Art/Empire/Industry

2006-08-21T12:13:00.000Z

Movin'

As promised I've move the blog to a new home. Please adjust your browser...normal service will resume as soon as possible. http://stufforama.wordpress.com

2006-06-15T14:47:00.000Z

Blog Smog... As part of my return to at least part time blogging, I'm thinking of moving the blog to an alternative Blog Site like Wordpress. For no other reason that I fancy a change...as in it's as good as rest. As I've already taken a rest from blogging this seems like the next best thing. I'll probably change the domain name too as tonycocks.com seems to get blocked by some profanity filters (dunno why) and as many of you know I'm the least profane person alive in Britain today. I might also blog about the Windows Mobile stuff a bit more as running mulltiple blogs is time consuming and frankly not much fun.

2006-05-30T09:21:00.000Z

Kingston, come in Kingston… Not sure if I mentioned it but we’ve moved house. After eleven years in our two bed Victorian terrace in sunny Barnes, about five weeks ago we crossed Richmond Park to equally sunny Kingston to a similar vintage Victorian three bed Villa. It's a 'Villa' apparently ‘cos the door is in the side of the house rather than the front which makes the building longer than normal. The location, remember the mantra, is spot on being half way between the aforementioned park (we’re now closer) and Kingston town centre, in fact we’re about 10 minutes from almost anywhere in this part of the world. Moving to a larger property has meant that the furniture we have fills about one room and we’ve had to buy some grown up stuff like a proper dinning table and my first ever lawnmower. OK it’s only a Flymo (a Vision Compact 350 if you’re interested) but a lawnmower for me is a sign that times are changing. Daft I know. More space has given me the opportunity to trade up to a flat panel TV and a Panasonic 42” PX60 now affords some serious Xbox 360 fun. Ghost Recon is still as hard as nails but at least it looks fantastic not to mention…big. The BMW ZM Coupe is now a long distant memory; I do miss its quirky, bonkers looks and warp speed acceleration but not the BMW dealer network which for normal paying punters (i.e. Not company car drivers) should be a million times better considering the wallet emptying expense involved. It’s been replaced by a Ford Mondeo Estate….I know I had the same reaction when it was proposed to me, but after a few minutes behind the wheel and the fact it was a fully loaded ST220 it was a steal. I even like the colour.

2006-05-28T07:24:00.000Z

We need more explosions Mr De Mille With Bryan Singer off remaking Superman and 20th Century Fox not having the patience to wait they gave the Directors chair for X-Men 3 to Brett Ratner. Who? You know the fella that made classics like Rush Hour 2 and The Family Man. Was there really no one else? Well credit where credit's due, Ratner makes a valliant effort to carry on where Singer left off. But rather like a fake Rolex, at first glance it looks like real 'McCoy' (no Beast related pun intended) however it's just ultimately not a quality product. Gone is the emotional connection with the characters, even Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants, and it's replaced by explosions and a feeling that some studio exec wanted to cram in as many mutants as possible. In the hands of Singer the same script would have been more engaging, subtle and textured but also we'd have had the finale the franchise deserved.

2006-05-25T10:14:00.000Z

How they squeal when they're caught Some of the excuses are priceless... http://bungie.net/News/TopStory.aspx?link=waaahmbulance

2006-05-23T08:52:00.000Z

Leonardo wouldn't like it... And neither did I. Went to see The Da Vinci Code the other night and it's not good. Whereas the book is a veritable page turner, despite the ridiculous plot sign posting and feeble dialogue the movie is slow, leaden and just plain dull. Ron Howard was either having an off day or the script was hamstrung by what Dan Brown would allow the writers to do. A direct scene for scene translation of a book does not a good, or even passable move make.

2006-05-21T07:15:00.000Z

Hello Again... Don't suppose anyone has missed me.

2005-12-21T11:55:00.000Z

Don't let the bells end! It’s the shortest day in the year so it must be my birthday. The last few weeks since the beginning of the month have been interesting to say the least and I think I’ll start with the best bit. On Saturday I went to the Fasthost Christmas Party in Gloucester, not you might expect a unique event as it is almost Crimbo and companies on occasion have parties. This one however was quite different as we flew there by helicopter and the band was The Darkness. As expected they did indeed rock and Dan Hawkins and I shook hands not once but twice. Here’s hoping some of that rock magic dust has rubbed off on me. Mrs C suggested she’d found her new favourite way of getting about and I agree helicopters are brilliant; sadly they’re not on the car scheme. A big, very big, thanks to Matt Winwood for the invite, it’s going to be tough to top it I can tell ya! I’m settling into my new role as the Development Manager for MS Partners interesting in mobility. All the Partners I’ve met have been friendly, enthusiastic and I’ve seen some very clever things done with MS powered handhelds. Now Mobile 5 is here that will only get better. Speaking of handhelds my current favourite is the HTC Wizard, AKA the T-Mobile MDA, QTEK 9100, O2 XDA mini S. It sits rather neatly between a full size PDA and a Smartphone. Support for GPRS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and the slide out thumb board means I can use it as a portable data centric device buts it’s small enough to be as unobtrusive as this kind of device can be. Not sure if I mentioned it but my beloved M Coupe now has a new owner and I’ve been without wheels for about three weeks. It’s quiet liberating really and as I can spend most of my time in the London office, or the Barnes one if I want too, it’s not been a problem. I will have to get an alternative four wheeled vehicular convenience at some point so if anyone knows an Audi S6 Avant or a BMW 540 Touring going spare let me know. Karen passed the first year of her OU Psychology degree with flying colours, well done Mrs C! Any athletes looking for a Sports Psychologist for the 2012 Olympics should apply now. So dear readers have a great Christmas and see you in the new year

2005-11-18T18:44:00.000Z

The Office I installed Office 12 a few days ago, well Beta 1, and it's not bad. Not bad at all. The obvious things like the update UI look great, I think the ribbon bars are a top idea. Outlook which looked pretty good anyway has been tweaked and had a bunch usability shortcuts added. The LCS integration is already in place and when the WSS and SPS bits are finished it'll be very impressive. Yep...being beta it suffers from some of the usual undocumented features that litter beta software but I'm happy enough with it not to go back to Office 2003.

2005-11-14T14:45:00.000Z

Pebble smebble... Who was it who thought it was a good idea to render perfectly good looking Georgian houses with a mixture of cement and gravel? I hope the 1950 precusor to Sarah Beeny who dreamt this up has a red hot poker where the sun doesn't shine.

2005-11-12T09:01:00.000Z

Zens dead baby! Sadly my Creative Zen has died, well not died exactly, but has a terminal illness. Creative have had a few problems with the Zen Micro, specifically the 3mm headphone socket which can drop one of the stereo channels so it sounds like your listening underwater. It seems as if the Neeon has had this defect passed on. As I got it from a guy in Hong Kong via eBay I think I've paid the price of being an early adopter. C'est la vie! All is not lost though as the Zen has a standad Seagate 5Gb microdrive in it and that'll fit nicely in my camera. So....with what remains of my last Ebay sale I picked up a 1Gb mobiBLU DAH-1700. I know I'd never heard of mobiBLU either but they seem to make the world's smallest WMA/MP3 players. The 1700 is about half the size of a lipstick, has a tiny colour screen but...and this is the killer...it's OLED, so it uses about 25% of the juice of an LED screen and can be viewed in direct sunlight. Battery life is a consequence very impressive. It even comes with a video transcoder so will play MPEG4 vids and has a picture viewer too. OK so the screen is too small to watch Star Wars properly but it makes for great geekware.

2005-11-08T20:05:00.000Z

Xbox 360...it's rather good Had my first play with an Xbox 360 today and I was rather impressed. Played Call of Duty 2 and King Kong, both look stunning. The controller is a delight to use too. It's gonna be a monster especially with the updated Xbox Live.

2005-10-31T18:17:00.000Z

Hail Satan! If you haven't listened to the Tenacious D album, do so as you're in for a treat. Excellent stuff!

2005-10-27T14:14:00.000Z

Bring forth the devices... If like me you think carrying around a phone and a PDA is every so slightly silly a while ago I took procession of an Orange M1000, nice device which I swapped for my C500. When a colleague needed to borrow one I ended up letting them keep it as I had upgraded the OS on my C500 to Mobile 2005, mainly to try out push email. Lucky me then with my new role means that get my hands on all the latest devices, as apparently a new Orange M5000 is in the post. Based on the HTC Universal of which a variant is the upcoming O2 Xda Exec it’s packed with lovely gizmology. 3G, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPRS etc etc. For me the big advantage is like my C500 it comes with Windows Mobile 5 but due to the larger screen and build in keyboard mobile mail and web browsing are a lot easier; load on the mobile version of MS Communicator and I’m done. Hey, it’s even a phone HTC who make these devices have a whole boatload of new designs in the pipe line and with people like Motorola and Samsung lining up a range of Windows Mobile phones we’ll be spoilt for choice.

