Last night we returned to Herstmonceux to see the comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 (73P) from the observatory science centre.
http://www.the-observatory.org/
We only just made it for 8pm, and then we had a little explore around and met up with Pete and Ali, who'd come up from Eastborne in Pete's Frazer Nash- a very fun way to travel! We had a lecture from Dr Brian Hunter of Queens University Canada, who works at the Castle next door, about comets in general and this one in particular. And then in the lowering gloom, we were told that the telescopes were working (including the one with the moving floor!), and we could go and take a look.
However, sadly the weather was closing in a tiny bit, and high altitude ice crytals were making viewing of the comet unlikely. Indeed, once back outside there was a beautiful and very obvious halo around the moon, never a good signfor an astronomer.
So rather than see the comet we saw Jupiter and Saturn and the Moon through the various instruments, but this was perhaps a bonus. Large planets display a most alluring amount of detail when seen through these large telescopes- Jupiter's bands and moons, and Saturn's rings were all clearly visible, at a range of brigtnesses and resolutions. In spite of the fact that most of the kit at Herstmonceux had not been designed for visual use (most were designed with complex scientific analysis of light in mind, or accurate measurement of angular distance) the evening proved quite magical.
For me the highhlight was to be in the dome of the 26inch Thompson Telescope as the floor descended at the conclusion of viewing- the wood panel walls slid smoothly upward with the scope itself as we and all the other viewers sank back down to floor level- a quite bizarre and dreamlike end to a very weird and wonderful evening.
Many many thanks to the staff and volunteers for a great evening. We'll be back for the meteor barbeque!
Saturday, May 13, 2006
Monday, May 08, 2006
A mighty erection!
Blimey didn't I have a very hands on break! Shortly after popping the rejuvenated (and now very healthy) throttle body back into Lottie, I was given the go ahead to build the first bit of decking in our garden. This is a very big deal. Gardening is a stress point in our marriage- a topic which can raise ructions like no other. In essence I am a 'strip it all back, and rebuild totally' heavy lifting hardlandscaping gardener, whereas Rowan likes plants and living things and see's little need to blitz the place and go through a year with the garden looking like day four of the Somme.
Therefore getting the go ahead to build a deck is a major development. Also it indicates that at least tacitly, she is beginning to forgive me for nearly killing her when a set of shelves I put up fell down... on her. So, a few weeks back we hurtled back from a weekend in Whitstable (foggy, but good fish) to get the wood from the Brighton Wood Recycling centre and to host a night of jolly mead fueled japes with Jen and Monkey. Monkey stayed around the next day (with his mighty power tool collection) to help me get the frame done. Over the next few days I decked it, and we put up trellis, and yesterday I finished the steps, so here at my flickr page is the set of images abot building the deck.
Massive massive thanks to Monkey for his inestimable help, and constant good humour and can do willingness.
Next step, getting a massive deck outside the kitchen to dine on, and break the linearity of the garden by introducing a meanderings sense of adventure in the journey. Like I've half a chance!
Therefore getting the go ahead to build a deck is a major development. Also it indicates that at least tacitly, she is beginning to forgive me for nearly killing her when a set of shelves I put up fell down... on her. So, a few weeks back we hurtled back from a weekend in Whitstable (foggy, but good fish) to get the wood from the Brighton Wood Recycling centre and to host a night of jolly mead fueled japes with Jen and Monkey. Monkey stayed around the next day (with his mighty power tool collection) to help me get the frame done. Over the next few days I decked it, and we put up trellis, and yesterday I finished the steps, so here at my flickr page is the set of images abot building the deck.
Massive massive thanks to Monkey for his inestimable help, and constant good humour and can do willingness.
Next step, getting a massive deck outside the kitchen to dine on, and break the linearity of the garden by introducing a meanderings sense of adventure in the journey. Like I've half a chance!
