Happy 20th Birthday Linux!

It's in my phone, my PC, my laptop, our MythTV PVR, Charlie's netbook... It's Linux!

http://www.linuxfoundation.org/20th/

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="560" caption="Happy 20th Birthday Linux"][/caption]

Secret NI - Project X, Project Y

At the end of yesterday's R4 media Show [http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b012t97p] they mentioned "Project X, Project Y" - looking into ways ahead for NI in the UK, what to do with the various titles and how to merge things.

I found this blog post (know nothing about the author) which summarises it:

"Inside News International there are two secret projects: Project X, cut costs by 50%. Project Y, move to a seven-day-a-week newspaper. A couple of days before James Murdoch with Rebekah Wade in tow, accompanied by security guards, told staff at the News of the World it was being closed, two web addresses were registered for The Sun on Sunday. It is goodbye News of the World, hello Sun on Sunday."

So - before you celebrate the death of the awful NOTW

At the end of yesterday's BBC R4 Media Show special on the #NotW [http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b012t97p] they mentioned "Project X, Project Y" - looking into ways ahead for NI in the UK, what to do with the various titles and how to merge things.

I found this blog post (know nothing about the author or his connections) which summarises it:

"Inside News International there are two secret projects: Project X, cut costs by 50%. Project Y, move to a seven-day-a-week newspaper. A couple of days before James Murdoch with Rebekah Wade in tow, accompanied by security guards, told staff at the News of the World it was being closed, two web addresses were registered for The Sun on Sunday. It is goodbye News of the World, hello Sun on Sunday."

http://keithpp.wordpress.com/2011/07/08/good-riddance-news-of-the-world/

If true - why isn't this being discussed more in the press?

So - before we celebrate the death of the awful NOTW this might actually just be them bringing forward an existing plan.
There's a great rant about the topic from John Finnemore on yesterdays's Now Show - essentially saying we need to keep up the outrage & protest levels in order to show NI and management as not "fit and proper persons"  in the SKY takeover. Makes a good point.

BBC R4 Now Show S34 Ep5: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b012942n

F'Day: Giant Choc Bar and card with Cruyff shirt...

... the boy done good... :-)

(I'll even let him off the YOUR/YOU'RE thing)

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="333" caption="Fathers Day"][/caption]

More cartoon based server naming hilarity... [xkcd]

Following on from yesterday's inspired Dilbert is today's XKCD strip.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="740" caption="XKCD on Server Naming"][/caption]

Wally on Unix server naming [Dilbert strip]

Wally - after all these years - still got it!

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="560" caption="Wally - after all these years - still got it!"][/caption]

Linus on "convenience computing"

Interesting comments on convenience vs complexity from (Linux creator) Linus Torvalds on emerging devices. For someone as key to the development and propagation of open and free software he is commendably relaxed about the philosophy/ideology - yet arguably has achieved more than anybody through the wide reach of his Linux kernel. Rest of the interview interesting too.

--Do you think about the notebook Chromebook Google? It is an irony of open source software have made an open system while leaving the user as "slave" of a single company?
--You really have a very negative world-view, don't you?
--No, I don't have a negative world view, I am just journalist! :-)
--Hey.. Much of my family are journalists (mom, dad, uncle, grandfather..)
--But it is not ironic?
--I don't think you need to be pessimistic even as a journalist. I'm not sure where chrome will go, but at the same time it's very clear (just look at all the cellphones and tablets), that most non-techies really don't want a general-purpose "computer" – there seems to be a fairly large base of people who really don't want to maintain their own computer setup, but want to get access to the most common things - web browsing, email, some text processing, photo management etc. And while tablets may be sexy right now, I think a lot of people do want the keyboard and mouse. Writing stuff on a tablet really isn't all that great. So I think a chromebook makes sense in that kind of area. Why would that make anybody a "slave"? It's about convenience. Are you a slave to the electricity company just because you depend on them (and have to pay them) making electricity available to you?

Source: marianoblejman.com

Rapture Day on 21st May!

I have to thank the Doonesbury cartoon strip for alerting me to this. If your non-sinning and righteous neighbours (think Ned Flanders) simply disappear on Saturday don't say you weren't warned!

The 2011 end times prediction is a prediction made by Christian radio host Harold Camping that the Rapture(in Christian belief, the taking up into heaven of God's elect people) will take place on May 21, 2011^[1][2] and that the end of the world as we know it will take place five months later on October 21, 2011.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_end_times_prediction

Lots of coverage of this in US media via Google News

UK Guardian touched on it yesterday

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Doonesbury"][/caption]

Refuse to be terrorised!

