24 hour contrasts

Yesterday morning I went out to start up Cathy’s car and found the following pattern on the roof

not so unusual but the car door being frozen shut was.  Maybe i had just missed the weather forecast that mentioned it but we certainly weren’t expecting anything so severe.  in West Cornwall the weather has tended to be much milder than say a country like the east of England. 

That was the first time we have had frozen car doors here all winter.  Not quite Marianne’s experience with the weather but notable all the same. 

Today was the contrast.  We had lunch in the garden for the first time since last summer and in shirt sleeves too.

Seafood in St. Ives

We had a great day in St.Ives last Monday for Cathy’s birthday. 

The weather stayed bright and dry and the town wasn’t too crowded, (unlike now, the start of the Easter holidays sees the massive annual start of the tourist season).  We opted for a birthday lunch and hunted around for a seafood restaurant.  the one we had been recommended, The Blue Fish, was closed on a Monday (we found by walking all the way to it).

After much wandering, during which we encountered Dame Judi Dench (we didn’t go up to her, despite being a fans, because everyone deserves some peace on their holiday), we found the Seafood Cafe.

They had what was, in our opinion, an extremely reasonably priced menu, (having tramped the streets we had seen other menus to be able to make the comparison).  Inside it was light and airy, light coloured wood and glass and, despite being nearly full, the noise levels were reasonable too.  I would definitely recommend it.  Here are photos of the seafood main course for two,  range of fish plus a scallop in sauces of your choice, and the side dish of types of mash that we chose.

 

 

Hexagonal Structurs seen at Saturn's north pole

This is bound to stir up the alien's exist camp: Hexagonal structure at Saturn's north pole; though the phenomenon has been around a while according to this report

I have to confess I did check the date when I read it but we are still 4 days from April Fools' Day.

Having just finished the latest book in the Saga of the Seven Suns by Kevin J Anderson, a most enjoyable read, I must admit I am particualrly intrigued.

Response to Marianne, Zorba the greek and others

After a 15 minute posting disappearing when posting a comment over on marianne’s Virtual Saloon, I am going to put it here and link to it from her comments section.  let’s start to marianne’s response to me: Notes from the arboretum

Jenny, you live in one of the places I hope to visit someday.

Phil, I’m having a wonderful time fooling with specimen trees. One of these days, when spring is a little further along, I’ll post a few pictures as she requested. Did you ever see the movie “Zorba the Greek”? One of the main plot lines is about harvesting the monks’ pines from a hillside. If you’ve never seen it, you’ve missed a really fine commentary on what it means to be human, and fallible

We don’t have room for trees much in the 1/2 acre behind our place, being the location where I have grown up and lived for my 43 years so far, maybe it has fed my love of forests.  What we do have is an 80 year old Red Roller apple tree.  This is a rare species so we have some cuttings placed in various locations for backup purposes.

Nikos Kazantzakis the author of Zorba the Greek is a fascinating chap and far less inhibited than me.  If I could take a book to a desert island, as per the BBC Radio 4 series Desert Island Discs, it would be his Report to Greco – his (IMHO) semi mythical memoir. 

I cannot watch the film Zorba the Greek without tearing up in places.  [For a feel good film try Captain Corelli’s Mandolin.  The book is greater than the film (again IMHO) (even if it is considered by some to have played down the work of the resistance in Greece at the time of the film.

Eddi Reader coming to Cornwall

Tomorrow it’s Cathy’s birthday.  We are taking the day off and going to have a day out around St Ives.

While we are looking forward to it, we are even more excited about our date in may to see Eddi Reader at the Du Maurier Festival in Fowey in Cornwall.

For anyone who hasn’t encountered Eddi, she has the most amazing voice.  Pop over and visit Eddi’s website, hearing her sing the song Clare a cappella brings the hairs up on the back of my neck and gives me goosebumps.

Often the simple things are the best

I wish I could remember this.

 

I have just spent 3 hours, 3 precious hours, trying to get my x60s to connect and stay connected to my wireless network. 

Lenovo recommend that one uses their Thinkvantage software to connect to the net.  I have patiently waited the 3, 4 or even more minutes for a connection; for no readily apparent reason the connection would drop after a variable number of hours (while my Axim stayed connected).  Sometimes i could re-establish a link and sometimes it would take a restart of the notebook.

Out of frustration I decided to turn on Windows wireless handling – connection took 20 seconds!!

I am not complaining, there could well be a software upgrade that is needed, I shall just take advantage while I can.

3 hour battery - 3.25 hour journey = problems

In a demonstration of the power of satellite navigation on the Pocket PC, I smugly set up the computer with assurances that getting to our destination would be a breeze.

It was around three quarters of the way into the journey that I realised I didn’t have the recharging lead plugged in from the power cradle; to rectify this I wold need to stop as the battery had been playing up and the cover shifting enough to put the device into standby.  OK I thought, I’ll make do as it hasn’t warned me yet.

Right on time, we reach the part of the trip that was most crucial, where we had to find the right route out of 5 possibles and the Axim dies.  Cue a red faced me, pulling in to a layby to switch batteries while my colleague calls for directions.  

In the end we got there through a combination of local directions and a rejuvinated x51v filling in the blanks in the local directions.  My friend isn’t convinced but had to admit the sat nav did help ease any stress.

(Will I never learn?  Keep calling back to find out).

Red Nose Day

Comic Relief's Red Nose Day.

      

Supported by Walkers Walkears for Comic Relief's Red Nose Day

The title of this post is probably quite innocuous for most people, maybe conjuring up thoughts of a sight of a clown from your past.  here in the UK it is more than that.

Tonight is the one night that sees me laughing while crying the whole night long. 

I can’t think of anything on television that is so bitter sweet. 

