2012 ticket fiasco...

Seems a lot of folk are getting blown out/off trying to buy tickets for the 2012 London Olympics...

...yes it does look a bit like a Simpsons character...

Ice balls II...

...and the quest for that perfect lump of ice to go into the gin & tonic goes on.

•••

The Muji ice ball mould (posted a few days ago) has had varying levels of success, with different mixes of water (plain tap, filtered tap, distilled, twice boiled distilled) and methods of freezing (straight in freezer, wrapped in freezer, in cooler bag in freezer).

The speed of freezing is producing cracked ice balls but by placing the Mujis in a cooler bag, the freezing process is slowed enough to result in a solid ball which, while clear towards the outside, is still featuring the spear-like 'air bubble tracks'.

It looks like an Xmas bauble but is in one piece and definitely melts at a far slower rate than your regular ice cube.

Twice boiled distilled water

Why all the fuss? Blame it on a G&T I had in Vegas in January this year at José Andrés' "e" restaurant...

It had a crystal clear ice sphere in it, more than likely produced using one of these... Ice Ball Maker

Another new gin, chin chin...

From the makers of the world champ vodka, comes a Gin...

The Most Complicated Gin in the World...

It is a relatively unknown fact that gin is made from vodka. So, unlike other gins, our gin is truly single estate from field to bottle.

We press our organically grown cider apples, ferment them into cider, then distil into vodka then re-distil this into gin by infusing eleven carefully selected wild botanicals and our naturally pure water taken from our aquifer that runs underneath our orchards.

The result is our full bodied, sharp, yet fruity gin with tears and true provenance.

Our botanicals: Juniper, Coriander, Angelica, Liquorice, Orrice, Orange, Lemon, Hops, Elderflower and Bramley apple.

...to make the perfect gin martini and the ultimate British Gin & Tonic

For more info: Chase Distillery / Williams Gin

High Dynamic Range photos

Have been experimenting with a bit of 'pseudo' HDR tweakery on my photographs using a bit of software called HDRtist Pro (£19.99).
The results can be quite good and as well as using multiple image exposures it can also edit single images to produce the effect of an HDR image.

I'm not going to go into the details of HDR, as there is plenty of info on the web, but the image above (with a vertical slice of HDR through the centre) demonstrates how dark areas in images can be 'brought out' to varying degrees.

A free version of HDRtist is available but it doesn't allow the same scale of manipulation as the Pro version.

Ice balls...

Silicone Ice Ball mould

Bargain...

Microsoft has paid £5 Billion for Skype...


Obviously nobody told them they can download it for free from the website..

Intermittnet...

in·ter·mitt·net/ˌintərˈmitnət/

Adjective: Internet service prone to a being less than stable at irregular intervals; not steady; argh


On.
Off.
On.
Off...

Months of pretty much rock steady internet it's started dropping out again - hope I'm not going back to the frustrating experience I had before...

http://phurphuxake.blogspot.com/2009/09/two-weeks-broadbandless.html

Global conspiracy...

Why do clothing manufacturers insist on stitching product care/information labels into the side seams of t-shirts?
'Seams' they always position these labels right around the point where the waistband of ones trews would be. And why use material for these labels with the abrasive quality of a coarse sandpaper?
Okay, it's not hip to wear shirts tucked in but, when worn as a base layer in cold weather, I'm sure I am not alone in secretly shoving my t-shirt down my trousers!

Yes, it is a slow day in the newsroom....

New gin in the cabinet…

 

Sipsmith Gin

Spotted - new Mini mini SUV

Life in the fast (mobile broadband) lane...

Picked up a 3 Mobile MiFi the other day for use with a recently acquired Wi-Fi only iPad.

Visiting the in-laws at the moment where any mobile phone signal is a rare thing let alone a mobile broadband one. Took my T-Mobile 3G modem and the 3 Mobile MiFi to try and help them figure out a way around the lack of any broadband service over a landline. BT are being useless in even giving them a date that a service will be even considered. Villagers have discussed a community satellite broadband system, but it is only in a discussion stage.

The T-Mobile couldn't even get up a fast walking pace, O2 (on the iPhone) wouldn't get off the starting blocks but the 3 Mobile has surprised me by getting speeds of 2.5+ Mbps.

The inlaws were so surprised that it bettered by about 1Mbps their previous broadband service in their old property, they asked me to go online and get them the 3 Mobile USB dongle modem.

For once a UK mobile phone company has surprised me by actually delivering a decent service and coverage.

Thumbs up for 3.....

Grip, grip, grip....

So the Nokians have proved their worth. We've had snow and quite a bit too.
The tyres gave so much grip it was almost like having four wheel drive - OK, I know I could have been halted by really deep stuff or extremes of the bad weather but the tyres were really such an improvement that I felt confident to tackle side roads where only 4x4s had ventured.
Big tick in the pleased box!

