Well blog watchers (Sarah), I know you've been awaiting my next post, so here it is
I have honestly been busy, too bust to even write a small blog entry, so here's a bit of catching up, not too much has happened really.
Firstly, Sarah's birthday present went well, I can now say it was a digital photo frame! Being inspired by the great people at Custom PC when they did an article on DIY digital photo frames made out of old laptops. So I got a custom frame made in Northwich, got a laptop and wireless card off eBay and with some help from my Dad (thanks Dad!!) it all works great, but will write a full review of that asap.
Apart from that, I've had two coursework handins last week, pretty confident about those, ones was databases which I've been doing for dissertation anyway, so that should be cool, the other was Fulfilment and Logistics, which like a few of my modules has little if anything to do with IT, but hey, it went ok.
So, now its just dissertation, who said you can't do the whole thing in 2 weeks? Well not quite, but it has doubled in size in that time, just polishing a few things off now, have sent what I have done so far to my tutor, hopefully will get some feedback from that. Just got to print and bind it, hand in is 12:00 on Thursday.
After that, few more assignments, 1 exam, then on the 5th of June, I FINISH!!!!!!!
17 years of education comes to a close, now that, I can't wait for.
Finally, I'd like to finish with a question, remind me why we all hate 'chavs'?
Oh yeh, because 4 of them just blew it past my house on the 'mile straight' at fuck knows what speed, side by side racing each other. I hope you all crash and burn, save the innocent people whos lives you are sure to ruin before you wake up, grow up and get a fucking life!!!
Rant ends
Ta Tar
Sunday, 29 April 2007
Sunday, 1 April 2007
Dettol, FACT
I'm really surprised the NHS hasn't struck a deal with the makers of Dettol (household cleaner) for either the secret behind the product or some kind of mass purchase, it would solve a whole number of problems that might stop it going downhill. Quoting from the Dettol advert:
"Dettol kills MRSA, the flu virus.........."
WOW, that's quite a claim to make, no one else seems to have sussed how to kill MRSA yet, its killing all these people, plaguing the wards, yet a quick spray round with Dettol can sort it right out!
Lucky Welsh people for tomorrow with the smoking ban coming in, roll on the rest of Britain (only England left now!).
"Dettol kills MRSA, the flu virus.........."
WOW, that's quite a claim to make, no one else seems to have sussed how to kill MRSA yet, its killing all these people, plaguing the wards, yet a quick spray round with Dettol can sort it right out!
Lucky Welsh people for tomorrow with the smoking ban coming in, roll on the rest of Britain (only England left now!).
Saturday, 31 March 2007
Scouts
OK, I come across a lot of crazy health and safety rules, being in the Air Cadets and I guess its the same across the board with the bubble wrap world we live in. But one organisation that never ceases to amaze me is the Scouts.
Some things I have learnt with the Air Cadets while out walking/hiking:
1. Never walk in less than groups of 4, is someone gets hurt, that's one person to stay with them and two to go for help, simple
2. Never walk down big, dangerous main roads, goes without saying.
So what did I see the Scouts doing today, they were walking down a main road in groups of 2!! Whoever was in charge of these guys needs talking to, very dangerous stuff.
Sarah's back today, only a few hours now, haven't seen her since I was last in Cardiff 4 weeks ago!!! So very much looking forward to that, I also get to give her her birthday present, which I can't wait for. I still can't say what it is, but it turned out much better than I could have hoped for.
Some things I have learnt with the Air Cadets while out walking/hiking:
1. Never walk in less than groups of 4, is someone gets hurt, that's one person to stay with them and two to go for help, simple
2. Never walk down big, dangerous main roads, goes without saying.
So what did I see the Scouts doing today, they were walking down a main road in groups of 2!! Whoever was in charge of these guys needs talking to, very dangerous stuff.
Sarah's back today, only a few hours now, haven't seen her since I was last in Cardiff 4 weeks ago!!! So very much looking forward to that, I also get to give her her birthday present, which I can't wait for. I still can't say what it is, but it turned out much better than I could have hoped for.
Thursday, 29 March 2007
Car Boot!
