It's a quiet day, nothing much going on, and I'm sitting here at my desk randomly browsing xkcd comics. Here's one that I particularly liked.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Apple and the iPhone location data "story"
If you want to know all about the iPhone and the location data "issue", have a look at Apple's Q&A (http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2011/04/27location_qa.html). If you can't be bothered to read the whole thing, here is the bit you need:
1. Why is Apple tracking the location of my iPhone?
Apple is not tracking the location of your iPhone. Apple has never done so and has no plans to ever do so.
That closes this issue, I think.
Bike Built Entirely of Wood
Built by a bloke in a shed at enormous expense and huge effort to win a £1 bet with a mate. I suspect alcohol was involved.
Bike Built Entirely of Wood Could Set Speed Record
http://www.wired.com/autopia/2011/04/bike-built-of-wood-could-set-speed-record/
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
NeatDesk - cool scanner/software system
I hate paper. It clutters our lives and consumes storage space and makes the world generally a bit less nice. If I had my way I'd ban it for bills, official documents, statements, application forms and anything else that requires long-term storage and move to a fully digital system; until then, NeatDesk's scanner system looks like a good alternative (although I'm not sure I'd pay $400 for it).
Monday, April 25, 2011
Regent Street, flagged
Regent Street looks good today with Union Flags hanging between the shops. It's almost as if something was about to happen...
Our extremely annoying Sunday trading laws
It is no secret that I do not really enjoy shopping but sometimes, despite my best efforts, even I need to visit the stores. On these rare occasions (it is fair more common for me to accompany the wife on her procurement excursions) I like the shops to be open, easily reached, well laid out, sensibly staffed and stocked with desirable products. Is that too much to ask?
All of these requirements I can influence to a certain extent by careful choice of shop; if I want designer jeans (I never do, but it is a useful example) I do not visit the local flower market, if I want wine I do not go to Ladbrokes and if I want anything related to computers I most certainly do not go to PC World (unless I am very desperate or impatient). Careful choice of shop solves most of my shopping dilemmas, leaving only the extraordinary Sunday Trading Laws to annoy and frustrate.
Why do I object to the Sunday Trading Laws? The current law is a poorly thought-out compromise, a bodge designed to satisfy Keep Sunday Special and other religious pressure groups (although I suspect they are also not happy with the current laws and would prefer a total prohibition on Sunday trading) without alienating the retailers. The problem is that they represent a significant concession to a minority of the population without delivering any benefit whatsoever to anyone and, given that Government regulation is generally considered a bad thing, it is time for the restrictions on Sunday trading to be lifted (as they have been in Scotland and Northern Ireland).
Do we need any restrictive trading laws? Probably not. As long as workers are protected from unreasonable demands on their time (and the existing limits on the working week should provide this) there cannot really be a complaint if shops open on a Sunday and it seems likely that many people would welcome the opportunity either to change their working hours or to have some at all (part-time Sunday work can be pretty useful if you're on a low income).
And while we are at it, can we get rid of the Easter Sunday and Christmas Day restrictions? They might have been relevant 100 years ago but today, in a country where almost nobody goes to church, they are out of date and, frankly, deeply annoying to those of us embarking on an occasional shopping spree.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Keith O'Brien criticises secularism
The Cardinal said: "Perhaps more than ever before there is that 'aggressive secularism' and there are those who would indeed try to destroy our Christian heritage and culture and take God from the public square.
via bbc.co.uk
I'm not sure I'd describe myself as "aggressive" and I don't really want to destroy "our Christian heritage" but Mr O'Brien was right about one thing; I most definitely want his God to play no part in the running of our Government. If Mr O'Brien wants to believe that a character from a fictional history is judging everything that he does then that's fine by me, but he should not expect, and he has no right to request, that the rest of us live according to his delusions.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Panorama, Dulwich Park
Picnic lunch in Dulwich Park with supplies procured from Northcross Rd Market and local shops in Lordship Lane. Excellent.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Eye-Fi Mobile X2 wireless memory card
Automatically upload photos and videos to your iPhone, Android or tablet, whether you’re at the beach or on travel.
via uk.eye.fi
Memory cards are pretty dull. The Eye-Fi Mobile X2 (snappy name) is only interesting because it has a built-in wi-fi thingy that allows you to upload your photos directly to your iDevice or Android phone without removing the card from the camera and without a computer. That's neat and the Eye-Fi will be the card of choice for my next camera.
Amazon fault takes down websites
Scores of well-known websites have been unavailable for large parts of Thursday because of problems with Amazon's web hosting service.
via bbc.co.uk
Working, as I do, for a small web-based company, it is comforting to hear that even the biggest companies sometimes suffer major service outages.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Wells Underground House
I quite like the idea of an underground house. Not this one, maybe, especially as it's in New Jersey, but one a little like it.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Jesus Christ's Last Supper 'was on a Wednesday'
Christians mark Jesus Christ's Last Supper on Maundy Thursday, but new research suggests it took place on the Wednesday before his crucifixion.
via bbc.co.uk
The chap who conducted the "research" upon which this report is based has made a basic error; he has forgotten that the Bible is a work of fiction. Next.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
KAL's cartoon | The Economist
This week's cartoon from The Economist. 