32000' over Glasgow. Release bombs!!!!

So its a travelling I will go once again.  On the road to Las Vegas and CES for the second year even though I said last year might be my first and last time.
Travel, by air at least, is becoming a real drag as I am sure my legions of readers will agree. 
You, well I, take advantage of park and fly deals with airport hotels and  cut out that "will-we-won't-we-make-it" lottery of driving down the same day as your flight. Travel the day before and have a cold beer and tasty snack in the bar then retire to your room for a restful nights slumber. Or not, if the air con system sounds like some throw back to a black country mill!
Ah well, just suck that up and rest easy in the knowledge that you can stroll to the terminal and check in. 
Except for the increasingly personal level of undress that one has to undergo just to get into the departure area. Shoes off, coats off, small change and spectacles, testicles, watch and wallet in the tray before stepping through the portal into the next dimension. How long before we are stripped bare to outwit the Jibjabistanis? Too late I fear, as the US implement their Xray-O-Vision full body scanners.  They can now tell which side you dress to!!!!
Delayed flight by 45 minutes (well an hour actually) and some lanky gibbon-like teenager in the seat in front all add to the pleasure of international air travel. I have to be careful not to fall asleep, even though my eyes feel like they have been irrigated with a cocktail of Vim and battery acid, for fear my snoring will set off the knee tap reflex of the person sat behind! Grab a paper or magazine and read dammit. Virgin have a quiet zone on some flights. Maybe they need a snore zone for us heavy sleepers?
Suck it up man!
So, I'll get in at 10.30pm (UK time) 2.30pm (local) and will have to struggle on for another 8-10 hours to slot into Vegastime with 4 hours sleep tacked onto a ten hour flight. Deeply joyble in the words of Mr Unwin....    

Filthwizardry

From our Motoring Editor, Buster Bloodvessel...

Don't go to kwikfit!
£468.00 for exhaust!
Guy lifted car (engine running) we walked underneath he put his hand over the exhuast pipe (engine running!)no doubt to help aid our hearing to any escaping gases and then burnt his hand.....
He then said (with a pained expression and one hand under his armpit) "It'ss aaa compeletee system umff" and to be fair it looked complete from the mainfold, Cat and box all one piece but only the box was "blowing" a bit.
"I'll get you a quote" we go to the office he gets on the machine and with one hand under his arm pit quotes me £400+ pounds i go "mmm" his grimey co-erks go "bloodyhell"!

I said "I only need the box" he says they can cut the box off the new system and I can hang on to it till I need to replace the cat.... - I said "you surggest cutting the new £400+ system in half"
With no doubt a slightly ironic - phased expression on my face (I couldn't wait to tell C there's £340 pounds of Cat and pipe under the bed)

I asked if they could weld a patch? all 3 filthwizards pipe up and say "were not allowed to weld here" (probably because they'd FACKING burn themselves!!!!!) I left on good terms saying I'd think about it and then ran to my car feeling I was going mad.

Then popped into my local garage had chat with a dude who said there thieving scum at KF (no sh#t) and you can buy boxes on there own from the main dealers for £60 and a sleeve kit to adapt it to the pipe, which I remembered from my days of working at Citroen.

I'm now going to have a beer and sit in a darkened room for a bit.

Nokians fitted...

Back in February I posted about trying to get my hands on some winter tyres. Well, the long wait is over - I had a set of Nokian WR G2 winter tyres fitted to the car today.

Now to await the ice and snow....

Mitchell & Webb...

...poke fun at modern computer stores....


Good job I'd finished my sake...

Arrggghhhh....

Why, oh why, do shops insist on giving it's customers till receipts equivalent in length to the Dead Sea Scrolls?

I got behind in my shredding of these, so tackled the pile today and almost threw the shredder through the window in frustration, as these flimsy strips of paper refused to be fed into the shredders jaws!

Most shops aren't satisfied in handing you one of these mini toilet rolls - they seem to delight in two, three or more.
The further we seem to head into a cashless, paperless society the more paper we seem to waste...

Friendface...

friendface - we own everything and everything is fine

┌──▄ Amazahzing Consortium ▄──┐ | MySpace Video

Flushed down the drain...

I deleted my Facebook account at the end of May. I was getting fed up with the Twitter like outpourings of some of those in my friends list. And we know what I think of Twitter...

Seeing the Raoul Moat tribute page debacle unfold I'm glad I am no longer an account holder. The 'groups' that sprang up for the most pathetic cause célèbre exposed the dross of society.

Now we have the cretins who hail Moat as a legend and see him as some sort of modern day Robin Hood. He was a violent bully who shot dead one man, shot his ex, then shot a policeman in the face, blinding him for life. Not a legend.

This group, and the ones that have appeared since the original was closed, is like a fresh turd. It attracts the flies that swarm all over it in a frenzy - eventually the turd dries up and the flies go off to find another place to lay their eggs (or post their idiotic views).

