Morning Guys, hope you are all well.

I am quite happy at the moment. After a couple of weeks missing out on my daily dose of Xanaga subscriptions, and after fiddling, asking and a lot of head scratching, the e.mail list has started again. So I can again see, in easy sections, the postings and comments of my xanaga friends.

Isn't it surprising how quickly the heat of Summer turns to the coolness of Autumn. Here , in the UK, it has been one of the warmest, consistant summers that I can remeber for a few years. What does make me smile is that the Experts are using this as evidence of further Global Warming. I have seen the pictures of deserts growing, droughts, the lot. But I also know that through out world history the weather has "cycled". Gone from warm to cold, from Ice Age to Tropical Forest. It is, of course, impossible to ignore the fact that, in the past two hundred years, and even more so in the last hundred, that Mankind as a whole has wasted the planets resources and damaged the enviroment in which we live, in so many ways that have NEVER happened in ages past, but is the future so doom ladened as they say?

I am pleased to say that, after the possible brush with Menigitis, that Laura's suspicious rash has turned out to be nothing more than a reaction to some anti-biotics she had been taking. "Happily" (and you take that with a pinch of salt - ) she is back to her bossy, insufferable, cuddly, lovely self, she is even sleeping over at a friends as I type. It's good to have her back to normal, and I'm glad to have removed the worry from a heart of a couple of fretting parents.

What has bothered me a little bit is the seeming demise in the Opera Browser. Not that long ago, I used Opera almost exclusively. It was a good product, even if the free version was supported with adverts. But over the last year, that love has lost its lustre. So much so, that, although I have tried the latest version, it has been superceeded in my affections by the Mozilla Firebird Browser - a smalll basic footprint, you add what you wish - and it works OK. One thing to bare in mind with Firebird is that, on some sites , it can suffer the same problems as Netscape, i.e. Internet Explorer is all conquering, but apart from that I like it.

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AOL Blocking All Links From LiveJournal Not exactly sure what's going on here (and it could just be an honest mistake), but apparently, AOL is now blocking all links to AOL from LiveJournal, the popular blog hosting site. In other words, if AOL can tell you're coming from LiveJournal, it will look as though the AOL site in question doesn't exist. Of course, the rumors are flying as to why they're doing this. The innocent theory is that it's just a mistake on AOL's part. It's possible they wanted to stop people hosting pictures on their AOL accounts and having them show up on LiveJournal, but just went overboard. The more sinister theory (which would certainly need a lot more proof before it could be believed) is that this is part of their blogging marketing strategy. AOL, of course, just launched their own, competing blogging offering, so some are suggesting less-than-friendly reasons for AOL blocking all links from LiveJournal. I think that's a pretty far-fetched theory (though, the timing is odd). If AOL is actively blocking LiveJournal links for that reason, it would be a clear overstepping of their bounds, and would be just one more reason for folks to avoid AOL altogether. [via Techdirt]

What do you think to that? AOL have only just started to supply a weblogging service, and they are already causing trouble. I'm sure that this could well be, as suggested, an innocent error. But being the cynic that I am, I tend to suspect the alternative, more sinister answer - they are using their size and postion to control the "market" their way. I mean, lets be honest, what benefit, apart from focing people to use their service (hence having to have an AOL account) would they gain form blocking access to other weblogs site. I know they will suggest security, virus exclusion, and no end of other excuses, but in the end people only want access to a pool of pictures they already have - so what

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Bloglines: web-based RSS and blog syndicator Bloglines : Free, Web-Based News Aggregator. From their front page: Bloglines is a free service that makes it easy to... [via CSL BLOG]

Anyone interested in keeping track of some of the favourite blog sites without having to hunt them out individually?

I already use the Xanaga Subscription Service for my Xanag Sites, and the Newzcrawler NewsReader but Blog Lines gives you another option. It is a web based service which you can sign up for and then view from your normal web browsers. In the inital setup you can pick some of the more common sites, and then you can add any additional sites you wish to view as you go. Worth ago if that's what you want.

