Back to the Future E-Mail

I have just read this article about a website that allows you to send an e-mail to yourself in the future. Looking through some of the public examples, there are a range of ideas that people are sending themselves. Some are quite deep & meaningful, but most are just light-hearted.

I'm definitely going to send myself something, probably in 5 years time. I just need to work out what!!

Cheap At Half The Price

... or is it?

I have heard this expression a lot recently, but to me it doesn't make sense. People seem to say it to indicate that the item being referred to is cheap. When I look at the phrase, it isn't actually stating that though. To me what it says is "if this item was half the current asking price, then it would be cheap". This doesn't imply that the current asking price is cheap, conversley, it implies more closely that it is expensive!

I have always thought that the saying is meant to be "cheap at twice the price", thus implying that if the item was double the asking price it would still be cheap, therefore the actual asking price is very cheap!

What does anyone else think on this subject? Please vote and leave a comment.

Who Killed Cock Robin?

I saw an article on the Reuters website about a poor little sparrow that caused a certain amount of mayhem in Amsterdam.

It would seem that the sparrow got into an exhibition hall where they had spent weeks setting up four million dominoes for a world record attempt. You can imagine the result - it knocked thousands over! Unfortunately for the sparrow, an exterminator shot it.

Unfortunately for the exterminator (and everyone else involved), sparrows are a protected species in the Netherlands!

Here's a nicely illustrated version of the nursery rhyme (tedious link or what?!?!). [Edit - looks like that page doesn't exist anymore (11th June 2006)]

Stomp

I have just got back from seeing Stomp. It is an absolutely amazing show! You wouldn't believe how entertaining it can be to watch 8 people hit everyday objects (brushes, bin lids, even kitchen sinks!) in a rhythmic fashion. The energy and rhythm is fantastic and there is also a good deal of audience participation, though I don't think there was even one word spoken! If you get the chance, please do go and see it, you won't be disappointed!

Are we on the Titanic?

Someone was talking on the radio today and I think they had a good point. They suggested that we were all going along blindly through life, not really being aware of the problems around us, and the damage we are causing to the Earth. The analogy they used referred to the Titanic - we are all like the passengers sitting around listening to the orchestra and sipping champagne while the ship is slowly sinking under them. Surely it must be time to wake up and actually do something instead of just talking about it!

Squeaky Shoes!

I've got this pair of shoes that I've worn to work for a few years and whilst they aren't the most comfortable shoes I've ever had, they're not bad. Recently though, they've started to squeak! I thought at first that maybe the soles were damp after walking outside (it had been raining) - but several weeks later they're still doing it!

Apart from buying a new pair, which I can't afford :'( does anybody have any suggestions on how to stop this?

Wake-up Call

This is a true story.

A coach party arrived at a hotel. When they checked in, the party leader asked if they could get a wake-up call, which the receptionist agreed to. Unfortunately (at around the time they wanted the wake-up call) the hotel's boiler overheated, enough to trigger the fire alarm. Anyway, later in the morning, the party leader went up to the receptionist and said "Thank you for the wake-up call, we all heard it OK. Just one thing though - wouldn't it disturb the other guests?"

Spam

I just deleted my first spam comment. I suppose it's a small milestone in a way - my site has just become noticeable enough to attract the attention of spamming tools. Woohoo.

Film Review - "The Rising"

I was sceptical about "The Rising". I hadn’t seen any trailers or read any reviews, but from what my friend said about it, I thought it didn’t sound very interesting.

I was wrong. It was interesting. It tells the story of two people - Captain William Gordon (Toby Stephens) and Mangal Padney (Aamir Khan) during the time towards the end of the occupation of India by the East India Company. They both begin in the army of the East India Company, but throughout the course of the film, events occur that put a strain on the relationship between the Indian troops and the British commanders as well as between the two main characters. There were frequent songs in the film which I found to be highly entertaining!

My rating: 8/10

Oops!

OK, now I feel really silly.

I was just looking at my Blogger template and noticed a mistake in my comment code - there was a space in the middle of a link! That explains why no one has left any comments for a long time (either that or they don't think I write anything worthy of comments!!)

Discrimination

Imagine the scene: You go to the toilets in a shopping centre. There's the "Gents" and "Ladies" for free, but there's a charge of 20p to use the disabled toilet. Quite rightly everyone would complain about discrimination.

