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leonerdo
Sep. 17th, 2004
11:18 am - Blogs, Logs and RSS
After reading a friends blog on RSS I decided to investigate and whoopppeee its great. It is traditional that time spent in that small room in the house is accompanied by a good newspaper or book. Well its the 21st century so out lets drop the nws and its time for the epaper!
Found a great site for organising your own RSS feeds at http://www.mobilerss.net and then configured this as an AvantGo AutoChannel using their IE Links (which is also fab!) and hey presto... everytime my Axim pocket pc syncs with my laptop I get interesting news!!!!! Not news I dont want to hear but news I want to read.
So I just have to remember to book out some quality time in the small room diary - Thanks mate!
BTW Dentist didnt hurt pocket or mouth - yet!
Sep. 15th, 2004
04:01 pm - Dentist day
Hi im back - been away in the real world far too long. Working seems to consume far too much time. Anywat one particular project completed - and another one to start. I promise not to bleet on about work because it seems people get sacked for blogging about work. So dentist day has come around - not sure which it is going to hurt more - pocket or mouth. I had better go and find out.
Feb. 15th, 2004
09:48 pm - Happy gadgetday
Another rotation about our local star completed. Pressies included upgrades for Wilma:
Parking Radar
to prevent her large bottom crushing little cars and people during reversing exercises... still to be fitted and tested!
JVC KDSC601 CD Player
upgrade to audio capabilities, plays WMA. Awful firey template to be replaced with a matching leather photo/print template.
and other gadgets included
Adaptec VideOh Media Centre
For those old Hi8 tapes to be converted to DVD
also acts as TV card and PVR when all old Hi8s on DVD. This works but a few minor issues to be resolved with manufacturer.
Googlewhack Adventure by Dave Gorman
Read this whilst waiting for x-ray in hospital (See bad ankle day!) The sniggering seemed to have a detremental affect on everybody else waiting but it certainly made my wait shorter. Only read the first few chapters but I have laughed on every page... full review to come.
And for the more thoughtful moments I look forward to
How to Think Like Leonardo DaVinci: Seven Steps to Every Day Genius by Michael J. Gelb
and the accompanying workbook
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curiousFeb. 14th, 2004
09:39 pm - Nectarines dont...
Note for future romantic baking exercises... 
hard nectarines dont go soft when you bake them... they get hot and stay hard!
Feb. 8th, 2004
07:47 pm - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the night-time
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the night-time
By Mark Haddon
I have recently finished reading this and what a recommended read it is. The better half purchased it for a xmas pressie for yours truly (and is currently engrossed in reading it!!!!).
I wont expose the plot but I love the main character Christopher Boone. Although Christopher lacks some social skills, enjoys computer video games and likes Star Trek (sounds like most of the other programmers I know!) his simplistic view of the world gives the reader a great chance to step back and look at life more objectively.
Anyway enough said except I must admit I have taken to counting yellow cars on the way to work. (You will need to read the book to understand this!)
Feb. 7th, 2004
07:20 pm - Welcome home Wilma
In spite of knackered ankle and motorway accidents I managed to pickup the "not so new" motor. 
And whilst it is very odd at first to feel like you are driving a Chieftain Tank down the motorway the moment passes.
If anybody out there is thinking about buying a Mitsubushi Pajero then I would recommend the UK Pajero Owners web site. It covers insurance, millions of newbie questions a great technical forum and loads more. You can find it here.
These Japanese imports are gadget freak heaven... climate control... electronic suspension... heated leather seats... just dont be in a hurry to get somewhere if you buy the 2.5 Turbo Diesel, sit back and enjoy the ride!
One for the road...
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peacefulFeb. 6th, 2004
09:51 pm - Sorted!
First of all two big boos ... one for esure.co.uk current insurers who wouldnt insure new 4x4 and a big special boo to Liverpool Victoria who are happy to insure my bricks and mortar but not 4x4!
A big thumbs up to 2Gether Financial Solutions who could insure 4x4 and cheaper than current motor!
While we are putting the thumbs up for great customer service... here is one for Auto Security Alarms Ltd, 498 Holdenhurst Road, Queens Park, Bournemouth, Dorset, BH8 9AH
Tel: 07071 222444 , Fax: , E-mail: sales@asa-ltd.co.uk who put an immobiliser in 4x4 10 minutes after I rang them up!
So everything is sorted - just got to pick up Wilma the Wagon tomorrow!
excitedFeb. 5th, 2004
09:47 pm - Bad ankle day
There is a reason feet have flat bits on the bottom... its a lot less painful than trying to walk on the bits on the side. Thank god for brufen!
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uncomfortableFeb. 2nd, 2004
09:44 pm - They make me laff
Better half made me laff today. I mentioned that the new 4x4 gadget had been imported from Japan... she wondered how many miles this had put on the clock!
Jan. 31st, 2004
09:36 pm - Long time no post
Life hasa been unusually busy and January has flown past. Better half had a significant birthday organised by yours unruly.