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
A very pretty corpse
Went to Herstmonceux for the day and a delightful day it was too. The castle, though extensively rebuilt in the early 20th century, retains it's charming character and the grounds are well kept too. It's great that it's still very much a working institution too- Queen's University of Canada has its international study centre here, and in term time the place is all abuzz with students and faculty, and even when we visited they were setting up a reception for the Canadian High Commissioner. Also on the grounds is the Observatory Science Centre, Herstmonceux, occupying a classic peice of post war high quality British Architecture- I really hope it's listed as it combines the excellence of workmanship and aesthetics that the best of the UK can manage along side the hilariously excentric and impractical that we manage- at night astronomers would regularly find themselves stumbling into the lily pond placed centrally within the unlit compound.
There is a note of sadness to the centre though. Althought the castle itself and many of the other building the Royal Observatory built on the site during its residence are still in active use, and the observatory continues to provide excellent facilities for visitors and amateurs, the institution that founded it, one of the oldest scientific institutions in the world, was disbanded entirely in 1998. The functions of the once pre-eminent faculty are still ongoing, but again it strikes me that this was another example of the dying stages of an institutional life cycle.
The Royal Observatory had had a clear purpose when founded, a purpose defined by the limitations of the technology then available. It totally dominated the collection, interpretation and disemination of knowledge and expertise within its feild, and in a way this is another example of vertical integration (pace EMI of the 1920s, Sony of today). Key to this was the fact that all the science could be done in the UK, and that the end user of the knowledge was intimately intwined with the establishment- it was a department of the Admiralty, and ships were the end users of the astronomical data they produced.
So why is the RGO no more? Almost everything that could have changed did change- the science advanced to the point where a UK sited base was far less capable than one on the top of a mountain in, say, the Canaries, so that moved, leaving the Sussex Observatory something of a white elephant. More than that though, the science of cosmology marched on, demanding ever larger and more elaborate instruments to verify it's findings, so that the last soely UK financed telescope was procured in the seventies. The users marched on too- the Admiraly and the observatory became officially independant in 1965, and by the eighties astro navigation was an increasingly secondary tool behind the emerging sat nav kit. Astronavigation is still the fall back, but GPS is pervasive, cheap to buy, and requires far far less training to use. For the moment, we're pretty pally with the providers too. (It's not as if astro nav is any more independent from the USA- the almanacs are joint published with the US).
Still, it does seem sad that an institution that drew together such excellent science, and in such romantic surroundings, can have fallen from it's golden years so quickly. There is still n astronomer royal, but no flat in a castle, no extensive research staff, no rights of passage for astronomers allowing the formation of a proffesion wide esprit de corps. It may not matter, or it may. It's only eight years since the great institution disolved away into a collection of tourist atractions and disparate research functions in other instiotutions with different agenda. I suspect it'll be at least an orbit of Saturn before we begin to see the hole left.
A personal account of the rise and fall of the observatory.
The Observatory is having a special weekend to observe the 'String of Pearls' mini comets as they approach the earth on the 12th and 13th of May from 8pm to midnight (weather permitting!).
There is a note of sadness to the centre though. Althought the castle itself and many of the other building the Royal Observatory built on the site during its residence are still in active use, and the observatory continues to provide excellent facilities for visitors and amateurs, the institution that founded it, one of the oldest scientific institutions in the world, was disbanded entirely in 1998. The functions of the once pre-eminent faculty are still ongoing, but again it strikes me that this was another example of the dying stages of an institutional life cycle.
The Royal Observatory had had a clear purpose when founded, a purpose defined by the limitations of the technology then available. It totally dominated the collection, interpretation and disemination of knowledge and expertise within its feild, and in a way this is another example of vertical integration (pace EMI of the 1920s, Sony of today). Key to this was the fact that all the science could be done in the UK, and that the end user of the knowledge was intimately intwined with the establishment- it was a department of the Admiralty, and ships were the end users of the astronomical data they produced.
So why is the RGO no more? Almost everything that could have changed did change- the science advanced to the point where a UK sited base was far less capable than one on the top of a mountain in, say, the Canaries, so that moved, leaving the Sussex Observatory something of a white elephant. More than that though, the science of cosmology marched on, demanding ever larger and more elaborate instruments to verify it's findings, so that the last soely UK financed telescope was procured in the seventies. The users marched on too- the Admiraly and the observatory became officially independant in 1965, and by the eighties astro navigation was an increasingly secondary tool behind the emerging sat nav kit. Astronavigation is still the fall back, but GPS is pervasive, cheap to buy, and requires far far less training to use. For the moment, we're pretty pally with the providers too. (It's not as if astro nav is any more independent from the USA- the almanacs are joint published with the US).