I was at my local car boot the other day in Weaverham, (I also found out that Sarah has never been to one!). Not that she is missing out I suppose, because I have never been to a car boot where there was so much crap being sold!!!! It was shocking, I was almost laughing most of the way round at the tat people thought they were going to sell, broken picture frames, really really old board games e.t.c. About the only thing that was selling was PS2 games. How long if this stuff going to be in circulation? Will we see the same old crap in years to come when its even more out of date? No one wants to buy that old VCR now, never mind in a couple of years.
There was also a couple of high school girls with a stall, selling cakes to abolish the slave trade, I guess they would have to build a time machine first so they could go back a few hundred years and help out, good luck to them though.
I also did my good deed for the day, there was an old couple bartering with one guy over the price of a complex Lego Technic model, which happens to be the same one that I have at at home from my childhood. The problem with the one being sold was that it had no instructions making it impossible to make! So I boldly volunteered to scan in and email then the instructions, which they were very appreciative for. I got their email address, which they read "w w w dot" (the older generation) and off I went.
It started to dawn on me what a big task I had taken on, the instruction manual for this thing was over 100 pages long, how long would it take me to scan, rotate and crop all of those pages??? So a quick search on the net lead me to the Lego website, where, luckily, they have already done all the hard work and PDF'd all of the manuals up, so I emailed the link to that across with full instructions on how to get Adobe and open it up e.t.c. Sorted.
Another strange thing happened to me at Tescos the other day, a women was asking where something was in the shop, so I told her and that was that, she then asked me
"do you do the lottery?",
I said "yes, just go to customer services and they will sort you out",
she said "no, do YOU do the lottery?"
I said "what? Me personally?"
she said "yes, yes"
I said "well, no, I don't"
she said "oh, ok"
and that was it, she walked off, to late for me to ask why the hell she wanted to know! So that left me confused.
Sarah's present is coming along well, I can write all about it at the weekend hopefully when I have given it to her.
There was also a couple of high school girls with a stall, selling cakes to abolish the slave trade, I guess they would have to build a time machine first so they could go back a few hundred years and help out, good luck to them though.
I also did my good deed for the day, there was an old couple bartering with one guy over the price of a complex Lego Technic model, which happens to be the same one that I have at at home from my childhood. The problem with the one being sold was that it had no instructions making it impossible to make! So I boldly volunteered to scan in and email then the instructions, which they were very appreciative for. I got their email address, which they read "w w w dot" (the older generation) and off I went.
It started to dawn on me what a big task I had taken on, the instruction manual for this thing was over 100 pages long, how long would it take me to scan, rotate and crop all of those pages??? So a quick search on the net lead me to the Lego website, where, luckily, they have already done all the hard work and PDF'd all of the manuals up, so I emailed the link to that across with full instructions on how to get Adobe and open it up e.t.c. Sorted.
Another strange thing happened to me at Tescos the other day, a women was asking where something was in the shop, so I told her and that was that, she then asked me
"do you do the lottery?",
I said "yes, just go to customer services and they will sort you out",
she said "no, do YOU do the lottery?"
I said "what? Me personally?"
she said "yes, yes"
I said "well, no, I don't"
she said "oh, ok"
and that was it, she walked off, to late for me to ask why the hell she wanted to know! So that left me confused.
Sarah's present is coming along well, I can write all about it at the weekend hopefully when I have given it to her.
Friday, 23 March 2007
Sorry Plusnet!
Well, turns out I was wrong, maybe....
Not been much to write about for the last few days, just been getting on with Uni work, getting me down as always, dissertation isn't looking like much so far, very bitty and, well, crap.
Also been working on Sarah's Birthday present, which of course I can't talk about much because up until now it is still a surprise, full write up when its finished though.
Now I've mentioned Sarah, I suppose she should have a formal introduction in my blog. Sarah is my long term girlfriend and soul mate, we have been together for over 1 year and a half and its all 'rosy in the garden'. Sarah is 2 years younger then me, but she is equally as crazy and on the same mental level, which makes for a good relationship, not many girls would put up with me for more than a day!
She went off to Cardiff University in September last year, so I haven't seen her as much as I would have liked, but we seem to be managing just fine on an every other weekend basis.