If you haven’t already, please go visit the link above, it might help explain my photo below (no, that is not a false nose just a wide angle camera phone – no, really it is…and, anyway, this year for Red Nose Day it is The Big One). 

I don’t ask you for much.

I am going to ask you something now.  If you can afford to and are the sort of person who occasionally donates to others,consider doing so tonight.  100% of the money donated goes to help children around the world.

If the site of a grown man crying drives you to doing things you might otherwise not do, make that thing a donation to Red Nose Day.

 

News feed and RSS reader for Pocket PC and Smartphone - NewsBreak brings news, weather and more to your PDA.

News feed and RSS reader for Pocket PC and Smartphone - NewsBreak brings news, weather and more to your PDA..

I love Blogjet, for the first time I can easily, seemelessly almost, post from where I am currently surfing.

Here is an example, I am currently downloading Prairie Home Companion podcasts for a the road trip to collect from Cathy (my beautiful wife, emphasis on the beautiful) from Stratford-upon-Avon; I am using this Thinkpad x60s to convert DVDs for use on my Dell Axim x51v so I decided to download the podcasts directly onto the Axim.

What I used to do was locate the latest RSS entry using Ilium Software’s Newsbreak programme, click on Read More (so it would launch the page in Pocket Internet Explorer) and then download the file; this process seems like the Stone Age now.

Newsbreak 2.0 now allows downloading of podcasts from within the RSS feed entry.  not only from within, I don’t have to open the actual entry, I can click to download the file from just viewing the headline.  It is so simple it’s brilliant!  The icon to the right of the headline is even large enough I can tap it with a finger nail.

Thank you Ilium.

A Prairie Home Companion from American Public Media: Podcasts

A Prairie Home Companion from American Public Media: Podcasts.

I had been trying and failing to clear a couple of hours to listen to the one of the excellent Prairie Home Companion episodes.  Now, if it was a podcast I could add it into my stable of podcasts that I carry. 

Well, my thoughts must have been received by the erudite Mr Keeler because here it is; not the whole show I must admit but it’s a start. 

(Yes, i know there are programs to record shows that are streamed but it doesn’t feel right – not cricket you might say [if you were a retired Colonel living in torquay]).

PocketPC's, Laptops and airport security - Life on the road - Modern Nomads

PocketPC's, Laptops and airport security - Life on the road - Modern Nomads.

Yet another reminder as to why this Thinkpad is such a good idea.  I am very grateful for the reminder about how the security currently stands.  I am not due to fly till end of April but it doesn’t hurt to think about it before then.

YouTube - Taste of India (Part 1) with Trudy

YouTube - Taste of India (Part 1) with Trudy.

the things one finds when surfing and trying out various media on one’s new laptop.

Here is a video of my friend Trudy on holiday with her partner Graham, the Director/Cameraman

[I tried to include the clip here but it doesn’t allow embedding].

This is my first attempt to include a Youtube clip in my blog using Blogjet.

British approval of open skies deal looks likely

British approval of open skies deal looks likely.

Maybe the opening of UK skies to flights from the United States will drive prices down so I will actually get there. 

I have family over there and a whole host of people I would like to meet; actually that’s partly why it’s so difficult.  We are geared up for visiting a small location like Corfu, where we can get to see everyone we want to.  america is s vast we’d need a lot of money for the travelling plus oodles of time. 

Fingers crossed and watch the flight sites I guess.

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Probe reveals seas on Saturn moon

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Probe reveals seas on Saturn moon.

 

This has got to be good news in the search for life on other planets. 

Now, I wonder if any science fiction writers predicted that, (I know science fiction is not about predicting specific things neccesarily but Arthur C Clarke didn’t do so badly).

Byte Night

Byte Night.

I came across this through my work’s intranet, (I work for the charity NCH but do not have official sanction from them to blog about it hence the organiation does not appear here).

he charity event for senior IT staff in the UK is not something I was previously aware of and wanted to raise it here.

A bunch of IT professionals, mostly working in plush/air conditioned conditions meet together once a year and after a get together, (last year it was the House of Lords I believe), they sleep outside overnight (now that’s what I call Mark One air conditioning.  The link is above.

What a particularly great day

Today we have had blue skies, sunshine, fresh breeze and, for me, two more packages.

I ordered a case logic zip-up neoprene laptop case on eBay for £13.50 ($27), (pictures next week when I can borrow a digital camera [Cathy is taking hers with her for the week]).  I received an email just before midnight on the night I ordered it, to say it’s been dispatched!  It came today along with my second best bargain of the week.

Yesterday I received my ThinkPad x60s with base unit (x6) thrown in.  I saw a minute mention that it had basic Office 2003 installed, it was better than I had hoped and included the usual suspects plus Publisher.  I won OneNote 2003 separately (a bargain in itself at £21.50 [$47]), so I have the set.  The base costs somewhere near £150+ ($300) without an optional HDD or optical drive, given that the laptop was less than half price, it made the package so much more of a bargain.  (In addition I see that the warranty has life in it yet which is piece of mind). 

The second best bargain of the week was an optical drive for the X6 base unit.  The description said it would be suitable for the x41 base unit but I took a chance and it paid off.  The drive is a slim one that slots into the very tight space of the x6 and only cost £21.50 ($43).

I was resigned to not having an optical drive but this DVD/CDRW is the icing on the cake!

Test post from Blogjet

It did well, finding the blog but not letting post

Lunar eclipse

The clouds closed in when the moon was around 3/4 covered by tge earth's shadow, but it cleared for the moon coming out.

It was great to just stand and contemplate things so much bigger than my corner of the world. With only a background touch of a slight breeze and the sound of crashing surf, we stood in front of our kitchen and stared up.

