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

BBC NEWS | Magazine | Careless talk
DoT | THINK! advice - mobile phones
Technorati tags: mobile phone driving law ban license

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

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

Technorati tags: Chinese new year

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

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

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

BBC NEWS | UK | Miliband defends bird flu moves

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lots of snow

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

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

Blogging from a widget on my new iMac...

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

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

I certainly hope the British Government follow this lead.

BBC NEWS | Business | Plan to ban standard light bulbs

Technorati tags: energy environment light bulbs

"Campaign to drive 4x4s from city
A new pressure group has been planting fake parking tickets on 4x4 cars in Bristol, challenging the need to drive off-road vehicles in urban areas. Campaigners claim the cars - designed to travel on difficult terrain - are 'polluting and dangerous' in cities. The Bristol Alliance Against Urban 4x4s said many residents felt the vehicles were unsuitable for Bristol's streets."

BBC NEWS | England | Bristol | Campaign to drive 4x4s from city

Covered my first Premiership game last night: Watford vs Blackburn. Aidy Boothroyd's Hornets managed only their second win in the top flight, but the match saw Blackburn captain Robbie Savage stetchered off with what later turned out to be a broken leg. Watford's first goal may or may not have been an own-goal; Blackburn's David Bentley equalised in injury time at the end of the first half, but Watford's US-import Jay DeMerit gave the home side a 2-1 win.

"Drivers face new phone penalties
Motorists who are caught using a hand-held mobile phone while driving will have three penalty points added to their licence, the government says. Transport Secretary Douglas Alexander said the maximum fine would also double to £60 from 27 February.

But the Liberal Democrats say only about one in 100 offenders are being caught by police.

Shadow Transport Secretary Chris Grayling said: 'This is a perfectly sensible change and we support it. But the trouble with changes like this coming from ministers in ivory towers is that they have left our roads to be policed by speed cameras rather than real traffic officers - and so people will carry on getting away with offences like this.'"

Absolutely spot on: you hardly ever see patrol cars, er, patrolling any more.

BBC NEWS | Politics | Drivers face new phone penalties

"Scavengers take washed-up goods
Police are patrolling beaches in Devon where members of the public have been taking goods washed ashore from stricken container ship MSC Napoli. Hundreds of people have made off with valuable hauls from some 40 containers which drifted onto Branscombe beach.

Police have warned them they are breaking the law if they fail to declare taking any of the ship's cargo."

Like they're going to declare what they've walked off with. Perhaps the locals consider it compensation for having the thing dump oil all over their coastline?

BBC NEWS | England | Devon | Scavengers take washed-up goods

Technorati tags: shipwreck Napoli containers Devon England Channel

On Newsweek's Letters page today we have "After reading the 'STATE OF DENIAL' [article from a previous issue], I'm convinced that, given his absolute ineptitude in gathering and interpreting information, if George W. Bush had been president at the time of Pearl Harbour, he would have invaded Australia", writes Nancy Reeves of Kirkwood, Missouri.

Priceless - absolutely priceless.

Technorati tags: Iraq Bush Newsweek

Just before I left work this evening, I ran Thunderbird (my much-preferred POP client) to check my email. As it ran, it popped up the box "Do you want to make Thunderbird your default email application", which I thought was strange given I had aleady run it many times before, including earlier in the day. I said "Yes" (obviously) then it started to download mail - ALL OF MY MAIL again from my hosting account (about 430 messages). I stopped it, quit and walked out the door. I don't really know what has caused this fault to happen again, but I did notice that among the Windows updates that installed today was an update to Outlook 2003 (my XP machine has full Office installed on it) so I reckon its highly likely that Outlook has gone and duffed up my Thunderbird installation. And I never use Outlook.

"EU plans attack on car emissions
The cost of gas-guzzling cars could soar in five years' time under plans from the European Commission. The Commission wants to impose mandatory efficiency standards on all new vehicles sold in Europe as part of a master plan to combat climate change."

Well, this is certainly a step in the right direction. But why not do the job properly and ban the manufacture and sale of gas-guzzlers altogether?

BBC NEWS | Business | EU plans attack on car emissions

I've raised the issue of parking charges at stations before, but now the price is even higher. The cost of going to the Watford game on Saturday was £8.80 for the rail fare, plus £5.50 for parking. When you consider how much expense goes into running and maintaining a train and the tracks it runs on, then how little it can possibly cost to 'run' a car park (there are no attendants), then how can they possibly justify charging over 60% of the train fare just to park a car? I suppose its what you might expect of the complete dog's dinner this Government (and the one before it) has made of public transportation.

Technorati tags: parking charges public transport Government rip off Britain

Watford in the rain

Good test for my new waterproof over-trousers yesterday at Watford vs Stockport County FA Cup third round. Rained constantly for all of the first half, easing off by half time, which allowed me to send photos using my laptop without having to leave pitch-side (although the poor machine did get pretty wet in the process).

Stockport scored first, much to the delight of the considerable, and very vocal, travelling fans, but Watford soon equalised and it was all down hill (and at the other end) from there.

Last night's free local newspaper called for readers to contribute news via mobile phone - promoting so-called Citizen Journalism. There was no mention of whether you'd get paid for your words and/or photos, or even if you'd be credit - but you certainly have to pay them for the priviledge, since they make a charge on top of the normal text fee.

Technorati tags: citizen journalism copyright

"Airlines savaged over environment
A minister has launched an outspoken attack on the airline industry over its failure to tackle carbon emissions. Speaking to the Guardian newspaper, Environment Minister Ian Pearson said budget airline Ryanair was the 'irresponsible face of capitalism'. He singled out US airlines' attitude to cutting emissions as 'a disgrace'"

BBC NEWS | Politics | Airlines savaged over environment

This is, of course, a minister from the same Government that not a month ago gave the go-ahead for the expansion of some of this country's biggest aiports. Don't be surprised then, Minister, when your comment are either derided or just flatly ignored.