So, back to Plusnet, after me moaning at the over their naff service, they promptly emailed me back saying it was all my fault. Apparently, my router synced with them (randomly) at a lower speed than normal, which it did, because I saw it happen. So then, BT's equipment dropped my line rate because of this low sync, which makes sence.
But when my router re-synced back to its normal speed (when I re-booted it), BT's equipment is not as quick to put the line rate as they are to lower it, so it would take "3-5 days"!!!! How can they drop the line speed instantly, but not put it back up in the same way.
So anyway, just after Plusnet emailed me the speed went back up again, strange coincidence maybe? The "it's BT's problem" was just excuse of the day at Plusnet HQ?.......
Finally, I will finish with a moan, whats all this rubbish about apologies for the slave trade how ever many years ago? Its crap, that's how people lived then, it was affected as normal behaviour, so how can we, in the modern day, criticise that way of life. There has been a plethora of TV shows on TV about the whole thing, it just seems to be a bit out of hand, sure its good to learn about what went on, but not to be banging on about how wrong it was. It was wrong, yes, but only by TODAY'S standards and moral beliefs.
And why the hell should anyone apologise for it, that IS crap, how can several generations on be expected to apologise on behalf of the people from the past, this has happened before on other issues.
Not been much to write about for the last few days, just been getting on with Uni work, getting me down as always, dissertation isn't looking like much so far, very bitty and, well, crap.
Also been working on Sarah's Birthday present, which of course I can't talk about much because up until now it is still a surprise, full write up when its finished though.
Now I've mentioned Sarah, I suppose she should have a formal introduction in my blog. Sarah is my long term girlfriend and soul mate, we have been together for over 1 year and a half and its all 'rosy in the garden'. Sarah is 2 years younger then me, but she is equally as crazy and on the same mental level, which makes for a good relationship, not many girls would put up with me for more than a day!
She went off to Cardiff University in September last year, so I haven't seen her as much as I would have liked, but we seem to be managing just fine on an every other weekend basis.
So, back to Plusnet, after me moaning at the over their naff service, they promptly emailed me back saying it was all my fault. Apparently, my router synced with them (randomly) at a lower speed than normal, which it did, because I saw it happen. So then, BT's equipment dropped my line rate because of this low sync, which makes sence.
But when my router re-synced back to its normal speed (when I re-booted it), BT's equipment is not as quick to put the line rate as they are to lower it, so it would take "3-5 days"!!!! How can they drop the line speed instantly, but not put it back up in the same way.
So anyway, just after Plusnet emailed me the speed went back up again, strange coincidence maybe? The "it's BT's problem" was just excuse of the day at Plusnet HQ?.......
Finally, I will finish with a moan, whats all this rubbish about apologies for the slave trade how ever many years ago? Its crap, that's how people lived then, it was affected as normal behaviour, so how can we, in the modern day, criticise that way of life. There has been a plethora of TV shows on TV about the whole thing, it just seems to be a bit out of hand, sure its good to learn about what went on, but not to be banging on about how wrong it was. It was wrong, yes, but only by TODAY'S standards and moral beliefs.
And why the hell should anyone apologise for it, that IS crap, how can several generations on be expected to apologise on behalf of the people from the past, this has happened before on other issues.
Tuesday, 20 March 2007
Coursework and Plusnet
I'll start with coursework, I'm slowly getting there with my dissertation, its way behind schedule and its going to start getting worse because I have assignments to do AS WELL, but getting there. I've been stuck on normalization for the past few days, just confuses the hell out of me, I'm starting to understand it though, thanks to Guy at Chester Uni for the handouts he gave me today and alundavid on the CustomPC forums for going out of his way to help me out.
Doing normalization has kind of been like (and reminds me of) things like sub netting and binary and hex mathematics, they both took me ages to get used to, but once it clicks in you head, its easy!
Now, trying to do all this work is not helped by a crap Internet Service Provider, mines Plusnet. 2 years ago they were top of the game, now they can't keep up with the demand (but they are still selling the product) and they are loosing customers like crazy, I might be one of them.
I have had a couple of run ins with them about the speed of service they provide, I am supposed to get 2mb/s which tends to max out at about 220kb/s. I can get this no problem and have done since ADSL max was installed at my exchange in Comberbatch.