Still, it does seem sad that an institution that drew together such excellent science, and in such romantic surroundings, can have fallen from it's golden years so quickly. There is still n astronomer royal, but no flat in a castle, no extensive research staff, no rights of passage for astronomers allowing the formation of a proffesion wide esprit de corps. It may not matter, or it may. It's only eight years since the great institution disolved away into a collection of tourist atractions and disparate research functions in other instiotutions with different agenda. I suspect it'll be at least an orbit of Saturn before we begin to see the hole left.
A personal account of the rise and fall of the observatory.
The Observatory is having a special weekend to observe the 'String of Pearls' mini comets as they approach the earth on the 12th and 13th of May from 8pm to midnight (weather permitting!).
Sunday, April 16, 2006
Speed trials
To Newhaven this afternoon, to recommision the Water Pippet after the winter. Seeing as the car boot sale was off we went over and met up with Goeff after lunch, remounted the engine and set off up the Ouse for a quick spin. I hopped off at the new dredger quay to film her running up and down, and to see if the trim was ok. The new engine is a bit lighter (and sooooo much quieter) and Goeff noticed the bilges were only getting wet forward. Looking at this shot I'd say she was well trimmed, but we might shift a little ballast aft when the anchor line gets looked at.
Nissan Micra throttlebody circuit
This is the bit I soldered. Those three resistors on the right join up with the plug via three joints that are rather dry and matt in this shot. A bit of reheating, suck off the old solder, and resoldering and the car is back in action. It's been a little jerky this morning (we went to a car boot sale that was cancelled when we got there) but now seems to be running smoothly, and hasn't stalled since last night when we ran down to Asda. I think all the compensatory adjustments that have been made 'till now have her running a bit rough and rich. A quick retune and she'll be fine.
I hope!
I hope!
Saturday, April 15, 2006
Mr Fixit
Just repaired the car, which is quite surprising, since I haven't been seriously under a bonnet in 20 years or more. Top tip- do it, it's easy. ish.
We have an elderly but happy Nissan Micra, and the throttles go, so eventually they start to stall a lot. Apparently it's down to some electrics in a sealed bit of the throttle, so you can get a new one from Nissan for £400, or a refurbished part from around £80 (usually nearer £150!), or you can roll up your sleves, hack it open and resolder the joints. Which I've just done. I shall be smug for most of the next two weeks off. As long as it doesn't fritz on me.
We have an elderly but happy Nissan Micra, and the throttles go, so eventually they start to stall a lot. Apparently it's down to some electrics in a sealed bit of the throttle, so you can get a new one from Nissan for £400, or a refurbished part from around £80 (usually nearer £150!), or you can roll up your sleves, hack it open and resolder the joints. Which I've just done. I shall be smug for most of the next two weeks off. As long as it doesn't fritz on me.
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Fork in the path
Out on the downs again at last on Sunday, with Rowan and Matty Mo. Glorious stark day, chill wind, but few clouds and the light was just piercing. Over from Littlington to Jevington via Lullington Heath, lunch at Eight Bells, and back by Charleston Bottom and Clapham House. Normally an easy schlep, but we were still recovering from The Wonderstuff on Saturday, so a tad sore later.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
dti applications in....
Enourmous thanks to Matthew Addis of ITI and Tim Courtney of Xyratex for their sterling efforts in getting in the proposals for the dti autumn technology programme. Can't really go into a huge amount of detail on the proposals, but suffice to say we're looking at a very interesting range of areas.
The next project framework we're looking at is the EU FP6 call in April for advanced search in audio visual technologies. Not entirely sure what sort of thing we'll get into there, but I can imagine some interesting progress being made on work we've already done in Prestospace. New Media will probably be looking at some projects too.
Of course one possible barrier to this might be that EU projects do tend to work on quite a long cycle; it can be eighteen months after the initial submission before you really get started on the project. New Media are getting used to working in a far faster and more iterative way, through channels like the Innovations Lab. There is a real pressure on to get new and better navigation models developed, and trial and error is no bad way to do this. I'm sure it'll get some good results.
