I have decided to make this season the last I will cover ice hockey on a regular basis. It is no longer economically viable to do so.

Adventurous cat returns from Iraq!

MoD Oracle

Saw Bracknell play Guildford in the FBNL last night - first game at The Hive in a good while. Close game.


Bracknell gallery

Guildford gallery

Went to see Master and Commander on Friday evening and I must say I was very impressed. Only once or twice do Russell Crowe's lines become corny, but overall the acting is excellent, as are the sets and costumes. Impossible to tell how much CGI was used - which is, of course, how it should be.

BBC Film reviews

Should be at Bracknell on Saturday and Coventry on Sunday.

Congratulations to the BBC for their excellent programming on President John F Kennedy, who was assassinated 40 years ago (a few months before I was born). Now there was a President to admire, a President a country could be justly proud of.

BBC - Radio 2 - The JFK Generation

"Looks like we might be facing a water shortage next year" the water authorities announce. The Environment Agency says we need 20% higher-than-average rainfall over the Winter to make up for the drought we've experienced this year. OK, so why didn't the Agency, or the water companies, impose any hosepipe bans this year? Perhaps its got something to do with everyone now being on a meter and the companies wanting to maximise their short-term profits?

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Drought warning despite downpours

Covered Cardiff as Coventry at the weekend - the Devils are obviously missing the talents of Jeff Ulmer who has now gone on to play in Europe.


Coventry gallery

Cardiff gallery

According to a recent Oftel survey, BT's broadband services have attracted more complaints than any other ISP.

BBC NEWS | Business | BT Broadband tops complaint table

I can't honestly say I've had many problems with my 256k broadband connection - I get the odd drop in connection and sometimes their DNS servers seem to go byebye, but generally speaking the service has been OK.

Congratulations to England on their historic victory against Australia in the Rugby Union World Cup.

BBC SPORT | Rugby Union | Rugby World Cup | England revels in World Cup glory

Just exactly how 'broad' is BT's broadband? Not very according to this recent article on the BBC News website:

Full speed ahead for Japan's broadband

Covered two games over the weekend: Dundee at Bracknell in the FBNL on Saturday and Nottingham at Coventry, Elite League on Sunday.


Bracknell gallery

Dundee gallery


That game was the last I will probably ever see veteran Canadian defenceman Scott Young play because in the game the following evening, he punched a referee and will likely not play in the UK again. Not a very suitable way to end a long career.


Coventry gallery

Nottingham gallery

Just one game this weekend: London Racers at Coventry. Not seen the Racers play before and with the Coventry team depleated through injury, I quite expected a close game. Sadly, the Racers simply didn't deliver.


Racers gallery

Blaze Gallery

Well, they do say you can find anything on the Internet: here's a site where you can download the Trumpton theme tune for your mobile phone.

Just completed a two-day training course on how to configure and use a SAN (storage area network). My head is spinning.

dotHILL

Couple of drawn and, lets be honest, somewhat boring hockey games this weekend.


Bracknell vs Hull (1-1)

home gallery
away gallery



Bracknell vs Edinburgh (2-2)

home gallery
away gallery

Apple has finally launched the Windows version of iTunes - the MP3 music management of choice for the Mac.

The software, which offers tracks for 99 cents (60p), was launched for the Windows platform in the US on Thursday.

It had previously only been available to users of Apple Mac computers - who bought 13 million tracks in six months.

iTunes' expansion is part of a plan to corner the growing market for legal online music, and is expected to become available outside the US next year.

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Music | Apple iTunes launched for Windows

If you have a fast connection (or a slow one and a lot of patience) you can download the installer for iTunes 4.1 and QuickTime 6.2 from here.

Commuters face 'daily trauma'
People using public transport face a "daily trauma" and are forced to travel in "intolerable conditions", according to a government report on overcrowding.

Well, duh. When are these people going to realise that public transport in this country is a joke. The government continue to apply the one of the highest levels of duty on petrol and then proceed to spend the smallest percentage of it on transport - the rest is just a stealth tax. Other countries around the world have already proven that putting public transport into the hands of private companies does not work - why the idiotic CONservatives ever thought otherwise, I don't know. The success of a public tranport system cannot be measured by the level of dividends paid to shareholders, most of which will never even use its services.

Cardiff visited Coventry last night for a good Elite League game.

Coventry Gallery
Cardiff Gallery

This evening's Findus Cup game saw two Vipers thrown out for their role in a double punchup. Vipers still beat Bracknell 0-4.

Newcastle Gallery
Bracknell Gallery