2005-10-24T09:10:00.000Z

Lets go Mobile I start my new job at MS Towers at the end of November and Daz was right it does have to do with Windows Mobile. I’ll be looking after the mobile device world with Business Partners and will go by the grand moniker of Solution Channel Development Manager, so if you want to know anything about Smartphones, PDAs and other handhelds you know where to find me.

2005-10-23T08:28:00.000Z

A few days on the country I’m a bit of a fan of Boutique Hotels. Small, often one off establishments that offers great food, fabulous accommodation and fawning service. So to celebrate Karen finishing her OU exams, my new job and selling the house we spend a few nights at the Cotswold House in Chipping Campden, oh and we could take the Izzy. Having visited a few of these types of hotel and Karen having been in the travel business we do tend to set the standards rather high; and why not? They ain’t exactly cheap. Cotswold House has obviously had a huge amount of money spent on it and don’t get me wrong we had a great time, but when compared to some of the others we’ve been too it’s missing something. The devil as always is in the detail and this is the problem, the décor is a bit tired in places, nothing you’d normally notice but Karen spots this stuff straight away, fixtures needing a bit of TLC and some odd room layouts. And it’s probably over priced by about 25 to 30%. Again don’t get me wrong it’s not bad, it’s just not the best and at this price point it should be, but I suspect that the location alone sells it to most visitors.

2005-10-19T08:49:00.000Z

Music car house job Got hold of a Creative Neeon this week and I’m very impressed. It’s about the size of a matchbox and is all shiny and black. The battery life makes the iPod Mini look positively leaky in comparison and attached to a pair of Shure E2C headphones sounds excellent. I did look at a Nano but was warned off the 4Gb model but too may of them are either DOA or fall apart, the 2Gb version has a completely different set of guts and is pretty rock solid. The Neeon’s 5Gb drive means I can stick as many WMAs on as I’m ever likely to need and the built in FM radio and voice recorder means not having to fork out for add-ons. The Coupe is now up for sale and the hunt now starts for a replacement. Finding a Volvo V70R of a suitable vintage that hasn’t been to the moon and back is proving difficult, this is further compounded by someone asking why not replace the Coupe with another BMW? Well I asked, show me where I can find a BMW of a similar age for 10K and has enough room for two dogs. Well it seems it ain’t as difficult as it seems as E39 5 Series Tourings on a W plate are on or there abouts and this includes the monster 540. We’ve sold the house but can’t find anywhere to move too. It’s not a problem as the buyer doesn’t mind waiting. And as if that wasn’t enough I have gone and got another job at MS Towers, which reminds me that my chum Daz, who has multiple device syndrome, can easily be cured by a something like this.

2005-10-05T20:22:00.000Z

And it's Goodnight from... Sometimes when someone who you've never met dies your world subtly changes and will never be the same again; for me the sad death of Ronnie Barker is one such a occasion. I grew up watching The Two Ronnies, Porridge and Open All Hours, the man was comedy genuis and the world is a poorer, a much poorer place, without him.

2005-10-04T20:30:00.000Z

Die Spammers Die! There's a special place in hell for spammers, be they of the email variety or the newer blog kind. Until then there's 'Word Verification' as pointed by Mr Ports.

2005-09-28T11:56:00.000Z

Calamari That is one big Cephalopod.

2005-09-27T16:45:00.000Z

Style or function? Those chaps at Apple have gone and done it again and created a must have product with the iPod Nano. But I can't help feel that at some point they need to move the game on a bit, after all the Nano has no more functionality than it's larger brethren the Mini and the standard iPod, although they seem to have quietly dropped the Mini; well I can't find it on the Apple site anymore. Pity as I rather like the Mini but I suppose the Nano would only have gone and competed with the it, although I can't help thing the Shuffle is now redundant too. Although I never saw the point of it anyway! However Apple have got together with Motorola to create a phone music player hybrid, the Rokr, but it only has a 100 song capacity even if you add a bigger memory card so my Smartphone frankly makes it looks ike a waste of time. No expandable memory on a device like this? Do me a favour. Let's not forget that devices like the upcoming Samsung's SGH-i300 with it 3Gb HDD shows how far the game has moved on.

2005-09-22T10:49:00.000Z

Losing the plot… Football I’ve written a few words about Premiership football in the past, in large part about the knife edge it walks between being a sport/entertainment and a business so it’s interesting, for me anyway, to see how this particular season has highlighted how bad things have become. Even a certain Mr Wenger, who strangely has a christian name almost the same as the club he manages, has commented that fans coughing up £50, £60, £70 or more should at least expect to be entertained, but his counterpart Jose Mourinho doesn’t agree saying it’s all about focus and winning. And you can see his point; the Premiership now embodies free market economics so who cares if the fans get value for money as long as you keep winning and bringing in money. One thing that Jose forgets however is that without fans there is no football, they are in business terms ‘the customer’, and are the most important part of this sport/business. So how dull has this season been? Well in the first month of this Premiership season fewer goals were scored than in the previous ten. Of Man Utd and Liverpool’s 0-0 draw both Ferguson and Benítez admitted it provided nothing for the fans but at least the players showed ‘good spirit and attitude’. As Simon Hattenstone in The Guardian noted here was a bunch of footballers, some paid up to £5m a year, and fans are expected to except their good attitude as a bonus. Oh and Liverpool’s manager is a pleased as punch that his team has yet to concede a goal but how many have they scored? Er…hint it’s between 0 and 2. At least I suppose the players themselves offer some level of entertainment as most put in Oscar winning performances when tackled and Wayne Rooney just can’t help losing his temper with referees. However help is at hand and it was staring footy fans in the face. The Champions League. More goals, lots more as it happens, variety and best of all you haven’t a clue who’s going to win. So abandon the over paid, whinging, IQ just scraping in double digit, Cadillac Escalade driving, look I’ve married a Spice Girl underachievers and rediscover why you liked football in the first place. Lost I was warned the JJ Abram had a tendency to start something without having a clue of where he was going and it looks like they were right. Lost started brilliantly and I for one was hooked but the slow realisation that it’s not going anywhere, and I don’t mean just ‘cos they are stuck on an island, has dawned on me. Too much characterisation, not enough plot and some breaking of the immutable laws of script writing have left me feeling JJ doesn’t know what he’s doing. Yes it’s great that the characters are being fleshed out but hey some weird stuff has happened on the island and it barely gets a mention. In the second episode someone shoots a polar bear, not strange you might think but as they are on a tropical island it should at least raise a eyebrow or two however it’s never mentioned again. Oh...perlease!

2005-09-22T10:19:00.000Z

My favorite American Is Gore Vidal and the great man in 80 is a few weeks. But I write this now as I just saw this amusing quote. Q. Are you aware that people think you have a relentless superiority complex? A. It's because I speak in complete sentences. That's considered un-American.

2005-09-20T20:23:00.000Z

The Wheels of Justice... ...turn very slowly. Two days on jury service, all of which has been spend sitting around waiting. On a related note last time I looked snorting lines of Columbian Marching Powder was illegal, so why hasn't a certain Ms Moss been arrested? And is anyone surprised she uses drugs? She's a wafer thin fashion model going out with a wasted drug dependant rock star. Go figure!

2005-09-17T09:38:00.000Z

Update Not been near blogland for a bit as we’ve been busy putting the house straight so we could put it on the market. What I don’t know about wooden floors and varnish has yet to be discovered. Anyway after only a week we’ve had an offer a close to the asking price so we’re now officially ‘under offer’ which considering how slow the UK housing market is supposed to be at the moment is reassuring, we just now have the difficult task of finding a new place in the same area. We’ve been looking but not found anything that says, “I’m your new home.” We maybe on to one but its early days and the English system of buying and selling property means nothing is certain until the creaky legal system gets involved, even then you might as well depend on the Magic 8 Ball as a method of predicting how things will turn out. Recently got hold of a Line6 Guitar Port which allows you to download lessons, effects and all kinds of guitar riffage on to the PC to help improve your playing, and some might say for me that’s a good thing! It’s an excellent little bit of kit and for a beginner like me is a great practice aid. It’s nice when you get approached by people at work asking you to join their team as they hear you’re not a bad sort. I’ve had a couple of roles suggested to me, one is the Product Manager for Sharepoint which with v3, Office 12 and Exchange 12 less than 12 months away sounds very interesting and the other is a Channel Development Manager in Business Partner looking after Mobile devices, a gadget fest if ever I’ve heard one. They are a small but significant step away from what I’ve done in recent years but it’s time for a change and a challenge. The judicial system has finally caught up with me and from Monday I’m on Jury service. I hope it’s over quickly as I understand there’s a lot sitting around twiddling your thumbs; the advice I’ve been give is take a good book. I notice Choddo Hayden is at long last going to get rid of his badge engineered Shanghai Automotive 75. But again Rob’s usual impeccable taste of all things vehicular have abandoned him as he opts for the aspirational choice of today’s young executive who should know better. The new BMW 3 Series is ugly enough in a Mitsubishi Carisma clone sort of way but in estate version it sinks to a new low, it even makes the scaled up 5 Series alternative look less of the Lovecraft inspired abomination it is. This a car even the chaps at Top Gear couldn’t be bother to add the The Cool Wall as it was so dull and let us not forget the Chodmeister once drove a Honda Integra Type R which had been hand build by naked Japanese super models, or something! Please mate don’t do it!!!