BBC NEWS | England | London | Uproar at airport expansion plans

Technorati tags: airlines airports carbon emissions global warming Government politics

In my quest to learn more about Linux, I installed Red Hat Fedora Core 6 on a spare machine at home last night. I was chuffed that the install went so smoothly: all important hardware (including the on-motherboard sound chip, and the old Adaptec SCSI card) were found automatically and drivers loaded for me.

A Google search had revealed a couple of useful guides for doing the installation:

• YoLinux Tutorial - Fedora Core and Redhat Linux CD Installation


• Fedora Core 6 Installation Guide

Should you find that some Adobe products, like Photoshop or Illustrator decide they don't want to work under Mac OS X, check the Time Zone your computer is set to. A friend recently found that his G4 had been set to 'Cardiff - England', and on changing it to 'London - England', the software suddenly started working. Go figure...

"Apple faces US iTunes lawsuit
A US class-action lawsuit has been launched against Apple over links between its iTunes music store and iPod music players. The action follows similar charges in Europe, brought by a French consumer rights group.

The lawsuit alleges Apple violated anti-trust laws by using content protection technology to protect music purchased from its iTunes music store that frustrates the ability of users to play downloaded tracks on anything other than an iPod. It also objects to Apple's lack of transparency to consumers over this incompatibility. The suit seeks to force Apple into breaking the tie-up between iTunes and iPod players as well as the payment of unspecified damages to punters who downloaded music after April 2003."

And that includes me. But then I don't have an iPod. Or any other solid-state media player, for that matter. I wouldn't buy an iPod either - I don't like their control interface and I think they are absurdly over-priced, especially considering where they are made and therefore how little they must cost to be made.

Apple faces US iTunes lawsuit | The Register

Technorati tags: Apple iPod iTunes lawsuit class-action suit digital rights management

"Olympic flame to ascend Everest
The Olympic flame is to be taken to the top of Mount Everest as part of the build-up to the 2008 Games in Beijing."

I wonder if the International Olympic Committee will see this part of the root as using the Olympics to make a political statement and refuse to accept it.

BBC SPORT | Olympic flame to ascend Everest

Technorati tags: Olympics China Everest Tibet Nepal

A local trials event was lucky to feature an appearance by FIM World Trials Champion Alexz Wigg. Unfortunately I didn't realise who the guy was until later so I didn't get any photos worthy of his skills.

Technorati tags: motocross motorcorss trials Alexz Wigg

Boxing day saw the 81st annual Wild and Woolly scramble, hosted by the Northamptonshire Motorcyclists' Club at Blisworth. This is now the longest-running motorcycle event in the world. A full gallery of these nutters' antics is now on line. And most of my kit and clothing is clean again...

Technorati tags: motocross motorcross sport action mud Blisworth Northampton

"Rice backs 'worthwhile' Iraq war
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has again defended the war in Iraq, saying the investment in US lives and dollars will be 'worth it'. Ms Rice said a lot had been sacrificed for Iraq but success would change the entire Middle East."

And what sacrifices have you made, Ms. Rice? Have you gone a single day since the invasion without water? Electricity? Medical care? Members of your family?

"The BBC's Justin Webb in Washington says that in her interview with Associated Press news agency, Ms Rice made it plain that she still believed Iraq should be seen as the centrepiece of US-Middle East policy."

You mean that disaster is a 'centrepiece'? What other stupid ideas are the current administration going to come up with?

"The BBC's Peter Greste in Baghdad says the response in Iraq to the charges [against a number of Marines accused of murder] has been muted. He says there is a perception that Iraqi civilians die every day, either directly or indirectly as a result of US military action, and that this case stands out only in the numbers involved."

Aren't all the deaths (since the invasion) a result of US military action?

BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Rice backs 'worthwhile' Iraq war

Technorati tags: Iraq invasion war Bush Condoleezza Rice

Today, last working day of 2006, is dedicated to the dipstick that invented the SATA data connector for computer hard disks, which falls out at the slightest provocation. If you're going to replace an existing standard (IDE) at least improve on it, people!

A very frosty day in December

A very frosty day in December
Photo uploaded to flickr 20 Dec '06, 1.52pm GMT PST by hockeyshooter

Very cold today - definitely the coldest it has been so far this winter. Frost on pretty much everything, thanks to last night's fog. Perfect opportunity to get out and test my new Canon EOS1D Mk.IIn on something other than footy. Given the dullness, I thought they'd look better in B&W.

Only two footy games on last night. I was the only photographer who was sending from one of them. And not a single shot of mine in the papers today.

There's no justice.

Got in a strop with the new Canon EOS 1D MK.IIn - it kept making new folders and managed to somehow duplicate filenames. Found I hadn't formatted the card since Saturday's game plus the camera had reached 9999 images and rolled over.

"Blair 'failed to influence Bush'
The 'disaster' of Iraq and Tony Blair's failure to influence US policy will overshadow his time as prime minister, a leading UK think tank has said. The invasion and the post-war 'debacle' have damaged the UK's global influence, said the Chatham House report.

Outgoing director Victor Bulmer-Thomas said Mr Blair's successor would have to build better relations with Europe. But Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett told the BBC the 'whole thesis of this note is just plain wrong'."

Sounds pretty accurate to me, missus.

"She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'Nobody said that Tony Blair has so much influence that single-handedly he can solve all the problems of the world.' ... 'The notion that we do not have any influence out there [in the Middle East], or in the European Union, or in the United States is just not true.'"

Well, make yer mind up - either he has influence or he hasn't.

BBC NEWS | Politics | Blair 'failed to influence Bush'

Technorati tags: Bush Blair Iraq invasion war

OU Reserves team played Stewkley in a cup match today.

"Airport expansion plans confirmed
The government has reaffirmed its commitment to airport expansion plans despite opposition from green groups. Transport Secretary Douglas Alexander told MPs the government was committed to a third, short runway at Heathrow airport and a new runway at Stansted."

Well any shred of green credibility this government might have had has just evaporated with this (not entirely surprising) news. What was the point of doubling the tax on flights one week, then increasing airport capacity the next? Oh, I know - to get more money out of us.