Missing bees

I saw this report on Digg and, speaking selfishly as a lover of honey, it really concerns me; no indication that it is happening over here or in Greece (yet) thank goodness.

Missing Bees

Thoughts on a Thinkpad

Well, I have been giving it some thought and I am part way through to a solution - for now.

The thing about the blogs I like to read, Jkontherun, Marianne's Virtual Salon, Buzznovation, Creating passionate Users, TinyScreenfuls, Chris Pirillo, Scobleizer, amongst others, is that they make me think.

I have lusted after a tablet computer for ages, always putting myself off due to things like not being able to afford one. I did remarkably well until recently, when I discussed it with Cathy, my wife. Work s very supportive but if I just got a little newer machine through work I would not get admin rights.

We decided that if I was going to replace my ancient work laptop I should not put it off any longer. I have covered my debacle already, ending in what do I do next?

This has been an illuminating exercise. where I really sat down and mapped out how I use a computer and when, it included when I am most productive and where. I faced up to the honest fact that for 90% of my time at the family centre where I am based I use a desktop computer. When I am travelling I don't often have the room and power options afforded by Virgin Trains, (which gives me a charging option); I will not have the budget for extras like powerpacks or even an 8-cell battery for quite some time to come. I have my x51v and it has sufficient power for nearly 24 hour without access to a mains supply, it has a a full wordprocessor, SoftMaker Office, and a Stowaway keyboard - that I have quite comfortably used for hours at a stretch.

My use of a tablet at this time would be strictly at home in the evening and at weekends. I do not have a main computer at home, a couple of Windows 98 machines that would be good combined as a Network Storage Device but that's all.

Given all of the above I am leaning strongly towards keeping the Thinkpad x60s as my main computer, when it arrives and if it is in as good a condition as described - I have no reason to think otherwise, but I have not heard from the seller nearly 3 days after the sale. The laptop is second hand and I am hoping that it is not locked by fingerprint still as this will surely stop me getting into it.

So, in brief, keep the Thinkpad and put off the tablet option for this year until I can afford it again, maybe just get an 8-cell Thinkpad battery in a few months.

A feeling of Spring

What a beautiful day today.

The sky is blue, a few white clouds gently sailing past and the sun high and warming. It's perfect walking weather, such a shame for poor Cathy who currently has an ear infection.

We went to the out of regular hours medical service, called KernowDoc (Kernow being Cornwall in the Cornish language). The doctor said that she had not seen such a sore and swollen ear in an adult. We picked up a prescription and some provisions and Cathy is now resting in bed. At least she will get the sun later today when it streams into the bedroom, currently it is flooding the kitchen and have opened most of the downstairs windows to encourage a breeze.

We are so lucky living where we do. I noticed the various scented household products lining the shelves in our supermarket, sea breeze and it's derivatives seems quite popular, when the breeze or wind is in the right direction we get loads of the real stuff. Living in what I call the main valley of the village, just up from one of the oldest parts, we are sheltered from the worst of the storms but get the air from off the sea. I may have mentioned before but I have virtually no sense of smell, certainly on a conscious level. I feel sure that various aromatherapy scents will have an affect on me, I find some things uplifting, like citrus products, and others relaxing, like lavender; what I don't seem to get is the release of memories attached to smells. I can remember in the past having memories triggered by smells but not for 20 years or more. Still, the sea air is a tonic and I am certain that it does me good even if I can't notice it directly.

Marianne writes about the daffodils not quite out and some really challenging weather, I see them flourishing all over down here, I must take my camera out with me.

Well time to go and do some chores. I'll write more later, as i really want to put some thoughts down on what I have been thinking about over my laptop buying problems, haven't heard back from the seller yet, (I would cross my fingers but that's a little premature as I only bought it a day and a half ago - once i buy stuff i want it to appear asap but that's just gadget restlessness).

7 Deadly sins

But it only takes one to bring you down.

This will be a long post - I need to get this off my chest.

Here I stand, a victim of one of the 7 deadly sins. In my case it was lust.

Now, before you go thinking the worst of me, let me say that the only person really harmed in this debacle of which I speak is me and the only person to blame for it is me.

For anyone who knows me well, and I will be the first to admit I have friends and readers out in the blogosphere who only know me from my Internet presence, we are talking about the lust of gadgets and not of the flesh variety. [Should my mother ever be reading this (however unlikely) I would add that I don't really know what the fleshly variety of lust is and must have heard the phrase when in bad company or something].

Here follows a tale of lust and maybe even a little greed. You may not think such a thing will happen to you and I hope it doesn't but I will reveal my story all the same for the edification of you all and the public embarrassment that I am hoping will teach me a lesson I won't ignore.

Cathy, my gorgeous wife, agreed that I could invest in a new computer. While a large purchase like this will stretch the domestic budget for a few months, I am finding myself hampered when it comes to doing somethings that can only be done on a screen larger than my 3.5 inch Axim x51v. (The laptop I have from work is 5 years old, for the technical it's a PIII 600Mhz Samsung that just runs XP Professional and is starting to fail and we are a charity with 1 year left of funding and not in a position to kit out with new gear now). I will soon have to think about my future career prospects (i.e. where I might be working after March 2008) and the ability to keep up with newer technology and to have it available to use in my searching (and my 20 week Open University course) will be a boon.

I went to eBay as I knew early on that I could not afford to buy one of the latest laptops. For over a week I poured over laptop configurations and matched my current and future needs. I then placed carefully crafted bids on a particular M200 tablet, things got exciting towards the end and i was swept up in the bidding, missing out by £2 ($4) on my last bid and 30 seconds to go; as anyone who has been to an auction you may as well have lost by £1,000,000 ($2,000,000) if you come second. A flurry of other tablets came and went, all slipping out of my grip as I decided on a maximum figure and kept to it. A comment on a Thinkpad item brought me up short as it suggested that Dabs.com had the Lenovo Thinkpad x41 on sale for £650 ($1,300).

