AktoMan

Muppets Studio on YouTube

2011-01-11T23:26:00.001Z

Happy New Year folks. An old friend sent me this through:

And then I noticed that the Muppets have a whole channel on YouTube for me to investigate. Yayyyy.

Early snow and a song

2010-11-25T19:31:00.001Z

A bit brisk today. Out with the TNF Hedgehogs, overtrousers and fleece-lined jacket… and off to work.

Sadly the first snows have left one local fatality and a spate of accidents… so here’s a ‘transportation song’.

Seasons Greetings

2010-10-13T11:37:00.002+01:00

Just back from holiday shopping and felt like posting something festive.

Solomon Burke RIP

2010-10-10T12:40:00.001+01:00

After hearing the news today, I went looking on YouTube and found this clip:

After enjoying “The Blues Brothers” when it was re-released in the late 80’s, I tracked down as much of the music from it as I could. Sadly, I missed Solomon Burke until a few years ago.

So, when I’m marking this afternoon, I’ll dig out a couple of Solomon Burke CDs, and if I haven’t finished, it’ll be John Lee Hooker, Sam & Dave and some Elmore James, Aretha Franklin, Charlie Parker , The Band, Booker T, and some Motown and R&B classics (not the modern twaddle that calls itself R&B, but real Rhythm and Blues).

End of Summer

2010-08-15T22:27:00.001+01:00

Well, that’s my Summer holidays over. Weighing myself this morning, I find that I’m now 6 kg lighter, which is 13 pounds in old money. I still need to lose it around the waist, but my belt has gone in 4 notches. And I feel better for it. A trip to Monymusk – which was always a strange name, and I had realised I had never gone there – found me in the ‘walled garden’ yesterday. I took some snaps to send to my parents, as I think they’d enjoy the place.

A trip down the road brought me to Pitfichie Forest and a short walk uphill to put things in perspective. Aberdeen became hidden and its location visible only by following the flightpath to Dyce. Two buzzards overhead were much more interesting than the mechanical sounds coming up from the road below the trees. It is nice to get some use from the suntan lotion, and to sit on a stone, snacking, watching the world go by.

A drive through Stornoway

2010-07-22T17:15:00.001+01:00

A drive from Goat Island to the Tong Road end. Through Stornoway, Laxdale and part of Newmarket.

Filmed on HTC Desire.

Cloudy With a Chance of Stew

2010-07-19T22:00:00.001+01:00

Cloudy with a chance of soya stew. Using sunglass lens as a filter over the HTC Desire’s lens. And the FxCamera application.

Passing Place

2010-07-19T21:57:00.001+01:00

Sometimes we just need to pull over.

TiltShiftMaker

2010-07-18T12:46:00.001+01:00

I got distracted by some of the cracking images at "Examples Of Tilt-Shift Photography", and re-discovered tiltshiftmaker.com

I uploaded a photo from earlier in the week and started to modify the distortions. I’ll need to get some shots to specifically modify them for Tilt-Shift.

Brought to you by Wildroot Cream-Oil

2010-07-17T18:31:00.001+01:00

Rooting around in the old garage (technically it’s the newer garage, but it’s quite old now), I found a dvd boxed set of Richard Greene’s “The adventures of Robin Hood” from 1955. Huzzah and a round of the closing theme to chase away the bad weather …

It’s good for the garden

2010-07-17T14:23:00.001+01:00

Another FxCamera snap from "ymst"'s Android app and my HTC Desire. Text added in post'.

Sun Rise

2010-07-16T08:30:00.001+01:00

Being able to sleep with the skylight open meant that I was awoken by the glowing yellow ball of fire in the sky this morning. A quick check on Google Sky Map identified it as "The Sun". I dusted off dSLR and clattered out of the house, negotiating doorways while tripod bag was working loose from my shoulder.

Multi-Tasking

2010-07-13T22:51:00.001+01:00

Well, the PC is downloading various updates and running a full AV sweep. The latest TWiT podcast is playing through the netbook and Linx B-tube. The HTC Desire is being recharged, and holding text chats. Between that and emailing, I'm at a loose end, so I get the shemagh out from my bag and refresh my memory on how to tie it. Badly, I think.

Beach ‘Droid

2010-07-11T16:52:00.001+01:00

Yesterday evening found me down at the beach with some time to kill, so I decided to compare the Polaroid-effect cameras that I have on my HTC Desire (running Android 2.1). I left the settings at Automatic White Balance, and clicked away.

RetroCamera: I like the interface, but there’s too much vignetting, and the AWB gave a blue tint in the evening’s light.

CameraZoom: takes a while to get to the ‘frameFX: (dated) Polaroid”, but there are good options there. Again, the AWB gave a blue tint in the evening’s light.

FxCamera: one click and the camera is ready to take pictures. I preferred the “aged” setting, and the frame set for “square”. The AWB setting gave a true interpretation of the colours that my eye saw.

I used the FxCamera (link) for a couple of snaps the next day. Here is one. I had to wait for the empty shot, as I really can’t be bothered with arguments over snapping the public. I wish that the resolution was higher as this is 480 x 566 pixels.

Out in the Sun

2010-07-07T20:19:00.001+01:00

Back from spending a day out in the sun at Balmedie and then the Sands of Forvie Nature Reserve, just up the coast from Aberdeen. Multiple coatings of sun lotion, especially as it was a windy day and very deceptive.

Camera: Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX150, processed in Adobe Lightroom 3.

Bennachie 030710

2010-07-03T19:52:00.001+01:00

Like a lot of people today, I went up Bennachie (Mither Tap). I promised myself (and a couple of people), that I’d do it over the weekend. I got to the peak in just under the hour, and found myself running along some of the downhill stretches. And to think that some people mocked me when I got factor 30 sunblock. A fun morning out.

Most photos taken with Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX150. Some with HTC Desire and Camera Pro app. Adobe Lightroom 3 arrived yesterday, so I’ve used that for the first time today. Shiney.

Evening at the beach

2010-06-27T23:12:00.001+01:00

Down at the beach last night as the sun disappeared into the heavy clouds.

Photo taken with HTC Desire.

British Armed Forces and Veterans Day Parade

2010-06-27T23:04:00.001+01:00

Yesterday’s parade in some more detail. Faces, caps, badges and medals.

Some more photographs are across at Flickr.

British Armed Forces and Veterans Day Parade

2010-06-26T13:59:00.001+01:00

Just a taster of some photos from the British Armed Forces and Veterans Day parade along Union Street in Aberdeen.

Canon 40d with Canon EF 50 mm f/1.8 II Lens. JPGs resized via Windows.

Cricket on the Links

2010-06-05T23:54:00.001+01:00

On the way back from the beach, I stopped to watch the cricket. I just couldn’t find a combination that worked for me, and not being able to see the results of the shots on the lcd plate was a problem. Something to sort out for next time.

Aberdeen Beach

2010-06-05T22:31:00.001+01:00

After a trip up town (unsuccessfully trying to get a couple of padded lens cases), I dined and then went down to the beach. I was on the prowl for surfers, taking my 55-200mm Tamron lens, but only saw some fast-moving jet ski-ers. Too fast for my limited skills. I took a few shots, including the one of pebbles – which seems to hang on some people’s walls. Peculiar. I must get round to replacing some of my faded prints with some of my own photos.

Music to edit by

2010-06-05T21:46:00.001+01:00

Editing some of today’s photos and just had to dig out this:

Carnie Wood, near Elrick

2010-06-05T20:45:00.000+01:00

An evening with the midges in Carnie Wood, getting to grips with my newly arrived Canon EF 50 mm f/1.8 II Lens. I didn’t spot any squirrels, but plenty of flying things, big and small. A very well looked after piece of woodland. [maplink]

Next time, I make sure there’s midge-repellent in the car.

Fleeting sadness

2010-06-02T08:11:00.003+01:00

The fleeting height of being a sad git. Becoming Mayor of my work through foursquare. Oooh yah.

The phone is my HTC Desire in a skin.

Auld Reekie

2010-05-29T23:35:00.001+01:00

The alarm goes off early. I hit snooze. I then thing “did I hit snooze, or did I just switch the alarm off?” So I get out of bed, so I don’t fall asleep and miss my train. The alarm goes off when I’m shaving.

The trip down is good, and I listen to 2 1/2 albums on my HTC Desire, and the battery only goes down a wee notch.

As the train nears Montrose, I recall that it was the TGO Challenge dinner last night, and text Darren (he’d have been awake anyway), and say I’ll keep an eye out. I see one chap with rucksack on the platform, as he moves, there’s a flash of a t-shirt. He gets into the same carriage, and sits near me. I don’t recognise him, and leave him to stare at the beautiful Scottish scenery. Thinking that he’s thinking “I walked across that”, resolves me to my Summer plans of getting out to the ‘Gorms. But I’ve been there before. As the train nears the end of the line at Edinburgh, I say a few words to him. It’s JH on his way back to Taunton. We’d had chats on forums in times past. Hand shakes hand, and he’s off to wait for his train, while I wait for an old University pal.

