May 14 2007

Ira’s Dad Is Back From China :)

Category: Personal,Weather — ChrisM @ 2:54 am

He was away in China on another business trip, but we’ve just heard he has returned safe and sound. We’ll be meeting up with him tomorrow evening to say a quick ‘hi’, and so he can say good bye before Irina leaves for Moscow (see two below this post).
Hopefully, he will have grabbed us a silk duvet over in China, as such items have had glowing reports from him and Ira’s mum. They have the same issues we have, except the genders are reversed… He gets cold without a lot of layers, she doesn’t like being over heated. According to them, the silk duvet seems like a good compromise – everyone ends up the right temperature!

(btw, no this isn’t a bizarre sponsored post to further the global sales of Chinese silk duvets 🙂 )

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May 08 2007

The Eyre Affair

Category: Books — ChrisM @ 2:30 am

The Eyre Affair – Jasper Fforde

This is the first in a series of 4 novels – The Eyre Affair, Lost in a Good Book, The Well of Lost Plots & Something Rotten.
The main character is a woman called Thursday Next (I better go and check that, I’ve read a few books since this one).
She ends up finding a portal between the so called ‘real’ world, and a universe/alternative reality inhabited by characters from novels in the ‘real world’.
Mum & John might like this book, as in the real world of The Eyre Affair, Wales is a fully independent state! The other main things that jumps out from my memories of this book is Thursday’s pet – a dodo! There are a lot of literary references in this novel, and although you’ll still enjoy this book without knowledge of past masters of English Literature, it certainly enhances your experience if you can get some of the in-jokes.
Right thats enough for now, more on the other three books in this series tomorrow 🙂

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May 06 2007

Potato Planting & PC Predicaments

Category: Personal — ChrisM @ 8:27 pm

Today we popped over to the in laws, and had a nice meal. I had burgers for the second day in a row, so I’m happy. Although I had to return home a little earlier than usual, more details in a sec, we managed to fit in a little planting of potatoes in the back garden, which went surprisingly well. It now appears my major weakness, in horticultural terms, is just turning the soil over, prior to the planting phase.
Anyway, we’re now back at home, and I’m communicating with ChrisD who is (aside from a lazy git for still not writing a short entry on his visit to Kazakhstan last year & hopefully coming later this year) at Mum & Johns, trying to sort their two PCs. John and I have managed to sort a small amount of issues over Messenger, but some things require a little familiarity with PCs, and I can work wonders remotely, but not miracles :-P. I’m sure John will forgive me when he reads this.

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May 04 2007

I, Robot

Category: Books — ChrisM @ 2:22 am

I, Robot – Isaac Asimov

OK, so I’ve temporarily skipped 4 of Dave Barry’s books. I’m not sure if you will have felt the same, but I was beginning to feel like a robot typing out similar reviews there.
Which leads us oh soooooo smoothly in to this review – I, Robot.
Sorry, I’ll try to keep tedious links like that down to a minimum in the future…

If you have ever seen a film or TV series that featured modern robots, there will almost have certainly been an implied, or in some cases, direct, reference to “Asimov’s Laws”. The idea that anything so powerful as a robot should be ‘morally’ constrained is a strong theme, and has been analysed and used in fiction repeatedly.
The ‘book’ is actually a collection of 9 or 10 short stories, with a basic framework woven around them (similar to the approach taken by Lois McMaster Bujold in her book ‘Borders Of Infinity’). Although this connecting back story can feel a little contrived at times, you soon forget it when you delve into the short stories themselves.
The idea that robots should have deep programming embedded in them, to ensure human safety, and the potential conflicts that can arise may not be seen as anything new by younger readers of I. Asimov’s novels. They would be wise to remember that not only did his work pre-date nearly 99% of similar works of fiction, but also that at the time, ‘robots’ as we think of them now did not even exist in reality.
There is an obvious link to the Will Smith film of the same name, and although the settings and fine details are worlds apart – quite literally, I personally feel that some of the questions bought up by Asimov in the book were similarly put in front of viewers of the film. At the end of the day, people who watch Will Smith films aren’t automatically likely to pick up an Asimov book without some reason, so any introductions to his literature, that the Hollywood film may have started, can be viewed as a positive effect, IMHO.

