The System of the World

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Books
Genre:	Literature & Fiction
Author:	Neal Stephenson

A review over at Bag of Spoons. I've also added a review of a biography of Robert Hooke. Both are a bit short, but I'm not a great writer. I do quite enjoy the process though. Anyone enjoy reading it? How about a little feedback for Xmas?

Multiply 2.0

The site has had a total overhaul. Various things have moved. There's a list of changes here. The best addition I've found so far is that you can have an automatic slide show of a photo album, but only with fairly small pictures. No doubt I will find more to comment on later.

Foo Fighters at Earl's Court

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Other

It would have been a four if it hadn't been for the bad sound. Review at the usual place.

Safe surfing

The BBC have a story about the latest Internet Explorer issue that could endanger your PC.

Make sure you have the latest version by running Windows Update as soon as possible.

Generally you will be safer if you use an alternative browser such as the brilliant Firefox or, even better, use Linux, but that's one for those who are willing get to learn a different system. I use Ubuntu Linux. You can get a CD that lets you try it without installing anything.

Windows can be safe if you take precautions. Use a firewall and virus checker, don't click on anything you are not sure of, including attachments in emails from strangers.

There are plenty of site with further information, including this one.

Space cadets

I just haven't been able to bring myself to sit and watch this, but I have caught a few minutes of it. The idea that they have sort out really gullible people so that they can be fooled over an extended period just seems wrong to me. Maybe I'm missing the point. I'm not really into reality or prank shows.

Just seen this that exposes the fake contestants.

I didn't hear a thing

So who heard the blast yesterday? At 6am on a Sunday I am oblivious to just about anything. I didn't even notice the smoke during the day, but then I didn't actually look for it.

I heard that some people were panic buying fuel, but no long queues this morning.

Plenty of pictures at BBC and Wikipedia

Harmony 655 Remote Control

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Computers & Electronics
Product Type:	Other
Manufacturer:	Logitech

A review of my latest gadget.

There's now a cheaper model called the 525. I don't know how different it is to mine or what features it adds/removes

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Kids & Family

Another review at Bag of Spoons

Anyone else seen it and want to add an opinion?

Map yourself as a Multiply member

http://www.frappr.com/multiply
This great site uses Google Maps to create a world map for different groups of people so you can see where everyone is. It's also a neat way of finding others in your area with similar interests. They recently added the ability to map local places of interest. I recommend joining up so you can manage your locations.

I'm quite into location mapping on-line.

Atheist DVD?

This made me smile. I think they meant 'region free', i.e. plays DVDs
from anywhere in the world. I wouldn't have any other kind.

Mariza at Cambridge Corn Exchange

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Music
Genre:	Folk
Artist:	Mariza

My review of this stunning singer is at Bag of spoons.

Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Kids & Family

Review over at Bag of Spoons.

Anyone else seen it and want to post their views? Feel free.

Gattaca

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Drama

Review at Bag of Spoons

Batman Begins

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Action & Adventure

Review of this locally filmed action film on Bag of Spoons

Assorted films from a long flight

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Other

One of the benefits of a long flight is a chance to catch up on films I missed. Reviews on my blog of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Sin City and Unleashed.

Miami October 2005

Yes that is a plasma screen

Here for a few days for work. Very hot. I'm staying at the Marlin Hotel on South Beach. Somehow I ended up with a huge suite. I later learned that the hotel belongs to the founder of Island record and has a couple of recording studios as used by Aerosmith, Prince and others. So who knows who may have stayed in this room.

Update 30/10: Added a few pictures to show how the area looked after Wilma passed through. I was very glad to get out before then

Recording your travels and other things

I've been looking at 43 Places as
another way of logging where I have been. You can add comments and
pictures as well as seeing what others think. There's a Flash map that
shows countries you have visited.



The site is part of a group that also includes:



43 things - for things that you want to do/learn



All Consuming - to log books,
music, films etc that you are consuming or have consumed. I've played
around with a couple of other sites that log books, but this is one of
the best



I will continue recording these things here and on my blog, but this sort of site makes it easier to see what others are up to. It's part of the wonderful world of social software

Lost our wedding group

I just got some more slideshows to upload and our group seems to have vanished.



Is it just me?



I'm making enquiries.

