windfall in the U.S, we have instead given the Iranians a tangible incentive to push ahead."

Even software authors are prepared to air their opinions on Bush's big stick waving.

* Be nice or we'll blow you up

"Fewer save enough for retirement
Fewer people are saving enough for their retirement, according to research published by a big insurance company. Scottish Widows, owned by Lloyds TSB, says that in the last year the percentage of people saving adequately for their old age fell from 55% to 46%."

Perhaps its got something to do with the fact that having just taken out a 40-year mortgage for their absurdly over-priced house, they're up to their eyeballs in debt already and can't afford to save anything for retirement?

BBC NEWS | Business | Fewer save enough for retirement

"JOE 'TEN GOAL' PAYNE
As English hopes build towards the forthcoming soccer World Cup, the most prolific individual scoring feat in Football League history has been commemorated by the unveiling of a plaque in Chesterfield. Joe Payne, born in Brimington, Chesterfield, set a record that is unlikely ever to be matched when he scored ten goals for Luton Town in their Division Three (South) 12-0 victory over Bristol Rovers on Easter Monday, April 13, 1936."

My mum (aged 86) recalls: "My memory of football was when a boyfriend said 'we are going somewhere special today'. I thought it was to buy an engagement ring but instead it was to a Luton Town football match! This was around the time that "Ten-goal Payne" was famous; he was our hero and his record still stands."

Quite something that a 70-year-old record still stands.

Chesterfield | Fans | Supporters News | JOE 'TEN GOAL' PAYNE
Biggleswade Today: Who will net legend's ball? (June 2004)

Technorati tags: FA goal-scoring record football soccer

"Poll set for early World Cup exit
Graham Poll looks like he has refereed his last World Cup game after a series of high-profile errors during Croatia's turbulent game against Australia. The English official booked Croatia's Josip Simunic three times before sending him off and also twice waved away strong Australian penalty claims."

Isn't the fourth official capable of picking up errors like this?

BBC SPORT | Football | World Cup 2006 | Poll set for early World Cup exit

"4x4 drivers 'put others at risk'
Drivers of 4x4s are putting other motorists at risk by flouting mobile phone and seat belt laws, a study says. Imperial College London found 4x4 drivers were four times more likely to use mobile phones than other drivers, while a third more shunned seat belts. The team said those in 4x4s took more risks as they felt safer in their cars after observing 41,000 motorists, the British Medical Journal reported."

Parents stuff their kids into these Chelsea Tractors to take them to school, citing their safety as one reason - but they never consider the safety of all the other kids - and the pollution they're causing in using them.

BBC NEWS | Health | 4x4 drivers 'put others at risk'

Technorati tags: 4x4 Chelsea tractors driving

"Cameron backs Blair on Iraq war
Conservative leader David Cameron has said he still believes going to war with Iraq was the right thing to do. In an interview for BBC's Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, he said the war had been 'very unpopular' and some bad decisions had been made since it began. But Mr Cameron said 'those of us who supported' the military action should 'see it through'.

He praised Tony Blair's reform of the Labour party but said he wanted the Tories to be 'the party of the future'. On the issue of Iraq, he told Ross he supported Mr Blair's decision to go to war."

David, if you want to win the next election, I'll give you a tip: stop helping the opposition.

BBC NEWS | Politics | Cameron backs Blair on Iraq war

Very disappointed to hear that Northampton's winger Josh Low is to transfer to Championship side Leicester City for the new season. The Cobblers will certainly miss his experience and quality.

"Brown criticised over deterrent
Chancellor Gordon Brown has come under fire after signalling that he wants to keep and renew Britain's independent nuclear deterrent system. The submarine-based Trident missile system needs replacing by 2024. A replacement could cost 'up to' £25bn."

That'll be £50bn then.

BBC NEWS | Politics | Brown criticised over deterrent

"England 2-0 Trinidad and Tobago
Peter Crouch and Steven Gerrard spared England's blushes with late goals against Trinidad & Tobago to book their place in the last 16 of the World Cup. Crouch, who had missed several chances, met David Beckham's right-wing cross to power a header past Shaka Hislop. Gerrard wrapped it up in stoppage time with a stunning left-foot drive after England made hard work of the contest."

