A couple of weeks ago I wrote my first impressions on the Terra Nova Saturn Bivi. Now I’ve had chance to put it up and climb inside, I thought I’d share some more views. For starters I was completely wrong in my claim that the usual difficulties would be encountered getting the Bivi back into… Continue reading Terra Nova Saturn Bivi (Part 2)
Bull(shit) Fighting
Today the most popular news story on the BBC News Website is this one about Bullfighting. Some would argue that it wasn’t Bullfighting but rather a show with lots of guys teasing a bull to make it chase them round an arena but that’s a difference only the Spanish would care about. So why is… Continue reading Bull(shit) Fighting
Terra Nova Saturn Bivi
After searching through various tent reviews, I decided that the Terra Nova Saturn Bivy was for me. Today it arrived and as there’s precious little info out there about it, I thought I’d provide a few first impressions. Well for starters the bivy arrived in a tiny box measuring 155x155x400mm. Whilst signing for it, I… Continue reading Terra Nova Saturn Bivi
Ducks Pool
I did a walk on Sunday, starting from Whiteworks and following the path past Nuns Cross to Eylesbarrow. From there I headed to Broad Rock which I finally discovered last year, crossing Plym Ford on the way. The path from Plym Ford to Broad Rock was in a dreadful state having been carved up by… Continue reading Ducks Pool
So what’s web security all about anyway?
When you visit a webpage these days it’s not uncommon for it to require some personal details. You might be checking your bank balance, buying something by Credit Card or authorizing a payment to your electric company. All these examples require sensitive details that you certainly wouldn’t want falling into the wrong hands. So how… Continue reading So what’s web security all about anyway?
Nildram Technical Support
For the first time in ages today I had cause to contact Nildram‘s Customer Support. First I tried to email support@nildram.net which has always worked in the past. It now bounces with: 554 : Recipient address rejected: User unknown Next I tried customercare@nildram.net and this one worked. I even got a reply, all be it,… Continue reading Nildram Technical Support
Why we need electoral reform
The Liberal Democrats are currently in talks with the Tories about making a pact, without which the Tories will have no clear majority in Parliament. The biggest stumbling block to these talks is probably Electoral Reform: For the Lib Dems it’s a must have whilst for the Tories, it’s a must not. So why are… Continue reading Why we need electoral reform
Dictocracy
I’ve proudly created a new word today, “Dictocracy”. It sort of describes the current British political system that we refer to as a Democracy whilst to all intents, it functions as a dictatorship. As everyone knows, we have a General Election coming up and the public at that election will vote. Do we vote to… Continue reading Dictocracy
Red Savina (again)
It’s really late to be planting Chilli seeds now but my recent Red Savina failure kept nagging at me so I decided to get some seeds from a different source and try again. This time I’ve planted 15 of them in Root Riot Cubes to see if I have better success with those than with… Continue reading Red Savina (again)
Three party politics
With only three weeks to go before the General Election, I suppose comments like these are to be expected. David Cameron has warned a vote for Nick Clegg could leave Britain “stuck” with Labour and said only the Tories can bring “real change”. For Labour Lord Mandelson warned a hung parliament might give “disproportionate power”… Continue reading Three party politics
Chilli Seeds 2010
After the success of my Chilli growing last year, I enthusiastically set about choosing seeds for this year from my favourite source, Nicky’s Nursery. So far this year I’ve planted:- Numex Big Jim Anaheim TMR Jamaica Bell Red Savina Chocolate Habanero Hungarian Hot Wax Trinidad Scorpion All are now potted up and sitting in my… Continue reading Chilli Seeds 2010
Hi Sue!
I recently discovered that Sue Appleby (our neighbour), is a follower of my Blog. She describes it as interesting but a bit Victor Meldrew-ish. So I’m no longer just a cynic, I’m also a grumpy old man. I would vow to write more technical posts and less rants but the technical posts are usually also… Continue reading Hi Sue!
It’s an ex port
For the most part I don’t need a powerful desktop PC. I mostly use it as a terminal interface to other machines or to produce the occasional spreadsheet or document in Open Office. Not exactly demanding tasks by today’s standards. Just once in a while though I want to watch a DVD or a snippet… Continue reading It’s an ex port
BitDefender Bricks Systems
Saturday afternoon I was sat here burning some Debian Testing disks on a Windows 7 PC when all of a sudden I got a virus alert. I run BitDefender on the PC in question and it’s always been a reliable scanner. The feature I like best about it is that it’s not overly intrusive. I… Continue reading BitDefender Bricks Systems
Maildir Archive
Recently I’ve become aware of how big my Maildir mailboxes are getting. I keep a running record of much of my correspondence and don’t want to delete it but at the same time I don’t want to load every message each time I open a mailbox. Google came up with a couple of archive scripts… Continue reading Maildir Archive
British Telecom Phishing Scam?
Recently I’ve received two phone calls, both International, claiming to be from BT. In both instances the caller had a barely understandable foreign accent and has started by telling me that BT are cutting my line rental charge. Very nice of them. On today’s call that prompted me to write this, the caller correctly stated… Continue reading British Telecom Phishing Scam?
What is an 0844 number?
A while ago I added a Crank Calls category to my Blog and at the time it was, (like so many other rants), just a means for me to vent frustration about companies trying to rip me off with stupid offers and debt repayment schemes. It therefore came as a surprise to me that I… Continue reading What is an 0844 number?
0844 8466524
This number hassles Lou and I on a daily basis at the moment The callers are always reluctant to admit who they are but when pressed, they claim to be Galaxy Finance. If these people have a website, it’s well hidden behind false fronts. There is a galaxyfinance.com but it goes through a series of… Continue reading 0844 8466524
Spam at work
Having kept my work email address very private for almost 10 years now, suddenly it’s become a target for Spam. It started a few weeks back with a few targeted emails from companies in the computer industry, suggesting that one of our clients had probably sold their contact database. Then this morning I received an… Continue reading Spam at work
Think of the Children!
The subject of this post is a catchphrase you can hear in just about any technical discussion group. It’s usually stated in a cynical manner as justification for why something seemingly stupid has been incorporated into a piece of software. Today the BBC website has this article on why social networking sites now need a… Continue reading Think of the Children!