Impressions of Cyprus Part 2

We were familiar with the streets of Corfu Town and the smaller town our friends used to live in; so much so that I could close my eyes and navigate to any of the locations we used to go to. It was a place where I was definitely in my comfort zone.

Cyprus was an unknown, even after studying maps and gudie books before coming out I was none the wiser. Take the scale for instance, in Corfu I could tell you the time it would take me to get to somewhere but out here, goodness knows. Now, I can almost hear you saying but that's the same for everyone who visits a new place; to that I would say yes and perhaps I am not doing justice to the unease I felt at going to these new places, having to get familiar with the bus routes, etc.

Obstensibly we had come to see our friends and anything else was a bonus. For instance, we are staying just 2 minutes walk from what is called a supermarket out here, not your out of town conglomerate but say a Spar shop in the UK or one of those 9-till-late stores in the US, (I forget the generic name for them), they seem to be every 500 metres, bonus; next to that is a bar, a bonus, though drinks bought from the store to be drunk at home are more economical and I am on something of an economy drive.

I went in to the supermarket on the first full day here and picked up some postcards. Before I had managed to no more than start to utter gramatossima (stamps) the Cypriot lady asked, in perfectly good English, whether I would like stamps for them. I had been told by several friends that on Cyprus a majority of people spoke very good English, but I still went around expecting to find a lot of people who would rather speak Greek; not so, I found a lot of people who would tolerantly listen to my efforts and then answer in extrememly good English, a bonus, especially in those circumstances when my most basic grasp of the language faltered over concepts or future/past tenses (often).

We got to learn the streets armed with a map and basically walking them. Orientation started with the old port; this, like arriving by boat in Corfu, led to the tourist area. We found ourselves walking through the old part of the town frequently and this is how we got to know Cabellaros opposite the castle, the caf?/restaurant I have already written about. From there we turned a corner and found ourselves in Agiou Andreiou or St.Andrew Street, a long street that in it's first third, (measured from the old port end), contains many of the types of shops we found between Corfu's port and it's Liston building.

St.Andrew Street runs all the way to the municipal gardens and at the end furthest from the port it meets a sort of skewed crossroads, where the Starbucks, (I have written about in my previous post), exists. Just along past the right hand of Starbucks, as you face it, is the Municipal Gardens.

Note: if you pass by the left of Starbucks you can walk less than 500 metres and the last building on your left, before the road junction, (a roundabout with large fountain in the middle), is the biggest bookshop in Limassol - Kyriakkou Bookshop. The bookshop has a dark tinted door and three windows displaying some books. As you enter the foyer contains magazines, currently Greek on the right and English on the left, hence the need for a tinted door to protect the covers. Be warned, magazines and books in Cyprus are not cheap. You check out charity sales of second books by buying an English language Cypriot newspaper, Cyprus Mail (daily), Cyprus Weekly (every Friday) or Sunday Mail (the Cyprus Mail's sunday paper that comes with a magazine called Seven, that I found contained some interesting articles). They both have online editions. I may have created a bad link as far as previous references to the Mail goes, I can't really check until I get home and go online but the above links should be fine as I just read them from the actual newpapers.

The Municipal Gardens has a zoo in it, but I would not recommend it for a visit, from the little I have seen from the park. On the whole I wouldn't recommend zoos.

Big correction on Starbucks hotspots in corfu

I need to correct an earlier post of mine.

Regarding Starbucks above the Municipal Gardens and Zoo in Limassol.

When I visited this Starbucks I saw signals from a range of wifi sites but could not connect to one and get a splash screen. Later I posted about a piece I saw in the Cyprus Mail giving wifi hotspots across Cyprus; it said you could access the internet in Starbucks across Cyprus with a card that costs ?7 (Cypriot pounds) for 24 hours.

I failed to pick up on this until I revisited the above mentioned Starbucks today. I asked whille I was there and was told that there was also a card that gave 2 hours connection for ?3 (Cypriot pounds). Once I had the card, which is from Logosnet Technologies and comes sealed in a plastic wallet, I scratched off the back which gave the user password, the username was displayed above it.

There is an explanatory leaflet, in Greek and English, that comes with the card; it sets out what needs to be done to connect to the hotspot e.g. having your browser set to accept "Active Scripting". I connected with my Axim and did not have any way of turning this on.

Initially my browser rejected the connection when I tried to connect to a website, expecting to be taken to a splash screen. I then put in www.forthnet.com as a website to visit and this took me to a splash screen for connecting, (I had already told the Axim to connect to the Forthnet signal that I saw). Because Opera had not suceeded in connecting I went through Internet Explorer but, when I tested it later, Opera could also get the splash screen and accept the login.

Connection strength from where we sat, the pillar nearest to the toilets, was five out of five bars on the Axim Today screen and -50 on it's wifi configuration screen. I walked up to the beverage collection point from my seat and the average signal strength was -50 which is very good for a public hotspot, (I've not seen full strength in the UK). Also, I was able to download a photowalking video by Scoble of Thomas Hawk 48Mb without any sign of throttling, unlike the UK.

Reflections on Cyprus Part 1

We came not knowing what we would find, a new experience for us.

Our first site of the island, when we looked out of the plane window, was of a barren spread of land; oh, this will improve we thought, once we're nearer the sea. As we approached the sea we saw the salt plain outside of Larnacca, maybe it would take longer to get to the green part; we ran out of island before this.

As we landed we could almost feel the heat pulsing against the side of the plane. Before they had opened the doors we knew it would be hot, like the time we landed in Athens and they opened the doors, letting in the tail-end of a heatwave.

There was a breeze when the doors opened and this tempered any feelings of heat, plus we were focused on getting to the arrivals hall and spotting our friends. Once we get to baggage reclaim, we would start scanning for a glimpse of our friends. This time we found that you cannot see the people waiting, reps and residents, one sort with little signs held at a height to indicate their level of self esteem; the other with just expectant looks, straining to turn into a smile.

Cyprus Mail

I neglected to include them before but, in recognition of the news source regarding wifi hotspots:

Cyprus Mail website: www.cyprus-mail.com

Email: mail@cyprus-mail.com

Cyprus Wifi Hotspot availability update

I was just sitting, flicking through a copy of today's (Wednesday) Cyprus Mail when I found a couple of technology related pages.

The thing that caught my eye was a corner of the right hand page entitled Wifi Hotspots.

Here are listed a bunch of hotspots quite a few I had not found out about when searching the internet.

With a nod to the Cyprus Mail's WELL wired section I present below the news on hotpsots known in southern Cyrpus.

Centrum Hotel, Pasiktratous 15, Nicosia - FREE
Mondo Caf?, Nicosia - FREE
Le Caf?, Nicosia - NOT KNOWN
Da Capo, Nicosia - FREE
Costa Coffee, Nicosia - FREE
The Flamingo Beach Hotel, Larnaca - FREE
Segafredo Zanetti, Expresso Bar, Paphos - FREE
Chesters bar, Amathoundas Avenue, Limassol - FREE
The Press Lounge Caf?, Nicosia - NOT KNOWN
Starbucks, Island Wide - ?7 24-hour card
Woodstock Pub, Episkopi village, Limassol - FREE
Lounda Hotel, Limassol - ?10 24-hour card
Rocket Diner, Nicosia - FREE
Amathus Hotel, Limassol - FREE

Well, there they are. We passed through Episkopi when visiting Kouriou (or Curium as I've seen it written inguide books). I thought the village looked quite nice but like it even more now. I know the above says Starbucks island wide and eventually I found that there is wifi available at the Starbucks on the road junction just above the Municipal Gardens and Zoo, but I had to buy a card with a set amount of time on it.

The delights of shopping

I know that I am not an fully developed shopaholic. From the way my eyes gloss over when Cathy gets first go at buying something I surmise that my shop-till-I-drop gene is not fully formed, which is better than the careful-with-money one that never even developed.

So there we were wandering around Marks and Spencers in Limassol, very colourful store and worth a visit, if only for the view of the Troodos Mountains from it's coffee shop and air conditioning on a hot day (any day say between April and November for instance); for some reason I couldn't even summon up interest in the lingerie section. Leaving there we strolled back down the main road M & S sort of branch off and came across the Kyriakou Bookstore (or some similar name - apologies to the store). Yet again I found I could not summon the interest to go in, even after glancing through the dark tinted glass of the outer door and seeing loads of magazines, including ones such as the informative Amerian PC Magazine.

A very strange day, I can't say that I am particularly out of sorts, I certainly don't feel unwell. So why the complete apathy? It's an unusual feeling for me, I'll have to keep my eye on it.

Advice on when NOT to use MemMaid

I was doing a quick backup of the SD card in Cathy's Nikon P2 point and shoot, as unfortunately it's wifi connectivity doesn't talk to wifi on this Axim x51v.

While the backup SD card was in the Axim I found things running slowly so ran MemMaid to try to clear it up. What I hadn't taken into account was the fact that the card with Egress stored on it was out of the Axim and MemMaid identified the links to it as therefore dead and removed them.

Egress works if I use File Explorer to locate the executable but it does not appear in the program list. I now have to remind myself, i.e. hunt around in folders on the Axim, how to add a shortcut so it will again be recognised as a program; I feel certain that there is a way to do this.