BBC NEWS | Politics | Airport expansion plans confirmed

Technorati tags: Tony Blair New Labour environment airport expansion green credentials

Just bought myself a 2-year Pro account on Flickr and found that all the images I had uploaded ages ago that I thought had 'disappeared' for good (since you can only host 200 images on the free account) were back again - which is brilliant! I had already made a sale of some newsy photos that the client had found through Flickr, so I figure its a legitimate business expense.

This has got to be the cheapest rain cape you'll ever see - short of making one yourself:

Newpro UK website

Chuffed to find that not only did The People publish one of mine from Saturday's Rushden vs Oxford game, but The Sun did too in their footy roundup today. There was also an article in the Guardan on Curtis Woodhouse, who scored Rushden's goal, but they didn't use any of my photos. To be honest, I'm not sure I even bothered sending them any.

Nene Park Stadium

Nene Park stadium today withnessed a big Nationwide Conference upset as Rushden & Diamonds (second from bottom) beat visitors, and league-leaders-for-the-entire-season Oxford 1-0.

I'd been sent to cover the game for The Sunday People. Everything worked ok except the paper for some reason couldn't read the photo captions and I had been getting frantic phone calls from my agent, which I couldn't hear, asking for me to send them in a separate email.

The home side celebrated like they'd just won the FA Cup at the end.

Technorati tags: Football photography soccer Rushden Oxford Confernece

"Former Army chief criticises MoD
General Sir Mike Jackson, the former head of the Army, has criticised the way in which the Ministry of Defence (MoD) runs the armed forces. Speaking at the annual Dimbleby Lecture, he said soldiers' wages were 'hardly impressive' and 'some accommodation' was 'frankly shaming'. But the MoD said it was always working to improve conditions for its forces."

Yes, like every other Government department, they say they are taking steps to improve things, but at the end of the day, nothing much actually happens. They waste billions in their pathetic miss-management of big projects, but the guys and gals on the ground still get shot at and blown up and we can't even supply bullets that go bang properly.

Please remember, MoD Civil Servants, that whilst you think you might be serving your country, these people are giving their lives for their country. And are getting paid a lot less than you for doing so.

BBC NEWS | UK | Former Army chief criticises MoD

My favorite part of cult movie The Blues Brothers is when they visit Rays Music Shop to buy instruments. And naturally, its one of the many blatant copyright violations on YouTube:

"New homes to be 'zero emission'
The majority of newly built homes in the UK should be 'zero-carbon' by 2016, according to the pre-Budget report. At present, more than a quarter of carbon emissions come from households, adding greatly to global warming. But the report did not say how this ambition will be achieved, with details not expected until the next Budget.

'Within 10 years, every new home will be a zero-carbon home and we will be the first country ever to make this commitment,' said Chancellor Gordon Brown during his pre-Budget speech. But the proposals provide no details on how the government will ensure that new properties meet such standards, nor does it give a definition of a zero-carbon house."

Typical of New Labour's woolly, half-arsed attempts to be 'green', then. "Zero-carbon" is just another in-vogue phrase they've picked up on; sorry, Gordon, but the electorate as not as naive as you obviously think we are.

BBC NEWS | Business | New homes to be 'zero emission'

Technorati tags: New Labour green environment zero-carbon

"Brown unveils 'green' tax plans
Gordon Brown has sought to establish his green credentials as he announced fuel and air duty increases in his 10th and possibly final pre-Budget report. He also said stamp duty on some 'carbon neutral' new homes could be scrapped.

Although fuel duty is going up 1.25p per litre from midnight and air passenger duty from £5 to £10 for most flights, Mr Brown rejected demands to re-link petrol prices to inflation."

I find it highly suspicious that the two petrol stations on my way to work had both put up their prices last night, before the Chancellor's announcement, and will no doubt increase them again tonight.

BBC NEWS | Politics | Brown unveils 'green' tax plans

Technorati tags: Gordon Brown budget New Labour petrol tax

"UN chief tells of Iraq war sorrow
The situation in Iraq has become 'much worse' than a civil war, the outgoing United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, has told the BBC."

So, further to my earlier posting, Kofi has changed his mind.

BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | UN chief tells of Iraq war sorrow

"Iraq's national security adviser says he is shocked by UN head Kofi Annan's suggestion that the average Iraqi is worse off than under Saddam Hussein. Mouwaffaq al-Rubaie also accused the UN of shying away from its responsibility towards the Iraqi people."

What about the thousands that are dead now - would you admit that they are worse off? Perhaps not? The UN's most responsible action would have been to stop this war from happening in the first place. But just how likely would that have been?

BBC NEWS | World | Middle East | Anger at UN chief's Iraq comments

Technorati tags: Iraq Kofi Annan UN

"UK nuclear weapons plan unveiled
Tony Blair has told MPs it would be 'unwise and dangerous' for the UK to give up its nuclear weapons. The prime minister outlined plans to spend up to £20bn on a new generation of submarines for Trident missiles. He said submarine numbers may be cut from four to three, while the number of nuclear warheads would be cut by 20%."

So we sign up to an identity card system that the government admits is no use against terrorists and now we're going to waste more billions on a weapons system is also useless against terrorists. No wonder New Labour has had to raise taxes so much.

BBC NEWS | Politics | UK nuclear weapons plan unveiled

Technorati tags: Trident nuclear deterrent Blair New Labour

I got at least the audio recording software working after Friday's hard disk crash and Lorenzo has recorded the first message of his audio blog from Carstenz Pyramid on Papua (formerly Irian Jaya) in Indonesia. I had to manually compress the WAV file and upload it to the webserver via VPN, but the web page script works fine, even thought the file naming isn't the same now. The podcast is also operational, but none of the automation is as I lost the batch file that did most of the work and I haven't been able to recreate it yet.

Fortunately he's a long way from the typhoon that has so far killed at least 400 people, but I am wondering if he's going to find that the helicopter will no longer be available due to having been pressed into the relief efforts. We'll just have to wait and see.