Interesting to see how news organisations report the arrest of 5 people near Sellafield and to watch it unfold via Google News (link).

The story seems to be: routine security procedure of well protected highly secure nuclear establishment routinely picks up people acting a bit suspiciously - as you would expect them to. Not many details have been released by the police - though it is mentioned in some reports that the 5 men are in their 20s and of Bangladeshi descent.

Some orgs though can't help but tell us we should feel terrorised!!!

e.g. "Nuclear terror alert as UK police arrest five men at Sellafield" and some love to make the link to OBL and AQ by stating things like "no link proven to AQ or OBL".

Of course it could prove to be a really huge threat to a nuclear plant by a well trained group of killers - maybe they were away on the day they did "don't wander into routine security patrols with cameras looking suspicious" training.

As others have said in recent years, and I'll repeat... If the objective of "terrorism" is to terrify the civilian population it seems you don't even need to have a credible plan or the means to execute it... rather you just need to feed a story to our media and we'll terrorise ourselves!

Looking forward to see if they are charged let alone convicted of anything serious.

interesting to see how news organisations report the arrest of 5 people near Sellafield (Nuke site).

The story seems to be - routine security procedure of well protected highly secure nuclear establishment routinely picks up people acting a bit suspiciously -as you would expect them to.

Some orgs though can't help but tell us we should feel terrorised!!!, e.g. "Nuclear terror alert as UK police arrest five men at Sellafield" and some make the link to OBL and AQ by stating things like (no link proven to AQ or OBL).

It could be a really huge threat to a nuclear plant.. yet if the objective of "terrorism" is to terrify civilian population... it seems you don't even need to have a credible plan or the means to execute it... rather you just need to feed a story to our media and we'll terrorise ourselves!

Looking forward to see if they are charged and convicted of anything serious.

Pam & Arthur Photos Spring 2011

Various Photos from Pam & Arthur's Camera in 2011

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Photo Set"][/caption]

Photos: Day Out in Cumbria - Easter 2011

Charlie, Grumps and Steve visit Wendy, Richard & girls in Kirkby Stephen.

Rode on a couple of old classic buses as part of the '13TH EASTER CLASSIC COMMERCIAL VEHICLE RALLY' (http://www.cumbriaclassiccoaches.co.uk/ecvg.asp)

Charlie, Grumps and Steve visit Wendy, Richard & girls in Kirkby Stephen.

Rode on a couple of old classic buses as part of the '13TH EASTER CLASSIC COMMERCIAL VEHICLE RALLY'

(http://www.cumbriaclassiccoaches.co.uk/ecvg.asp)

Photoset here

Photos: Charlie's Birthday Curry

Charlie, 5 friends and family enjoy a birthday curry at the Bengal Spice Restaurant in Catterick.

Charlie's 9th birthday - April 2011.

Charlie, 5 friends and family enjoy a birthday curry at the Bengal Spice Restaurant in Catterick.

Photo set here

Happy Birthday Charlie!

It's Charlie's 9th Birthday today (9 - really... 9!!!)

He has some friends coming round to watch a DVD this afternoon and then off for a curry at a local restaurant.

He's making great progress with his new Lego Star Wars Clone Turbo Tank (only 135 pages in the instruction manual!)

More photos later...

Farndale Daffodils

A trip to see the Farndale Daffodils 12/04/11.

Grandad Bill and Joan visiting for the week so a family trip out in the bus with Granny Pam & Grumps too.

Farndale Daffodils - North York Moors National Park

<a href="http://www.northyorkmoors.org.uk%2Ffarndale-daffodils%2F&h=fa327" rel="nofollow">www.northyorkmoors.org.uk%2Ffarndale-daffodils%2F&h=f...</a>

A trip to see the Farndale Daffodils 12/04/11.

Grandad Bill and Joan visiting for the week so a family trip out in the bus with Granny Pam & Grumps too.

Link to photo set here.

Farndale Daffodils - North York Moors National Park

http://www.northyorkmoors.org.uk/farndale-daffodils

Desert Island Discs: Martin Sheen

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="384" caption="Martin Sheen"][/caption]

Martin Sheen on DID this morning - what a guy!

BBC - Desert Island Discs - Castaway : Martin Sheen.

Also the BBC recently made the entire DID archive available (righteous!) as podcasts.

Find every castaway from 1942 to the present. Listen to more than 500 programmes

Explore the archive

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/desert-island-discs/find-a-castaway

Amazing "Hand and Body Art"

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="680" caption="ATT-Paraguay-Iguana"][/caption]

This artist has made some amazing art for an AT&T campaign.