Balancing the books internet in Cyprus and Chesters addendum

I feel I should write to be fair to Cyprus. I have been going on what I had read, that there isn't broadband access but ISDN, a handful of hotspots and dialup. I saw, yesterday, a sign that said ADSL internet at a cybercafe on the way west out of Limassol. I should have tested the connection speed perhaps, while on the hotspot but I used all my time downloading my RSS feeds.

We sat a table further out from the right hand doors, as you face the bar, not a good idea. We had a direct view into the bar and were maybe an extra 6 feet from the doors but there was no signal.
I got a signal called Raphael, which was from a hotel a good 500+ metres from the bar, coming in at 2 out of 5 bars in strength, but it did not allow connection - it's the competing signal I mentioned in the previous Chesters Bar post.

I went inside at one point and connected immediately but lost the signal as soon as I went out and sat down, I got the same result on 3 occasions. The only way I could then get a connection was for us to move indoors after lunch and have a couple of pineapple juices in there.

This lack of connectivity severely ate into the amount of time that I was connected today. Previously I was connected all through lunch, a good 1.5 hours extra. Be warned sit close to or inside the doors for full connectivity and the left hand doors definitely give access just outside, next to the flat screen order terminal.

I also noticed inside other hi-tech touches, as well as the flat screen order/till points there was a ceiling mounted data projector and recessed screen, also several flat screen televisions, (though none were playing while we were there, just some piped pop music).

Why no pictures?

I have been asked why I have not included any pictures on the blog from Cyprus. Currently I have three options, dialup, GPRS or hotspot, non of which make it simple. Even the seemingly easiest option, that of wifi is complicated. I have written that connecting was straight forward and it is, I grabbed RSS feeds and emails earlier today, but there are dropped connections and possible throttling issues enough that I did not want to try uploading to Zooomr. I am spending time with Cathy and our friends, whose home they are generously sharing with us, so there is little editing time - yes, I've been lazy and taken all photos at 5M pixels (I do not want to find that I forgot to take it back up only after the fact). I will up load photos and link in smaller sizes when we get back in a the next couple of weeks.

Chesters Bar

[This is an entry about Chesters Bar. See the last 5 paragraphs for the geeky bit].

We were warned that nit was a bit of a trek from near the Four Seasons on the outskirts of Limassol to Chesters but the lure was too great. On the way there is an archaeological site that we could visit on the way back, or so we thought.

On catching the bus, no hire car for us (more on that again), I managed to ask the driver for a probably fictitious location, "Do you stop near George's?" Don't ask me where I got the name George's from, I have no idea. We finally settled on the archaeological site just a kilometre or so down the road. I knew that we were heading in the right direction and surmised that we could walk the rest of the way from there.

I will talk more of the site in another post. Having looked around we headed up the road slightly until we could cross and join the paved walkway that runs for kilometres along the the beach. The walk was long, maybe another kilometre and a half before we arrived at a shopping area.

At one point the path, having diverged gradually from the road by several hundred metres, ran out and we began to walk along the beach; slightly worrying was the lack of any sign of a path back to the road. Turning the corner of a bunch of bushes we came across a wide dusty track, between two developments, that enabled us to move back to the road. After another couple hundred metres we came across a shop, where we bought water and I again asked for fictitious directions. More confusingly this time the lady said she thought she knew of a George's and that it lay in totally the opposite end of Lemesos. I explained that the address for the place was 194 Amthousa Avenue. Ah, she said, this was Lordou Amathus and not the address I said. It was at this point that I remembered I had a note of the telephone number of the place we wanted. I could see a very prominent Irish pub opposite where we were and so I called the place and decided to quote this as the landmark nearest us. The moment the phone call was answered and the person said "Hello Chesters I realised that I had been asking for the wrong place. A couple of simple and swift directions, "carry on past the Irish pub on our left, past the traffic lights and it's on the left hand side of the road", was all it took.

A quick way to spot Chesters is to look out for the Hawaii Beach Hotel, it's opposite this 5 star hotel.

First impression of Chester's is it's wood and canvas pagoda like frontage, that shades a bunch of tables. It's quite spacious, both inside and out, which allows the tables to be spread out. The staff were friendly and prices reasonable. The menu is extensive, and available on line Chesters Bar.

Now for the geeky bit, they have FREE wifi. One of only 3 locations in the whole of Cyprus that are free. This avoids complications such as with roaming agreements, for example not all BTOpenzone accounts offer roaming abroad, consequently leaving one open to charges on top of what one already pays for access at home.

Connection was simple, my Axim recognised the Chesters SSID immediately, though there was a competing signal (that won't allow access), I forget it's name and my device only stores the successful connections. The signal is quoted as 802.11g when googled but it stepped down to this Pocket PC's 80211b, as I suspected/hoped it would.

I was able to check my emails and update Egress my RSS reader and enclosure grabber. The only difficulty came on a number of occassions when the signal dropped. I was sitting at a table just outside the left hand door, as you look at the front of Chesters from it's car park. From here the signal strength was four out of five bars on the strength indicator of Hitchhiker. [I find Hitchhiker a useful programme to locate available hotspots (legitimate ones of course), determine their accessibility and connect if possible].

I did wonder if the signal loss was a from people passing the router or a form of throttling. Not having used a connection for 5 days I have quite a few feeds on Egress that needed updating, say 300, each of which can hold up to 75 threads. Also, when I tried to download any podcasts I only kept the signal when concentrating on one at a time. In the end I only managed to download TWIT via Opera. I didn't want to seem a bandwidth hog and abuse what is a generous gesture, so I dropped the idea of grabbing any other podcasts. Getting full emails for those I was interested in, from the couple of k per email I currently download, plus updating my RSS feeds was enough for me.

We had a full blown meal there plus drinks, so I think I recompensed my hosts for their generous hotspot gesture. [We had the Lebanese Meze and, not knowing how filling that was, ordered a Greek salad (horiatiki) to go with it. The food was delicious and would have us going back even without the prospect of the hotspot].

All in all a marvellous trip out, for mind and body.

Starbucking around the universe

For anyone reading this because of the Starbucks reference, the Starbucks at the road junction at the top of the Municipal Gardens does NOT have wifi that this 802.11b Axim can associate with. You can see a Forthnet signal but but connect. There seem to be a number of businesses ground here work locked wifi but by public hotspots.

We caught the bus into Lemesos (Limassol to you), a relatively sedate activity compared to Corfu. Not only was the bus into town relatively uncrowded but the driver opened his just shut door for some latecomers. Things became a little more familiar when someone foreig(German from his accent) tried to use a very large denomination note (more than ?20); needless to say, the driver won the debate.

Finding something to eat was a bit of a trek. Before we had reached an excellent place for a break we had a long trek; it was so far that Cathy had begun to get neck ache from her pouch-to-rucksack backpack. Eventually, by obstinacy/perseverance paid off.

We reached the junction of Anexartisias and Gladstonos and, just west on Gladstonos, we found a xacheoplastorio (not the right spelling I know) called Petit Paris. OK the name isn`t very Cypriot/Greek but one look at it shouted tradition. We went straight in and looked at the desserts on offer, to my delight Galactoborecko was in the first cabinet I looked in.

After a few moments a little chap came out and, amazingly, allowed me to confer in my approximation of Greek. We agreed on two portions of that heavenly dessert. When it came, it was accompanied with the traditional glass of water. In the corner, near one of the entrances, was a small drinks fridge but by other didn of refreshments. I asked if there was any chance of some frappes. Of course the gentleman replied with a very warm smile. While he went in to the back, to make the drinks, another chap came out; he had to bt a brother. Between them we were made most welcome. It was an excellent stop and very refreshing.

From my kitchen to yours...

...nothing but delicious flavours.

I always take a turn as cook when we come out to the Med. The last few years I have grown a little book of easy recipes, you know the sort, short on steps and long on taste. The recipes have come from a range of sources, as I had never found one book that had the range I was looking for.

You've guessed it, I've now found a book; well, two actually, (yes, just like buses you wait ages for one then two come along at once).

First off is the one that we have already cooked from, BBC GoodFood Magazine's 101 One-Pot Dishes (BBC Books ISBN: 0 563 52291 7). I have read one pot books before but this one stands out. I wondered at first if it was the colour photos that lie on the page opposite each recipe or maybe the inconvenience of a book that I can stick in my pocket when going ingredient shopping. [That is the hardest part of cooking for me, getting organised enough to go out and shop ahead for recipes].

After cooking some of the recipes, such as Speedy Salmon and Leeks, which involves salmon cooked on a bed of leeks and tomatoes in a olive oil, mustard, honey and lemon sauce, I knew it was the food that made the book a winner. Each of the things we cooked took a maximum of 4 steps and was ready well in the time stated for the dish; in our case we chose partly according to the time factor, so that we could eat soon after getting home from work.

The second book we have only skimmed through and not cooked from yet. This book was a find as Cathy got it free with She magazine this month, bought ostensibly as airport/plane reading. Real Fast Food (Penguin Books ISBN-10: 978-0-141-02980-1 ISBN-10: 0-141-02980-3) is a book by Nigel Slater, a well known food writer/critic in the UK. Funnily enough, we were properly introduced to his work via his book Toast a couple of years back, while staying with the same friends as now only on a different, Greek island. Toast is a book of reminiscences of his life seem through his experiences with food, being of a similar age it was quite a nostalgia trip for us.

