The Scrapbook

2010-05-29T01:51:00.001-07:00

People who know me are often treated to the occasional rant about how difficult I find it to believe that people still use any form of MS Windows. After all it costs a small fortune, doesn't come with any bundled software; needs constant vigilence to avoid malware and, in my opinion at least, a high level of technical competence to run efficiently. Compared to many of the Linux distributions (distros) XP is and was something of a lumbering beast.

Still with the release of Windows 7 I have had to eat my words a little and concede that the latest offering from the Redmond boys and girls is certainly a well constructed little beastie and any system admin will tell you that after more than a decade in the wild XP is rock solid if only because after ten years all the bugs have been reported. But its still a hard experience for the pocket, especially if you plan on having multiple computers.

As an aside I almost find myself siding with Microsoft when it comes to dodgy copies of their OS. In recent months 15% of my customers have had illegal copies of Windows and while I do not condone (nor supply) illegal copies of their software, I can understand what happens in the real world when you have the number 1 product and want to sell it for Â£70 a go. For many a reason to find copies of the OS on bittorrent sites and for me another reason to leave Microsoft and make the short trip to the land of open source/GNU software.

What prompted today's Victor Meldrew style rant was this: I have XP and Ubuntu on my PC with the Windows partition there mainly for use in diagnosing problems from clients, its not used a great deal but today I booted up thinking that it would need some updating and boy was I right about that!

AVG was first past the post with an update but since I had not used it in a while it also attempted to do a full scan at the same time. Ouch!

Windows update fired up a few seconds later and began to download various files and a java platform decided that it needed updating and immediately started.

Meanwhile XP was threatening to restart because something - by now I was not sure what - had finished updating. It took repeated clicks to stop it shutting down in the middle of an update of the java platform.

Once all this had been completed AVG wanted to do a full scan and Windows having downloaded files wanted to install them. Despite having a dual core processor and a gig of RAM on my rig the amount of processor cycles being used meant I could do nothing else! XP has always wanted a lot of cycles to run and while Vista may have got the "skunk eye" when it came to being a resources hog, on anything less than a couple of gigs, XP moves with all the speed of a pensioner on a bus as well maybe not on the first install but install a 10 or 15 applications and watch that speed plummet.

At this point I can hear some pro-Windows people shouting "Yeah, well Linux is too complicated and it can't do games, see!" On the latter point with the exception of some games written for Linux and Cedega Linux they are right. But having been in the PC repairs for some years now I know that the average user out is not running a water cooled gaming behemoth and worried about frame rates on Call of Duty. Fact of the matter is, if you want decent gaming forget the PC and opt for a PS3 or Xbox360. On being complicated, while that may have been true of the distros three or four years back, the latest versions of LinuxMint, Ubuntu, PCLinuxOS, Fedora etc are all simple to operate and can be picked up by the average user in a few minutes. Click the Firefox icon and you are off. After all, realistically, how much time does the casual user spend outside the browser enviroment. While we are not yet a cloud computing/web 2.0 community, the browser is king. But if a user needs more; DVD playing, office suites and a ferocious amount of free software are there for taking. You never need to defrag or no need for Anti-virus. I have run various distros for years and while occasionally there are hardware issues there is usually an OS that will suit most systems, from a 386 (but don't expect too much) to the latest quad core super machines. Install is usually painless but if you are worried myself and lots of people like me will usually do the work for you and usually it will not cost an arm or a leg to do it.

In the meantime, XP has been consigned to the cupboard of its partition and Ubuntu is up and running at speed and happily. If you fancy checking one out, Google for Linux and burn your own or if you are in the Hastings and St Leonards, drop me an email and I'll sort out a disc for you. Just pop it in, have a look, it won't install until you want it to, but will load into memory and give you a feel for what Linux is all about. Give it a try I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Digital Economy Bill Are Your Prepared?

2010-04-18T23:40:00.001-07:00

Just a little dire warning to PC users, the Digital Economy Bill proposes to place a burden of responsibility on the person owning the Internet connection – you have to prove it wasn't you who pirated that film, otherwise you risk being disconnected. On that basis, you might want to have a good look at your AV, the status of any wireless connection and the exact state of your PC. Don't assume your are safe because you have AVG/Norton or similar on the system, especially if you are updating once a week or less. Get the system fully checked out. A pro can check out ports open on your machine and look around for anything odd which could mean a possible pirate is using your connection. Your might want to make sure your wireless connection is WPA2 compliance and you are not broadcasting your SSID. A good hacker will find your connection regardless, but you can at least make it tough enough so that they go and find another sucker instead.

Anyone with multiple PCs and children might want to see what is on the machine as well. While many people refer to having their PCs "hacked" the reality is the majority of problems happen when someone decides to download a file from www.put_virus_on_my-PC.ru or similar dodgy site.

Given that this could become the cash cow for some legal firm next year (Letters demanding recompense in the £500 have been received and £700 have been suggested) a few quid hiring the services of someone to give your PC a clean bill of health could be a real saver. If you are on a tight budget try my guide (details below) or spend some time on the net understanding how your PC works.

Email me on ron.cook@gmail.com for my "Help Yourself" PDF price £1 (Paypal, cheque or postal order) I also do PC protection in the Hastings area.)

The Internet is Middle-aged - explains a lot.

2010-04-10T23:10:00.001-07:00

From the first email to the first YouTube video: a definitive internet history. What links a broken laser pointer, a coffee pot and the elephant enclosure at San Diego Zoo? In late 1971 Ray Tomlinson, an engineer working on a time-sharing system called Tenex, combined two programs named Cpynet and SNDMSG in order to send the first ever network email. It had been possible to send email from one user to another on a single computer for nearly 10 years but Tomlinson was the first to use the primitive Arpanet to send text from one computer to another.

While the same principles are used to send emails across the world today, the very first email (the contents of which Tomlinson says he has long forgotten) was sent between two computers sitting right next to each other. At the same time, Tomlinson also devised the format of modern emails, with the @ symbol dividing the user name from the name of the host computer (although he did not invent the symbol itsel). And why did he do it? "Mostly because it seemed like a neat idea."

Full article at http://ping.fm/tVRil

The 51st State

2010-04-04T01:02:00.001-07:00

http://ping.fm/XEtHJ

2010-04-01T23:51:00.001-07:00

It is the biggest shakeup in the Ordnance Survey's 260-year history: from tomorrow you can download maps as detailed as 1:10,000 scale, or collect a list of locations appearing on maps at the 1:50,000 scale, or a conversion system for postcodes to grid references – free for personal or commercial use. Charles Arthur, The Guardian. Full article at http://ping.fm/PAV6G

2010-03-29T22:58:00.001-07:00

April Fools Day is Thursday. Its is a popular day for pranksters and web sites to publish bogus news but its also the time when less fun motivated people like to try their hand at launching trojans (malware which waits for a certain condition) to launch. These attacks usually target Windows users While the chances of anything happening are remote, just to be on the safe side make sure of the following:

* Make sure all Windows Updates have been installed.
* Update your virus definitions and run a full system scan.
* Ensure you have a firewall protecting your system/network.
* Keep an eye out for any suspicious activity over the next few days.

Chances are all will be well, but keep your eyes open for anything suspicious, think before you click!

2010-03-28T06:03:00.001-07:00

The Pirate Party Manifesto http://ping.fm/4ZTHg

2010-03-28T06:01:00.001-07:00

Tesco VOIP service winds down, http://ping.fm/UyKn9

2010-03-16T23:38:00.001-07:00

Microsoft previews Internet Explorer 9 - and it promises to add new technologies that may make it one of the most advanced browsers out there. No, really.

Among the elements that Microsoft is touting are SVGcapability, background compiled Javascript for greater speed, and HTML5 integration, so enter the ability to play Youtube videos and the like without flash. Could be handy!

Full article at http://ping.fm/SjJND

2010-03-06T23:07:00.001-08:00

Image search engine http://www.tineye.com/

2010-03-05T00:00:00.001-08:00

Ever watch the news reports about Iraq and the Middle East and thought that its easy to fool and confuse relatively primitive and unsophisticated Iraqis and Iranians? Time to add Joe Average in the US of Ignorance to the list.... Mainly down below what Robin Williams once described as the "Manson/Nixon" line the good ol' boys have been cleaning their M16s and dusting off Dixie in response to the Obama administrations social initiatives.

While it may all feel very Bo and Luke Duke, their Hazard County rednecks are logging onto the net and getting their conspiracy theories right from the headless horse's mouth and the Internet is right at the heart of all the conspiracies theories and dire warnings of disaster which Abner and Leroy are finding so appealling. And of course since this is the land of a hundred million guns and a place where hunters can own armour piercing bullets for hunting the protests are not a polite march on 1600 Pennsylvania Ave and a signed petition.

A recent news report claimed a 250% rise in 'patriot' groups with a rise in in anti-government extremist groups and armed militias. All this driven by increasing worries about the economy and the increasing propagation of conspiracy theories by parts of the mass media such as Fox News.

The Southern Poverty Law Centre (SPLC),a prominent civil rights group in their report entitled "Rage on the Right", say the rise in right wing is "a cause for grave concern" given their propensity to use violence. They reported that "...patriot groups have been fuelled by anger over the changing demographics of the country, the soaring public debt, the troubled economy and an array of initiatives by President Obama that have been branded "socialist" or even "fascist" by his political opponents," (Nice to know the good ol' boys are egalitarian in the paranoia, at least!)

Since the installation of Barack Obama, right wing extremists have murdered six law enforcement officers. One man (For UK bloggers read insane gun toting nutjob who would probably be locked up in a civilised country) told police he had learned on white supremacist websites that a genocide was under way against whites and then murdered two black people and planned to kill as many Jews as possible on the day after Obama's inauguration. Of course Obama's government can't win, if they respond to these lunatics they are accused of pursuing their left wing agenda, which in the states usually means taking guns away and possibly allowing ill people to use hospital even if they don't have money! If they do nothing they are tacitly endorsing the situation.

The truth is that like "foreign" countries the USA also has its contingent of ignorant, easily led natives more than willing to believe anything they their instinct tell them to be true and in the 21st century the internet can feed this sort of information far faster and with much more content than ever before. The current climate appeals to the apocalypse maybe gang and you can bet that even as I type this survivalists are sharing stories of the best way to cache food and shoot black people in a way that suits Youtube video formats.

For Barack its likely to be a hard struggle to wins the hearts of minds of people whose politcal views are still enshrouded in the values and attitudes 19th Century.

2010-03-02T23:10:00.001-08:00

Think you've been given the chance to sign up as an iPad tester via Facebook? Not a chance mate! Its a nasty little scam which will end up with you being sign to a premium rate mobile service. This warning is coming from Sophos, the Internet security people.

According to Sophos here is how the scam is worked: Here's how it works. 1) You are invited to "Become a Fan" of the page; 2) "Invite your friends" to also become fans of the page, and take part in the "special promotion" 3) "Claim" or "Apply" for your prize.

Some of the pages pretend to have thousands of positive comments from other Facebook users claiming that the offer is genuine, Sophos notes. And it's also running on Twitter - so beware there of people or accounts offering "Free Apple iPad!" or similar. Bit of a clue here is that Apple haven't actually started to sell the Ipad and won't until April.

When the victim applies for the prize they are typically taken to an online quiz, and their mobile phone number is requested so they can be sent the results. Doing that will sign you up for a premium rate service, costing you in the region of £8 every week. The scammers who created the fake iPad Facebook pages are undoubtedly skimming off some of this money by bringing new unwitting subscribers to the cellphone service.