2005-09-02T16:03:00.000Z

Simulation I always been a bit of fan of PC based flight sims the daddy of which is obviously MS Flight Simulator, however I've always found it a bit dry and technical especially as the planes don't tend to come with guns attached. Not so long ago combat flying games for the PC were coming out of our metaphorical ears but due to long development cycles and the related costs most games studios seem to bailed. Focus Multimedia publish IL-2 Sturmovik - Forgotten Battles which might not have the most catchy name but is by all accounts rather good. However it might come as no surprise that the one I've been playing for a while now is MS Flight Sims cousin MS Combat Flight Simulator, and the combat bit means it comes with guns and bombs and rockets and all kinds of 40's flying goodness. In version 3 however it's a bit of a double edged sword as it spanks anything but the most up to date machine and even then it's close but more importantly the developers decided to use a different games engine from standard MS Flight Sim, in version 2 it used the standard engine which made life easy for modders because if they could make plane models for Flight Sim they could do the same for Combat Sim. This has meant it's taken the modder sim community a little while to get up to speed and begin to provide new planes, missions and other enhancements, however spurned on by GMX and the brilliant Firepower there's plenty of stuff to keep the WWII plane plank more than happy. Chocks away!

2005-09-01T20:41:00.000Z

...guitar! I've been playing the guitar for a few months now and the tips of the fingers on my left hand are now noticeably harder than those on my right. I'm still stumbling around the fretboard but at least I know a few chords and at least I'm not embarrased when I go to guitar emporiums; I always get odd looks when I play the Imperial March with as much distoration as I can muster from whatever amp I get given. My Korg PX4 is good for this too. Oh and The Killers and Kaiser Chief albums are excellent. Smile like you mean it!

2005-08-16T14:21:00.000Z

Don't all thank me at once... Now the new football season has started I've decided to be brave a make a few predictions. The bookies won't like me but it's a burden I'm willing to shoulder. I reckon either Chelsea, Arsenal or Manchester United will win the Premiership. Chelsea, Arsenal or Manchester United will win the FA Cup, oh and Chelsea, Arsenal or Manchester United will win some/all/a few of the other trophies and associated gongs handed out every season. Controversial choices I know as the Premiership is so competitive.

2005-08-13T15:57:00.000Z

Pimp My Ride If any of you are looking for a new set of wheels, look no further. It's 'blingin' man innit!

2005-08-10T11:44:00.000Z

Cars and… It’s hard to believe I’ve had the M Coupe almost two years and despite my dislike of BMW customer service and the current model range, what dear god have they done to the 3 Series, the little Coupe always manages to make me smile. As a driving machine it has few peers, whereas most current machinery is about disconnecting you from the driving experience the M Coupe almost at times gives you too much. The lack of any traction control and 320bhp through the monster rear tyres makes wet and slippery roads at times….challenging. It’s taken a while but BMW Chiswick have now resolved all the issues that have at times blunted the ownership experience that frankly I don’t expect from a premier brand like BMW. Some truly awful dealerships, my bile and vitriol mainly reserved for Sytners of Sheffield, and a lack of understanding how certain M cars work have lead me to conclude that this is will the last BMW I’ll own. If you have a BMW outside the standard or extended warranty schemes take it to a specialist like Munich Motors or Munch Legends, they know more about BMW cars than BMW do. If you do have an extended warranty as I do, get BMW to do the stuff covered by the warranty and get specialists to do the rest. However it’s been a real tough decision to decide to sell the M. I’m not driving to Reading as much as I used to, once maybe twice a week a week tops, and spend most of my time in London. We’re also going to moving soon, locally if possible, and get another Vizsla. And it’s the last point that's the killer. Izzy fits nicely into the back of the Coupe but sadly she’d be a bit cramped if she had to share the space with a second and potentially larger male Vizsla. So what on earth do I replace it with? There’s nothing I can think of for same money that’s as bonkers supercar fast and I could fit two medium sized gundogs into. Thy only option is leave the world of ‘evo’ style motors and go all sensible. But maybe, as K suggests, there is a sensible option that still allows for some Porsche baiting. A few years back Volvo did a mad version of the 850 called the T5, they then went all silly and released the T5-R and in estate form went touring car racing with it. In standard form it booted out about 250 bhp could worry a 911 and Boxsters were easily shown what the rear of a T5 looked like. Subsequently Volvo revamped the 850 estate and called it the V70, kept the ‘R’ version and thoughtfully added All Wheel Drive to reduce the number of times you’d have to replace the front tyres. It was in production right up the when the current Phase 2 V70 range was introduced in 1999/2000. They are cheap now with low mileage examples changing hands for between 6k and 8k so this will leave a serious piece of change from the M Coupe for a few ‘modifications’, well one really, an ECU upgrade which will release a further 60 ponies without further adjustments to other parts of the car. I can then still get real stomp on if I have to but I can be accompanied by Mrs C, Izzy, her new chum and for the first time since the PT Cruiser some luggage. It is ironic that there are as few, maybe fewer, V70Rs in the UK as there are M Coupes so the transition may take a while. Fun this week as Top Gear Magazine have a free version of the 'Cool Wall' you can stick on your fridge. Just don’t forget to put the new BMW 3 Series, 5 Series X3 and Jeremy Clarkson in the section marked ‘Seriously Uncool’.

2005-08-07T16:46:00.000Z

The day the world changed With the sixtieth anniversary of the dropping of the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima I like many others have been wondered if there was an alternative. The question of the whether or not it was justified has tested modern historians since the late forties and continues to do so even now, especially as its effects are still felt today. As the war drew to its conclusion the Japanese believed it was possible for both the Emperor and the Imperial structures that supported it to survive, the allies in effect would get in sight of Japan and call it quits. However the 1943 Casablanca Conference called for the unconditional surrender of German, Italy and Japan and after some of the bloodiest fighting of the war in the Pacific, notably the invasion of Okinawa, the Americans saw no reason to let the Japanese off the hook. So along side the development of the ‘bomb’ the Americans were planning the invasion of the Japanese homeland. Called Operation Downfall it was in two parts, firstly Operation Olympic an invasion of the southern Japanese island of Kyushu planned for November 1st 1945 and Operation Coronet, an invasion of central Honshu and Tokyo scheduled four months later on March 1st 1946. To give a sense of scale of the task the Americans landed 5 amphibious and 3 airborne divisions at Normandy, Olympic was to land 14 divisions and Coronet 23 divisions. The Japanese has predicted much of the American intent and put in place a plan for homeland defence called Ketsu-Go or “Decisive Action” and it’s objective was simple. Destroy as much of the America invasion fleet whilst still at sea using some 3000 Kamikaze planes along with hundreds of boats, mini subs and submarines not destroyed by the US Navy. The remaining Japanese Imperial Army was still a force to reckoned with and consisted of almost as many men as the Americans planned to use, they also had far more aircraft in reserve than thought, some 10,000 of various types and lets not forget the indigenous population with also would have fought to the death. One thing is certain then; the invasion of the Japan would have been the bloodiest campaign in history no matter who prevailed. Subsequent estimates put the possible US casualties at some 1.4 million and Japanese maybe five to ten times that, its also speculated that had the invasion been the bloodbath many predicted Truman would have used the bomb anyway. So it’s possible to conclude that the question is not as simple as ‘atom bomb’ or ‘invasion’ but that the attack on Hiroshima was a tragic and horrifying inevitability as the cost of an invasion was unthinkable, especially in the context of the 17 million people has already lost their lives in the Pacific since the attack on Pearl Harbour.

2005-08-06T08:09:00.000Z

Saw two things yesterday I was sat in a Sushi bar in Soho and director Alan Parker was sat opposite. I resisted the opportunity to tell him that I think his 1988 movie Mississippi Burning is rather good. I also got to spend a little time with a PSP, sadly not mine but a colleagues. I'd seen one in the flesh but never had the chance to have a proper button bash, I now want one. It looks great, has a nice weighty feel and the screen looks bright and remarkably detailed, but most importantly it helps scratch the gadget itch like few other 'small objects of desire' I've seen for a while.

