Archive for August, 2006

Been busy?

// August 31st, 2006 // No Comments » // Personal

Sorry everyone but it’s been one of those weeks.

I don’t really have the time or the inclination to give you a full update but suffice to say I’m now officially in the job seeking market. In the unlikely event that any clients read this then please rest assured I will be contacting before the week is over to explain.

For the rest of you I’m sorry to drop this bombshell and run – those of you who can, feel free to give me a call (or Skype me if I’m online). Those who can’t I’ll give you an update as I have it.

Rob

What a weekend

// August 22nd, 2006 // No Comments » // Personal

Such a weekend it’s taken me two days to write it up. Friday Night … standard pubward evening with one half of 24/7 – one of the better bands that play at the Mary’s. I had to take it easy though as Saturday afternoon saw me at the JPA Junior Petanque Melee. I was meant to be overseeing but one of the kids didn’t have a partner so I actually got to take part. Each littley was paired with a grown up which led to some interesting ego play – the kids were their usual uber competitive selves but it was the adults (a mix of parents, uncles and other relatives) who made it interesting. It was a cracking afternoon and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. I’m certainly looking forward to the next one.

By contrast the wholesome nature of the afternoon was offset by the debauchery of the evening. Donna threw a little party up at her place and, in compensation for Markiss’ house warming I managed to stagger home at 4 in the morning.

Of course this meant that Sunday was almost entirely a write off. I still managed to pop into the St Mary’s antique fair and snag myself a couple of nice items. The first is a glass globe with bubbles captured inside. It’s one of those simple pieces that just captures the attention. As soon as I work out a method of photographing it that does it justice I’l stick a set up on FLickr. The second is a silver cigarette case circa 1902. It’s too small for normal cigarettes but takes RYO nicely.

I must admit that after my brief shopping spree I crashed out for the rest of the day.

Still an excellent weekend by all accounts. I’m now looking forward to a very quiet week :-D

Can of Cow!

// August 21st, 2006 // No Comments » // Personal

Simple, addictive, stylish:

la boite à meu – meuh !

Happy Birthday to Meeee (again)

// August 18th, 2006 // No Comments » // Personal, Tech

Well more like happy birthday to my blog :-)

It’s official … this blog is 3 years old! Don’t believe me? Check the archives baby.

As a blogiversary (Dafyd – you’re right, it doesn’t trip off the tongue) present I’ll be re-launching most of the old XSet / DTR themes and installing a theme switcher. That way you can see just how bad my designs were way back when.

For those who simply can’t wait – CUTE CAT PHOTOS!

Fainting in Coils

// August 17th, 2006 // No Comments » // Personal

I’ve never been a great artist … as any of my art tutors will tell you. Sure I’m pretty handy with a camera and Photoshop but actually sketching something recognizable? Forget it.

Fortunately there is now a massive resource from Drawspace offering drawing lessons on a range of topics. Considering the Tablet has been very much under utilized of late I guess it’s time to start working my way through them!

Sorting out my Source Code

// August 17th, 2006 // No Comments » // Tech

It’s been a frustrating couple of days as I’m trying to set up a SubVersion server under VMWare and keep running into problems. I first tried a pre-built Ubuntu Server Subversion Virtual Machine but it doesn’t seem to get past initializing the Kernel (Update: It looks like I may be able to use the rescue mode to update the kernel).

Now I already have a perfectly good Kubuntu install running but it’s a little bloated for my purposes as SVN doesn’t need any of the fancy GUI and other bits. Plus I can run the server with 128MB of ram from the host whereas Kubuntu wants at least 256MB and would like more.

If this doesn’t work then I’ll just set up the darn thing on the Powerbook but I’d really like to keep source off my Mac and on a machine that gets backed up more than… say once a year. I’ll keep you posted.

It’s a proud day

// August 16th, 2006 // No Comments » // Personal, Tech

One of the best things about being a self confessed nerd is that you can get publicly excited about things like this

Go On Baby! Pimp my Dawg!!!

NB. I only became aware of this thanks to someone searching for it and finding my site. Maybe I should make it into a series?

Crop Circles for Browser Wars

// August 16th, 2006 // No Comments » // Personal

It’s bad enough when you feel you can wear a shirt or cap with a browser logo on it. Bumper stickers are probably as low as I’d go (if I had a bumper) but the OSU Linux Users Group have taken browser branding to the next level.

Grand Theft Auto … Cola Style

// August 16th, 2006 // No Comments » // Personal

We come to expect a certain level of violence from GTA … and this ad is no exception … or is it?

Moon Light Parade 2006 – photos

// August 14th, 2006 // No Comments » // Personal

Little Indian I finally got round to working through all of the photos I took on Friday night as the Moonlight Parade. You can see them in the Battle of Flowers Moon Light Parade photoset on Flickr.

This is the 3rd (or 4th maybe) Moonlight I’ve been to and is the first time I’ve managed to come away with any usable photos. Even then, of some 350 shots I only managed to grab 40 that were worth sharing and most of them needed a load of TLC (unsharp mask – you’re my saviour!).

In my defense the conditions are amongst the toughest I can think of – extremes of lighting mean manual only … no auto focus; distance renders the flash a bit iffy and everything is moving all the time. Plus you’re restricted to one location so you have to take the shots you can get. In light of that I’m pleased with the images I did get. Of course I also managed to make life difficult for myself but taking the wrong lens … the 28-90mm simply couldn’t zoom out far enough to get whole floats in.

Next year I’m going to see about getting a photographers pass which would free me up to walk amongst the floats but this being Jersey it will probably mean a load of paperwork.

Oh and if you’re interested in seeing the daytime parade then there are quite a few photos on Flickr.