Happy holidays

Don't eat too much, enjoy the TV and I hope you get what you deserve (if it's good things).

2007 (ZOOT?) is nearly here.

A rare Tilly

One of a set of three in a rare type of birth.

The other names reflect an earlier story about what's in fashion.

Everyone winding down for Xmas?

Turn it off for Xmas

There's lots of reports around the web relating to a study by Canon about the energy wasted by office equipment left on over the Xmas break. Here's one. They have a point. Even monitors on standby use a few Watts and if you multiply that by a few millions it's considerable.

So give your computer a rest and make sure everything is turned off before you leave next week. Even better, do this every weekend. It all helps cut down on the dreaded CO2.

Have a good one.

Cool bit of music making

Nice little YouTube video of someone who claims not to be able to play drums or piano. He videoed himself playing each note and then sequenced it. Is this the future of music?

Monks of Tashi Lhunpo Monastery

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Other

Something different. Reviewed on my blog

It seems I omitted to mention that they also played flutes made from human leg bones! The dancers also held skullcaps, that I would presume are from people. It must be fun getting that lot through customs.

Sorry I have no pictures, but the batteries ran out on my camera. See link in comment below.

Another social network to play with, and a fun link

Some time ago a company called Orkut set up a social network site (a bit like Multiply). Until now it has always been restricted as you needed someone already on it to send you an invitation. Google bought it a while back and have just opened membership to anyone. In fact, if you already have an account on Gmail you get one with the same name/password on Orkut.

Apparently there are over 34 million people on there! A lot more than Multiply, but I gather that a lot of them are from places like Brazil. I don't know if anyone I know is already on there, but they may be able to find me there now. I've not fully worked out the search options yet.

If you fancy a laugh at others' expense have a look at this video of people trying to beat the rising bollard in Manchester.

Nice set of ads about energy saving

See here. I think they are from a french electricity company

'Tis the season to shop

The excessive spending season is underway. If you are shopping on-line for presents then please give a though to using the PFGM site to start your shopping. If you click through the various links to the many retailers listed there then a percentage of your spending will find it's way to Tilly's school.

The school fund-raising group has it's own page on Multiply. I intend to post details of any special offers there.

I know that some of my readers are already doing this and it is much appreciated.

AVG Anti-virus will not be free from next year

If you are running a Windows PC then you need some sort of anti-virus. I have installed AVG on my own Windows 98 box and on others belonging to friends as they provided a free version.

Unfortunately, from January, this version will not be supported any more. I may consider getting rid of Windows totally at home and just using Linux, but others should look at the available options. I don't know if there are any other free products, but there are plenty you can pay for at various prices.

Stay safe.

UPDATE: Okay, this may be a false alarm. There is still a free version available here. It may have just been that the previous version (7.1) is not being supported any more.

Testing Multiply's blog by mail feature

Let's see if this new feature works. I'll attach a picture and it should appear on my site.

Arr me hearties

It be Talk Like a Pirate Day today, so buckle your swash and head for the crowsnest as we set sail for the Spanish Main in search of pieces of eight. (Parrots optional)

Computer shopping for the school

For some time I've been buying most of my computer parts and accessories from ebuyer. Their prices are good and they have just about everything I need. Now I find out that they are included in one of the affiliate schemes I set up for Tilly's school. Click here to go there and start your shopping to contribute. A small percentage of your spending will go to the school at no extra cost to you. There are lots of other retailers there including some big names like Tesco and even Harrods. You can register for a cashback scheme there too. Just go to the site before starting your on-line shopping and use their links to the retailers.

New Multiply features

There are now even more ways to customise how your page looks. Personally I prefer the clean and simple look.

Link

Are you one of the 1%?

According to this article, only 1% of web users are creating content. That seems to match up with my experience on Multiply, but I guess the percentage might be slightly higher amongst my contacts.

Don't be scared. If you have something to say, or have found something cool then post it here. You are amongst friends

Death of a legend

Syd Barrett, founder of Pink Floyd has died. I may be wrong about him founding the group.

As a mark of respect there will be a 27 minute silence, with psychedelic light show.



Also officially dead today is Windows 98, but I still use it at home.

Doctor Who

What a way to end a series. Daleks versus Cybermen! Very silly, but great fun. The kids love it.