Again the recipes are simple but with a couple of pages of reflection at the start of each section e.g. on Pasta or Fish, or on a particular ingredient e.g. Trout. The style is informative while keeping the recipes clear so that one can get on and cook without having to weed out the author's impressions from within the cooking instructions.

I thoroughly recommend these books to the house.

Early impressions

We had a very relaxing trip out no real hassles, which is unusual for me. (Excel let us check our cases in the day before so we only had to turn up the next day and head straight through security).

The only hitch was when I used a machine to get return tickets from hotel to airport and ended up with a ticket that was for a child and 4 times the amount a child would pay! It took the hotel staff to get the coach driver to concede and let us on board.

Gatwick airport was good, wifi connection was of a good strength so I had plenty to amuse me on the 'net while cathy tried to doze.

Our friends' apartment is spacious and has a view of the sea. We can't help making comparisons with Corfu and the main differences so far are: the barreness of the island, the wide and well maintained roads, left hand driving, the lack of horn wielding/irate Greek drivers and the amount of 'English' goods in the many supermarkets.

Tonight we seek the refuge of the familiar and head for a souvlakia shop to feast on kebabs. I made the joke that I was happy eating anywhere as long as we didn't have to go to a fish and chip or sunday roast establishment; our friends told us that there was a very good fish and chip shop further in to the city and that roast meals were readily available! (Aaaaaggghhhhhh. Exit Phil running, stage left).

It's good to be back and catch up with our friends. It always seems like more than the time apart since we've seen them but then like we've never been separated once we are with them again.

Other pluses while I think of them include, few mosquitoes or insecty things to invade one's room, some good snorlkelling to be had and the possibility of having a tour of the Troodos mountains in a landrover (buses are infrequent and do not tour).

Odd minuses include a lack of broadband (but Corfu didn't have much of that either), some distance to wifi locations (though Chester's bar (with possible free wifi) and a lack of specific bus stations (different companies have different stations in Lemesos).

Morning in Cyprus

We were warned that Sunday night was the local Elvis karaoke night at a nearby hotel. 'That's OK', thought I, 'we'll get off to sleep before it kicks off and it'll just be like a background lull anyway'.

What any of us hadn't been prepared for was the wedding that had occurred earlier in the day. While siitting in the lounge we had heard a load of car horns and, when we looked, saw many cars passing in the distance with their hazard warning lights flashing. It turns out that this was a wedding party. 'A nice way of seeing the couple off on their honeymoon' thinks I.

We had reached the point of drifting into sleep, where sounds blur and begin to recede into the distance; (even the nhigh pitched whine of some form of alarm, somewhere in the far distance. No louder than the whine of a mosquito in the room but of far less consequence.

Out of nowhere the bombardment began. 10 more minutes and I might have started dreaming about living during the blitz. Even louder than the roof tilke shaking thounder of Corfu in lkate summer, the apartment echoed to the bone rattling bangs of a massive fireworks display. I reckon now that these were related to the wedding party that had passed by earlier in the evening. A different interpretation of the term - start your honeymoon off with a bang.

Eventually, we ended up in the company of Mr Sandman for the next 9 hours, with the aid of handmade tissue earbungs, (crafted in the darkness of our room, they were to roughly made to merit the moniker earplug.

This morning we awoke to a warmer room than accustomed to in early September in Corfu. If our previous Greek experiences are a good measure of the weather we enjoy October is the earliest part of Cypriot summer we will want to experience.

Tips for travellers via Gatwick

First off, I would definately book a stay and park based in how straightforward it was. More than that, I whole heartedly recommend flying with an airline that allows checking in the day before. We found it to be the most relaxing preparation for a trip we`ve ever had.

We stayed at the Holiday finding it to be both efficient and comfortable. The staff were professional in that way that suggests nothing of too much trouble,by matter how foolish the guest. The bed was so soft, it felt like a water bed filled work the breath of angels instead of H2O. I only have two caveats. Firstly, rooms only had a wired fast internet connection, one would have to visit a ground floor lounge or bar area to get propriety wifi, if I`ve got to pay more got it I want it at my convenience. Secondly, the literature in the room advised buying one`a ticket from the machine in the lobby and to buy a return. We assumed, (never a good idea), that it meant tickets were not sold onboard the bus.

a case of being strong

I had a worrying phone call recently, out friends have a smaller car and can I bring a smaller case?

This might not seem such a big thing in the scheme of things, not to you maybe.

Well the case packing went frightenly well. Everything fitted and there was room to spare, which puzzling as it never did in the red shed of a case. I`m not packing as much maybe? Yet, when I think through my mindmap there isn`t anything I can think of that I`ve missed. Wierd.

Hello TenGo pc

I had heard of TenGo before but did not think that I had use for it... then I saw the video.

Aximsite had a link to a new release of the programme on it`s home page and I thought it might be worth a look.

I have been trying to improve my blog posting, especially when not able to use my Sierra BT keyboard.

I didn`t get on brilliantly with Calligrapher, maybe because I am so used to typing in a more restricted way on my Sony-Ericsson P910i; the programme works well enough but the screen on this Axim is just a little too small.

Apart from the trial text, this is the first typing I have done with it. I am feeling very happy with the look and feel of this.

Nearly time for Cathy to get home, so I`ll post this now.

Trackback has arrived

Thanks to Sumocat's posting I now have trackback on my site. Brilliant.

If I come up with something, that another kind soul sees fit to refer to, it'll be a morale boost. In photography, I have always had more pleasure from the recognition than the money and writing is the same.

Thank you Haloscan.

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

If I were a rich man

I got to thinking in an idle moment what I might do if I won the lottery.

I would like enough that both Cathy and I could give up work. What would we do with our time? Firstly, hang out with our parents. I always remember how, as a child, life revolved around my grandmother's kitchen. With my father and grandfather working out of there, the ice cream factory and vans being just outside, there were always comings and goings. I'd like to be able to call around to Mum and Dad's or Cathy's Dad's whenever we felt like it; hanging out, going for lunch, recording family history and visiting places.

Cathy and I are very lucky, we had a great childhood. At least one parent around all the time and parents with time to spend with us. I am not advocating that one parent shouldn't work, just that it worked well for us in the 1960s and 1970s.

We've also had the benefit of living close, very close in my case, to our parents. Already, so much more opportunity to spend time I realise.

Something else would be to catch up with friends both known and those that I have made via the Internet but never met. I was saying to my cousin, when over from Australia, that we got to visit them a few times when they first married and then they emigrated, (is it me?). Also there are people who have come over but we've only been able to spend a very shortwhile with. Some we visit and others are on the other side of the world and we haven't seen in so long.

There are places on my list from my younger self. New York and Shakespeare's garden, so loved by Helenne Hanff; Perachora near Corinth, written about by the late Dilys Powell, who was so kind to correspond with me; the site of a house that was being built in the 1970s show Petrocelli; the locations in Japan visited by the Englishman who was source for James Clavell's Shogun; the Great North Road in Japan, travelled by one of the most celebrated haiku poets Basho.; the final resting places of Humphrey Payne, husband to Dilys Powell, he died in the 1930s, and John Pendlebury, archeologist turned Greek resistance fighter in Crete; the site of James Rockford's caravan, just to see how much it's changed; some of the fountain pen makers in Firenze; these are just for starters.

Oh for a Tardis now packing time is here

It's that time again, where the leaves begin to fall and our thoughts turn to warmer climes.

I have always had a problem with packing to go anywhere. My general outlook is upbeat but I do lean towards the boy scout mentality when it comes to going anywhere - be prepared. If it can be packed and and carried I'll take it.

The sight of me turning up to visit friends has always been a source of amusement. First they see this 6 foot column of pockets, followed by a huge red shed of a suitcase.

It is quite normal for me to be stopped on the way through security; if it isn't for the metal in my walking boots, it's because of all the wires that my gadgets require. Last year I took a laptop, minidisc player, mp3 player (or two-in case one failed) amongst other bits. What with data leads and charging leads I had quite a collection. Given the dimensions of my case, I'm surprised it's not to check for stowaways.

This year I am being squeezed on two counts. Firstly, the prevailing security has restricted the size of carry on luggage and, second, our friends have smaller cars. I am going to look on this as an opportunity, one that will force me out of my comfort zone as I move into an era of smaller cases.

Back on the train

I am once again getting to travel on the train, headed to our St Austell office.

I enjoy the chance to sit back and let someone else do the driving. It's a shame that we cannot get reasonable priced tickets to travel up the line very often. Since "rationalising" the pricing structure it seems much more expensive when travelling up the line,at least every time I look. I have hopes for December, as I cannot find a flight that competes in price or timings, despite Ryanair having one of it's major sales again.

The day is fair for travelling but is not slated to ciontinue to be so. apparentlky the West coast opf the UK is due to get the tail end of a hurricane tomorrow. While Scotland and Ireland will take the brun t it may well mean strong gusts and rain for the walk in or out of the office.