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To Satisfy Patent Demands Every Browser Must Change More fallout from Microsoft losing their patent case against Eolas. Because of this, every browser is going to have to change, meaning that many things that currently work on the web, won't work after the changes are made. Microsoft is already adjusting their technology, and the W3C has started to look into what changes all browsers will need to make to avoid stepping on this patent. So, basically, right now we have a system that works, and because of a patent that wasn't used for anything other than to threaten a patent infringement lawsuit, every single browser needs to change, breaking stuff along the way. That's encouraging innovation? Also, how, exactly is the idea of embedding programs within the browser something that is non-obvious? It seems like software applications have been embedding other programs for years before this patent was ever filed.nbspnbspnbspnbspnbsp [via Techdirt]

Microsoft preps IE changes in response to patent ruling W3C mulls implications          [via The Register]

 

I have only just come across this story, but I suspect it has been running on in the background for a while. Basically Microsoft has lost a patient case against a company called Eolas. I don't pretned to know the full story, but I do know the outcome. Mivrosoft lost the case, and the upshot is that they will have to alter the way that Internet explorer works - the practical upshot being the possiblity that a lot of sites that can be viewed with IE will become unviewable because of the alteration (that is my understanding at least). This will involve no end of people and companies (my self included) with additional work to alter their websites so that they can be viewed in the "ammended" browser.

 

I suppose it will be a wait and see sort of situation. Maybe it is, again, doom laden omens that turn out to be internet nothings, but then again.

 

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Should We Have Cyber Bounty Hunters? With the increasing cyber security questions along with viruses and worms, it's pretty clear that folks like the FBI can't keep up with online crime. So, here's a suggestion to start offering cash rewards for tracking down cyber-criminals. Clearly there are some problems with the idea, but will online bounty hunters be the method for tracking down online criminals in the future? You certainly get more manpower - who might have more tricks than the authorities. However, it also opens up people to do abusive things in the name of "tracking down cyber criminals". Sounds similar to Larry Lessig's idea of having bounties on spammers.

[via Techdirt]

 

FBI to arrest teen involved in Blaster attack ZDNet Aug 29 2003 9:58AM ET      [via Moreover - ZDNet]

FBI closes in on MSBlast worm suspect ZDNet Aug 29 2003 9:54AM ET          [via Moreover - ZDNet]

 

Back to one of my favourite moans. It would appear that the US Authorities are actually going to arrest someone for the creation of the MSBlaster worm. And it appears to be a teenager (I have seen a news story that says they have actually got him - but as usual you can never find it when you want it - LOL). This, I think, is good news in the fact that the person responsible for causing hundred's of thousands of Internet Users un-necessary pain and heart ache will have to anwser for what he has done. However, paying a Bounty for someone to hunt them down - now that's a different thing. I know in some countries, Bounty Hunters are "accepted" as a means to an end, but it always worries me when you offer money to achieve a conviction. A reward for information leading to conviction - hum!!! , but to post an actual Bounty??? Not sure at all.

 

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Relatives split over 9/11 tapes Relatives express mixed views as transcripts of final conversations with 9/11 tower victims are published.     [via BBC News | World | UK Edition]

Tapes rekindle horror of 9/11 Transcripts of frantic calls made as 9/11 victims tried to flee the burning twin towers are released in New York.    [via BBC News | News Front Page | UK Edition]

 

 

When I saw these stories I was horrified. Is it not bad enough that the families of the victims of 9-11 have had to suffer the loss of a family member, in such an un-natural, brutal manner, but then to have the last deperate calls "published" as though it were another product to sell really worries me deeply. I know the effects of that day are still reverberating around the world today, and although we in the UK suffered losses to those attacks, the main victims are still those in the US, and New York specifically. It's one of those historical events that will shape the future for a long time. Also, with the anniversary of 9-11 only a couple of weeks away, the timing leaves something to be desired.

 

But then , on the other hand , I saw this story, via fellow Xangian deejer, that is probably even more distrubing. ( Click here to link to story). But what I find even more distrubing is the fact that I can sort of understand where they are coming from. Do we not celebrate, and pay homage, to our war hero's too?

