In a Recent Rant, I wrote about the terrible cost of using rail transport in the UK. Despite the price, I still find myself on trains that are packed to the doors between key stations. So what’s the big attraction? Well for myself, I like the train because I can sit in relative comfort in… Continue reading The age of the train
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
Word on the street is that this number is the key to cracking HD-DVD’s. I couldn’t possibly comment.
Easter Sunday Trading
It’s a beautiful Easter Sunday and what exactly am I supposed to do with it? Due to our draconian laws, not a single store is allowed to open today. In fact it’s the only day for the entire year when the law prevents large shops from opening at all. I fancied an early morning trip… Continue reading Easter Sunday Trading
Different Views
I got some interesting feedback from “Try” to my LayeredTech ranting. Try holds exactly the opposite point of view to me, in that I think Layered Technologies are too heavy handed in their handling of abuse whilst Try feels they don’t do enough. In http://hotpot.se/guest-book-spammers.htm Try highlights two address ranges that are the source of… Continue reading Different Views
Windows Update
I just visited Microsoft’s Windows Update facility for the first time in a while. My one and only Windows PC has been acting up a bit and at such times I like to begin the diagnosis by updating everything. On this occasion there was only one Critical Update and that was to Windows Genuine Advantage.… Continue reading Windows Update
Broken Boiler
No sooner did I Buy fuel oil than the boiler falls apart. Sods law or what? The first hint of a problem was the electrics tripping out. The cause was quickly narrowed down to the boiler and taking the cover off revealed why. The Flow Switch has developed a freaky fault where water was running… Continue reading Broken Boiler
First oil order
I’ve been putting off ordering heating oil ever since we moved in. Now the tank is sucking on air and I can’t put the inevitable off any longer. Just ordered 900 Litres from Keltic which should be delivered on Monday or Tuesday next week. Just for the record, the cost was 28.95P/Litre which equates to… Continue reading First oil order
WordPress Server Migration
Last weekend I was chatting to my best mate Jamie who appears to be the prime reader of my Blog, (hi mate!). He pointed out that my Blog was very slow to access and I’ve been pondering on what to do about it. I thought migrating to my Dedicated Host in Germany would be a… Continue reading WordPress Server Migration
Basic Broadband
There must be a lot of people out there like me who want nothing more from their broadband provider than a reliable Internet connection. I don’t need game servers, email, news and the plethora of other services ISP’s offer to entice new customers into their fold. For the last few years I’ve been running with… Continue reading Basic Broadband
Public Transport
Travel is a necessary evil of my job and having spent a number of years ploughing up and down the arterial motorways of England I have recently turned to public transport for the majority of my trips. One of the most noticeable aspects of using public transport is the prohibitive cost of it in comparison… Continue reading Public Transport
Another year in Iraq
“One death is a tragedy; a million is a statistic” Joseph Stalin Today the BBC quoted some official stats on 2006 in Iraq. It seems that the decision to invade them caused in excess of 12,300 civilian deaths in 2006 along with over 800 US troops. Trends suggest that this figure will continue to rise… Continue reading Another year in Iraq
Network Ponderings
I’m trying to solve a networking problem that sounds quite simple but I’m struggling for the answer. I have a Linksys AG241 which is a nice ADSL router. Nice that is except that the QoS on it doesn’t support prioritisation by address/subnet; a must with 3 children in the house. My proposed solution is to… Continue reading Network Ponderings
Anonymous Email Systems
During a bored moment I did some searches on Technorati for recent blogs relating to Privacy and Anonymity. One that caught my eye was this one on Blogspot. Someone did lots of homework on this one, checking out many different services that provide anonymous email services. When I have more time I’d like to work… Continue reading Anonymous Email Systems
Cinema – It’s the experience!
Last night myself and Lou decided to go and see the new James Bond film, Casino Royale. We booked tickets online using www.myvue.co.uk for a scheduled start of 8pm. 7:25pm – Arrived at the cinema to find the car park full to bursting and in a state of complete chaos. Committed to entering said car… Continue reading Cinema – It’s the experience!
Petition against copyright extension
The Open Rights Group are preparing a petition for presentation to Tessa Jowell campaigning against the music industry proposal to extend copyright on music recordings from 50 years to life plus 70 years.
Windows (Should I stay or should I go)
I’m a Linux supporter. It’s worth making the above statement clear from the beginning, that way people who read this won’t be surprised if further down I say something nasty about Microsoft or Windows. Assuming those fitted with Windows blinkers have now left, I’ll say some nice things about Windows. Windows was originally created as… Continue reading Windows (Should I stay or should I go)
Is music worth it?
Today The Register reports how Danish courts have ruled that an ISP (Tele2) must make best efforts to prevent people accessing allofmp3.com. Power corrupts, but commercial power within the music industry seems to corrupt absolutely. In this day and age it’s incredible to me that a commercial group such as the RIAA can reach around… Continue reading Is music worth it?
Remailer Pings
The current method of pinging Remailers is flawed in terms of both latency and uptime measurement. Measurement of latency works fine for exit Remailers but Middleman nodes have to randhop the ping back through another node. This makes the measurement totally inaccurate as it becomes the sum of two Remailer latencies, not just the one… Continue reading Remailer Pings
Veiled Threat
Displays of religion in the workplace are becomming a more and more sensitive issue. However the latest battle in the veil wars is quite incredible to me. The first report I read told how 24 year old Aishah Azmi refused to remove her veil whilst teaching primary school children. The school subsequently suspended her in… Continue reading Veiled Threat
Holidaying in Iceland
Iceland has held a fascination for me ever since I read Desmond Bagley’s book Running Blind. In it a retired British spy called Alan Stewart is chased across Iceland leading to descriptions of huge glaciers, waterfalls and geysers. I’ve read the book so many times that the pages have started to fall out and it’s… Continue reading Holidaying in Iceland