It is difficult though for a process like that to take the best of great efforts going on in the accademic and research domains, and that does bother me a little. There are really brilliant and effective tools being made, but getting traction and turning sometimes startling developments into the 'real world' can be extremely difficult.
The next project framework we're looking at is the EU FP6 call in April for advanced search in audio visual technologies. Not entirely sure what sort of thing we'll get into there, but I can imagine some interesting progress being made on work we've already done in Prestospace. New Media will probably be looking at some projects too.
Of course one possible barrier to this might be that EU projects do tend to work on quite a long cycle; it can be eighteen months after the initial submission before you really get started on the project. New Media are getting used to working in a far faster and more iterative way, through channels like the Innovations Lab. There is a real pressure on to get new and better navigation models developed, and trial and error is no bad way to do this. I'm sure it'll get some good results.
It is difficult though for a process like that to take the best of great efforts going on in the accademic and research domains, and that does bother me a little. There are really brilliant and effective tools being made, but getting traction and turning sometimes startling developments into the 'real world' can be extremely difficult.
Saturday, February 04, 2006
lion_group.jpg
Ah, here we are, all on stage for the dress rehearsal. Not a huge stage, as you can see, but very intimate with the audience, and the lighting was very good too (cheers Doug!).
Those cuffs are home made by the way, half a dozen toilet tubes, some warm leatherette, and a few dozen paper fasteners.
Those cuffs are home made by the way, half a dozen toilet tubes, some warm leatherette, and a few dozen paper fasteners.
The Art of the Dog and Pony
To the dti last Wednesday to do a show and tell as a part of their 'Future of Broadcasting' day. Biggish audience, including all sorts of IT, University, technical and industry bods, and really rather good. It was really focussed on public funding for projects, but I was there to give it a bit of context- a voice from the real life broadcasters so to speak.
Of course broadcast covers a multitude of sins, and I'm only tucked away in the back corner of the archive, so I was spreading myself a bit thin trying to cover it all, but I did warn them that I had a biased point of view, and that I worked in a shed in Brebtford, not a nice building in White City, so they should take what I said with a pinch of salt.
I tried to cover all the things that make me worry about the future of the BBC, except those things which are due soley to the vagiaries of our leaders. In pointing out the core problems, rather than the mistaken solutions we may or may not be taking, I think I gave them a good flavour of the radical and revolutionary elemental forces at work in broadcast.
I did mention one particular blog in particular- the long tail- there is a link over to the right there>>>
Anyroad up, the whole thing went jolly well, thanks in no small part to some lovely graphics pinched striaght off of Matt Locke in New Media. And the University of Brighton have asked me to give them a lecture off the back of it, which is tremendously flattering, and I think I would like to do that very much.
Of course broadcast covers a multitude of sins, and I'm only tucked away in the back corner of the archive, so I was spreading myself a bit thin trying to cover it all, but I did warn them that I had a biased point of view, and that I worked in a shed in Brebtford, not a nice building in White City, so they should take what I said with a pinch of salt.
I tried to cover all the things that make me worry about the future of the BBC, except those things which are due soley to the vagiaries of our leaders. In pointing out the core problems, rather than the mistaken solutions we may or may not be taking, I think I gave them a good flavour of the radical and revolutionary elemental forces at work in broadcast.
I did mention one particular blog in particular- the long tail- there is a link over to the right there>>>
Anyroad up, the whole thing went jolly well, thanks in no small part to some lovely graphics pinched striaght off of Matt Locke in New Media. And the University of Brighton have asked me to give them a lecture off the back of it, which is tremendously flattering, and I think I would like to do that very much.
A thesp is boUrnE
Just finished doing aplay in Eastbourne- very different experience- never trod the boards before, well, not for 20 years or so anyway. We did 4 nights of 'The Lion in Winter' at St. Mary's Eastbourne old town, and it went rather well. Houses of between 60 and 110 for the run, and very well recieved. I think my sister in law (the producer) broke even.