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May 01 2007

Just Found This Photo…

Category: Dasha&Kittens,Pictures — ChrisM @ 5:06 pm

of Dasha from a couple of years ago…

Dasha Yawning Or Hissing

So, what do you think Karra and Muska’s mum is actually doing here – yawning or hissing?

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Apr 27 2007

Blind Cricket

Category: Personal — ChrisM @ 2:01 pm

Cricket for Blind and Partially Sighted People has been played since the 40s in England & Wales.
The sport offers solidarity and a chance to contest on equal terms for blind and partially sighted people.

All players are registered blind or partially sighted. Out of the 11 players, a minimum of 4 must be totally blind.

British Blind Sport are responsible for running the England Blind Cricket team who have represented the England and Wales Cricket Board in two Blind Cricket World Cups. The team have toured Australia, Sri Lanka and the West Indies, as well as playing in two world cups in India and hosting Pakistan and Australia.

England won the first Blind Cricket Ashes in 2004 and since then the England Blind Cricket team have won both series they’ve played, away to both the West Indies and Sri Lanka.

The main difference between standard Cricket and Blind Cricket is the ball. A size three football is used in UK Blind Cricket to help the partially sighted players to see it and it is filled with a quantity of ball bearings to allow the totally blind players to hear it. The MCC Laws of Cricket have also been adapted in other ways in an attempt to allow blind and partially sighted people to compete on equal terms. The major variations are as follows:

    The wicket is larger, making it easier for the partially sighted players to see and easier for a Batsman or Bowler to touch for the purpose of orientatation.

    The ball must pitch at least twice before the crease of a totally blind Batsman but must not be rolling.

    The ball must pitch at least once before the crease of a partially sighted Batsman.

    A totally blind Batsman is given one chance before being given out LBW and cannot be stumped.

    The Bowler must ask the Batsman if he is ready before beginning his run up and shout “play” as he releases the ball.

    A totally blind Fielder can make a catch after the ball has bounced once.

Because of the nationwide and international scope of this sport BBS are always looking for new sponsors to help support the work of the Cricket Committee and provide opportunity and encouragement to young visually impaired cricketers. Volunteer Umpires and Scorers are always welcome. If you’d like to get involved as a sponsor Click Here

PS For any incredibly cynical people out there, NO, this isn’t a sponsored post, I just saw a clip on cricket for blind and partially sighted people on the news, and wanted to give them a little link-love on my blog.

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Apr 27 2007

Diplomatic Immunity

Category: Books — ChrisM @ 10:32 am

Diplomatic Immunity – Lois McMaster Bujold

Returning to the traditional novel format, Lois finally bowed to fan-pressure. (OK, no proof of that, to be honest, but I know people were asking her if they’d return) The Quaddies return :> (See the Falling Free review)

Miles and his wife go on their honeymoon, whilst their babies are approaching full term in their uterine replicators. (The same system that enabled Miles to be born after the attack on his mother and father). When Miles and Ekaterin are returning home, his friend the Emperor dispatches Miles to sort a problem with the Quaddies.

Not only does he have to use all his mental faculties to try and sort out the initial incident, but another conflict is brewing, both on the inter-stellar scale, but also domestically – if he isn’t back home before his children are ‘born’ his mum & wife will have his guts for garters.

That marks the end of my Vorkosigan Saga book reviews, we have 3 more offerings from the same author to come, but these are based in a different time and universe.

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Apr 24 2007

System Specifications

Category: Personal — ChrisM @ 4:14 pm

When describing technical issues, I’m often called upon to supply the specifications of my IT equipment.
This post has been put together so I can easily refer people to the pertinent information…

System Specifications – PC

Intel D945 PVS Motherboard with 10/01/07 BIOS
Intel P4 660 3.6 GHz CPU
2 Gb RAM (2 X 1Gb 667MHz DDR2)
Asus 7900GT – PCIe x16 256Mb Grfx card – on Forceware 97.73
BenQ FP91V 19″ , Subini S-6811T 8″ & Sony KDL 40W2000 40″