If something looks too good to be true then generally it is. This has been a public service information blog. :-)

Here's a Youtube video on the subject.

2010-02-23T23:52:00.001-08:00

http://ping.fm/4pznA(PCMech.com)&utm_content=Google+UK
Not a good time in Internet Land!

2010-02-21T23:33:00.001-08:00

http://ping.fm/L4BET Where have all the Apples gone...?

2010-02-21T23:31:00.001-08:00

http://ping.fm/WubbK

2010-02-21T01:29:00.001-08:00

Google acquisition of video compression outfit On2 http://ping.fm/5plu7

Technologies. On Friday, according to brief statements from the two companies, On2 shareholders voted to approve a deal valued at approximately $124.6 million.

Mozilla addon malware detected

2010-02-17T23:04:00.001-08:00

Missed this earlier but this month but Mozilla announced that two experimental Firefox add-ons, Master Filer and the Sothink Web Video Downloader version 4, infected victim PCs with Trojans when installed. These have no been removed from the addon library that Mozilla run for Firefox.

The Master Filer instals the Bifrose Trojan. The Sothink Web Video Downloader version 4 came with LdPinch Trojan, and had been downloaded. The nasties managed to sneak by Mozillas malware scanners and Mozilla now say they will be using different scanning software.

If you have installed either of these addon, removing them will not deal with the malware, you'll need an antivirus scan and disinfection. Be careful out there folks!

Gone phishing!

2010-02-15T10:40:00.001-08:00

Scams tricking gullible users into handing over personal details for naughty piccies have moved over onto social networks.

92% of phishing scam recorded in January 2010 were on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. Once scammers have grabbed personal credentials, surfers are redirected to sites scareware scams rather than smut.

Scareware scams more commonly rely on finding search engine results such as the death of an athlete. These results are altered so that surfers looking for videos of this tragedy are instead redirected to anti-virus scan scam portals, which warn of non-existent malware risks in a bid to try and scare the user into buying software which can often be loaded with malware and tojans.

Symantec's reported a high volume of Haiti Earthquake-related spam and phishing in January 2010, as unscrupulous fraudsters tried to lure people.

You have been warned!

Seemic

2010-02-15T10:30:00.001-08:00

Ping.fm - Seesmic(ing) Is Believing http://ping.fm/vPWeM

Wi fi SIM

2010-02-15T10:27:00.001-08:00

http://ping.fm/V69sK Another attempt to add value to the diminutive GSM SIM sees Sagem Orga squeezing an entire Wi-Fi hotspot into a SIM card - we're just not sure why. SIMFi, as the product has been named, is a normal SIM card usable in any handset, but it also packs 802.11 Wi-Fi that can enable any 3G handset to operate as a hotspot sharing its connectivity with nearby Wi-Fi-enabled devices - assuming a network operator decides to deploy it.

http://ping.fm/cw3eo

Voyeurs united

2010-02-14T01:38:00.001-08:00

The latest social network, you can watch me running away! http://ping.fm/zwBFW

Opera 10 and Unite, your PC as a server

2010-02-13T12:58:00.001-08:00

Opera Unite: some first thoughts...

The company Opera unveiled today what it was referring to when it boasted about technology that essentially turns every computer running the Opera browser into a full-fledged Web server. Its called Unite and on first sight is looking very good.

Opera Unite can be used to share documents, music, photos, videos, or use it to run websites or even chat rooms without third-party requirements. The ability to put documents from your own rig onto the web turns every machine into a webserver and opens a new chapter in how the internet works. We await developments with interest and will be feeding back on Opera and Unit as soon as we can.

Good article here http://ping.fm/eW9Dl

A night at the Opera

2010-02-13T12:52:00.001-08:00

Just downloaded the latest version of Opera, very nice! http://www.opera.com/

Opera web server

2010-02-13T12:35:00.001-08:00

Unite put your pc on the net! http://ping.fm/zctqw

Unite is a simple idea with huge potential. It puts a web server inside your browser, and you can use that server to deliver almost anything. For now Unite offers file sharing, media streaming and photo sharing together with sticky notes and chat, but it could deliver any kind of content you might imagine.

Microsoft's Yahoo! pact closer to clearance

2010-02-12T22:18:00.001-08:00

Who's number two?
By Gavin Clarke in San Francisco

Posted in Business, 13th February 2010 00:40 GMT http://ping.fm/ksHoD

Microsoft's plan to become a credible number two to Google in online search could be a step closer.

Reuters has reported that Microsoft is expected to secure approval for its 10-year search pact with Yahoo!, as a European Union deadline to approve or reject the deal approaches on February 19. A source quoted by Reuters said: "I expect clearance without any concessions next Friday."

The companies' agreement was announced in July 2009. Senior vice president for Microsoft's online audience business Yusuf Mehdi said last week that as soon as Microsoft closed and implemented the Yahoo! deal, Microsoft will have achieved a milestone. "For advertisers, we are a credible No. 2."

Microsoft in January continued its US search market share gains, with Bing again inching up to hit 11.3 per cent - half a percentage point higher than December. Google, meanwhile, saw its market share fall by 0.3 per cent to 65.4 per cent.

Microsoft and Yahoo - true love?

2010-02-12T22:11:00.001-08:00

Microsoft and Yahoo - true love? http://ping.fm/V5hLO

2010-02-12T13:51:00.001-08:00

http://ping.fm/eBjCE Straw pulls the pages

2010-02-12T11:05:00.001-08:00

More on the Buzz from The Guardian http://ping.fm/pXoxn

2010-02-12T11:02:00.001-08:00

Dirty PCs but only for the strong stomachs amongst you! http://ping.fm/KWGU1 courtesy of The Reg

2010-02-11T10:52:00.001-08:00

Google grabs Aardvark http://ping.fm/liVns(ReadWriteWeb)

2010-02-11T10:50:00.001-08:00

loggers told they have violated terms without further explanation, as years of archives are wiped off the internet. Guardian online article. http://ping.fm/WaL5h

2010-02-10T23:38:00.001-08:00

What's the Buzz? http://ping.fm/EZP5z

2010-02-10T22:12:00.001-08:00

YouTube saves dumb children from offensive content http://ping.fm/Q2IDj

2010-02-08T22:31:00.001-08:00

eBay cans free P&P requirement http://reg.cx/1Gp5

2010-02-07T23:56:00.001-08:00

Interesting discovery from "The Register" today

By Cade Metz in San Francisco http://ping.fm/l4DrM

Posted in HPC, 8th February 2010 05:02 GMT

Sometime in the middle of October, Google silently launched a new net domain - a barely-disguised doppelgänger to the familiar google.com - and according to the latest stats from the site watchers at Alexa, this mystery domain is now visited by nearly 3 per cent of all net users, making it the 44st most visited domain on the interwebs. In other words, it's bigger than AOL, Apple.com, or the BBC.

Over the past few months, those keeping a close eye on their PC's net traffic have noticed seemingly random connections to this mystery domain. In some cases, the connections arise even before an application is launched, and since the domain name appears - at first glance - to be little more than a hodgepodge of characters, some netizens have blocked it, under the assumption it serves up malware.

But on closer inspection, the domain is obviously Google's, chosen with a mathematician's wink at the search giant's famously misspelled name. This mystery domain is 1e100.net. "1e100" would be scientific notation for 10 100, a one followed by 100 zeros, also known as a googol.

As pointed out by Sebastian Stadil, founder of the Silicon Valley Cloud Computing Group, 1e100.net translates to "Google Network" - the ever-growing Google private infrastructure that spans nearly forty custom-built data centers worldwide. According to a recent company presentation, Google intends to expand this private interweb to between one million and 10 million servers, spanning “100s to 1000s” of global locations.

Whois records show that Google registered 1e100.net on September 24, and according to data from Alexa, traffic began hitting the domain around the middle of October."

So no need to panic if you see this domain and no need to block, but it would have been nice to have been told :-(

2010-02-07T23:49:00.001-08:00

http://ping.fm/7Z2Xk The Guardian on the rise of Facebook and recent changes.

2010-02-07T12:15:00.001-08:00

By Chris Crum

It's been a pretty big week for Facebook. Not only is there a lot of talk about Facebook's potential for becoming the top news source on the web, but the company celebrated its sixth birthday, is passing the 400 million user mark, and began rolling out some new design changes. In addition, the company is said to be rewriting its messaging feature and preparing to launch a webmail product, but first things first.
Full article at http://ping.fm/uSjIu

2010-02-04T23:12:00.001-08:00

http://ping.fm/mg6C9
NASA's plans to send a manned mission to the moon and launch the US into a bold new era of space exploration are likely to remain on the ground today when Barack Obama unveils his budget.

2010-02-04T23:10:00.001-08:00

http://ping.fm/80QtQ
Cyber-warfare attacks on military infrastructure, government and communications systems, and financial markets pose a rapidly growing but little understood threat to international security and could become a decisive weapon of choice in future conflicts between states.

2010-02-02T22:10:00.001-08:00

Fake Google appears in China
http://www.goojje.com/ Full article here http://ping.fm/EI1i2 Google's line on this is the concerns about possible theft of their search engine algorithms.

Interesting to note the above in connection with the ruling from China on Baidu http://ping.fm/j9wGW for full article.

2010-02-02T22:06:00.001-08:00

Fake Google appears in China
http://www.goojje.com/ Full article here http://ping.fm/otO4W

2010-02-01T03:13:00.001-08:00

Be interested in hearing how other people react to this: A convicted murderer has been using Facebook to let the world know what he was up to! The Facebook con is called Colin Gunn, 42, is serving 35 years for conspiracy to murder Joan and John Stirland. Gun has had a Facebook profile for at least two months. The page was regularly updated leading to suspicion that he was using a mobile phone rather than getting friends to update it for him. On the site Gunn declared: “Good news from seeing the security governor, he said he had no problem with me blogging. I’ve provided him with all of the up-to-date laws on it. Unlike the security at HMP Whitemoor, it does not concern them here,” This quote from the Sunday Times.The profile also included threatening messages. This had lead to speculation that Gunn could be accessing other social networks and his former from jail.

2010-01-31T12:14:00.001-08:00

The dimensions of the little baby are are 4" x 4.5" x 1.05". Could be the answer for someone who wants a PC but is pushed for space. Read the full article here http://ping.fm/UJCHz

2010-01-31T11:15:00.001-08:00

http://ping.fm/eWskO For all your street wise souls out there.

Whatever happened to politics?

2009-05-31T00:16:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

Listening to the news/Telegraph propaganda wing of the Tories, we may as well all give up now. They are predicting a third place for Labour, which given that all three parties have been shown to be guzzling down the freebies seems a little unfair. Although the idiot MP who tried to claim back his five donation to charity probably says a lot about how the Commons viewed the system. Brown himself seems to have been low profile on this the matter, although better time for reflection and mature response than the hair-shirt ideology being pushed by the Lib Dems.

I am not up to speed on mosaics (sounds like I need to have a look...) but the thought does occur that even the old retainers need a few words of comfort from the the commander-in-chief and probably right now more than ever. For the first time yesterday while supping a pint in a seafront pub, I heard one punter announce he was voting BNP. This was not some shaven-headed thug but Mr Normal out with a few friends for a bevvy or two and did shake me a bit.

I suspect we all need to brace ourselves for some fairly unpleasant results, but I do despair of an electorate that probably knows more about Susan Boyle's love life than politics.