I checked the Dabs website and saw the x41 for even less at £550 ($1,100). That was the one for me I thought, it had a 3 year warranty and was less than similar second hand items on eBay that were coming with 2 year warranties. I went off on the web doing my final pre-buying checks and decided to have a final glimpse of eBay.

This was the eginning of the end. I couldn't believe my eyes, I saw a Thinkpad x60s for auction and only around £500 ($1,000) - I began lusting. I decided it was too good an opportunity to miss, so I did a surf to check out the specifications, prices and reviews prior to bidding. Amongst other refences I read great reviews of the pre-production model x60(or whatever the phrase is for the version released to reviewers just before it's produced for retail). My lust for this object blinded me to the fact that it did not say tablet in it's description, it said Notebook and my brain helpfully (NOT) added the word tablet; after all, many of the supplier websites of new x60 Thinkpads had them in the tablets in the Notebook section was my addled thinking.

You will have surmised already that I did ended up winning (this term always strikes me as a little odd) a Notebook version x60s and not the Tablet version x60 I so much wanted.

The word of the day has to be SCOTOMA as I learned from Lou Tice on (IMHO) the brilliant Investors in Excellence course. I could not see what was before me as I wanted so much for the Thinkpad x60s to be the improved x41 at a bargain price, I totally missed the absolutely clear description and picture on the sellers page that clearly laid out that it was a Notebook.

Today I know so well the adage, There are none so blind as those who will not see.

I have options and my brain is screaming for me to get the new x41 and just sell the x60s I have just won and paid for on eBay, but I will take the weekend to mindmap my options and then give the new (to me) notebook when it arrives. At least this has made me look at my options and actually think about what I will use it for and how much of the tablet side is desire and how much actual use.


For me the wake up call to start actually thinking first and not just reacting is almost worth the money - more on this when the laptop arrives.

Deja Vue

Well, it happened again. I should have known from the conversation I had with a friend who dropped me at Bristol Temple Meads; he was telling me what the rules are in respect of claiming compensation for a late train. We set off and were travelling well, even getting into Plymouth 6 minutes early. Then it happened. We are an express train with priority along the track, except tonight. A freight train was put on the line ahead of us and this was running late. Because Cornwall has very long lengths of track between signals we had to wait just outside of Saltash for the freight train to reach the next set 20 minutes further down - 10 minutes late. Given that we were 6 minutes ahead this wasn't too bad, up to the point that the breaks seized on the freight train. We were then stuck just outside Par for approximately 50 minutes.

It is now 9.40pm and I should be in Penzance in 10 minutes time but am 1 hour away. We will make up time, enough time that we don't qualify for compensation unfortunately, but Virgin has been fair with us. We have been kept informed of the problem, which wasn't of Virgin's making, and offered free beverages from the buffet car.

As previously, (I don't have the link for that post to hand), I am as content as I could be. Virgin trains allow me to charge my device courtesy of the power supply socket and it's warm. I feel sorry for people stuck on the trains behind us coming from London, they may have had a longer journey and being stuck on one of those leaves laptop carries in difficulties if they want to use technology to entertain themselves. I am geared up for around 20 hours continuous use without needing a mains suppply but not every device is this power efficient. There is one socket per pair of seats and I have a table to myself so could charge at least 2 devices, my phone is charging as I write. I di contemplate recharging some batteries I have with me but can't be bothered fishing in my bag right now.

A big thank you to the cast and writers of Frasier, I have been sitting here giggling to myself, while getting worried looks from one or two people in view of my face, but not what I am laughing at. Time now I think for a celebratory hot chocolate and a chapter or two of Kevin J Anderson's Seven Suns novel 'Of Fire and Night'.

Evening everyone.

Train home

Just spent a very interesting hour or so with a chap travelling back from Birmingham University. We, or rather I, was talking about a whole range of things. I am not one to hold much in the way of conversations on trains these days, prefering to do my own thing (yes, I can be a grumpy curmudgeon).

We started when he saw my Axim and wondered what exactly it was; of course I launched into what one friend calls "the sales pitch", running through the basic history of the device, what it could do, what I use it for - leisure and my work for a national charity, what the next step is UMPC (shoutout to Kevin and Josh), the jump to the tablet computer (shoutout to James) and so on. I did give him chances to ask questions, after all I did draw a few breaths.

We then moved on to the Flashman novel he was reading, I read Flashman and the Redskins only a short while ago. We then moved on to what he was doing - music studies at Birmingham. Again we had interests in common. I mentioned some early music and modern composers whom I liked with an older feel like John Tavener and he knew exactly what I meant. It turns out he plays in a medieval group and plays a form of dulcimer - OK an 18/19th century version but it's about the sound isn't it? I expalined how I held composers in awe, the act of music being something of a mystery to me, (I did once play instruments - cornet and a little tenor horn - but did not have the enthusiasm to carry it through).

Toward the end of our conversation and his stop at Plymouth, home for a few days away from the hustle of what is called Britain's second capital, we came back to modern music. I left him with my all time favourite singer, someone with the most amazing voice (IMHO), Eddi Reader. He said he'd look her up. A second thought occurred to me, one other person I have a huge respect for musically (oh dear, I don't mean I don't respect her in every other way too) is Sissel; I am not certain he knows whom I meant and she has only one album and appeared on a Christmas album with Charles Aznavore and Placido Domingo that I have come across. I can't quite recall but I think I told him she was Norwegian when I meant Icelandic. Just imagine if there were a host of such voices to sing you through all those months of persistent night.