2005-08-02T15:16:00.000Z

Tax and Porn Can you tax porn sites on the internet? Well a member of the US congress believes you can, the truth be told however Blanche Lincoln, an Arkansas Democrat, is really trying to use tax as a tool of censorship. One day, soon I hope, politicians will learn that trying to control the internet is as futile as it is pointless. Whatever you think of pornography especially on the internet, you know that this is the thin of the wedge. Today a porn site, tomorrow your blog 'cos you've said something unsavoury.

2005-07-29T08:01:00.000Z

People are stupid Just when you think people can't get can anymore dumb, someone proves you wrong.

2005-07-22T13:46:00.000Z

You heard it first...well maybe... Windows 'Longhorn' is now officially known as Windows Vista.

2005-07-22T13:00:00.000Z

The engines finally 'canna take it. My blogging buddy Carl Tyler has already mentioned it, but it's worth mentioning again that James Doohan of Star Trek fame died the other day at the age of 85. A childhood hero of mine along with the rest of the cast from the original series it's hard to believe time has caught up with these guys. Funny enough he lived in Redmond too.

2005-07-20T14:33:00.000Z

It's made of cheese apparently Today is the anniversary of the first landing on the moon in 1969 and it’s hard to imagine the impact it had, all of a sudden everyone wanted to be an astronaut and for a moment it looked as if it was the first step in manned exploration of the near solar system. We know of course that it’s turned out very differently and we haven’t been back for over 30 years, which if you think about it for a second it seems a strange thing to say. However it’s important to understand that the moon landings were as politically motivated as they were scientific; the Americans were keen to show the Russians who the cold war ‘Daddy’ was. Besides paranoia probably imagined the Russians building some kind of moon base which could point nuclear missiles at the US. The cold war was like that! If your interested where they landed, Google as well as bringing us the brilliant Google Earth have also something similar with the moon.

2005-07-19T15:43:00.000Z

IT is easy Next time you complain your job in IT it too hard, remember a nine year old could do it.

2005-07-12T20:36:00.000Z

London speaks... You have to love this city! I know I do.

2005-07-06T21:42:00.000Z

2012 It's great news that the Olympics are coming to London in 2012. I guess the queque for tickets starts now. Imagine there are children in their mid to late teens to don't know it yet but they'll be competing in the games...how wonderful!

2005-07-03T21:07:00.000Z

You know when... ...someone has too much time on their hands. Freud would have a field day!

2005-07-01T14:50:00.000Z

Up the old Sea Dog One of the great thing about working for a company that is dependant on Business Partners is that there are regular ‘event’ to socialise and network with them. One such ‘event’ is the annual Silicon Cup at Cowes where a bunch of BPs and MS types get together and race around in yachts and general swap tales of jibs, sheets and tillers. It's also worth mentioning that it also raises a lot of money for charity. I was invited along by the top chaps at Trinity Expert Systems who I work with a lot and we all had a great time. They put us up at the Royal Corinthian Yacht club so we didn’t have to sleep on the boat, which was rather handy after all the eating and drinking. Er...hum, business meetings that went on. One of the chaps from Trinity came over in his own 6.3m ‘Rib’ which sported a rather tasty 150 Yamaha outboard motor, so on the Tuesday evening we were sat in the middle of the Solent watching the fireworks celebrating Trafalgar 200. All in all a fun few days.

2005-06-24T09:51:00.000Z

Spying in Numpton Once every quarter we have some sort of ‘offsite’ which usually involved some fun and games and a few hours of ‘meetings’ to justify the whole thing. The latest one was a day at Spy Games just outside Northampton, known affectionately by the locals as ‘Numpton’. Playing with gadgets, guns and driving cars in mad ways had to be worth even going to Northampton for. Oh and “J Turns” are a hoot especially in a old Volvo 740.

2005-06-17T15:39:00.000Z

Izzy the Blogger The dog has a blog....no honest!

2005-06-15T13:42:00.000Z

I've lost my iPod Mini Well sort of. Karen has decided she rather likes it and wants to use the iPod when she goes running. Of course this means my collection of guitar based popular combo hits has been deleted for music more oriented to the terpsichorean muse. As a consequence I’m on the lookout for a repleacement. I could of course just get another one but the market for portable media players has moved on there might be some useful alternatives worth considering. The larger iPods seem an obvious choice but for me they don’t carry the appeal of their smaller cousin and the kudos they once had is long gone. As long ago as six months ago the iPod Mini has the whole micro hard drive music player market to itself but there’s now some good looking alternatives which address the Mini’s 'Achilles Heel'; battery life. The Rio Carbon, Creative Zen Micro and the new and probable favourite Creative Neeon are all worth a look.

2005-06-14T10:37:00.000Z

The invasion continues... I'm beginning to see more familiar faces at MS Towers almost everyday and yes there’s a new addition to the home for ex Lotus types. This time it’s Mr David Parry-Jones who’s decided to join me, Trevor, Jono, Steve B, Neil J and Neil C, Mark, Tim and Jane down Reading way. We’ll out number the locals soon.

2005-06-13T11:19:00.000Z

Holidays are never long enough are they?

Just spend a week in Sardinia catching some rays, relaxing and attending a friends wedding. Not a place I'd ever consider for a holiday but it's a fantastic place. The sun shined all week and the beaches are white, sandy and empty. The food was brilliant, amazing fish and pizzas and the Limoncello and Mirto were as alcoholic as they sound. Great lsland and a little of the tourist track, so good in fact we are planning a return trip.

2005-06-07T13:25:00.000Z

IBM, or should that be Lenovo, release a Tablet... ...PC that is and it looks a cracker. Based on how generally well put together Thinkpads are this should be a great machine.

2005-05-26T06:02:00.000Z

Where is the fat lady? Liverpool if nothing else last night proved the maxim "It ain't over 'til it's over". Just when you thought it was a done deal they go and score three goals in six minutes or something. It would have been nice to see them slot a winner past AC before the final whistle but after a comeback like that it became a question of ends rather than means. And what sweet irony that it was the inconsistant and soon to be unemployed Jerzy Dudek who saved the penalty that won the match. I'll find out later but I reckon all my in-laws will still be celebrating.

2005-05-26T05:38:00.000Z

Dogs eh? Izzy once again puts the two of through the 'ringer' as she was poisoned on Monday. She ate something she picked up by the river that disagreed with her....literally. Subsequently she spend Monday night at the vets on a drip and it was touch and go on a few occasions as her nervous system was overloaded. She seems to have the constitution of an animal one hundred times her size as she is how almost back to normal, a little subdued but we can see she's almost ready to turn it back up to 11. What poisoned her? We're not sure but as two other dogs also went to local vets after being poisoned in the same area of the river. Could be one of a hundred explainations.

