The entire British honours system is, of course, outdated and ridiculous. However, until the revolution comes it looks like we’re stuck with it. And whilst we’re stuck with it, it’s good to see it used it to reward people who stand up for democratic principles like free speech. Which is why I’m very happy to… Continue reading Sir Salman
Back Garden Fence
Back Garden Fence This isn’t really what you want to see first thing in the morning. When I went to bed last night, this was a rather pretty tree stump and a garden fence that didn’t have a large hole burnt in it. We’re trying to find out what happened. And trying not to think… Continue reading Back Garden Fence
Buying Digital Music
It looks like 7digital have won the race to be the first web site to sell EMI’s non-DRM MP3 audio files. Or, at least, they’re the first one I’ve heard of that claim to work in any browser on any operating system. I shall be testing this theory tonight and, if it works, then I… Continue reading Buying Digital Music
Breaking (And Then Fixing) Planets
I’ll write more about Hack Day over the next few days. But I should point out that most of yesterday was spent updating the version of Plagger on this web server. This had the unfortunate side-effect of breaking all of the Plagger-run planets on this server. So today was largely spent fixing them again. Everything… Continue reading Breaking (And Then Fixing) Planets
Hack Day Weirdness
Wow. Pretty weird start to Hack Day. We were in the West Hall of Alexandra Palace. A talk had just finished and there was lots of general milling about going on. All of a sudden there was an almighty bang followed by some loud crackling. It sounded like it was coming from the roof. Then… Continue reading Hack Day Weirdness
Hack Day
The BBC/Yahoo! Hack Day (actually two days) is this weekend. If you’re coming then please feel free to link with me on the back network. Now, here are the most pressing questions that need to be answered. Will there be a television showing Doctor Who on Saturday night? And, if there isn’t, will the network… Continue reading Hack Day
Creation Museum Photos
It seems that the new Creation Museum Is even more ridiculous than I expected. Have a look at this set of photos. And read the information signs. And try not to laugh too much.
The Prestige
A couple of nights ago we watched The Prestige. It was a really well-made film with an excellent cast, but there was something about it that left me dissatisfied. After a couple of days thought I think I know what it is. The Prestige is a science fiction film. That’s not a problem at all.… Continue reading The Prestige
BBC and DRM
I was going to write a bit of a rant about the depressingly familiar DRM discussions that have blown up (again!) on the BBC Backstage mailing list over the last couple of days. But I find that Martin has already done it. So I don’t have to. Which is nice.
On the Scales
Our bathroom scales gave up the ghost recently. Well, so would you if you had me standing on you every couple of days for ten years. But replacing them gave us a wonderful opportunity for consumer overkill. Not for us a simple set of mechanical scales. No, we bought the Tanita BC-543 Body Composition Monitor.… Continue reading On the Scales