A few days ago, we were in Edinburgh and the toilets at one place we went to cost 20p for the "Gents" and "Ladies" but the disabled were free! I don't like having to pay to use the toilet anyway, but I thought it most unfair that only certain groups of the community had to pay while others didn't!

Annoying!

I've got a really annoying song stuck in my head - the theme tune to Kath & Kim. It's the same two lines over and over again! I wouldn't care but I don't even like the program or the song!

Plaxo

A few months ago I started using a service called Plaxo. It's a great way to synchronize my address book and calendar between Outlook and a secure website which I can then access anywhere. It's not one of these 'friends network' things that lets friends of your friends access your details, though, I really don't like the idea of that!

Anyway, I also use gmail which means I have to export my list of e-mail addresses from Outlook and into gmail every-so-often to make sure I have everyone's addresses there. This is rather annoying. However, Plaxo have just announced that they've set up a deal with AOL which will enable Outlook to synchronize with the AOL address book and the AIM instant messenger. Although this doesn't affect me (I don't use AOL), I'm pleased about it because it means Plaxo are going out and getting deals with other companies. This would be really good for me if they ever get round to working with gmail. Pretty please?

Terrorists Won't Win!

The cowardly attacks on London yesterday were terrible, but they cannot be allowed to change the way we live. Security will of course be stepped up for the next few days/weeks/months and this will occasionally inconvenience people, but this has to be accepted. What can't be accepted, and I'm sure it won't happen, is people and Government doing things different because of it. Our troops must not be removed from Iraq any sooner than they would have been, we must not back down in 'The War On Terror'. People must try and go about their lives the same as they always have done.

After all, this country, and London in particular, is not new to terrorism. We have faced the threat of bombs and shootings from Irish militants through some very bad times, but people carried on doing what they do. We're a very resilient lot us British, and now's the time to show them just how determined we can be!

Blowing away the cobwebs

Since finishing uni a few weeks ago, I've gradually gone downhill into a state of feeling sorry for myself. I can't decide what kind of job I want to do (being a computer programmer, what I'm now qualified for, sounds boring I decided!) and my part-time job can't give me any extra hours above one day a week. I've been spending a lot of time just around the house, watching television, playing on the computer, vaguely reading about different types of job, etc etc, just generally wasting time.

Today I had an argument with my Mum. It was over a silly thing (like it often is), but it got blown out of proportion (by both of us). I ended up feeling really mad and upset so, despite the weather (it was drizzling), I decided to go out for a walk. It was the best thing I've done for ages.

Not far from where I live is a disused railway line that's been converted into a public footpath. Leading off this are lots of little paths and tracks that mostly lead down to a river. Its lovely and peaceful. There are very few people and if you didn't know, you could hardly tell that you were so close to a town. Anyway, I'd walked part of the way when it started to rain heavier. I decided to run - I knew once I got down by the river there would be plenty of trees to shelter under. It actually felt good to have a decent leg stretch. The last time I did any 'proper' running outside was about two months ago when I did a 10 km fun(?) run (because I was so busy with uni work then, I did very little training, and it hurt!!), but since then I've been going to the gym two or three times a week and I definitely felt the difference!

I spent over an hour down there. I enjoyed it - it gave me the chance to do some thinking where it was quiet and peaceful with no distractions. By the time I got back home, I was feeling re-invigorated and enthusiastic about life again - something I haven't felt for a number of months. It's a good feeling and I plan to keep it!

Catch up

I can't believe that it's been over a month since I last posted anything!

So what have I been doing in the last month? Well, I finally finished uni and I've got my results back. I got a 2:2 which isn't bad to say that I wasn't really expecting to even pass! I thought I would have to do some resits at the very least! Now all I have to do is find a job. This could be tricky. I don't even know what I want to do! My degree is in Software Engineering, but I don't think I really want to be a programmer any more. Don't get me wrong, I quite enjoy it, but I can't help but think that doing it 9 - 5 everyday would soon get boring. I really need to find something soon though, even if its only temporary, as I can't get any extra hours at my part-time job.

Film Review - "Monster-In-Law"

Monster-In-Law was a film in three parts - bad, better, bad. In the first third, everything was very predictable. The only good character was Ruby (Wanda Sykes), she got all the good lines and was the only one who wasn't boringly predictable. The next third starts when Charlie (Jennifer Lopez) discovers what her soon to be mother-in-law, Viola (Jane Fonda), is up to. This bit was rather entertaining for a brief period, but it was all too quickly over and the film degenerated back into the old predictable jokes. There was another brief interlude of entertainment when Viola's mother-in-law, Gertrude (Elaine Stritch), turned up, but again this was all too brief and the film disintegrated completely after this.