I have been watching out for the Al Gore film that has been released in the UK, though I don't know if I should given the worry current programming on global warming has caused me. I see people retired today who are living a fairly comfortable life in comparison to the level of skill in areas such as health compared to, say, the 1950s. What will the world be like in 30+ years time?

Having mentioned advances in what's available today, compared to the past I can't help thinking that simpler is sometimes better. I heard a programme on a BBC Radio 2 last night, it was about references to early in the nuclear age and how it related to the music/media of the day. There was a public information broadcast piece from the US of the 1950s featuring Groucho Marx. Groucho assurred viewers/listeners that there was a very good chance that they would survive a atomic bomb attack -provided the followed some simple precautions; the steps offered included keeping 3 days of food and water in a sealed container in the refridgerator, a torch and first aid kit. If onlty it would be as stra=ightforward for nuclear war or climate change.

Observations from the prom

The wind is whipping along from Newlyn, like a protest for the way it's Methodist Chapel missed out on the BBC Restoration Show prize.

There is a chill in it like plunging in to the sea for the first time come summer. Sitting in it for a while I can feel my body drawing heat from the intermittent sunshine.

My head's been muggy/fuzzy all morning, this wind is like a pipe cleaner between my ears - excellent.

Computer Shopper News

Lost laptops pile up at Heathrow
Increased security checks cause laptops losses to triple.

I wonder if they'll end up selling off any they don't reunite with owners after a period of time...though if I was affected I might not be so flippant I guess.

Papercraft food, flavoured ink and cooked with lasers

Now this is definitely somewhere I want to visit Moto restaurant Chicago.

Found on Boing Boing

The promise of Storygrinder

The name is remiscent of those times when I have sat down and tried to "grind out" an article. Storygrinder is a piece of software by a chap called Stephenson; I must apologise as his full name escapes me for the moment - his site is http://homepage.mac.com - remembering names has always been a challenge for me but that's a tale for another time).

This current programme is for the Apple Mac but, as he has had a Pocket PC blogging tool in the past, I hold out hope that he might port it over at some point in the future. Not that I need additional blogging tools but I am an accumulator; when my interest is sparked, like a magpie, I go out and gather many bright shiny things that catch my eye. As a book collector, I am aided and abetted if that new thing comes in hard copy. I am finding, from my experiences with book reading on this Axim, virtual items also meet the collecting criteria.

The beauties of a Cornish night

I went to put our car away the other night and paused.

There was a full moon that painted everywhere in silver. Without the distraction of colour everything stands out so clearly.

Our little cottage lies on a hill. Properties on the side nearest the sea lie below us, those on our opposite side above. The arrangement means that, with the wind coming off the sea and up the valley that old Porthleven lies in, we can hear the surf breaking on the beach shore. One of the properties above us has a thicket of mature bamboo; it is well developed and lush so that the same breeze swishes the heavy canopy to bring another beautiful sound. On the third and fourth sides, the houses are also slightly higher and this places us in a sort of bowl. The amphetheatre as it is shields us from traffic noise from the nearby road through the village and contributes to my being able to just stand and listen.

The longer I stand the more I can hear as some noises drop into the background and others appear, such as the call of seagulls unsettled somewhere in the village by perhaps a passing cat.

Moon free nights alter what I hear. The amphitheatre aspect means that a majority of street lights can be hidden behind buildings, excellent for star gazing. Whenever I look at the stars I get lost in thoughts of what is out there, whether we might find evidence of life [or even intelligent life down here]. If I concentrate, I can almost make out the opaque swirl of the milky way - amazing.

Windows Mobile 5 workplace

I saw a piece on Jason Langridge's site that holds out promise from a business point of view: LIVEPVR for Windows Mobile 5.

To be able to record the main points in a meeting, rather than eat up storage, is an excellent idea.

Just when I had got the hang of the buses

It's not rocket science and I probably shouldn't have taken the summer to get into a routine, but I did.

I got on the bus this morning, after a couple of days leave, knowing that I could doze my way to the bus station. First sign of things being different was the bus not detouring through the village where I once had my dream job.

I put it down to being a new driver, after all I had done this run 3 or 4 days per week for months; we had gone far past the turning by the time I reached this measured opinion. It wasn't enough to worry me, after all it was 14+ years late if I was going there.

Off I went into a doze, my prime derence against the now distant threat of travel sickness; (if you have had to suffer travel sickness, every time you went for a weekly car outing, at the age of 10 you'll know how strong the dread could be).

I woke up suddenly, stirred by what felt to be a explosive cold sweat. One minute nothing and the next I'm swimming up Perspiration River. My stomach was churning. On top of feeling rough

I love paperplanes

I saw this on Digg, one of those "why couldn't I have thought of that" corkers. Paperplane business card

Greece nets a big win

USA loses in a huge upset to Greece in the semifinals, 101-95
01/09/06 15:18
In a shocking turn of events, team USA basketball loses to Greece in the World Basketball Championships in Japan.

This story is from Digg and reminds me of the European Cup (football/soccer).

I am not a serious gambler; the only time I have been in a betting shop and placed a bet was on the Grand National horse race and the race got cancelled. It was only after Greece got to the semi-final that I realised what odds they had started with - 100:1.

Being a Gredophile, I find myself leaning to supporting Greece in many things and, at 100:1, it would have been likely that I would have risked a pound or two. (Hindsight is a wonderful thing). I bet the odds were similarly tempting for Greece beating the US - go Greece.

Joy in the company of brighter people

Catching up on my RSS feed reading, I came across a piece on the Channel9 blog posted by Chewy about a programme called MSR Groupshot.

Rather than the article itself, it was the following sentence that chimed:

"I love my job!? One of the nicest part of it is? having accessing to a whole bunch of people smarter than me (I take comfort that I?m better looking)."?

This is particularly true of when I worked specifically for an On Track project. I came into contact with people involved in the cutting edge of education; the promotion of things such as mindmapping, neurolinguistic programming and the encouragement to step outside my comfort zone would leave my mind buzzing.

The actual Groupshot programme is interesting, useful when photographing children and situations such as weddings - maybe a candidate for MobileTechRoundup's freeware of the day?

Google helps with catching up on the classics

Google increases opportunities to access classic literature I came across this on the Google blog. I enjoy making full use of this Axim and this news should support this.

I've always felt I was in reading deficit when it came to classic literature.

Pirillo pushes the envelope

I believe that this is part of Chris Pirillo's success, he certainly likes to set the conversation going - I'd entitle the (work unsafe) photo link in his post Not yeti.

Apparently, just after this photo, Chris was approached by a monkey asking if he knew of any good welders. (Brit humour).

Clipping items in Egress

I wonder how well this clipped link works.

I will now have another phone to consider given that James and Kevin enjoy it James goes for a new phone.

It turns out that copying the url to the clipboard and then inserting it into diarist works better than using Hubdog. Why do I jump around grabbing so many different programmes when I already have the answers?

Filed under: Wireless, Networking A new Pennsylvania-based startup, hField Technologies, has just gotten FCC approval for their new supercharged WiFi antenna, the Wi-Fire. The USB antenna boosts reception of faint WiFi signals, extending the range of existing networks up to 1,000 feet. hField's founders, recent Lehigh University graduates, had originally built the product for a student entrepeneurial challenge, and won first place, including the prize of $2,500. Earlier this summer, hField also recieved $25,000 of funding from a state-funded development organization, and the rest, as they say, is history (waiting to happen). The Wi-Fire is now on sale through hField directly for $150, though unfortunately without Mac support for now, it seems -- although if you have a Windows computer, it's guaranteed to put as big of a smile on your face as this girl's, though not nearly as big as these dudes'. Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Comments added: This is another attempt to use the comment feature in Hubdog (www.hubdog.com). One problem I noticed is that the comment window doesn't scroll so after a ccuple of sentences you can't see what you're writing. This wifi extender has a lot of promise, I wonder how well it works through thick walls?

Posted by a Windows Mobile Device from channel : Engadget www.Hubdog.com

The Tremenheere (Pub), Penzance

Well, I decided to take a break from shopping on my day off and popped in for a drink; a good move as this cranberry J2O is hitting the spot.

I thought I would check the wifi while I was here. Unfortunately, while I can see the network myCloud, I cannot seem to connect. Hitchhiker reports a cycling through - finding the network, renewing the IP and redirecting but when I fire up the browser it doesn't go anywhere. Normally I would find my browser taken to a login page, from where I would login in using the details for my hotspot account. Most frustrating.

I'll post this when home.

Hubdog test

Before anyone shouts the previous post was by Robert Scoble) I was trying to use the Hubdog Blog It tool to clip and add comments

I was talking with a geek who’ll remain unnamed and he was telling me how easy it is for someone to sit at a Starbucks, slurp off the local WiFi, and recreate almost everything you do, often gaining passwords and private conversations. I saw this once at a conference where someone up on stage was showing the audience everything that was going over the WiFi networks. For instance, did you know that if you’re using many common Instant Messengers that those send your information over WiFi in plain text? I could be sitting next to you watching EVERYTHING you are typing across the Internet. So, what do you do to keep your stuff confidential? Any tips beyond this excellent article in Security Focus on this topic? By the way, both this article and my geek friend recommended Off-the-Record Messenging if you want to hold private IM conversations over public WiFi networks. One other problem is if you’re using a common computer, say one that a family might own, and you want to keep the other people in the family from seeing the sites and things you’re surfing to. Browzar is a new browser that keeps all that stuff to itself.