I did find I became a paranoid freak for a couple of weeks, and it's rather nice not to be again. It's very very difficult to know if you're really any good, and it's terribly difficult to take on board criticism, even of the most contructive kind, once the run is going. Still, I feel I did ok, I don't think I left any of the rest of the cast hanging, and it was, by the final night, actually quite a buzz. It took the whole run pretty much, bt by the last scene of the last act of the last night I was really getting into it, giving the part room to breath, really swooping along.
Maybe, just possibly, I'll try again one day.
Cast photos are somewhere on Flickr.
I did find I became a paranoid freak for a couple of weeks, and it's rather nice not to be again. It's very very difficult to know if you're really any good, and it's terribly difficult to take on board criticism, even of the most contructive kind, once the run is going. Still, I feel I did ok, I don't think I left any of the rest of the cast hanging, and it was, by the final night, actually quite a buzz. It took the whole run pretty much, bt by the last scene of the last act of the last night I was really getting into it, giving the part room to breath, really swooping along.
Maybe, just possibly, I'll try again one day.
Cast photos are somewhere on Flickr.
Friday, November 11, 2005
The broken crest of a wave
Had a visit a few weeks back to the EMI archive at Hayes, near heathrow airport. It's a fascinating place- not only do they hold the paperwork and the masters for almost a century of music recordings, but they've also a small museum. A museum of what? Well they have early TV cameras, Radars, magnetic resonance imaging kit, and of course many beautiful old gramophone. As we explored the place I noticed a picture on the wall of the site some seventy years ago or longer. Where we stood has once been a station, two schools, vast offices designing and managing the worldwide distribution of state of the art music replay devices, lumberyard supplying the raw materials, pressing plants. As the years rolled on the expertise in that place spawned countless innovations- and during the second world war the engineering expertise on this site was a huge part of the technological war effort; testament to this is a map on the wall that was found in a downed Luftwaffe bomber. The EMI plant is very clearly marked!
Today though, for all the fascinating museum exhibits, the archive has a melancholy air. The company that spawned so many revolutionary technologies, and had the nouce to exploit them all, now just makes music. In fact all it does is invest in recording music, and then licenses it's IP and markets it. The EMI that was a fully vertically integrated entertainment system, with diversification and innovation at every layer is now a far smaller and more specialized operation.
Look around and you'll see the other bits of what was EMI- Vodafone, Marconi and many others were once spawned under that umbrella. Perhaps some of them can still innovate and succeed. I think, perhaps not- they are tied into their core market, know their specialization, and do that pretty well. In the great capitalist scheme of things this evolution has probably brought a very great deal of profit for a very great deal of shareholders. But is it better as a company?
It's struck me since my visit that here are parallels today with the story of EMI (a story I have only the most cursory familiarity with). Entities like Sony are today stretching through the whole delivery stack, from content to the ear via products and services. They're not the only ones.
Are IBM and the BBC now slipping down the back side of this wave: shedding creativity and innovation? From inside the beeb it does feel a bit like it. I understand the pressures that lead to the drive to shed areas that technology has left behind- would it have made any sense for EMI to have kept the cabinet making part of the business into the early 21st century? Probably not, and similarly the loss of some area's of the BBC make sound sense.
But think what goes with that- IBM no longer have indigenous laptop designers and builders who can innovate with them- the BBC no longer has the indigenous IT expertise to innovate and run it's own digital asset management system.
Some people are still integrating, still growing, so I think the cycle still holds. I'd like to see it begin to loop back around here- just not sure how.
Today though, for all the fascinating museum exhibits, the archive has a melancholy air. The company that spawned so many revolutionary technologies, and had the nouce to exploit them all, now just makes music. In fact all it does is invest in recording music, and then licenses it's IP and markets it. The EMI that was a fully vertically integrated entertainment system, with diversification and innovation at every layer is now a far smaller and more specialized operation.
Look around and you'll see the other bits of what was EMI- Vodafone, Marconi and many others were once spawned under that umbrella. Perhaps some of them can still innovate and succeed. I think, perhaps not- they are tied into their core market, know their specialization, and do that pretty well. In the great capitalist scheme of things this evolution has probably brought a very great deal of profit for a very great deal of shareholders. But is it better as a company?
It's struck me since my visit that here are parallels today with the story of EMI (a story I have only the most cursory familiarity with). Entities like Sony are today stretching through the whole delivery stack, from content to the ear via products and services. They're not the only ones.