Went shopping for 4x4 gadget today and purchased at final garage, had almost given up when saw wagon of dreams. Now I have to contain my excitment for a whole week... how sad.
Jan. 14th, 2004
08:48 pm - Livejournal=insane
Am I the only sane livejournal user in the whole world? You lot are a scream. Sad when one of my favourite pastimes has become random journal reading... guys you really need to get some help - or is it me that needs the help?
chipperJan. 13th, 2004
08:25 pm - The magic of numbers
One of the more obscure presents I got for xmas was a book "Why do buses come in threes: the hidden mathematics of everyday life" by Rob Eastaway and Jeremy Wyndham. If you have ever considered that there is more to numbers than just being put here for the use of the tax man then you have to read this. With gem contents like "Why can't I find a four leaf clover?" "Why do clever people get things wrong?" "How can I win without cheating" its a must read. Chapter 14 has my favourite title: "What happended to chapter 13?"
amusedJan. 12th, 2004
08:15 pm - What kind of idiot...
When I purchased my Dell Axim pocketpc I noted that the site also sold replacement styli (styluses?) and I thought to myself "What kind of idiot could possible lose a key piece of computing technology like a stylus?" Well now I have found the answer... idiots like me! I lost my stylus and now my Axim is sitting quietly in my bag twiddling its computational fingers. I wont accept all the blame however. I think that the clever people that design these should realise that we, the customers, arent actually that clever. It wouldnt take much to attach the stylus to the housing with one of those curly telephone wires... (oopps showing my age!)
So come on designers, please dont give us more mental credit than we are due!
Dell have realised that they can capitalise on us ninnies. They charge £10 for 3 (yes they know we are going to lose them again) styli and then £8 postage and packing. Obviously they are replacing the grey plastic twig that I had with solid gold gucci styli.
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thoughtfulJan. 6th, 2004
10:00 pm - Never over look the obvious
I post this as a reminder to my future self...
I spent the evening trying to get a better TV-out picture on a mates MSI MEGA goes under the tele PC. Fought with XP to change the refresh rate, hunted for .inf files, turned the web over looking for video drivers, tweaked the video card settings, tweaked the tv settings and after 2 hours of trying almost admitted defeat. Then asked mate what he had plugged the s-video cable into... a scart socket! so plugged the the cable into the tv's s-video and hey presto a clear picture... the moral of this story -> why spend 5 minutes on a job when you can string it out for 2.5 hours - doh!
amusedDec. 29th, 2003
07:15 pm - Cause and Effect
Most of the actions we carry out in life have a purpose, we do them for a reason. There is however an exception to this principle: the replacement of the Cosham Marriott roundabout with traffic lights. This roundabout use to be about a hundred meters in diameter and even when it was busy it only took a few minutes to get onto it. So what do the road planners do? They replace it with 40 traffic lights. Now this wouldnt be so bad if the purpose was to speed up the motorist journey but now it takes 10 minutes to get through in light traffic! What is the purpose of 40 traffic lights?
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annoyedDec. 26th, 2003
09:36 pm - Boxing day
Spent the day at the outlaws. People seem to be getting sick all around me. Wouldnt it be great if you could read other peoples minds, would make xmas alot easier to get through. Got an sd/multimedia card reader, now just need to get an sd card to read! May purchase one for the axim to store wma files on, get a holder for the car and an fm transmitter to get the sound to the in-car unit... maybe simpler to just buy a cd for the car! Oh and I still need a smart media reader for the digi cam!!!!
Dec. 25th, 2003
09:19 pm - Xmas day
Went snowboarding for xmas... in a virtual fashion. Brother got a thrustmaster snow/skate board which jacks into an x-box. In with the ss-X3 disc, hold onto the big lunch and its off down the slopes, what a laff - you have never seen anything quite so comical in your whole life. Gadget fund enhanced by xmas gifts so looking to purchase a dvd burner for home movies. Good old toshiba SD-210e (chipped) dvd under tele only plays dvd-r but i want to buy a dual standard burner.
contentDec. 22nd, 2003
10:19 pm - Just another day
Loaded pocketlj onto Axim and doing this update through it.
Actually achieved a lot at work today which makes a change.
Day tinged with sadness as a colleague was made redundant.
Final presents wrapped and i am ready for the xmas event... bring it on!
optimisticDec. 21st, 2003
09:15 pm - Countdown to xmas
What would Samuel Pepys have made of livejournal? An opportunity? A self-indulgence? Magic probably - saves on all that messy quill business.
Finished the xmas shopping today. What a relief. I need to remember that great feeling of being ready, then perhaps next year I will start a little earlier.
Celebrated Yule with a special meal and a reading of an Icelandic poem about the Yule cat. A cat that takes poor people who have nothing new to wear for xmas. (I bought a new shirt today so Im alright Jack!). It was supposed to encourage people to finish all their work before xmas. Evidently it used to rhyme in the icelandic version but it loses a little something in its translation into english.