NoName 550 Watt Twin Fan PSU
APC ES 525 Uninterruptable Power Supply – battery knackered
other UPS must update details here
Innovision EIO AP1680 PCI ATA133 RAID Controller (ITE IT8211 based)
Seagate Barracuda ST3320620AS 320Gb 7200rpm 16Mb Cache SATAII
Seagate Barracuda ST3160023A 160Gb 7200 rpm 8Mb Cache PATA-100
Maxtor DiamondMax Plus8 40 Gb PATA-133
Buffalo External 80Gb PATA/USB
WD External 250Gb PATA/USB
2 x Lite-On SHW-16H5S DVD-RR
EIO USB2 & Firewire PCI card

NetGear router – UPDATE
SafeCom IC+ 56K Ext. Modem (SEMT-5600)
TDK Bluetooth v1.2 Adapter (TRBLU03)

Logitech USB Cordless Trackman Trackball
Genius Keyboard – KKB-2050HS
XFX Executioner Dual Impact USB Gamepad (PSX-like force feedback controller)
Logitech Formula Force GP Force Feedback Steering Wheel & Pedals

Sony Ericssion K700i (used as a Bluetooth Remote Control/Phone for UK SIM card)
PC Line PC-100 TV Card – TV tuner/RCA/S-Video/InfraRed input (Based on Phillips 7134 chipset)
Genius VideoCAM Look WebCam
Canon DC080W (3Mp Digital Camera)
Microsoft Fingerprint Reader (Model 1033)
HP 1513 MFD
Various USB Thumbdrives

Redundant Spares
SafeCom SWAMR-54108 ADSL Modem/Router/AP – Now with Mother-in-law
D-Link 604T ADSL Modem/Router/AP – Now with Mum
Origo ASU-8000 USB ADSL modem
D-Link DWL-G122 USB2 Wi-Fi 802.11g Dongle
D-Link DGE-528T 1GBps PCI LAN Card
SafeCom USB 11Mbps WLAN Dongle – Now with brother
Nisis DV Cam 2 (Rev.1) – Photo, Video & Webcam

Software & Services Used :
Win XP Pro SP2 – All updates applied
No-Ip (Dynamic IP pointing)
TightVNC/WinVNC
ShoutCast
WebCamXP

System Specifications – PDA/PPC

iPaq 2210
240×320 Display
Intel PXA255 CPU
64Mb RAM
OS – Windows 2003 Mobile Edition (WinCE 4.20)
1Gb SD Card
11Mbps CF Wireless Card
GPS – 16 Sat
Bluetooth
Broken D-Pad – 4 hardware buttons re-assigned to navigational duties

System Specifications – SmartPhone

Orange SPV C550 (HTC Hurricane rebadged by Orange UK)
OS – Windows Mobile 2003 for Smartphones (2nd Edition)
GSM & GPRS, triband 900/1800/1900 MHz
2.2 inch screen 240×320 pixels TFT transflective LCD, 64k colours
Camera 1.3 Mp
TI OMAP 750 Processor
64Mb ROM, 32Mb RAM
2 Gb Mini-SD Card
GPS – 16 Satellite
TomTom Mobile5, Battery Monitor, CellTrack, TCPMP, SmartVNC, GPRS Traffic Monitor, Smurf, Doom, GNUBoy, PicoDrive, NES Emulator, Worms World Party

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Apr 12 2007

Smart Arse Exam Answers

Category: Pictures — ChrisM @ 12:41 pm

Full credit goes to Nick (my brother) for finding, and passing on, the following pictures. (Thanks to Mum for passing it on to us)

They all appear to have been written by someone who either doesn’t know the answers, or possibly couldn’t care.
Click the link below to see the pictures.
Continue reading “Smart Arse Exam Answers”

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Apr 12 2007

John Needs A Poke

Category: Personal,Pictures — ChrisM @ 10:02 am

It has been almost 3 months since John has posted a new entry at his blog.
It could be because he recently acquired a new car.
OK, I say a car, but to the average UK resident, its a behemoth. Whilst my American readers may well look at it and think, OK it is a motorhome, so what… in Britain (more specifically, Wales, with its narrow twisty country lanes) this vehicle is massive.
John’s New Motor
I’ve been reliably informed (HI MUM :>) that they now have a little Smart car as well, to tow behind the motorhome.
They are both in France right now I think, unless they’ve already returned, so I’m sure it won’t be too long before we get to read more about their trip on his blog.

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