Friday, September 24, 2004
So we're now well on the way into autumn—cycling into work this morning, I could feel my fingers starting to go numb! I happened to notice, looking at the BBC weather site, that the day was still longer than the night, even though it was supposed to be the equinox. In fact, night won't become longer than day till Sunday. What the...! In an attempt to resolve this burning issue (almost as burning as the correct spelling of porridge), I found this very useful page on the Greenwich Royal Observatory site. It seems that the equinox is actually just the point in the year when day and night are of equal length at most locations around the world (or, rather, I suppose, the mean location, whatever that might be—downtown Chicago? Fallujah?). At football yesterday Ewan was trying to remember what the three types of sunrise/sunset were. Well, Greenwich RO to the rescue again here.
What else? I've bitten the bullet and ordered a new motherboard from Dabs. God knows when I'll get time to put it in (what with all the palaver of backing up both HDD, reinstalling two or possibly three OSes, and getting the triple boot system working again...) Still, if it all works we'll be able to play TheSims2. I hope it's worth it!
A bit more kitchen fitting this weekend. And the garden needs some attention too. L's ordering a load of flowers to be planted out soon. :)
At work I've been going through various php pages I've created recently, checking them for HTML 4.01 validity, using W3C's validator. Reckon it's time I did a major overhaul of my personal pages too...
Oh, and I found this interesting article on Churchill's involvement in the creation of the Jewish state in Palestine.
What else? I've bitten the bullet and ordered a new motherboard from Dabs. God knows when I'll get time to put it in (what with all the palaver of backing up both HDD, reinstalling two or possibly three OSes, and getting the triple boot system working again...) Still, if it all works we'll be able to play TheSims2. I hope it's worth it!
A bit more kitchen fitting this weekend. And the garden needs some attention too. L's ordering a load of flowers to be planted out soon. :)
At work I've been going through various php pages I've created recently, checking them for HTML 4.01 validity, using W3C's validator. Reckon it's time I did a major overhaul of my personal pages too...
Oh, and I found this interesting article on Churchill's involvement in the creation of the Jewish state in Palestine.
Tuesday, September 21, 2004
Back again after a week spent mostly in the house, surrounded by tools and piles of sawdust.
The kitchen installation was a catalogue of disasters, though it's nearly all sorted now. For starters MFI phoned on Saturday (3 days before the expected delivery date of Tuesday 14th) to say that they didn't have all the bits in their warehouse and could we reschedule for 2nd October. We said no way, so they then promised that they'd send everything barring the drawer fronts and a few unit doors as promised on Tuesday. Tuesday came and went with no delivery (but much phoning by us and promises of an evening delivery by them, prompting us to cancel my birthday dinner). Wednesday—no delivery, but a promise of Thursday mid-morning. Thursday—well, I suppose 12:45 counts as mid-morning if you get up at 10... Thankfully my dad was able to stay on an extra day, but we nearly killed ourselves trying to get as much done as possible before his departure on Friday afternoon. Just the last little bits to tidy up now. I did most of the work on the plinths last night, and the tiles are still to be done. The week has left me with numerous small scars and a pain in my shoulder that we suspect is a torn muscle. It's been worth it, though—the new kitchen's looking lovely!
We went to a new Thai restaurant called 'Krua Thai' on Wednesday. The food was formidable, and I'm definitely planning to go again.
Interesting BBC article on language evolution in action (Nicaraguan sign language).