Trial by Facebook

2009-05-18T00:43:00.000-07:00

Anyone looking for an insight into the psychology of the average British citizen may want to have a glance at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=43720372184 which another happy group of Facebookers have found someone guilty of having the same name as a murderer, Ian Huntley, and in one section prove how superior they are to him by beating him to death - which of course upholds their moral standing. These exponents of social networking are outraged that Huntley has access to a PC and one or two of the techno-cognoscenti have suggested he may have a games machine with internet access (and a DSL access point in the cell no doubt - or perhaps he nips down to the prison branch of Costa Coffee and hooks up wirelessly.) Now I have no problem with Huntley having an uncomfortable life, but we seem to be heading for the day that some poor sod is killed because he has the same number and roughly the same shape as a child-killer. Here a few of the well considered comments:

Click on the image for the full erudite prose.

Eurovision song contest 2009

2009-05-16T01:03:00.000-07:00

Image by AFP/Getty Images via Daylife

Image via Wikipedia

Astonishingly the UK actually came fifth. This may not seem impressive but was pretty spectacular compared with recent showings. Our entry was not what I would have called Eurovision (jaunty euro-pop with an 80% cringe factor) but was still listenable and feature non other than Andrew Lloyd Webber on piano.

The winner - below - was a piece of pure Euro-pop and was a record score.

2009-05-05T06:00:00.000-07:00

Image by la bête via Flickr

Youtube can turn up some very odd results for searches and I am not entirely sure how my search for scenes from Agatha Christie's "Hercule Poirot" found me looking at martial arts videos but I was moved to read the comments on the segment which seemed to be composed entirely of people who thought it was the ultimate fighting style and those who believed it was a pile of steaming brown stuff. This prompted me to look at some more and I quickly drew a couple of conclusions, one was that many people commenting on Youtube videos knew little or nothing about martial arts history and secondly that a significant number of them probably should not be allowed anything sharp.

Martial arts, in the broadest sense, is one of those things which along with religion and sex, seems to provoke lots of diametrically opposed opinions. In the case of martials arts this is usually in the form of "my style/instructor/sensei/guru/sifu is the best in the known universe and your style is total pants! And its been going on for a long time. In the seventies, it was Kung Fu, mastery of which guaranteed success against any number of foes - especially on islands where conveniently the criminal mastermind owner had forbidden guns. In the eighties it was Ninjutsu which enabled you to become invisible, throw sharpened star shaped bits of metal around and dress in snazzy black pyjamas But both of these arts found themselves hyped in the media to the point where even the most credulous American was wondering "are they for real?" and the ninties saw kick-boxing and Muay Thai shoulder their way into the ring No clever weapons, no swords or stars, just fists, feet and elbow, the street form was about doing maximum damage to the opponent the ring form slightly more constrained. So what of the twenty-first century? Step forward Krav Maga (Hebrew: "Close Combat") Developed by Jews during World War 2, its a pragmatic fighting style that emphaises the no rules concept of martial arts. Students are taught basic concepts that they mix and match according to their needs. Its not pretty or flowery but focuses on doing maximum damage to the opponent using whatever comes to hand, including expedient weapons, like stones, sticks and passing people!

So what is the best martial art? The answer is of course the best martial art is the one that suits you and what you want to get out of it. No all fighting styles actually need to be geared towards fighting. You can train for fitness or simply the skills needed to archieve a form or kata without ever having to worry about exactly how you administer that death-dealing choke hold. In Kung Fu there are numerous weapons which you are unlikely to ever use in anger, but represent significant investment in developing the skills to use them effectively. In Muay Thai, the bag work drills will keep you in good shape without the need to enter the ring and even Ninjutsu can teach camouflage and cover without having to eliminate various Samurai. But most people coming into the field for the first time, will be interested in just how 'deadly' the art is? So the question which gets asked is which is the best

Years ago I read a series of articles in a magazine (Fighting Arts International Issue 38 et al ) about a martial artist and door security man (read 'bouncer') called Gary Spiers. In the series Gary recounted several fights and his personal fighting style developed from years of practical experience working doors at clubs and pubs. Gary thoughts on what was the best martial could be paraphrased as "It doesn't matter what the style of the kick is, if it hits you in the balls, you are down!" A tai-chi master with twenty years of practice under her belt and a knowledge of chi and the human anatomy could tie up a would-be mugger or attacker with ease. Given time and practice almost any art will work. Someone like Gary, who died in 2001 aged 57, would have slipped easily into the Krav Maga framework because in many senses, Krav is not unique, people who find a living minding doors and those who study and try to develop self defence technique would see many similarities with what they teach and the Israeli style. But the difficulty coming in teaching.

My introduction to martial was through 'Kyokushinkai', a hardcore karate style that emphaisied full contact in fighting and went in for hand and feet conditioning through bagwork and breaking. Kyokushinkai was a good art to learn, it got you used to the notion of getting hit and still continuing to fight - another Krav Maga principle. But aside from the inner circle of dedicated kohai. Most would-be students would come stay for a session or two and then not return. The training was simply that tough. If the intention of the 'semapi' was to teach students karate, then he failed.

I've taught a number people self-defence techniques, many of which resemble the Krav style but the essence of real combat is difficult to pass on to the average student. Krav students - at least in the videos I have watch so far seem quite happy to engage in full contact fighting with only the minimum of contact and the assumption has to be the people seen were Krav Maga's version of black belts. The 'get stuck in and trust your instincts' is good for an experienced fighter who will quickly asorb and adapt their techniques, but for the inexperienced person, who may not have gone toe to toe with an attacker since primary school, Krav or any full contact martial art will be a frightening experience. Many of my female students over the years lack any form of fighting skill, the first thing is usually to teach them to throw a punch and a kick.

Self-defence is the aim, so like Krav, I emphaisis short range kicks with the knee and the instep, fist and palm strike to the face and groin and the use of improvised weapons wherever possible and it was interesting to see how similar are the techniques used by Krav. Unlike Krav, I don't have much use for training using an M16, but I will be adding some of the knife defences which look simple and effective.

Most of my students have been keen to learn anti-assault/rape techniques and those are as much about awareness of the situation as technique. I was horrified to read in the Hastings local paper a few ago of a young girl who was raped on her way home But then I read the article: it was 2am, she was coming home from a party; had been drinking and was wearing a ipod, she was crossing the cliff and was on her own. There is so much wrong with that, that its difficult to know where to start. Let me be clear, there is no such thing as "asking for it" but there are nasty people out and its them that I teach my students to defend themselves against. Not being drunk on your own in the middle of nowhere with no sense of hearing in the early morning is likely to be a starting point! Krav's tactical awareness is about being in the right place to kill the enemy, what I teach is about watching people, how they move, how they hold themselves, the way they move. A would be rapist is likely to give away his intentions in lots of ways, all are an edge for the attackee. Krav and self defence both stress aggression and the simple act of responding forcefully to an attack may be sufficient to halt a rapist in his tracks. Anyone interested in hearing more, contact me. I am always happy to give private lessons or check out the Krav Maga school in your area...

Jack is back - Jack in the Green 2009

2009-05-04T22:07:00.000-07:00

The High Street, Old Town, Hastings, waiting for the bogies and the Jack to arrive...and lots of Morris dancers as well.

Hasting Castle, 1230am, the procession is slowly climbing the hill to join us...

Sunday morning, outside the Whiterock hotel... not possibly first ever Asian Morris dancer.

Operating system of a down

2009-04-27T01:21:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

Upgrade

Friday evening: OK it was my fault! There I've said it and its true. I broke one of the rules for Ubuntu Linux which basically said "Thou shalt not use the upgrade feature in Synaptic." The rule is download the live CD run; see that everything works and then install the OS as a fresh install to the hardware.

But for reasons best known to a slightly bored Linux fan on a Friday morning I decided that the best way to upgrade my perfectly workable Ubuntu 8.04 LTS (Long term support) install was to use the Synaptic function to first upgrade to the next version 8.10 and from there to 9.04 (For those wondering about the numbering scheme in use here, the first digit is the year of release and the digits after the decimal point are the month of release. Ubuntu releases two version year one in April and one in October.)

The reason for using the live CD rather than the upgrade is that this reduces the chances of something going wrong, Linux is a tapestry of applications and scripts and its all too easy for the upgrade make a mess of one or other of the many dependencies - using the live CD means you can have a good look at what you have on-screen, before you install. If everything works, you are good to go and if there is a problem, take out the CD and its back to the original OS with no problems.

All of which I happily ignored in my quest to have Ubuntu 9.04 on my desktop.

8.10

The first shock was that the upgrade was a full gigabyte of data! This is about 400mb larger than the Live CD and should have warned that the was going to be trouble ahead. It would have been quicker to go the Live CD route and by this stage it was pure laziness that was keeping me from backing up essential data and doing the job properly.

Saturday afternoon: Upgrading took the better part of the night and installing the resultant download the better part of the morning. By now there was a little voice in the back of my head shouting "Stop now, there is still time! Stop!" But the same dynamic that would alway cause me to, when lost, "go just a little further" rather than ask directions, impelled me onwards.

Ubuntu 8.10 looked nice but I had heard on the internet forums that it wasn't a significant step up from the previous release so I ignored it completely and like HG Wells' time traveller propelled myself every forward.

Upgrade manager in Synaptic announced that the next upgrade would be - yes, you guessed it, a gigbyte and I had a pretty good idea that it would need another day to download and install. Commonsense would have had me back out at this point and reinstall my trusty copy of 8.04, but no working on the "just a little further" principle I started the next download...

9.04

Sunday morning: I finally had 9.10 on the desktop and glazed at its pristine beauty, it looked lovely and moved with all the speed and grace of Titanic avoiding a iceberg! I quickly that it was significantly less than fast. It may have been touted as "Jaunty Jackelope" but was like "Silicon Sloth" on my hardware. Note to the Ubuntu fan club out there, I am sure that installed on a Live CD and not hamstrung by two gigs of upgrade data it would have been a lot more speedy. It may have even run the .swf applications on my website which despite considerable time on Google and a not small amount of hair pulling I could not get it to do.

One thing it did seem to do well was detect my hardware and just for once I found myself with a half way decent screen resolution. This has been a big issue for me since moving from my old CRT monitor to my TFT. For a more than decent OS I was puzzled as to why a problem with the display could only be resolved by manually editing the xorg.conf file, something calculated to put off all but the most hardened Linux fanatic. Unable to understand the way the file was put together, despite reading copious internet articles, I cheated by copying a workable config file and saving it, reasoning if it worked one time it should work another. Hmmm....?

Sunday afternoon: A couple of hours in the company of the Jackelope convinced me that, while it was probably a great OS, the way I had installed it had borked my system to the point of complete instability. Since I had installed it on my work computer and the new working week was looming with all the appeal of a pasty-faced white contestant on "Britain's Got Sod All Talent" about to do a 50 Cent rap song, and because I could not read all the files on my own website, I decided to go back to Ubuntu 8.04 also known as the "Hardy Heron."

An interesting experiment, thinks I, and now back to my original install and all will be well.

8.04

Sunday evening: Oh..!

Getting the Heron back on my desktop was not difficult although somewhere along the line my back up of Thunderbird mail settings and data had been lost and I had to do the mail settings again. I was a bit annoyed about deleting the file but had been wise enough to forward all important emails to a Gmail account so I at least had a copy of anything I was likely to need. Trouble is, the screen resolution was 800x600, a setting so low as to be hardly usable, web pages zoomed off to the right and descended vertiginous downwards and my three pane email display squeezed the message into a space smaller than an estate agents' bijou residence. I hurriedly installed my config file for xorg and restarted.