Secret Drumming

For some time I've been wanting to do something musical. I dabble on the
guitar and piano, but lack anyone to collaborate with. Saying that, I have
been teaching Tilly the piano and accompanying her when she plays the violin she has just
started at school.

Through the Herts Linux User Group I met
Malcolm who is involved with
Secret Bass drumming
group. Today I got around to attending a meeting. This involved finding a small
village in darkest Hertfordshire down twisting lanes, but I got there. The venue
is a wonderful straw-bale structure in the woods.

There were six of us there with
myself as the only complete beginner. I was taught the basic techniques and we
worked on a Senegalese tune they had picked up from another group. I was pleased to
find I could pick it up quite fast and even keep up with the others. Someone had
brought along a small metal drum that he started to demonstrate and a jam ensued,
complete with some dancing. Then we did a bit of Swahili singing! I know it all
sounds a bit new-age, but I really enjoyed it. I'm sure my hands will be sore
tomorrow.

I intend to go along again.

Another Case of Milton Jones

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

Radio 4 have various 'comedy' programme after the 6pm news during the week. Some of these fail to raise a titter with me, but there are a few exceptions.

I've heard some of Milton's previous work on Radio 4 and this is just as good. It's a silly little comedy show based around Milton living various fantasies. There's a lot of puns and word play, which is right up my street.

It's actually a lot like The Goon Show from the recordings I've heard of that.

Milton Jones is on Thursdays at 6:30pm for the next few weeks or you can listen to it via the BBC site.

A Beautiful Mind

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Drama

Saw this on TV. Reviewed at my site.

I do this partly to keep track of what I've seen/read/heard and what I thought of it at the time. It's interesting to read an opinion from someone you know. I'd like to see more reviews from my friends. Feel free to add your own comments if you agree with me or not.

If you happen to buy the DVD through my link then some money goes to Tilly's school.

What's a million times a million?

Multiply
has a million members. I'm linked directly or indirectly to
about 150 of them.

Nikita

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Action & Adventure

Review on my blog

Leonardo da Vinci

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Books
Genre:	History
Author:	Sherwin B. Nuland

Review on my blog

Now it's time to finish off Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle.

Jousting knights

At Lulworth Castle on our holiday

Prime Obsession

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Books
Genre:	Science
Author:	John Derbyshire

Mathematical history I just read is reviewed on my blog.

I've still got a small mound of books to work through before I find any more, but I'm always interested in recommendations. I find Amazon quite good for this, even if I don't actually buy the books there. I can still log those I own to affect what it recommends.

I don't know if anyone objects to the emails they get when I update my site. If you are a Multiply member you can set your options to select which emails you get. You can also switch them to text mode if you prefer. Non-member can either join and set their options or should mail me with their preference.

Free and cheap phone calls

I've been playing with Skype for
some time as a means of talking to other people via the net. I don't
make many international calls and so have not used it to call any land
lines yet. Skype is handy as it works on Windows and Linux. I have over
40 contacts, mostly for work as my employer is encouraging Skype usage
to save on phone calls. Skype's rates semm competitive, but you have to
buy at least 10 Euros. I have a few cents credit that they gave away
recently.



I've just read about VoipBuster
that has some similar functions, but also offers free calls to phones
in most of Europe, USA, Australia and a few others. Unfortunately it's
Windows only

Boing Boing

http://boingboing.net
I'm going to try having a 'link of the week' spot here. We'll see how long that lasts.

I've been enjoying this site for some time as a source of weird and wacky news. It covers everything from internet rights to freak animals. It's run by Cory Doctorow, an author who allows you do download his books for free in the hope that you will buy the paper version.

Some of the links they give may be described as NSFW (not safe for work). This usually refers to 'adult' sites, but it should all be legal.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Kids & Family

Actually I give it 3.5/5 over at my blog

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Books
Genre:	Mystery & Thrillers
Author:	Mark Haddon

Review at my blog

Kingdom of Heaven

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Action & Adventure

Reviewed over at my blog.

Anyone else want to voice an opinion? Multiply is all about participation. You don't have to just be a consumer of information. Anyone can publish.

Oh, Canada

I'm currently in Toronto. More details on my blog.