More Virus moans, and Connections with  the After Life>

Why virus writers get away with it ZDNet Aug 24 2003 8:15PM ET - [via Moreover - ZDNet]

 

Officials look to unearth Internet worm writers They write menacing software with names like "Blaster," "Welchia" and "Sobig" that worm around the Internet leaving destruction in their path, and on Thursday detectives and computer security firms were hot on their trail. Computer virus writers have unleashed an unprecedented outbreak of computer worms this past week and while finding them will not be easy, experts generally believe they are ego-filled computing geeks out to impress others. (Meryl)

[via Lockergnome's Bits and Bytes]

 

Why people write viruses Respect, testing technical ability and financial gain are just some reasons why virus writers do it.

[via BBC News | Technology | UK Edition]

 

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You can tell its a Bank Holiday here in the UK, its Monday, the Family are still in bed and I'm on the Computer as though it were still the weekend (no work today - )  Above are a few links to storys' regarding my "pre-occupation" with Virus writers, and how they never seem to get caught. It would appear, if you read the above in it's entirity , that as the level of sophistication grows, the actual chances of catching these people reduces proportionatly as they get better and better at covering their tracks.

 

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Another pre-occupation , as many of you will know, is my growing interest in the TV career of a The Spirit Medium Derek Acorah. Again, as I have explained before, Derek came to my notice because of the Living TV program "Most Haunted". Ghosts have always fascinated me, talking to the dead however?

 

I have always worried about the Theatre full of vunerable people wishing to talk to "Aunty Mable" or "grandad" , they who have passed on "to the other world", but there it was last night, on TV. (apparently the first part was on on Saturday but I missed it).

 

The program, The Three Mediums, included not only Derek, but, obviously, two other mediums .

 

Colin Fry I know little about, although he, like the other two mediums, has a program on Living TV.

And, to be honest, he was the one of the three that I found most worrying. A little search of the Internet found a few disturbing signs. People openly doubting his ablilities (this was even more apparent with Colin - you always get sceptics that doubt anyones' "powers" but someone even built a website!!). And I must admit, as I watched him, listerned to his "patter", and partially the reason I search the internet before typing this for information, I watched, I wondered, and I worried.

 

The third member of the triumvirate is a lad called Tony Stockwell

 

Mr Cool or what. Described by some as the David Blain of the Medium world, Tony's show, "The Street Psychic" is something else entirely. He wanders the cynical Streets of the UK, finding people to give readings too. You should see the look on their faces when he tells them their inner most secrets. In way he impresses me in a similar way to which Derek did first time I saw him. The information was so singular, so personal, and yet there it is, face to face with the person it belongs to.

 

For the first time, in my experience at least, the show started with a "Public Warning", something along the lines that the program was an entertainment program, and that , although the Mediums involved claimed some ablility to communicate with the spirit world, there were other people out there who just don't believe them. The announcement was a little more subtle than that, but I tend to call "a spade a spade". I can accept that, although I can take programs like this for what they are, TV entertainment, there are people out there who would wish to gain "something more" from this sort of program.

 

To be honest , the whole program bothered me. The Medium, on stage, walked backwards and forwards, "grabbing" psychic questions, comment, from the air. Now having watched programs that examine the charlatans of this profession it became obvious that some of the "tricks" used by the unscruplious where possibly on show here. The fact that they will say something, and then look for a reaction. Say something else, and then look for a reaction. Build up a "connection with the spirit world" by the reaction of people who want something to happen. And that was all there last night, particularly, in my opinion, with Colin Fry. Don't get me wrong, he, and they, were very good showmen. They know how to play the audience, and they seemed to give that audience what they wanted. But still, it bothered me.

 

Mind you in the end, it was what it claimed to be, it was TV Entertainment, and good entertainment at that.

 

Maybe it pampers to something we all want. Do our loved ones, now departed, still look out for us. Do they still care for us, as we still care for them. It's that part of the human condition that wants to know it is loved and wanted, even by those who are no longer here.