Nothing...the screen was still at low resolution, Ubuntu offered to do something about this but various permutation of sudo dpkg-reconfigure -phigh xserver-xorg and Nvidia front-ends did nothing to solve my problem. Hardware detection was known to be an issue with Ubuntu, but usually an edited xorg file sorted out the problem, this time I was firmly in the low resolution barely usable brown smelly stuff.

With the clock ticking and my stupidity coming back to taunt me, I rifled through my collection of LIve CDs and happened upon the latest version of Mandriva, Mandriva 2009, complete with plasmoid widgets and reputedly a look so geogorous that it has turned down proposals of marriage from numerous Linux fanboys and girls.

Mandriva 2009

Sunday night: Mandriva installed and set up and looking good... then looking difficult to configure, then looking broken and then very broken indeed..! What was going on here? Mandriva used the latest KDE interface and the simple fact appeared to be that it was broken, whether this was something I had done or some relationship between my hardware and KDE was unclear. I tried to add short cuts and move some icons around but found that KDE was not keen on me making any changes. Initially I assumed this was simply the way that KDE worked as opposed to Gnome, which I was more used to. On Google I found out that the whole desktop was actually a floating widget and I quickly concluded that the desktop was not all it might have been. Armed with a little info on Google I tried to get a half way decent desktop sorted out. But in short order I had managed to bork the desktop to the point where I could no longer login on any graphical interface.

It was time for a rethink....

I was impressed that aside from the dodgy desktop, Mandriva looked pretty good, it detected hardware with no problem and had it not been for the plasmoid widgets fouling things up, was an OS I might have stayed with. As it was with time pressing I simply did not have time to try and get it all to operate. I needed something that would work "out of the box" as they say and with even trusty Ubuntu unable to detect my monitor I had to come up with another option.

PCLinuxOS

Sunday evening + 2 large coffees: I had started my Linux voyage with PCLinuxOS but move to Ubuntu when it became clear that it would be better able to handle wireless - a function I needed at the time. I had a copy of the latest version so it went into the CD drawer and I rebooted one more time.

Sunday evening + 3 large coffees: PCLOS appeared and offered me the chance to install, I clicked the appropriate icon and answered the questions and in fairly short order had the OS on the desktop. I started to configure. First thing was Firefox, I had a list of addons for the fox and the first one to install was Foxmarks (Also called X-marks) here I stored all my booksmarks and with those back I could get the rest of my desktop organised. Having earlier lost my Thunderbird data I had to do that by hand, but if I had retained the file it would have been a simple matter to copy into the ./thunderbird folder hidden in my home file. PCLOS is a KDE desktop but did not seem to have the plasmoid problems that Mandriva experienced.

Monday morning: I warmed to PLCLOS pretty quickly, it does indeed do what it says on the packet. By the morning everything up and working and I have to say I am pretty pleased with what I see. Eye candy is Compiz and looks rather better than its Ubuntu cousin. Hardware was, needless to say, detected with no problems. I plugged in a wireless dongle and it was detected, I could connect with no problems. Open Office, Amorak, Kompete and Thunderbird all worked perfectly. I have been using for about six hours now and so far the smile has not faded from my face. Its easy to use, works well and looks lovely. I would definitely recommend it for new and experienced users alike, especially since its saved my bacon

Webmail and I!

2009-04-23T01:49:00.000-07:00

Image via CrunchBase

There are two ways to handle your email, the first in using POP3/IMAP with an email client like Outlook or Thunderbird. You set up your accounts and download your messages. Read, reply and save or delete as appropriate. Email clients were around when accessing the internet was slow and expensive and one of the things they could do was enable you to download your mail, go off line, reply and then go online once to send the replies. Webmail differs from this in that all the work is done online,(Although Google gears has recently made offline Gmail and calendars possible.) you don't need an email client just a moderate speed connection to the internet and a subscription to one of the webmail providers but like so many thing, not all webmail was created equal. So here's a brief review of the big three. Gmail, Yahoo, and Windows Live Hotmail.

All comments are my own and do not reflect the views of any other organization or person...(honest!)

Gmail
Gmail is an offering from the Google group and in my opinion provides some of the best email organization on the internet. Their pride and joy feature is the interface. Instead of having a threaded list of back and forth emails between you and a friend Messages can be places into labels (folders), started, deleted or forwarded as needed.

Gmail also has integrated IM in the form of G-talk in the GMail interface, and continues to add other functionality as well (such as integration with Docs & Spreadsheets). Gmail is also consistently fast, offering the most storage and free POP-in and POP-out, meaning you can use Gmail to access your other email accounts, or access GMail from whatever email client you use. I tend to forward all my POP email to my Gmail account so that I have a copy of mails when I am on the move. Much quicker than copying folders to my laptop.

Google's security includes spam, virus and phishing protection. All spam is filtered into a spam folder that allows you to separate the good from the bad, all incoming and outgoing messages are scanned for known viruses, and suspicious messages that look like phishing scams are flagged with a big red banner across the top of the message. In the last month my Gmail account has caught more than 300 spam messages and not having to deal with these manually is very useful. Checks on the spam box also show that little or now wanted message find there way in there, another big plus in my book. Gmail lets you report both spam and phishing attempts to Google.

One contentious issue with Gmail is that they do place subtle ads based on the text of your emails on the right hand side of the page, this has lead to complains about the security of the message. Google insists human eyes never see your messages and the work is done by bots that scan the email; however, if you feel uncomfortable with this arrangement consider one of the other providers.

Gmail leads the pack when it comes to additional mail/message features and extras. Gmail was the only service of the three that included an instant messenger program without an additional download. If one of your contacts is signed into their account, you can chat with them. If you both have webcams, Gmail is equipped with video chat software too. With Gmail's docs and spreadsheet feature allows you to post an editable document or spreadsheet online and access it from anywhere, similar to online storage. This feature is great for group projects at school or work, where all members of the team can access the same material. Gmail is also available in dozens of languages from Arabic to Vietnamese.

Gmail provides a plethora of extras. Looks out for Picasa for photos, the calendar for scheduling and the iGoogle customizable homepage with personal tabs and literally hundreds of widgets.

Yahoo Mail
Yahoo Mail is our second test, older than Gmail it has recently been completely revamped with a new UI allowing users to access other email accounts but only some POP features are only available on the paid account for a fee. Storage is on the low side - only 1 GB, which is much less than Gmail offers.

On the upside, Yahoo Mail offers an intuitive, Outlook-like interface. Instant Messaging and RSS integration is available. One slight problem I found with Yahoo is that despite being on Firefox platform, as a Linux user, Yahoo reported that it had not been tested on my system and offered me the classic Yahoo look, there didn't seem to be a way avoid this notification every visit.

Messages can be sorted by all manner of criteria. These include unread, sender, date, size and so on, while searching through your Inbox simply requires you to enter a few keywords. Emails can be flagged for follow-up and you can create filters and folders to help keep everything organised.

Junk Mail is handled well, I checked my account before starting this article and since the last visit – about three days ago, Yahoo had caught 80 spam messages and not unwanted had managed to sneak through. Anything that gets through is easily banished by selecting it and clicking the Spam button.

Windows Live Hotmail
Windows Live Hotmail gives you 5 GB (and growing) of online storage, fast search, solid security, POP access and an interface easy as a desktop email program. When it comes to organizing mail, Windows Live Hotmail does not go beyond folders (to saved searches and tags, for example), its spam filter could be more effective, and IMAP access to all online folders would be nice. You can send from other email addresses using Windows Live Hotmail and includes fast search and it accessible via POP in any email program . On the downside it lacks virtual folders and tags for message organization. No IMAP access is available at the moment. One nice feature which will keep your spam content down is the ability to accept mail only from people in your address book. In addition Hotmail does not automatically download images from unauthorized senders, which is a very useful feature in avoiding viruses. A reading pane, drag-and-drop ease and rich text editing lend Windows Live Hotmail a desktop-like handling. You can set up additional addresses to use in the From: line of mail you send with Windows Live Hotmail. MSN also provides access using various browsers and mobile devices.

However, while technically good, actual operation is less impressive, pages were slow to load and operation felt clunky, especially if you were not using Internet Explorer on a Windows XP/Vista platform. The standard spam filter could do with some improvement. You can report spam easily using a "Junk" button, but that does not seem to have much of an effect and spam in my inbox remained as frequent as always no matter what I did.

Calendar integration is a little odd and not connected to the rest of the functions, which is a shame. One user wrote: "I've been using windows live or MSN or Hotmail for years. Although parts of the mail service have improved, other parts fail. Because its free, they are now adding adds in the email pages. I get a lot of junk mail and take the time to block each one, yet they still appear in my inbox. One such spam will automatically launch a fake anti-virus scanner when I try to delete the message. I'm fed up and changing my email to Gmail. I do NOT recommend Windows live unless you can find a way to block the SPAM yourself, because windows live doesn't."

Other users reported problems with Hotmail and their hardware, now to be fair, this may not be the fault of MSN – another reviewer commented "I can't get Hotmail email to come up on my computer ... I only get error on page. I can't even find out how to contact them to send them an email about the problem. If you're considering a Hotmail email account, forget it and move on ... your stress level will thank you."

Results.
And the winner is....Gmail, at least for now its the winner. Yahoo is snapping at its heels in terms of functionality. The ability to find any mail using Google's search function is a big plus and if you use the label feature – which takes a little getting used to – you can reference emails easily, copy to multiple labels and find your message with a couple of words in the search panel!

Coming in second Live Mail would still need to seem some work, but on the plus side the UI is uncluttered and clean where it falls down for this reviewer is the integration with the rest of the Live suite. This is fine if you want it, but if all you are looking for a quick and simple email client, the extras can get annoying. For myself I would actually rate Hotmail higher than Yahoo simply because the interface is more streamlined, but some of the adverse comments from users are worth taking on board.

Yahoo mail while being good has a UI which is a little cluttered and not as well implemented as the Google version but it may suit others. I found it a sluggish and slow to respond. All three do what they say on the tin, but Gmail and Hotmail do it a little more elegantly.

So if you want a webmail client, consider Gmail as your first point of call, chances are you will want to use one of the other Google features at some time, so you may as well jump onboard.

See you in the virtual world folks...

St Leonards Land

2009-04-07T06:54:00.000-07:00

Image by AndyWilson via Flickr

Probably the best thing you can say about St Leonard's on Sea, the poorer cousin of the less than properous, Hastings, is that there is always something happening. Of course whether you want that something to be happening is another matter. St Leonard's often gives the impression that it has just finished playing host to some pop concert or other and the audience is making its way home encouraged by the local police.

Technically, you are not allowed to drink on the street, but that doesn't stop the small legion of thin, dishevelled men and worried looking women from attempting what I have come to call 'The St Leonard's Legerdemain' a sleight of hand trick that holds the can in a cupped hand supposedly hidden from view by the wrist and arm. As a way of keeping the can out of the sight of the local constabulary it is hampered a little by the appearance of the would be alcoholic magician giving the faint impression that they have suffered a slight stroke.

Right now extensive and seemingly overlapping road works mean that the main part of the town gives the impression that its actually still under construction. Even the alcoholics a

Image by Joffley via Flickr

nd junkies have been moved to find quieter and more convivial spots to abuse themselves.