Anyone else been enjoying it? I'd like to see more on-line participation here. Don't be scared

ebay shopping can help a school

If you use ebay then you can contribute to my daughter's school (Gothic Mede in Arlesey) at no cost to you. All you have to do is to get to their site via the link on the school page. For convenience you can right-click the link and save it as a bookmark in your browser.

The buy.at site has a selection of retailers who give a good commission rate to the school. The second one has some of the same retailers, plus a lot more, but the rates are not quite so good.

There are other links there for places like Amazon that will also contribute to the school when you shop with them.

The kids will be grateful.

Eels at the Astoria

Rating:	★★★★★
Category:	Other

Great gig. Reviewed at Bag of Spoons.

If you want to see my new stuff there then either check regularly or consider using RSS syndication. I recommend Bloglines as a good web tool for this. It saves me having to check lots of sites for new articles.

I'm not putting book reviews on here these days. I have a new method on my site to track my reading.

Envirofone

http://www.envirofone.com/
Take your old mobile into Argos and get some credit and/or give to charity.

Mine may be too old for them.

No limits

I just saw this on the Multiply blog saying that they have removed the limits on how many pictures, music tracks and videos you can upload. All users also get the ability to pick from themes and customise their sites a bit more. So you don't have to pay for the premium options any more. I think that the main premium option you don't get is to remove the adverts, but then they have to pay their way somehow.

So let's see some more pictures ;)

Secret Bass bluebell walk and jam session

A brief nature walk before an extended session of improvised music. Some samples of that on My Music.

Further description on Malcolm's site

Badgers!

http://badgerbadgerbadger.com/
Nothing to do with The Apprentice, but I've got this tune on the brain now, so I'm going to inflict it on everyone else ;-)

Compost Awareness Week

Start:	May 7, '06
End:	May 13, '06

Get composting

We do our bit.

Doubly special day tomorrow, for geeks anyway

Firstly it's Star Wars Day, May the 4th be with you.



Secondly there will be a moment early tomorrow when it is 01:02:03 on
04/05/06. Americans had this last month due to their silly way of
writing dates.



More trivia of the day at Wikipedia

Get your vinyl on your PC

For those with old LPs they would like to convert to digital format there is this new deck iTTUSB



Feeds the music direct to your USB port. Might be slightly less fiddly
than an amplifier feeding your soundcard. I wonder if it's clever
enough to start playing and tell the PC to start recording.



I've got a box of records somewhere, but I'm not sure I would really
listen to them these days. Maybe I should sell/dump them. Anyone
interested? I can make a list.

Flood in Wembley

Came to work today to find heavy traffic on the North Circlular and a police car outside the car park checking where people were going. It looks like a water main is leaking and has flooded the road that runs past Wembley Point.

It was amusing to watch a cyclist who obviously wanted to go that way and will have to find his way around it. He was probably wondering if he could ride through the water, but decided not to in the end.

Some people have waded through, but you can still get around it.

Sorry about the low quality picture. Limited by the resolution of my Palm and reflections on the windows.

Multiply on Life Online webcast

Here's
a link to an interview with the founder of Multiply. The style is
annoying American radio, but it's interesting to hear directly what the
company is about.



Multiply is up to around 2.3 million users now, I just want to grow my
network a little more to include a few more friends and family. I'd
also like to expand the group I created for my local community to make
that a useful resource.



I still think Multiply is good at what it does. For teenagers who want
a million contacts to gossip with there are other services. I use
Multiply as a supplement to my blog for family pictures that I don't
want the whole world to see and as an easy way for people I know to get
the latest updates. I'd actually prefer them to subscribe to the RSS
feed on my blog, but some may think that's too technical. Bloglines
negates that argument and has been my main way of keeping up with
various web sites for a while. It's especially good for those sites
that do not update on a daily basis so you don't have to keep checking
them.

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Books
Genre:	Science Fiction & Fantasy
Author:	Susanna Clarke

Maybe closer to a 3.5. Brief review at my new experimental book list

Kandida gig

Went to a gig last night. Blogged it

The Big Ask - save the planet

Friends of the Earth are running this campaign to try and persuade
politicians to do something about climate change. This is an issue I
feel quite strongly about. I want my kids to have a decent planet to
live on.



