eddie-brown.net blog

my place on the web

August 31st, 2004

Disconectivity Wizards

I should have learnt…

Rant mode is deffinitly on. Darn Mandrake and networking….. I quite like my system once the networking is working, but in the meantime it has been a pain to get it there. Truth be told I dont even know for sure how I achieved it. And I dont think I used to need to give the client PC’s DNS server information, but i Have my PC workign now… Just needto get Ants working, and then get my Linux Box back the way I want it.

At least RPMs make the instalation easy.

Popularity: 1% [?]

August 25th, 2004

Here You Go

Gmail Invites are not special

If you want one, then send me an email… I have a few of them at the moment, and when i used one I got two more!

I suppose everyone will have one soon….

Popularity: 1% [?]

August 20th, 2004

Not a Patch On

Try again Chaps

Opps. Microsofts much vaunted XP SP2 has a problem already. You just cannot win can you.

Popularity: 1% [?]

August 19th, 2004

Mission Shopper

Long and Winding Road

Mission Shopping (as I was taught during Geography lessons, many years ago) is the modern way of shopping, i.e. drive to supermarket, and buy the entire store, so it lasts you a few weeks… Now, I do kind of do this, but I spend ?80 say every few weeks, and then just need bread and milk every few days. My freezer isnt big enough to freeze a months worth… Thus my mission shopping is the gettign to supermarket to pick up these frequent little things.

Obviously this is easy by car. But currently I dont have this available (due to little bro using it to and from work). Now, its no problem to walk to The Store Formerly Known as Safeways as that takes an hour for a round trip. But the store in question is now turning into a Morrisons, and has been closed for much of this week.

This left me with Sainsbury being my nearest supermarket. So Off I went, over an hour on the way there, and just under on the way back. Not that I was 100% sure of the route I was taking….

But why? and why didnt I go to the newsagent, who would probably have had some bread and milk, or other? Well, A walk does me good, the whole keep fit thing. And a walk does me good, as I can listen to the radio (via my phone) and put my brain in neutral. And the latter is especially nice for a couple of hours peace.

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August 13th, 2004

Bandwaggon Lottery

Bandwagon Lottery

The stragne case of British Politics. And, IMHO, a party that is loosing its grip on reality. Its strnage when Radio 4’s Thought For The Day sums up one of the major current news stories by simply poinitng out that a lottery is, well, a lottery. This after listening to interviewees say how bad it is that a convicted rapist can win the lottery with a ticket bought on day release.

Other memebers of the government have said that they cannot stop criminals buying lottery tickets, and yet they seem to think that criminals should not be allowed to win. How mad are they?

Once they start tracking out entire lives, I guess they could then start weighting the lottery according to how wonderful a person you were.

Popularity: 1% [?]

August 8th, 2004

NIght Rider

2 wheels are better than…

I have been thinking for well over a year now, that I could really do with a new bike. My problem has been that my needs are quite simple, and quite simply difficult to fulfill. All I want is a touring bike, whihc is the sort I currently use. In a nutshell, its a racing bike handlebars, on a road bike body.

Mountain bikes are 2 a penny really. Racing bikes are really specialised. What I am looking for is something somewhere in between. A Raleigh caught my eye a while ago. And it should now be available in the shops. Unfortunatly my nearest cycle shops do not seem to stock them….

I guess I will have to go somewhere with a reputation for lots of bikes looking on the Raleigh website does indicate there are quite a few shops….

Planning ahead, I guess I may as well phone ahead just to be sure that I will be able to find one. Oh, and I suppose it will be best to take a train to Cambridge. Partly cos parking (unless I have some friendly help…) is horrendous… and partly cos the boot on my little VW Polo is not that big - even with the seats down. It would be a shame to be stuck mile away with a bike I couldn not get home.

Of course I will still have to try and keep my current wheels on the road… for those occasions I dont want to leave my nice new bike somewhere.

Summer is a time for cycling. Well, kind of. The problem really is summer is too hot. So I end up waiting till evening before going out on the road. I dont really like hot weather, it doesnt agree with me. Salads, like fry ups, are the sort of thing that I am not usually inclined to sort for myself. If i was going to do them, I much rather do it for 10 people than one. I guess I am a caterer, not a cook!

Siestas suddenly become a good idea….

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August 4th, 2004

Spamming Gits.

It Wasn’t Me

Some pondlife is using my email domain to send spam. I know this as I am getting the bounce messges in my catchall account. This is somewhat annoying, as I dont really want my email address to be black listed….

If you get an email from this domain, then take it from me, it wasnt me that sent it to you…. Think about it. If i did want to send spam, I would use someoen else’s email domain…..

Popularity: 1% [?]

August 2nd, 2004

Brief Theory of Time

Projects

I am about half way through my project. Time wise atleast. And seeing as the deliverable is a report, I can just start writing that a few days prior to the end, right?

This project is now showing some alarming similarities to a project I did in the summer of 2000. This is actually more amusing as I am working for the same person….

The first few weeks are just fact finding. (i.e. Google) and a lot of reading. Then i had a week of reps visiting, and then the waiting phase. This phase is mainly a matter of needing information, or waiting for something to be delivered.

Now I enter the critical phase. Lets call this the &SUnday is a good day to do a few hours work& phase. Excellent. I have hopefully got a custoemr to work with, whihc is useful when i need to do customer trials… BUt my hardware is a little flakey. So its back to a waiting phase I fear, there is however a &Plan B& so it should be all right….

I can always start writing that report….

In more amusing news, I found myself in Swansea last week. The person I was meant to see was not there. However, it was still a useful experience. I actually managed to go to a non bakery customer!

Oh, and I have some samples on my desk. Not in the shops for a few weeks, nothing amazing… but…. But hey, I have them… :-)

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