Multiply does tags

I see that they have added yet another feature in the form of tags.
These are keywords that you can attach to entries to make them easier
to find.



The technology has been around for a while. My favourite us is in del.icio.us, an on-line bookmark system. I've got about a thousand links there, but can still find the ones I want via their tags.

Up for a challenge?

Tilly has been playing this Lilo and Stitch
game on the Disney site for a while. It's an old-style scrolling
shoot-em-up like I used to play. I had a go the other day and got
further than she had (level 4). Then yesterday I reached level 6 before
I had to abandon the game and go out. Got about 1.2 million points with 2 or 3 ships still left.
There's lots more levels to it beyond that.



Can you do better?



Any other cool games you have found?



I know it's not as good as a Playstation, but I used to pay money for
games of this sort on my BBC Micro and Amiga. The kids are quite happy
to play them for now, but I can imagine that in a few years they will demand something better.



Update: Got to level 7 and 1,644,000. Gets very hard.



Update 14/08: I've since been to level 8 and nearly 2 million points.
This was all on the kids' slow old PC. When I tried it on the faster
one the game got a lot faster. That makes it even harder.

A better way to browse

Firefox
has been my main web browser for some time. Before that I used it's
parent Mozilla. This was partly due to frustration with Internet
Explorer and mostly to have a common browser for Windows and Linux.
It's also supposed to provide safer surfing by stopping nasty things
installing on your PC.



I just read this article
that gives a few hints on using Firefox and picked up some new stuff
about searching. I already knew most of the stuff about using tabs as
they are one of my favourite features. I also use various extensions
including All-In-One Gestures that allows more control from the mouse.



I've found very few sites that really need IE, although some do work better with it.

Trimming my invitations

I've now got nearly 30 contacts on Multiply. There's a few others who I
invited ages ago who have never joined, so I have now revoked their
invitations as they may not be interested in ever joining or even
reading my posts.



If anyone does want to join then go ahead and then add me as a contact or drop me a line if you need help.

Madagascar

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Animation

Another barrel of laughs from Dreamworks. They always seem to go for jokes rather than the subtle storytelling of Pixar.

It's the story of a group of animals in a New York Zoo who end up on the island of the title and find that the 'wild' is not all fun. There's a nice side plot featuring a group of militant penguins.

The animation style is deliberately toy-like, perhaps to make it easier to produce all the merchandise, but the general standard of animation is of the usual high standard.

There's a few film references for the adults to find.

The kids enjoyed it, but it's a little light for adults.

London explosions

If you haven't heard, there have been a series of explosions in London
this morning. The first reports were of a power surge causing
explosions on the tube. There seem to have been a number of casualties
at several stations. No reports of deaths so far.



Then reports starting coming in of an explosion on a bus. The pictures
I've seen show a double decker with the top half largely missing.
Again, no details on fatalities.



Now they are saying Al Quaeda (?) are involved. Someone has said there were 20 dead on the bus.



I'm working at home and so am monitoring BBC News TV. The internet news
is being a bit slow as everyone tries to get details. Mail me if you
are having problems getting news and feel free to add any reliable information you have.



ITV saying 20 dead



Tony Blair made a statement saying he is flying back to London, but the G8 will continue. Not sure what he can really do.



Reports say 6 blasts altogether on buses and underground. 90 casualties, 2 deaths
at Aldgate station. All public transport in London is out of action for
now.



15:30 Latest report from the police is at least 33 people confirmed
dead. There will be a lot more who will suffer from their injuries for
the rest of their lives.



Some personal thoughts over at Bag of Spoons

A Short History of Nearly Everything

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Books
Genre:	Science
Author:	Bill Bryson

I'm shifting reviews onto my site at Bag of Spoons and reserving Multiply for family news and pictures. I'll post links from here when I think it's of interest.

Please feel free to add your comments to anything here. It's nice to know what you think. I'd also like to see people posting more of their own content to make this site more useful.

Adaptation

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Drama

This is a hard film to categorise and review. It's by the people who brought you Being John Malkovitch, which should warn you that it's a bit weird. It's about the writer of that film Charlie Kaufman and his fictional brother Donald (who gets a writing credit and was jointly nominated for awards). Charlie is trying to write a script for a real book called The Orchid Thief, but is having some problems. Meanwhile his brother decides to be a script writer too in a more mainstream way.

