https://minimal.org.uk/categories/general/ Recent content in general on minimal.org.uk Hugo -- gohugo.io en-gb ian Mon, 04 Aug 2014 17:12:18 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2014/08/04/green-flag-worlds-worst-retentions-policy/ Mon, 04 Aug 2014 17:12:18 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2014/08/04/green-flag-worlds-worst-retentions-policy/ So I’ve used Green Flag as a breakdown service for the last 5 years, with multiple call outs for one horrid vehicle (but hey it’s my fault, it was American built: never again !) and had managed (finally) to get 3 years of no claims on my account. Renewal request: £90 after no claims has been applied Enter my details on their new customer site: £59 with ‘online signup discount applied’ https://minimal.org.uk/2014/07/04/i-am-not-a-fan-of-but/ Fri, 04 Jul 2014 07:21:27 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2014/07/04/i-am-not-a-fan-of-but/ Ok, the secret to blogging more ? Reading Twitter, it seems… This morning’s gem (from the amazing-in-everything Mark Gatiss): “@xxgoingdown: @Markgatiss do you like doctor who? If yes, what’s your fav doctor?” Sheesh. What does one have to do, eh? — Mark Gatiss (@Markgatiss) July 3, 2014 For me this strikes me as part of the same problem highlighted by the also-excellent Charlie Brooker: …The first face was Bob Hoskins, prompting a wave of respectful applause through the auditorium. https://minimal.org.uk/2013/04/02/the-real-uk-citizenship-test/ Tue, 02 Apr 2013 18:45:31 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2013/04/02/the-real-uk-citizenship-test/ A while ago, I noted that the initial UK Citizenship Test was a) hard and b) pointless – the recently proposed revision isn’t much better, but thankfully Twitter and genuine locals are on hand to offer: The Real UK Citizenship Test I can proudly state that I scored 10/10 on my first go, without cheating and reading the JavaScript… I am pleased that this test addresses much more fundamental and important questions for those looking to live here and attempting to understand the behaviour of the natives. https://minimal.org.uk/2013/03/27/17-london-underground-maps-you-never-knew-you-needed-buzzfeed/ Wed, 27 Mar 2013 18:01:21 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2013/03/27/17-london-underground-maps-you-never-knew-you-needed-buzzfeed/ http://www.buzzfeed.com/expresident/london-underground-maps-you-never-knew-you-needed Brilliant visualisations. https://minimal.org.uk/2009/08/12/does-this-mean-i-have-to-return-my-passport/ Wed, 12 Aug 2009 07:22:41 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2009/08/12/does-this-mean-i-have-to-return-my-passport/ Oh dear. “You have failed the practice citizenship test. Questions answered correctly: 13 out of 24 (54%) Time taken: 02 minutes 46 seconds “ Life in the United Kingdom – The Official Practice Citizenship Test does say it should take up to 45 minutes, but it’s flawed in so many ways it’s a joke. There were about 5 questions that were on subjects that I would want applicants to know something about and the rest were culled from the reject pile of I Want To Be A Millionaire. https://minimal.org.uk/2009/05/01/things-to-do-in-cambridge/ Fri, 01 May 2009 21:37:29 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2009/05/01/things-to-do-in-cambridge/ A friend at work has recently moved to Cambridge, and given that the weather has been improving a bit I put together a few things that might be interesting, and then realised that it wasn’t really specific to his needs and thought others might like to know too. So first up, Cambridge Botanic Gardens. I should note that the only entrance I’ve ever known to be open is the one at the far end of Bateman Street near Trumpington Road (on their map). https://minimal.org.uk/2008/12/29/dvd-is-the-new-cd-or-gb-are-the-new-mb/ Mon, 29 Dec 2008 09:29:41 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2008/12/29/dvd-is-the-new-cd-or-gb-are-the-new-mb/ It’s a purely personal milestone, but today marks the first time I’ve ripped a DVD (store bought) to a video file without watching the film itself. I’ve been slowly going through my film collection