Technorati tags: Carstensz
Pyramid seven summits Indonesia

Here's me at another MK Dons game, this time courtesy of the BBC who appear to have exclusive rights over FA Cup games - at least until the Premiereship teams come in I guess. Dons not surprisingly lost to League 1 Blackpool, although it wasn't a walkover by any means. Meanwhile Northampton were knocked out in their 4-1 away loss to Barnet - so both my local teams are out.

Technorati tags: MK Dons football soccer sports photography

Today has not been a good day. The C: drive in my desktop PC at work died for no apparent reason and whilst I haven't lost document (they are all on a SAN that is backed up to tape) I have lost all my applications, including quite a lot of registered shareware, and their settings files. Our department has no system in place to backup peoples' desktop machines.

The Woolamaloo Gazette brings to my attention, as a complete contrast the some of the crap that finds its way onto services like You Tube, a set of videos recorded by veteran of the Pacific theatre of War War II, Les Loken, who was born in 1912. These contributions are absolutely priceless and they remind me of the community history project "CLUTCH" that I was involved in a few years back. This project unearthed some wonderful recollections of how life used to be.

Technorati tags: living history Les Loken

"Deputies: Man on crack when alligator attacked
LAKELAND [South Florida, USA] -- A man who was attacked by an alligator this morning was naked and smoking crack at the time, Polk County deputies who rescued him said today.

The alligator had the man in his jaws when deputies arrived at Lake Parker in Lakeland about 4 a.m. today. They were called by nearby residents who reported hearing a man yelling for help.

The first deputy on the scene was unable to free the man, Adrian J. Apgar, from the alligator's mouth. It wasn't until 3 or 4 of them were in chest-deep water that they were able to pull him free after the tug-of-war."

Can't help thinking that British police wouldn't have been so keen to wade in to help the guy. And, frankly, I wouldn't blame them. How confident were these deputies that there weren't other gators in the same lake?

Man on crack when alligator attacked - Orlando Sentinel

"Motorists 'must pay for road use'
Motorists should be asked to pay to drive on the nation's road network, a report commissioned by the government is set to recommend."

We already do pay - over and over. VAT and Special Car Tax on a new car, road fund license every 6- or 12-months, and the higest rate (I believe) of tax on fuel in the world. We pay VAT on having our cars serviced and even VAT on the mandatory MoT inspection.

"Former British Airways chief Sir Rod Eddington has examined options for modernising the UK transport network. He is expected to report that road tolls could bring £28bn a year of benefits to bus and rail users. A high-speed railway from London to Scotland is an option, and expansion of key airports may be recommended."

"Expansion of airports" - from a former British Airways chief - well, isn't that a surprise. Lets tax, even more, an already massively taxed form of transport to help out a massively under-taxed form of transport.

BBC NEWS | Politics | Motorists 'must pay for road use'

Technorati tags: road tax tolls British Airways airport expansion environment

Northampton Town's postponed League 1 home game against Leyton Orient has been rescheduled for Tuesday 19th December at 19:45.

Iraq 'on the brink of civil war'
Iraq is teetering on the brink of civil war, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has said publicly. Mr Annan said concerted action to dampen the vicious sectarian violence gripping Iraq was urgently needed.

If you hadn't noticed, they've been blowing the crap out of each other for quite some time now, mate. Wake up and smell the Kofi.

Technorati tags: Kofi Annan UN Iraq civil war

Today's Northampton Town home game against Leyton Orient was postponed due to extreme soggyness. Washed the car instead.

Anyone know what's happening with the bug in PHP's built-in EXIF command (specifically exif_read_data) that extracts data from image file headers? I just upgraded a Windows server to PHP 4.4.4 in the vain hope the problem had been cured in a recent release of PHP, but I still get the problems. Same script, with the same images, works fine under Linux.

But I note that you can 'get around' the problem by, er, ignoring it. Still execute the command on your image, but supress the error message with the @ symbol. You may find you still get the bits of data you're after (like the original date/time the photo was taken):

$exif=@exif_read_data($thisFile);
$fileTimestamp=$exif['DateTime'];
$width=$exif['COMPUTED']['Width'];
$height=$exif['COMPUTED']['Height'];

Technorati tags: PHP EXIF exif_read_data

Had thought the term "cynical hacks" only applied to pork pie hat-wearing journalists from gritty Northern cop dramas. But I actually encountered some at MK Dons' FA Cup replay against Farsley Celtic on Tuesday evening. A bunch of other photographers sat next to me for the second half and spent the next 45 minutes moaning and whinging constantly about the performance and how they wanted to go home.

This is me freezing my butt off at MK Dons vs Shrewsbury yesterday. Was a case of right-place, right-time for the Dons' second goal - you can see the ball in the net - so I got a decent set of shots from Clive Platt's goal going in to the rather long celebration.

Technorati tags: MK Dons football soccer sports photography

"Polluting cars face charge rise
Vehicles causing the most pollution in central London are to face huge increases in the congestion charge, mayor Ken Livingstone has announced. The daily charge for vehicles in carbon emissions band G, which includes some 4x4s, is to rise to £25 from 2009.

In 2008, the charge will be removed for cars in Bands A and B which produce the lowest emissions, Mr Livingstone said. But the AA said the policy would not only hit so-called 'gas guzzlers' but family cars and people carriers."

But how often do you actually see more than one person in a people carrier? Why do people buy them? Why is it that ten years ago, if you had a family, you bought a car - now you have to buy a bus?

"The LA's Green Party said it was 'fantastic news' which would mean 'the end for the Chelsea tractor'."

Well, sadly it won't because a good many of the people who own cars like the BMW X5 and Porsche Cayenne are so wealthy, they won't bat an eye at having to pay £25. They hardly seem worried by the cost of the fuel they use, do they?

BBC NEWS | England | London | Polluting cars face charge rise

Technorati tags: London congestion charge climate change Ken Livingstone

I had trouble believing this, but on Lost in the 80s we find:

Rebel Yule
Some shit you can't make up.