 

Is all I'm doing what most people do from time to time. Am I questioning my own beliefs. Am I questioning what I thought to be true, what I thought I knew for certain.

 

Are the Spirits' with us as we go about our daily lives? 

.

Worms, Flies and then there are Insects!!!

Morning Guys, and the weekend is once more upon us. This seems to have been one of those "Oh Dear" weeks for everyone.Monday saw the rise of the Blaster (and variants) worm, and this weekend we are waiting for other types of Computer destruction to arrive.

Here, in the UK, the summer always seems to have it's "insect of the summer". A few years a go it was the "Lady Bird", which bit and harried its way across the South Coast. Early on this year I would have said it was the year of the Butterfly, the garden flowers where adorned with the largest number of butterflies that I have seen for many years. But, sadly, I think this year, around here at least, will be the year of the Fly. The house is full of them. Every where I have been in the last few days - there they are. Horrible, buzzing, irritating. Hate them.

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Below are a few of my info trawls I thought you might like to have a look at. Please feel free to let me know what you think.

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Virus hits hospital systems Staff at a Glasgow hospital work round the clock to restore its computer systems after the Nachi worm struck.    [via BBC News | Technology | UK Edition]

 

Sobig virus wreaks e-mail havoc The Sobig virus looks set to keep causing trouble, with millions of infected e-mails still flying across the net.   [via BBC News | News Front Page | UK Edition]

 

The stories above, are, really a continuation of the opening conversation.I have posted several times in the passed my feelings and opinions of people who waste their obvious talents by writing malicious script to cause ordinary people untold grief and hassle. I know the targets of these attacks are, shall we say, the "Establishment" , but it is Mr and Mrs Ordinary, me and you, that generally suffer the consequences of the outcome of these attacks. I have spent time this week helping out a couple of friends who have suffered because of a Virus/Worm combination. I have been to a couple of line faults for work that have turned out to computers unable to access the internet. The reason? A Virus has altered the settings, and they can't "fight " the virus enough to prevent it crippling their systems. But these are no big multinationals. These were "one-man" operations. I mean what benefit is it to these people to cripple systems belonging to people who are just trying to make a living. And then to top that, these "Hero's" of the Internet then cripple the systems belonging to a Hospital. Now that really does take the biscuit.

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Want Truly Anonymous Mail? Anonymity and privacy are two separate things. While they often go hand in hand, there are times when they can be separated. I have to admit, I really like the idea Bob Cringely is describing in his latest column of an anonymous email system that has been put in place called Mailinator. Whenever you're asked to enter in a "valid" email address for something, where you don't want to give out any info but do need to get a "response" email, you just enter in any thing @mailinator.com and it will work. You don't have to sign up with Mailinator. You don't have to worry if someone already has that email address. So, how do you retrieve the email? You just go and check it. There are no passwords. In other words, it's anonymous - no one knows who you are. But it's not private. Anyone can check your email - if they know what email address you used. There's a little bit of privacy through obscurity, but probably not much. So, more common "addresses" might have mail coming in for multiple people, but everyone can go in and find their email. Cringely also suggests that someone will create a search engine for the system that will run through all the email accounts, but I'm not sure why that's worthwhile.      [via Techdirt]

 

I saw this story, via Newzcrawler and Techdirt, and wondered. Is it really possible to have true anonymity with an e.mail. If you want to give the site a try - feel free (link is above) , and it does seem straight forward. Someone asks for your "e.mail", you invent one with a @mailinator type ending (full details on the site) and then you go to the site at a later point (hopefully remembering what you said your e.mail was in first place?) and draw off your information. To be honest, I haven't actually tried it, but there seems to be a site that, in effect, is willing to take your spam for you. I wonder??????????