The rest of the morning/afternoon is spent chewing the fat and buying books. I’ve a cold and he’s got things on his mind, but it’s fun to catch up again. Waterstones is raided, and I apologise to the lass at the till for leaving big gaps in their Scots poetry section:

“Gair nan Clarsach/The Harps’ Cry”, ed by Colm O Baoill, translated by Meg Bateman [Birlinn]
“Duanaire na Sracaire/Songbook of the Pillagers”, ed Wilson McLeod and Meg Bateman [Birlinn]
“Chuckies fir the Cairn”, ed Rab Wilson [Luath] – purely for the title

At the nearby gallery I get Walter Benjamin’s “The work of art in the age of mechanical reproduction”, and Elisabeth Couturier’s “Talk about design”. I have a hankering for something new to get me motivated.

On the way back, I switch on GPS (for 5-10 minutes) and wifi and download app updates on 3g and reply to emails … and watch the battery life drain down to the orange warning. Switching off the power-hungry apps, I settle into 30 minutes of an audiobook on MortPlayer, and reading a PDF book. The battery life remains steady.

I do notice that the image above appears much sharper on the HTC Desire’s AMOLED screen than it does on the LG LCD monitor at home. I looked at file sizes and ruled out a quality difference, as the file on the phone and the file on the pc were identical copies. All I can think of is the difference in screen quality. Or maybe it is something else.

Resupply Drop

2010-05-22T23:59:00.001+01:00

I went through to Braemar to deliver a resupply pack for George.

With all the weather, I made sure that George had some sun-lotion as it was a blistering 23’c, but I needn’t have worried as he was ready of our mixed weather.

Soon after reaching the quiet lounge of the “Fife Arms”, Andy Howell and Humphrey arrived. Shirley soon joined us and toys were brought out. Walking 2/3rd across Scotland and people are just having fun, enjoying themselves.

Err, it wisnae me, Shirl.

‘king Summer

2010-05-17T20:15:00.001+01:00

As the clouds opened and the rain came straight down, the day was brightened by a double rainbow (leprechaun-nav?) lighting the way home from work. As I rounded the corner, I quickly moved out of the way of Mr & Mrs Drunken Chav, as he screamed at her “It’s supposed to be ‘king Summer!”. My guffaw was stifled in case I got beaten up.

Shot through built-in app on HTC Desire (Android).

Earworm: Fruity Oaty Bar

2010-05-13T23:32:00.001+01:00

I managed to get a passable “Jayne” hat last week, and have been humming the Fruity Oaty Bar jingle from Whedon’s excellent work: Firefly/Serenity. Having the “Firefly/Serenity” soundboard on my phone is probably to blame too.

If you’ve ever played “Traveller”, and not seen “Firefly”, then shame on you.

Blue-on-blue contacts needed

2010-05-13T23:08:00.001+01:00

Went for a potter around the dunes at Balmedie (maplink) last Friday. It was a lovely evening and gave me an opportunity to try the circular filter with the Canon 40d. And my new HTC Desire smartphone. And give the sofa a chance to regain its shape.

Looking southeastish towards Aberdeen (above), and east to the sea (below).

Below: just playing with the new filter and trying not to burn out the camera’s sensor.

Mike had been describing the differences in the dune shapes since “The Planet” was filmed.

Close-up above taken with the Camera Zoom Fx app on the HTC Desire.

Callanish (batch 2)

2010-01-31T23:18:00.001Z

Following on from earlier, here are some more photos from my visit to the Callanish Standing Stones on New Year’s Eve 2009. The weather lightened up and so I decided to risk the roads. My parents had a HOST guest staying, Zhe, from China, so we did the ‘circular’.

Yup, the 4,000 year old stones are still a useful shelter.

More to follow when I next get some time to myself.

Performance –> Feedback -> Revision

2010-01-30T11:46:00.001Z

I work in education. It is nice to get see a performance that really just sums up my job in a few words.

Oh, and I’ll post my feedback now, to save me time later when I hit the delete-comment button to revise the dissenters into oblivion: “yawn”

Softly, softly

2010-01-24T22:24:00.001Z

I’m still around, just up to my eyes with other things – work, wargames, and women. Okay, so two out of three ain’t bad.

Here’s a dodgy photo from my Christmas break at my parents. The Callanish standing stones in the snow on the Isle of Lewis. When I get some time, I’ll do a catch-up post of my un-exciting life.

And next: Stornoway

2009-11-03T22:21:00.001Z

I snapped my neck round as I heard Jools Holland mention my home (sort of) town of Stornoway. It turns out that they are a young band from Oxford.

Good luck to them.

BBC band page

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX150

2009-10-18T21:21:00.001+01:00

Some photographs taken with my new Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX150 down at Aberdeen Beach today. I haven’t tweaked these beyond horizon straightening, selective crops and resizing.

Did you spot the photo taken in pinhole camera mode? I can’t see myself using it too often.

FMA Aberdeen Beach

2009-10-18T13:37:00.001+01:00

I’ll blame some of my students for this morning’s trip down to the beach at 0630am. In the cold and dark, I stood taking some snaps to compare my new Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX150 with last year’s Canon Ixus 950 IS

I had read the reviews on DP Review, and so was a bit concerned about the noise, but Play.com had knocked a lot of money off the price, taking it down to the price that I was looking for. It was too good to miss. I wasn’t bothered about the 14.7mp (just under twice that of the Ixus), as quality is measured in more than mega-pixels. I was finding the Canon Ixus a bit ‘flat’. I know that I won’t get a decent depth of field with a point-and-click, but speaking to some students and talking about our cameras had given me the impetus to go looking. The camera arrived yesterday, and had a fun time in the cold, wearing my Alpkit down jacket and liner gloves.

Things I noticed: in fully-auto mode the Lumix remembers flash settings (unlike the Ixus, which will switch the flash on even in ‘night snapshot’ mode). The ‘rule of thirds’ gridlines are thicker on the Lumix than on the Ixus (meaning some details disappear from the screen when composing a shot). I like the separate review setting on the Lumix, meaning that the mode dial is just for taking pictures. The ability to shoot in 16:9 widescreen is a boon on the Lumix, unavailable on the Ixus. The Lumix’s intelligent focus is better than the Ixus, and has more choice in the settings.

So, without further ado …

Beach Boulevard.

Focusing in on illuminated sign.

Wide-angle 16:9 shot for the Lumix, and comparative 4:3 for the Ixus.

Text quality. Legible on both, but neither camera has a built-in grammar checker. Shouldn’t that be “it’s” rather than “its”? The funniest I saw was just along from here where the council note “Do not surf” in this area, but designate it as a “surf board and water craft zone”.

The larger number of mega-pixels shows through in the Lumix, as I selected the car our before resizing both images down to the same size.

The warmth of the final Lumix shot sells the deal for me.

Conclusion: as the pro-reviews stated, noise can be problematic. I was pointed to Steves-Digicams by a workmate after I had ordered the camera, and I agree with his conclusion. It was a blast to use, and I’ll be locking out the ISO to reduce the noise. Not sure to what setting yet, possibly 400. I’ve some other photos to post, where I had been shooting in RAW and trying the dynamic tracking - features unavailable on the Ixus 950 IS. Shiny.

Online Shopping Woes

2009-10-16T17:53:00.001+01:00

I ordered a new petrol tank from http://www.everycarpart.co.uk on Monday. The money was withdrawn from my account. There has been no response to emails asking where the part is or when it will arrive (Wednesday noon; Wednesday evening), or to my cancellation of the order (Thursday evening). My car still has no petrol tank, and I have lost 4 1/2 days because of promises made on their website (next day delivery; responding to emails within 2 hours).

Nochexs is investigating, but my credit card company say that without a stated delivery date (as opposed to ‘general’ promises made on the company’s website), they have to default to 30 days for delivery, so can’t chase them up until November.

With help, I have got another tank coming from a company that emailed me 2 hours after placing the order last night, and again at 7am this morning to confirm delivery to the garage (http://www.bradgatemotors.co.uk). What a difference! I also had 2 responses from another website to my enquiry (http://www.partsgateway.co.uk/) – excellent, but I had to tell them that I had a brand new tank now ordered.

Life is too short to get worked up over poor customer service, but it looks like the law has not caught up with the 21st century. So, be careful of dealing with companies who fail to live up to their ‘general’ promises. They are difficult to spot – especially if in a rush and a panic to get a replacement.

I’ll be building this up – showing promises on their website, and broken promises at that. As I start my October break with no transport, thanks to the time lost dealing with this company, I have plenty of evening class work, and chores, and painting to get done. All within easy reach of the fridge.

In the meantime, it is great to be able to applaud good customer care. Well done, folks.

Gang aft agley

2009-09-27T22:00:00.001+01:00

It was the start of a long weekend break. It was maybe my third trip out this year. I was planning on heading up to Loch nan Cnapan as I hadn’t got there last year due to the bout of cellulitis in my leg. So I had packed for 3 days – which is pretty much my overnight kit, but with extra food and fuel.