and encoding them so I can put the bulky boxes into a crate and store them out of the way – just as CD’s were a revelation in ease of use compared to having to clean and carefully place the stylus on vinyl, and just as DVD’s (in the early days) allowed direct access to the film without tedious rewinding of the tape, media files finally free me from needing to take up a portion of my living space with boxes that are rarely used. https://minimal.org.uk/2008/11/26/what-the-dickens/ Wed, 26 Nov 2008 14:09:01 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2008/11/26/what-the-dickens/ An extract from an email I’ve just received: “As we are trying to have a carbon free Christmas this year…” So, no Coal as a gift this year ? Bah. Humbug. https://minimal.org.uk/2008/08/01/dhs-allowed-to-take-laptops-indefinitely/ Fri, 01 Aug 2008 13:26:48 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2008/08/01/dhs-allowed-to-take-laptops-indefinitely/ DHS Allowed To Take Laptops Indefinitely: http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/01/0958242 Just don’t tell UK Customs & Excise or they’ll want the same rights too. Bet they could make the cost of this back through selling the details they find to marketing firms… Assuming they don’t take tips from other govt. agencies on data handling and simply leave the laptop on a train on the way home, or in McDonalds, or getting it couriered to the lab for examination, etc. https://minimal.org.uk/2008/06/28/cambridge-traffic-makes-tax-laws-look-simple/ Sat, 28 Jun 2008 20:52:12 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2008/06/28/cambridge-traffic-makes-tax-laws-look-simple/ Today, I left the house 45 minutes earlier than normal in order to renew my car tax I waited 15 minutes at the Post Office, and then continued my drive into the city I got on the Park-n-ride as usual When I got off the bus I found I was at my destination a full 1 hour earlier than normal I know I watch a fair bit of Doctor Who these days, but really… https://minimal.org.uk/2008/04/21/bookmooch-exchange-books-and-trade-them-like-a-book-swap-or-book-barter/ Mon, 21 Apr 2008 18:36:37 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2008/04/21/bookmooch-exchange-books-and-trade-them-like-a-book-swap-or-book-barter/ BookMooch: exchange books and trade them, like a book swap or book barter: http://www.bookmooch.com/ Something to add to the list of sites I never knew existed, but wholeheartedly approve of. So much so that 10 minutes after signing up I’ve got 11 books available without even digging hard into the various piles scattered around the house. https://minimal.org.uk/2007/11/22/spec-writing-for-the-phb/ Thu, 22 Nov 2007 14:34:42 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2007/11/22/spec-writing-for-the-phb/ Ok, so who thinks of Dilbert’s boss when reading this snippet from a product spec PDF: Dimension 25mm x 115mm x 75mm (when laying flat); 115mm x 25mm x 75mm (standing up) I really, really hope that was put in there after an inane comment in a meeting… If the writer was actually serious about that, then I fear for the future of all documentation: at the very least they could have included the size of the stand and made it a useful statement. https://minimal.org.uk/2007/11/14/i-has-been-mostly/ Wed, 14 Nov 2007 15:52:16 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2007/11/14/i-has-been-mostly/ Today, I has been mostly trying to convince FrameMaker not to change baudrate into obdurate. It’s very persistent, though. https://minimal.org.uk/2007/09/18/iphone-uk-amusement-in-the-wrong-places/ Tue, 18 Sep 2007 23:36:12 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2007/09/18/iphone-uk-amusement-in-the-wrong-places/ Apple – iPhone UK on O2 – Macworld UK: http://macworld.co.uk/ipod-itunes/news/index.cfm?newsid=19123 Alluding to the decision to make market moves with O2, Jobs said: “We wanted to know a few partners and find the one most compatible with us, so we dated lots of other carriers, but decided to marry O2. There’s a few upset girlfriends out there.” LOL – is it just me, or does that conjour up a very carefully rehearsed analogy straight out of the Scott Adams/Derren