Anyway, I had a blast this evening and it definitely improved my journey home, I have a strong feeling that it would have been the same even if we hadn't covered PCs. He had a perfectly respectable laptop, that he apologised for in light of my Axim and BT keyboard, then I showed him my steam powered laptop - 600Mhz top speed and only just running XP Pro because of a memory upgrade.

We never exchanged names but some of my best conversations have been that way.

Daily Telegraph

I was watching a report on how the <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/index.jhtml'>Telegraph</a> is embracing new technology, with it's blogs, podcasts, video reports, etc. The <a href="http://search.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/search/results.pl?scope=all&edition=d&q=telegraph+newspaper&go=Search>BBC reporter followed the Andrew Price, a Telegraph staff reporter, as he covered events and produced up to 5 different pieces for the various media types</a>.

The thing that caught my eye was how he was capturing his notes on a sheet of paper. Surely that has got to lead to more work than necessary. It may be that Mr Price only needs to capture the bare basics and then expands on this directly onto his wordprocessor, but I can't help feeling he's missing something there.

Wharburtons bread

Fw: Wharburtons bread
Originally uploaded by Phil(hellene).

We have a new loaf this weekend called Warburtons Seeded Loaf. While not bread in the same league of Marianne's, it is very enjoyable.



The reason I bought the loaf is from it's television advert. Warburtons' adverts these are the very first I have seen that actively promote their accessibilty via the internet, email specifically.



The advert, as seen on UK terrestrial commercial station ITV1, emphasises how approachable the person running family business Jonathon Warburton, was and gives his email address very prominently.



I find it refreshing for a company to actively encourage feedback/input from people in this way and will support them by buying their products, which, going by the seeded loaf, will be no hardship at all.

Mindfulness

This is something I work hard at to not work hard at. It is a state I attain most readily when composing haiku.

I was interested to see the topic come up on 43 folders, I must have missed this post when it first came up
Mindfulness on 43Folders.

It's been a while

For no reason in particular I have been away from here, I haven't even got the excuse that I was busy posting elsewhere. I did have a bit of a tidy up on this refurbished x51v.

Marianne posted up a Love Poem that I enjoyed so much.

It's that eye for something that I would never have seen which lights my candle; I would not have come up with a view like hers, (I'd like to think I would avoid the cliches but who knows?), then again isn't that what poetry is about? Views of the world from through another eye.

On a less cultured subject, I was very disappointed to see an example of prejudice on a game show on ITV1 on a Saturday night. There is a show called Poker Face where contestants answer questions in a series of rounds, they get to know at the end of each round how well they personally have done but not there opponents. At the end of a round they stand together, each with a red button, 10 seconds count down and the first person who pushes the button in that time gets to go home with the money the won at that point; if no one presses their button the one with lowest score has to leave with nothing. Not exactly poker but a person who has done badly can bluff in the after round banter and hope to persuade someone else that they have need to press the button to avoid leaving with nothing.

If you are still with me at this point, last week one of the contestants was a lady who drove trains on the London underground. Almost everyone took turns to run her down during the show, picking on her, claiming that that she would naturally have done badly as she was only a train driver and one person suggesting that she would need the money given she was only a train driver. Now I know needling will come into the equation, the show winner will win £50,000 (approximately $ 100,000) and go into a £ 1,000,000 grand final. It was the way a majority of the needling seemed to be in her direction. In the end she was top for correct answers and the speed in getting them; out bluffed by the person in second position she hit the button and left in second place overall. I know, I know, someone is going to say it's not up to me to fight her battles but I hate to see people picked on. A game maybe but it's not cricket is it?

Smiling fit to burst

Below is the content of an email I fired off to a couple for friends on the Internet ( I have had occasion to email them from work, so their emails are conveniently instantly available in this yucky Web Outlook).
James and Kevin

I had to tell someone who'd appreciate this.

A lady who's been working in the family centre I keep an eye over, and whom I have been giving tablet orientated advice to, has asked me to setup an HP TC1100 tablet for wireless network access. SHE HAS GIVEN IT TO ME TO USE TILL THURSDAY MORNING!!!!!

People have been asking me why I am grinning so much but when I show them the slip case and start getting animated they just can't see why. (Yeh, I am used to that reaction).

Also, the courier has just been with my swap-out x51v. I have loved my other one like it was a part of me but even so, this one looks so gorgeous and shiny.

You wait for an exciting IT experience like reinstalling/setting up a favourite device then along come two at once, just like buses I think the saying goes.

Yippeeee!!!

[I am going to stick this up on the blog too as I am going to be engrossed for the next day and a half].

Hope your day is going as well.

Phil
(currently often mistaken for a Cheshire Cat)

Well, I never expected that

LOL, sometimes things just make me laugh.

I have seen quite a lot of EXIF information from our Nikon P2 and was sure it held orientation details. I saw a 'Please rotate automatically' option in Flickr, chose it and thought no more of it. Unfortunately, the P2 reported the Stream and Tree photo as being taken in normal Horizontal mode.

There you go, a good example of what assuming does.

Still, the html is coming through in the email system OK, by the look of my previous post.

Sweep of stream and tree

Sweep of stream and tree
Originally uploaded by Phil(hellene).

I am not sure how to tie the text of this blog entry to the title of the photo. I wanted to include something uplifting and the photo is it. I took it a couple of weeks ago on a great walk around Penrose Woods (a blog that has photos of Penrose Woods).



[The item just after the words Penrose Woods above is an experiment, to see if I can include html in this email via Flickr to have links behind text.]



Bit of a washed out weekend here. I seem to have picked up some sort of bug that has left all of my joints and more aching. Now I am the first to admit that it is not earth shattering but it is bad enough to confine me to base. Cathy is being nurse and providing for my comfort while carrying out various domestics. Apart from not being able to help with the domestics we are missing out on some great walking weather.