I took my first break after crossing the Luibeg Burn at the ford that the NTS has been working on. They’ve done an amazing job. I didn’t, and misjudged the water depth. Time for a snack. I had been out of the buffeting wind along the valley, but moving back out on to the hill’s shoulder got the skloogs running back up my nose.

I had my camera out ready to take a photo of the jet fighter, who’s engine I could hear, only to realise that it was the wind in the glen beside the Bod. Whichever way I turned, the wind seemed to be in my face. If this was at ground level, I was already ruling out getting up to the open plateau – especially as the wind caught me unprepared twice and almost bowled me over.

I thought about heading south down Glen Dee, a route I’d taken last year with Dawn, but the wind would be in my face for a couple of hours. If I tabbed it back towards the shelter of Derry Lodge, I would probably keep going back to the car.

Arriving at Corrour Bothy, I had already decided to head back to Aberdeen. Knowing I had to cross the burn again, I dug out my oversocks and stored them in the backpack's belt pouch.

Crossing the Luibeg Burn again, I dug out the TrekMates Gore-Tex "Amphibian" waterproof over-socks and crossed holding my trail-shoes in the cord of my poles. I was surprised by the grip offered. Job done. Thanks for the suggestion, Dawn.

My goal had now become to get back to the car before 6.30, when the new series of “The News Quiz” would start. I made it with 5 minutes to spare. Sadly, turning on the car radio, I forgot that there was no Radio 4 reception until outside Braemar. Jings, it was the drone o’ the pipes on NECR as I got changed and then dove (almost uneventfully) back to Aberdeen. 15 1/2 miles. 0930-1825. 3 blisters. I'll do better next time.

ChuckleVision Howeller

2009-08-12T09:33:00.001+01:00

Having cleaned the windows and re-organised my book piles, I caught the end of the Chuckle Brother’s zany antics on BBC2 this morning. During the blooper reel at the end, the name of Colin Ibbotson was mentioned, as one Chuckle got it mixed with the name of a character. The other responded with “you went to school with Colin Ibbotson” (or words to that effect).

Is this another claim to fame of the “UK Super Lightweight Hiker”, Colin Ibbotson? If so, the episode is “Jumping Jackpot” and the Elliott brothers hail from Rotherham in Yorkshire. But it is probably just coincidence.

Blockade Runner Outlook

2009-08-12T07:55:00.001+01:00

Getting back to Aberdeen, I find that Yahoo’s blockade of my email address only applies to emails sent from Pipex’s online “Netmail” service. Emails sent from my desktop to Yahoo addresses are fine. Huzzah for the ineptitude of Yahoo. As I rarely use Pipex’s “Netmail” service, I am now not sure how long yahoo have had their blockade active, since they have never told me about it, and – when they did bother to reply to my enquiries – said that it was nothing to do with them. In other words, Yahoo lied. They are not lying now, as they did not reply to my last email. Maybe that’s where the name comes from? Stick a finger in each ear and make the noise “Yahoo” continually until the complaints go away.

Life’s too short to bother with these bozos. Transmission ends.

Stornoway Homecoming 2009

2009-08-08T19:13:00.001+01:00

Massed pipe bands in Stornoway today. They were really good, and were having fun.

There was a parade and stalls and the rescue helicopter did amazing feats of control and slides and a fair and dancing and a craft fair and the international market and there was lots and lots and lots of people at it and even the police car had streamers on it.

Yahoo’s Blockade Continues

2009-08-07T16:50:00.001+01:00

With more important things happening than dealing with some crap from a company that refuses to do anything about stopping me from emailing friends and family who are with them, I forgot to say that a technician from Pipex called me on Wednesday afternoon. He said that Yahoo had installed a new updated spam filter, and it had blocked lots of accounts (including his). Pipex had tried getting through to Yahoo, but there was no response. He suggested that I kept on trying.

I did point out that I was merely a single individual, that Pipex was in a better position to tell Yahoo that they were blockading innocent customers. We laughed then at Yahoo’s deal with Microsoft, where Yahoo were relying on making money from their existing customers – something that would be curtailed by Yahoo’s accountholders not getting mail from their friends and family who are being blockaded.

Today, I laughed when I saw the report on the BBC entitled “The internet's conscientious objectors” and the high-minded words of Martha Lane Fox (unelected, appointed as Digital Champion) “I don't think you can be a proper citizen of our society in the future if you are not engaged online” she said. We are not online citizens, we are users of systems. We have no rights, but merely accept their terms and conditions. How then can we be proper citizens, when the best we can hope for is to be part of a community.

Time I dusted off Hobbe’s “Leviathan”, as we humans have not changed much in over 300 years.

by Art is created that great LEVIATHAN called a COMMON-WEALTH, or STATE, (in latine CIVITAS) which is but an Artificiall Man; though of greater stature and strength than the Naturall, for whose protection and defence it was intended; and in which, the Soveraignty is an Artificiall Soul, as giving life and motion to the whole body; The Magistrates, and other Officers of Judicature and Execution, artificiall Joynts; Reward and Punishment (by which fastned to the seat of the Soveraignty, every joynt and member is moved to performe his duty) are the Nerves, that do the same in the Body Naturall; The Wealth and Riches of all the particular members, are the Strength; Salus Populi (the Peoples Safety) its Businesse; Counsellors, by whom all things needfull for it to know, are suggested unto it, are the Memory; Equity and Lawes, an artificiall Reason and Will; Concord, Health; Sedition, Sicknesse; and Civill War, Death. Lastly, the Pacts and Covenants, by which the parts of this Body Politique were at first made, set together, and united, resemble that Fiat, or the Let Us Make Man, pronounced by God in the Creation.

We are a species that uses communications and tools for advancement. The Internet is merely one of these tools. Online or off-line, we are all part of the leviathan.

Yahoo! Customer Care Team - missive 6

2009-08-03T17:19:00.001+01:00

Your still blockading my Pipex account. It has been going on since Friday the 24th July, and all I get is the "it isn't anything to do with Yahoo" messages. Strange, I get the same from Pipex. In the meantime, I cannot email friends and family on their Yahoo or BTopenworld accounts.

Thank you for not caring. It just gives Yahoo a bad reputation, and we work round it by me email them on their other accounts, eg Freeserve or Google. And life goes on.

Sunshine over Broad Bay

2009-08-03T08:55:00.001+01:00

Sunshine over Broad Bay, originally uploaded by dimacleod.

Low pressure no longer sitting directly over crofthouse and the first sign of sunshine in a week.

Yahoo! Postmaster Customer Care Satisfaction Survey

2009-07-31T19:32:00.001+01:00

Dear Yahoo! User,

Please tell us about your recent experience with Yahoo! Postmaster Customer Care in a brief online survey.

…

Thanks so much for taking the time to give us your feedback.

Have a great day,
Yahoo! Postmaster Customer Care

=================

Well, a week later, and I am still blocked from sending to Yahoo.com, Yahoo.co.uk and now BTopenworld.com – I only get automated responses from Yahoo. Pipex are replying and say that their engineers are following it up. In the meantime, I’m copy/pasting emails from my secondary account. So I was delighted to see this appear in the in-tray. Sadly it is filed under their “mail abuse” category. They block me, they don’t do anything about it, and now I’m filed under “mail abuse”. Anyway, I think it has stopped raining, so I’d better nip out and tidy up the croft of toys left after the last downpour.

==================

Overall, how satisfied were you with your most recent email interaction with Yahoo! Postmaster Customer Care?

1-Very Dissatisfied

Was your issue resolved?

We're sorry your issue was not resolved. To help us do a better job next time, please select the reason below that best describes why your issue was not resolved.

none of the answers said that yahoo did not care enough to bother

My problem is a known issue to Yahoo! Postmaster that hasn't been fixed yet.

What did you like MOST about your Yahoo! Postmaster Customer Care experience?

Nothing. You failed completely, and I still cannot send emails to people at Yahoo or BTopenworld. Your responses were merely copy/pasted from the Yahoo response book.

What did you like LEAST about your Yahoo! Postmaster Customer Care experience?

The automatic way that you passed the buck onto my ISP with no interest in me as a customer. We've been chatting about it on http://aktoman.blogspot.com

What improvements, if any, would you like Yahoo! Postmaster Customer Care to make?

Treat people like people. You care not a jot about this customer, so I laugh at you calling yourself "Customer Care". Ha ha.

Occasionally, we contact a few customers for additional info about their feedback. If needed, may we get in touch with you?

Yes

Yahoo! Customer Care Team - missive 5

2009-07-29T17:55:00.001+01:00

Hello Duncan,

Thank you for writing to Yahoo! Mail.

I am sorry to hear about the issue you have experienced. We have checked our servers and our mail systems appear to be working at the moment. The issue may have been transient or network-related.

Please have the mail system administrator or postmaster of pipex.com contact us directly via the Yahoo! Mail Help page below in order to investigate the issue in further details.

http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/mail/defer/defer-03.html

We apologize for the inconvenience.

You may contact the Postmaster of the domain related to the issue at the email address below:

postmaster@domain.com

You may replace "domain.com" with the extension of the domain in question.

Your patience during this process is greatly appreciated.