TRACK LISTING
Frosty The Snowman
Silver Bells
Happy Holiday
Merry Christmas Baby
White Christmas
Here Comes Santa Claus
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
Let It Snow
Winter Wonderland
Run Rudolph Run
Blue Christmas
Jingle Bell Rock
Christmas Love
Oh Christmas Tree
Silent Night
Auld Lang Syne

Due in stores (really, this is not a joke) from November 17th (click the image for the wonderful product via Amazon UK).

Lost In The 80s alternate track listing
Dancing With My Elf
Snow White Wedding
Sleighdle Of Love
Catch My (Snow) Fall

Lost in the '80s

A recent statement by renowned British botanist and broadcaster David Bellamy that Global Warming isn't actually happening has been comprehensively rubbished by George Monbiot writing in the Guardian:

For the past month a set of figures has been working a hole in my mind. On April 16 New Scientist published a letter from the British botanist David Bellamy. Many of the world's glaciers, he claimed, 'are not shrinking but in fact are growing . . . 555 of all the 625 glaciers under observation by the World Glacier Monitoring Service in Zürich, Switzerland, have been growing since 1980'. His letter was instantly taken up by climate change deniers. And it began to worry me. What if Bellamy was right?

The figures that Bellamy cited must have come from somewhere. ... The data, he said, came from a website called www.iceagenow.com. [This site] was constructed by a man called Robert W Felix to promote his self-published book about 'the coming ice age', [which] claims that sea levels are falling, not rising; that the Asian tsunami was caused by the 'ice age cycle'; and that 'underwater volcanic activity - not human activity - is heating the seas'. Is Felix a climatologist, a volcanologist or an oceanographer? Er, none of the above. His biography describes him as a 'former architect'. His website is so bonkers that I thought at first it was a spoof.

It is hard to convey just how selective you have to be to dismiss the evidence for climate change. You must climb over a mountain of evidence to pick up a crumb: a crumb which then disintegrates in the palm of your hand. You must ignore an entire canon of science, the statements of the world's most eminent scientific institutions, and thousands of papers published in the foremost scientific journals. You must, if you are David Bellamy, embrace instead the claims of an eccentric former architect, which are based on what appears to be a non-existent data set. And you must do all this while calling yourself a scientist."

Guardian Unlimited | Guardian Weekly | Junk this science

Technorati tags: David Bellamy climate change junk science debunk

Have managed to waste most of today trying to update Apache 2 and/or PHP 4 on our various Windows servers. Most problems are being caused by certain PHP libraries and extensions requiring other files. This can sometimes be solved by adding the php folder and/or the php/dll folder to the system path, but some libraries are not happy with that and require you to copy them to the Windows system folder instead. Why we still have software that relies on such a stupid practice I don't know. It means, of course, that when you update PHP later, you need to copy those same DLLs again.

More confusion results from the error message you get in Apache's error.log file if a library doesn't load - for example, it might say:
Unable to load dynamic library 'C:\\php\\extensions\\php_ldap.dll' - The specified module could not be found.
...which might suggest that either the DLL file itself is missing, or that your path to the extensions folder is incorrect. Neither was the case.

To summarize, I found that:
extension=php_domxml.dll required libxml2.dll in the path or windows/system32 folder
extension=php_ldap.dll required both libeay32.dll and ssleay32.dll in the windows/system32 folder
php_mbstring.dll php_exif.dll and php_gd2.dll do appear to need any other files and can simply be enabled

Additional fun and games are caused by an apparent bug in recent and current versions of Apache 2.0.x resulting in "faulting module libapr.dll" appearing repeatedly in the system error log. Apparently this can be ignored...

Have been trying to get a colleague's Toshiba Satellite 6100 laptop working today, following Barry Erick's excellent page. Sadly I couldn't fix it, but I thought I'd take some photos JIC they are of help to anyone else.

From BBC News Online this morning - the changing fortunes of online learning:

E-degree graduates 'first in UK'
Five students are thought to be the first in the UK to graduate with an online foundation degree. The business and management part-time course is taught entirely online over three years by Bournemouth University and Leeds Metropolitan University.

I have to wonder if this really is a first - I expect the Open University Vice-Chancellor might hold a different view.

Plus, a link to:

'Shameful waste' on e-university
A Labour MP has condemned a failed online degree scheme as a "shameful waste" of tens of millions of pounds of public money. Dr Ian Gibson, who chairs the science and technology committee at the Commons, called the UK's e-university "an absolute disaster".

So, if the Government funds it, its a waste of money - if the University does it off its own bat, it works.

Plus, a link to a story on KMi's Virtual Degree Ceremony (although we're not actually mentioned):

Open University's online graduation
Students around the world have taken part in the United Kingdom's first online graduation ceremony. Twenty-six students in eight countries were presented for their masters degrees in an online graduation on Friday.

Shame the VDC died a death. Perhaps in these times of growing eco-awareness (reluctance to travel), its time it was brought to life again?

The nanny state is alive and well:
"A council has warned staff who send 'ageist' birthday cards to colleagues that they could be breaking the law. Workers at South Gloucestershire council have been told that age-related jokes could constitute discrimination or even harassment."

BBC NEWS | England | Bristol | Birthday card could be 'ageist'

Technorati tags: nanny state government interference age discrimination

Northampton motorcycle club hosted their last championship event of 2006 today at a course near Long Buckby. A full gallery available on line now.

Technorati tags: motocross motorcross photography sports action

The new series of Planet Earth showed the plight of an adult male Polar bear who, with its home ice melting, swam miles out to sea to find land - and food. It finally came across a colony of walrus - but was unable to make a kill, received severe injuries trying and eventually died of starvation. Its was the most moving television I have seen in years.

With global warming on the increase, how long will it be before all the Arctic ice has disappeared - and the polar bear looses its home for good?