Comments added:

Posted by a Windows Mobile Device from channel : Scobleizer - Microsoft Geek Blogger www.Hubdog.com

Florence

I see in Saturday's Guardian they ran the Readers' Guide to Florence.

Some of the highlights include: the top 4 places to see - Fra Angelico's Annunciation (Convent, scene to much of Florence's history); Cappella Brancacci; San Miniato, it's graveyard plus the view of Florence; San Lorenzo - the old sacristy and Brunelleschi's interior.

I have for a number of years wanted to visit Firenze. The first trigger was my love of fountain pens that reached a peak a couple of years back. There are fountain pen makers who work independantly, making pens in small one or two man workshops. We even know someone with a relation who runs a guest house out there, the only off putting thing is that we have been told that it is expensive. From the prices quited in the paper for restaurants I can see that but something keeps nagging the back of my mind that it's as expensive as you want to make it. Some careful research, a few packed lunches and I am sure a 3 or 4 day trip could be feasible.

From photographs it is certainly a beautiful place.

Juggling at Dartington Cider Press

The humble blackberry

Rubus fruticosus, a modest wild growing fruit found across the UK, my favourite fruit; though the banana runs it a close second.

My father-in-law manages to grow delicious tasting thornless blackberries. When I planted a cutting it seemed to dwindle away, replaced naturally with a wild thorned one.

I read in a newspaper today, in ancient Greece they were used to treat ailmen5s such as gout, inflamation of the bowel, diarrhoea, whooping cough and sore throats; it also said that the pectin in them helps with arthritis and rheumatism. I have also heard that they are eschewed in Greece these days as, for the older generations, they are associated with severe shortates of food due to wartime occupation.

For my haiku writing I use the nom-de-plume Blackberry.

Dartington Hall Cider Press

Having a day at the Cider press I came across an entertainer along the lines of Richard Vobes. No not a Podcaster but a juggler with a wicked line in juggling, tricks involving great dexterity and patter.

It was the most entertaining 10 minutes I have had in a while, what with Cathy in agonies with her bad back. She is getting better but standing for move than a few minutes soon brings discomfort.

This is a very smart tourist attraction, no screaming children being the first thing I've retistered, even though this is a bank holiday.

Here are a few samples of the fine day we had recently at the Eden Project. Unfortunately my Axim froze mid post so I haven't written up our trip. The main points were: pick a sunny day when most people are on the beach, (we found a Sunday to be good), pick a day with little wind (movement spoilt most of my outdoors shots), the fruit smoothie was especially refreshing after the tropical dome, (though a large one at £2.50 isn't cheap) and don't miss the Core building - I liked the educational bits and the mechanical hands on exhibit can be good for tiring children.

Things that annoy Part 2

This could become a series.

Working most of my lunch to cover the hour I had to leave early for my osteopath; then, as I leave work, remembering I came in an hour early anyway.

Power walking to get to the train with 10 minutes in which to buy a ticket; finding the queue 5 deep with 2 more being served and seemingly planning around the world train journeys.

I don't ask for much. I have caugfht the train and am waiting to find out if I can use my rail card or have to pay over the odds. There is this rule these days that means one has to pay full price when boarding the train without a ticket, unless a station hasn't ticket sales avaiable; my justification is that it was obviously a longer than 10 minute queue that I was in and I could have got a ticket but would have missed the train.

Yes! I am allowed to use my railcard - yippee. In my book one good thing can outweigh two bad, so I am evens stevens at this moment. This train should get me in good time.

There is some noise on this train, almost like something grating against the rail or wheel, it's mildly annoying but much less so than the train stopping well short of Truro. Further up the carriage people are complaining toi the guard, she is polite and explains that an engineer will be awaiting the train in Truro to try to sort the issue. She clearly stated that the noise is not a safety issue, that the brakes are working and we would not be travelling if it was not deemed safe to do so. Still the people complain, why can't we have another train and why is it so busy at the moment anyway, it isn't usually. One, this traiun company is known to use all of it's trains and not have anything of note in reserve, that all the trains are in use was again explained in a clear and polite manner; as to the business of the trains it is the holiday season, the roads are busier, as are the streets and tourist attractions. As long as one has a seat why complain? Small train companies such as this need the numbers to make it viable to run services in the Spring, Autumn and Winter, but the people who are moaning would not think oif these things. I would not want to be the guard, they annoy me and I am only a bystander.

We are debating about whether to catch a film after visiting the osteopath, I am feeling very tired; I am hoping we could go another night. It is a film Cathy has been hoping to see and this is the last cinema to show it locally. It is not the plushest of cinemas, I am not keen going and leaving kit in the car where it is - fingers crossed.

How to upset me

If you ever want to upset me then get me to do some DIY.

It has been something of a national obsession that peaked in the run up to and for a year or two after the millenium. There have been a whole host of television programmes on the subject of doing your house up and this spilled over into garden makeover shows. The good part of them is that they were a whole category of viewing that I didn't even have to think about watching or recording.

I went through the house renovating phase, in the build up to getting married at the end of the eighties. I didn't like it then and I like it even less now. It's not simply a matter of maculine pride, I am the first to admit that I have very poor wallpaper to paste skills, when it came to decorating dexterity I definitely rolled a 1 in a 100 and rerolled a second 1 in 100. Or being a warped individual in so many ways perhaps I have a superpower, the abiltiy to warp space at the precise moment I don't want it warped. I can take all the care possible in lining up sheets of paper and at the last moment, when I am committed, things shift by the smallest amount needed to make it clearly visible to the most casual of inspections. It doesn't matter if it is tiling, papering or carpet laying and even painting has it's problems.

Left to myself our cottage would have remained in an unfinished state until well after we married and moved in; it was through the help of friends, Marc in particular, that things not only took shape but were finished.

Why write about a topic that causes me to grit my teeth at the mere thought of it? This weekend I was forced to face a leaking overflow pipe on my water tank.

Knowing my limitations 15 or more years ago, I had employed an occasional plumber, (he worked when he needed the money), to sort out the plumbing when we had our kitchen and bathroom redecorated. Here comes a tip for anyone in a similar position, specify that you want things easily accessible for any future maintenance! To my horror, once I got into and across the roof space, the tank is 6 feet from a beam that doesn't have water pipes running along it; the two nearest beams have hot and cold pipes running across the top of the beam i.e. where I need to place my hands/feet when trying to get to the water tank without rupturing something - particularly of me. As it is, with only the sloping slate roof of a single storey kitchen, I can barely move and then only while crouching. After starting out, it's a few hours before I am actually ready to reach in to the tank andvremove the ballcock mechanism. Because of where the water tank is sited, I must lean forward as far as I can only feel and not see into the tank. At last I am ready to grip the split pin, squeeze and remove it; once done I can then get the bqrrel mechnism out, rub it down with sandpaper and put it all back, so it shuts the water off before it starts going out the overflow. It's not sunny out but, so hot in that little space, I am pouring in sweat, my hands are slippery, my muscles streched tight and eyes stinging; it'll be all worthwhile once I have finished. I reach in, squeeze the handle of the mole grips, only to find that one side of the split pin had snapped off at some point! Aaaaaaaggggghhhhhh!

I hate DIY.

I admitted defeat, worked my way out of the ceiling and am now looking for the name of a good plumber, (the one who fitted my stuff has passed away). If you want visual proof of how upset I was

Trewennack Show

I had hoped to have some photos suitable for the local country show, now that I have once again been bitten by the photo bug. There are categories and they were not topics that I had taken many photographs in, such as candid, in a garden and animal/bird. I am quite critical of my own photographic work, a combination of watching club photographic competitions and a fear of criticism; I decided that I had nothing that would be of a high ennough standard, (my one cracking bird photograph had the bird larger than the maximum print size).

We went to the show as our best friend W and family, including our Godson N, had quite a few entries in various categories. It was very enjoyable, especially to see the event so well supported.

The sights you see when you haven't got your camera

We just passed a field where 10 or so pieces of equipment were laid out in two neat rows. If the field didn't seem so remote I would have said it was for a farm sale, there are quite a few of those these days with many getting out of farming unable to afford to continue.

You can see quite a bit of the old Cornwall from a train. By nthat I mean the view of farms and fields that won't have changed in many cases for hundreds of years, well barring the springing up of trees. You can see field shapes that I am certain date back a long way, based on the their shapes. Farms and cottages tucked away that have managed to avoid the modern habit of rusticating or "improving".

Whoops, that was Camborne, time to prepare for getting off at Redruth. More anon.

On the train once again

I kind of miss my train rides that had become a regular part of my commute. With the nearest station now in the town where I work my only public transport option is the bus.

I have no complaints about the bus, (the take it as you find it mindset being a neccessity). Most days I have a whole single decker and maybe one or two fellow passengers on days when a double decker runs. It's almost like having a private driver.