Lately it has been getting a touch colder, the evenings and night feeling like opening a freezer door on a hot day. Yesterday and today we have had large periods and patches of blue sky, with just a coldish breeze to contend with. The sunshine encourages one to walk but, we are lucky as, in Cornwall even rough weather encourages an appreciation of the landscape.



I am lucky as, thanks to Cathy, I have had the time to rest and just catch up on some reading and had some thinking time. I also caught up on a few Listen Again programmes, courtesy of BBC Listen Again - look for the link on the page



So, back to the photo. The tree reminds me of a period in my life and the stream, that life carries on; it's worth remembering that change occurs but that doesn't mean the end of everything. Maybe I need to look at things like work and think about Where the stream might take me. [Oh and to not be so pretentious.]

Thank Flickr....if this works...blog posting via Flickr

Thank Flickr....if this works...blog posting via Flickr, originally uploaded by Phil(hellene).

There is just so much on the Internet, I find it so hard to keep up. I don't want to specialise so I try to make use of other people's roundups of what is going on. Even then I miss things.



I spend so much time in front of a screen, full size at work and the Axim at home, I decided that I need to have some time with old fashioned paper. I am picking up one of those simplified magazines about what's about.



This is the result, if all goes well, of a happy accident as I was having a general surf. I seem to have a hazy memory of seeing this before, it's a mystery why I hadn't done anything about it before.



Quite simply, How To Get The Most Out Of Flickr http://www.flickr.com/get_the_most.gne taught me how to submit a photo to Flickr by email and have the body text posted on my blog. Now I am not certain whether my photo will end up with this huge description attached to it but the flexibility it allows is mighty useful.



Well.....Here goes...Oh, and the picture a snap from Cyprus the pool attached to our friend's place, where Cathy did lengths everyday.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

What happens when an x51v meets a concrete floor

We had a little accident yesterday, my Axim and me.

Fortunately, it was in it's Proporta aluminium extended battery case.

Unfortunately, while the case saved the Axim from cracking, the buttons on the front no longer operate.

Once I got over the initial shock a horrible thought occurred to me; I had accident cover but no idea where my paperwork was. Finding the paperwork would take an age.

I nipped online to check on exactly what I needed and it was then I made a brilliant discovery. I didn't need to find my original documents, I needed simply to open up the back and read a Tag number underneath the battery. I am not used to these things but it struck me as an elegant way to do things.

A phone call of 10 minutes and we had checked a few basic operations prior to the tech support chap agreeing that it would need to be replaced. I asked if I could have the replacement next Tuesday, when I was in one location for the whole day, he said certainly; he asked me to email the address and my availability times so that he could arrange a courier on Monday who would come out on Tuesday. That could have been it but, he said he would phone me on monday to confirm that it had been arranged. As things stand how could it have gone better?

Thank you Dell.

And thank heavens the Axim has a touch screen, that lets me continue to use it till Tuesday.

On a side note, I had decided a week ago that it was high time I got a new screen protector. They arrived this morning and I would love to install one, to get the newly smooth feel on the screen and ink some posts, but that would be a waste.

Test

Will Diarist post to the new style blogger account? Yes! Yes! Yes!

BlogJet 2.0 troubles

Instead of a smooth evening's blogging last night I had nothing but frustration.

I had installed BlogJet 2.0 on my laptop and started to go through the setup process, only to find it would not recognise my blog, or rather it would not even get through to the outside world.

Having entered Blog URL and login or blog URL and manually seleting Blogger old for the API bits, all I was getting was EIdConnect Timeout.

Some good news was that I got a response from Dmitry within the hour when i posted on Codingrobots' Blogjet Forum.

Just before hearing from Dmitry I was triple checking my blogger login details. I signed in successfully at Blogger using capitals at the start of my username. When looking at my account I saw that my username appeared everywhere with all characters in lowercase.

When I went back to BlogJet and tried using just lowercase in my blog login name I got a different message. While the new error message said "Invalid payload received from xml-rpc server" I see it as a good sign and that it is communicating with Blogger at last. fingers crossed for my trying tonight.

Feeling sheepish

Well, not sheepish exactly but I did want to have a pun-ish title.

We were heading through the village today, on our way to Penzance. Passing along the harbourhead I could see sheep in the field above the harbour. As we turned the corner we saw around 20 of them on a steep, scrub covered slope next to what was once Cowls Garage and is now ground cleared for houses. They were a couple of hops from quite a busy main road, not a good idea.

I am not an expert on landowners in the village but I took a guess at whose sheep they were. After deciding to do the neighbourly thing, it occurred to me that I would need to visit Methleigh Farm.

Now to almost everyone the name Methleigh won't mean anything. To someone interested in local history it is quite significant. Porthleven is a village that only came into existence in the 18th century, whereas farms and a few cottages were around well before that. Methleigh is a name that appears in the Doomsday Book of 1086. The farm buildings may not date from that far back but it is the site of the Manor of Methleigh and, as such, has a lot of history attached to it.

I didn't quite have goosebumps as I drove up the lane to the farmhouse but it was significant all the same. It must be 30 years since I had been up that road and then I didn't give a thought to history. All those people over the years that had travelled the same road, awesome.

Bluetooth - world first in Winchelsea

While watching the BBC programme Countryfile I saw a report on what is believed to be a world first using bluetooth technology. (While this may not turn out to be totally accurate, I still think that this is a neat idea).

Winchelsea in East Sussex is a village reconstructed on higher ground after the old one was washed away in the 13th Century. It was once one of the major ports of England and 10 times the size it is now; for example, between Autumn (Fall) 1306 and April 1307 some 736,000 gallons of wine from Gascony, Bordeaux and Aquitaine was shipped through Winchelsea. These days it is a few miles from the shore.

