Sunday, April 25, 2004
Been a good week. Tried to squeeze in as much Crusader Kings as poss, but haven't yet had a chance to do the kind of 12-hour blowout I really need (that, I think, will have to wait till the weekend after next, when Leila's away in Durham—Ssh! Don't tell her!). I'm sure you'll all be pleased to hear that the succession passed smoothly to my son, Cadfan, who is busily marrying his way into the ruling bloodlines of various obscure bits of Europe (well, a suburb of Novgorod, a small Swedish island, and Sussex so far).
As for my dad's computer, the case from Dabs was badly dented, so I had to send it back, and am praying that they won't make a fuss about refunding my money. I ordered a replacement, and the various bits to go with it, and that's all arrived, so I'm going to put it together today. To the Shuttle case and its SiS motherboard, I'll add a Celeron processor (2.6 GHz), 256MB Kingston Value RAM (2700), a 40GB Maxtor HDD (ATA 133), a CD-RW and floppy (both with silver bezels to match the look of the Shuttle case). I've got a no longer in use Win98SE installation CD, so I'll install that, and I've bought an upgrade to XP Home. That leaves me with just over £100 to spend on software (he's already got a monitor, keyboard, and mouse). He only really uses a computer for Internet access, email, and word processing, so I'll get him McAfee anti-virus (£25), stick my own Word97 on there and upgrade to Word 2003 (£90), and for email I'll download Mozilla Thunderbird.
These links have been piling up:
As for my dad's computer, the case from Dabs was badly dented, so I had to send it back, and am praying that they won't make a fuss about refunding my money. I ordered a replacement, and the various bits to go with it, and that's all arrived, so I'm going to put it together today. To the Shuttle case and its SiS motherboard, I'll add a Celeron processor (2.6 GHz), 256MB Kingston Value RAM (2700), a 40GB Maxtor HDD (ATA 133), a CD-RW and floppy (both with silver bezels to match the look of the Shuttle case). I've got a no longer in use Win98SE installation CD, so I'll install that, and I've bought an upgrade to XP Home. That leaves me with just over £100 to spend on software (he's already got a monitor, keyboard, and mouse). He only really uses a computer for Internet access, email, and word processing, so I'll get him McAfee anti-virus (£25), stick my own Word97 on there and upgrade to Word 2003 (£90), and for email I'll download Mozilla Thunderbird.
These links have been piling up:
- A poem about the wombat (thanks Al).
- An app for XP that simulates the Mac OSX dock. Kind of tempted, but don't know if it'll really improve my user experience...
- An article on new research into links between autism and levels of fœtal testosterone—I'm very interested in autism (and the whole spectrum of related behaviours).
Friday, April 16, 2004
Today is soooooooo cool! Not one, but two exciting things in the post this morning: our tickets to see the Red Hot Chilli Peppers in June, and Crusader Kings (a week ahead of the official release!) 
Then we went to pick up the case for my dad's new computer from the ParcelForce depot. Judy's getting him a new machine for his birthday, and I'm building it. Basically my task is to aim for cheap and bombproof. I haven't decided on the exact spec yet, but I've quoted approx. £500, and I've started with a Shuttle case (the SS51G) because they look cute. Also made a start on the gardening: weeded patio, mowed lawn, hacked back the rampant rosemary. Not had much chance to play CK, because Leila's been needing the computer. Made a start, though—I'm going for the ultra-low stress approach, playing as Guillaume, Count of Gwent. Hardly a big hitter on the international scene, but I'm enjoying the chance to get used to the game mechanics slowly. First thing was to get the poor bugger married (I mean, how're you supposed to found a great (or even mediocre) dynasty when you're 36 and unmarried?!)... I pray that they're both fertile—be a right pain otherwise. Happy, happy, happy!
Not such a great day for Leila, though. Her car's dying on her, and she could really do without having to buy a new car right now...
Then we went to pick up the case for my dad's new computer from the ParcelForce depot. Judy's getting him a new machine for his birthday, and I'm building it. Basically my task is to aim for cheap and bombproof. I haven't decided on the exact spec yet, but I've quoted approx. £500, and I've started with a Shuttle case (the SS51G) because they look cute. Also made a start on the gardening: weeded patio, mowed lawn, hacked back the rampant rosemary. Not had much chance to play CK, because Leila's been needing the computer. Made a start, though—I'm going for the ultra-low stress approach, playing as Guillaume, Count of Gwent. Hardly a big hitter on the international scene, but I'm enjoying the chance to get used to the game mechanics slowly. First thing was to get the poor bugger married (I mean, how're you supposed to found a great (or even mediocre) dynasty when you're 36 and unmarried?!)... I pray that they're both fertile—be a right pain otherwise. Happy, happy, happy!