While I waited for the train I availed myself of the facilities and purchased a hot chocolate drink. While the chocolate was dark and had a modicum of froth, that soon dissipated, it did not compare favourably with that from St. Austell Railway Station. There the hot chocolate is made with a steamer within your sight and it has a magnificent luxuriousness about it - the froth remaining all the way to the bottom of the chocolaty goodness. (Crikey, I must be keen - a bit advertisey that but I am writing while the train whisks me to Redruth and do not have the time to amend the above prose.

As I sit here and glance about I can see the strangest thing. Beneath a seat opposite and slightly ahead of me is a small clear bowl on the floor under the seat; it contains a small amount of liquid, that rolls about the interior in time to the motion of rhe train. Who could have left such a thing? What might it have contained when full? Much more liquid than I would expect to be left over from a salad.

We are leaving St. Erth station now and heading for Hayle. Everytime I travel this area I think about getting a map to pick out the features that we pass. the Towans, the harbour so much in need of restoration, an indicator of how the fortunes of this once prosperous town have fallen, alongside the collapse of the Cornish mining industry; the church with it's cemetary standing proud above it and earlier, between St. Erth and Penzance, that little church peeping over a ridge, suggesting a route of what might be an interesting detour.

Reason why I like working in Penzance part 1

Above is a view of the sort of perk that helps ease the pressure of work, part of my 2 minute walk to the seafront.

It really is that close.

Syncronisity

I was listening to a play on Radio 4 this afternoon, August Birthdays by Frances Byrnes, about a woman remembering things from her past . At one point there was music reminiscent of the time being remembered, it made me think of my dad's ice cream chimes. His tune was The Happy Wanderer but Greensleeves came into my head; a few minutes later they played it in the background.

Not major but syncronicity in a small way.

St. Erth Concert Band

Above is a shot of the band - I didn't like to get too close so this is a grab shot from where we sat.

Last night on the Prom

We are sitting on the Prom listening to St.Erth Concert Band. It has been a beautiful Greek day and the evening sun is warm on the back of my neck; the most gentle of breezes is passing across my arm and carrying the music across the bay.

More people are gathering as the evening passes, the different tunes drawing people for reasons known only to themselves. It's somehow comforting when amidst strange one can share a smile during a particular piece of music.

St.Erth Concert Band are different to what may be called a traditional brass band, as their name may suggest, they comprise of a mixture of brass and woodwind instruments.

We found out from our best friend W. that they were playing here on the Prom, loolcing out on Mounts Bay, St. Michael's Mount standing proud in the distance. Unfortunately this is the next to last concert they are holding here, for the foreseeable future, as I understand it.

All in all a beautiful experience.

Beating the airport blues

What do I do when stuck at the airport with only floorspace available? Why I carry on blogging of course. That's an ordinary rucksack you see because 1) it's less conspicuous for carrying all those precious gadgets 2) I knew it would definately meet the airline size guide for hand luggage 3) It doesn't matter as much if it gets a little scuffed.


It was so hot at the airport moving between terminals I could have jumped for joy when I saw the Starbucks sign. Here I have a shot of my life savers 1) My x51v that, when it wasn't online allowing me to blog, provided reading material as well as audiovisual 2) A vente Banana Caramel Frappaccino - I didn't think anything would come close to the frappes I had in Corfu Town until I had this coffee based version instead of the cream one. I got so caught up in enjoying my drink and pda-ing I almost missed the call to board. managed to get a great aisle seat near the front and had a relaxing run back listening to the latest TWIT.

Went the day well?

It was a good day. We have a great team, a range of responsibilities and everyone holding their own. I always have got a buzz from talking to clever people and today is no exception. If there's one thing the project I work for has given me it's scope to stretch myself.

My biggest concern was not being involved in an Investors in People review right on when Cathy and I are doing things and I manged to avoid that. My biggest concern now is probably staying awake until I am on the plane home. I finally got to sleep on top of the bedccovers around 2.30am, I was soooo glad of the fan in my room.

Now I hardly dare blog this bit but the journey was smooth to the station thanks to Paula wh organised a taxi that made Kings Cross in no time. I have come into the city as I felt it the safest option in case the rails had melted again. This way I felt confident that a bus would be laid on if the train didn't run. What I didn't want to experience was getting to Tottenham Hale, find that the Stansted Express wasn't running and be sent all the way to Liverpool Street before heading out again.

I just missed one train at the station but made the next. A kind lady guard came through the carriage I was on to say that there was airconditioning in the first 4 carriages. The train has left on time.

When I get to Stansted I will probably go through the rigmarole of having my rucksack emptied, owing to the large number of leads and accessories I carry. My travelling tip of the day is this: put all your gadgets, accessories and odds and ends into sealable plastic bags; when someone empties your bag there is no mess and packing/re-packing is real easy, it's good for preventing tangling with the leads This means it will be best to checkin near enough straight away and go through to where
I can sit with a wifi connection and surf till my plane. One thing I noticed while passing through Stansted was that having logged on to a Cloud hotspot and chosen to roam via BT my x51v was a bandwidth tart and jumped on a stronger service after I had moved 6 feet or so. I will have to tether it to one provider next time.

Arrived at last

We arrived at Liverpool Street underground at around 12.45am, the buses actually drove down onto the mainline concourse. It was so late the underground stopped running at that precise time. There was nothing for it, I had to book a taxi.

I finally got in my room at 1.10am and am having a Cup of tea to wind down. The room is extremely hot but, grace of graces, an electric fan has been made available.

Now if I can only sleep.

It was going so well....

Aaaaagggghhh!!!

I arrived at Stansted having hardly noticed the journey as I was writing a blog entry. The Stowaway keyboard proved it's value once again, fitting perfectly the little pull down tray.

The seat I got was exactly what I wanted, an aisle seat not too far from the loos and with space for my bag directly above me - Ryanair my carrier is a low cost airline, where you grab a seat when you get on board. (One thing I noticed was that the Ryanair website http://ryanair.com allows online checkin for passengers who meet certain conditions - such as only having hand luggage. The concept is one where having checked in you can print a boarding card and bypass the front desk, going straight to the security/departure lounge when it is opened and, by probably having the lowest of boarding card numbers, you can get to the plane in the first 90 batch to choose the better seats.

I had toyed with the idea of a window seat to take photos but l have had my fill of shots of tiny pinpricks of light and shade depicting towns l don't know the name of. I also considered one of those seats by the emergency exits, in the middle of the plane but reckoned they would be full by the time l headed up the aisle from the back of the plane - the normal Newquay Ryanair procedure is to load boarding tickets 1 - 90 first, I was 107.

So good seat and good flight.

All there was left to do was catch my train to Tottenham Hale - the only stop other than London Liverpool Street. From there it's one stop on the tube and then I am within 5/10 minutes of the work's accommodation where I'm staying.

I bought my ticket earlier in the day on the Ryanair site. I saved some money and, while it was more expensive than the bus, I didn't want to go right into London.

As I made my way to the station an announcement was made. Apparently the train tracks melted today and were under emergency repair - a bus had been kindly laid on for us, unkindly it was only going to Liverpool Street. I would have to spend an extra hour going into London and back out again to Arsenal. I would have paid the much smaller fare if I had chosen to go into the capital, not paid 3 or 4 times as much!

We are currently on the Muggles version of the Night Bus, (for any Harry Potter fans out there), going at a similar speed.

The Finest of Weekends

So what is it that makes the weekend one that will stay in memory for some time to come?

Getting your first phone call from a godsons - not a quick chat during a parent intiated call but a dialed it himself, first to speak sort of communication. I am not saying it was the easiest of conversations but, then again, that's part of what made it special. He really wanted to get his message across and this he did - once he had done so I was passed to mum but that didn't matter in the slightest, if anything it seemed very businesslike almost as if he was passing me to his assistant.

Joining said Godson on after he has taken part in an event and being personally invited to attend a concert he is part of.

Having the birthday present brought out unprompted to tell you about how he has been using it.

Getting to go for a stroll with him and his dad around the harbour and getting included in the adventure as one of the boys.

Discovering a cave that I never knew existed on our adventure and seeing places in a way I hadn't seen for more than 25 years.

Spending a day unexpectedly with best friends.

Laughing and relaxing as you only can with best friends, including getting to bounce about on a trampoline far later than was wise.

Enjoying the balmy evening air as you walk home with your beautiful wife on your arm.

I don't think I have done it full justice but these are some of the reasons why I can look back and say that is was the finest of weekends.

Zooomr envy

Zooomr launch delayed

People depress me sometimes. As you may have seen via the link, the launch of version 2 of Zooomr has had to be delayed because of a DOS.

This is a service that has given something to the community, big or small, rather than target a few of the more popular blogs; obviously envy abounds. Still, I for one will still be there for blogger for longer than the DOS.

Komboloi Museum in Nafplion

I just came across a nice piece about Aris museum in the Greek town of Nafplion (Modern Greece's first capital). It's definately somewhere I'd like to visit.

I have read Aris book on the history of Komboloi and found it fascinating.

Fine Day at the beach

Took a break this lunchtime with some of the folks at the office. We went to a place new to me, called Polkerris.