Nicholas Cage plays both of the brothers and Meryl Streep is the book author. It's basically a film about writing that film and so is a bit up it's own behind. However, I enjoyed it as a comedy. It made me laugh a few times and kept my brain working. It's tempting to investigate the characters further to see how close to the truth it is or if it's all made up.

Multiply are very responsive with their tech support

The other day I was having problems revoking some invitations to a
group. I mailed the Multiply support and they responded quite quickly
asking for more details. A couple of mails later it was fixed, all
within one day. I was suitably impressed.



I've not had many issues with the site over the last year or so. The
latest changes are for the better in general. They've put a limit on
how many pictures you can upload (150/month for the free option), but
overall space allocation is now unlimited. You can also upload 20 audio
tracks and 50MB of video, but I'm not sure how useful those will be for
me. I may have the odd bit of video of the kids that I want to share.
You can pay for a premium account with higher limits and no
advertising, but I thinkI can get by on the free option.



So for those of you who have not uploaded anything so far, how about
some pictures and stuff? Oh, and feel free to comment publicly on my
stuff. This is a two (or more) way medium.

A wildlife bonanza

We get quite a lot of wildlife in our garden. Lots of bird and the
occasional frog or toad. Today I was working at home and happened to
glance out of the window as a squirrel was scampering around the apple
tree. I don't think I've ever seen one in the garden, although I have
seen them in Arlesey, including the local black variety.



Then this evening I was watching TV when I saw something running along
by the fence. My first thought was that it might be a rat as we have
had them in the past, but it turned out to be a hedgehog. It's a while
since I've seen one here. I didn't manage to get a picture of it.



It's nice to know that these animals are still about. MInd you, our garden has enough wild parts to hide a whole zoo.

The Confusion

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Books
Genre:	History
Author:	Neal Stephenson

It's taken me quite a while to read this book due to it's length and my lack of time for reading. This is the second part of Stephenson's Baroque Cycle after Quicksilver. It continues the story of a set of characters during the late 17th century. There's Jack Shaftoe who's gang of galley slaves plan an audacious robbery and Eliza, a former harem slave, who now moves amongst the nobility of Europe. It also features assorted real royals and intellectuals of the time.

The story is actually mostly about money, with some alchemy thrown in. It was a time when modern concepts of money and science started to form. It's become my favourite historical period and I've been reading a few other books about it.

It's a bit slow at times, but always fascinating. He writes very well and I just hope he comes up with a decent ending in the third and final part. Endings have been his weak point in the past.

Easy photo uploading on Multiply

Some time ago I converted to Firefox
as my main browser, partly for it's features and security and partly to
standardise my applications on Windows and Linux. Multiply generally
works perfectly well with Firefox, but I had read that there were some
benefits to using Internet Explorer when uploading photos.



I tried this out with my latest album. You have to install an ActiveX
control, but then you can browse your drives with thumbnails of the
pictures. Just tick the boxes of those you want. You can also edit the
descriptions at this point.



I can only hope that they add this functionality for Firefox at some point. I see there are some changes coming soon. These include the ability to host video and music on your site.



Has anyone else discovered hidden wonders in Multiply?

Miami June 2005

Visiting a client

Cinderella Man

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Sports

This is the true story of a former champion boxer, laid low by the depression, who makes a comeback to save his family.

Russell Crowe is the boxer (drawing from his own fighting experiences?) and Renee Zellweger as his wife. They both play their parts well, as do tghe rest of the cast. The period detail looked fine to me.

I'm not a fan of boxing and this film did not do much to change my opinion, but the fight scenes are spectactular. I find it hard to imagine why anyone would deliberately want to risk getting hit that hard.

Even without knowing the story, I still worked out what would happen.

It's a very well made film and should stand a chance of some awards. I enjoyed it.

I saw the film at a special screening in Miami. The audience were quite free in expressing their emotion through the film and even clapped at the end. I think a UK audience may have been a little more reserved.

Ray

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Drama

I watched this on a flight to Miami, so I will not comment on the picture or sound quality.

Jamie Foxx does a very good impression of Ray Charles. This film traces his life from moving to the big city to play professionally up until his recovery from herion addiction. He certainly had some personal issues. As well as being a junkie he was a serial adulterer.