Odd then that despite all this I find it oddly stimulating to live here. There is nearly always something to amuse, or at times to worry. The ethnic mix is never dull with the chance to learn swear words in half a dozen middle European languages. Odd then that although Hastings is a bare mile away, probably less in terms of the official distance, it could be another country at times. It combines a strange and almost schizophrenic combination of poverty and affluence with owned three storey houses rubbing shoulders with the broken windows and moss infected guttering of the rented accommodation. Volvos sit uncomfortably close to rust coated bicycles of uncertain parentage and the tattooed and paint bespattered creatures of the night find themselves vying with the commuter for the contents of the local bizarre.

Not so much a melting pot, more an attempt at cultural arson.

Trains, pains and disfunctionals

2009-03-25T02:29:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

Made my way to Brighton yesterday for a congratulatory coffee with number one daughter who had successfully battered her way through the various interviews and tests to get herself on the HR Management track for the NHS. I was hardly on the train for a couple of minutes before I found myself wondering how on earth I managed to do a longer journey for six hours every day five days a week. No wonder I was tired all the time!

Being on a train, especially one run by certain south-coast based train companies is probably God's way of reminding humans of the plight of battery chickens. if that were not bad enough you are also required to stay in close proximity to other travellers and quite frankly, this is often way too close for comfort. I have a suspicion that rail companies employ a gaggle (or a more plausible collective noun might be a scream) of dis-functional families whose primary role is to join crowded trains armed with push chairs, loud children and wherever possible large dogs and then create as much disruption as possible. If the group is one of the more experienced it will consist of five humans, and one or two animals, a large push chair and a variety of baggage, plastic bags and assorted containers. The more advanced groups are now experimenting with larger consumer goods, with plasma TV strapped to the push chairs and office chairs not being unusual.

The disfunctionals will have two adults, one male and one female, or two females are not unknown (two males are rare). Two young children aged between six and twelve, often both female usually called something like Madonna-Louise or Allegra-Heliotrope and a small child usually in the pram or permanently attached to mum whose main job is to ensure that within a one meter radius of him or her there is a ground zero composed of Cheesey Wosits, half opened sweets, leaking bottles of fizzy drinks and various bodily fluids. The older children will be charged with the important task of wandering around the train, trying to climb the chairs and visiting the loo as much as possible, especially if it the type with automatically opening door.
Word of warning to the traveller here since the door will almost certainly open while one of the children is on the loo, on no account sit near the toilet door. Even if you are lucky enough to be on a disfunctionals free train, it is a racing cert that someone else will use the loo, forget to lock the door and when another would be user presses the open button, be revealed seated on the throne like some badly conceived Raymond's Revue Bar act from the 1980s.

Meanwhile mum will be doing her bit to add to the chaos by initially texting some friend or other, pausing only to supply the baby with more ammo to smear around it before the tradition shouting at the kids. If the children are sub-teen, there is an opportunity to scream at them when they emerge from the toilet that they have failed to pull trousers, tights, knickers etc into place and may become the target of the roaming gangs of paedophiles that mum seems to be convinced are on the train. A real expert will follow this by stuffing a hand down her own trousers or skirt at the back to adjust a badly positioned g-string or knicker leg. She may also use the opportunity to expound on what she would do to paedoes, while the male studies the 17 year topless model on page three of his tabloid. “Busy Bethan, 17 is totally upfront about her life!” reads the headline above a young women dressed as a schoolgirl and sucking an oversized lollipop.

By now most travellers will be wishing the disfunctionals dead and one or two will be considering doing the job themselves. If you are really out of luck, an older couple will have tried to engage with the children who have gathered round the oldsters with a curiosity similar to that of velociraptors to their prey or Japanese tourists to practically anything. Grandma and Grandpa may will find themselves fielding questions that range from “Why are you so old” (Their grandparents if known are probably no more than fifty.) to “So do you still have sex? Bet you don't!” If the couple are lucky they may be saved by mum screaming at the kids to leave them alone - adding that they too could be paedophile conference she is sure is taking place on the train. This is an accusation the oldsters may be happy to accept after ten minutes of hostile and personal questions for the children.

Eventually, either they will get off, or you more likely in an effort to save your sanity, you will! Not at your stop of course but even a dark and cold platform somewhere on the south coast can seem welcoming after the company of Madonna or Allegra. Half an hour later another train arrives; you settle down and are just relaxing when you hear “Oi, Chardonnay-Louise if you are going for a pee you make sure you pull your g-string up after! And you watch out for them bleddin; paedos. Makes me sick it does! Darren, you gonna be staying on that page 3 forever then? Somebody wipe Bonaparte-Lee's nose will you, he's dripping all over the place!” There is no escape!

Jon Vernables and Robert Thompson - they seek them here they seek them there, and seemingly fnd them on Facebook

2009-03-18T00:40:00.001-07:00

I saw this on Facebook today and my immediate thought was that the IQ of the group is that of the least intelligent member of that group. And this Facebook group has thousands of members whose avowed intention is to kick off Facebook two people whose only crime may well be having the same name and being born in the same year as the killers of the child James Bulger.

I have no sympathy for the killers, although they have served their sentence and I am not at all convinced that the ire and hatred of this crowd is more about getting on the bandwagon than any true feeling (Were all those people really affected that badly by the death of Princess Diana?)

As I understand it the two lads have gone into hiding to avoid being murdered by the people that object so much to murder. (Bit like murderers who attack rapists in prison, because clearly the murderer holds the moral high ground there.) So signing up to Facebook under your own name is pretty foolish. I am assuming that someone is managing their new lives so that person must be pretty pissed off at the moment. Months of careful work to give these lads a new life somewhere down the drain because they settle into their new homes, make new friends and immediately dump their new nom de plumes and sign up for Facebook under names remembered by half the country...

I was tempted to suggest to the Facebook posse (in the western sense) that it could be the wrong person but I doubt they would listen, much easier to think like the herd really... Oh and if we are being a cynic, want to bet on public grief, TV specials and other media wankfest when Jade Goody dies?

Digital Free State website in flash

2009-03-17T13:57:00.001-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

Below is an embed of my latest website courtesy of those lovely people at Wix.

Free website - Wix.com

Hastings Half Marathon 2009

2009-03-15T06:44:00.001-07:00

Some pictures taken with my camera phone at the race today. Something like 4500 competitors in the race with the elite leaders coming in around the one hour mark.

The Rise of the Social Nervous System

2009-03-13T00:00:00.000-07:00

Joshua Michele-Ross published an informed piece for Forbes Magazine called The Rise of the Social Nervous System. His essential argument is that communication is the foundation of society, business and government. The internet scales up the capacity for this communication and at the same time renders services and coordinates action from humans input. He calls this the rise of the social nervous system.

Josh focuses on now familiar examples: the Mumbai terrorist attacks as reported real-time on twitter, the Obama campaign (and in particular, the Houdini project), and Google Flu Trends. But Josh weaves them into a powerful conclusion:

"Watch the news, and you will see daily evidence of how a system that connects billions of people is influencing the physical world- from recent protests in California against Proposition 8 organized by Facebook to the riots in my hometown of Oakland after several witnesses uploaded video taken from their mobile phones of a police shooting."

Josh explains that key to the Web 2.0 experience is the notion of harnessing collective intelligence; examples of this can be seen in the way that wikipedia allows user generated content, or the way in which Amazon stays ahead of its competitors with the plethora of ways that users can contribute to their website and how that data is then used. But these effect are no longer limited to cyberspace and have an impact on real world activity.

Josh points out that these effects are not limited to cyberspace, but are used to control and coordinate real-world activity. This is the new frontier, moving from "sensing" to "reacting," from "cognition" to "coordination" and group action.

Many of the most successful Web 2.0 system derived their success from implicit rather than explicit data, the contribution made by simply clicking a link from one site to another that is recorded and used by Google to affect page ranking. One of the questions which Web 2.0 writers are struggling to answer is how far does this interaction go. When buy by credit card, we don't think we are contributing, but software at the bank, the merchant, and our personal finance application is listening to that credit card reader.

Those applications will share and sense not just words passed from human to human across services like Twitter, or our search behaviour but sounds, pictures, and increasingly, data from senses that unaided humans don't possess at all, or less precisely: a sense of precise location, or the rate of speed at which we move, the power we consume, the carbon we emit, the approaching weather, the state of the financial markets, the unique sequence of our genome, or even the way we smell.

The next great fortunes will be made by the people who discover how to build a system that reacts to one of the Internet's new senses.

Zemanta

2009-03-12T14:48:00.000-07:00

Image by Peter Čuhalev via Flickr

Image by Peter Čuhalev via FlickrI have just started to use Zemanta to improve the look of my blogs and I must say I am impressed with the capacity to add useful content to the blog. The application works as a addon to your browser and API which installs additional controls to your blog page. These give you the ability to agree tags based on the key words Zemanta find apply links according to the same series of criteria. Very clever stuff.

PS Found out that you can retrospectively edit old blog post using the Zemanta application, now that is clever!

2009-03-12T14:45:00.000-07:00

Image via Wikipedia

Found an email asking for some help with a website from Charlie, He has had the rather good idea of coming up with a website to recommend Web 2.0 applications and I am of course pleased to help. Finished that by last in the day, clearly I have not lost the capacity to work, I'll upload the website to some spare web space and let Charlie had the good news tomorrow. For now I think I'll get some rest, this chest cold is not pleasant...

Later: Uploaded and started on all the little tweaks and improvements it will need. CM tells me that this is not a project for his company, but something he is keen on himself and apparently so since he is willing to pay for it..

Bit of Twit

2009-02-28T03:36:00.000-08:00

Decided to use my Twitter account; for no other reason than it might attract some more clients my way. The attempts to form my own business have been less than successful and things are looking a little bleak at the moment. Not sure that this Twitter thing will do much, but I suppose I do have to try. My account is http://twitter.com/wanderjahre everyone is welcome, not just webheads, so maybe see you there!

Lynks after encounter with mysterious ear ripper

2009-02-09T08:24:00.001-08:00

Professional hackers at work..

2009-02-09T08:17:00.000-08:00

Professional Hacker at work Click here for a link to the pages!

Image via Wikipedia

This is a fascinating account which highlights how easy it is with a little research to hack a major company.

Is it Windows 7 or KDE 4?: Insight - Software - ZDNet Australia

2009-02-08T13:48:00.001-08:00

Is it Windows 7 or KDE 4?: Insight - Software - ZDNet Australia

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Mashups

2009-02-03T08:57:00.000-08:00

This is an interesting little Web 2.0 application that I got the heads up from a friend in London. Wordle is an application that allows you to create Word Clouds, pictures from a group of words. Just insert some text and watch Wordle do its thing. To make this slide show I started in Wordle and having created each picture took a screen shot of the finished item, once I had done all that, it was time for phase 2 of the project. Animoto is an online slide show application. You can upload a series of images and Animoto will turn them into a slide show. Because its classic Web 2.0 you can export the finished product to a variety of different social networks and blogs. In this case, I copied the embed code to this blog. The result a simple but effective online slide show with animation and music to suit. Result is a professional looking slide show that required me only to know how to upload some pictures...

A Wordle/Animoto mashup

2009-02-03T00:35:00.000-08:00

Wordle on the Obama speech

2009-01-21T09:08:00.000-08:00

How Boxxy blew up the internet

2009-01-20T23:53:00.000-08:00

Saw this is the Guardian today, think it says a lot about modern life and the internet. Apologies for now printing the article, but The Guardian get intense about that sort of thing and the emails fly, so here is the link

Luckily, Youtube is more mellow

Note to 40 plus readers, this could well be real!