Brown school of public speaking ? https://minimal.org.uk/2007/07/18/messing-with-purchase-prediction-software/ Wed, 18 Jul 2007 12:02:31 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2007/07/18/messing-with-purchase-prediction-software/ A few years ago Tesco caused a stir with their loyalty card and the use of purchase histories to offer targeted coupons to users of the cards, which caused some privacy worries (IIRC about the same time Scott McNealy said “You have zero privacy anyway. Get over it.”) and that made me start wondering about the software used to predict buying habits, and what it made of my purchases. Am I statistically average ? https://minimal.org.uk/2007/03/01/guardian-unlimited-comment-is-free-i-hate-macs/ Thu, 01 Mar 2007 15:08:54 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2007/03/01/guardian-unlimited-comment-is-free-i-hate-macs/ Guardian Unlimited | Comment is free | I hate Macs: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/story/0,,2006031,00.html “I hate Macs. I have always hated Macs. I hate people who use Macs. I even hate people who don’t use Macs but sometimes wish they did. Macs are glorified Fisher-Price activity centres for adults; computers for scaredy cats too nervous to learn how proper computers work; computers for people who earnestly believe in feng shui.” Charlie Brooker being, well, Charlie Brooker. https://minimal.org.uk/2007/02/19/interstellar-ark-strange-paths/ Mon, 19 Feb 2007 14:06:06 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2007/02/19/interstellar-ark-strange-paths/ Interstellar Ark :: Strange Paths: http://strangepaths.com/interstellar-ark/2007/02/14/en/ Fascinating maths and theoretical physics behind what might be done, and what is patently not going to happen (given our current level of understanding) in terms of interstellar exploration. Well worth a leisurely viewing. On a side note, this might be the first case of accurate maths on /. although technically only the link is on there, but with one depressingly plausible alternative vision in the comments: https://minimal.org.uk/2006/10/18/view-flickr-photos-in-google-earth/ Wed, 18 Oct 2006 17:59:36 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2006/10/18/view-flickr-photos-in-google-earth/ View Flickr Photos in Google Earth: http://kmlphotos.metaltoad.com/ Now that is a great timewaster, although given my new-found amazement at just how close Cairo and Luxor city boundaries are to the Great Pyramid and the Valley of the Kings, it’s also educational. https://minimal.org.uk/2006/09/04/the-observer-food-monthly-if-msg-is-so-bad-for-you-why-doesnt-everyone-in-asia-have-a-headache/ Mon, 04 Sep 2006 13:48:57 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2006/09/04/the-observer-food-monthly-if-msg-is-so-bad-for-you-why-doesnt-everyone-in-asia-have-a-headache/ The Observer | Food monthly | If MSG is so bad for you, why doesn’t everyone in Asia have a headache?: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/foodmonthly/story/0,,1522368,00.html Going by my previous metric of ‘If I’ve emailed a link to two people, I should have blogged it’, here’s a fascinating mini-history of MSG and umami together with a Top 19 of foods that you might not expect to but do in fact contain large quantities of contain MSG. https://minimal.org.uk/2006/07/07/handy-google-time-zone-feature/ Fri, 07 Jul 2006 16:05:15 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2006/07/07/handy-google-time-zone-feature/ I’ve not seen this mentioned over at the Google Help page, but it understands plain English time zone requests, so asking it: time in new york does exactly what you’d expect: the current local time at the top of the page, and a list of links for the rest of it. Very handy, as I rarely need a full blown world clock, but just need to check it’s sane to make a call. https://minimal.org.uk/2006/03/30/you-know-youve-chosen-a-good-isp-when/ Thu, 30 Mar 2006 15:32:09 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2006/03/30/you-know-youve-chosen-a-good-isp-when/ …they tell you that you have a security hole that you weren’t aware of. I just received an email which said: “It has been identified