2005-05-22T09:05:00.000Z

Robert Kilroy-Silk wouldn’t like it Hard to believe that Eurovision is in its 50th year and if the truth be told without the ‘stretching’ of entry requirement to countries that have either invaded or been invaded by a European country, I’m sure the contest would have died years ago. The hosts were the usual miss matched horrors who needed more practise. Terry Wogan described them as ‘Ant and Shriek’ and he was right, despite having a state of the art microphone DJ Pasha’s co-host could stop shouting. So here’s the annual Tony C breakdown of the runners a riders of this years musical extravaganza. Oh and I’m not being ironic here…well a little. Hungary Wobbly voiced, one legged trouser wearing, river dance inspired Euro nonsense. She was a bit of babe though. The babe theme continued throughout the whole competition. 12th. United Kingdom Javine had just recovered from a throat infection, apparently, but did her best Ms Spears impression. The song was aimed the Balkan block vote with it’s Eastern twang, but it didn’t work. The dancer on Javine’s right was a babe. 22nd. Malta Bland Celine Dion wannabe number. Both had a connection with Titanic in a way, whilst the French Canadian hit meister sang the theme song for Titanic the Maltese entry was the size of the famous ill fated liner. 2nd. Rumania Looking like a young Ruby Wax on a building site. Yes those were angle grinders on the stage, this one of the many low points song wise. Lots of silicon mind you and did I see the guys at the back wearing dustbin lids on there feet? A travesty of Euro proportions she came 3rd. Norway Glam rockers Wig Wam did their best ‘Europe’ impression, the group not the region, and proved irony is alive and well amongst the fiords. Must be all that whale meat. The singer signed off by shouting “Rock and Roll Revolution”. Amen to that. 9th. Turkey Lots of kettle drums, another feature of this years Eurovision, it was hard to find an act that didn’t use them. It was blessed relief when you did. As Terry Wogan pointed out ‘gymnastics and belly buttons’ about sums this up. Sounded Turkish I guess. 13th. Moldova Grandma beats the Drummer was the title and they follwed through by having a Granny on stage, although she mysteriously wasn’t in the Green Room celebrating. They tried to look like the Red Hot Chilli Peppers but were more Korma than Madras. A very underserved 6th. Cyprus Ricky Martin and Michael Jackson love child horror, with Mel B dancing at the back. Truly utterly awful but the natural home for the Turkish vote. 18th. Spain I suppose it sounded Spanish and silicon was absent. It was at least different from the run of the mill Eurovision twaddle and a brave attempt to give the contest a bit of regional variation. It was bound to fail. 21st. Israel Bottle blonde silicon babe in a lovely dress. Classic ballad approach but I’m not sure what the unamplified acoustic guitarist was for. A sympathetic 4th. Serbia and Montenegro Odd miss matched trouser wearing boy band fodder. More kettle drums, surprise, surprise which were set about for visual rather than audible effect. More drivel at 7th. Denmark A Will Young, Westlife, Rowan Keating genetic mistake. Yuk. Benefited from the Nordic block vote to reach 10th. Sweden More leather, lots of it in fact. A hint of Austin Powers in this Vegas homage. The girls were great in their Pussy Galore suits. Sorry I forgot what it sounded like. They deserved better I’m sure at 19th. Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Fooking kettle drums again but the girls dresses were so short you could see the makers name. Alexander the Great would turn in his grave if anyone actually knew were he’s buried to verify. Grim. You have to love the Balkan block vote. 17th. Ukraine A politically significant song due the recent Orange Revolution. More chant than song really as the fused a riff from Nirvana with a Run DMC style rap. But why did they keep mentioning lattes? Not placed well at 20th. Germany They tried the Avril Lavigne/Shinia Twain/Alanis Morrisette rock chick route and failed. Rock attitude but no rock substance. I know Noel Coward said “let’s not be beastly to the Germans” but this was awful. A deserved 24th. Croatia The gypsy look in is this summer so the backing singers were bang up to date fashion wise. I didn’t know Wolverhampton Wanderers were big in Croatia as the song was entitled Wolves die alone; a Wogan joke not mine! More bloody kettle drums and at one point the drummer did handstand in the middle of the stage. 11th. Greece Riverdance meets Zorba. Michael Flattley must have made a mint in royalties at this years contest. Her breasts were all her own for a change and she was the best looking female singer in veritable sea of hunnies. The song was the usual fusion of Euro beat, poor lyrics and forgettable hook. 1st. Russia You could expect the Russians not to welcome in Kiev but they sent a tall leggy babe with fabulous shoes so they’ll probably be forgiven. Catchy musical hook but crappy lyrics. 15th. Bosnia and Herzegovina Bit a con. With a name like Feminnem you could be forgiven for expecting some gritty rap number, but instead we got a boppy Abba tribute. I’m sure the fact that they were three perky blondes in short skirts wasn’t missed by the voters. 14th. Switzerland All girl babe rock band dressed in white leather, with matching white guitars . There was a chap at the back dressed on black so to remain anonymous. Visually captivating, auditably forgettable. 8th. Latvia Cookie cutter pretty boy pop rubbish, bless ‘em. At one point they employed sign language. A mind bending 6th. France More Euro pap and not particular French. Oddly as the French usually go ‘off piste’ at Eurovision. They met their Waterloo at 23rd. Fewer novelty acts than normal and so it was even more difficult to tell one country from another, where for example are the transvestite Air Hostesses from a few years back? The acts that did well put on elaborate stage shows rather than mimic pop videos to create a visual appeal that covered the cracks in the songmanship. I suppose we can be thankful none them sounded like Travis.

2005-05-21T08:23:00.000Z

To Sith or not to Sith If you're easily offending by my opinion on the latest Star Wars films click away now..... That means you Daz. I'm between a rock and hard place. Do I go and see Revenge of the Sith knowing what a complete cock-up George made of the other two prequels? I mean here's an example of some dialogue, and I quote. Man: "You're so beautiful." Woman: "It's only because I'm so in love." Man: "No, it's because I'm so in love with you." Oh shit! OK Rotten Toms, usually an accurate tool for judging films, rates Revenge of the Sith pretty highly but if you read many of the reviews the general view is "it's better than the previous two". But surely the benchmark is the original trilogy not the duel farce that was 'Menace' and 'Clones'. As Mrs C is totally uninterested, and she is a Star Wars fan, I'll probably wait and rent it on DVD. Then watch the original trilogy straight after and wonder what might have been.

2005-05-18T14:41:00.000Z

That was quick Not sooner do you give 'em away at E3 they end up on eBay. Not much use without an actual Xbox 360 I suppose...

2005-05-09T19:38:00.000Z

Who won then? You be forgiven for thinking that the Labour Party and Tony Blair didn't win the 2005 Election based on the number of backbenchers calling for his resignation. I can’t help think that they’re being a tad ungrateful seeing as the party was unelectable prior to his leadership however as he seems to have squandered all the good will and massive majority they’d accumulated in ’97 maybe they have a point. The Conservatives failed to increase their proportion of the popular vote but with Michael Howard in charge they always going to come second. The next Tory PM is someone we’ve never heard of. Is it worth mentioning the Liberals? They seem to think we now live in a ‘Three Party Democracy’ and it would be nice to think there was some so called real alternative but the electoral seem to like simple choices and maybe three is too many.

2005-05-05T13:46:00.000Z

The preciousssss

As I mentioned a little while ago it seems counter intuitive that the publishers of board games have seen certain market segments grow as video games have established themselves.

One title that caught my eye recently is War of the Ring published by Fantasy Flight Games as it tries, successfully I might add, to recreate the story from LoTR in game form. It's big, epic, plays different every time, looks fantastic and captures the essence of Tolkien's Middle Earth.

If you're a LoTR fan and your thumbs need a rest then this as good a cure as any.

2005-05-05T10:05:00.000Z

Oh dear!

The announcement that IBM is to shed about 13,000 jobs should come as no surprise to all but the most naive. The company ballooned in size after the buy out of PWC and with the slow down in the tech market something was going to have to give. I guess the hope was the amputation of the PC business would obfuscate the need to make people redundant in the short term but it seems this wasn’t the case. To be fair to IBM, something I’d never thought I’d ever say, some of the staff lay offs will probably come with natural wastage as like most IT companies staff turnover is high. Coupled with the glacial drift to become consultancy practise that just happens to sell software and tin, the focus will inevitably be on the high margin services. I know how gut wrenching awful be made redundant is and I’ve also had first hand experience of how medievil IBM can be when it comes to matters of people management, my only hope is that IBM takes a more empathetic approach than it did when it absorbed Lotus.

2005-05-03T19:52:00.000Z

Jono. He's just some guy you know. It was John O'Hara's first day at MS as the Enterprise Product Group Director. It's good to see him.

2005-05-01T07:15:00.000Z

Zaphod. He's just some guy you know. I love the book, the radio adaptation and the TV series but I'm afraid not the movie version of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". Like the curate’s egg it's good in parts but with such wonderful source material I'm struggling to see how they could drop the ball. Martin Freeman is great as Arthur and Alan Rickman as the voice of Marvin is a hoot, but Sam Rockwell as Zaphod and Mos Def's Ford never really work. It's too rushed in places, too laboured in others and the love interest between Arthur and Trillian just a sop to the studios and US audience testing. Karen's comment summed it up, and she is no mean Hitchhiker fan. "I missed Dr Who for this?"

2005-04-29T13:14:00.000Z

Cars but no girls

Had the chance to go to Silverstone yesterday and see one of the four track test days the F1 teams are allowed. This Williams was pretty impressive even though it broken down twice and had a trip through the sand trap right next to us. It's not until you see them in the flesh, so to speak, do you realise not only how fast they are are but how ear splittingly loud they are too. And the German bloke in the red car didn't win...

2005-04-26T14:50:00.000Z

360? So Microsoft have leaked the first pictures and name for the upcoming 'Xenon' console. Before you can say Next Gen Console they're all over the Interwebdodah quicker than a naked Britney video...well almost. I dunno if they're real or not as it's more secret than a very secret thing that no one talks about, but whatever the truth I reckon 'Xenon' will very smart indeed.

2005-04-22T14:12:00.000Z

The Duke Spirit Was in a music shop around the corner from the London office and they were playing a promo copy of this. It's really rather good.

2005-04-19T09:51:00.000Z

Old Booze Up! Saw a fantastic headline on Sky News this morning. "Tories layout five point binge drinking plan." See even this close to an election MPs still find time to go on the lash, or maybe they know the result already.

2005-04-18T11:03:00.000Z

Cynical, Moi? I was interesting to hear Mr Snow and Humphries on the Today programme this morning discuss the subject of cynicism and politicians. Whilst I have some sympathy with Jon Snow’s view that we often start from the position that politicians are lying or at hiding things, I firmly believe they only have themselves to blame; hence the need for the more robust questioning styles of John Humphries and Jeremy Paxman. I can think of dozens of Ministers and Shadow Ministers who come on Today or Newsnight and don’t answer a single question, Howard’s inability to answer the same question fourteen times being just one extreme example. Whilst we get the politicians we deserve, they in turn get the interviewers they deserve.