Hub of things

2009-01-18T10:40:00.000-08:00

After a fairly hefty bill from those lovely people at British Telecom Internet for excess internet usage over Christmas I reluctantly concluded that I was going to have to move from my BT option 1 10gb allowance to their Unlimited option. Having just set up my own PC repair firm and with a tendency to have internet TV and Radio on the go while I am working, the decision to move to an unlimited tariff was something of a no-brainer compared to the excess charges. BT sweetened the deal with the offer of a free Home hub.

For those unfamiliar with Home hub its essentially a proprietary wireless router for BT users; a rather stylish concave black affair minus the usual collection of aerials, four blue LED's show power, wireless, internet and telephone status. The router allows you to add a second phone via the router and VOIP and BT boast that international calls can be made for around 1p a minute. Calls to the UK at weekends and the evenings are free. Each hub is equipped with its own telephone number, mine starts with 05 a number which up to number I have associated with premium rate numbers which only goes to show what I know!

I had heard some horror stories about installing Home hub on Windows machines and as a Linux user suspected that things would be difficult. As it turned out I could not have been more wrong. Once the router was plugged in and the Ethernet hooked up it was simply a matter of rebooting my PC and I was connected. For windows users there is a CD with a setup.exe although it looks like a standard Ethernet connection to me.

The Home hub, aside from acting as a VOIP link also supports USB. I plugged an external hard drive and the hub recognised it as part of the network. To date I have not had time to check speeds or if it will stream media. If it does it could be a very useful feature indeed.
As a router, speed have been good and the interface is fairly clear. I can't find any mention of NAT or Port forwarding but I may have missed something. But for now at least 8/10 and it could get better.

Not exactly global

2009-01-16T04:03:00.000-08:00

The Bexhill on Sea song..

Police to hack your PC

2009-01-05T00:37:00.001-08:00

Police have been given the power to hack into personal computers without a court warrant and the Home Office faces the threat of a legal challenge after granting permission to allow Police to do this. Ministers are also drawing up plans to allow police across the EU to collect information from computers in Britain. The moves will further claims of a "Big Brother Society" where the often spurious accounts of combating terrorism and the recently promoted public enemy number, the paedophile, are used to allow police access to ever larger amounts of private information

Hacking – known as "remote searching" – has been quietly adopted by police across Britain following the development of technology to access computers' contents at a distance. Police say it is vital for tracking cyber-criminals and paedophiles and is used sparingly but civil liberties groups are worried that its usage will be expanded without any form of control.

Remote searching can be achieved by sending an email containing a virus to a suspect's computer which then transmits information about email contents and web-browsing habits to a distant surveillance team. Alternatively, "key-logging" devices can be inserted into a computer that relay details of each key hit by its owner. Detectives can also monitor the contents of a suspect's computer hard-drive via a wireless network. Users who are worried about this might want to check incoming emails and refuse any which look suspicious; set their email client to strip out HTML and receive only text (less pretty, but less prone to hacking) and to make sure their Network is encrypted. User may also want to think about using proxy servers as an additional layer of protection againts intrusion and access to your IP address.

The police say that computer hacking has to be approved by a chief constable, who must be satisfied the action is proportionate to the crime being investigated. But the recent record of the police in a propotionate reaction to a situation will not bring comfort to many users!

Dominic Grieve, shadow Home Secretary, asked how it would work in practice and what safeguards will be in place.

Police carried out 194 hacking operations in 2007-08 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, including 133 in private homes, 37 in offices and 24 in hotel rooms. The spokesman said such surveillance was regulated under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act.

The Government faces criticism over the erosion of civil liberties on a series of fronts. It is working on plans for a giant "big brother" database holding information about every phone call, email and internet visit made by everyone in the United Kingdom.

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Britain's policy of retaining samples from people never convicted of a crime – including children – breaches human rights.

I wonder what Dixon of Dock Green would have said? "Evening all!"

10 or possibly less reasons that i know I am getting old!

2008-12-23T01:16:00.000-08:00

I am mystified as why a sixteen year old would go to a fancy dress party as a schoolboy/girl;
I listen to radio comedy from the late 1960s and find it 'superior';
I find myself shouting at political commentators on TV to 'Let the other guy speak for heavens sake!';
Er...I talk to televisions...;
I automatically assume that any advice from anyone under the age of 25 will be wrong in some fashion;
I feel able to address a group of thirty-something males as 'you lads';
I actually care what the weather will be like tomorrow and find myself saying that the 'nights are drawing in' from about mid-September onwards;
I share emails via the social networking sites with old school friends that I barely knew in school and recall 'the good old days';
I use phrases like 'well in my day' and refuse to listen to any version of a song except the original;
Just in case anyone is unsure that I am getting old, I make lists on my blog to prove the fact!

Dr Who spin offs

2008-12-13T07:04:00.000-08:00

http://www.radiotimes.com/blogs/425-who-spinoffs-never-filmed

The Doctor Who spin-offs that will never be filmed

Posted at 4:55pm
02 October 2008
by DavidBrown-RT
6 comments

Who'd have thought that when Doctor Who returned in 2005, there'd be so much scope for spin-offs? The Sarah Jane Adventures, Torchwood and now even the possibility of a Who movie being mooted. Not bad for a sci-fi show whose only previous stab at a TV offshoot was the creaky K-9 and Company back in 1981. So how long will it be before they milk a winning formula so much that we end up with the following?

The X-terminate Factor

Saturday-night entertainment as Davros and Dalek Caan audition potential allies in their bid to enslave the universe. The X-terminate Factor: You're Fried! will immediately follow with analysis of that week's executions, plus behind-the-scenes footage of Davros reaching near hysteria over relatively trivial matters.

The Long Haul

Sitcom centred on the frustrated attempts of Harwood's Haulage transport manager Rhys Williams, husband of Torchwood's Gwen Cooper, to start a family. Gwen is never actually seen, but can often be heard shouting "Reeeeeeees!!!!" down the phone as she abandons her hubby for work yet again, leaving him eating pies alone on the sofa at home.

The Wilf Files

Alien conspiracy drama starring Bernard Cribbins as newspaper-selling astronomer Wilfred Mott. Armed only with a paint gun and a rolled-up copy of London's Evening Standard, Wilf does battle against extraterrestrial forces, assisted by fellow allotment owners Peter Sallis and Donald Sinden.

Top of the Class

Krillitane headmaster Mr Finch is given one term to turn a failing school around. Can he get the tearaway kids computer literate without bringing in his crack squad of supply teachers to effect a transformation?

Who Do You Think You Are?

One-off special of the hit genealogy show as the Doctor delves into his own history to find out about his past selves. Features moving footage of Christopher Eccleston crying over missed opportunities.

Run Rose Run

Urban adventure featuring a jaded Rose Tyler who, realising she's been lumbered with a sociopathic carbon copy of the man she loves, tries to abandon him at a motorway service station. She soon realises that the cloned Doctor will stop at nothing to get her back and will slaughter anyone who gets in his way in order for them to be reunited.

Life Swap

The Slitheen highlight dietary and health problems when they move in with Britain's most obese families after killing a member and using their skin as a disguise. Might not get beyond the pilot stage once the human participants realise what the trade-off actually involves.

Are You My Mummy?

The gas-masked Empty Child tries to reunite adopted children with their birth parents in a heart-warming Sunday-evening family entertainment series co-hosted by Cilla Black.

Acting Up

Fly-on-the-wall documentary as Martha Jones - having failed to convince anyone that she's a doctor, a scientist or a member of the Unified Intelligence Taskforce - roams the country hoodwinking employers into believing she's capable of work. As disappointments pile up, will Martha resort to acting lessons in order to succeed?

Freddie Horton circa 1993

2008-12-01T00:58:00.000-08:00

A little Youtube blast from the past...

Used to listen to this band back in Croydon,in the mid 1980s in a complete dive called "The Cartoon". I hear courtesy of Facebook that his band is still playing.

Memories of "Faust" lager, a brew so indescribably awful that in more enlightened times it would be regarded as some kind of chemical weapon and after one particularly heavy evening of "New Town Soul" and lager, staggering into the local mini cab company and slurring "Gitttacbburef's'helarrrrrrrr!" and having this successfully translated as "A cab for St Helier." Ah. Grey days...er I mean great days indeed...

A walk in the park...

2008-11-30T06:46:00.001-08:00

The art of the possible

2008-11-07T11:19:00.001-08:00

This is what happens when you have too much time on your hands and access to a half way decent editing application called GIMP.

Fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD) on Facebook

2008-10-28T05:45:00.000-07:00

Taken from Cook's first epistle to the Face Book comunity Chapter 1, verse 1-3

Hello all!

I bring pre-Xmas good cheer to you all from the Geek at the seaside, having received my umpteenth warning about a virus/trojan/rootkit/ boy/girl genius hacker, I thought I would just slip on my anorak and send out words of comfort to all those Facebookers who have been so worried that their machines and those of their friends will be reduced to so much beige colour plastic if those evil genii get their mitts on them – then changed my mind and decided to opt for the full on rant...are you sitting comfortably, no me neither, think its these trousers...!

So if you get an email/attachment/invite/postcard/smoke signal or ethereal message from the unknown realms, 99 times out of 100 you can feel free to open it, ignore, ponder its unearthly meaning or laugh at the foolish American with no fear of crashing your hard drive, taking over your address and emailing information to all your friends about your love life or links with known terrorists groups; inviting all your mates to sign up for the 'Glen Miller appreciation page' on MySpace or causing your PC to immediately disassemble itself, pack the bits neatly and return them to the manufacturer.

Despite the assertions of various big budget films and small minded TV shows its actually quite hard to 'hack' into a PC and do any real damage - always assuming of course that you the user have decent and updated anti-virus (which of course you all have...haven't you?) and a firewall set to block all the usual ports – and the software will know which one these are.. There is, however, some danger in opening attachments from people you have never heard especially if the said attachment has a file ending with something like .exe, .scr or .bin - opening these from an unknown source is not dissimilar to covering yourself in gravy, plaiting your hair with Antelope burgers and climbing into a lions cage at feeding time.

Most warnings about how, if you let Mr X into your on-line life you will find yourself the helpless victim of his extraordinary 'hacking' prowess are complete myths, their purpose is to either get Mr X kicked off one forum or another or to simply spread the warning around the net as far as possible - big clue here, the warning always claim to be genuine and tell you to tell all your friends. They want to see their warnings spread as far as possible. Are these people idiots? In the words of Churchill, the insurance dog. 'Oh yes!'

There *are* viruses on Facebook, the 'Storm worm' is one that springs to mind, but it needs you to actually click a link which is an .exe file and takes you to an external site and no one would be silly enough to do that, would they! Hmm....seems to have gone a bit quiet out there...

So a few tips

if you get a warning about a virus, check in out before you pass it on - www.snopes.com is an excellent site for this.
Ignore spam email, if you click the 'take me off the list' link, you have just told the spammer this is an active email address, expect invites to buy Viagra and Rolexes soon!
Official organisations seldom ask for personal information by email! Seldom in this sense is defined as never, if your bank or similar does - find another bank.
Be wary of pictures and other files from unknown sources and watch for those with .exe endings
Never give bank details or similar out on the internet, its highly unlikely that any bank would ask for these details. If you are asked, ignore the email link and go to the site by typing in the URL in the address bar, look for a URL that starts 'https:// that 's' is important it means the site is secure.
If you are not sure what you are doing, don't do it. If in doubt ask. Lots of geeks about the place, myself included, who will be happy to help. You may have to put up with sentences which includes acronyms like SSH and TCIP and possibly even some references to operating system architecture but at least your computer will be safe.