There are remnants of its medieval past such as partial towers, it's church and cellars under a number of properties, where things such as the afore mentioned wine were stored.

The world first is a series of locations where bluetooth transmitters are to be placed. People walking around the village will be able to receive an especially created recreation of the scene before them on their bluetooth device.

On an aside, Winchelsea church yard is the place where Spike Milligan is buried.

My name is Phil

I don't think I have ever been shown the error of my ways in such a graceful way as Marianne in her post.

My name is Phil and I am a gadget tart.

I have to say that I have been lusting after a number of gadgets, a tablet PC and a UMPC for starters, that I can't afford. The toaster crept up on me and I saw it as an affordable alternative, (though how I would actually ink a post with it would be a challenge).

Thank you Marianne, if only all my errors could be corrected in such a way.

DVD watching Lesson 1

When watching a DVD that the other person does have an interest in watching don't supply them with a large bag of crisps.

In such a situation, make sure you know where the remote that brings up subtitles lies.

Thoughts of a friend on the mend

A friend of mine has had a major piece of surgery and is now in the recovery phase. I don't want to seem cryptic but I wish to respect his right to privacy (yes, I know, I'm blogging it but hey - I'm not perfect), while still sending our very best wishes for a rigourous recovery. Fast or slow I hope it will be complete and with the minmum of discomfort.

Another successful trip with the GPS

Well, I headed up to our Regional Office in Bristol this week, on the stormiest day in the UK for 17 years. I had no qualms about being diverted at any point, with the TomTom I knew I could always get back on track.

The best part of the trip up must have been how well the Arkon powered mount worked. It kept the x51v in view, in reach and, more crucially, amplified the sound; as well as being able to hear instructions over the road noise I could listen to podcasts.

One of those "why not before" inventions

One of those "why not before" inventions

Every so often comes an invention that makes me wonder why someone didn't think of it before. In this case, it's taking a long existing design and innovating.

Toast in the 21st Century.

Mobile tech comes through

Mobile tech comes through

I knew that note taking at the meeting would go smoothly, as it had done in London a few weeks back; Axim x51v and bluetooth Stowaway keyboard.

What actually worked extremely well was when a problem occurred this morning. A colleague, who was covering me while I went to Bristol, was caught in traffic following an uprooted tree in storms. Through a chain of phone calls I was reached as I drove up the motorway. Using the numbers stored in my p910i for voice dialing, I contacted and updated another colleague who was on his way in. All was well, until he was caught up in a diversion due to the storms. Another few calls and I had located someone just entering the building who could open it for the waiting visitors.

Without the use of a phone with voice dialling and bluetooth earpiece I would not have been able to sort it.

On the way back from the meeting today I stopped for a break and a coffee. There were a few ideas that occurred to me as part of the meeting, so I knocked off a few emails while at the coffee stop, (courtesy of the BTOpenzone).

Woodhenge

Just sometimes the things that help DON'T!!!

Aaaaaggggghhhh!!!!

I have my wifi connection on my Axim setup to use VPN for safety. I wouldn't have it any other way, it has been a boon, but not today.

Sometimes my HotSpotVPN-1 connection is refused for hours, after only being connected just moments before.

There are times when it "loses" the password, but I see that as a defensive measure rather than a glitch.

I have looked at the company's faq site but there doesn't seem to be a mention and very little current traffic at all.

Thank heavens for my small Orange data contract.

OK, I feel a little better now.

Uplifting posts

It's posts like this one of Marianne's "The Seven Sisters are singing tonight" that help me get through more dull moments.

After a day ploughing through pages and pages of manuals, walking through the rain, to find the next 2 offices I want to visit deserted, it's posts like that help me get through.

I feel much better now, sitting beside the roar of a coal tar rich fire, drinking a mocha coffee and with an episode of Morse on the television. I find it hard to comprehend that it's 20 years since the first episode. If I ever meet Colin Dexter I certainly owe him more than a pint, for all the pleasure his detective series has given me, (if I don't watch it for the mystery I get to see views of my favourite city - Oxford).

I'd better go and get a tray, I promised to prepare the veg if I was home first tonight, one of those jobs that can be done in front of the googlebox when sonething like Morse is on.

A few words for a new Axim x51v owner

A friend of mine recently picked up an Axim x51v and I promised to email a few lines based on my experiences; having done that I thought that it might be worth sharing on the blog.

I just realised I didn't take more than 20 minutes for lunch today so this counts as my break time.

For a list of the best pocket PC software you can't do better than either:

personal recommendation or the recommendation from a panel of people who represent users across the world.

[Three things I would not be without are a screen protector and either a spare battery or device to recharge on the go and a hard case.]

Software

In lieu of the first, have a look at the Pocket PC Magazine Awards 2006 - it gives you a list of some of the best programmes out there and which ones have been selected as the best for 2006.

Click on the link to descriptions, the software is in categories. They don't cover Office like applications: my personal favourite being Softmaker Office

For handwriting recognition, the Dell does well already (tap on the triangle next to the keyboard symbol at the bottom of the screen - it there's no little triangle tap once on the keyboard symbol, and pick the data input option you want) but I recommend Phatware's Calligrapher

I love Phatware's products. I use their Phatnotes programme as it gives much more flexibility in how I store stuff.

I have watched people blogging using their handwriting (known as inking in the Tablet PC world) and, from all accounts, I may have been the first in the world to do it from an Axim - see the December entries on my blog http://lowjib7.blogspot.com/. I use Phatware's PhatPad programme for this - it's a bit specialised and really for storing handwritten notes, not easy on such a small screen, I usually set the page size to A5 and zoom in to write, which gives me clearer handwriting but means I need to scroll quite a lot. For PhatPad to read handwriting and turn it into text at some point you need to also own their Calligrapher programme.