A small beach with a cafe, pub and shop looking down on it. Very few people on the beach, but I guess the schools "up country" have only just broken up and the local ones haven't. Also, there seemed to be an infestation of a form of sand fly and lady birds around. The took a particular liking to S, to the extent that she had to buy another t-shirt to replace the yellow sand-like one she came in.

A good break but the time went so quickly.

Polkerris, place worth coming back to in the future when the bugs are dormant.

Views of the beach at Loe Bar near Porthleven

Some more photos with the help of the excellent Diarist programme.

This would have been set back further once upon a time, fortunately never used.

I wanted to give the impression that you could see the curvature of the earth.

We are so fortunate to have views like these right on our doorstep. For many years family of mine have walked these cliffs from one village to another. My father would have walked this route when courting my mother.

Looking back to Loe Bar and the route back to my father's village when he was growing up.

Update: Zooomr is 3 and a bit hours from it's version 2 launch and is closed a the moment so I can't rotate the picture but will do so tomorrow.

Views along the walk

Diarist comes to the rescue without this it would have been a lot harder to post, as my email option seems to have broken.

Free Zooomr Account

Free Zooomr Pro Account

This is my picture from my Zooomr account

I caught a reference on Josh Bancrofts blog to Zooomr the photo sharing site offer of a free Pro account to bloggers who create an account , post a photo, blog it and link back to their blog.

Some early P2 shots from the sponsored walk in memory of Mary

For some reason they seem to be missing. I'll post when I've worked out what's happening.

Starbucks Taunton

Here I am again, beginning to love the location for our Regional Health & Safety meetings. We have tried a few actual venues, in a bid to match cost and convenience, but the town itself has attractions for me. (Before anyone starts having untoward thoughts, I merely refer to the fact that Taunton has the closest Starbucks to West Cornwall. OK it might be a 3 and-a-bit hours drive, at legal speeds, from where I am but it is a comfortable place to have coffee that has wifi.

Last time I tried using my meter to gauge the best place to sit but this time I asked; the answer I got was "The transmitter is above the doorway to the toilets, so I guess somewhere along that wall [the wall from toilet door to where spoons etc are] over there", sometimes you cannot beat that human interface. I sat down at the table nearest the entrance to the toilets (I am not sitting outside of a cubicle - I'm not that obsessive...after all if the best signal was in the toilets I'd make myself comfortable in a stall. Here I get 4 bars out of five on my Kensington Wifi locator and that's a Normal strength (-44/0) signal according to the x51v's WLan utility. (For some reason I am unable to just turn on the wifi from the settings-WLan option or with the side button; the transmitter symbol does not appear at the top of the screen even though the green transmitting light is flashing and the Axim is picking up a signal - detecting the T-Mobile Access point plus another weak, locked one, called Sienna).

Egress is crawlking when it comes to checking updates. I can't use my email programme to check as I now use Flexmail and this hogs memory or sulks and everything grinds to a halt. I will post this and then try out a download or two of podcasts plus check my emails - the Cloud's offer shopuld be on now of ?11.99 per month for all you can eat wifi.

In memory of Mary

In memory of Mary

Getting ready to set off on a sponsored walk in memory of Mary Davies.

It's sunny with a breeze and good walking weather, I've my Axim, P910i for connect, new Nikon P2 camera (unboxing report later) - let's go.

The day is fine, some cloud but not enough to bring the worry of rain, despite what the weather people presaged. There is a healthy number of people gathered for the walk, both younger and older, a few on bikes. We are on foot, though we could possibly have borrowed a couple of bikes I think it is fairer that we walk, I also really enjoy walking Penrose Woods; it is a National Trust property and was left to the Trust by the previous incumbant whose family still reside there. The property has a rather grand country house and, as a child, I went there on a once to have tea though I hardly remember it now.

Penrose Woods sweep from Helston down to the sea on either side of the sand bar that separates Loe Pool from the sea. It is a mixture of woods on the Porthleven side and meadows on the far side of this. I am only taking pictures of us walking today (approximately 2 hours) but will endeavour to walk the whole circuit at this summer and take some shots to do it justice. [One of the toughest parts of landscape photography has to be the extremely early starts that are needed to do full justice to many views].

Later: I have taken some photos now and need to look at how I am going to transfer them for blogging purposes. Obviously, having bought the P2 with wifi capabilities I don't want to take the simple option of putting the SD card in a reader or this PDA, neither do I want to resort to the USB cord. The way I figure it, I should get into the habit of downloading the photos, tagging them and then push them up to flickr. If I get into a routine it should be easier to make use of the shots, the only downside being that I have to make a note of each shot's address if I am to include them in a post via Diarist. I could email the shots but blogspot seems to have developed a few quirks, one is ignoring emailed posts that contain both pictures and body text and also of ignoring emails from my Orange account.

I think I will post this before the photos if I get to the point where it's late Sunday night and I haven't cracked the wifi camera to computer thing.

Waiting Time

I am in a rare lull between work and home. I have finished work for today early, a rarity for me. As came up in conversation with my main boss, I don't normally take up TOIL I build up gradually; this week I pulled a couple of extra 1.5 hour days so I don't feel too guilty. A calleague D was kind enough to drop me off in time for the next train - maximum of 1 per hour to West Cornwall during this part of the day. Unfortunately it isn't a Virgin, so no charge lead use, and it is starting to develop delays; fortunately, I am only going to go as far as Truro - where I should have time to catch a couple of shops and then meet Cathy for a lift home.

I am feeling soooo tired that I am starting to develop spontaneous headaches, never a good sign. Tonight I am helping to setup ready for our Panigiyeri - Greek for village festival. Every year a group of the village churches, originally only Methodist but now several denominations, gather for St. Peterstide. The routine is for a church service, followed by a procession around the village and culminating in a gathering over on a recereational area. Once at the field there are a range of community sports that the children take part in and a large marquee known as the Tea Tent; the tea tent involves tables and benches where people can sit and partake of staples such as saffron buns, yeast buns, fancy cakes and sandwiches.

I will take pictures and post them of the preparations and the day itself over the next few days.

Goonhilly good grief

It has been written in more prestigious places than this (where isn't), that "pride cometh before a fall", from experience I should have known but it still trips me up.

I have been patting myself on the back over the postings I made that jkOnTheRun have used. Hey, I thought, all these feeds I have been working through are worth it just for the recognition; a sneeky part of me was saying, you must be good at this to be able to beat people in the US to US-centric stories.

Yesterday morning I was in the office early, so decided to read a couple of rss threads in Egress, my PPC rss reader. The first thing I see is Kevin picking up on why hadn't I blogged about the new cybercafe setup at the Goonhilly Earth Satellite Station in Cornwall. Hey said a little voice I'm so great I pick up stories on in another country but I can't see a story that's 10 miles from my home! 10 miles, not in another part of Europe, not the other end of the country but, as near as darn it, in my backyard. Oh the pain, oh the humiliation.

I have read a bit on the setup there now and will blog it over the weekend, if not sooner. I intend making a visit in the near future to grab some photos and maybe even some audio or video.

Summer is broken

Well, I think I was just getting used to sleeping in hot weather, when the time came for the Wimbledon tennis tournament. As most British people will tell you, Wimbledon means liquid sunshine. If you can see the net it's about to rain, if you can't see the net it's already raining!

How is it that I can get accustomed to hot weather within the first day or so when we go to Corfu, yet in the UK it came be weeks. I get caught out every year guessing how long the fine spell will last. I continue carrying a fleece or waterproof for at least a week longer than I need, but better to be prepared - no, I was never a scout (from my teens I always thought I would have had more fun joining the guides - they wouldn't let me in). The waterproof was as much to protect my mobile gear as anything. I carry my x51v in my shirt's top pocket, if I don't think that I will be doing a lot of bending, or in my trousers pocket and the waterproofr, breathable jacket will just protect from excessive moisture. The other hazard I have noticed is that sweat can mist up the case when suited up on a warm but wet day; not a problem sbo far but worth keeping an eye on.

I am out of doors as I type this. I caught the bus home tonight and thought it was warm on board, when outside it was a little chilly. From how I felt when I got back to the village, I worked out that it was exhaust that was getting into the interior that was the cause of the warmth. I don't have a sense of smell and so endured the discomfort. I was puzzled by how the driver would stop the bus every so many stops and turn off the engine; buses I have travelled on previously would stop if early but they wouldn't turn off the engine. My head was splitting when I walked the short distance to the cottage from the bus stop, I also felt a little sick. I decided that exhaust must have been to blame. Fortunately for me, the weather holds the promise of rain but, so far, has held off. It's a little chilly but the fresh air is doing me a power of good. If I turn around to face away from the kitchen, I can see some blue sky between high cloud.

While I am writing I am circled by bumble bees of several different types; it's good to see them taking advantage of the cool air and the opening fuscias.

From here I can see the apple tree planted by an Uncle over 70 years ago. Every year the tree has produced a crop of apples in September but the apples are so well formed already I think they will be at least a month early, could this be one of those signs of the fltuctuations encouraged by global warming?

I have been typing for a while sitting at a bench table and my back is starting to get a little tired.. I will have to look into getting out my fairly substantial deckchair and bring out my lap tray on another day.

