My new Etch A Sketch
My laptop has begun to do some very strange things today. I now have to shake it to get it to boot up, a bit like an Etch A Sketch.
« October 2002 | Weblog Main | December 2002 »
November 1, 2002
November 4, 2002
Aibo skate dude
New Nokia Phones
Nokia have just released details of a bunch of new phones, including a clever fold-out design. But best of all, I think, is the Nokia Observation Camera - set it up somewhere and it'll send its photographs wirelessly to your phone or email address. Coincidently, Nina and I were just talking about how we could get live pictures from the boat on Saturday, and we came to the conclusion that the technology wasn't quite there yet unless you hacked it together yourself.
Leaving Denmark
Just leaving to go to the airport now. Looking forward to a night in Stansted Airport!
November 6, 2002
Homeless in Stansted
It's always a bit bizarre sleeping in an airport, and now that it's impossible to get to Stansted before the first flights leave in the morning, more and more people are having to do it. Unless you grab a bench by about 9pm, you'll have to sleep on the floor. So I bedded down the other night, surrounded by snoring people, and slept remarkably well through all the flight announcements. By the time I awoke, however, everyone else was up and the airport was full of people in suits walking around me and looking at me like I was a homeless person lying alone on the floor. Next time I'll take a cardboard sign.
Some of the Ryanair planes are beginning to look their age. On the flight up to Scotland the guy in front of me was sitting in a broken seat that kept falling back into the reclined position and the cabin crew kept coming around to tell him to put his seat back up when we were taking off. He tried to explain to one of them that it was broken but the stewardess just replied, "Don't lean on it then!"
November 8, 2002
Liquid Lunches
November 10, 2002
Edinburgh
I managed to survive last night's ten hour drinking binge with Ged, and tried to be careful getting out of taxis. Tommorrow I'm meeting up with Kevin, so it'll probably happen all over again.
November 11, 2002
Kevin Mitnick's book
Someone has found and posted the first chapter of infamous hacker, Kevin Mitnick's book online, which was cut from the published version 'due to legal reasons'. In it, he tells his own side of the story. His girlfriend's blog, which documents their entire relationship is here. Maybe then I should be sharing more about my relationship with Nina online...
November 12, 2002
Glasgow night out
Sadly, this is my last day in Scotland, though I don't think I could have survived the pace of drinking for much longer. I'm flying to London tonight, putting my pyjamas on and spending the night in lovely Stansted Airport, then getting up very early to catch a flight back to wonderful Copenhagen. I was trying to get down to Menorca, but the logistics of finding flights that connected with each other was a nightmare so I've given up on that idea for now.
My flight times are below...
From Prestwick Glasgow(PIK) to London Stansted(STN)
Tue, 12Nov02 Flight FR426 Depart PIK at 21:40 and arrive STN at 22:50
Flight GO401, Wednesday 13th November 2002
Departing London Stansted 07:15
Arriving Copenhagen Terminal 2 10:00
We recommend you check in at 05:15 (ha!)
November 13, 2002
Denmark
Back in Denmark now and feeling a bit knackered, possibly due to only getting 3 hours sleep in the airport last night, or the fact that I got a typhoid/hepA jab yesterday from Andrew as he sent me on my merry way. The flights over were fairly unexciting, which is the best way, though I almost missed the Ryanair flight from Prestwick as it left 25 minutes ahead of schedule - they put out a final call for me when I was still lost somewhere in the duty free.
November 15, 2002
Leonid shower
November 17, 2002
Nina's Vaio
Nina's Vaio
While I was in Scotland Nina bought herself an Asian import Sony Vaio laptop, and since I got back she's been using it intensely, even sitting up later than me at night.
About a Boy
Last week in Scotland I watched About a Boy on video. It's not a film I would have chosen because, well, it's about children, but Cathy went down to the video shop and brought it back. Surprisingly, it was a really good film, though the funniest part for me was seeing someone else who doesn't work get into confusing conversations every time he meets somebody new and they ask him what he does. Also, it's by the makers of Bridget Jones Diary, a film that managed to be much better than the book, in my personal opinion, and took far less time to read.
November 19, 2002
Drinking and Sailing Videos
Also new in the video page are a couple of videos I took in the summer of dolphins swimming at Zamindar's bows. They're here (2.14Mb) and here (2.14Mb). Add a comment if you have any problems running these videos.
November 20, 2002
The Big Gay Leonid Show
The sky finally cleared the other night, so at 04:00, I got on my bike and cycled out to the countryside and up a nearby hill to watch the Leonids. It turned out to be fairly impressive too, with sometimes two or three shooting stars at a time crossing the sky and leaving green trails in their path. When I arrived, there were only a few people there, but gradually more and more turned up until finally there were about 25 of us. Later, when I told Nina about it, she asked if everybody had been there to see the stars, or if I'd unwittingly stumbled into a gay pick-up place. I'd wondered why everyone was so friendly.
Rabid Dundee
Dundee webcam
Also in the news today is this story about a school some of my friends went to, which yesterday elecrocuted some children while they were in the swimming pool.
After fighting with it for 3 years, I finally gave up on Windows 98 last night, removed it, and installed Windows 2000. Now I just have to get it working properly and, allegedly, my life will be wonderful...
November 23, 2002
Wi-Fi Security
November 25, 2002
Ellen Feiss Talks
November 26, 2002
Scotland photos
I've just posted the rest of the photographs I took in Scotland, and now you can leave comments on them too.
November 27, 2002
Danish P2P Users get Billed
According to this story, the Danish anti-piracy organisation has been monitoring users of file sharing networks and has begun sending bills of up to $14,000 to Danish users who have allegedly been downloading copyright material.
It seems particularly worrying that Denmark is taking a global lead in monitoring and punishing internet users on the rather weak evidence of file names being downloaded. It also fails to take into account whether the user already has a right to the material, whether the material is in fact the files they think it may be, and who was using the internet connection at the time. I also wonder why Denmark, which has no major media companies, is taking action like this. Most worrying, however, is the implication that we should not expect to have privacy online, and that Big Brother is watching everything that we do. Do we all have to log on through anonymous proxies to keep our privacy?
Now what's that just come in the post...?
As the media companies fight to maintain their profits, we're gradually losing our rights to the materials we pay for. When tape recorders came out, the record companies wanted huge taxes on blank tapes. When video recorders were invented, the film studios fought the legality of recording films from television and lost. Gradually, we're losing fair rights to media. If I buy a dvd in America, I can't play it in Europe. If I scratch a cd, I'm not allowed to have made a backup or download another copy.
The only way that media companies can stop people from copying their products is to lower prices. Very little of the money goes to the artists anyway, and as production prices have come down, retail prices have gone up (it costs much less to make a cd than a record). The only place I have seen media prices dropping is in Asia, where VCDs (video compact discs) were being heavily pirated. In response, the media companies dropped prices to around £3 a film, and now most people buy the originals. At the same time, the media companies have fought hard
to keep VCD's out of Europe and the USA to avoid the same thing happening here and their profits being erroded (it's even illegal to bring them back yourself). Now we have copy protected cd's that won't play in computers and you can't listen to on mp3 players unless you buy it again from the company's website, and next on the horizon are time expiry cd's and dvd's that will only be playable for a limited time. Aren't these monopolies getting too powerful?
November 28, 2002
Thailand photos
I've now put up the photographs we took last year in Thailand.
November 29, 2002
Skating Rink
November 30, 2002
Dinner in Ban Gaw
Found this on Google tonight, the Nina Rose doll, and it's only $15!
Nina Rose is such a lovely little doll and needs a home ..What a great addition to any room.