Technorati tags: Planet Earth BBC natural history global warming arctic

"Car ads 'should show emissions'
A Labour MP has launched a bid to force car makers to display more information on carbon emissions in their adverts. Colin Challen, who chairs the Commons climate change group, says a quarter of the space in car ads should be given over to environmental impact data."

That is a superb suggestion. And while they're at it, any mention of "environmentally friendly" in a car advert should be banned - there's no such thing as an enviromentally friendly car.

BBC NEWS | Politics | Car ads 'should show emissions'

Technorati tags: Colin Challen car advertising environment

"'Gas guzzlers' face parking hike
The cost of residents' parking permits could be linked to car emissions under plans being considered in one of the country's most affluent areas. A Lib Dem council in London wants owners of gas-guzzling vehicles to pay more to park outside their homes. Richmond residents with high-emission cars could pay £750 a year, compared with £200 now, but the greenest cars would be exempt. The council hopes other authorities will be encouraged to follow its lead.

'Climate change is the single greatest challenge facing the world today,' said council leader Serge Lourie. 'We can no longer bury our heads in the sand and pretend that it is not happening, or that dealing with it is up to somebody else. And Richmond upon Thames is one of the highest CO2-emitting boroughs in London. For too long, it has been seen as a problem that only central governments or international organisations could address. The truth is that we must all start acting now at local level.'"

Wow - sounds like this guy is taking a leaf out of Arnold Schwarzenegger's book, ie: taking unilateral action, when the Government continues to drag its heels.

BBC NEWS | UK | 'Gas guzzlers' face parking hike

Technorati tags: environment climate change car emissions London parking

"Saving energy on the home front
'Are you doing your bit?' That has been the message to encourage households in the UK to be more energy savvy..."

I'm certainly doing my bit - with the help of both electricity and gas suppliers, all the lightbulbs in the house are now low-energy. And we have a new gas central heating boiler that is over 90% efficient.

"...The green gurus in government have been telling us that just a few simple actions can cut our demand for energy, while saving us money and easing the pressure on the planet.

But when it comes to an outright ban on inefficient products, ministers say such unilateral action could breach EU free-trade rules."

My suggestion would be that individual governments should go ahead and unilaterally ban things that are blatantly wasteful (like patio heaters and 4-litre-and-upwards engined cars) then when the EU complains, just say "stuff you - we're protecting the environment". Shame them into changing their absurd legislation.

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Saving energy on the home front

Technorati tags: energy efficiency conservation environment

Fire in Bletchley

Fire in Bletchley
Photo uploaded to flickr 20 Oct '06, 4.20pm BST PST by hockeyshooter

The smell from a factory fire about a mile away drifted into my office this afternoon. Four crews of Firefighters tackled blaze at a disused factory in Mount Farm, Bletchley. No car and no camera, so I couldn't rush off and get any proper photos.

Story from the MK Citizen

"Fine for letter in recycling bag
Magistrates have fined a man £200 after finding him guilty of putting paper in a recycling sack for bottles and cans only - breaking council rules. Michael Reeves, 28, a journalist from Swansea, had denied putting an item of junk mail in the bag. The court was told the letter, which was addressed to him, 'contaminated' the other items put out for recycling.

After the hearing Mr Reeves said he had since stopped recycling and feared his case would discourage others.

Mr Reeves was served with a warning notice in April this year when he put his bins out a day early because he was going on holiday."

How chuffin rediculous. Have these councillors nothing better to do?

BBC NEWS | Wales | South West Wales | Fine for letter in recycling bag

Technorati tags: recycling environment nanny state council regulations petty bureaucracy

"Virtual Firefly
For those of you who are not familiar with our project, Still Flying is a fan-based site dedicated to a 'virtual continuation' of Joss Whedon's 'Firefly' in the form of scripts of additional episodes. We've rounded out Season One, completing it with seven new episodes (including a season finale based on 'Serenity: Those Left Behind' from Dark Horse Comics).

We'll see some old friends and more than a few old enemies. We can't promise that we'll entertain you as much as Mister Whedon would have, but you should know that this project has been put together by those who care about the show, and we're taking this bird up out of love.

Like most Browncoats, we know that Whedon will return to us with another movie, book, or some other way to continue the tale he started in 'Firefly.' Until that time, we'll be here. We will hold the line."

I've only read the first episode of their Season 1, but if that is anything to go by, the standard of writing is extremely high.

Virtual Firefly: Here's how it might have been...

Technorati tags: Firefly Serenity fans Browncoats Jos Whedon

Chuffed to bits that the Firefly and Serenity T-shirts I ordered from Stylin On Line arrived today - in less than a week since I placed the order. I quite expected (and was prepared for) them to take a month to get over the pond. The price was very respectible too - and I got a discount for ordering two shirts at the same time. Thanks, James.

Technorati tags: Firefly Serenity merchandise shirts

Where's my popup gone?
Popup windows are quite common in web applications (other than for annoying adverts, I mean) but one drawback they can have is that they can disappear behind the main window and re-clicking the link or button that launched them in the first place does not bring then to focus again.

So, here's a solution. It relies on creating the window as a named object, which you can then check for the presence of, see if its closed and also change the focus to.

var myWindow=null;
function popupWindow() {
  if (myWindow && !myWindow.closed) {
    myWindow.focus();
  } else {
    url="popupwindow_page.html";
    myWindow=window.open(url,'name','width=200,height=200');
  }
}

Lets looks at the key features here:
1. we start by defining a variable 'myWindow' which will eventually contain the 'object' that is the popup window itself. This means that we can later test for it without running into 'undefined' problems.
2. when we create our popup, we define it as this named object, making targetting easier
3. so, what the function does is first to check to see if the myWindow object already exists and is NOT closed (ie: open). If it is, we simply switch the browser focus to it, which will bring it to the front. If not, we create the popup window using whatever parameters you want

We launch the function with an ONCLICK action on a button or link in the body of the page, eg:

<INPUT TYPE="button" VALUE="click for popup" ONCLICK="popupWindow();" TITLE="click to open the popup window">

Technorati tags: JavaScript popup window focus

My Walkstool arrived this morning from Robert White but I can't say I'm overly impressed. The build quality is good, and I'm sure it will last longer than the cheap ones I've been buying from Argos, but despite being a Swedish design, the low-end model I bought is still made in China (and therefore massively over-priced) and with the legs extended, it is quite wobbly. I would have preferred it if the legs were simply in once piece rather than being telescopic.