that your internet connection is acting as an open recursive DNS server. This means that your connection could contribute to a DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack resulting in your and other people’s connections becoming unusable.” This confused me, as although the IP given was in my range, I was sure I didn’t have anything on that number. https://minimal.org.uk/2006/03/05/adsl2-speed-estimator/ Sun, 05 Mar 2006 20:33:19 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2006/03/05/adsl2-speed-estimator/ DSL ZoneUK – Common terms: http://www.dslzoneuk.net/maxspeed.php If you’re on one of the majority of BT’s exchanges in the UK then by the 31st of March 2006 it ought to be possible to move to ADSL2 (assuming your hardware and ISP support it). If you can get access to the current attenuation and signal-to-noise figures from your modem then the above link will give an idea of what you can expect from the new service. https://minimal.org.uk/2006/02/24/writers-block-live-blog-archive-the-hd-boycott-begins-now/ Fri, 24 Feb 2006 14:44:31 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2006/02/24/writers-block-live-blog-archive-the-hd-boycott-begins-now/ Writers Block Live | Blog Archive | The HD Boycott Begins Now: http://writersblocklive.com/part-156 Well said that man, and what is interesting is that this isn’t from an uninformed teenager, but from Apple’s former director of video product marketing. Again, I tend to sit a little more on the fence, and don’t, per-se, have an issue with the end of analogue content, but I do have a major issue with the idea that only big firms are legal content creators, and that the ‘little people’ are all out to rip them off: have a listen to almost any collection of independent artists online and see how many of them appeal to you more than commercial radio does, and it’s mind numbingly apparent that now more than ever it’s people who tinker in their spare time to satisfy their own creative urges than can create more satisfying content than big business does. https://minimal.org.uk/2005/12/19/holiday-vs-christmas/ Mon, 19 Dec 2005 10:58:37 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2005/12/19/holiday-vs-christmas/ “Happy Holidays” Is Offensive by Bill Barnwell: http://www.lewrockwell.com/barnwell/barnwell53.html An amusing read and a dig at what happens when PC runs amok. What is more interesting is how dumb PC legionaries are in thinking that hiding Christmas under Holiday is actually helping anything, as explored by Chuck George: What’s the Big Fuss about ‘Happy Holidays’ by Chuck George: http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig6/george3.html https://minimal.org.uk/2005/12/18/thermodynamics-and-four-year-olds/ Sun, 18 Dec 2005 23:23:04 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2005/12/18/thermodynamics-and-four-year-olds/ I was trying my best to answer the neighbours daughter as she came out with the longest stream of questions I’ve ever heard anyone have about an oil filled radiator. Skirting around Specific Heat Capacities and Conservation of Energy[1](but laying the foundations, should she ask later), things don’t quite finish as I planned: H: Why is it wet ? Me: Because the radiator has been outside in my car and the metal is below the dew point of the room, so now that it’s been brought back inside the water vapour in the air is condensing on the surface. https://minimal.org.uk/2005/07/03/new-scientist-breaking-news-entering-a-dark-age-of-innovation/ Sun, 03 Jul 2005 10:25:04 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2005/07/03/new-scientist-breaking-news-entering-a-dark-age-of-innovation/ New Scientist Breaking News – Entering a dark age of innovation: http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7616 The instant and rather glib answer is that the USPTO is single handedly trying to reverse the graph by granting ‘trivial’ patents, but I don’t think that’s quite it. The analogy to the Dark Ages is great for column inches but the more interesting aspect is the talk about the move from current computing to nano-tech as the next major point for growth, which could perhaps be compared to past major social shifts: such as from steam to electricity, or from physical post to electronic communication. https://minimal.org.uk/2005/04/25/you-know-when-youre-a-geek-when/ Mon, 25 Apr 2005 12:07:34 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2005/04/25/you-know-when-youre-a-geek-when/ Ignoring the obligatory Dilbert references, I think I might qualify when I found myself using this line to write my age: <?php echo floor((time()-gmmktime(6,41,0,6,21,1971))/(60*60*24*365.242)); ?