2005-04-17T06:48:00.000Z

Games... When video gaming began to become popular many believed it marked the end for board games and RPGs like D&D, however the reverse appears to have have happened. A mate of mine who works for London’s, nay Englands premier gaming store, Leisure Games in Finchley, has seen the market remain strong; so strong in fact they had to move to a larger store across the road. So I got to pondering why this might be so. Well firstly the market for RPGs and boxed games is of course much, much bigger than the traditional family games of Monopoly and Cluedo but has seen consolidation as publishers have merged or been subsumed by the bigger players. The biggest, Hasbro, now owns Parker, Milton Bradley, the war gamers favourite Avalon Hill and Wizards of the Coast who picked up the Dungeons and Dragons license from TSR. The rest of the market is split between a few European companies like Ravensburger and Days of Wonder; although there are also still hundreds of small specialist publishers. In many ways I reckon it's because of the popularity of video games that people have begun think about gaming in general and look for other ways of fulfilling the gaming itch. Board games and 'paper and pencil' RPGs offer a fundamentally different gaming experience to video games. Staring at your mates across a table is always more involving than connecting to the internet to get fragged by an anonymous spotty ‘yoof’ who's hundreds maybe thousands of miles away. And don’t think some of these games can’t complete with the console or PC titles for unit sales. Ticket to Ride published by Days of Wonder have sold over 320,000 copies, lots of video games only dream of selling numbers like that.

2005-04-15T13:14:00.000Z

MG Rover...RIP. It now looks like MG Rover has bolted together their last car. For some it’s no lose, but as someone who nearly bought a 1972 Rover P5B, with the wonderful if somewhat thirsty Buick derived V8, I’m lugubrious to see another famous motoring brand disappear. The saddest thing is that as the Longbridge plant closes to be turned into flats and a retail park there really is nothing left for the MG Rover workforce to fall back on. The site was sold off a couple of years ago and leased back, BMW although sold Rover to Phoenix holdings for a tenner held onto ownership of the brand and ironically Shanghai Automotive own the IP for the 25 and the K-Series engine. Only MG brand has any potential, but without a factory and the suppliers nearby no one is going to be holding their breath. The next largest British owned company making cars is TVR, no hang on, that’s now in the hands of some spotty Russian teenager and Norfolk based Lotus is owned by Proton from Malaysia. Our contribution to volume car production? Cars made with hand beaten aluminium bodies on ash space frame chassis’…yes you’ve guessed it, it’s Morgan.

2005-04-13T16:44:00.000Z

You've got mail...twice. I’m off to see a customer tomorrow, not unusual you might think it’s my job, but relevant as I’ve been invited to talk to them about replacing their Notes email infrastructure with Exchange. As an ex Lotus employee and someone who’s still a fan of Notes the conversation will undoubtedly turn to my opinion of IBM’s messaging and collaboration strategy and what it means for Notes/Domino. Now if truth be told I shouldn’t even be having this conversation, but as this organisation is being told two things by IBM they’ve asked for a second, or should that be third opinion. One bit of IBM wants them to migrate to the latest version of Lotus Notes and another wants them to migrate to Lotus Workplace; but as they can’t understand why IBM has two different messaging platforms and no one at IBM can explain either I’ll have to give my unbiased thoughts. Oh and they don’t understand why there’s two versions of Sametime either. History shows that if a software company sells two products that do the same thing it has to at some point get off the fence and back one. It’s odd as it doesn’t seem to matter with other products, BMW for example can make the X3 and the X5 and people don’t seem to worry. However after five minutes in the software industry you discover that the rules everyone else plays by don’t apply. If you’re looking at your screen with a blank expression have a read of Merrill R Chapman’s book ‘In Search of Stupidly’ and you’ll understand. You might get a way with dual strategy with a more esoteric or niche product but when it comes to things like email one has to win. Place your bets….

2005-04-09T07:15:00.000Z

What ever happened to the British car industry? MG Rover went into receivership yesterday and it probably marks the end of locally owned volume car production in the UK. It is however not surprising as the simple fact is MG Rover makes cars no one wants to buy. Yes, the 75 is as good as any equivalent model but when the Rover brand is past it’s sell by date and only retired gents who fondly remember their P5B buy your cars, you know you’re in trouble. The rest of range is a joke. The 25 is outclassed in very respect by the competition and the 45 is a prehistoric Honda design at least four or five generations older than the equivalent Civic. And what has happened to poor old MG? The ageing TF has managed to keep it’s end up but the bespoilered badge engineered Rover cars are what they are, Rovers with an MG logo glued to the outside. Which leads us back to my original remarks. So who if anyone is to blame? Well I think the problem goes all the way back to the 1970s and the days of British Leyland when we made cars with names like Marina, Allegro, Maxi and Princess. All of which, apart from the original version of the last one, were turds with a wheel at each corner, so when the Japanese began to import cars that melted like a Weetabix covered in hit milk in the rain but started when you turned the ignition key we bought those instead. In a attempt to stay in the game BL began to sell off the family silver by offing Jaguar and Land Rover to Ford and BMW didn’t help by keeping the Mini brand and flogging the rest off for a tenner. MG Rover then ended up with a handful of models no one wanted, no IP, no money, a brand stuck in the 1970s, one factory and four board members who took £40 million out of the business. And lets not forget who carries the can for all this mismanagement, yep the staff at Longbridge. Funny that! But if you want to know how low MG Rover has sank take a look at this. The plot I suggest has been well and truely lost.

2005-04-07T11:06:00.000Z

Vote! With the final squabbling done in the House of Commons, it now spills out on to the streets as there’s now four weeks of political double speak and false promises until the General Election on May 5th. But despite my contempt for certain politicians and they fact they only seem interested in you for this four weeks every fours years I believe is be beholden on all of us to vote, and I’ll tell you why. Firstly low turnout makes politicians lazy, as they know that they only have to appeal to dwindling number of core voters. Hence the simplistic, binary rubbish that passes as political discourse today. Secondly and most importantly if you don’t vote you can’t complain about what happens afterwards. Think of your vote as a right to whinge, beef and bitch post May the 5th.

2005-03-31T13:15:00.000Z

Is a 'Real Simulator' an oxymoron? So Gran Turismo 4 claims to be ‘The Real Driving Simulator’, however unlike the army of journalists and pundits giving it rave reviews I just don’t buy it. I know this this probably puts me in a tiny minority. I agree it looks beautiful, has a more cars than an NCP all detailed with over 5000 polygons each , a new physics engine, about 100 courses all accurately mapped; in short a petrol heads wet dream. Oh and it even includes the BMW M Coupe. But how can it claim to be ‘real’ if I drive my fully specced Skyline into a crash barrier at 100 mph it doesn’t get so much as a scratch?

2005-03-29T18:43:00.000Z

Say no to DIY! Another Easter weekend passes by and I still haven't finished decorating the main bedroom, maybe the idea of spending one for the few extended weekends like millions of others with paint brush in hand just too depressing. As is traditional at this time of year but more dependant on the tide than Easter is the Boat Race. As we live so close to the river and near the finish we always pop down to pretend we went to one of England’s foremost seats of learning, but every year I come away thinking that as a spectator sport it sucks. You wait around for ages then it’s all over in less than a few minutes as the boats flash past, at least in the the yawn inducing Formula One they go past more than once. Besides how many of them are actual students? My time undoubtedly would been better spend playing Brothers in Arms which is currently sat in the drive on the Xbox. Whilst atmospheric and emotionally involving it lacks total freedom of movement but is a worthy replacement for the excellent Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II. Oh and based on the current antics in the Conservative Party do the idiots ever want to be in Government again? I guess not.

2005-03-24T12:14:00.000Z

Izzy's birthday...

Izzy the Vizsla is two years old today and a media celebrity as it turns out. I was called by the Police a while back about whether or not I'd like to speak to the local press about the break in and what Izzy got up too. I didn't in the end as we didn't know much of what the Izzy got up to and we wanted to put the burglary behind us. Well one of the local free papers made up some story anyway, which was largely innacurate, and to cap it all described Izzy as a Hungarian Vissler. As you can image she wasn't chuffed they couldn't even get her breed right! Anyway, happy birthday mate!!!

2005-03-22T10:06:00.000Z

Sword of Smiting +2. 25 cents. To fans of MMORGs buying and selling virtual items for cold hard cash is nothing new. I remember Rob buying virtual cash with real cash when he was knee deep in the first version of Asherons Call, so it was inevitable that it would find it's way to online games as a standard feature. Robs a trend setter like that, apart from his love of rebadged Rovers.

2005-03-18T12:17:00.000Z

Jesus vs Master Chief. With all the speculation about the replacement for Xbox; what’s it going to look like? What will it be called? Will it be backwards compatable? The list is endless so I'm not sure if Major Nelson can help but it makes for interesting reading. Also not sure Jesus can be compared to the Master Chief, Jesus didn’t dual weld SMGs for starters. If the interview I had the other day went as well as I think it did, I might be able to find out soon…the questions not the Jesus, Master Chief thing.