Are IBM and the BBC now slipping down the back side of this wave: shedding creativity and innovation? From inside the beeb it does feel a bit like it. I understand the pressures that lead to the drive to shed areas that technology has left behind- would it have made any sense for EMI to have kept the cabinet making part of the business into the early 21st century? Probably not, and similarly the loss of some area's of the BBC make sound sense.
But think what goes with that- IBM no longer have indigenous laptop designers and builders who can innovate with them- the BBC no longer has the indigenous IT expertise to innovate and run it's own digital asset management system.
Some people are still integrating, still growing, so I think the cycle still holds. I'd like to see it begin to loop back around here- just not sure how.
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Spoken Word/ Annotatable Audio
I was stunned and then shrug shouldered happy to hear about a BBC project doing almost exactly what another BBC project was doing. Only different, but so similar it's amazing. Anyway take a look at Tom Coates' brilliant last project at the beeb, then look at the Glasgow Caledonian Spoken Word project , which is spokily almost the same functionality but done a bit differently, and as an education aid for legal students, but is largely the same approach to the same question.
Now to get really spookey- both have BBC input with, until this week, practically no, zero, nadda, knowledge of each other! Fantastic!
I shall work harder at this whole KM thing. Got a way to go though.
And a final p.s. in case anyone thinks this is inappropriate etc., you're wrong. Keeping this a bit private would rather perpetuate the error. I'm trying to fix things here!
Now to get really spookey- both have BBC input with, until this week, practically no, zero, nadda, knowledge of each other! Fantastic!
I shall work harder at this whole KM thing. Got a way to go though.
And a final p.s. in case anyone thinks this is inappropriate etc., you're wrong. Keeping this a bit private would rather perpetuate the error. I'm trying to fix things here!
Monday, October 31, 2005
Breaking barriers.
I realised the other day that the IT service we (the archives) get is not the same as other departments get. I knew about the integrated telephony and IT service the HR had sorted a few years ago- this is very handy. For instance if you have a telephony application that depends on a desk top client, a joined up service for your desktop and phones is good sensible stuff. And when only one company is delivering both you have to wonder what sort of idiocy kicked in when we got our contract signed. Ah well I thought, next time we'll get it right.
Then I found out about the New Media set up- Siemens, the new owner of our old IT crew, have subcontracted the desktop support to an outfit called Lapworths. And they will build anything you like. This is rather like running a steam train service, and finding out another part of your steam train organisation is allowed to use jet aircraft.
Often I find aditional barriers to doing my job, and I have to take these barriers onboard, and work with them, and learn to bend and adjust my aims. And then, every so often I fond out that someone elsewhere in the organisation has seen these rules for the abitrary whimsical nonsense they are, screwed them up, and binned them.
I shall do likewise.
Then I found out about the New Media set up- Siemens, the new owner of our old IT crew, have subcontracted the desktop support to an outfit called Lapworths. And they will build anything you like. This is rather like running a steam train service, and finding out another part of your steam train organisation is allowed to use jet aircraft.
Often I find aditional barriers to doing my job, and I have to take these barriers onboard, and work with them, and learn to bend and adjust my aims. And then, every so often I fond out that someone elsewhere in the organisation has seen these rules for the abitrary whimsical nonsense they are, screwed them up, and binned them.
I shall do likewise.
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Fnar translations
Genius to be found here:
http://americaninlebanon.blogspot.com/2005/07/backstroke-of-west.html
http://americaninlebanon.blogspot.com/2005/07/backstroke-of-west.html
Friday, July 29, 2005
happy week
Horray into london three times and didn't get blown up at all! Yesterday's festival of flourescent jackets at Clapham junction was a tad surreal -seriously up to a dozen cops on every platform all day- but no obvious guns. Brighton station not so nice- two blokes with HK 5.56mm assault rifles do not make me feel reassured- and knowing the sort of mess those things make, I can't really see them being very useful in a crowd.
Anyhoo- the Glasgow Caledonian pair are back up north after impressing many with their Spoke Word a/v teaching tool. It's good to see people coming in and rocking the boat- shaowing us that there are plenty of ways to skin cats, and we shouldn't be too smug about our current feline peeling activeties.