Not such a great day for Leila, though. Her car's dying on her, and she could really do without having to buy a new car right now...
Wednesday, April 14, 2004
Hello. I'm in Durham, but back in Cam tomorrow. First batch of stuff arriving soon (probably) for my dad's computer. More tomorrow.
Monday, April 05, 2004
Yay! Just caught up with all the Weebl 'n' Bob I've been missing. Three whole episodes... Disgraceful behayvyour! Use the little thingy at the bottom of the Glirarium to catch up with the ovoid wonders.
I love my new house, and I am gradually making it more Jon like. Put up shelves in the office yesterday, and on Saturday we bought a peg bag from B&Q. Peg bags are very important to me. (And, in case you're wondering, we didn't just buy a peg bag.) Hey, with all these references to peg bags, I wonder whether the Google ads above will link to online shops specialising in peg bags?! I now have a new pair of Jeans too! Blue!!! (From Gap—not B&Q...)
Blimey. Too many things to write about. Where was I? Oh, yes. Leila's challenged me to tell the world (or, rather, the infinitesimally small part of it that constitutes my readership) what I'd choose if I could be the best at one thing. I've always admired people with the gift of the gab, and I think I'd love to be one of those people that everyone wants to listen to. I reckon it would be really useful as well as enjoyable.
Did have a url for you, dear readers, but Cambridge email is down, so I can't get it. Ah. Here it is. I have to say, much as I love Linux, that his points are valid. Something weird's gone wrong with my installation of Mandrake 9.2, despite the fact that i've hardly touched it. Haven't had a chance to inspect the situation properly yet, but I wasn't impressed... It's not a big deal for me, because it's only a hobby installation, but if I were a normal not very IT-literate user, using it for normal everyday stuff, I'd be screwed.
Mind you, XP's not quite all it could either: I'm having a weird issue with the Lexmark printer here, wherein the hardware wizard detects it as new hardware at every bootup if it's turned on, gives me an error message about not being able to find a file (which it helpfully doesn't name for me), and then redetects the hardware in an endless loop (until I shutdown or uninstall what it's partially installed). It's not insurmountable (I can make the printer work, and can avoid the hardware wizard loop, by making sure it's switched off when I boot up), but it pisses me off, and I want to fix it. Any ideas, dear friends?
I love my new house, and I am gradually making it more Jon like. Put up shelves in the office yesterday, and on Saturday we bought a peg bag from B&Q. Peg bags are very important to me. (And, in case you're wondering, we didn't just buy a peg bag.) Hey, with all these references to peg bags, I wonder whether the Google ads above will link to online shops specialising in peg bags?! I now have a new pair of Jeans too! Blue!!! (From Gap—not B&Q...)
Blimey. Too many things to write about. Where was I? Oh, yes. Leila's challenged me to tell the world (or, rather, the infinitesimally small part of it that constitutes my readership) what I'd choose if I could be the best at one thing. I've always admired people with the gift of the gab, and I think I'd love to be one of those people that everyone wants to listen to. I reckon it would be really useful as well as enjoyable.
Did have a url for you, dear readers, but Cambridge email is down, so I can't get it. Ah. Here it is. I have to say, much as I love Linux, that his points are valid. Something weird's gone wrong with my installation of Mandrake 9.2, despite the fact that i've hardly touched it. Haven't had a chance to inspect the situation properly yet, but I wasn't impressed... It's not a big deal for me, because it's only a hobby installation, but if I were a normal not very IT-literate user, using it for normal everyday stuff, I'd be screwed.
Mind you, XP's not quite all it could either: I'm having a weird issue with the Lexmark printer here, wherein the hardware wizard detects it as new hardware at every bootup if it's turned on, gives me an error message about not being able to find a file (which it helpfully doesn't name for me), and then redetects the hardware in an endless loop (until I shutdown or uninstall what it's partially installed). It's not insurmountable (I can make the printer work, and can avoid the hardware wizard loop, by making sure it's switched off when I boot up), but it pisses me off, and I want to fix it. Any ideas, dear friends?
Thursday, April 01, 2004
Bloimey! Maybe I'm clairvoyant, or perhaps just in touch with my inner caveman, but that dream I had on the 19th, with the giant wombat—well it seems to have come true! According to this report, a fresh (i.e. not fossilised) giant wombat pelvis has been discovered on Bodmin Moor. Some nutter's even speculating that a relict population of the critters might be behind some of the 'Beast of Bodmin' sightings... Not quite sure how anyone could mistake a fluffy creature with an enormous arse for an elegant creature like a puma!