> Must check if it was 14 or 41 past, though… https://minimal.org.uk/2005/04/17/apollo-13-the-real-story/ Sun, 17 Apr 2005 19:51:47 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2005/04/17/apollo-13-the-real-story/ Apollo 13: http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/WEBONLY/wonews/apr05/0405napola.html Although I was unexpectedly impressed by the film, this is a rundown of the real events without any ‘added drama’, which is much more satisfying for geeks 🙂 https://minimal.org.uk/2005/04/03/not-just-me-then/ Sun, 03 Apr 2005 20:38:37 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2005/04/03/not-just-me-then/ Neil Gaiman: http://www.neilgaiman.com/journal/2005/04/hp-sauce-as-coin-cleanser-and-so-on.asp Ignoring (like those in question) the main thrust of his entry, this sentence made me smile: “Well, I looked the Slashdot thread over and, like you, felt that many of the posters had an almost world-class ability to miss the point.” https://minimal.org.uk/2005/02/16/the-infinite-matrix-cory-doctorow-i-robot/ Wed, 16 Feb 2005 16:09:03 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2005/02/16/the-infinite-matrix-cory-doctorow-i-robot/ The Infinite Matrix | Cory Doctorow | I, Robot: http://www.infinitematrix.net/stories/shorts/i-robot.html Very well worth the time to read, and not at all offensive if (like me) Asimov was one of your main reads whilst growing up. Sort of Asimov-meets-Matrix, but that’s belittling the story immensely. https://minimal.org.uk/2005/01/19/thinkgeek-gadgets-lights-lasers/ Wed, 19 Jan 2005 13:51:12 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2005/01/19/thinkgeek-gadgets-lights-lasers/ ThinkGeek :: Gadgets :: Lights & Lasers : http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/lights/ Argh ! Nononononononononono. What devil have I unleashed ? I’m not sure I can continue looking at this site until all methods of paying US Dollars have been removed from my person and placed in a locked underground bunker no less than 6.732 miles away. <homer>Inductive charging, lasers, LED’s, hmmm…</homer> https://minimal.org.uk/2004/11/05/17-reasons-not-to-slit-your-wristsby-michael-moore/ Fri, 05 Nov 2004 14:06:57 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2004/11/05/17-reasons-not-to-slit-your-wristsby-michael-moore/ Welcome to MichaelMoore.com: http://michaelmoore.com/ 6. Michigan voted for Kerry! So did the entire Northeast, the birthplace of our democracy. So did 6 of the 8 Great Lakes States. And the whole West Coast! Plus Hawaii. Ok, that’s a start. We’ve got most of the fresh water, all of Broadway, and Mt. St. Helens. We can dehydrate them or bury them in lava. And no more show tunes! https://minimal.org.uk/2004/10/21/car-crazy-microsoft-in-the-drivers-seat-cnet-newscom/ Thu, 21 Oct 2004 17:46:12 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2004/10/21/car-crazy-microsoft-in-the-drivers-seat-cnet-newscom/ Car crazy: Microsoft in the driver’s seat | CNET News.com: http://news.com.com/Car crazy Microsoft in the drivers seat/2100-1046_3-5419404.html Forget petrol prices and congestion charges: this is the thing that’ll make me use my feet/bicycle more. At least they mention it’s not coupled to the braking system. Yet. https://minimal.org.uk/2004/09/06/announcements-of-the-death-of-spf-are-perhaps-premature/ Mon, 06 Sep 2004 13:51:51 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2004/09/06/announcements-of-the-death-of-spf-are-perhaps-premature/ I’ve seen recent mentions in a few places on the ‘net[1]that SPF (Sender Policy Framework) as an anti-spam measure has failed because more Spam companies have correct SPF details than non-spammers. I feel that for