The kitchen installation was a catalogue of disasters, though it's nearly all sorted now. For starters MFI phoned on Saturday (3 days before the expected delivery date of Tuesday 14th) to say that they didn't have all the bits in their warehouse and could we reschedule for 2nd October. We said no way, so they then promised that they'd send everything barring the drawer fronts and a few unit doors as promised on Tuesday. Tuesday came and went with no delivery (but much phoning by us and promises of an evening delivery by them, prompting us to cancel my birthday dinner). Wednesday—no delivery, but a promise of Thursday mid-morning. Thursday—well, I suppose 12:45 counts as mid-morning if you get up at 10... Thankfully my dad was able to stay on an extra day, but we nearly killed ourselves trying to get as much done as possible before his departure on Friday afternoon. Just the last little bits to tidy up now. I did most of the work on the plinths last night, and the tiles are still to be done. The week has left me with numerous small scars and a pain in my shoulder that we suspect is a torn muscle. It's been worth it, though—the new kitchen's looking lovely!
We went to a new Thai restaurant called 'Krua Thai' on Wednesday. The food was formidable, and I'm definitely planning to go again.
Interesting BBC article on language evolution in action (Nicaraguan sign language).
Friday, September 10, 2004
Evil Genius, released at the end of the month, looks pretty, urm, wicked. I loved Dungeon Keeper—games that give you the opportunity to build functioning buildings really appeal to me. TheSims and SimCity are a bit like that, but don't quite approach the excitement in Dungeon Keeper of constructing an intricately layered series of traps (rolling boulders were my speciality).
The new graphics card arrived yesterday. Pretty much as soon as I'd wiped the sweat from my brow after getting home, I whipped out the old card, put in the new one, and... same problem. Grr. I find it hard to believe that an Asus graphics card won't work with an Asus motherboard (despite it meeting all the specifications), and there's no mention of it anywhere on their website! I've sent a message to their support people, but I don't hold out much hope of getting a useful response. So, do I give up and send the card to my mum, or do I buy a newer motherboard with 8x AGP? A new motherboard would actually be a lot cheaper than I'd expected (about £60 all in), but would most likely necessitate a complete reinstall of Windows...
Apart from that I had a lovely evening. We went to B&Q and Homebase in search of laminate flooring for the kitchen, decided it was too pricey, and eventually got some rich red vinyl tiles from Homebase. Someone must have input the wrong price in their product database, because we came away with 6 packs for £14 instead of £42. Result! When we got back L cooked my favourite meal, pasta with butternut squash, as an early birthday treat (the oven won't be usable on Tuesday), and we ate while watching the first in Ray Mears' new series. He is indeed a god!
The new graphics card arrived yesterday. Pretty much as soon as I'd wiped the sweat from my brow after getting home, I whipped out the old card, put in the new one, and... same problem. Grr. I find it hard to believe that an Asus graphics card won't work with an Asus motherboard (despite it meeting all the specifications), and there's no mention of it anywhere on their website! I've sent a message to their support people, but I don't hold out much hope of getting a useful response. So, do I give up and send the card to my mum, or do I buy a newer motherboard with 8x AGP? A new motherboard would actually be a lot cheaper than I'd expected (about £60 all in), but would most likely necessitate a complete reinstall of Windows...
Apart from that I had a lovely evening. We went to B&Q and Homebase in search of laminate flooring for the kitchen, decided it was too pricey, and eventually got some rich red vinyl tiles from Homebase. Someone must have input the wrong price in their product database, because we came away with 6 packs for £14 instead of £42. Result! When we got back L cooked my favourite meal, pasta with butternut squash, as an early birthday treat (the oven won't be usable on Tuesday), and we ate while watching the first in Ray Mears' new series. He is indeed a god!
Wednesday, September 08, 2004
Feeling much better now. Wonderful what a little scrap of paper with a list on it can do!
Only 2.5 day now before my holiday begins. Dad's coming on Sunday, but work on the new kitchen will start Saturday afternoon, if all goes according to plan. Saturday morning will be busy: driving lesson, skip arriving, and men arriving to take away the huge TV I've been renting since Christmas. Kitchen units should arrive on Tuesday, specially for my birthday!
A pack of course books arrived from the OU yesterday. All very nicely presented, and well organised, which is reassuring.