There are lots of flashbacks to his childhood that sometimes involve hallucinations. These help to explain why he was so messed up.

The acting is very good and I have to admit I was quite moved.

Oh, and the music is excellent.

Learning to use Multiply

I've been playing with this site for a while now, but there are still
some features I have not exploited. One source of information is the New to Multiply
group. Anyone can set up a group on Multiply for whatever they want.
I've started a few for work friends and other purposes. If you go to
your Network page you can search for groups there.

Whizz for Atomms cancer cracking team

http://www.grid.org/services/teams/team.htm?id=4244CA97-887F-42FB-8D36-D1318B93E56D
A small group of people working on the United Devices distributed computing project. Use the spare processing power of your PC to help find cures for diseases and cancer.

Parents and Friends of Gothic Mede

http://www.pfgm.org.uk
This site is to aid in raising funds for my daughter's lower school. One of these methods is via affiliate schemes. If you shop at Amazon, CD-Wow, John Lewis or many other on-line retailers you can contribute just by starting at the shopping page there. It costs you nothing extra and a percentage goes to the school.

Boycott Disney?

You may have seen that Disney are being condemned
for serving shark fin soup at their Hong Kong park. Personally I am
against foods that cause suffering to animals and over-exploit
endangered species. It's just difficult to boycott a company that is so
popular with the kids. We have loads of their videos, DVDs, books and
toys. It would be hard to explain to the children that they can't have
the next Disney/Pixar DVD due to unethical practices by the corporation.



Does anyone else have strong feelings about this?

Computer stuff

Spot the difference

05/05 I went for something small and quiet without losing much in the way of expansion capability.

See my description at Bag of spoons

06/06 Replaced the desk

The Salmon of Doubt

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Books
Genre:	Literature & Fiction
Author:	Douglas Adams

This is a kind of sad book to read when you think that this talented man died at just 49 (I know if would have been funnier if he died at 42). Hitchhikers was his biggest work, but he wrote a lot more in fiction and about technology and conservation.

This book is a collection of his writings, some pulled from his PC (well, Mac) after he died. I reckon he and I had a lot in common and I would love to have met him.

The book ends with the Dirk Gently novel he was writing when he died. It's only part of the story and just ends when it is getting interesting. We'll never know how it was going to turn out, although I have an idea about what would crop up later.

I intend to check out the new HHGTTG film soon, although the clips I've seen indicate it has lost some of the charm of the radio/TV series and books.

Stockholm for work

I could watch the ferries to Finland come and go

What a waste

I was inspired by an article and a radio programme to have a little rant on my blog.

Shaun of the Dead

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Comedy

I'm not generally into horror films in general or zombie films in particular, but I'd heard this was good and gave it a go. I'm very glad I did. This could well be the funniest horror/zombie film ever. It made me laugh out loud throughout. Simon Pegg is excellent in the lead role, but also co-wrote it.

I managed to mostly miss out on the sit-com Spaced, but this makes me want to check it out properly, Apparently there are lots on in-jokes in the film to do with Spaced and various Zombie films, but you don't need to know them to enjoy the film.

I'll warn you that the violence is graphic and frequent. Tanya doesn't like horror and gore, but even she really enjoyed it.

Just see it

I'm not much of a political animal, but decided to try this survey. I
thought I favoured the green party on my principles, but it seems I'm
actually more of a Lib-Dem. I'm quite happy to at the opposite pole to the Tories.

Who should I vote for?

Your expected outcome:

Green

Your actual outcome:

	Labour 4
Conservative -51
	Liberal Democrat 60
UK Independence Party -20
	Green 27

You should vote: Liberal Democrat

The LibDems
take a strong stand against tax cuts and a strong one in favour of
public services: they would make long-term residential care for the
elderly free across the UK, and scrap university tuition fees. They are
in favour of a ban on smoking in public places, but would relax laws on
cannabis. They propose to change vehicle taxation to be based on usage
rather than ownership.

Take the test at Who Should You Vote For

Enigma

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Mystery & Suspense

This is a film that I have been wanting to see for a while due to my interest in all things related to encryption, including the role of Bletchley Park in the second world war. I actually managed to see half of it on a skiing holiday, but managed to catch the whole thing over Easter.