OK so rant over, but the number of these warnings is getting silly..So with a little caution and a lot of common sense we can all rest easy in our bed knowing that tomorrow our is another day for us and our computer...

Ron

PS: Amazingly Facebook tagged this message as possible spam and suggested I send a nice picture instead....sigh!

Far flung Vista

2008-10-28T05:23:00.000-07:00

Checking email this morning this was an interesting cry for help from a Vista user. It seems that he install of Vista had managed to hide all her desktop icons and then store them inside a series of recursive folders. Nothing the user has
done seem to prompt this action and it seems that Vista had just decided to difficult. It was sorted out - after a fashion - in due course but frankly should not have happened. Someone said that if Vista was a car it would stop working for no reason whatsoever and the only way to make it work again would be to replace the engine and suspension! Googling for the solution to the lady's problem I was alarmed to see advice like

Use REGEDIT to view HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell, click on Bags and select Edit > Delete > Yes. Delete the BagMRU key as well, and restart

Letting the inexperienced loose on the registry is a sure fire way to get the "it just stopped working" email or phone call pdq! What amazed me was the way that the mess was accepted by the user as one of those things and when I suggested a move to a more stable OS, practically any of them really, the note of surprise in the user voice at this suggestion clearly suggested I was in dodgy territory. A downgrade to XP or 2000 made not sense since Vista was the latest version and therefore the best and the idea of a move to Linux or OSX dismissed since they would not support the programs the person needed. ho-hum...!

Bonfire Night

2008-10-18T01:21:00.000-07:00

Mildy miffed that due to the logistics involved in moving small children, not to mention some of the adults, we didn't make it to the Bonfire until after the societies had finished their procession. We did make it in time for the Bonfire but I was detailed to have small child sitting on my shoulders which pretty much precluded any photography. The firework display was as good as always and judging by the screaming well down well with the munchkin contingent...

Managed to find images on Flickr to compensate:

Videos

Hastings Seafood and Wine Festival: Programme of Events 2008

2008-09-21T08:22:00.000-07:00

Saturday 20 September

The Launch: Walking the Fish

Starts 10am at Breeds Place outside Iceland (opposite the fountain). To open the festival, there will be a colourful and musical procession of giant fish and seafood effigies called Walking the Fish. This tradition started 10 years ago, with Radiator Arts group and children from schools in the area working together to fashion sculptures that reflect the community in which they live.

The Plaice Festival Site - Food and Wine

Free entry - open to the public from 11am Find a feast of food stalls and plentiful produce at The Plaice site at the Stade fishing beach. Try delicious seafood dishes with international influences, and taste Hastings' Marine Stewardship Council eco-label fish.

All exhibitors come from within 30 miles of Hastings.

Cooking Demonstrations by local chefs

Demonstration times will be posted on demonstration area notice board - please check on site.

Restaurants in and around Hastings have some of the best chefs anywhere, and a great reputation for the quality of their food - especially fish and seafood. Let your taste buds be inspired as our local chefs prepare flavoursome fish and succulent seafood dishes before your eyes.

Tutored Wine Tasting Sessions in the Wine Tasting Marquee

Tickets are required for events in the wine tasting marquee. Over 18s only.

Places are limited, so book tickets early at Hastings Information Centre

Learn to Taste Wine

1pm - 2pm Tickets £9
With vintner, Alexander Carr-Taylor.Learn the tricks of tasting wine while sampling the produce of one of our best local vineyards. A fun and informative talk for those who find the world of wine a little confusing. Alexander is winemaker at Carr Taylor Vineyards and won the Vinter's Scholarship in 2004.
www.carr-taylor.co.uk

Chapel Down Wines take on France

3pm Tickets £11 With Richard Bampfield, Master of Wine
Compare select English wines from the Chapel Down Wine estate in Tenterden with some classic French wines. Richard Bampfield MW spent many years working with Brown Brothers Australian Wines, he will explain the difference in style between six wines.
www.winevents.co.uk

Matching English Wine with Fish and Cheese

5pm - 6pm Tickets £12 With wine specialist John Radford. Get expert guidance on how local wines can complement local fish and Sussex cheese. John Radford is a Sussex-based freelance writer, broadcaster, lecturer, speaker and actor.
www.johnradford.com

The Sole Beach Marquee

Free entry, open to the public between 12 noon and 7pm.Entertain your soul in The Sole Marquee where top class local acts will be performing. The First In Last Out Public House will be serving their locally brewed beers, with guest ales, organic lager and local wine. Tuck into a barbecue on the beach. Kids' play tent next door.

Local Heroes 2pm - 3.15pm Local Heroes bestow edgy and infectious rhythms upon classic songs under the influence of reggae and old school R'n'B.

Engine, Clutch and Gearbox

5.30pm - 6.45pm This lively rock-jazz trio plays a variety of material from Armatrading to Zappa and all sorts in between.

Memphis Flyers

5.30pm - 6.45pm A trio playing rockabilly, hillbilly, rock'n'roll, a bit of country and lots of fun. Guaranteed to get you dancing.
www.myspace.com/thememphisflyers

Sunday 21 September

The Plaice Festival Site - Food and Wine

Free entry, open to the public from 11am Find a feast of food stalls and plentiful produce at The Plaice site at the Stade fishing beach. Try delicious seafood dishes with international influences, and taste Hastings' Marine Stewardship Council eco-label fish. All exhibitors come from within just 30 miles of Hastings.

Cooking Demonstration by Tom Aikens

Tom Aikens Approximately 1pm Demonstration times will be posted on demonstration area notice board - please check on site.

Tom will be sharing his love of cooking and his passion for fish. Tom Aikens is one of the most exciting chefs in the UK. He launched his first restaurant in London in 2003 which has earned numerous prestigious accolades. He has opened two more restaurants since: Tom's Kitchen and Tom's Place, a fish restaurant. All the fish is sourced from sustainable stocks, including Marine Stewardship Council certified fish landed in Hastings.
www.tomsplace.org.uk

Local chefs share their culinary skills

Demonstration times will be posted on demonstration area notice board - please check on site.
Restaurants in and around Hastings have some of the best chefs anywhere, and a great reputation for the quality of their food - especially fish and seafood. Let your taste buds be inspired as our local chefs prepare flavoursome fish and seafood dishes before your eyes.

Tutored Wine Tasting Sessions in the Wine Tasting Marquee

Learn to Taste Wine

12.30pm - 1.30pm
Tickets £9 With vintner, Alexander Carr-Taylor.
Learn the tricks of tasting wine while sampling the produce of one of our best local vineyards. A fun and informative talk for those who find the world of wine a little confusing. Alexander is winemaker at Carr Taylor Vineyards and won the Vinter's Scholarship in 2004.
www.carr-taylor.co.uk

Red, White and Rosé - a splash of local colour

2.15pm - 3.15pm
Tickets £11 With Master of Wine, Clive Barlow
Clive Barlow MW will show you classic white styles as well as the latest fresh rosés and aromatic reds from within 30 miles of Hastings. Clive runs an independent wine merchant business at the Goods Shed in Canterbury.

Matching English Wine with English Fish and Cheese

4pm - 5pm
Tickets £12 With wine specialist John Radford
Get expert guidance on how local wines can complement local fish and Sussex cheese. John Radford is a Sussex-based freelance writer, broadcaster, lecturer, speaker and actor.
www.johnradford.com

The Sole Beach Marquee

Free entry, open to the public between 12 noon and 6pm. Entertain your soul in The Sole Marquee where top class local acts will perform. The First In Last Out Public House will be serving their locally brewed beers, with guest ales, organic lager and local wine. Tuck into a barbecue on the beach. Kids' play tent next door.

Jazz Breakfast

11am Tickets £10 including breakfast
Spaces are limited so book early at Hastings Information Centre
Bar open from 11am By popular demand, Herbie Flowers on bass and Mike Hatchard on keyboard and vocals return to entertain you with their unique brand of jazz music and humour. This time they are accompanied by Malcolm Mortimore on drums/percussion, a founder member of 'Kilburn and the High Roads' with Ian Dury, he has also worked with Tina Turner and Chuck Berry.
Ticket includes breakfast of an organic pastry, plus organic fruit juice, or fairtrade coffee/tea. Free entry for children under 14 if accompanied by an adult (breakfast not included). Mike Hatchard, Malcolm Mortimore and Herbie Flowers

The Fabulous Cinque Port Lindy Hoppers

1.15pm to 1.45pm and 3.30pm to 4pm Back by popular demand! Entertaining you with energetic Lindy Hop from the 30s and 40s brought to Europe by American GIs.

Tea-Chest Blues

2pm to 3.15pm T-Chest Blues were formed about five years ago, inspired by the Sun Record Company sound of the 50s. Expect to hear the songs of Elvis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Arthur Cruddup and Muddy Waters.

Soul X Press and the Blues Brothers Show

4.15pm to 5.30pm
This local band is possibly the biggest Blues Brothers tribute band touring the UK. The 12-piece outfit will knock out all the film classics and selection of soul favourites.

The Lifeboat House

A Choral Banquet for the Seafood and Wine Festival

12.30pm to 1.30pm Free, but donations to the RNLI welcome. The community choirs of Hastings and its French twin town of Bethune will be raising the roof of the Lifeboat House. Shore Sounds will welcome La Choeur de la Lys to present an exciting and vibrant vocal blend, including folk, African, gospel and French chanson.

Alexandra Park

eat @ the Park Café - Seafood and Wine Barbecue

Open 9am - 7.30pm Enjoy a delicious Seafood and Wine barbecue lunch at eat @ the Park Café (weather permitting) in the fabulous setting of Alexandra Park.

All Weekend

English Wines Marquee at the Plaice Festival Site

English wine is gaining deserved recognition for being among the finest produced today. Within a radius of 30 miles of Hastings there are many vineyards producing award winning wines that bear comparison with the best in the world. Take your time to browse and talk to the wine producers. The vineyards will bring a wide range of their finest wines and fruit juices for you to try and to buy - by the glass, or the case! Sit under our outdoor gazebo and relax with your favourite tipple. Participating Vineyards:

Events in St Leonards on Sea

Coastal Currents Arts Festival brings you Shakespeare in the Park
A Midsummer Night's Dream (abridged) at St Leonard's Gardens

Saturday and Sunday at 7pm
Tickets: Adults £8, Children £3, Concessions £6 and Families £18
Tickets from: McCarron's of Mercatoria, 64 Norman Rd, St Leonards on Sea or telephone: 01424 201192 / 07903 561007
Photo Copyright Fuga
www.coastalcurrents.org.uk

Azur at Marina Pavilion - Special Festival Seafood Menu

Azur at Marina Pavilion is a sophisticated new development on St Leonards promenade. Savour the Special Festival Seafood Menu offering locally-sourced fish in the Azur Restaurant for lunch or dinner, accompanied by live music and a full bar.

Open 7am to 10.30pm for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or just a drink in the beach front bistro. For more information call 0845 812 1066.