2005-03-17T10:58:00.000Z

My new third line manager. I forgot to mention that John O'Hara is joining MS as the new Enterprise Product Group Director in the UK. John as used to be the UK MD for Lotus but has spend the last few years as UK MD for Pivotal.

2005-03-16T22:33:00.002Z

Ray who? I bumped to Neil Jordan the other day, some of you might remember Neil as he worked at Lotus a few years back, well quiet a few years back at it happens. Anyway we chatted about the new CTO and concluded that it had created more 'noise' amongst those who have connections with Lotus, be they current employees of IBM or like Neil and myself prior ones. For the rest of the population it the usual ebb and flow of senior execs that happens from time to time. Oh and two other 'prior' IBM/Lotus employees have moved to MS Towers, Steve Dunbar and Jane Handley. Welcome.....

2005-03-14T18:39:00.000Z

Politics and God. Now the Government have made a fist of the bills on hunting and terrorism, the next one that’s bound to the treatment is the law against the incitement of religious hatred. I’m not so sure that religions needs special laws to protect them especially as we all ready have plenty of laws to protect individual beliefs, the Human Rights Act for example. Besides as they’ve oppressed millions of people for centuries isn’t it their turn? Seriously though, we see the situation in America where you can’t be a politician without professing a belief in god (regularly) and atheists need not apply; is it only a matter of time before it happens here? As Salman Rushdie wrote in The Guardian today, “If America and Britain allow religious faith to control and dominate public discourse, then the western alliance will be placed under ever-increasing strain, and those other religionists, the ones against whom we're supposed to be fighting, will have great cause to celebrate.” I for one am glad I live in a secular society and like Rushdie I reckon American lawyer Clarence Darrow put the secularist argument best of all. "I don't believe in God," he said, "because I don't believe in Mother Goose."

2005-03-11T12:12:00.000Z

I wonder if he'll remember me? Yet another ex Lotus employee joins MS Towers, this time the inventor of Notes itself. I’d like to think I played a small part in his decision, maybe he thought ‘If it’s good enough for Tony it’s good enough for me’. Although now Ray Ozzie is joining I've been asked if I’d like to join the Information Worker group. I think I can say with some confidence that Mr Ozzie won’t be the last ex Lotus employee to join Microsoft.

2005-03-09T13:03:00.000Z

Couldn't stop fiddling. I've gone and changed the design again. Lots of reasons really, one is that too many other people were using the same template, it wasn't that picture friendly due to the background colour, simple is always better when it comes to web pages and a white backround is easier on the eye. Paper is white for a reason I guess.

Epiphone Supernova

2005-03-09T12:19:00.000Z

After much scratching of chins and reading of reviews, not to mention finding a good price I decided on a Epiphone Supernova with a Union Flag custom paint finish. I've always liked semi acoustics after seeing Bill Nelson with one years ago, and if it's good enough for Bill it's more than I'll ever need. Yes it's based on an Epiphone Sheraton as used by Noel Gallagher, but the Gallagher signature on the scratch plate will soon wear off. As a huge fan of guitars this probably won't be the last one I get and if a bargain comes up on eBay another Epiphone, but this time a Les Paul Gold Top '56 reissue, will join the Supernova. It's a great looking piece of kit and for a 'budget' guitar on initial inspection well put together, only time will tell if smart Union Flag finish stands up. I've seen comments that the action was quite high and it looks as if Epiphone has listened as the action on this Supernova is a low and easy, or maybe I'm used to the warped neck on my AWOL Squier Bullet, so anything is an improvement. I haven't had a chance to plug it in yet but the hollow body makes a nice sound.

Oh and it came with a rather smart hardcase.

2005-03-05T20:16:00.000Z

Sorry... No posts this week, so I'll summaries in one go; hopefully I'll remember all the salient bits. Fed up with punctures when I cycle to the office in London I've swapped the paper thin tyres Specialized insist on fitting to the Sirrus with a set of Nimbus Armadillos also made by Specialized. One would almost believe they fitted tyres made of papier-mache which go pop at the hint of a sharp stone to force you to fit the kevlar armoured bullet proof alternatives. At least if some trys to shoot out my tyres I'm now covered. As we try and sort things out after the break-in the insurance company has been their useful selves. Whilst they haven't questioned the claim their bumbling incompeitance means we still are no closer to replacing the stuff that got nicked. If and when the insurance company sort things out I have the decide what to replace the Squier Bullet with. It's either an Epiphone Les Paul Goldtop '56 or an Epiphone Supernova. Lets rock! And I've applied for a new job. Same company, different division.

2005-02-26T20:06:00.000Z

Free the Sudan-1 The guys at Lea & Perrins are understandably cheesed off with the Sudan dye scare as Worcester sauce is noted as the primary source (no pun intended) of the banned colourant. L&P’s famous ingredient for Bloody Marys does not and never has contained the dye but the problem centres around their rival Premier Foods' chilli powder, which was used in a Worcester sauce then used to make other products. Small consolation for the thirty-five employees of Lea & Perrins who’ve been making the famous sauce since 1835.

2005-02-21T20:40:00.000Z

Izzy Returns! I got a phone call about lunchtime today from a lady who found Izzy on Wimbledon Common. Izzy looks none the worse for her adventure and acts as if nothing has happened. We are chuffed to bits to have her back and I now understand how much she is now part of our everyday life. Welcome back mate!

2005-02-19T12:34:00.000Z

I want to kill! I came home on Thursday to find the house had been broken into. They took the home cinema system, my guitar, about 50 DVDs and a universal remote. Most distressing of all however was that Izzy is now missing. She was in her pen and it looks as if she escaped and panicked them, however as they had left both the back door and back gate open Izzy ran off. The stuff can be replaced but she can't and as you can imagine myself and Mrs C hope that she'll turn up. She is far more than just a pet, she is our buddy! Pity I didn't catch them at it as I might have stretched the limits of what could be considered 'reasonsable force'.

2005-02-15T13:29:00.000Z

Bicycles and Football. I’m now a month into my two or three days a week cycle to the London office and I’ve noticed a few things. My first impression of it being an extreme sport was spot on, nothing gives way to you unless you stick yourselves in the way and then of course you’re in danger of a ‘Sorry mate, didn’t see you.” Buses should be treated as giant slow moving obstacles but as they stop every 500 yards they don’t present much of a problem. To car drivers, especially mothers in 4x4s on the school run, you are invisible so you have to ‘treat them all as idiots’ as a motorcycle tutor once told me. Actually his language was a bit fruitier than that, but as this is a family blog I thought I’d spare peoples blushes. But it’s cabbies who seem to be actually out to get you, however I think this might have something to do with the fact that they assume all people on two wheels are couriers and they get a bounty for everyone they knock over! I’ve had a couple of occasions where ‘non standard manoeuvres’ have been required but nothing drastic. I noticed that Arsenal fielded a team without any UK passport holders last night against Crystal Palace. It was claimed to be the first time this has happened in the English Premiership, but didn’t Chelsea do this a couple of seasons ago or was that an FA cup game so didn’t count? Dazza will know. Now this raises a bigger question. If teams can easily do this, especially the top teams with large squads, and as big money men like Chelsea’s Abramovich and Man Utd’s soon to be owner Malcolm Glazer buy up more and more of the game; how long can it be before the European Super League rears it’s head again and like American Football franchises, teams can move wherever they like? It’s not as mad as idea as you might think.

2005-02-13T21:18:00.000Z

Boring old gits to wed! It’s odd that the Daily Star sums up my feelings about the upcoming Royal PR event that is the marriage of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles. My hope is that in the run up to the ‘big day’ the levels of sycophancy and forelock tugging doesn’t raise above the usual background noise of Royal nonsense, but I’m not sure the middle market tabloids and celeb rags will not be able to resist. Viva La Republic!!

2005-02-12T22:44:00.000Z

Prescott Alert! When it comes to news Today on Radio 4 is without a doubt the best, be it on radio or television and listening should be compulsory. It does mean of course that any and all politicians want to get on and make their point, especially with a General Election in the offing. But the government seems to believe that shipping John Prescott over to Broadcasting House for a chat with Humphries and Co helps their cause, but rather than engage in what could be considered ‘a discussion’ Prescott just turns up for a free coffee and a fight. The truth is he’s a political bully and does more damage to the Labour cause than a coach load of Alistair Campbells. Anyone who remembers the pre ‘97 Conservative government will recognise this kind of political arrogance which was key to their downfall. Don’t these idiots ever learn?

2005-02-10T11:47:00.000Z

Star Wars fan alert! This will make you laugh and probably cry too.