exactly the same reasons, SPF is working, and working well. Ignoring the merits of SPF (for the moment) the concept is simple: for any given email that arrives at an SMTP server, can the From: be trusted ? https://minimal.org.uk/2004/08/27/an-m-book-with-no-culture/ Fri, 27 Aug 2004 14:54:25 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2004/08/27/an-m-book-with-no-culture/ Guardian Unlimited | Life | Lonely planets: http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/feature/story/0,13026,1290570,00.html Nice Einsteinian physics in the excerpt, but it makes me uneasy as it has a bit too much of a heavy handed ‘modern parable’ feel to it. Mind you, I’m very likely to get it at some point 🙂 https://minimal.org.uk/2004/08/24/reality-gets-another-dose-of-star-trek/ Tue, 24 Aug 2004 09:20:44 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2004/08/24/reality-gets-another-dose-of-star-trek/ PhysicsWeb – Glass breakthrough: http://physicsweb.org/article/news/8/8/9 Ok, so no whales this time, just transparent aluminium/aluminum… I’m impressed, but just want replicators ! https://minimal.org.uk/2004/08/08/hmm-rae-these-stories-related/ Sun, 08 Aug 2004 09:02:54 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2004/08/08/hmm-rae-these-stories-related/ BBC NEWS | Health | Prozac ‘found in drinking water’: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3545684.stm BBC NEWS | UK | Blunkett defends terror secrecy: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3545600.stm Perhaps they need to up the dose of Prozac before Blunkett either doesn’t get asked these questions, or calms down a bit trying to answer them… https://minimal.org.uk/2004/07/08/zen-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance/ Thu, 08 Jul 2004 16:42:02 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2004/07/08/zen-and-the-art-of-motorcycle-maintenance/ Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: http://www.virtualschool.edu/mon/Quality/PirsigZen/ An oft-quoted book which until recently I never realised was available on-line. So far I’ve reached Chapter 2 (taken 16 days, in between other stuff) and the slower pace is a really good idea (for me !). Some of the central ideas covered have been directly applicable to conversations I’ve had recently IRL, which I wasn’t expecting. Nothing that helped the flow or that led to a resolution, but it was nice to have a deeper understanding of why. https://minimal.org.uk/2004/06/30/adsl-trigger-date/ Wed, 30 Jun 2004 10:17:11 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2004/06/30/adsl-trigger-date/ Yay ! My exchange will go live on the 15th of December this year, which isn’t bad at all. Finally, the chance to get a proper service with such heady delights as a static IP (gasp!) and maybe, just maybe, direct SMTP and backup MX provided by the ISP ! Hoorah. That’s ignoring the huge advantage of a 2:1 download:upload ratio instead of the frankly ludicrous 4.6:1 I have now (soon to be 5. https://minimal.org.uk/2004/06/16/on-safari/ Wed, 16 Jun 2004 21:40:42 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2004/06/16/on-safari/ I’ve only recently found out about the CSS attribute text-shadow after visiting Binary Bonsai (in Safari) and thinking it looked pretty neat, and then showing it to Nicci (in Mozilla) and wondering where thre pretty text went. A quick Google later and I was looking at text-align. I was so totally blown away by the combined translucency and shadow example that I decided that even if it was just for Safari users, I *had* to have shadows on my headlines and dates 🙂 https://minimal.org.uk/2004/05/03/odd-powershot-g3os-x-1033-movie-file-corruption/ Mon, 03 May 2004 12:20:19 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2004/05/03/odd-powershot-g3os-x-1033-movie-file-corruption/ I’m not sure if this is a real problem or something I’ve managed to stuff up, but when I shoot both movies and still images on the G3 I use Image Capture and the Download Some option to pull off the movie files, iPhoto to read the stills and then reformat the card. Recently I’ve shot more than one movie file between downloads and it seems as if the first one is the