Originals here.

Thanks Dave Anderson for the tip.

1976 Posters for The Man Who Fell To Earth Implausibly Glamorous!

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="336" caption="TMWFTE Poster"][/caption]

This poster from the 1976 Nic Roeg film The Man Who Fell To Earth - starring Bowie as an "extraterrestrial who crash lands on Earth seeking a way to ship water to his planet" - looks incredibly glamorous today .

What must it have been like back in mid 70s London?

Answer: Like an alien had arrived!

Click through to see more great images - BowieNet News

Lovely Spike Milligan anecdote.

✒More on Spike Milligan. Jim McLean emails: "I was in Spike's office in the mid- 60s with Dominic Behan. Someone in the office asked him what was the population of London. Spike opened the window, looked out and started counting, 'one, two, three …'"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian/2011/mar/19/simon-hoggarts-week-japan

World Book Day

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Quentin Blake illustration (you can buy a print - click through)"][/caption]

I'm going in to Charlie's school this afternoon to read a to some kids to help celebrate World Book Day.

I'm going to read from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - hopefully have time to get to the finding of the Golden Ticket.

Apparently the official name for this day is: "World Book and Copyright Day" - doesn't have quite the same cosy  feeling put like that, does it?

Lovely retro USB MIX TAPE

Nice idea... (via The Reg: Geeky gifts for Valentine's Day)



See: Suck UK

Charlie's Broken Arm...: New Pots for Old

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="160" caption="Charlie's new cast"][/caption]

Charlie had his “above the elbow” cast removed today - however the doctor says he must have a new one (below elbow) for two more weeks... (then no contact sports for 4 more weeks).

He chose a very nice blue colour this time and he's being very brave :-)

First fondleslab found in 1970s kids TV sci-fi gem • reghardware

"...it's turtles all the way down!"

Today's Dilbert referenced the quote: "it's turtles all the way down!" which I couldn't remember the origin of.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="560" caption="Dilbert Feb 7th 2011"][/caption]

Wikipedia says:

The most widely known version appears in Stephen Hawking's 1988 book A Brief History of Time, which starts:

A well-known scientist (some say it was Bertrand Russell) once gave a public lecture on astronomy. He described how the earth orbits around the sun and how the sun, in turn, orbits around the center of a vast collection of stars called our galaxy. At the end of the lecture, a little old lady at the back of the room got up and said: "What you have told us is rubbish. The world is really a flat plate supported on the back of a giant tortoise." The scientist gave a superior smile before replying, "What is the tortoise standing on?" "You're very clever, young man, very clever", said the old lady. "But it's turtles all the way down!"^[1]

The origins of the turtle story are uncertain.

The quote makes me smile, the story enhances it.

Police do normal police stuff... feel the need to call it "Operation Tornado"

Why is this considered a "special operation"?

BBC News - Known criminals targeted in Cleveland Police operation

Police on Teesside are planning to carry out more than 40 operations over the coming week as part of efforts to target known criminals.

Officers from Cleveland Police will focus on domestic violence, anti-social behaviour, drug dealing and shop crime during Operation Tornado.

via BBC News - Known criminals targeted in Cleveland Police operation.

I thought that was why we had police. What are they doing when not on a "special operation"?

Lovely nostalgic article on 70s sports games...

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="322" caption="Subbuteo"][/caption]

Really enjoyed this

The day video almost killed the Subbuteo star

The arrival of video games in the 1970s saw the slow demise of table football, cricket and rugby and with it the end of an era when sportsmen looked like your uncle Len

Brings back some memories of some fine Subbuteo matches.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Rinus Isreal"][/caption]

Also like the mention of Panini stickers... I found (here) this one that the article mentions - those new fangled Match Attax cards just can't compete.

Charlie's Broken Arm.

Charlie has broken his arm (Ulna) in an accident at a "soft play" centre (we know.. soft play... irony etc.) when one of his friends landed on him during another friend's birthday party.

He's been very brave.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="67" caption="Charlie's Green Cast"][/caption]

We spent a few hours on Thursday evening at A&E (Darlington Memorial Hospital) where they examined, X-ray'd and put a temporary cast on him. He has a "green stick fracture" of his forearm. This morning we went back to the hospital and Charlie now has an "above the elbow" cast in a fetching green colour which he'll wear it for 3 weeks.

All the staff at the hospital were friendly and efficient and we were well looked after.

Meanwhile... who's my goalkeeper for Sunday's match?!

Photo Set here