 

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Blog Is An Official Word Didn't we just do this? A couple months back we pointed out that in the latest Oxford English Dictionary there were a bunch of new techie words like "dot-com", "screensaver" and "search engine" (which seems like two words, but who's counting?). However, now that the dictionary is actually coming out, there are plenty more articles discussing some of the 3,000 new words that have been added, including plenty of others from the technology world. From Reuters we learn that "egosurf", "cyberslacker" and "hacktivist" are all officially words. Over at the Associated Press, they're telling us that "blog", "mission creep" and "prairie dogging" (again, what's with the "two word" words?) are words. For those of you who don't know, "prairie-dogging" is apparently used to describe workers in cubicle farms (is that a word?) who pop their heads up to see what's going on elsewhere in the office. Amusingly, in spell-checking this post, my spell-checker had problems with many of these words. Too bad the Oxford English Dictionary people don't set up their list as a web service that my spell-checker can check in real time.    [via Techdirt]

Hurray , now its official will my spell checker get updated to suit - . Isn't it funny what sorts of words end up being "official". Mind you , saying that, I've not personally heard of "egosurf", "cyberslacker" and "hacktivist", although I could make a half decent guess. I suppose the English language is still devloping and altering to suit the times. I suppose , one day, I might see if there are anywords that have fallen out of use. But then again, I guess not. That's what "Call My Bluff" is for.

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The End Of Pop Ups? It appears that slowly, but surely, advertisers may be realizing that pop ups are a doomed advertising method. With more and more pop-up blocking products showing up - including the new Google toolbar and Earthlink offering free pop-up blocking downloads - advertisers are suggesting that the age of pop-ups may be ending. The simple fact is that they annoy most users, and annoying users isn't the best way to get your message across. Of course, this only means that they're going to work on the next intrusive and/or annoying method of advertising. Rather than trying to come up with more effective means of advertising, they always seem to concentrate on coming up with the most annoying means of advertising. This doesn't seem very smart, but it's certainly much easier for the lazy marketer.

[via Techdirt]

 

Another Hurray - well sort of. Do you know anyone that has actually purchased something from a pop-up. Well? No me neither. I have seen plenty of sites that clicked by accident - "Do You want a loan - best rates in the US!" . Great if you live there I suppose. "The Smallest Web-Cam in the World" - Yippee-de-do. Big I have literally never seen anything in those "offers" that I want. All I can say is that three quaters of the computers in the world must be running slow because of all that software that can be used to stop your computer from slowing down because of all the software that it is runnng.

 

The downside?. As the article said. If they don't use Pop-Up's what will they us?

 

I've just noticed, I use the term "THEY" alot.

 

Suggests a bit of paranoia doesn't it.

 

 What me?

 

Never !!!

 

What was that? Who's there?

 

Got to go now they are after me - NOT

 

Hope you all have a nice weekend ( and a fantastic Bank Holiday Weekend for all of my UK friends)

God Bless

Dave

I'm Glad to see that I'm not the only one to have a bad week !!!!!!

I'm not trying to funny, but having a look across the web, and the news papers, it is nice to see that I am not the only one to have a bad week.

We have, again, had to call in the computer engineers, and this time they changed the motherboard (after a somewhat heated discusssion over the old mobile, whilst at work), so we will see what happens next.

The work week has been a nightmare. Several complex and difficult jobs, a meeting with the boss saying that I am not clearing enough jobs in a day (although I did notice he avoided saying that I wasn't "trying" hard enough), and the decoration of Lauras' bedroom has now complete, although I'm not happy. Mum and daughter are as happy as punch, although brother is asking "when is it my turn?". Laura now has her Dolphin Wallpaper and Laminate floor, but I'm not happy. I made a couple of mistakes. I know I'm not a professional decorator, and maybe (THAT'S A LAUGH) I set my own standards to high, but because it isn't perfect, I'm not happy. Never mind, what's done is done, and at least tilly is happy.

And, on top of all this, it would appear that something has happened to the e.mail system attached to one of my own domains - http://www.smudger59kes.co.uk. An one of the upshots of this is, that my daily summary of the various Weblogs I like to keep track off, has vanished into the Internet version of the Bermuda Triangle - boy am I really teed off now.