only one that transfers properly, so on a whim I changed the communication type on the G3 from Normal to PTP. https://minimal.org.uk/2004/04/08/music-industry-still-not-getting-it/ Thu, 08 Apr 2004 12:34:18 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2004/04/08/music-industry-still-not-getting-it/ Gotta love this quote: …some labels are considering “bundling hit songs with other less-desirable tracks…” A practice that used to be called ‘An Album’. Obviously too hard a concept for those muso-marketeers to grasp, along with the concept that declining CD sales might have something to do with people not wanting to buy the sort of music that’s on sale right now… (original article: http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/main_news.cfm?NewsID=8397) https://minimal.org.uk/2004/01/28/phew-sense-at-last/ Wed, 28 Jan 2004 13:50:29 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2004/01/28/phew-sense-at-last/ Ok, I’m biased, but at least someone with a little more mainstream credibility has wondered at Mr G’s recent KBE: http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/main_news.cfm?NewsID=7784 I do hope that Mr Brown got a good discount on MS fees for the UK Govt. when he put forward Bill’s name… https://minimal.org.uk/2003/09/16/canon-makernote-exif-parser/ Tue, 16 Sep 2003 21:49:49 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2003/09/16/canon-makernote-exif-parser/ Why this doesn’t get more publicity (or even merged with the original jheadsource) I’ll never know. If you have jheadand want to know more about your Canon images, grab the diff from Jarkko Turkulainen. After spending a couple of hours munging bits in myself, I resorted to Google to try and speed things up, and instead found mention of a jhead patch in Jarkko Turkulainen‘s mpkg photo gallery script. Of course, I grabbed the 1. https://minimal.org.uk/2003/06/17/how-not-to-nat/ Tue, 17 Jun 2003 09:44:08 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2003/06/17/how-not-to-nat/ Due to a VPN at work, the desire to IPSec from home and a collision of IP ranges, I needed to use a different range for home. Don’t ever, ever mistype the IP address on a Netgear RO318 and get it to end in a zero… I did this (via the web interface), but just as I realised my mistake, the form was submitted. Bad, bad move. What should have been a 5 minute job (I had every system setting pre-configured and ready to launch after a reboot [yes, I know I don’t have to reboot, but I wanted to ensure that everything would work after a reboot, as this server needs to be able to recover from such things by itself]) took over 40 minutes to figure out. https://minimal.org.uk/2003/06/09/canon-powershot-g3/ Mon, 09 Jun 2003 11:26:54 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2003/06/09/canon-powershot-g3/ I gave in on Saturday and got a G3 with 256MB CF card from Digital Depot. What a very nice camera 🙂 No real gallery to speak of – just rubbish I’ve been messing with, but with the amount of camera control available on this model, there’s going to be a lot of that before I’m done ! Yes, I realise that the G5 was announced earlier in the week, but there’s no real difference for me (ok, so making it look more like an SLR is nice, but about as useful to me as the added Sport mode), and the price on the G3 has dropped considerably in the three weeks prior to this. https://minimal.org.uk/2003/04/14/ipsec-ipfilter-and-corrupted-mac-on-input/ Mon, 14 Apr 2003 17:52:00 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2003/04/14/ipsec-ipfilter-and-corrupted-mac-on-input/ I’ve been having problems for sometime when transferring JPG files via 802.11 from my iBook to the Qube. The files can be sent via SMB or ftp, and show up as corrupted images (the initial uploads of Abi showwed this problem). Trying to copy via scp/sftp resulted in the ‘Corrupted MAC on input’ message, which is muttered about in mailing lists, but never fully explored. I’ve found that the problem lay with IPFilter – it was killing fragments of packets and so presenting corrupt looking information to the Qube. https://minimal.org.uk/2003/02/23/rg58-cable-and-dab/ Sun, 23 Feb 2003 09:30:59 