Is the new French law against public face coverings aimed at Muslims? I don't like to see women wearing burkas or the like (I can't help thinking that they are victims of a particularly unpleasant male obsession with property and ownership) but I'm not sure that I'd like to see women dragged from the streets and prosecuted because of the clothes they are wearing - that seems wrong. It will be interesting to see how things work out. Quick question: have you ever seen a woman wearing a burka in a cold (below freezing) region?
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Walking to work
Normally I take the bus to work, a journey that takes about 45 minutes on a normal day and involves a change at the Elephant and Castle. Last Friday I decided to do the trip on foot to see if I could (it's 8.34 km) and how long it might take (1:07:06, apparently). I'm quite pleased with that time (average speed 7.5 km/hr) but I reckon I can do better with a little practice and an improved route. If you want to see the route I took, here is the map.
Photos are from the stretch of the walk along the Surrey Canal, which runs behind Peckham Library towards Burgess Park. If the weather is good next week I'll be doing this walk again.
Monday, April 11, 2011
St Martin-in-the-fields, Crypt Cafe Rip-Off
Susie and I had a spot of lunch at the Cafe in the Crypt, under St Martin-in-the-fields, just off Trafalgar Square. Not bad, but £4.00 for a Diet Coke was a shock, even in central London; when it comes to screwing patrons, nobody can really beat the Church of England.
Thursday, April 07, 2011
Glenlivet 70 Year Old Whiskey
This looks good, love the bottle.
http://uncrate.com/stuff/glenlivet-70-year-old-whiskey/
Wednesday, April 06, 2011
Nonsensical Advertising, Part III
Well, not quit nonsensical, but I hadn't realised it was possible (or desirable) to augment your own hair with that of someone else. Sounds a bit weird to me.
Monday, April 04, 2011
Project London
Spotted this trailer for Project London on the Mozilla demo website. Most impressive.
Sunday, April 03, 2011
Thomas Cook - Unpleasant to Book
I have just booked flights for our holiday to Turkey in September with Thomas Cook. The initial price was ok and the flight times are not too bad but I had to pay another £48 for baggage (as if anyone goes on holiday without baggage) as well as a £16.00 payment fee for using a credit card. I chose not to pay £15 per person for their inflight "food" or £7.50 per person to chose my seat.
I also have to re-confirm my flights at least 48 hours in advance, which is a first as far as I'm concerned. They don't say why this might be necessary (at least as far as I could see on their site) and I suspect they don't plan to give me a refund if I don't re-confirm - presumably I'll just lose my seat.
Oh, and I have to log back in at some point to provide them with additional information that they didn't bother to collect during the booking process and that they apparently need to meet some unspecified legal requirement somewhere. You can probably guess what I think of that.
And it appears that in order to fly I also have to carry half a dead tree in the form of the self-printed itinerary and tickets they've emailed to me and the duplicate physical tickets they're going to post to me (I think - at around this point in the process I was losing the will to live). Needless to say, they charge extra if you turn up without the right bits of rotting tree flesh.
Finally, just to rub salt in the wound, their confirmation emails don't work with the otherwise excellent TripIt. This, of course, may be due to something not working well at the TripIt end of the system but at the moment I think I'll blame Thomas Cook; TripIt are regularly impressive but I suspect Thomas Cook may turn out to be less than entirely great.
If the payment experience is anything to go by this will probably turn out to be one of the most unpleasant flights ever suffered by man. I'll let you know how it goes.
Satanism Surging, says Catholic Church
I read this twice, then checked the date - The Telegraph reports that the Catholic Church is experiencing a surge in demand for exorcists in response to Internet-fuelled growth in the study and practice of Satanism.
It's all completely mad but at least we have something else about which the Catholic Church can be mocked.
Surge in Satanism sparks rise in demand for exorcists, says Catholic Church
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/8416104/Surge-in-Satanism-sparks-rise-in-demand-for-exorcists-says-Catholic-Church.html
Saturday, April 02, 2011
And the Koran keeps on killing
Not the book itself, of course, but some of its insane followers in Afghanistan. According to a BBC report two American pastors burnt a Koran in Florida sparking protests in various Afghan cities that have now claimed at least 24 lives. That's totally ridiculous; how can the burning of a book, or even a boatload of books, justify murder, especially of innocent people unconnected to the original act?
It seems to me that the only sensible way to proceed is to keep burning Korans until either it no longer has any effect or we run out of books. As luck would have it, Korans aren't really very valuable - you can pick up a secondhand copy from Amazon for only £0.13 - so if the unrest in the Middle East continues to raise oil prices at least we will have plenty of cheap paper to burn for warmth.
For the sake of balance, I should add that the Bible is available for a similar price, also from Amazon. Bibles burn quite well, I hear.
Annoying Trifles
For years I've laboured under the belief that trifle is basically the work of the devil and none have I eaten for at least two decades. This evening, having seen Heston Blumenthal making trifle for Sainsbury's on the telly, I've had a quick flick through the web's collection of trifle recipes (like this one) and I really can't see why I wouldn't like the stuff - it's just cake, jam and custard and I like all of those things!
Here's what I'm going to do. Next time we have people round for dinner I'll make a trifle and settle the argument once and forever - either I will find that I like it and that I have wasted a score of trifle-consuming years by conscientiously avoiding it or I will find that I was right and that the best place for this mess of custard and Madeira cake is a hole in the ground far from me. Time will tell, updates to follow.
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