Apparently it’s traditional at this event for the delegates to sing, but really, Colin Powell should know better (watch the video clip).
July 2004
5th July 2004
Spam subject lines you’d rather not see
R_hampton it drips outta them
I need to get Gemini‘s Bayesian filter working.
6th July 2004
Oh
I got a letter from my old school the other day, advertising Merchants Connected, a new site where ex-pupils (I refuse to use the naff term "old Crosbeian") can log in and communicate with each other.
I’ve signed up and had a quick look round. There’s sections to enter personal details and such like, you get a free mailbox for people to get in touch and you can search for other ex-pupils and say, "hello!". It’s interesting enough, but surely anyone who wanted to do this sort of thing would already be using Friends Reunited?
7th July 2004
Adventures in Public Transport, Part XII
Reading on Merseyrail‘s web site that Northern Line services were subject to severe delay and cancellation, it was with a certain sense of trepidation that I walked into Moorfields station.
As it turned out, I needn’t have worried, because although services to Southport, Ormskirk and Kirkby were severely disrupted, the Hunts Cross service I wanted was running just 3 minutes late. Hurrah for problems that affect everyone except me (and I got to see the rarely used Northern Line bidirectional signalling put into action, but… that’s just a railway thing).
14th July 2004
When we was fab
Last night I found the CD-ROM with the entire FABland archive on it. I decided to browse through it for old times sake. Ah, the joys of Ask Rob, News Widget and Sun & Cloud, all of which I believed were the funniest things ever when I wrote them. Now, though, they just seem really bad, like an elaborate 4-year-long in-joke which nobody else gets.
(I also committed the heinous crime of using HTML tables for layout! Unforgivable!)
15th July 2004
Everything is OK
I still use RISC OS a lot, because Zap stomps all over any equivalent that’s available for Windows. The HoTMeaL mode, in particular, is great for HTML editing (you’re looking at a product of it, but don’t let that put you off).
Draw is excellent too, and you get it for free with the OS! How cool is that?!
19th July 2004
News Flash
The proposed "Fourth Grace" for the Liverpool waterfront has been axed — boring building to be erected in its place.
23rd July 2004
#include <stdio.h>
Warning! Incomprehensible computer ravings follow…
I’ve spent the last few days playing about with GCC. Me and C have not got along well in the past (preferring the safe environs of BBC BASIC), but for some reason it’s all clicked into place now, and I’m churning out !RunImage files without screaming at the compiler for throwing up all sorts of nitpicky errors (you need a semicolon at the end of every line?).
Tonight I started messing around with PHP scripts, and successfully wrote a server-side script to download and parse an RSS feed hosted on a remote site. Which sounds really boring, but there’s all sorts of exciting things I can do with that on this site.
25th July 2004
The best thing on TV right now…
…is tucked away in an obscure slot on CNN International. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart: Global Edition is a weekly compilation of comedy bits from a US late night comedy show. This means we only get to see 25% of the good stuff, but luckily there are mounds of video clips available on the official site to keep me going.
Browse them for yourself, but here are some faves of mine (RealPlayer or Windows Media needed):-
28th July 2004
Oh, dear God
Central Trains installs television screens on trains:
A rail operator is giving passengers the chance to watch what they claim is the UK’s first on-board television service.
Please keep these away from Merseyrail! If I want entertainment I’ll bring a Walkman, or watch a guard throw a load of scallies off for not having tickets. Don’t force ‘entertainment’ on peope who are content to just sit and look out the window.
29th July 2004
You may have seen this already
A rather excellent spoof of the government’s patronising leaflets.
Needless to say, the powers that be are not pleased.