My rating: 3/10

Banning Baseball Caps

I saw in the news that the Bluewater shopping centre (in Kent) have decided to crack down on anti-social behaviour. Good. There new rules include:

• No smoking


• No leafleting


• No canvassing


• No swearing


• No clothing which deliberately obscures the face such as hooded tops and baseball caps

No baseball caps? That's crazy! I can understand the other points. They can be annoying and unpleasant. But what is wrong with baseball caps and hooded tops? The Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, says they are "part of an intimidating uniform". Surely there is nothing intimidating about a baseball cap. People wearing them can be intimidating, but so can people who wear trainers, jeans, even suits! Where does this stop?

Film Review - "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"

All day at work, people had been telling me how good it was and I'd read the book a few years ago and loved it, so I had very high hopes for this film. Unfortunately, I have to say I was slightly disappointed. Maybe I was just expecting too much. From the very beginning it was clear that they were cutting some of the best bits out of the book. I suppose they've got to cut a lot out just to fit it in for time.

As for the characters, I was pleased with Marvin and Arthur in particular. Zaphod's character was good, but in the book I recall his two heads as being side-by-side, but in the film, one is kinda burried in his neck! I suppose it saved a lot of money in special effects, but it did spoil it a bit for me.

I wonder if they'll make the other parts of the book into films? My book has four parts in it, but one of my friends book's has five! This film was only the first part. They've certainly left it open so they can do a sequel, but I suppose it'll depend on how successful this film turns out.

My rating: 6/10

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Election 2005 - Labour win!

It's a 'historic third term' for Labour (that's how the media keep referring to it). I don't think anyone can be too surprised. They've lost around 47 seats (there's still a couple left to declare last time I checked) but still have a majority of 66. Everyone's talking about it as if that's too small to work very well, but someone said that Margaret Thatcher had a majority of about 44 once and she managed ok! I suppose it just means that the 'rebels' will be a bit more influential.

I wonder what will happen before the next General Election. We will have a new Conservative leader (Michael Howard has announced he is stepping down). Tony Blair has said he would like to do another full term, though I suspect that Gordon Brown may take over after two or three years. As for Charles Kennedy, who can say? I think they might have a change in two or three years as well - give the new person time to get settled in before the next General Election. So, if I'm right, it'll be 'all change!' for next time and the political scene could be somewhat different!

Structured Blogging

I have been reading about Structured Blogging recently and I think it sounds like a really good idea. I don't know whether or not this will ever be supported on Blogger, but I hope so. I've already sent them an e-mail suggesting it. If anyone else likes the sound of it, please let Blogger know - if enough people request it, it just might happen! I hope.

I saw Kylie!

On Tuesday evening I went with my fiancée and her sister to Manchester to see Kylie Minogue! It was amazing! It was my fiancée that wanted to go (I like Kylie, but I'm not such a huge fan), but it was one of the best concerts I've been to! I was pleased that she did some older songs, not just her recent ones. I think my favourite bit was a laid-back jazz/swing version of 'The Locomotion'. As you'd expect, there were plenty of way-out costumes.

The supporting act weren't bad either. It was a band called Melody Club who originate from Sweden. They did a kind of pop/rock music that in places had a sound not too dissimilar to Abba. All in all, it was a very enjoyable night!

Sooner than expected

OK, so 'the next week' turned into a few hours. In my last post I said that I was modifying a new template I'd found, but it wouldn't be up for a while. I guess I got carried away and finished it sooner than I expected (I should've gone to bed at least a couple of hours ago, but when have I ever done anything sensible like that‽)

Too much to do, too little time to do it in!

I'm just approaching the end of my final year at university so as you can imagine, I've been rather busy! The phrase "too much to do, too little time to do it in" has been uttered often in response to questions like "how are you getting on?". I don't seem to have had the time to think of things to write about! However, I have found a nice new template for this blog that I've started to modify, so sometime in the next week I expect that to be unveiled.

Time To Reveal My 'Geeky' Side!

Lately I've been writing a program in Java to send notes to a keyboard that is attached to the MIDI port on the soundcard and also to detect notes that have been played on the keyboard. I eventually got it figured out (or so I thought) and had code that could send a note to the keyboard and list notes as they were being played.