Thank you again for contacting Yahoo! Mail. Your case number for this issue is xxxxx. Please reference it in all future communication about this particular issue.

Regards,

Hank
Yahoo! Customer Care

=========================

To which I replied…

=========================

Hank - this is a duplicate of the email that you have sent me yesterday. I posted my reply online, since I cannot be bothered duplicating my response:

http://aktoman.blogspot.com/2009/07/yahoo-customer-care-team-missive-3.html
and then on Wednesday when your system still refuses to allow me to email from my Pipex account to any Yahoo.com or Yahoo.co.uk

http://aktoman.blogspot.com/2009/07/yahoo-customer-care-team-missive-4.html

As stated, I will be contacting the UK's Ombudsman about this on Thursday as you have had 6 days to sort this, and you now just cannot be bothered. I just checked by sending trying to send an email to my Yahoo account, and you are still blocking it because of your policy.

Duncan

Holiday weather

2009-07-29T11:47:00.001+01:00

Mini tornado wreaks havoc on isle (BBC News).

The power was out last night after the lightening storm, and the older kids missed Stornoway’s mini-tornado by 15 minutes. They used words like “cool” when seeing the video clip.

Yahoo! Customer Care Team - missive 4

2009-07-29T09:30:00.002+01:00

You are STILL refusing to allow me to post to Yahoo accounts. This has been going on since Friday and YOU refuse to take any action, saying it is nothing to do with YOU. Despite the FACT that the error message has YAHOO's name on it.

FFS, get a move on as my next action is to contact the Office of the Telecommunications Ombudsman here in the UK about this slander on my name.

Since this ineptitude seems to be systemic, I have already set up a Google Group account to take over from our club's Yahoo Group, so you'll lose their eyeballs on your adverts as well as when I close down my 11-year old Yahoo account to move it to the GoogleMail account that I set up yesterday.

Duncan,
And never assume that I am patient when I am being called a thief and a liar by a faceless corporation from it's ivory towers in America.

http://aktoman.blogspot.com

Yahoo! Customer Care Team - missive 3

2009-07-28T17:25:00.001+01:00

Hello Duncan,
Thank you for writing to Yahoo! Mail.
I am sorry to hear about the issue you have experienced. We have checked our servers and our mail systems appear to be working at the moment. The issue may have been transient or network-related.
If the issue persists, the best solution is to have the mail system administrator or postmaster of the internet service provider or domain, with which you are experiencing the issue (pipex.com), contact us directly via the Yahoo! Mail Help page below in order to investigate the issue in further details.

…

You may contact the Postmaster of the domain related to the issue at the email address below:
postmaster@domain.com
You may replace "domain.com" with the extension of the domain in question.
Your patience during this process is greatly appreciated.

…

Regards,
Hank
Yahoo! Customer Care

=========================

To which I replied…

=========================

ROTFLMAO at Hank's email.

It took me a few seconds to send an email to my Yahoo account to find that Yahoo was still blocking emails from this Pipex account. Below is the source of the test email that I sent.

The problem is not with Pipex, as mail from them to other servers gets through. The message about non-delivery originates from Yahoo's system, as it states that Yahoo is not accepting emails from my Pipex account.

Be enough of a man to admit that Yahoo is the one causing this failure in communication. This breach of my freedom to email friends and family. Don't tell me that the problem is with my email provider, as I can email to every other domain that I have needed to in the last 4 days apart from Yahoo.com and Yahoo.co.uk - both of which block my Pipex account as "554-'Message not allowed - UP Email not accepted for policy reasons."

The Delivery Status Notification states quite clearly that it is Yahoo's policy not to deliver to email that I sent from my Pipex account. Your policy. Not Pipex's policy, but Yahoo's policy.

Duncan MacLeod
also at … @yahoo.com since 1998, but set up his Googlemail account today because of this.
http://aktoman.blogspot.com/

Yahoo! Customer Care Team - missive 2

2009-07-27T22:25:00.000+01:00

This is beyond the pale. I mailed you on Sunday that I'd been blocked mailing to my pal, ...@yahoo.co.uk, since Friday and now this to an old schoolfriend about him becoming a grandfather.

I mailed the details back to you last night re case ....... And now nothing. Is this typical of Yahoo!'s service? You guys didn't notify our YahooGroup about the shutdown in service recently, and we had to find out the hard way.

I'm off to blog about this breach of service standards. You have 24 hours, to contact me about this slander on my name, and then I move our accounts elsewhere. I know that in this day and age, you won't be concerned about losing advertising, but what the heck, you seem to be happy at letting an automated system call me a bounder and a cad without any human emotion.

Don’t Look Back

2009-07-09T16:37:00.001+01:00

Slept in. Missed the post. Watched tv over breakfast, some standard Western (“Man of the West”), until the baddy gang appeared, lead by “Pa”, talking about "Link”, and one even had a bowler hat. Yup, it was the original “Angel Gang” from 2000AD.

Starting on the Audio editing unit of my homework. Listening to some reggae on iTunes.

I didn’t realise that I had so much sleep to catch up on.

HPL-athon

2009-07-07T16:10:00.001+01:00

Playing a horror game at the Club tonight, and it brought back memories of the old KGB.

Found these on YouTube.

It’s not to the tune of Queen’s “Bicycle Races”, but still.

And who could miss this? (where did I leave my copy of the Necronomicon?):

US National Archives

2009-07-07T01:13:00.001+01:00

I haven’t visited the US National Archives site for a few years (not since doing some research), so I was pleased to see that they have a YouTube channel.

I’ll catch up with this one in the morning.

Title Says It All

2009-07-04T12:52:00.001+01:00

This came on my CD in the car as I headed out to get some essential supplies this morning. They are a great band, I was boogying along the seafront with the aircon on, heading for an early shop – which then included the new CD “The End”.

Supplies – oscillating fan (it was 20°c at 0900hrs) and an LG widescreen LCD monitor (yup, I finally disconnected my CRT unit).

When I got back, the Boxer rifles pack from Old Glory was waiting for me. I only ordered it when I was editing a video after midnight on Thursday night/Friday morning. Good going. I’ll get all my figures to the same stage of prep and then wait for a rainy day to get a wodge painted.

So much to do before I can disappear to the hills with a clear conscience.

If you haven’t figured it out – I survived another teaching year, and I’m looking forward to next year. Emotionally and physically, I’m having a big clearout at home and at work. “Hello, Trail? Yup, I’m cancelling my subscription”. Life is too short to get dragged down by other people. I can’t define my life by what I am not. I like problem-solving, I like helping people, I like learning things. I am a geek. No more, no less.

Break-up Food

2009-06-07T10:37:00.001+01:00

I got these for a pal yesterday, when I was in Matthews Chinese supermarket yesterday.

It just reminded me of the joke that ends “well, sometimes the bull wins”.

Osprey Exos 58 litre (Large)

2009-06-02T23:16:00.002+01:00

I got my Osprey Exos 58 litre as a special order from Outside.co.uk – they had a limited supply of the large backs.

My rational for going from the Atmos 50 litre (L) up to a pack that has 61 litres capacity was simple. I can do simple. The Exos 58 (L) is lighter than the Atmos 50 (L). The larger capacity Exos can allow me to transport a larger load than the Atmos. The Exos can be compressed down so that there is no excess material.

I’ve had the Osprey Atmos since 2006, and it has been my overnight pack, my weekend pack, my long-distance-walk pack (West Highland Way, Southern Upland Way). It is very comfortable, and a great load-carrier. But I’ve often had to strap the Akto’s fabric on to the outside of the pack in it’s compression sack. It just doesn’t look nice. I don’t go climbing, so am not concerned about dragging my pack up cliff-faces on the end of a rope.

First impressions of the Exos. Light. Straps are thinner. More ways to pack items on the side. Belt pockets seem easier to reach. Pocket under the lid is useful, and is now home to a XSS Exped waterproof bag.

I don’t like the official “backpanel sleeve” for hydration bags (loads move as the bag is emptied), and hung mine from the wee strap in the main compartment, and down through the zip into the frame space. I did this on the Atmos, however that was designed to do it, the Exos is not. The zip in to the airspace compartment is on one side only, so cannot fully close (hmm, not neat).

The manual is up to the usual high standard, and the whistle is still present on the chest-strap (and confuses birds no end).

More to follow over the Summer.

Honey Stove aus 2009

2009-06-02T22:46:00.001+01:00

Honey Stove 2009 in use as a windshield and pot-holder. Alpkit’s MyTiMug (750ml). Tinny’s BlackFly#4 meths stove (1 oz fuel). The new design allowed me to move the Blackfly closer to the base of the pan. When the fuel ran out, I had enough hot water for two mugs of tea. It still amazes me that such a small amount of fuel can give 2 people a cuppa each – truly a marvel.

Honey Stove in wood-burning mode. A few scrapes off a ‘maya’ stick with the pocket-knife, on to cotton-wool coated in Vaseline, and quick blast from the gas-lighter, and fire was made. I’m sure the Ancients did it the same way.

I boiled enough water for another brew for us both. Then to rehydrate my dinner. Then to wash the dish. Then just to stop the fire from going out.