They are trying to get MPs to support a motion that will require annual
reductions in carbon dioxide. We can all do little bits individually,
but there needs to be more action at higher levels.




If you go to their
site you can sign the online petition and/or send an email to
your MP. It's very quick and easy to do.



The campaign features Thom Yorke of Radiohead. I admire his music,
but have to say he is not the best public speaker I have heard.
Maybe he wants to be the next Bono/Sting/Geldoff. I don't support an
issue just because some singer shouts about it, but I guess that all
publicity helps.

33 1/3 Led Zeppelin 4

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Books
Genre:	Entertainment
Author:	Erik Davis

Brief, but entertaining book about an LP. Reviewed over here

Thud!

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

Another cracker from Mr Pratchett. Reviewed somewhere else

My DVD library

I have all these DVDs sitting on the shelf gathering dust. They are listed on DVD Lender, but if anyone else would like to borrow any then just drop me a message. I've stopped buying these days until I catch up with what I have or can borrow from friends.

A Knight's Tale (r2)
About a Boy (r2)
Alice in Wonderland (Disney) (r2)
Almost Famous (r2)
Amelie (r2)
Artificial Intelligence (r2)
Barbie as Rapunzel (2002) (r2)
Barbie of Swan Lake (r2)
Barbie - The Magic Of Pegasus (r2)
Big Blue: Version Longue (r2)
Björk - Later (NTSC) (r0)
Black Books - Series 1 (r2)
Black Books Series 2 (r2)
Black Books Series 3 (r2)
Blade Runner - The Director's Cut (r2)
Blazing Saddles (r2)
Bridget Jones's Diary (r2)
Cabaret (free in Daily Mirror) (r2)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind: Collector's Edition DTS (r2)
Contact (r2)
Cult Kids Classics Compilation (r2)
Dark Blue (r2)
Digital Video Essentials (PAL) (r0)
Doctor Who : Series 1 Volume 1 [2005] (r2)
Finding Nemo: 2-Disc Collector's Edition (r2) BTW It's in Hebrew too
Galaxy Quest (r2)
Good Will Hunting (r2)
Gosford Park (r2)
Grease (r2)
Harry Potter - Years 1-3 Collection (r1)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Hogfather
High Fidelity (r2)
James and the Giant Peach (r2)
Joan of Arc (The Messenger) (r2)
Led Zeppelin - DVD (r1)
Lilo & Stitch (r2)
Little Mermaid II (r2)
Live Aid (r2)
Magnolia (2 Disc Set) (r2)
Matilda (r2)
Matrix / Matrix Revisited Pack (r2)
Memento (r2)
Monsters Inc (Deluxe two disc set) (r4)
Moulin Rouge (r2)
My Big Fat Greek Wedding (r2)
Nikita (r2)
Panic Room (r2)
Phoenix Nights - Episode 1 (Widescreen Magazine) (r2)
Pi (r1)
Quills (r2)
Rock Star (r2)
Scary Movie 3 (r2) Another competition prize
Scrooge (1951) (r0)
Shrek (2 Discs) (5.1/DTS) (r1)
Shrek 2 (r2)
Shrek 3
Spaceballs (r1)
Star Wars Trilogy (rVHS-PAL)
The Animatrix (r2)
The Eagles - Hell Freezes Over (r2)
The Fifth Element (r2)
The Incredibles (r2)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring [Extended Version] - Four Disc Set [2001] (r2)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King [Extended Version] - Four Disc Set [2004] (r2)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers [Extended Version] - Four Disc Set [2003] (r2)
The Matrix Reloaded (r3)
The Office (Series 2) (r2)
The Office (Series One) (r2)
The Usual Suspects (Special Edition) (r2)
Toy Story (r2)
Toy Story 2 (r2)
Tron (20th Anniversary Collector's Edition) (r2)
XXX (r2)
Young Frankenstein (r2)

Love Actually

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

Review over at Bag of Spoons

Anyone else want to comment on it?

Extreme music

Found this on a forum. It's humour for musicians

The Emperor's Codes

Rating:	★★★
Category:	Books
Genre:	History
Author:	Michael Smith

Review of a book about WWII codebreaking at Bag of Spoons

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

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

Review at Bag of spoons