Category: Random

XMen 3 – The Last Stand, and Spiders…

I went to see “XMen 3 – The Last Stand” last night. It was totally brilliant! I loved the previous films, but this one was like the previous films on steroids. Loads more mutants and loads more destruction. Cool…

During the day I went to a 6th birthday party for one of my friends kids. In addition to all the usually party stuff, they got two guys to bring in an assortment of animals from a rescue center. All the kids, and most of the parents loved it. The guys brought a mixed bunch of animals including:

  • Two pythons
  • An African albino hedgehog
  • A skunk
  • A meerkat
  • Lots of cockroaches
  • Several types of tarantulas
  • Two types of scorpions
  • A paraquete

The kids were desperate to hold/touch/feed everything and apart from the scorpians, they got their hands on everything. Having seen a six year old holding two tarantulas, I bit the bullet and held one. I think it’s safe to say that I’m scared shitless of spiders, but it wasn’t half bad. Tarantuals are quite laid back and move very deliberately, not like those nasty house spiders, whose sticky little legs move at ten-to-the-dozen…

As a result of this, I feel moderately less scared of spiders. I guess the next time I find one lurking in the bath I’ll try and pick it up with my hands, rather than a glass and a piece of paper 🙂

Cheers

Tim…

Holiday, passport photos, films and music…

Holiday:
I’ve just got back from a weeks holiday. When I left home it was cold and raining. On holiday it was very hot and dry. I managed to get sun burn using SPF50! When I got home it was cold and raining again. My holiday was 40 miles away from home. That’s British weather for you 🙂

Passport Photos:
My passport was due to expire, so I sent off the renewal form just before I went on holiday. When I got back there was a letter saying my passport photos had been rejected. There was not enough contrast between my skin and the white background of the photo booth. Yes, I really am that pale. I like to think of my skin tone as alabaster, but in truth I look kind of deathly. Perhaps I need a spray-on tan before the next shots are taken 🙂

Films:

  • Silent Hill (Cinema) – Dull! I’m not prepared to say any more about it 🙂
  • Revolver (DVD) – I missed this at the cinema. I really liked it. Not your typical gangster film.
  • Doom (DVD) – This got slated when it was at the cinema. I thought it was an OK film. Guys running round a lab complex on Mars shooting mutant monster things. It does what it says on the tin!
  • Casshern (DVD)- Japanese futuristic superhero type film. I haven’t got a clue what was going on and I gave up about 15 minutes before the end.

I’ll probably go and see The Da Vinci Code this weekend. I don’t read books, so it will give me an idea of what everyone has been waffling on about over the last few years. I can’t say I’m looking forward to it…

In contrast, I can’t wait for X-Men III!

Music:
Tool – Not sure what I think of this CD. I guess I will need to play it a bit more.
Fall Out Boy – I love this CD. I’ve played it to death over the last couple of weeks. Time to rest it I think 🙂

There are so many cool bands out, it’s hard to find the time to listen to everything!

Cheers

Tim…

Just like buses…

Earlier in the week I wrote about receiving an ADSL modem three months after I switched ISPs (how long?). Well, today I received another one, hence the title of this post. You wait for ages, then two come along 🙂

So now I have a wireless ADSL router and three speedtouch ADSL modems. I was considering selling the modems on ebay, but looking at the price they go for, it hardly seems worth the effort…

Cheers

Tim…

Pet Medications…

My website has recently come under fire from link spammers in the comments associated with my articles. It seems my site is a good place to advertise pet medications…

I suppose I should be flattered 🙂

Cheers

Tim…

PS. I tried to post this yesterday, but blogger seemed incapable of publishing a post. Weird 🙂

PC support tips…

1) When your dad rings up asking for help with his computer, ask the following questions:

  • Do you know what [a browser | Internet Explorer] is?
  • Do you know what the “Start” button is?

If the answer to either of these questions is “NO!”, make plans to visit him on Sunday, rather than starting World War III trying to talk him through his ADSL setup!

2) Every time you visit anyone, regardless of who they are, sneak into their study and make sure their AntiVirus software is up to date. A stitch in time saves nine!

2.5) Don’t believe people when they say, “I’ve got a Norton AntiVirus subscription!” They invariably mean they run the version of Norton that was bundled on their machine and they’ve never renewed the subscription. Simply uninstall it and install AVG, then sit back and watch them marvel at how many infected files they have, and how quickly their machine runs without Norton sapping all it’s strength…
Cheers

Tim…

PS. The free edition of AVG is available for Linux. It seems pretty reasonable…

Technical Publishing…

Mark Rittman has an interesting article called “The State of the Technical Publishing Market“.

While I agree you are unlikely to make money from writing technical books, I still feel it has some value.

I was interested in the whole publishing thing for some time before I was offered the opportunity to write a book. It was nice to see the whole process in action.

A quick look at my website will show you the range of skills I’ve had to pick up over the years. Unless you constantly try to re-educate yourself, it’s easy to get locked into a state of mind where you only ever do what you know. I feel that writing articles for my website has helped prevent me from stagnating, but it’s not always enough. Writing a book on a specific topic forces you to focus your attention on that area, extending your knowledge beyond what you may normally achieve. There’s nothing like a deadline to focus your attention.

It’s a giant ego trip seeing your name in black and white. Of course I could publish a PDF with the same content, but regardless of what anybody says, it isn’t the same as holding a book in your hands.

I guess the funniest thing about publishing is people’s reactions. I’ve been writing web articles for years, serving tens of millions of pages each year to people all over the world. Mention that to somebody and you’re just another geek who thinks he has something to say. On the other hand, mention you’ve written a book and you’re a guru… What’s that all about?

What’s my opinion? Everyone should write at least one book in their life! 🙂

Cheers

Tim…