After the fire was done, I left the stove to cool down, and activated the cloaking device.

Designer and retailer: http://www.backpackinglight.co.uk/product397.asp

Bob and Rose are selling an Upgrade Kit for owners of the 2008 version.

For me, if I’m taking the meths stove, this is a standard accessory. I amn’t counting the grammes, but I am looking at a flat-pack kit that just slides into a side pocket and is multi-functional.

Pro Action Hike Lite

2009-06-02T22:19:00.001+01:00

I felt guilty about making Mike haul the old Wild Country New Ilanos, so looked at the old “Tiger Paws” tent that pops up on Outdoors Magic every now and again. That’s “paws”, not “feet” (thank you, George).

A quick check online, and a trip to Argos last Thursday meant that a smaller packed unit went into the Atmos. Of course, I’d swapped the pegs out for a mix of lighter standard pegs (from Blacks) and some ground-grabbers from Alpkit.

Stats from the Argos site:

2000mm hydrostatic head. [The Akto’s is 3000mm]

Taped seams.

Tension adjusters.

Quick clips.

Size of overall tent (H)300, (W)120, (L)105cm.

Size of each room 110 x 290cm.

Size of living space 110 x 290cm.

Packed size (H)15, (W)15, (D)40cm.

Weight 2.1kg.

There wasn’t much of a wind, and it wasn’t raining. During the night, the temperature dropped to 4°c and rose again to 14°c by the time we broke camp. Mike carried it, pitched it, dozed and slept in it.

Altanour Overnighter

2009-05-31T21:39:00.001+01:00

The weather was too good, and the fuses too short to stay in Aberdeen over the weekend. Mike was in agreement, and the forecast was great, so kit had been gathered for an overnight visit to Altanour Lodge in Glen Ey (maplink). I’d been there before, and love Glen Ey.

I started packing on Friday night, and looked out extra kit for Mike. I’d picked up a “Tiger Paws” tent from Argos, as I felt guilty about lending him my old, huge New Illanos tent. I’m not a morning person, so was concerned about forgetting to look out essentials for him, so a sofa filled with gear. With my new Osprey Exos 58 litre (large, so 61 litre) pack, he also got my Atmos 50 litre pack. Saturday morning arrived, and the Atmos was packed with chosen gear, and we were off.

An uneventful trip out, with a pit-stop in Braemar, got us to Inverey at noon. Packs, suncream, and brimmed caps were the order of the day.

And so we walked for 3 hours. We saw an adder, birds (brown), birds (black and white), birds (seagull), birds (shadowy), rabbits (big), rabbits (small), slugs, sheep (humming), slug (sunning), deer (red), deer (Gilliamesque), beetles (don’t use it’s stage name), ducks (swimming), curlew (curling).

Mike spotted some shells on the track. .22 he reckoned.

We arrive at the lodge, but there’s a family camped at the good pitch, so we slot into a wee gulley. After pitching, we get some kip in the shade. Mike later finds that he’s sleeping in his tent the wrong way, which accounts for his claustrophobic feeling. The evening passes with tea, cooking, deer-spotting, chocolate and malt.

In the morning, we break the tents down and head back to Inverey after the 16km round trip.

We stop at Braemar and Aboyne. On the way back to Aberdeen, we pass 3 road-side fires being attended by the Fire Brigade. Perhaps related, some steam traction engines are pulled up at the roadside, a couple are beside a vehicle with blue flashing lights.

WeirdDwalin

2009-05-17T19:59:00.001+01:00

George has been busy with a musical tribute to Darren.

All in the best possible taste.

Roadside Brew

2009-05-17T15:48:00.001+01:00

I have used the Mini Bull Design Black Fly 4 a few times, so any opportunity to show it in use is a bonus. I like using it with BackPackingLight.co.uk’s flat-pack Honey Stove (2009 model).

Whilst one of Tinny's Blackfly 4 meths stoves does the work, the Honey Stove is used as a windshield, stove platform and pan support. On uneven ground, I think it's a great combo. 20ml of meths boiled 500ml of cold water. That's less than 1 fluid ounce. The time is long, but so what?

Therm-a-Rest NeoAir Medium sleeping mat pt2

2009-05-17T14:57:00.001+01:00

A couple of weekends back, I used my newly arrived Therm-a-Rest NeoAir Medium sleeping mat and reported that I thought the mat might have been responsible for me sleeping cold that night. On Friday night, I put down a foil mat below the NeoAir, and slept warmer. The Silva ADC unit reported that the groundsheet temperature had dropped to 4°c.

The foil doesn’t add much weight. I didn’t use my Blizzard bag, keeping it for emergencies. I am sure that I saw Geoff do something similar at the Lakes meet a few years back.

TGOc 09 - Braemar

2009-05-17T14:12:00.001+01:00

I went out on Friday night to meet Darren at the designated rendezvous point near the Linn of Dee. If he wasn’t there, we would meet up on Saturday morning.

After a wet drive, with localised flooding and some tree debris to be avoided, I arrived at the Linn of Dee. I left his resupply box (and some extra goodies) in the car, and had a short walk to the clump of trees we had agreed on. There was no-one there. Considering the weather, and that for him the west-east walk would be into the wind, this was not a surprise. The movement that I had noticed further along the track was a small group of stags.

Dropping off the road, I moved amongst the trees in case Darren’s tarp was concealed from view, and then chose a sheltered pitch and put up the tent.

In the morning, the weather had not changed much, still wet, but the wind had died down. I pulled on Paramo trousers, showerproof Montane jacket and treated boonie hat.

Some slugs had to be cleared off the tent and boots, and other kit checked for the slimy wee things.

As I started to pack and think about breakfast, I noticed a couple of walkers heading east. One “helloooo’d” me across the glen, and I waved back. They carried on walking, and so it couldn’t have been Darren.

A few minutes later, I was greeted by the sight of a pair of man-tights (leggings) at the tent door.

We chatted and headed off to the Linn of Dee. He had crossed the Geldie that morning. The holler had come from Vince, first-time Challenger, but who had walked in other countries.

Seeing a red squirrel by the bridge, and an advert for free brew for Challengers and tempting accommodation price at Mar Lodge (good one, NTS). I headed back to the car, leaving Darren to walk into Braemar,where I would meet him en route for a snack break.

Outside Inverey, I gave a ‘helloooo’ to Vince and introduced myself. The scout group camped near the Linn had treated him to breakfast. It is great when visitors to our country are treated like this.

I made a quick trip into Braemar for a thermos, and then caught up with Darren after boiling up some water at the roadside. We were joined by Andy, who I’d met last year. As the cakes were shared out, I got a friendly ribbing from a passing Babyfather John Manning about my weight – guilty as charged.

Returning to Braemar, I met Shirley “Peewiglet” (and was rewarded with a hug) and Andy Howell (handshake). After Darren arrived, we waved at Bob and Rose, then lunched - and Vince came in as we finished; then joined by an other Challenger. The two of us then went to the Fife Arms for a healthy drink and I get another hug from Peewiglet, and a few words with John Manning and Bob “no bones broken” Cartwright.

After making sure Darren has his resupply box, and extras (including a required phone charger), I leave the Challengers to their trail-tales, renewed friendships and then to walk across the rest of Scotland’s width.

Therm-a-Rest NeoAir Medium sleeping mat

2009-05-04T22:12:00.001+01:00

I found a Therm-a-Rest NeoAir Medium sleeping mat for sale at The Outdoor Shop and collected it from the local corner shop on Friday. Based on my use of the Prolite 3/4-length mat in the past, I had decided that the small (47”) was too small. The regular (72”) too long for me, as that was similar to the Insul Mat I had been using, and the end usually disappears under my rucksack at the foot of the Akto. The medium, at 66” (5.5’) sounded just right. The weight is quoted at 370 grammes, exactly the same as the quoted weight on the Prolite 3/4 mat. The Insul mat is 570 grammes. When I swapped the mats out, my backpack suddenly had much more space.

As the website had stated that a stuffsack was not provided, I had taken along the Prolite 3/4’s sack. The NeoAir only took about 3/4 of the space.

Upon unrolling the mat in my tent, the instructions and stuffsack were found.

In the morning, I compared the re-rolled NeoAir with my 2 litre Camelbak, and above that, the Ajungilak Air Pillow.

product sheet

Experience

On Saturday morning, my feet felt cold. I put this down to the vent being open into the prevailing (cold) breeze. Other than that, I had slept comfortably, and the mat had stayed put. Some other people have reported that theirs have softened overnight. I didn’t have that problem on either night.

To repeat the experiment, I closed the vent at on end. Yet on Sunday morning, around 2am, I could feel the temperature dropping, and pulled on a pair of socks. Checking the Silva ADC, the temperature during the night had dropped to 4.5°c. That isn’t that cold, as I have been out in lower in the same bag.

Next time that I am out, I will use my Blizzard bag as an insulating mat, to see if I can stop heat being leached out of the NeoAir to the ground. I didn’t want to try that on the Saturday night, in case it was just the cold breeze coming through a vent that was causing it. I carry this bag anyway, in case of emergency, so it isn’t an extra weight to carry to assist the NeoAir – which would kind of defeat the purpose of a sleeping mat advertised (on the box) as a 3 season mat.

