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“I don’t care what people say about me. I blame the schools – sex education for young girls should be better.” And not a word about parental responsibility?
On this day…
2003: End of The Week
Yearly Archives: 2005
links for 2005-05-06
Vote 2005
Well I’ve been to the polling booth and registered my vote in the general election and I suspect an interesting night ahead. Like all elections I will be glued to the television coverage and flick between channels but this year I have started on Sky News. The team at Sky have 16 mini-screens on the interactive service and one of them is a live shot of the Sky News production gallery. Already we have heard the director (or somebody) refer to one of the senior sky journalists who was calling on a mobile ‘phone as ‘that f***ing *** ******’ – or something almost that. I think I might watch this for most of the night. I think it is quite brave of them.
On this day…
2004: It’s May
With No Access
Now this should turn into a rant about British Telecom as we have been without internet access at work all day. Given most of what I do is done by email this has been a most frustrating day. In the meantime, if you know any cool tools that manipulate tasks inside of Microsoft’s Outlook 2000 then I would love to hear from you.
On this day…
2004: Same-Sex Couples Aren’t So Lucky
2004: Mirror Mirror in Florida
links for 2005-04-23
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St Georges Day in England. I can never remember what he’s all about so I’m bookmarking this. (tags: england patronsaint stgeorge)
On this day…
2004: Join Me In The Bath?
2003: Oslo, Norway
Deception Point
Like many readers I came to Dan Brown’s Deception Point via ‘The Da Vinci Code’ and ‘Angels and Demons’. Sadly, it doesn’t carry the same intrigue as those books yet that shouldn’t put a reader off. Perhaps it’s the mysteries of religious orders – or Dan Brown’s fascinating details – that made his other novels so intriguing whereas such intricate detail is lacking in this novel. Instead, Deception Point tackles the science of alien fossils in the Arctic and the search for the truth about life in outer space. When such adventures are mixed with the skulduggery of an American election campaign, American intelligence services and a twist towards the end, Dan Brown has weaved a thriller full of interest, suspense and a little bit of humour. It’s not as great as the aforementioned books but it is an easy-read enjoyable thriller. If that’s what you’re looking for on a long flight this book will keep you reading all night and they’ll be carrying you off as it’s got that obvious, yet gripping, plot line of a captivating thriller. In the end, I couldn’t put it down.
On this day…
2005: Same Again?
2003: Airport Cafe
2003: Cough Cough
Same Again?
Strangely I always seem to be travelling to similar places at the same time of year. This time two years ago I was sat in an airport heading to Oslo, tonight I am heading home from Helsinki. I never get fed up of airports.
On this day…
2005: Deception Point
2003: Airport Cafe
2003: Cough Cough
Somewhere, Someday, Somebody, Somehow
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By the wonders of modern man I am writing these words on board a plane – BA794 to Helsinki for all you plane spotters – using a pen and a page in my work diary (the pen is PaperMate and the page is for the 4th April and, yes, I know it’s not 4th). I will, I imagine, be transcribing it later this evening in a hotel in Helsinki.
Amusingly, here at 37,00 feet on an Airbus A320, I have an array of digital equipment sat under the seat in front of me. A laptop: too big to open and anyway the battery is nearly dead as I used it with a wifi hotspot in the terminal. My ‘phone/PDA: it really doesn’t look good opening a ‘phone on a plane as there’s a tendency for other passengers to think you’re switching it on. Besides, the built-in keyboard is useless for this kind of lengthy writing. I also have my MP3 player and a camera but neither of them are much use for writing on. So I sit, with a trusty old pen, scribbling something I will later type. I assume, if you’re reading this, that I have actually typed it up.
I also have a small jungle of cables with me. Chargers and connectors to allow all the various devices to communicate. In fact, I think they are taking a disproportionate amount of luggage space. Everything has to be charged: the ‘phone, the mp3 and the camera. Nothing seems to work on a trusty pair of AAs anymore. I am not sure why this is but it’s as frustrating as hell.
So, I have to ask myself why I bother with all this gadgetry? Is any of it going to make my life any easier? Sadly, I don’t think it will and – to be honest – it’s not much fun anymore. I just want items that make travelling easier and I don’t have the money for a private jet. Has anybody solved this conundrum?
I do have a love of this kind of technology: I know that I am one of the people who believe it has the power to liberate but, frankly, right now all the competing vendors are not getting it correct and I am not sure why. Somewhere, someday, somebody will get it right. I only hope that I have a hand in it – somehow.
On this day…
2006: Spy Versus Spy
2003: The Boys of Summer
2003: Good Friday
Podcasting For Things I Want To Listen To
Fantastic news at last. The BBC is giving podcasts a wider trial. This could be cool – although I am sad that they’re not doing The Archers. At last, I will be able to listen to some decent radio in the gym. Oh, and if you have the mp3 of the first of this year’s Reith Lectures, I would be very grateful.
On this day…
2006: Congestion
Where Was I?
I’ve just come back from a couple of days in Oslo. The meeting was good and I spent the afternoon on the waterfront, drinking beer, and proofing some new documentation. Good way to spend a Friday!
On this day…
2004: I Had Visions Of A Robotic Dog
2004: Bloglines Top Links