After a lot of research into the subject of graphics card compatibility with my Asus P4S333 motherboard, I decided that the most important factor seemed to be the manufacturer of the graphics card, and not the chipset itself. Asus has a reputation for reliability, and since the motherboard is made by them, I reckoned it was probably a fair assumption that a card manufactured by them would play nicely. I've gone for a Radeon 9600SE 128MB. If that doesn't work, then I'm giving up for now, and I'll just send the new Radeon to my mum.
I've found this very interesting analysis of Russia's problems in the Caucasus.
Here's a sunrise/sunset calculator courtesy of the US Navy (boo hiss!). You fill in the longitude and latitude of the place you're interested in (Cambridge is 52d 20m N, 0d 5m E). It also gives times for twilight and moonrise/moonset.
Only 2.5 day now before my holiday begins. Dad's coming on Sunday, but work on the new kitchen will start Saturday afternoon, if all goes according to plan. Saturday morning will be busy: driving lesson, skip arriving, and men arriving to take away the huge TV I've been renting since Christmas. Kitchen units should arrive on Tuesday, specially for my birthday!
A pack of course books arrived from the OU yesterday. All very nicely presented, and well organised, which is reassuring.
After a lot of research into the subject of graphics card compatibility with my Asus P4S333 motherboard, I decided that the most important factor seemed to be the manufacturer of the graphics card, and not the chipset itself. Asus has a reputation for reliability, and since the motherboard is made by them, I reckoned it was probably a fair assumption that a card manufactured by them would play nicely. I've gone for a Radeon 9600SE 128MB. If that doesn't work, then I'm giving up for now, and I'll just send the new Radeon to my mum.
I've found this very interesting analysis of Russia's problems in the Caucasus.
Here's a sunrise/sunset calculator courtesy of the US Navy (boo hiss!). You fill in the longitude and latitude of the place you're interested in (Cambridge is 52d 20m N, 0d 5m E). It also gives times for twilight and moonrise/moonset.
Thursday, September 02, 2004
A stressful week for no very good reason. I'm not very good at distinguishing between the important 'things to do', and the
non-important ones, which means that when I have lots of stuff going on I need to start making lists and plans. I haven't done this for a while, so I've now got a traffic jam of things to remember piling up in my head. When I started writing this paragraph I didn't have a solution to my stressed feelings, but now I have. Huzzah! I'll start my list over lunch.
Still no word from Dabs. Kitchen fitting week is rapidly approaching, and in preparation we've been limbering up with a bit of light DIY (new shelves in the bathroom, and new curtain rail and curtains in the spare room). Going to stay with friends of L's this weekend. Should be nice. Forecast is good (which reminds me that I haven't updated my weather blog for a few days—another thing for the list). Last football game of the summer tonight, after which I'll have to cycle home, shower and change, then cycle back into town to meet the rest of our regular players for a curry. I'll be pretty knackered I reckon! Fortunately L's going to drive me and the bike back afterwards.
The usual comedy links:
non-important ones, which means that when I have lots of stuff going on I need to start making lists and plans. I haven't done this for a while, so I've now got a traffic jam of things to remember piling up in my head. When I started writing this paragraph I didn't have a solution to my stressed feelings, but now I have. Huzzah! I'll start my list over lunch.
Still no word from Dabs. Kitchen fitting week is rapidly approaching, and in preparation we've been limbering up with a bit of light DIY (new shelves in the bathroom, and new curtain rail and curtains in the spare room). Going to stay with friends of L's this weekend. Should be nice. Forecast is good (which reminds me that I haven't updated my weather blog for a few days—another thing for the list). Last football game of the summer tonight, after which I'll have to cycle home, shower and change, then cycle back into town to meet the rest of our regular players for a curry. I'll be pretty knackered I reckon! Fortunately L's going to drive me and the bike back afterwards.
The usual comedy links:
- Andean Spectacled Bear in Berlin zoo escape bid
- Moore's Law still holds true
- More interesting results from Perception Lab