Also R has bought a very natty sony mp3 player- sadly though it won't tak drag and dropped MP3s off a pc unless that PC is running Sony's own drm savvy application. Unless that is you install a new OS on the device. I got as far as finding the exe files for the new OS but she decided she'd rather not fillet the software on her shiny new toy just yet. Harumph.
Anyhoo- the Glasgow Caledonian pair are back up north after impressing many with their Spoke Word a/v teaching tool. It's good to see people coming in and rocking the boat- shaowing us that there are plenty of ways to skin cats, and we shouldn't be too smug about our current feline peeling activeties.
Also R has bought a very natty sony mp3 player- sadly though it won't tak drag and dropped MP3s off a pc unless that PC is running Sony's own drm savvy application. Unless that is you install a new OS on the device. I got as far as finding the exe files for the new OS but she decided she'd rather not fillet the software on her shiny new toy just yet. Harumph.
Saturday, July 23, 2005
Dusting off
It's Reith day plus four now, and I didn't lead a revolution. I have spent the week talking to loads of people all around the place though, and there has been just enough grass roots common sense, bravado, gumption, imagination and sheer go for it bloody minded ness to convince me the spirit of the duffer is still with us.
I think new tools are helping too- Blogs, Wikis and the whole punktechsuite is allowing peole to begin to rewire the whole place under 'their' noses.
Nice day in Brighton today. Lunch at Brighton Rocks was lovely.
I think new tools are helping too- Blogs, Wikis and the whole punktechsuite is allowing peole to begin to rewire the whole place under 'their' noses.
Nice day in Brighton today. Lunch at Brighton Rocks was lovely.
Monday, March 28, 2005
Hemispheric exeunt
A few more minutes now and we'll be leaving this side of the planet. Next stop will be Singapore- further than I've ever been- other side of the equator? possibly! I ought to know, but it's not something I've needed to track previously.
The flat seems ok- it seemed to behave itself and stop falling apart yesterday just after lunchtime, so Jo should be fine. It's good to have a flat sitter, reassuring. Especially with a boiler that flakey.
Right, no more reithianess for a month- all chilled stuff- I'm not even going to hunt down mr witten and his greenstone people. Promise.
The flat seems ok- it seemed to behave itself and stop falling apart yesterday just after lunchtime, so Jo should be fine. It's good to have a flat sitter, reassuring. Especially with a boiler that flakey.
Right, no more reithianess for a month- all chilled stuff- I'm not even going to hunt down mr witten and his greenstone people. Promise.
Thursday, March 24, 2005
Something we haven't covered
I met a very nice lady in Edinburgh last year- she rented her apartment to us in the middle of town. It was very nicely firnished and very central, I can recommend it as a base for the festival. She had an unusual name, which turned out to be from her husband, an Iraqi doctor who has lived int eh UK since the seventies to avoid the predations of Hussain. She has plenty of family there now, and a more lucid and engaging condemnation of the actions of the US/UK forces could not be imagined.
For months now I have recieved email updates and passed these on to friends in output areas, but the reaction isn't there. I fear that there is exaustion, and that bar a few areas where the journalistic spirit is still kicking hard (in well defined limited areas) there simply isn't much fight left in this place.
For months now I have recieved email updates and passed these on to friends in output areas, but the reaction isn't there. I fear that there is exaustion, and that bar a few areas where the journalistic spirit is still kicking hard (in well defined limited areas) there simply isn't much fight left in this place.
Our semi- independant bretheren
Around the place at the moment are posters for UKTV content- this
seems a little odd. there is little or no public service rationale
behind their production, it's just the sort of programming that has
lowered the standing of the BBC in the audiences eyes, and it's only
available on sky- a mendacious and pernicious stain on the airwaves in
many ways.
In these troubled times a few staff members are less than happy with
this promotion, but then again many are unhappy with a challenge to
their role in producing this content. I've used strong alarmist
language in my commentary on this episode and it isn't really
appropriate to repeat it, but the intent was hyperbole, not
necessarily accuracy. In these troubled times though, umbrage was
taken, and probably rightly so.
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