It was like watching a Northampton Town game - loads of posession, the odd decent cross but absolutely no quality finishing. Until a couple of sparks of inspiration at the end; Gerrard's goal was an absolute corker. But if we play like that against the likes of Germany or Brasil, we won't stand a chance.

BBC SPORT | Football | World Cup 2006 | England 2-0 Trinidad & Tobago

Factfile: How Osirak was bombed
As part of a series marking 25 years since Israel bombed Iraq's Osirak nuclear reactor, the BBC News website recounts how the operation was carried out. At 1255 GMT on Sunday 7 June 1981, eight Israeli F-16 fighter-bombers take off along with two F-15 interceptors from Etzion air force base in Egypt's Sinai Desert (occupied at the time by Israel). By dusk, all 10 planes are back at base unscathed. The reactor lies in ruins, having never entered operation.

Looks like Bush is a little late for his live-fire renactment...

BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Factfile: How Osirak was bombed

Forecast: sunshine. Actual weather today: pooring with rain. Still, very glad of the drop in temperature - yesterday was horrible.

"Rubbish collection 'may be taxed'
Charging householders for the amount of rubbish collected from their homes is being considered by the government as part of proposed council tax reforms. Sir Michael Lyons, who is conducting an inquiry into the future of the tax, told the Times newspaper he was looking at environmental taxes. These would be paid in addition to council tax to make the cost of services more visible. The plan raises the prospect of waste being weighed by refuse collectors."

Haven't these people ever heard of (or seen) fly-tipping? Regulations that have already been introduced led to a visible increase in fly-tipping and ideas like this could well make matters worse.

If the government really want to introduce legislation to reduce waste, they should have a go a supermarkets and pre-packaged food manufacturers. Reducing waste at the production stage makes far more sense.

BBC NEWS | UK | Rubbish collection 'may be taxed'

Rain - here? Some hope. BBC weather forcast for home town underestimates the temperature by at least 3 degrees C - it's actually reached 29 here today - and the threatened "thundery downpoors" are nowhere to be seen.

"Rail signallers vote for strike
Thousands of rail signallers will stage two one-day strikes in a dispute over pay, threatening chaos on the network. The RMT union said the Network Rail workers voted by more than two to one to reject a pay deal which they said would amount to a two-year pay freeze.

Some 3,000 workers across Britain are due walk out at 1300 BST on 20 June and again at 2100 BST on 25 June. The first strike will coincide with England's final World Cup group game against Sweden..."

Now, is it just me or does anyone else think that choice of day is more than just coincidence? Apparently the second of the two stike days could also coincide with an England game...

BBC NEWS | UK | Rail signallers vote for strike

"Tabby cat terror for black bear
A black bear got more than it bargained for after straying into a family garden in the US state of New Jersey. The unwelcome intruder was forced up a tree - twice - by the family pet, a tabby cat called Jack."

If you go down to the woods today...

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Tabby cat terror for black bear

The OU hosted Great Brickhill today in their Morrants Four Counties game, in around 30 degrees of heat. I was certainly glad of the shade. Meanwhile, England won their first World Cup game but only because Paraguay scored an own goal.

"Online music row shuts web site
Internet firm Tiscali has suspended its music sharing Juke Box and accused the European recording industry of being "virtually impossible to work with". It took the move after it was told to remove the service's search by artist. Tiscali said services in the US offered that facility, and European music fans were being discriminated against. But the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) said Juke Box had offered a level of interactvity that breached its licence."

This just goes to show just how stupid, and backward, the music industry is. Even after Apple has shown just how successful licensed music downloading can be, they still have their collective heads in the sand. Tiscali's own stats showed their service results in increased sales.