Other than that, I had a great couple of nights sleeping, and even got some dream time logged. But you really don’t want to hear about that.

Derry Lodge and Glen Luibeg

2009-05-04T19:19:00.001+01:00

I’d promised myself a couple of days in the Cairngorms this weekend. The week flew by. A few trips to local gear shops furnished me with meal-pouches and a fresh gas canister. Kit was dusted off, cleaned, treated and repaired. I couldn’t unlock my PacerPoles, but found the new carbon-fibre poles in Craigdon Mountain Sports. An impulse buy which performed well over the weekend.

After a false start on Friday, I parted with a new Therm-a-rest NeoAir sleeping mat to add to my kit. Apart from a couple of speeding cars and one overtaking on a blind corner, the drive out to Linn of Dee was excellent. Swapping out my sleep mats, I then had a fine walk up to Derry Lodge. The half-moon and familiar Landrover track allowed me to walk it all without a torch until I reached the pitch.

Clearing away pine cones and debris, the tent was soon pitched and the pack (Osprey Atmos 50 litres) was emptied. I pack items into stuff/dry-sacks, so I end up batching bags together in the tent, eg sleeping bag, mat, pillow. After a good night’s sleep, I breakfasted and headed out to see what the weather was going to do on the tops.

The weather was definitely changeable. Snow above 800m was also on the forecast. I decided to turn back to Derry Lodge and have a lazy time.

The weather changed again, but I was already in a mindset to kick back and put my feet up, and enjoy the day.

I rigged up a reading-lamp, which was more comfortable than the head-torch, and got through a lot of Tom Standage’s “The Victorian Internet”. Normally, I don’t take a book, instead a thin, cheap book of poetry. I may change that habit now.

After a cold night, I broke camp and headed back to the car. There were some hailstones (just a few seconds-worth), and the shower didn’t come to much. Looking back, I couldn’t guess whether I would have had a good or bad time up on the plateau, but I still had a good time not risking it.

The journey home included a brief stop to resupply in Braemar (yes, it did include “The Hungry Highlander”), and dropping my Furtech trousers in to HillTrek in Aboyne to get some decent belt-loops fitted.

ANZAC Day

2009-04-25T11:51:00.001+01:00

I’ll be having some biscuits later today.

Ignoring some of the inane comments on YouTube, SmileyNoir’s posted a good photostory set to The Pogues’ music. It is good to remember the dead, to look into their eyes in photographs, to steal a glimpse into their lives – maybe it curbs the hindsight, adds to the empathy, and makes us wonder how we would cope. Whilst our squaddies fight in different parts of the world, we squabble over getting cut up by some idiot trying to get to a meeting a few seconds earlier, or neighbours throwing shopping trollies over the fence, or shout at the tv when some prat tells us that Ghurkhas don’t deserve to live in a country that they have fought to protect.

Maybe old photographs let us civvies get things into perspective, and think that our lot in life could be far worse. Maybe it shows that some things haven’t changed much. Maybe we could live better lives, and give the dead more meaning. We stand on the shoulders of giants. Do something worthy of their passing.

Crowing On

2009-04-24T22:43:00.001+01:00

Something I said earlier in the week caused my brain to revisit “The Crow”. Searching through my tapes, I remembered that the car had eaten my album over a decade ago, and I’d never got round to replacing it.

Album ordered from Play before I forget again.

Birlinn

2009-04-12T15:11:00.001+01:00

One of the books I got in the excellent Ullapool Book Shop yesterday was the "Kingdom of the Isles:Scotland’s Western Seaboard, 1100–1336" by R. Andrew McDonald. I noticed that, once more, it was a book from the publishers, Birlinn. Rather appropriately, it features a birlinn on the cover, as seen on the right of the carving.

Sholto of Scheltrum Miniatures has been modelling some birlinn, and some of us at the club are talking about a "Lord of the Isles” campaign. It should be fun, and give us clansmen a bit of personal background to research.

Right Turn for Lyngdal

2009-04-11T19:33:00.001+01:00

Using http://www.shipais.com/currentmap.php?map=Minch to see where other ships out on the Minch are going. Weather channels are open and commented on too.

Unlimited Rice Pudding

2009-04-11T07:58:00.001+01:00

In the caravan last night, looking at the weather forecast via my mobile phone, and showing videos of my niece singing Abba songs whilst she’s hidden under a table (I have a feeling that she’s going to hate that cutesy clip in years to come), I wondered why I hadn’t hooked up the notebook via the mobile phone to the Net. Simple reason – I hadn’t needed to.

So there was a task for me whilst Mr Ramsay was having a time of it sorting out a Mexican. I new I could use the Nokia 6220c as a mobile dial-up modem, but went in search of a way to use it with my O2 mobile phone contract (unlimited data transfer) rather than via my home broadband connection.

It turns out that there is a button on the Nokia Suite that allows this. So I downloaded it on to the phone’s memory card, as Nokia had, thankfully, included the whole install file instead of just a wee install stub. I left the phone working on that 35mb download overnight and recharged the battery in the morning (handy USB phone cable just plugs into notebook).

In the morning, I use bluetooth to transfer the file across to the notebook. I haven’t really used bluetooth too much, but was impressed by the transfer rate. A simple install, bish bash bosh and a button-press, and I can see the weather forecast for the Minch on XC-Weather without having to strain my eyes.

It is an awful lot easier to use than pinking out messages on the phone’s keyboard, or trying to read messages on the wee screen, or browsing a forum without the aid of tabs. At 115kbps, I wonder if it can handle the BBC iPlayer. Mitch Benn (6,589 followers)(S. Fry 398,220 followers; B Obama 21,398; Fred MacAulay 98) twittered on Thursday that the old gang were back together again. As the caravan walls are paper thin, I’d better get the headphones out and stifle my guffaws.

A few minutes later, and the little swirly thing goes round, the connection resets itself, and – for some reason as yet unknown – the headphone socket is ignored and the sounds come out of the speakers; I think I’ll close the iPlayer page down, and wait for the Saturday repeat on the car radio.

Now … I’m off to find out what the issue is with the headphone socket that wasn’t there before. Typical computer problem that. Find one solution, and it causes a separate problem – I bet it has something to do with bluetooth. Hmm, maybe it is using the phone as a speaker and was playing back through that. Well, it keeps my brain ticking over as the sound of breathing comes from various close relatives, over the sound of the river and the crows outside.

Push on through to the other side

2009-04-10T11:51:00.001+01:00

Push on through to the other side, originally uploaded by dimacleod.

Glenshee with a few remnants of snow visible belies the avalanche warning posted in braemar mountain sports. No doubt dawn will have some good photos when she's back. I'm on the kilkof syrup and radio 4. Got to see the osprey exos 46 litre pack in braemar. A lot of good features but i'm put off by the inner pouch for the hydration system. Unless it is different on the bigger pack, i'll be sticking with my trusty atmos pack. No deer visible, just a lot of dead bunnies. Poor things.

S-i-N City

2009-04-09T20:50:00.001+01:00

Sally-in-Norfolk is interviewed by Radio Norfolk. Along with another lady, they talk about Facebook, blogging and twittering.

Sadly I squirmed at the need for the presenters to explain to the audience what the heck it is all about. I can’t help but think that the folk had the same issues when trying to explain the advantages of the printed word in the 15th century. I guess that’s why I have a book on order about the growth of the telegraph system. Just to see if there are any similarities between then and now. Humans tend to repeat experiences and attitudes, so I’d be surprised if there wasn’t any similarities.

Surprisingly the presenters then push their own Facebook group. Hey ho. I must have picked up the negative-sounding comments wrong then.

Sally’s post - 2 hrs 10 mins in on iPlayer link, plus some chatter later.

There’s a defence of the blogs at 2hrs 35mins in.

Me? I don’t care. If people can’t be bothered, then they don’t have to. The world carries on. FFS, get a life, get your own life. Some people can get through life without ever needing to drive, or use a video recorder, or tv. Life goes on. It is part of the joys of humanity – we are all different, we all have differing passions. We are allowed to be different. Embrace that. I’ve given up defending what I do.

This is different from making people aware of what modern technology can do. And this changes on a daily basis – just look at the articles on Webware.com to see the changing face of online technology, and the pace at which it moves. There are some studies that say that emails are in decline – yet many people see the email as a modern way of communicating. I get more texts than I do emails, or tweets, or blog articles that I read on a regular basis. But that is just me, and my technological/age-group, for others it will be their Bebo or Facebook pages. This all raises an interesting problem for education – how can we teach people about communication tools if they have not yet been invented. Heck, it is really quite simple. We don’t. We teach the advantages of good communications, and the disadvantages of bad communication. We teach the difference between face-to-face communications and letter-writing. Of mass-communication and communicating with friends. And of communicating with different media.