But a couple of times now they have "limited" my service for no good reason, I haven't gone over my allowance and they would not provide a reason for this limit in service. Last time around they removed it and it has been fine since........ until yesterday.
Now, I can't break 30kb/s, which is on all accounts ridiculous for what I am paying for, so I have sent them another bitchy message asking them to remove the restrictions, we will see.
Ping logs:
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=4038ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3992ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3942ms TTL=242
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Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=4224ms TTL=242
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Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3407ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3055ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3007ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3093ms TTL=242
Request timed out.
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Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=4133ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3576ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3445ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=4142ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3327ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3472ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3766ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3329ms TTL=242
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Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=4313ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3039ms TTL=242
Request timed out.
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Request timed out.
Ping statistics for 64.233.183.99:
Packets: Sent = 85, Received = 34, Lost = 51 (60% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 2528ms, Maximum = 4359ms, Average = 3480ms
Increased timeout ping logs:
Request timed out.
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=5698ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=5040ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3582ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3424ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3583ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3223ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3527ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3014ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=4719ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=5776ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=5988ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=6744ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=6023ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=5287ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=5289ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3631ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3551ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=4440ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=4846ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=5756ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=5213ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=5412ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=6217ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=6591ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=5808ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=5413ms TTL=242
Ping statistics for 64.233.183.99:
Packets: Sent = 27, Received = 26, Lost = 1 (3% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 3014ms, Maximum = 6744ms, Average = 4915ms
Nearly 5 seconds average round trip!!!
Thanks Plusnet
Doing normalization has kind of been like (and reminds me of) things like sub netting and binary and hex mathematics, they both took me ages to get used to, but once it clicks in you head, its easy!
Now, trying to do all this work is not helped by a crap Internet Service Provider, mines Plusnet. 2 years ago they were top of the game, now they can't keep up with the demand (but they are still selling the product) and they are loosing customers like crazy, I might be one of them.
I have had a couple of run ins with them about the speed of service they provide, I am supposed to get 2mb/s which tends to max out at about 220kb/s. I can get this no problem and have done since ADSL max was installed at my exchange in Comberbatch.
But a couple of times now they have "limited" my service for no good reason, I haven't gone over my allowance and they would not provide a reason for this limit in service. Last time around they removed it and it has been fine since........ until yesterday.
Now, I can't break 30kb/s, which is on all accounts ridiculous for what I am paying for, so I have sent them another bitchy message asking them to remove the restrictions, we will see.
Ping logs:
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=4038ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3992ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3942ms TTL=242
Request timed out.
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=4224ms TTL=242
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
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Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3407ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3055ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3007ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3093ms TTL=242
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
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Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=4133ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3576ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3445ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=4142ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3327ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3472ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3766ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3329ms TTL=242
Request timed out.
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Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=4313ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3039ms TTL=242
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Ping statistics for 64.233.183.99:
Packets: Sent = 85, Received = 34, Lost = 51 (60% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 2528ms, Maximum = 4359ms, Average = 3480ms
Increased timeout ping logs:
Request timed out.
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=5698ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=5040ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3582ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3424ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3583ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3223ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3527ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3014ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=4719ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=5776ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=5988ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=6744ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=6023ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=5287ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=5289ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3631ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=3551ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=4440ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=4846ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=5756ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=5213ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=5412ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=6217ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=6591ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=5808ms TTL=242
Reply from 64.233.183.99: bytes=32 time=5413ms TTL=242
Ping statistics for 64.233.183.99:
Packets: Sent = 27, Received = 26, Lost = 1 (3% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 3014ms, Maximum = 6744ms, Average = 4915ms
Nearly 5 seconds average round trip!!!
Thanks Plusnet
Saturday, 17 March 2007
Nothing
Well, nothing to moan about today, not done much coursework as usual, up hill struggle with that, hope it all works out in the end!
Just watched the new "300" film, about Battle of Thermopylae, it was fantastic, really enjoyed the whole thing. Just been reading about the battle on Wikipedia and the film seems to follow history to the letter. This makes a change from usual films that stray from reality for the purposes of the film and audience. I recommend you to see it when its out in the UK, I watched a special "pre-release" version
Just watched the new "300" film, about Battle of Thermopylae, it was fantastic, really enjoyed the whole thing. Just been reading about the battle on Wikipedia and the film seems to follow history to the letter. This makes a change from usual films that stray from reality for the purposes of the film and audience. I recommend you to see it when its out in the UK, I watched a special "pre-release" version
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