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Online music row shuts web site

By this time of day, sixty two years ago, hundreds of men had lost their lives on the beaches of Normandy. I speak of course of D-Day, 6th June 1944, the beginning of the liberation of Europe. Having trained for months, some didn't even make it out of their landing craft, cut down by the defences built along the French coast. Spare a moment to think of those whose blood soaked into the sands of Gold, Juno, Sword, Omaha and Utah.


BBC: Voices of D-Day - listen to the voices of eight people who experienced D-Day first-hand
D-Day at the Imperial War Museum
The National D-Day Memorial

Technorati tags: D-Day WWII Normandy

I, like me, you use Microsoft's free (and very effective) spyware blocker "Microsoft AntiSpyware" around now you'll probably find it wants to do an update. If, also like me, you're running it under Windows 2000, you may get an error message during the update process mentioning that it needs "Windows 2000 Security Software Prerequisite Pack". You need to download and install a DLL before the update will work, but don't attempt to do so using Firefox as the Windows verification process may not work - switch to IE. See this page for download directions.

Technorati tags: Windows 2000 AntiSpyware update

"Rhys' Everest Adventure
New Forest climber Rhys Jones reached the top of Everest on May 17th, which completed his dream to become the youngest Briton to climb the highest mountains in each of the world's seven continents. Rhys reached the summit of Everest on Wednesday May 17th - his 20th birthday. It had been his ambition to climb Everest ever since joining the Scouts at the age of 11."

An amazing achievement.

BBC - Hampshire - Features - Rhys' Everest Adventure
Jagged Globe report

Technorati tags: Everest youngest seven summits

First motocross event for a while, this time a 12-hour Enduro, hosted by TBEC at Whaddon, just West of Milton Keynes. From the dust, you couldn't tell we'd had a very wet May.

Technorati tags: motocross motorcross enduro motocross photos motorcross photos

"Day centre rejects home-made cake
A woman who baked a cake for a friend at a day centre was told it breached health and safety regulations. Elaine Richards, 75, from Braunton in north Devon, was told the Age Concern centre in Barnstaple only allowed people to eat bought cakes. It said that it had to make sure its elderly and frail guests were not put at any risk. But former nurse Mrs Richards, who has won WI awards for her cakes, said she was astonished."

More PC BS.

BBC NEWS | England | Devon | Day centre rejects home-made cake

Headers and/or footers not appearing when you print from Firefox? Make sure your top and/or bottom margins are not set to zero millimeters.

Technorati tags: Firefox headers footers print

"Iran nuclear bomb 'in 10 years'
Iran could have nuclear weapons within the next 10 years, according to the senior US intelligence chief. In his interview with the BBC, Mr Negroponte accused Iran of being the world's top state sponsor of terrorism. 'We don't have a clear-cut knowledge but the estimate we have made is some time between the beginning of the next decade and the middle of the next decade they might be in a position to have a nuclear weapon, which is a cause of great concern.'"

I wonder if this is the same sort of estimate that resulted in Blair warning parliament that Iraq could launch WMDs at us in 45 minutes? Sounds like another plucked-out-of-the-air justification for war. Lets hope the US won't con us into helping them declare war on another country...

BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Iran nuclear bomb 'in 10 years'

And, just as a reminder:
BBC NEWS | Politics | Blair terror speech in full

Technorati tags: Iran nuclear weapons CIA Negroponte intelligence

"Home-alone son blows up bungalow
A couple cut short their holiday after their teenage son telephoned to say he had blown up their house. Sean Davey, 18, of Caister-on-Sea, Norfolk, left a basket of laundry on top of the electric cooker and did not notice the hob had been switched on. A fire spread to a deodorant can which exploded, blowing out the windows and lifting the roof off the bungalow."

Way to go, Sean! Pretty amazing that a single aerosol is so powerful. Makes you wonder if they should be allowed!

BBC NEWS | England | Norfolk | Home-alone son blows up bungalow

"Apple Loses Bid to Unmask Bloggers' Sources
A California appeals court has smacked down Apple's legal assault on bloggers and their sources, finding that the company's efforts to subpoena e-mail received by the publishers of Apple Insider and PowerPage.org runs contrary to federal law, California's reporter's shield law, and the state Constitution. The Sixth District Court of Appeals on Friday roundly rejected Apple's argument that the bloggers weren't acting as journalists when they posted internal document about future Apple products."