While the internet is a good thing most of the time, every now and again this new media/social network crap bubbles up like effluent from a blocked drain...

Goodbye i(P)OS4...

I have had enough.

My iPhone 3G has been pretty much fecked since I uploaded i(P)OS4 to it. Lost a couple of apps (Qik Video being one of them) and the benefits (if there were any) of the two "improvements" (mail and folders) that i(P)OS4 brought over the OS3 are certainly not enough for me to keep this updated software on my iPhone.

So today I am following the tutorial over on TiPb.com on how to downgrade your iPhone from i(P)OS4.

I am sure there are many iPhone users completely happy with i(P)OS4 but this one isn't. Hopefully a smooth downgrade will be possible.

Thanks Apple.....


FYI:
Downgrade/backdate/reversion, or whatever you wish to call it, went fine - the phone is back to being as quick as it ever was prior the mistake of updating to iOS4. Apps open almost immediately and writing an email is back to being lag-free.

This is NOT a crèche....

Really pisses me off when yummy mummies decide to take over already cramped coffee shops with the perambulator equivalents of 4x4 off roaders. Tell you what, why not just block that seating area off completely - circle the strollers, wagon train like, to prevent anyone else from finding a seat. Leave the bloody machines outside will you!!!!!!!!!!!!!...

Neat art...

While I have resisted the urge or temptation to spend yet more money on some latest Apple 'must-have' gadget my interest is now and again piqued when I see some users making use of the iPad as a new form of art tablet.
One such example is Goro Fujita.


For now, no iPad for me....

Half price sticker placement - WIN...

I have yet to spot another example of such complete Bookcover Burqaism on the shelves....

TwoSeatsBob...

Maybe that could also be STFUBob, WhineyAssBob, SeatBlockerBob and a 100 other variables on the current farce rumbling around the internets regarding Kevin Smith and his fat lardy ass getting turned off a flight from LA to SF.
Smith claims he books two seats not because he is "Too Fat To Fly" but because he is anti-social and doesn't want to sit cheek by jowl with another fat flyer. Or a member of the human race.
This guy probably has enough money to charter his own plane to fly to SF. Then he could sit in splendid solitude while the rest of us have to deal with all the problems of modern air travel. But no, he prefers to book two seats. Then gets all arsey when he opts to fly standby then gets turned off that flight. If the flight was booked solid and some person trying desperately to get a flight for some emergency was told sorry flight is full, no seats available, would you give up your spare seat? Probably not, as you booked for your fat shadow.
Here is a tip AntiSocialBob - if you can't stand being around other people try driving. You have four/five seats to yourself. You can choose your own entertainment. You can stop to eat when you want and you have a better choice of food. You can set your own departure time. You don't have to deal with TSA. Get the picture yet Mr Director?

Or maybe just stay at home with your chubby little legs kicked back in your La Z Boy typing away furiously on your computer...

I'm disappointed that SWA is bending over backwards to placate this moron while all the time feeding the frenzy of his fanboys all screaming for SWA to be hung from the nearest hill.

They have a policy in place for safety reasons. Next time I am forced to sit next to an obese passenger I'll be asking to move because now I will just see flying fatties as selfish ignorant jerk offs like Kevin "SilentBob" Smith......

Macworld 2010 - "hugely successful"

They were the words of IDG's expo 'main man' Paul Kent at the end of this years MWSF 2010.

I think "hugely successful" may be gilding the lily slightly - from just searching for figures on the net for previous years there is no doubt that attendance is way down - the hi-tech graph above shows it is.

The figures for 2008-2010 are approximate - 2008 was supposed to be up 10% on the previous year, 2009 figs don't appear to be released and this year the 20,000 is sourced from www.istockanalyst.com

If a drop of such a huge amount is considered a "success" then I wonder what a failure looks like!
With the demise of Paris and then London after Apple withdrew, I wonder how long IDG will maintain Macworld in it's current form?

My thoughts after MWSF 2009...

Ordering now for next winter...

...was the reply when I tried to order a set of "winter" tyres from the UK importer. With a new set of tyres needed for the front of my car I decided on trying to source a set of Nokian WR G2 winter/all season tyres. I'd read good reviews on these tyres and contrary to what the dealer may think they are classed as all season tyres by the manufacturer, Nokian.

So, with the recent wintery weather we've experienced I thought a good set of winter rubber would be a good option over the all season brands usually sold here in the UK.
Tracking these tyres down hasn't been easy as it appears many other UK drivers are discovering the benefits of winter tyres. So I contacted the UK importer and was surprised to be told that they wouldn't be ordering any more until October! The impression I got was they believed the WR G2 was only for use during snowy weather.
My search goes on....

Nokian WR G2

Seasalt Steve?

I'll have one for Xmas...

LINK

And a follow up...

ReTwotting I just twoted all over the place...

Just cos I can...