Arts Forum Seafood and Wine Festival Exhibition at Marina, St Leonards

Exhibition of local artists' work inspired by the events and themes of the festival. Visit theartsforum.co.uk for more information. Photo courtesy of Sid Beynon

Video from the St Leonard's Festival

2008-07-20T00:31:00.000-07:00

The St. Leonards Festival

2008-07-19T00:08:00.000-07:00

Images from the St. Leonard's Festival 2008

Charis gets a 2:1 for first year.

2008-07-10T07:57:00.001-07:00

Charis got a letter from the university today and I am delighted to annouce that in her first year she got a 2:1!

Taking bread...

2008-07-01T01:07:00.000-07:00

At the behest of "The Guardian" I have removed a number of posts copied from their online edition.

2008-06-14T23:50:00.000-07:00

Joined Debbie at a pub called The Wheatsheaf I tried the Greene King IPA and while it was drinkable it was not particularly pleasant to consume. I don't think the pub was a good venue for bitter drinkers, in fact I think I may have been the only consumer for some time. But the selection of bitter was piss poor. Only later did I spot a bottle of Old Speckled Hen under the bar - and that would have been warm of course! The barmaid was convinced she had met me before and seemed to be equally convinced that I had had pink hair the last time we had met. The band was called "Sticks and Stones" I believe and after a fairly quiet start the evening livened up a little. Although the pub was never more than half full at anytime...

Gone wrong

2008-06-09T04:48:00.000-07:00

Heard from my agent today, it seems that I am locked into a series of six month contracts. So I cannot leave this house until the end of August. Bitterly disappointed and angry at the loss of what could have been a good little place for me.

Very disappointed - I had not realized I was signing up for such a restrictive contract.

Magdelen Road Flat

2008-06-07T02:06:00.000-07:00

Pictures of the new place in Magdelen Road, St Leonards on Sea...

Blockbuster in the past...

2008-05-27T01:13:00.001-07:00

Historic â��Blockbusterâ�� Store Offers Glimpse Of How Movies Were Rented In The Past

Eurovision Song Contest 2008 - Guess where the UK came?

2008-05-24T22:57:00.001-07:00

UK'S EUROVISION RECORD
2008 - Andy Abraham, 25th place
2007 - Scooch, 22nd
2006 - Daz Sampson, 19th
2005 - Javine, 22nd
2004 - James Fox, 16th
2003 - Jemini, 26th

Below is the best we have done in Eurovision since 2003 - I think we are doomed...

Seeing Orange!

2008-05-20T23:01:00.001-07:00

I got a call from my ex-partner whose PC had decided to stop working in the middle of a conversation she was having. You can imagine she was not best pleased. I worked through the usual list of support stuff with her over the phone, eventually concluding that she was not actually connected. A look at the Orange website suggested (well positively screamed) that all was well. I wandered over to her place and spent an unhappy four hours attempting to sort out the most puzzling of problems. Connections were intermittent and up and down faster than the underwear of a lady of negotiable affection!

Eventually my ex-partner called their technical people when around six I admitted defeat and when calling their support number (at national rate!) what did we find? They were experiencing problems with people not being able to connect to the internet.

I was pretty pissed off, having wasted hours trying to fix this machine, the problem was the idiots at Orange had not bothered to update their 'everything is wonderful' status page and therefore encouraged people to call their support service to listen to a recorded message which said the opposite. If she had called in a repair person he would have charged her anything up to a couple of hundred quid for that, since there was every reason to believe that the issue was with the rig!

"The future is Orange" I bloody well hope not!

We were never being boring?

2008-05-19T02:58:00.001-07:00

Most of the time, boring people are either a) unnoticeable or b) inoffensive. Or c) newspaper columnists. In any case, they're usually easy to avoid. It's only when you're stuck in close proximity to them for an extended period that they truly cross the line from dreary to irksome.

Taxis are a classic hot spot, as are long-haul flights. In the misery stakes, few things beat being stranded beside a determined-but-dull conversationalist on a 10-hour transatlantic crossing. Unless you find some polite way of shutting them up early on, you'll be teetering on the verge of assault later.

The sensible method is to politely say, "Sorry, I'm a bit tired - do you mind if I just have a nap?" the minute they start talking, at the very start of the journey.But that might seem snooty. Plus it's vanilla and dull.

Instead, the best and most entertaining option is one I read about in a Penn & Teller book several years ago. It goes like this. Turn to your unwanted companion at the first opportunity, and explain to them that you have a condition which makes you sleep with your eyes open. It's harmless, you say, but it can be quite creepy - so you're taking the opportunity to warn them in advance so they don't freak out later. Then you sit back in your chair and silently wait a while. After about 10 minutes, slowly loll your head sideways toward them, keeping your eyes wide open the whole time, and stay there, staring at the side of their face, for as long as possible. They'll be far too weirded out to utter a word.

Brilliant.Probably doesn't work on cab drivers though, unless perhaps you're sitting in the front passenger seat. And even then it might make them crash.Worth trying though.I'll let you know.

Fruitcakes!

2008-05-18T23:00:00.000-07:00

Music on demand

2008-05-16T03:16:00.001-07:00

This Morgane is rather a good singer who is attempting to gain publicity for her and her band through networks like Face Book and Myspace and to whom I thought I would offer a tiny helping hand. If you are interested in a little new music why not click on the link, offer a valid email address and give her and her people a spin. If any spam comes may way as a result of this I will let readers know...

A note on Old Roar Gill

2008-05-13T12:35:00.000-07:00

On my way back from the supermarket I took the opportunity to drop into Alexandra Park and grabbed the pictures you see here. On a sunny day, the park looks wonderful and I don't think the images you see here do it justice.

I am planning to pay a visit to 'Old Roar Gill', which is at the Northern End of the park. Its a wonderful looking part of the world and rather beautiful to wander through on a bright day when the Gill is dry. Its essentially a gully that runs south wards and finishes in the park. Inside the gill is something like a jungle with high stone walls and plant life which you just don't see elsewhere in the park. The only shame of it is that its quite small probably no more than half a mile or so.

More from the Gallery

2008-05-12T01:49:00.001-07:00

Charis in a Bournemouth night club

Charis and her production team. No idea why they decided to pose in a football stadium.

Simba the kitten who briefly was the sixth member of Charis' house. It eventually dawned on her room mate that having a small animal in the house when it was empty most of the day was probably not a good thing.

Trojan hoarse.

2008-05-09T02:34:00.000-07:00

I could be a lawyer with stratagems and muses
I could be a doctor with poultices and bruises
I could be a writer with a growing reputation
I could be the ticket-man at Fulham Broadway station
What a waste!
_______________________________________________

Saw this on Face Book and did some slight editing to make it less American - very funny!

We always hear "the rules" from the female side. Now here are the rules
from the male side.
These are our rules!

Learn to work the toilet seat. You're a big girl. If it's up, put
it down. We need it up, you need it down. You don't hear us
complaining about you leaving it down.

Shopping is NOT a sport. And no, we are never going to think of
it that way.
++
Crying is blackmail.
++
Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one: Subtle hints
do not work! Strong hints do not work! Obvious hints do not work! Just say it!
++
Yes, and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.
++
Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it.
That's what we do. Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.
++
A headache that lasts for 17 months is a problem. See a doctor.
++
Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument.
In fact, all comments become null and void after 7 days.
++
If you won't dress like the Victoria's Secret girls, don't expect
us to act like soap opera guys.
++
If you think you're fat, you probably are. Don't ask us.
++
If something we said can be interpreted two ways, and one of the
ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one.
++
You can either ask us to do something or tell us how you want it
done. Not both. If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.
++
Whenever possible, please say whatever you have to say
during commercials.
++
Christopher Columbus did not need directions and neither do we.
++
ALL men see in only 16 colors, like Windows default settings. Peach,
for example, is a fruit, not a colour. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have
no idea what mauve is.
++
If it itches, it will be scratched. We do that.
++
If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," we will act
like nothing is wrong. We know you are lying, but it is just not worth
the hassle.
++
If you ask a question you don't want an answer to, expect an
answer you don't want to hear.
++
When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine.
Really.
++
Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared
to discuss such topics as football, football managers and the ability of footballers to play football well.
++
You have enough clothes.
++
You have too many shoes.
++
I am in shape. Round is a shape.
++
Thank you for reading this; Yes, I know, I have to sleep on the
couch tonight, but did you know men really don't mind that, it's like
camping.
______________________________________________________

Worrying virus news. I am always amazed by the way people will either go into melt down about a trojan or simply fail to understand its dangers to them and their friends. Article in the Guardian

Planet of the Boris

2008-05-07T22:47:00.001-07:00

Could not resist this one. I am still stunned at the election results, although on reflection perhaps I should not have been. If you look at how Livingstone was elected then bringing in the Tories answer to Jordan is perhaps no great surprise.

His first action as Mayor was to ban alcohol on tube trains, although I would not like to be the poor sod of a railway staff person who tried to tell some eighteen stone Neanderthal that he cannot bring is can of Rocket Fuel Strength lager into the station and indeed exactly how that gets policed in a train. A least a cigarette you can smell. Swigging vodka from a water bottle is entirely possible or does the new Mayor intend to blame liquid entirely, I wonder?

Jack in Green video - the Old Town

2008-05-06T23:24:00.001-07:00

Jack in the Green on Monday

2008-05-05T09:27:00.000-07:00

View Larger Map

Jack in the Green on Sunday

2008-05-04T22:59:00.000-07:00

View Larger Map

Disappointing second day of Jack in the Green: Only one set of Morris dancers on the pier, I hung around for a while before going for a walk with Debbie. Came back a couple of hours later but nothing much seemed to have happened.

Jack in the Green - origins

2008-05-03T23:59:00.000-07:00

May 1st has long been an important part of the annual Calendar. It is the start of summer in these latitudes and as such has always been a day for celebration: the Celts celebrated May Day as Beltane; The Romans dedicated the day to the Goddess Flora and would go to the woods to cut a tree and decorate it with ribbons and flowers, this is the origin of the May Pole. In the 16th and 17th centuries in England people would make garlands of flowers and leaves for the May Day celebration, they became increasingly elaborate. Works Guilds would try to outdo each other, in the late 18th century this became a matter for competition, milkmaids in London carried garlands on their heads with silver objects on them, but the crown had to go to the chimney sweeps. Their garland was so big it covered the entire man. It became known as Jack in the Green.

In Hastings there were at least two groups who paraded a Jack in the Green until about 1889. By the turn of the century the custom was seen no more. The reasons were twofold: the Act which stopped boys climbing chimneys had been passed and these had been the main performers; secondly the Victorians had a different attitude to such customs, the prettification of customs took place, no more the giant maypoles with drunken and promiscuous behaviour, replaced by small poles imported from Germany with happy skipping children around them. The Lord and Lady of the May with their practical joking were replaced by a pretty May Queen. Certainly there was no place for the drunken noisy Jack in the Green.

The custom was revived in Hastings by Mad Jacks Morris Dancers in 1983. We do not say we are following exactly what happened, this is a custom for now, not a fossil. Jack is returned, he is not the property of a small group of dancers, but belongs to us all. Long may he dance!

Further information about the Jack in the Green in Hastings can be obtained by reading the excellent booklet "The Hastings Jack in the Green" written by Keith Leech (ISBN 0 9514498 0 X). Keith, a long time member of Mad Jacks Morris was instrumental in reviving the tradition in Hastings and is a usually seen dressed as a "bogie" or green man, one of Jacks' attendants, during the procession on the May Bank Holiday. Abstract from http://www.hastingsjack.co.uk/link.html