Good to see that "freedom of speech" does still mean something in the USA. Or at least parts of it (outside Washington perhaps).

27B Stroke 6 | Apple Loses Bid to Unmask Bloggers' Sources

Technorati tags: Apple shield law bloggers journalists freedom of speech

"Spin between the raindrops
Last spring saw a flood of stories predicting drought and water shortages which never quite seemed to materialise as the doom-laden tones predicted. The preceding winter had been, we were told, 'the fourth driest since records began'.

The country's first drought order - for Sutton and East Surrey Water - starts on Saturday, [yet] current statistics show that May has already dumped more than double the normal amount of rain over England and Wales as a whole. In fact, we are well on course to register the wettest May since 1983, and it may turn out to be one of the half-dozen wettest since records began more than 300 years ago.

With statistics, it is said, you can prove anything. And weather is no exception, making it easy for water companies to define regions and timescales which suit their own agendas.

Philip Eden's (an independent meteorologist) suspicion is that at times the companies talk up the drought in order to distract attention from their own failings, and to persuade domestic consumers into frugality - a measure which helps ensure adequate supplies for the water companies' commercial customers."

Nearly missed this story from last week. You can certainly blame this Government for being so arrogant as to ignore the burden they are placing on utilities and infrastructure as they cram thousands more houses into the South East. But is it really so difficult for the water companies (who after all repeatedly post profits in the billions) to build some pipelines? Even the Romans managed to move water around the place, 2000 years ago.

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Spin between the raindrops

Technorati tags: water drought utilities South East England spin statistics

Calderwood Leaves Cobblers
Just received news that Northampton Town manager Colin Calderwood has agreed to become the new manager of Nottingham Forest. Shame really, as Colin put a lot of work into getting us promoted.

NTFC Official website

Technorati tags: Northampton Town Football Club Nottingham Forest The Cobblers Colin Calderwood Soccer manager

"Animals 'devastate' UK songbirds
Grey squirrels and wild cats are 'devastating' Britain's songbird population, a study suggests. Predatory animals are having as much an impact as modern farming practices, the report, commissioned by charity Songbird Survival, indicates."

BBC NEWS | UK | Animals 'devastate' UK songbirds

"UNIQUE RESCUE OPERATION GOES ON....
At 16:45 on local time the group of rescuers has informed, that they have begun descent of Lincoln Hall on a rocky belt and soon hope to be in camp 8300."

After all the hoohah yesterday, resulting from the interview with Sir Edmund Hillary, we now have a developing story of the rescue of a climber from Lorenzo's team who has been presumed dead. He managed to survive the night alone and was found the next day to be showing signs of life by a climber from another team. A large squad of Sherpas, from a number of climbing teams, was assembled and so far they've managed to get Lincoln down to a high camp at 8300m.

It should be noted that some of the Sherpas (who are, after all, far more used to life at high altitiude) did suffer snow blindness and themselves had to be assisted down the mountain - underlining just how dangerious it is at these altitiudes.

Note the article is translated from Russian.

7 VERSHIN

More from the BBC:
"An Australian man believed to have died as he descended Mount Everest has been found alive. Lincoln Hall, 50, was presumed to have died on Thursday when he was left behind by his Sherpas after he started hallucinating and refusing to move."

BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | 'Dead' Everest climber 'is alive'

Technorati tags: Everest rescue Sherpa

"Google and Dell in software deal
Computer giant Dell and internet search engine Google have reached a deal to install a version of Google software on Dell at factory level. The Dell computers will contain Google software including several personal computer applications, a Google toolbar and a co-branded homepage."

Just so long as people have the option of removing it without screwing up the machine. I certainly do not like the idea of Google Desktop, which searches all files on your computer (including your emails) and stores the indexes on Google's machines.

