Regular readers will know that this blog has experienced some problems over the last few months. Since I last moved to new hardware this blog has been running really slowly and more often than not any attempt to publish content (whether a blog entry or a comment) has ended with a server error. This has… Continue reading Blog Fixed (Hopefully)
Books I Read in April 2008
A lot of books this month. But you might think that there was a bit of cheating going on. The Bible: The Biography – Karen ArmstrongThis is a book I’ve wanted to read ever since I saw it published in hardback last year. Actually, it wasn’t quite what I expected. I was expecting a lot… Continue reading Books I Read in April 2008
Blogging Nonsense
One of the joys of MPs having blogs is that you often get to see what they are really like without their utterances going through the filter of the party spin machine. And it’s amazing how often so many of them make complete fools of themselves. Today’s example is Nadine Dorries. Of course as a… Continue reading Blogging Nonsense
Understatement
From a geek mailing list where they are currently retreading the endless arguments about why there aren’t more women in Open Source. Now arguably, “chick” is a bit derogatory. It’s not even ironic British understatement – the writer isn’t British. But it’s a good indication of just how far we still have to go.
Pub Quiz
For a number of years now we’ve taken part in a weekly quiz in a local pub. We do pretty well and occasionally win. The chap that runs this quiz runs a number of other quizzes and a few times he’s held a Champions’ League night where top teams from all of his pubs come… Continue reading Pub Quiz
Apple Shopping
I’m not sure why, but I always come out of the Apple shop on Regents Street feeling slightly disgruntled. It’s like I’m visiting some strange planet where I don’t understand the customs and I know I’m never really going to fit in. The staff don’t help. I know they’re all really helpful, but at the… Continue reading Apple Shopping
Redirecting RSS
I’ve harped on about this before, but I firmly believe that when you publish a URL on the web then it should be permanent. Of course you might want to change the way that your site is set up at some point in the future, but when you do that you should do everything you… Continue reading Redirecting RSS
Pushing Daisies on ITV
Pushing Daisies Like most people I know, I very rarely watch anything on ITV. The channel just doesn’t seem to want to appeal to people with my tastes. But recently that seems to be changing. ITV have been showing a couple of American import that seem to be aimed at people exactly like me. Firstly… Continue reading Pushing Daisies on ITV
Credit Where Credit Is Due
I spend a lot of time here complaining about broken web sites, so it’s nice to be able to praise something that worked better than expected. And I’m slightly surprised to be able to report an impressive experience with a UK government web site. One thing that I found whilst sorting through my study over… Continue reading Credit Where Credit Is Due
Spring Cleaning
I spent a lot of the weekend clearing piles of old crap out of my study. I can’t remember the last time I gave it a good clean, but it was nice to be reminded of the colour of the carpet and to be reassured that there is still a wooden desk underneath the layers… Continue reading Spring Cleaning