If you happen to be looking for a really decent stool for covering sports like football (soccer), then this is what you need to look at:

"Walkstool is the only patented three leg stool with telescopic legs that exists in the world! The telescopic legs offers 2 sitting positions; low position with the legs retracted and normal sitting height with the legs extended. Walkstool has been tested by the Swedish National Testing and Research Institute – SP and managed a load (pressure) between 200 kg – 350 kg!"

Three leg adjustable stool from Walkstool

"Work begins on largest wind farm
Work is set to begin on constructing what will become the largest onshore wind farm in Europe. The £300m Whitelee project will see 140 turbines built on the Eaglesham Moor, south of Glasgow. It is claimed that they will generate 322 megawatts of electricity - enough to power 200,000 homes.

Some 16% of Scotland's electricity already comes from [renewable] sources, compared to 4% for the UK as a whole, and Whitelee will save a further 250,000 tonnes of harmful CO2 every year."

BBC NEWS | Scotland | Glasgow and West | Work begins on largest wind farm

Technorati tags: windfarm wind power renewable energy generaation Scotland

"Firefly, Harry Potter Sweep Genre Awards
(October 01 2006) - When it comes to the Emmy and the SyFy Genre Awards, it's tough being 'Battlestar Galactica.'

For the second year in a row, the critically-acclaimed SciFi Channel series led nominations, but was completely shut out once again in the seventh SyFy Genre Awards, this time playing second fiddle to a show that hasn't even been on the air for more than two years: 'Firefly.'"

OK, so I'm a little late with this, but the fact that Firefly and its cast are winning awards so long after cancellation is awesome. Please note that I have nothing against BSG - I have both Season I and II on DVD.

SyFy Portal | Firefly, Harry Potter Sweep Genre Awards

Technorati tags: Firefly awards Battlestar Galactica scifi

"Inspired by recent conversations with cartoonist pals, we thought it might be fun to build a website hosting a slew of fan comics set in Joss Whedon's 'Firefly' and 'Serenity' 'verse.

Think of it as an ongoing anthology book -- along the lines of Dark Horse's 'Star Wars Tales' or 'Tales of the Slayer' -- only delivered online, free of charge. We'll also link to established comic strips that mention 'Firefly' or 'Serenity.'"

Serenity Tales

Lots of hooha and frankly innacurate reporting flying around the web at the moment in relation to Jos Whedon's comments regarding any sequel to his movie Serenity. For the real skinny, have a read of his postings on Whedonesque...

"Those Joss Whedon Serenity sequel comments. In light of the growing coverage of Joss' comments made here at the weekend, here's a special one-off Whedonesque blog entry for posters to discuss the remarks and indeed the coverage as well. (ETA - now with extra vitamins and a Joss post)."

Whedonesque : Comments on 11513 : Those Joss Whedon Serenity sequel comments.

Technorati tags: Firefly Serenity sequel Jos Whedon

Beware those of you who use open wireless networks at airports and stations to quickly grab your email before setting off on your journey:

"Research shows that free wireless public networks located in airports and other public places are ripe for exploitation by hackers. Launch a freely available network stumbler and you will quickly see far more advertised WiFi spots than are sanctioned by the airport and its tenants-these are typically consumers' computers attempting to connect."

Remember that many email clients use open-text logins, so these 'man-in-the-middle' attackers, with their keyloggers, can intercept your account settings and then gain access to your account.

I must admit that I make use of wireless networks when sending photos from some football grounds - but not many of them are open.

Hidden dangers of free public WiFi | Tech News on ZDNet

Technorati tags: wireless network security airports

Famous film producer Lord (David) Puttnam (Chariots of Fire, Local Hero, Memphis Belle) has just been appointed Chancellor of The Open University. This is a photo I took of him on a previous visit back in 1999 where he was shown a number of our schools collaboration projects, including 'First Flight' on the history of aviation.

Technorati tags: David Puttnam Open University

Just heard on Firefly Talk that the DVDs of the series are going to be travelling to the International Space Station on the next Shuttle mission. Will this be the first time a sci fi series has left the planet?

Technorati tags: Firefly Serenity sci-fi shuttle NASA Joss Whedon

Got my DVD Done The Impossible from the USA. Definately worth getting hold of a copy if you're into the series and movie.
One interesting snippet of information from the clever interactive timeline is:
Firefly became profitable during its original run on US TV, generating $2.5 million per episode from advertisers - that's more than Star Trek Enterprise, or Joss Whedon's other creations Buffy or Angel.
Just why the hell did Fox cancel the series?

Technorati tags: Firefly Serenity sci-fi Joss Whedon

"California to cut gas emissions
California's Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a law which sets targets to reduce the state's greenhouse gas emissions. Becoming the first US state to impose such limits, California is aiming to reduce its emissions by 25% by 2020. Details on how the state will achieve the cut have not been worked out, but it seems inevitable that businesses will face tougher emissions limits."

Good on California to set an example. Well done, Arne.

"While good news for the environment, critics argue that firms may relocate."

Why don't companies realise they can save money by reducing their emissions - why is being slightly less environmentally harmful always seen as costing money?

BBC NEWS | Business | California to cut gas emissions

Technorati tags: emissions environment California global warming

"New trees to reclaim Amazon lands
By Richard Black, Environment correspondent, BBC News website, Rio Branco
A Brazilian state intends to make cattle ranchers reforest land which they have cleared for grazing. The government of Acre in the Amazon has established a nursery growing seedlings of species such as mahogany which they will issue to ranchers.

Ranchers may be made to reforest up to 30% of their land. The government sees this as a vital component of its longterm aim to develop sustainable forestry as a key income generator for the state. Until a decade ago, private landowners were allowed to deforest 50% of their land. Now legislation has amended the figure to 80%; but many ranchers have not replanted at all."