And then it stopped working. I've no idea why it stopped. My code didn't change. Nothing was changed on the computer. The keyboard didn't change. I could still play notes through the computer speakers, but I wanted to play it through the keyboard. Anyway, I resigned myself to the fact that it just wasn't to be. At least I could still play notes and detect notes, that's the important thing.

Then last night things got stranger. For no apparent reason, it just started working!

But today it's stopped again.

Just occasionally, I really hate computers!

Film Review - "Sahara"

I hadn't heard anything about this film before I went to see it. I'd seen a couple of trailers about it a while ago and thought it looked quite good, but nothing special.

The first scene kicked off with a bang (literally!), but apart from that it took a while to really get going. Once it did, things moved along quite nicely for the most part, though there were a few occasions when it dragged.

On the whole, it was an easy film to watch, the plot wasn't particularly deep or difficult to understand and there was a good smattering of humour and good ol' fashioned action.

My rating: 7/10

Site Updates - Part 1

I have made a few subtle changes to the main part of the page. The main changes have been when and how permalinks are displayed and a Home link has been added to the Item pages. Next time I get chance, I think the sidebar will be seeing some adjustments.

Election 2005 - It's Official!

On Tuesday, Tony Blair finally announced the General Election will be held on 5th May. It already feels like the parties have been campaigning for months, but now they start 'officially'. I heard on the radio on Wednesday night that in some marginal areas, Labour would be sending out DVD's to try to convince people and the Conservatives would be ringing people up with recorded messages from Michael Howard! As if we don't waste enough time on the phone with peope wanting us to answer surveys and the like! If I start getting phone calls from politicians, and even worse, recorded messages, then it's going to make me less inclined to vote for them, not more!

Update To "Should Road Tax Be Scrapped?"

I just found out how to add a poll. My earlier post about Road Tax seems like a good topic to test it on. Please vote!

Quick Hiccup Update

I'm cured! No hiccups at all yesterday, but I did have a funny lump in my throat all day which I think must have been caused by the excessive hiccups over the last couple of days. Fortunately that has gone today.

I suppose I shouldn't complain. Two posts have caught my eye recently that made me realise how lucky I am, this one in a very serious way and this one in a funny way.

Hiccups

I haven't had hiccups for a long time, until last night that is. I'd been to the pub for a meal with my fiancée and had a couple of drinks (I never drink much). Later on in the evening, after I'd got home, I started with hiccups. They kept coming and going for the rest of the night. Shortly before I went to bed I had a really painful one - I've no idea why it was painful, but it was! Anyway, I assumed that after a night's sleep, I would be OK today.

How wrong could I be! I've had them all day, on and off. No painful ones, but still very annoying. I work in a shop on Saturdays, so it was particularly embarrassing serving customers while trying not to hiccup! Everybody seemed to have a "guaranteed method" to stop hiccups, usually involving combinations of drinking water and holding my breath. I did try a few, but nothing seemed to help!

There are some interesting 'remedies' on this page which I might have a go at tomorrow if I'm still suffering. The Wikipedia section mentions the longest attack of hiccups:

Charles Osborne (1894 - –1991) of Anthon, Iowa, USA, started hiccupping in 1922 while attempting to weigh a hog before slaughtering it. He was unable to find a cure, and continued hiccupping until February 1990, a total of 68 years.

I don't know how he managed to stay sane!

Should Road Tax Be Scrapped?

It's that time of the year again. Yesterday I paid £110 for my car tax. I know some people who drive a lot more then I do, yet (depending on their car) they pay the same amount. If the money raised from road tax is to help pay for maintenance of roads, then surely those who travel further should pay more as they provide more wear to the roads. Therefore I propose scrapping road tax and adding it onto the price of petrol. This would have several advantages:

• There would be no avoiding paying it.
• We wouldn't need to pay the administration costs.
• It would further encourage people to leave the car at home, especially for short journeys.
• Those who use the car more, pay more
  

There is a downside to this. Companies who rely on transport for their business, for example lorry companies, already complain that they can't compete with companies based on the continent because of the fuel prices. To compensate for this, they would have to be reimbursed in some way.

My First Blog

This is my first ever blog. To be perfectly honest, I have no idea what I'm going to write about, but I will try to write something every couple of days or so. This first post is only a short one, so I promise I'll try to think of something more interesting to put later on.