The Balham Kitchen and Bar has closed down. It has been sold to Sam Harrison (who owns a place called Sam’s Brasserie & Bar in Chiswick). It will reopen in September under the new name Harrison’s. The BKB won’t be missed. I’ve only been there a couple of times in the four years that it’s… Continue reading BKB Closes Down
Flash Flood
I monitor an RSS feed of all photos uploaded to Flickr with the tag “balham”. Which is how I came across this set of photos of a flash flood in Balham today. I’m trying to work out how close to my house this was. And vaguely dreading what I’ll find when I get home this… Continue reading Flash Flood
Nazi Pop Twins
Do you remember Prussian Blue? They are a pair of blonde twins, Lynx and Lamb Gaede, who appeared, aged about ten, in a Louis Theroux programme about the US white supremacist movement. They wore t-shirts with a smiley-face Hitler logo and sang sweet songs about how much nicer life would be if it wasn’t for… Continue reading Nazi Pop Twins
Out of the Tunnel
I’m currently reading Rachel‘s book Out of the Tunnel. You should too. It’s really rather good. More details when I’ve finished it (which won’t take long at all – it’s a very gripping read).
Back Home On Fedora
A few weeks ago I mentioned that I was giving Ubuntu a trial on my laptop. That trial is now over and I’ve gone back to Fedora. And in the process I’ve upgraded to Fedora 7. It’s not that there’s anything wrong with Ubuntu. I want to make that quite clear. I’m sure it would… Continue reading Back Home On Fedora
BBC iPlayer launch: The first 14 days
Martin Belam has some fun with his crystal ball.
Silver Ring Thing Lose Case
Lydia Playfoot, the daughter of the Silver Ring Thing’s UK organisers, has lost her case against her school[1] banning her from wearing her silver ring. The BBC quotes Miss Playfoot as saying that this ruling will mean that slowly, over time, people such as school governors, employers, political organisations and others will be allowed to… Continue reading Silver Ring Thing Lose Case
Double Negatives
If there’s one time in your life when it pays to be very careful about what you’re saying, then it’s when you’re answering questions about crimes that you have been accused of. You know, there’s that whole “anything you say will be taken down and can be used in evidence against you” thing going on.… Continue reading Double Negatives
Quick and Dirty Development
Nik Silver tells the truth about quick and dirty development. I was particularly interested in a couple of the points he makes: If you’re my customer and I’m your techie, then there’s a significant and unfortunate thing about quick and dirty that I need to tell you: You get the quick, but I get stuck… Continue reading Quick and Dirty Development
Geeks Pulling Together
A heart-warming tale from Ben Goldacre, author of the Guardian‘s Bad Science column (and also a forthcoming book on the same subject). It seems that his web site had rather outgrown the limits placed on it by his current hosting plan and his hosting providers didn’t like that. At one point they pulled the plug… Continue reading Geeks Pulling Together