Although the technology changes, the essence of it does not. We are humans, and the tools we develop are there to help us in different ways. They allow us to communicate across distances, across time zones, through language barriers (press the Babel-fish logo on the sidebar), ignoring race, colour, age, or gender re-alignment. Things that our forefathers could not do are now done on a daily basis by people. Our lives can be made easier, but not necessarily happier or more fulfilling. For that, we have art. Hold on to that which makes us happy, and continue to dream the impossible dream.

gReader Catchup: Next iPhone

2009-04-09T00:16:00.001+01:00

Caught up on some of the MacRumors about the next iPhone.

the next-generation iPhone will have "a significantly faster Internet connection." While no further information is given as to whether this is referring to cellular or Wi-Fi connectivity. source
the new iPhone would indeed have a video camera. source
New iPhone announcement around mid-June. source
Supporting only 802.11n devices on a wireless network can significantly improve performance.
If Apple does indeed provide video recording and publishing, it certainly makes sense to offer some limited editing/clipping ability. source
802.11n wireless connectivity … also supports both reception and transmission of FM radio signals.
Apple has certainly been known not to enable all features their hardware is capable of, and FM reception/transmission is one that have shown no interest in supporting in the past. source
The discovery that Apple's next iPhone might contain both video input as well as a magnetometer (digital compass) opens up some interesting possibilities for future iPhone applications.
Examples of how this could be used include pointing your iPhone's camera at a building and the phone telling you what building it is by combining GPS, accelerometer and compass information. The iPhone could even overlay graphics and text on top of the image to provide additional information. Another application described is the ability to show information about stars and constellations simply by pointing your iPhone towards the sky. source

I’m counting the days already. Even if they are just rumours at this stage.

Devil is in the Details

2009-04-08T13:21:00.001+01:00

The book that was ordered via Amazon has finally been delivered. The “Home Delivery Network” saga previously written now has a twist.

Checking online, I find that the package has a strangely shortened trail:

Date	Depot	Action	Reason
06/04/2009 19:26:23	Aberdeen Depot	Unable to Deliver	Held
08/04/2009 06:33:36	Aberdeen Depot	Unable to Deliver	Held
08/04/2009 09:03:23	Aberdeen Depot	Loaded onto vehicle

The company’s own Parcel History Enquiry Report – kindly taped to the package has a strangely differing tale, and mentions a Saturday 4/4/09 07:36 attempted deliver, and a “card left with customer”. This from a company that doesn’t deliver on a Saturday, and had also been told to re-deliver on the Monday afternoon … and I received no card, and was up and about at that time, as I would shortly be leaving to collect another delivery from Parcel Force.

The Call Card Information System also taped to the packet notes on 2/4/09 “pls redeliver prcel on mon 06/03/09 thanks”. So, no mention of afternoon (I’ll ignore the wrong month, as that’s an easy mistake to make).

The reply from the depot is “will locate and re deliver”. I receive another failed delivery card on the 3rd, and phone the call centre. This triggers a caps lock “PLEASE REDLVER ON MONDAY. THANKS” once more, no mention of afternoon despite being re-assured. The strange reply from the depot seems to indicate that they hadn’t removed my packet from the delivery rota for the 3rd “if fails will re deliver”.

And then on the 6th of April (Monday) the call centre sends to the depot “parcel supposed to be out today but not leave depot, cust very angry please ensure parcel is ofd 8/4”.

Amazon’s tracking system does not show a Saturday redelivery attempt. I was also informed that they would not re-deliver on the Saturday for Amazon. Here’s my tracking report:

Date	Phoned	Reason	Action
02/04/2009 Thursday	Call Centre	1st Card left	Do not redeliver until Monday afternoon
03/04/2009 Friday	Call Centre	2nd Card left	Why did you try to re-deliver today? Do not redeliver until Monday afternoon
04/04/2009 Saturday	NA	NA	HDN now say they left me a card on Saturday morning.
06/04/2009 Monday	Call Centre	No delivery	In all Monday. No delivery. HDN can’t redeliver on Tuesday as too late in day now. HDN will redeliver on Wednesday
06/04/2009 Monday	Amazon/Blog	Pi55ed off with HDN	Wrote up blog article and posted it to Amazon. Gayathri P wrote to apologise.
08/04/2009 Wednesday	NA	Packet delivered	Wrote up blog article to wrap up this behind-the-scenes look at what happens when deliveries are screwed up.

And the book? It looks beautiful. I aim to spend a day just watching the whole tv series and immerse myself in the book, stealing ideas and triggering new projects. A definite rainy-day task.

Without stories, we have nothing. Even before the book gets here, it has triggered phone calls and emails. Life is too short to care that a delivery company screws up once, and I hope it is only once. Sadly, most people seem to have their own horror stories, and it is a shame that many relate to Internet shopping. As the industry matures, I hope that the delivery system matures with it. I’m already planning to walk up town next time instead of using the convenience of online shopping. Life is too short to fight through this type of convenience on a weekly basis.

Return of the Jingle

2009-04-08T09:53:00.001+01:00

Nice to see the return of a catchy jingle.

I guess this is a response to the easy-to-remember 118118 number. For some reason they are now one of two Ghostbusters-related adverts on tv; the other is for a car. Primary message forgotten, it just reminds me of the film.

Back on message, there’s more of Weebl’s stuff here

gReader Catchup: The Goat

2009-04-08T08:17:00.001+01:00

For the first time in a week, I didn’t wake up drowning in phlegm – huzzah, so the ‘natural’ drugs win out over the chemist-bought ones. So I have a few extra minutes in the morning that aren’t spent coughing and duly giving my ribs an aching workout. So I spent them catching up with Backcountry’s “The Goat” blog. News items I noted:

Online Map Dump for Wonky Cartographers - Mappery.com – though I didn’t find much of interest about Scotland, I’ll need to go through it in more detail later (potential AWI source).
GoPro Camera Stuck on a Surfboard for Home Movies - goprocamera.com wearable sports cameras. Shiny. Though I couldn’t get the video to play in my browser.
AnimatedKnots.com Video Archive of Knot Tying
Group Rope Jumping is the new Pseudo Suicide Sport - I feel sorry for the train driver Group Rope Jumping – but then I notice that the policeman is carrying something similar to a Mac-10.

The BPA Water Bottle Nightmare is Only the Beginning – will there be court cases in the future, I wonder.
Lacy Underwear Used in Polar Expedition when Compass, GPS Fail – there’s even a photograph.

Thanks to The Goat guys for a pre-breakfast read.

Fanboy

2009-04-07T12:41:00.001+01:00

Fanboy, originally uploaded by dimacleod.

Do i buy things because of memories of good times enjoying good tv shows? Hell yeah!

Problem with the Twiddly Bits

2009-04-06T19:10:00.001+01:00

I went on a book shopping spree last Sunday, and ordered 3 books via Amazon. Paddy Griffith’s “Battle Tactics of the Western Front” arrived on Saturday. I have read some of his other books, and I like his style. I have 3 books left. Looking at my account, I see that the problem I have been having with the “Home Delivery Network” relates to the book-of-the-series “The Genius of Photography”.

The saga starts with a card on the Thursday. “A re-attempt to deliver your parcel will be made on the next working day”. Well, I’ll be at work, and it is the hired help’s day off, and the stable-lad is away visiting his sick aunt in Aboyne, and the milk-maid is in confinement. Oh, yes, I forget, I don’t live in the 19th century any more. It is the 21st century, and most people are at work during the day!

So, I call up the company to arrange re-delivery at the weekend. “We don’t deliver at the weekend”, says she. “But is says you do on the card I have”, says I. “We don’t do weekend deliveries for Amazon”, she ‘explains’. Aah, splutters I. Well, what about Monday – I’m on holiday then, so we agree on Monday afternoon.

So I was surprised to find a 2nd card waiting for me on Friday. So I call up the company again. “We had agreed on a Monday re-delivery, so why did your driver try to re-deliver on Friday?”, asks I. “Will this affect the Monday re-delivery?”, asks I. “No, you are still logged for a Monday afternoon re-delivery”, says he.

So … Monday. I cough and splutter, and agonise my way through the day, and by 5.30pm, there is no delivery. I call the company. “Where’s my package?”, asks I, trying to maintain a calm, firm voice, but failing as I cough and wheeze in the spaces. “It is still at the depot”, she says. “I will be logging a complaint with Amazon”, says I, “this is the third phone-call, and all for the delivery of a book!” “It won’t be until Wednesday now”, says she". “Pardon?” says I. “Well, the depot’s closed, and it is too late now to have it redelivered on Tuesday”, she says. “Well, it is hit or miss whether I will be in, and I really don’t care any more. It is only a book. If it gets returned to the seller, I will merely cancel the contract.” “Oh, and please pass on my venom to the depot, as it isn’t your fault”, says I to the now-startled lady.

I was rather surprised to see that the tracking of the package logged against today was:

Aberdeen Depot 06/04/2009 Unable to Deliver 11:07:28 Awaiting advice

Point one: 11am is not “the afternoon”.
Point two: I have been in all day, unable to move far without being in pain.
Point three: there has been no card left.
Point four: it is only a book, how fecking difficult is it to do that? Well, according to the word count – it is 458 words over three telephone conversations. Three failed deliveries (the depot says), and the associated carbon-footprint. It is this sort of palaver that is the bane of internet shopping. It is certainly causing me to think again about the so-called ‘ease’ of online shopping.