I read the book (by Robert Harris) some time ago, but have forgotten some of the details.

It's based around fictional characters, a slightly unbalanced cryptographer who had romantic problems at Bletchley and a bright woman who also works there. They find out that his former love had some secrets.

It's a spy thriller that works pretty well, but gets confusing at times. The period detail looked good to me. Less romanticised than it could have been, which is a good thing.

I keep saying I should visit Bletchley Park as it's not too far away. Maybe this year. According to IMDB this was actually filmed elsewhere as the real location was not convincing enough.

New stuff at Multiply

They added a whole load of stuff last night. I'm still assessing it.



One feature is a more WYSIWYG editor that makes it easier to add links, change the font and colours and include pictures. You can still play with the html if you like.



For the purists, you can get the emails in plain text now.

Starsky & Hutch

Rating:	★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Comedy

Yet another film remake of an old TV series. They play it for laughs, but it only got a couple of giggles from me. Ben Stiller does quite a good impression of Paul Michael Glaser, but Owen Wilson is no David Soul. As for Snoop Dogg as Huggy, I'm not sure at all.

The car at least looks right, but it seems they trashed a few during filming. The baddies were just incompetent.

Overall I was underwhelmed. Just setting a film in the seventies with all the wacky clothes and disco dancing isn't enough to make it funny.

I, Robot

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Science Fiction & Fantasy

In my youth I read a lot of Sci-Fi, including the works of Isaac Asimov on which this is very loosely based. I remember his works as being more about intellectual puzzles, whereas this is an action film. I expect they bought the rights to the book to give the film some literary pretensions.

Will Smith is a cop in the near future who doesn't like the robots that are spreading through society as servants and labourers. Then the top scientist at the robot company apparently kills himself and Will investigates.

There follows lots of wild action and some great special effects. Smith is very efficient at this sort of thing whilst injecting some homour. He also gets to show off his well muscled body.

It's another fun film for an evening in. No great brain work required.

Another Asimov robot story that was filmed was The Bicentennial Man. I've not seen it all, but it looked a bit slushy and sentimental.

Added a feed from my blog

Although I update my Multiply site more often, my site at Bag of Spoons is still important to me. Luckily I can make them reflect each other using the wonders of RSS. This is what allows headlines from one site to appear on another. It's also the technology behind Bloglines which allows me to keep up with the latest from around 50 sites.

To make life easier someone produced RSS Digest that can produce a line of Javascript that will display a given feed in the format you require. I've used it to get the headlines from my blog on my Multiply front page. Works nicely apart from lacking dates and times. I'll look into that some time.

I also use RSS Digest to display my latest del.icio.us links and music listening over on my blog.

I need to look again at getting a feed from Multiply onto my blog. Apparently it's a bit non-standard and the links didn't work properly last time I tried.

BTW I've seen some people have managed to really change the look of their Multiply pages. Personally I'm not so into the eye candy. I'm more interested in getting the information across. I'd be interested if Multiply could handle adding more Semantic Web type details.

Yahoo joins the bandwagon

It looks like Yahoo have finally realised that people like social network sites, like Multiply. Their 360 site is coming on-line soon and seems to offer very similar facilities.

I have a soft spot for Yahoo. I used them for search in the days before Google and have had an email account there for many years. I still use their portal for news, weather, shares and cartoons. I also used their messenger before I got into more open technologies.

I'll stick with Multiply for now as I've built up a network and some content. Bagofspoons will remain my own bit of the net for techie stuff.

What was that yellow bird?

Yesterday we saw a new bird in our garden. It stood out because it was bright yellow. Due to our digital camera issues I couldn't easily get a picture of it. The camera on my Palm was too wide-angle to get a decent shot. Eventually I used the video camera to get some footage of it. See the attached picture.

Anyway, this bird was about sparrow-sized with a longer tail. Yellow apart from dark patches on top of head and wings. I looked in our wildlife book and at various sites including this one, but can't match it. The yellow wagtail and yellowhammer were close, but not quite right. Maybe it's escaped from someone's aviary.

The usual visitors to our garden include sparrow, robin, wren, blackbird, fieldfare, thrush, collared dove, blue-tit, chaffinch and, once, sparrow hawk. Our bird feeder has been very well attended this winter.