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2003/02/23/rg58-cable-and-dab/ Just in case anyone else has a DAB receiver (I don’t – this was done for a friend), you can use RG58 50ohm network cable for long runs from an antenna with very good results. Ok, so the starting point was poor (an indoor dipole), and the final installation has a Yagi in the loft space, but running the signal down the inside of the house via 17m or so of RG58 and into a rubbish ‘screw in’ 50ohm BNC connector gave full strength on every station that the unit could pick up. https://minimal.org.uk/2002/10/11/friday-ramblings/ Fri, 11 Oct 2002 21:17:07 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2002/10/11/friday-ramblings/ I got sent a link to this article which discusses the usage of Windows at Sun. I just had to pass comment… (Sorry Douglas). Reads like an account of Windows Users Anonymous: ‘My name’s Stan, and I only used Windows three time last week’. RedHat. Sheesh. The distro that is so up-it’s-own-IPO that it thinks the BSD licence is evil and needs to be eradicated. Get a real laptop that supports plugins: go and buy an OS X machine 🙂 https://minimal.org.uk/2002/10/09/us-uk-un-and-iraq/ Wed, 09 Oct 2002 23:03:56 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2002/10/09/us-uk-un-and-iraq/ Oh yeah. Sure. The UK hasn’t decided what to think over Iraq. That’s why there’s been more aircraft activity over my house in the last 48 hours than the rest of the year put together… Noisy things they are, too. I’m sure the convoys of 20 to 30 military trucks that I’ve seen two of in the last 10 days are also out just for fun as well. https://minimal.org.uk/2002/08/16/calendar/ Fri, 16 Aug 2002 17:27:41 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2002/08/16/calendar/ Having upgraded to version 0.6pre4 of b2, I’ve now integrated the b2 calendar function on the top right of each page. Not sure if the extra rendering time is going to make it annoying, but it gives a simply shortcut to all postings made in the current month. https://minimal.org.uk/2002/08/16/80211/ Fri, 16 Aug 2002 16:59:13 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2002/08/16/80211/ I’m now happily bathing in 2.4GHz radio waves, as I’ve got an SMC 2655W access point setup at home now. Stunning range, and the ap-utils (v1.0.4) package makes non-Windows config very much easier. I might (sadly) have to use the Windows tool to upgrade the firmware, but I knew the second ethernet port on the Qube was going to be good for something… https://minimal.org.uk/2002/08/16/new-monitor/ Fri, 16 Aug 2002 16:57:19 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2002/08/16/new-monitor/ I’ve just splashed out on a new monitor after using 2nd hand and junk ones for the past four years. Wow. It’s amazing. I can recommend the Hansol 720P for a budget monitor with a decent refresh rate (1280×1024@85 and 1600×1200@75). There are flatter tubes out there, and it’s a shadow mask but the clarity and flicker-free hires modes are a treat for me. https://minimal.org.uk/2002/06/17/new-gallery/ Mon, 17 Jun 2002 14:59:50 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2002/06/17/new-gallery/ The version of the gallery software I’m using has been updated to v1.3 I’ve not had chance to merge back in my own EXIF preserving changes, so rotations are still decidedly dodgy, but the upgrade was as easy as suggested in the text file, although I do wonder what sort of slideshow is on offer when the default timeout is set to 3 seconds… The sub-album listing is well worth the update though, even if I decide to move onto a less CPU intensive system (still testing the various options). https://minimal.org.uk/2002/06/04/netbsd/ Tue, 04 Jun 2002 22:13:33 +0000 https://minimal.org.uk/2002/06/04/netbsd/ Well, things are working on the new URL, but NetBSD just doesn’t seem right for me just yet (sob). The change over from blog.minimal.cx to [www.]minimal.cx went ok with just the expected config edits plus a cname for my local dns. The testing of NetBSD was a little more fraught (check the uptime log), but it all boiled down to using a too recent version of Linux to format the ext2 partition…