The title refers to the days when I was driving long distances. The problem wasn’t getting from A to B. The problem was getting through the complex road systems at B to get to the actual destination.

Time Team Special

2009-04-06T14:31:00.001+01:00

So .. if Alan's LEJOG was the "guidebook to pubs & restaurants" and Mick & Gayle's was "guidebook to being chased by farming animals", it looks like Geoff's is going to be the Time Team one. Good one.

Linx B-tube

2009-04-04T10:30:00.002+01:00

Linx B-tube, originally uploaded by dimacleod.

Linx b-tube arrives. It looks good and feels good. For a few seconds i forget my lurgy and leave my breathing to a lower brain function. For a wee while. Watching last week's "old dogs" and seeing behind the scenes of John Simpson's journey to Afghanistan. Lots to do. And I'm on holiday now.

Added “out of the box” video.

Lyme Disease ePetition

2009-03-29T09:09:00.001+01:00

We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to put in place Clinical Guidelines, SPECIFIC to the United Kingdom, for the diagnosis and treatment of all patients, including children, who have acquired Lyme disease or associated Tick-borne diseases. These guidelines should be part of a national strategy to combat this increasingly common threat to health in the United Kingdom and should address the UK presentation of Lyme disease and other emerging Tick-borne Diseases.

Submitted by Gill Reese of Lyme Disease Action – Deadline to sign up by: 07 April 2009 – Signatures: 1,778

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Lyme-guidelines/#detail

Poor Choices By Me

2009-03-28T23:47:00.001Z

Even James Mason could have done better.

28mm Renegade Early WW1 German figures gone to ground. A scenario from "Rommel’s Route to Verdun" from Tuesday night’s game using “Price of Glory” rules.

Geoff’s Journey

2009-03-28T19:03:00.001Z

All-round good egg, Geoff “LiteHiker” Gafford is soon off walking from the bottom bit left bit of the UK mainland to the top right bit. He’ll be keeping his blog up to date with his progress, but even before he goes, he has almost reached his sponsorship target of £2,000 for The Multiple Sclerosis Research And Relief Fund.

Stop Making Sense

2009-03-28T17:58:00.001Z

“Stop Making Sense/Talking Heads” It’s a great dvd. I love watching the band’s interactions and this breach of copyright will probably mean that the video will not last long here. Such is life. If you dance as badly as I do then get the grey suit out, pad up the shoulders and dance along like the chicken-legged performer par-excellence that is David Byrne.

Filmed more than 25 years ago, I can still find motivation in it. Isn’t that one of the wonders of art? Whatever the medium is, each individual can take away different things from it. And have a good, fun time too.

‘nuff said: press play and join the grey side …

Shopping link. Wikipedia.

Interesting Cornfields #3: Jayne Cobb

2009-03-26T17:37:00.001Z

To mark the release of some 15mm sci-fi characters, here’s a replay of the great song from a great TV series (and film which was, err, aimed too much at the people who didn’t bother with the series, i.e. numpties)

And then visit this site, for a wadge of ‘motivational’ Firefly posters.

I have low standards, so life is good.

Interesting Cornfields #2: Ray Kinsella’s

2009-03-22T13:20:00.001Z

Ray Kinsella

Knife Rest

2009-03-22T13:16:00.001Z

I’d glued the stained matchsticks together a few weeks back, and ordered some more barbed wire from Barrule.com Before starting my paperwork today, I snipped off some model wire and wrapped it round the frame. A few dabs of super-glue, and it’ll be ready for staining at tea-time.

The plate is from Osprey’s “Fortifications of the Western Front 1914-18”. A book I’d used before, and wish I’d had before starting to model my trenches.

Over the last fortnight, I’ve managed to re-line about half of my trench sections with stained and snipped coffee-stirrers (big box bought from eBay). All manual labour, takes about an evening per section. Nice and relaxing. I reckon they look better than the underlying matchstick version.

Of course, it now means that the height of the trench has been reduced, but I was always needing to revisit that with sandbags and earthworks. But that raises a storage problem, so I guess I’ll be making these in lengths that will sit on top of the trenches.

Interesting Cornfields #1: Miller’s Cornfield

2009-03-21T16:58:00.001Z

Miller's Cornfield at Antietam, originally uploaded by PKM_258.

Seeing the glint of Confederate bayonets concealed in the Cornfield, Hooker halted his infantry and brought up four batteries of artillery, which fired shell and canister over the heads of the Federal infantry, covering the field. The artillery and rifle fire from both sides acted like a scythe, cutting down cornstalks and men alike.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Antietam

More information: http://www.brotherswar.com/Antietam-3.htm

Mitch Benn

2009-03-21T15:14:00.001Z

From Radio 4. He wants your Twitter following. Here’s why you might consider it.

And a rare appearance on TV:

In summary: he shows that you don’t have to be Stephen Fry to be clever.

http://twitter.com/MitchBenn

Government Health Warning

2009-03-21T14:57:00.001Z

A name to watch out for: Derek Robertson. This man is infectious. He should carry a warning. He causes sleeplessness, and a knowledge that the answer isn’t “42”, but it is close at hand.

Derek Robertson, my colleague from LTS, reinforced what appeared to be a team message by describing technologys and computer based games that can be used to support the teaching of literacy, numeracy and much much more in schools. For me Derek is at his best when he argues for using technology to promote social inclusion and when he gives concrete examples of how to encourage responsible learning with technology. As usual Derek entertained and easily convinced the audience.
I was very pleased to see councillor Richard Stroud show video clips of the Cairngorms National Park, some were made by pupils from schools surrounding the Cairngorms mountains. He was clearly excited and enthused by the potential of Glow to support education about the National Parks. His messages were from the heart, as a councillor, as a mountaineer and skier, and as a resident in the Cairngorms National Park. He talked about this special mountain environment, highland culture, the local economy and issues of sustainability.

Source: Martin Brown

The Cairngorms on the curriculum! Well, they’ve certainly taught me a thing or two. LTS Scotland’s posting has more information.

I am saddened by the dates. I feel so left behind in all of this, and need to strive to do better. See, I told you Derek was infectious!!!

Do not click this link to Derek's blog.

I already feel the need to buy Guitar Hero and learn to play the guitar and then …. oh boy! .
(Ollie Bray at Musselburgh, and an article in the Sunday Herald explains all).

Chi McBride

2009-03-21T13:53:00.001Z

Just caught last night’s “Pushing Daisies” off my tv recorder, and I keep noticing how good an actor Chi McBride is. He plays Emerson Cod. Whether a surly “uh huh”, a raised eyebrow, or a facial tweak when there is an allusion to his estranged daughter, McBride carries it off.

As to the show, well that’s just strange and innovative enough, with a great sense of style and art direction that it has me glued to the set and coming back for more. Here’s a fillet of Cod:

Ohrwurm

2009-03-21T11:35:00.001Z

Small world

2009-03-20T19:57:00.000Z

Head of our HR just walked past me. Do you think they're checking up on me?

Good eating at itsu

2009-03-20T19:24:00.001Z

Good eating at itsu, originally uploaded by dimacleod.

I saw one of these in london near the conference but i didn't get a chance to try it. So jumped at chance when i saw one at heathrow. Miso and sushi. Yummy and healthy.

Duty Free

2009-03-20T18:57:00.002Z

Duty Free, originally uploaded by dimacleod.

Got through security at heathrow. T5 works well. Nice and spacious. Bought a power chimp unit and recharging phone off the supplied aa batteries.

Leaving London

2009-03-20T17:43:00.001Z

Leaving London, originally uploaded by dimacleod.

I missed the closing speech as the conference was running late and a tube, train and plane to catch. Lots of exciting ideas to take home.

Gbl09.2 Terry Deary

2009-03-20T16:03:00.001Z

Gbl09.2 terry deary, originally uploaded by dimacleod.

Horrible histories author. The dead hand of schooling.

Gbl09.2 Jacob Habgood

2009-03-20T15:16:00.001Z

Gbl09.2 jacob habgood, originally uploaded by dimacleod.

Chocolate coated brocolli. Zombie division. Maths. Coming on to wiiware.

Gbl09.2 Graeme Duncan

2009-03-20T14:57:00.001Z

Gbl09.2 graeme duncan, originally uploaded by dimacleod.

Caspian learning. Including simulations and making own games.

Gbl09.2 Dr Richard Graham

2009-03-20T14:17:00.001Z

Gbl09.2 dr richard graham, originally uploaded by dimacleod.

Medical research into computer games. Thoughtful.

Park life

2009-03-20T13:52:00.001Z

Park life, originally uploaded by dimacleod.

I noticed on google maps that the artillery garden was nearby. Sadly this nokia doesn't seem to be built for prolonged net usage, so a quick search and root around outside bagged me this park. It probably isn't the One as i couldn't see any weaponry (excepting the ninja cyclists). A park steeped in history indeed. And maybe this is a photo of that park. Or just some random park in EC1.