UPDATE: Opinion from one birdwatcher is that it's an escaped canary.

Big Fish

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Comedy

It's a Tim Burton film, so expect wierdness. It's the story of a tall tale teller, player by Ewan McGregor and Albert Finney. He lives an adventurous life in the southern US, encountering some strange people. It's a sort of fairy tale that reminder me a little of Forest Gump. There's a major father/son relationship theme running through it. Not Burton's best, but still fun.

Funny weather

There's been quite a lot of snow here this winter, but none has lasted. This morning we awoke to a light covering and was still snowing. Walked the kids up the road walking on nice, crisp snow and big flakes falling. Then it turned to rain and washed it all away.

Some schools in the area were closed, but not in Arlesey.

We don't seem to cope well in this country with even light snow. Maybe if it becomes more frequent we will learn. People in colder countries must just laugh at us when they have a metre of snow and -20C.

Rock Star

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Drama

Let's rawk!

Ah, eighties poodle rock/hair metal/whatever. I will confess a liking for the louder forms of rock, but never adopted the look. This film is about an aging british rock band who take on a singer from a tribute band when their front man quits. It's a bit of a fairy tale as the young fan becomes the thing he worships. But will he be happy?

It's a bit of light fun. Marky Mark tries a different style of music and where else can you see Jennifer Aniston and Timothy Spall in the same film?

It explores the rock and roll lifestyle in all it's excessive glory. Read 'Hammer of the Gods' to learn about the real thing as done by Led Zeppelin.

Details here.

It's available to loan from my DVD library. I actually won it in an on-line competition ages ago, but just got around to it.

The Map that changed the world

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Books
Genre:	History
Author:	Simon Winchester

A science history book about a man that most of us haven't heard of. William Smith mapped out the geology of the UK in the 19th century single-handed. This involved developing an understanding of how to date rocks, so he ended up eventing geology as we know it.

Rocks are not really the most interesting things, but this man did lead an eventful life. I'm just not sure it's as exciting as the author seems to think. He does repeat himself a bit, probably just to pad the book out a bit.

So not the best science history book I've read, but I guess it filled in some gaps in my knowledge.

Intolerable Cruelty

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Comedy

I generally love Coen brothers films, although I haven't seen them all. This one is a bit different in that it's not as quirky and the characters not as eccentric as usual. According to the making-of film they didn't originally write it to direct themselves.

It's more of an old fashioned comedy like Cary Grant used to do and quite well done. George Clooney is growing on me as a comedy actor. Catherine ZJ looks great and has some potential.

It's a fun film.

Impressions of Sweden

I'm in Stockholm for work this week. Lots of snow at the moment. Made it quite pretty at first, but it gets annoying when they don't clear all the pavements. Some are dangerously icy. They do seem to be into clearing some roofs for some reason. Maybe to prevent snow and ice falling on people.

I've not seen too much of the town really. There's a big shopping area with a few interesting looking shops. There's a huge number of H&M stores. Most are not open when I come back from work.

We've been using the tube and buses. Both are good. I bought ten journeys' worth of tickets which come in a paper strip. You get it stamped each time you travel. A bit primitive compared with other networks.

They are really into recycling. Bins for newspapers at the stations (they have Metro too). Sets of bins around the office, including compost for fruit etc. The kitchen has a movement activated light to save some power. On the other hand they seem to leave lots of TVs and monitors on at night. That seems to be a problem in offices generally. That bugs me.

There's some good food to be had here. Plenty of fish and veggie for me. Drink is a bit expensive. £3 or £4 for a beer, but I don't drink too heavily.

Most people seem to speak good english. I can make out some stuff on signs and menus based on slight similarities to German.

I'd like to come back some time and have a proper explore.

Good sailor?

Just saw this quote

'if Ellen MacArthur is so good at sailing, why does she still need the stabilisers on?'

Made me smile

Pirates of the Carribean: Curse of the Black Pearl

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Action & Adventure

A rollicking pirate adventure from Disney, based on a ride apparently.

Johnny Depp adopts another strange accent and camps it up, almost matched by Jeffrey Rush. Orlando Bloom and Kiera Knightley are there to look pretty.