Other software I use:

Flexmail 2007 - for email, much more flexible but just a bit fiddly when setting up initial folders

Pocket Informant - essential PIM software

Skype - used over wifi connection

Hitchiker - programme for sniffing out wifi connections in the wild and attempting to connect (if it spots a conmnection where you have to pay e.g. Starbucks you at least know it's found one and then fire up your Browser to go through the login or pay/login process)

Opera - much more flexible browser, allows tabbing and handles java script

Listpro - great for all sorts of lists that you can use flags, check boxes, filters, etc on

Spb Backup - to periodically take a snapshot of my main device memory in case I ever have to hard reset (totally wipe progs/data on actual x51v

eReader - for occassional eBook reading

KeepTrack - track personal expenses

?
Hardware
?
The main supplier of extras I use is Proporta
?
I have their:

?magnesium case - for 1100 mAH standard battery

aluminium case - for 2200 mAh extended battery

screen protectors

power pack that takes rechargeable AA batteries and has an x51v conector on the end

I picked up a couple of 2200 mAh batteries on ebay (from Hong Kong I think) and pretty much use them and the aluminium case, though the powered pda mount I got for Christmas needs the Axim in it's thinner standard magnesium case.

If you ever try charging from just a USB connection be warned that the device has to be turned off, a normal USB connection only supplies enough power to use the device or charge it when the Axim is completely shut off.
Memory Cards - till now I use 7dayshop but UK Amazon ?have a sale on at the moment - something like 2Gb SD card for ?11

Other hardware:

BT GPS receiver - a sirf III device that tracks up to 32 satellite channels rahter than the standard (till now) 20 - eBay viaHong Kong? -? only good if you want to get into something like TomTom but it was my birthday at the time - using gps to Surrey the other week to try different routes, spot things like off road garages, Little Chefs and speed cameras http://www.pocketgpsworld.com/?(annual membership needed) was brilliant.

Stowaway (now known in many places as iGO) Universal BT keyboard - the latest version has a fourth row for separate numeric keys and I'd probably buy one except myStowaway keyboard is already soooo good for extended typing or taking notes at meetings.

Replacement stylii that have a pen in one end under the cap, plus a 4-in-1 pen that includes a stylus tip

SD/CF Card Reader - much quicker than Activesync to upload stuff from computer to card and vice versa e.g. large files or pictures.?

NB When synching data I use Activesync 4.2 but if yours is a slightly earlier version and you backup stuff via Activesync and then try to restore using the newer Activesync it will not work - hence I use a third party backup porgramme.

[By setting up a dialup connection and telling it to dial something like *99# the Axim can dialup your phone and connect to the Internet via whatever setup your phone has e.g. mine is set to connectvia GPRS wap when I surf on my phone and my Axim will use this when I am not near a wifi connection e.g. I get my emails on the bus when heading home. Be careful with connecting via your phone - unless you have a data plan in place that allows you unlimited or a certain amount of download bandwidth, it can be VERY expensive.]
?
Sundry

make a note of your Owner name.? With mine I couldn't recall whether I had used my middle initial after accidentally wiping it out.? Some software unlocks only with the Owner name you declared when buying it e.g. I couldn't reinstall with the registration code till I had the correct owners name.

Register on the Aximsite Forums at http://www.aximsite.com/ a phenomenal site for info and advice - I am Philhellene on them and usually answer Hardware - Wireless questions when I can.

Clinton Finch reviews PhatPad 4

This is a great programme and it's good to see it getting some decent exposure. Clinton's Review

National De-lurking Week in the Blogosphere

OK all you lurkers out there; I have found out, thanks to my Scientic American widget that sits on my personalised Google page, that this week is National Blog De-lurking Week for people who visit blogs like my but never click on the Comment button to leave a comment.

I know some of my readers will email me after reading something but now is your time, come forth and post a comment, between you, me and the voices in my head we might get a conversation going.

Come one, come all

Pocket PC and keyboard

I am staying up way too late and will suffer for it in the morning. The trouble is that BBC1 has the film Paycheck with Uma Thurman and Ben Affleck and I am really enjoying it.

I just saw a scene in an FBI building where, just before the photo in that last link, a stenographer was taking dictation using a PDA and BT or infrared keyboard.

I am quite pleased, as I don't normally spot this sort of detail, certainly not at 11.40pm on a work night!

Time to set the video.

Goodnight all.

Late Christmas present

Well, if I wanted to cheer myself up this may be the way to do it.

I had ordered a couple of things for Cathy to give me as stocking fillers but they didn't come in time. I had forgotten about the two DVDs until HMV emailed me.

On their way are a double DVD set of the Jeff Wayne live War of the Worlds concert in London last year and a copy of the modern Battlestar Galactica series.

To top it off I also forgot, which would have been worrying if it didn't mean a present, that I had bought an Arkon Universal Powered PDA Mount CM795 from Morpeth Mobiles. They sent one just before New Year but it was a standard one, I returned it and the Arkon turned up today.

I can't wait to try it tomorrow in our car and then next week in the work one.

Catching up

This has been a while, I have no excuses about not having the opportunity, not when I am using an Axim. I have a 40 minute bus ride, up to an hour for lunch and an hour in the evenings.

I think I am getting in to bad habits again. This happened in the past, I have taken my eye off the ball before. A combination of late nights and general apathy. No excuse for that, after a terrific New Year, plus a great look forward to in February.

We are so looking forward to our friends coming over in February. It is the best sort of suprise , one that is unlooked for.
I'll try to post something more positive, now that I have dug out the keyboard it should pick me up.