BBC NEWS | Business | Google and Dell in software deal

"The ethics of climbing Everest
The triumph of mountaineer Mark Inglis, who last week became the first double amputee to climb Everest, has been soured by the news he left a dying climber to his fate. ...as the saying goes, 'circumstances alter cases' and it is not clear whether New Zealander Mark Inglis, a double amputee, and the 39 other climbers in his group committed a moral wrong by abandoning the expiring David Sharpe on Everest."

I think its an absolute disgrace that the media (or anyone for that matter) should single out Mark for blame or responsibility for David's tragic death. So far he is one of the very few climbers who have spoken of what actually happened.

BBC NEWS | Magazine | The ethics of climbing Everest

Technorati tags:Everest amputee climber

Wireless networking experiments

Wireless networking experiments
Photo uploaded to flickr 25 May '06, 8.53pm BST PST by hockeyshooter

Our wireless networking experiments for the OU geology course SXR339 made excellent progress today as we established connections between laptops via WRT54G routers with a D-Link DCS-900 IP camera thrown in for good measure. With the addition of a couple of 14db-gain directional flat panel aerials, we were able to send 8fps video and 35Mb files over approx 1.2km. All this gear is available off-the-shelf. Sadly the Nikon P2 wireless-equipped camera refused to cooperate, but this may well have been down to its Mac address not being accepted by the Freifunk software in the routers.

Deaths on Everest
"Mount Everest pioneer Sir Edmund Hillary said Wednesday he was shocked that dozens of climbers left a British mountaineer to die during their own attempts on the world's tallest peak. 'Human life is far more important than just getting to the top of a mountain,' Hillary was quoted as saying in an interview with New Zealand Press Association. 'I think the whole attitude toward climbing Mount Everest has become rather horrifying. The people just want to get to the top.'"

I find all this very sad. I hope no one's on that mountain who doesn't realise what a risk it is to climb above 8000m. Its tragic that people are dying up there, I'll admit, but people should be realistic as to what's possible. If you're hanging on to life yourself, as well as a rope, you can't just pick someone up, sling them over your shoulder and carry them down. People did stop to help, people did provide oxygen; sadly there was nothing that could be done.


Hillary Blasts Climbers Who Left Dying Man
Climber Was Left To die
Debate rages over Everest dilemma

Technorati tags: Everest Hillary mountain

River Ouzel

River Ouzel
Photo uploaded to flickr 24 May '06, 3.00pm BST PST by hockeyshooter

Its on days like this that you wish you'd taken a better camera with you. Providing you don't blow them up beyond about half size, these recent shots from my Nokia 6230 phone are pretty respectable. But these skies are crying out for a polarizing filter!

Lorenzo summits Everest
Heard that at around 05:00 local time today my Italian friend Lorenzo Gariano reached the summit of the world's highest mountain via Tibet and the North Ridge. Photo shows a view looking down at the world from 8848m, which Lorenzo wasn't able to send until a few days later - the PDA which we set up for transferring the images was left at BC and its battery went flat!

Technorati tags:Everest Lorenzo Gariano summit Tibet North Ridge

Canon EOS1D sensor cleaning

Canon EOS1D sensor cleaning
Photo uploaded to flickr 20 May '06, 12.35pm BST PST by hockeyshooter

I've uploaded a couple of photos from today's sensor cleaning. I started with a quick (but gentle) squirt of Ghiant compressed air, then using a wide nylon bristled brush I bought from a local art shop for a couple of quid, having spraying the bristles vigorously with the air (to statically charge them) I wiped the sensor across a couple of times. Finally, another gentle squirt of air and hey, presto - one clean sensor. And all for a fraction of the price of conventional digital SLR cleaning kits.

Ghiant Air-Power from 7dayshop.com

Technorati tags: CanonEOS1D sensor cleaning nylon brush canned air Ghiant

"Lib Dems plan a £2,000 road tax
The owners of cars which generate the most pollution would face annual road taxes of £2,000 under Liberal Democrat plans to tackle climate change. The figure - 10 times the current rate - would cover high-end cars such as BMW's 7 series, Bentley Continentals and the four-by-four Porsche Cayenne."