It made for an enjoyable couple of hours. Not one for our kids due to the skeletal pirates, but older kids would love it.

At the end of the credits there's a short extra scene. Also, it registered on my surround system as having 6.1 Dolby Digital. At on point I thought someone was banging on the wall behind me, but I suspect it was part of the soundtrack.

Making good use of Multiply

I notice that many of my contacts are not making any use of their own pages. Here's the things you can do:

1. Share photos. You get 1GB of space, which should be enough for a few hundred pictures. As with everything here you can restrict access to selected people. e.g. pictures of the kids can be just for the family

2. Keep a journal. Write anything you want

3. Post calendar dates. To let others know what you are doing or events coming up

4. Post reviews. I use this to log books I've read and films I've see

5. Buy and sell stuff. Most sites that let you advertise stuff will charge you to do it. This one is free. As you build a network of local people this becomes more useful

6. Post recipes. I'm no cook, but others are more interested

7. Post links. If you have a great web link, then share it. del.icio.us is better, but you can always post a link to your page there

8. Network. I see this as mostly being used to keep in touch with people I already know. I have 18 contacts and many of these have linked to each other, but many jus have me as a contact. Click around other people's contact lists and see who you know. This helps you to see their updates and will give you access to their restricted content.

Have a play and give me a shout if you need help

Going Postal

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Books
Genre:	Science Fiction & Fantasy
Author:	Terry Pratchett

It seems to me that Terry is more interesting in people than magic these days, but that doesn't make this a bad read. He has some nice observations on human behaviour and still manages to be funny. Another good read.

He also slips in a couple of LotR references

What is Very Close?

This is one thing I've not worked out on this site. On the Welcome page it says I have 18 Contacts, 14 Close and 41 Distant, but zero Very Close. I've not worked out what that category covers.

Any ideas?

Bill Bailey - Part Troll

Start:

Jan 21, '05 10:30p

Channel 4 are showing Bill's show that we caught in Cambridge last year. A very funny guy and an incredible musician. His musical parodies are excellent

My Bloglines

http://www.bloglines.com/blog/steevc
The best way I've found to keep on top of on-line news. Plus you can have a blog there as well

Rapid growth

Since I joined this site I've accumulated 17 people in my direct network. These consist of family, colleagues and other friends. My greater network is up to 69, mostly via Keith, from all over the world. Some of my contacts have been cross-linking to each other.

I don't think we're making the most of Multiply yet. It could be great for keeping in touch with those we don't see regularly and to share personal news. It's also good for sharing reviews of anything you read, watch, listen to.

I'll keep plugging away as I enjoy it and we'll see what develops.

30/1/05 Up to 84 in all now with one extra direct contact

Are we all doomed?

Scary TV

Blog updates

I had a bit of a blitz on my own web site today and added some random thoughts. It keeps me off the streets.

Help identify a tsunami victim

UPDATE: I was a bit late with this. He was reunited with family. See here.

I bet the emails keep circulating for a while.

I received the follwing mail:

Dear Friends,

Please take a look at the attached picture of this victim from Tsunami.

If you do not know him, please forward his
pictures to your friends or organization in your country for further
publication.

This boy is about 2 years old. Found and taken from Khao Lak Resort
Area, the southern part of Thailand. His parents are missing. His
nationality & identity cannot be identified.

Please contact Dr. Anuroj Tharasiriroj of Phuket International Hospital

Phone: +66 76 249-400,

I thank you all for extending kindness to this boy.

With kind regards,

Tess Ruktapurana
Thai Airways International PCL

The Code Book

Rating:	★★★★
Category:	Books
Genre:	Science
Author:	Simon Singh

It sets out to be a history of code/cypher making and breaking, but diverts into the interpretation of ancients scripts for a chapter. It's a fairly light read, but manages to include details of how some codes work. A good starting point before going on to more technical books.

There was also a TV series based on the book.

The Incredibles

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Movies
Genre:	Animation

The title sums it up really. Tilly and I think this could be Pixar's best film so far. It's got some great action, humour and someting for the grown-ups. I thought there were some echoes of James Bond in there.

On the technical side they seem to have gone for making the characters look more like dolls than real people. Very smooth skin and the way the hair was done, however it looked very realistic.

There was a short called Bounding (I think) that was great fun too.