2005-02-09T10:10:00.000Z

Apocryphal for sure but it made me smile… A crowded United Airlines flight was cancelled. A single agent was rebooking a long line of inconvenienced travellers. Suddenly an angry passenger pushed his way to the desk. He slapped his ticket down on the counter and said, "I HAVE to be on this flight and it has to be FIRST CLASS." The agent replied, "I'm sorry sir. I'll be happy to try to help you, but I've got to help these folks first, and I'm sure we'll be able to work something out." The passenger was unimpressed. He asked loudly, so that the passengers behind him could hear, "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHO I AM?" Without hesitating, the agent smiled and grabbed her public address microphone. "May I have your attention please," she began her voice heard clearly throughout the terminal. "We have a passenger here at Gate 14 WHO DOES NOT KNOW WHO HE IS. If anyone can help him find his identity, please come to Gate 14." With the folks behind him in line laughing hysterically, the man glared at the United agent, gritted his teeth and swore. "F*** you!" Without flinching, she smiled and said, "I'm sorry, sir, but you'll have to get in line for that, too." And anonymous comments are now enabled. Sorry for taking so long...I was being a bit of a thicky...

2005-02-08T21:59:00.000Z

Working for Microsoft is interesting on a number of levels. Firstly everyone I speak to as part of my job is interested in what I have to say, even if they don’t necessarily agree with it. Secondly I read and hear lots of stuff about the company that causes me to smile as it’s more often than not bollocks. Now I don’t often feel compelled to blog about MS, there’s already enough people doing that and I’m not sure there’s much more I can add but as this is something that made me laugh why not? I’ve seen recently is an article in Wired, with the usual journalistic device of the unnamed source, about MS management telling iPod users at Microsoft to stop. Well the hundreds of iPod users in the UK, of which I count myself, feel left out because they haven’t bother telling us, nor I suspect would they. Whilst the company does promote Windows Media Format players internally it doesn’t in anyway suggest that owning an iPod is verboten, besides I can imagine the colourful responses they’d get if they did. So to anyone who asks…yes I work for Microsoft and I own an iPod. If anyone wants an argument as to why they know where to find me. However I guess all this beats my previous job where people thought I worked for a small Norfolk based sport car manufacturer.

2005-02-04T11:06:00.000Z

I wonder if anyone else saw ‘The Real Da Vinci Code’ last night on Channel 4? It examined all the central tenets of Dan Brown’s book and took them to task, and unsurprisingly only a few stood up to any kind scrutiny and even then it was a fifty fifty call. The rest were either middle age inventions or on the case of the Priory of Sion a recent embellishment by a couple of French hoaxers, oh and there’s no historical evidence for the Holy Grail either. However for me the biggest crime is not the historical baloney Dan Brown passes off as fact, which he does incidentally, it’s just not a particularly well written book. Maybe we should examine our religious and political institutions and little more closely. This leads neatly on to the new so called “Freedom of Information Act”? Which is of course nothing of the sort. Want to know how many schools in UK still have outside toilets? As the Independent On Sunday found you can’t. If this can’t be disclosed what chance do we have to finding out what evidence the government used to take us to war in Iraq, or more frightening how they are assessing future attempts as George Dubya describes, ‘Spreading Freedom’. It should be renamed the “Information They Want You To Know Act”. I have to mention the chap from Cycle Training UK who stopped this morning to help me with a puncture. Thanks fella.

2005-02-01T21:02:00.000Z

Whilst I know that I’m not the thinnest person on planet earth and have been carrying around a little more weight than I should, I wouldn’t have considered myself obese, however as I have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 33 I officially am. To get down to a BMI of 24 for my height I need to be under 12 stone or 74kg, now I can’t remember ever being that light and I think for my build I’d look ill. OK, I might not get as low as the BMI suggests but I have lost half a stone since the beginning of the year.

2005-01-31T21:52:00.000Z

Is it me or does the Premier League more further from reality ever season? Is it a ‘sport’ or is it a ‘business’? If it’s a sport then it’s an extremely polarized one with league centred on the holy trinity of Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United and the other clubs picking up the leftovers. If it’s a business then it’s shockingly run with the Premier League alone being some £500 million in the red, not helped of course by Chelsea’s £88 million loss for last year. Fortunately Roman Abramovich underpins the club with a loan of £115m thereby preventing KPMG righting the club off. Even more bonkers is that for the season 2003/4, 76% of the clubs income was consumed in wages. Most other clubs in the Premier League run at a more modest but still trouser wetting 55%. So how can clubs dig themselves out of the mounting debt? Well the obvious one is to bring the wage bill down but with player power in the ascendancy and the FA neutered by incompetence that seems as unlikely as teams not 'tapping' players outside the transfer window. Maybe every team needs a Russian billionaire but I’m not sure there’s that many to go round.

2005-01-28T13:18:00.000Z

Profanity Alert! As a good corporate citizen I thought I’d take a gander at the new MSN Spaces and see it adds anything to the blogging experience. It has some neat built in features like a picture galley, lists and is pretty easy to setup; that is as long as you don’t have name like mine. Imagine my surprise, although in retrospect I’m surprised I was surprised, when I couldn’t get past the profanity filter as it blocked both my name and a URL link to this very site. So as the troops at Boing Boing point out you can call your 'Space' "Butt Sex is Awesome", I'm persona non grata. Prove is any was needed that most censorship just makes the censors look stupid.

2005-01-25T21:08:00.000Z

On Yer Bike! I have the kind of job which allows me to split my time between the two MS offices in Reading and Soho. I can work from home but Karen does likewise and experience tells me we wouldn’t get much done! When I go up to the Soho office, which is about eight and half miles away, I’ve started cycling. It was hard work to begin with but is slowly getting easier; hard work as I’m using my ‘old skool’ mountain bike whose low gearing means when I’m peddling like a maniac other riders pass me with ease. What is apparent though is that cycling in London should be reclassified as an ‘extreme sport’. You sadly are at the bottom of the traffic food chain.

2005-01-24T21:53:00.000Z

How are you feeling today? According to a Dr. Cliff Arnall, who specializes in seasonal disorders at the University of Cardiff in Wales, today is the Most Depressing Day of Year. He has devised a formula that takes into account weather, time since Christmas, monetary debt and motivational levels and reckons the 24th of Jan is the low point for all of these. I suppose it's about this time that all those credit card bills begin to land on the mat, the weather is not great, New Year resolutions are a distant memory and there's not much to look forward to until the spring. Some might say one day ain't enough.

2005-01-22T12:23:00.000Z

Oppps... Daz has already pointed out one problem. The standard blogger comments tool; you have to have an account with Blogger to leave comments....that sucks! I'll remove that and insert the old one. And unfortunately if you use a new template you have to reapply your all custom code. Boo again!

2005-01-21T10:58:00.000Z

The builders are in... Well almost. In a fit of madness I decided to mod the blog template. Now my HTML skills rank alongside my skills a fighter pilot or brain surgeon as poor to non existant, so bear with me whilst I fathom the meanless lines of code that make up the blog template. In the meantime you might find this interesting. Have you ever heard one band and wondered if there's any of a similar style worth cheacking out? Music Plasma might help...funky too.

2005-01-18T21:02:00.000Z

As I mentioned the other day one of the things I’ve picked up again after a long break, if twenty years can be called a ‘break’, is the guitar. I played a little bit back at school and university and I was frankly crap. Well a twenty year hiatus hasn’t changed that but despite the sore and still rather clumsy fingers I’m really enjoying and it and even after a few weeks seem to be making some progress. Like most things you’re not use to ‘little and often’ seems the best approach, which translates to 15 to 20 mins a day. Which is about right ‘cos anymore and the fingers hurt, although already the tips on left hand are noticeably harder than the ones on the right. My trusty Squier Bullet has brushed up nicely although the pickups have yellowed over the years and the chrome is well past its best on the machine heads. Not bad for what is a level entry guitar. So level entry in fact Squier now only do in one colour Henry Ford style and have removed the tremolo arm to keep the cost down. It still makes a reasonable sound and fortunately is still straight despite languishing in the loft for sometime. I suppose at some point I might want to move up to a more quality piece of kit, nothing too grand maybe a low cost Epiphone or something. The Les Paul Gold Top copies look very ‘rock and roll’.

2005-01-14T11:43:00.000Z

So what’s grabbed my attention in the last 24 hours? Harry Windsor proves once again it’s about time he added ‘village idiot’ to his CV. It is doubly ironic that it’s the 50th Anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, and if he took five minutes to look at his family tree he’d see it has a rather Teutonic flavour. What did George Santaynna say about the lessons of history? As I type this the Huygens has started it’s decent through the Titan atmosphere and will land on the surface about lunchtime. The ESA have no idea what it land on but at least it won’t be anywhere near a gaff prone member from the House of Windsor.

2005-01-13T15:17:00.000Z

What to absorb all the latest news stories in one go, or least try? Have a look at Newsmap. Just select the type of news you're interested and or the region. It's a bit full on to begin with but it's a handy way to see what's going on.