I just watched Warner Crocker's what's in my bag video and it made me think of my laptray. I prefer the bean bag base for getting settled on my lap and allowing me to use it on many more seat types. Of course, I am using a Pocket PC rather than tablet computer and need less room room for this Stowaway keyboard, although I have used the laptray with my old laptop that heats up so much; I put a metal tray, designed to speed up the defrosting process for things like meat, under the laptop so that part of it sticks out and rapidly transfers the heat from the base of the laptop to the part of the tray sticking out so it can be dissipated.

I am going to pop in now and spend a lit tle time with my dear wife, who cooked my tea and then suggested I spend time outside to get some fresh air - she's a gem, I have got so much done while out here. As per Scoble's comments on his blog, I was able to listen to podcasts\videocasts while eating, reading blogs I find a little ungainly on a small screen while trying to eat in a polite manner.

The seagulls begin to circle, definitely time to head indoors.

Tingles in my scalp

I was listening to part of a play today, while making a mad dash across the county from one office to another. It was part Arthurian and part reminiscences of the author. I felt sure that it was about TH White, as they had a male narrator.

The author talked about staying in Somerset and I was convinced I had the name sorted. At the end the name of the author crops up and it is John Steinbeck; there starts the tingle.

I have for years tried to read his work but all of the books I knew were of a depressing nature, based around the dust bowl depression era. One day I felt the urge to visit a second hand bookshop,the feeling I get that has always resulted in my finding a book that I really want. I came out with a journal written by Steinbeck alongside of his Grapes of Wrath, I managed halfway and put it to oneside; before I stopped reading I was intrigued to see that he speculated on the existence of extraterrestrials.

Response to Robert Scoble's Al Gore and Peter Davis opinion

Dear Al Gore: here's some inconvenient truths

Response to Robert Scoble

Robert

With regard to the your Al Gore post.

I don't know where I'd be without the various podcasts and streamed audio from the web; actually I do know, it'd be listening to what I still call a transistor radio, absorbing all manner of programmes from the BBC = Radio 4 especially. The trouble is it's shotgun listening, so much of it of no real interest to me that it drowns out the thought provoking other stuff. THe trouble with r adio listening has always been having to turn off, or losing reception and missing something. Don't tell me about taping programmes to listen to later, the nu mber of ways and means I employed to get the recording started on time when I couldn't be there to do it or would be asleep.

With my oh so easy to compile downloads I can listen whenever I want, often this is when commuting by bus, train or Shanksy's pony. If I am carrying chores without my wife around to talk to or shopping in town, I will catch up on a programme of my choosing, one that is on a topic of my choosing and that I can stop, start, even listen to again.

When at school I happen to have mastered the art of reading while I walk; I think people got so used to me weaving my way around obstacles, while my head was buried in a book, that the village just regarded me as a mostly harmless eccentric child. I did get a few looks when I did this while taking part in a 24 hour walk in aid of Cancer, it was really simple, all I had to do was walk circuits around a running track - they even had lines laid out that I could subconsciously follow, no lamposts, moving vehicles, parked vehicles, animals and their by products or stray persons to have to avoid. But enough about me.

In addition to lights being left on I see so many people leaving equipment unneccessarily on standby; items that they will not use till the next day are left to draw, in some cases, almost as much as when they are running.
/>http://scobleizer.wordpress.com/2006/06/25/peter-says-podcasting-is-inefficient/
/>More after my cup of tea.

http://scobleizer.wordpress.com/2006/06/25/dea.r-al-gore-heres-some-inconvenient-truths/

How about a deal...

I will admit now for anyone who swings by, courtesy of Kevin's kind pointer at JkontheRun from an item I passed on about the number of reported difficulties people are having with the Q (RSS - JkontheRun), I neglect this blog. I have been shamed into doing something about it by Kevin and I am grateful.

I have mentioned here how easy posting has been made by things such as: this Axim x51v, Stowaway Bluetooth Keyboard, Kevin Daly's marvellous little Diarist programme that enable me to make swift posts - particularly useful when working with my bluetooth phone (Kevin Daly RSS), my minimum 3 ways to charge my x51v and Sony Ericcson P910i and wifi hotspots that I now have access to thanks to a deal with BTOpenzone - though I am waiting for The Cloud's all you can use ?11.99 ($20) per month deal on UK wifi; I have failed to take advantage of it.

The deal is this, if you promise to pop back in say two weeks, or when I next get a plug courtesy of Kevin (hopefully not sooner than a fortnight), I promise to have increased my posting rate, added more tech stuff from a Cornish user's perspective, more reflections on Corfu and some observations on live in modern and not so modern Cornwall.

If you decide not to - well, thank you for coming by on this occasion. Have a poke around and you should find some of the topics I mention above or not as you wish - choice, one of those sweet tasting morsels that make the internet so delicious.

Shakespeare Country

After a successful trip to London we headed up to see our Godson and friends.

It's always good seeing them and we haven't seen all of the area around there. A first for me was a visit to Warwick Castle. I had heard much about the place but wasn't sure how "real" the experience would be, after all it was a major tourist attraction.

Somehow we got our dates slightly wrong and ended up on holiday in half term week Despite there being large numbers of families milling about, the castle was such a scale that it wasn't a problem. We saw the bits we wanted to see and had a snack in the restaurant without any problems finding seats.

Things I would recommend at the castle would be the knightly school for the young people ending in their taking part in a mock battle; the school bit was a very good way to enliven history lessons. The birds of prey are always fun and the bowman was brilliant - he really put feeling into something he must do hundreds of times over the year.

It's ?15 for adults to attend but I felt it was worthwhile as you can easily spend a day at the castle. Being to able to see the trebuchet loaded, primed and launched put into perspective the dimensions and impact this device must have had.

Today - a good day for this x51v re mobile software

While surfing in a break I stumbled across a mention of an update to my current Pocket PC RSS reader - Egress 2.4.2 came out around December but I must have missed it; well, not 'missed' exactly, I found that I had a copy on my memory stick but no recall of when I downloaded it.

Having installed the new version, it shows an immediate improvement in the notification given when updating threads. The thread currently being updated is named as well as the various compenents being downloaded.

The second item is Socket Comm's WiFi Companion. I really like the clear display re connection and am looking forward to trying the power saving feature.

Summer and Anniversary

pring and Anniversary

A little out of syn with the posts but I don't want to miss this.

After what seems an age since spring started, we have a consistent period of fine weather.

Yesterday was the 17th anniversary of our marriage. We celabrated by going for a meal with our maid of honour and one of our ushers, best friends from the village.

Having had lunch at Trevaskis Farm in April, we thought it would be a good venue to celebrate our 17th and their 21st anniversaries. A long story short - it was. The food was delicious and the portions generous.

Chinatown one Saturday

One minute I am posting multiple times a day and then silence. Without looking I would say that my last post was when we were outside of Chinatown.

We met up with our friend S, it was really good to see her and reassuring that she was looking so well. I've never known anyone who studies quite so hard, to the exclusion of much else; still, as she says soon it will be in the past and then there will be light again.

Eating in Chinatown is great, especially in a restaurant that is so busy. I neglected to get the name of the place but will have to ask our friend. The food was delicious and served in a traditional way, in the type and order of the dishes. I learnt that tapping the table means enough and it was interesting to make a connection with the games of dominoes and poker.

There's not a lot to say following that. After seeing our friend and having a great meal, we sadly separated at an underground station, our friend needed to get back to her revision.

We went from the station to the cinema in Leicester Square. It was raining so we reckoned it would be a chance to chill and wait out the worst of the weather. We got in a que for the cinema to see X-Men III - I was surprised that Cathy suggested this over the DaVinci Code, as films in the comics, science fiction and fantasy genre are generally not to her taste. When I asked she said that she had heard others say that the film was difficult to follow if you have not read the book; I later heard Anna say, on The Delta Park Project, that she had read the book and found it frustrating when explanations were given for people who had not read the book. If it's still around in a few weeks maybe we'll try it down our way.

Havivng been in the que for a while and only 10 minutes from the start of the film we asked for two tickets. The chap printed them and then asked for ?23 ($40US)!! In Cornwall we pay ?11 ($20) - half price with the Orange mobile sponsored Orange Wednesdays scheme. ?23 is a lot for the cachet of Leicester Square but it was the price of my embarassment I paid rather than have people watch us walk away.

The rest of our day, or so in the city consisted of our chilling out. It was a great stay. Stephenson Hall is so big and to have it virtually to yourself was such a luxury. E the Admin was very welcoming when we arrived and helpful, as was R who works there too and supplied us with fantastic driving in London directions.

We are certainly going back to Stephenson Hall, to see a show, meetup with S and things we haven't thought of yet. We got so comfy we didn't even get to the Mucky Pup just up the road a ways. I had scouted out free wifi locations and hit upon it as the nearest to where we were staying.

I need to go back and revise my Starbucks entries for London. One of the things I noticed was a distinct problem in downloading larger files. I could not seem to download any podcasts, the whole thing would go from trotting along nicely to a snails pace and downloads eventually efffectively timing out the became so slow. Normal surfing was fine and I couldn't see anyone else surfing and I had scouted around about this. E verything started off fine and then took a nosedive but I had already written up the wifi part and it was only when it came near time to leave did I notice the problem.

More later.?