So reforesting 30% of the 80% they've cut down isn't actually very much, is it?

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | New trees to reclaim Amazon lands

Technorati tags: Amazon rainforest trees sustainable forestry environment

I grabbed this shot of me on the sidelines at a Northampton game earlier this year that was televised by Sky.

This weekend's motocross was the first meeting of the newly-formed Northampton Classic Club, on a track near Long Buckby who race bikes from years gone by. Their categories are Pro '06, Pre '65, Pre '74 and Pre '84 sidecars. The club doesn't have a website yet.

Technorati tags: motocross motorcross sports photos action photos Long Buckby

"Wal-Mart goes green on packaging
Wal-Mart has become the latest company to join the green revolution - announcing a move to cut packaging by 5% over five years. The retail giant says the scheme will start in 2008 and save the firm $3.4bn (£1.78bn) as well as 'millions of pounds of trash reaching landfills'. The amount saved overall in the supply chain could be $10.98bn, Wal-Mart said."

Five percent over five years - that's pathetic; if its going to save them money, why not 50% in one year? This is no more than a jesture.

BBC NEWS | Business | Wal-Mart goes green on packaging

Technorati tags: Wal-Mart packaging green environment

"Slimming photos with HP digital cameras
They say cameras add ten pounds, but HP digital cameras can help reverse that effect. The slimming feature, available on select HP digital camera models, is a subtle effect that can instantly trim off pounds from the subjects in your photos!"

Is this for real? I've looked for a release date of 1st April on this page, but I can't see one. Are we now so obsessed with being slim that we need this?

Slimming photos with HP digital cameras - HP Digital Photography Center

"Branson makes $3bn climate pledge
Sir Richard Branson is to invest $3bn (£1.6bn) to fight global warming. The Virgin boss said he would commit all profits from his travel firms, such as airline Virgin Atlantic and Virgin Trains, over the next 10 years.

The funds will be invested in initiates to develop new renewable energy technologies, both run by Virgin companies and external businesses. 'We must rapidly wean ourselves off our dependence on coal and fossil fuels,' said Sir Richard. "

Wow. But what's he going to run his planes on instead of kerosene?

BBC NEWS | Business | Branson makes $3bn climate pledge

UK photographer Danny Clifford reported a very serious rights-grab recenty:

"Greedy Robbie Williams at Milton Keynes
So, there I was on my way to Milton Keynes and it is only mid afternoon. I thought it would be best to get up there early... I found somewhere to park not too far from the gate where my photo pass was to be handed to me. So, I made my way slowly to the gate. When I got there I had quite a long wait until Robbies PR company turned up and gave me my pass... at about 7:30 they showed up and then handed me a contract to sign. I read the contract and then rubbed my eyes and read it again. It said that Robbie Williams was giving me the opportunity to photograph his show, but, wait for it, he would own the copyright of all of my images. I couldn't even have the right to display the photos on my website in my portfolio, as Robbie Williams would own the photos. He would also have the right to sell on my images to whoever he wanted to. So, I explained this to the PR company and asked them to remove that paragraph in the contract. They said they couldn't remove it. I then said well, I am not signing it, so, good bye and off I went. I have been shooting in the music industry since 1988 and never have I given away my copyright. I am not about to do it now."

Online Diary: Greedy Robbie Williams at Milton Keynes

The Daily Mirror picked up on this too:
"Daily Mirror and Greedy Robbie Williams & Bic Runga
Today's Daily Mirror in the UK have picked up on the Robbie Williams trying to grab the copyright of photographers images."

Looks like German newspapers felt the same way, publishing blank images in their articles on the concert. Good on Danny for putting his foot down - as he says, if one artist/company starts getting away with this, they'll all try it on.

Daily Mirror and Greedy Robbie Williams & Bic Runga

Mirror.co.uk - 3am Content - EXPOSED GREEDY ROBBIE PICS A FIGHT

Technorati tags: Robbie Williams rights grab copyright

"Software Pirate Gets 7 Years
A California man was sentenced by a federal judge for multiple counts of copyright infringement for selling pirated software online.
By Gregg Keizer, TechWeb, Sep 11 2006 01:00 PM

A California man has been sentenced by a federal judge to serve more than 7 years in prison for running a massive software piracy operation that netted him millions. Nathan Peterson, 27, of Antelope Acres, Calif., pleaded guilty in late 2005 to multiple counts of criminal copyright infringement for selling pirated Adobe, Microsoft, and Symantec software via the Web. According to federal authorities, Peterson netted more than $5.4 million from the sale of $20 million worth of software. He sold the phony programs from his website starting in 2003 and didn't stop until he was arrested in February 2005. Peterson often included a serial number that allowed the purchaser to activate and use the product.

'Stealing the intellectual property of others is always a bad idea in any context. It's theft,' said Chuck Rosenberg, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, in a statement issued Friday."

A long time in gaol was my first impression, but this was a pretty serious violation of copyright. Send a message, I guess.

Software Pirate Gets 7 Years - News by InformationWeek

PHP. How do you check to see if a variable is empty, when it might have a value of zero? empty($var) returns true if its zero, so you can't use that. I found that you need to test for $var===""

"New child car seat laws in force
New laws which mean more children must use child car seats are now in force in England, Wales and Scotland.

Child seats or booster cushions are now compulsory for under-12s under 135cm (4ft 5in) tall, but consumer group Which? says many parents are not ready.

Drivers face fines from £30 on-the-spot or up to £500 in court if they do not ensure that the children they are carrying comply with the regulations."

So, what happens with mums giving lifts to other kids to school? Are they going to be expected to buy a seat for every kid they take? How many mums are going to be prepared to do that? Result: more cars having to do the school run. Well done, Government - yet another piece of ill-considered legistation from the Nanny State.

BBC NEWS | UK | New child car seat laws in force

Technorati tags: child car seats Nanny State

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'