Now we're talking. Brown's last road tax hike was a complete waste of time.

BBC NEWS | Politics | Lib Dems plan a £2,000 road tax

PM Tony pre-empts his own government energy policy review by stating, last night at a CBI dinner, that nuclear energy was "back on the agenda with a vengeance" (isn't that just the sequel to the movie "Back on the Agenda", probably staring Bruce Willis?). He is quite rightly concerned at the UK massive over-reliance on imported gas to generate a good 40% of our electricity, and that our ageing nuclear plants (currently spitting out around 20% of our collective watts) will nearly all be retired over the next 20 years.

Just so long as he realises that the time for action is right now - there's no point having reviews and discussions if you're then going to sit on the status quo for the next 10 years before actually doing anything.

BBC News | Politics | Blair backs nuclear power plans

Technorati tags: Blair nuclear energy energy policy energy review

The Ban The Bulb: Campaign Aims...
1. To increase the use of energy-efficient light bulbs.
2. To encourage the taxing and phasing out of incandescent light bulbs.
3. To propose a time limit for the replacement of light fittings requiring the use of incandescent light bulbs and for altering the shopping habits of consumers.
4. To include environmental costs in the prices consumers pay for their light bulbs and to reward those who switch to using less polluting light bulbs.

We've replaced most of the incandescent bulbs in our house with flourescent enegy savers, many of which came from our electricity provider. The few remaining will be replaced eventually.

Ban The Bulb

Technorati tags: energy efficiency light bulbs ban the bulb

Covered my first cricket match of the season today; this was in the fourth division of the Morrant Four County League.

"Firm fined for chocolate tin size
A biscuit firm has been fined because its Giant Chocolate Fingers were being sold in tins that were too big. Trading standards in Cambridgeshire took action against St Albans-based Burton's Foods because the biscuits only filled two-thirds of the tin. The firm is one of the first to be prosecuted under laws designed to clamp down on the use of too much packaging. It admitted breaching regulations and applying a false trade description and was fined £7,000 by magistrates."

Lets hope there are many more prosecutions like this. The amount of materials wasted on packaging, quite often non-biodegradable, is disgraceful.

BBC NEWS | England | Cambridgeshire | Firm fined for chocolate tin size

"HD-ready" is a con. Especially when it comes to integrated televisions - those with a built-in freeview receivers. According to the BBC, terrestrial high definition broadcasts (other than the recently announced London trials) will not start until the switchover from analog to digital has happened. But no current (generally available in the UK) freeview hardware supports the compression format - quite possibly H.264 - that will be required for HD transmissions, which require significantly more bandwidth.

A new HD compatible digital receiver will be required if and when the HD service is rolled out nationally. For Freeview this is not likely to occur for years yet as there is not enough space available on the current spectrum to provide such broadcasts. This may change come the completion of digital switchover in 2012, however OFCOM will be responsible for determining who gets the extra spectrum space and for what services.

In the meantime the latest information relating to the BBC's plans for HD television can be viewed on the following site:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/digital/tv/hdtv.shtml

See the BBC's press release about their HD broadcasts of the World Cup and Wimbledon. And ITV is participating as well.

Covered a local footy game for a change today. Made quite a difference not having a few thousand fans behind me - could actually hear the players swearing at each other. The work's team won 3-2 (credit, where its due to MK City who pulled two back from 3-0 down); the OU are promoted.

Covered Oxford vs Leyton Orient today, while Northampton were away to Grimsby. The two matches were to affect that last automatic promotion place, but as Oxford lost 2-3, they get relegated to the Conference for the first time in over 40 years. I can't think they'll be there long, though, as they have a big stadium and therefore plenty of income.

Intrigued by a review of Larry Bond's latest thriller due to this quote in US Amazon's review "...a muster of trite maritime stereotypes with seabags full of childish personality conflicts..." Misread that as teabags.

Books: Larry Bond - Dangerous Ground