And to top this all off, the house is again full of sickness. I really feel that I should stop posting "ill-ness" reports, poeple will get the impression that the whole place is a "biological warfare factory", and to be honest, you do sometimes wonder. Mind you the family were well impressed - I lost my voice for two days - so they were well happy

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What has made me smile , a little at least, this week is that the whole world seems to have suffered more from the Power Outage in the USA than the , supposed, major Virus and Worm attack that was making the rounds.

"Net survives power outage There was no slowdown on the internet because of the North American power cuts, say experts. [via BBC News | Technology | UK Edition]"

(Xanga.com)

As a fellow Xangian, I had to feel for John. If you read his log, you can see that my "bad" week seems to have been an absolute dream compared to him. Over the last few weeks, as a few of you are already aware, the Xanaga Sites have suffered from all sorts of nasties, Denial Of Service attacks, the lot. And then, having spent many hours sorting out one of the service failures, John is then woken up to be be told that a huge chunk of the US is now "Power Free", now, after 30+ hours awake, I know that would be the very last thing that I'd want the hear.

"Blackout 'originated in Ohio' Industry experts believe the massive North American power cut began with three line failures in Ohio. [via BBC News | News Front Page | UK Edition]"

Maybe I have a warped sense of humor, but again, I had to smile. When I first heard the blackout story on the news, what struck me was the main emphasis of the news story was not the heroic attmepts of the various companies and indivduals to try and get the power back on. Oh No, the main story was how the various companies and individuals had already got into the "blame game". The US were blaming the Canadians'. The Canadians' were blaming the US, God, a small dog that walked passed the office door at the right time -  - you know what I mean. 

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"Next-Gen Windows Worms Will Be Smarter

"Despite infecting tens of thousands of computers worldwide, the recent W32.Blaster worm is poorly written and inefficient, blunting its impact, according to security experts. However, future versions of the worm could correct Blaster's flaws and spread much more quickly, resulting in service outages on infected networks and causing far greater harm to businesses and individual users on the Internet, experts warn.

"In the end, however, Blaster could do users a favor. A serious--but not devastating--worm of its type might help inoculate the Internet community against future variants that are more virulent, the experts say."

(Peter Raymond)

[via Lockergnome's Bits and Bytes] "

 

I know that Virus's , Worms and the like are a blight on the Internet Users enjoyment of their hobbies, and , of course, daily professions. These "programs" cause untold damage, hassle and grief, as if most poeple didn't have enough to deal with as it is. But doesn't this story give you " a cold shiver" of dread down the small of your back. What these Virus writers do now is bad enough, but to make these types of code smarter - God help us all

 

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UK considered killing Idi Amin Former UK foreign secretary Lord Owen reveals he proposed the assassination of the Ugandan dictator. [via BBC News | World | UK Edition]

Amin 'has escaped justice' Expelled Ugandan Asians who settled in Britain say it is a "tragedy" the former dictator Idi Amin never faced justice. [via BBC News | UK | UK Edition]

 

I remember, when I was a young child, Idi Amin first started to expel members of his own population, and their rather sad and dejected arrival in the UK. At that time, I didn't know the why's and wherefores, I just remember so many Sad Faces, looking shocked and confused, arriving by plane to a strange country. In the following years they have integrated themselves into UK society, that was not without its troubles either. But I didn't realise that, even though Amin had been replaced many years ago, that he had never even been brought to account for his actions at thet point in history. Compared to some of the atrocities that have come to the publics' attention in the years since the 70's (and Rowanda comes to mind), what Amin did seems , almost, small scale - but of course it isn't. I didn't realise that all this had happened that long ago. What would happened if the British Government had had him assassinated?.

 

History is full of "What If's".

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Vatican 'ordered abuse cover-up' A secret document shows the Vatican told bishops to hide cases of sexual abuse, the Observer newspaper reports. [via BBC News | News Front Page | UK Edition]

 

I saw this on the news last night. The said document is supposed to be over 40 years old (1962 if memory serves), and I know things were "done differently then", as if that should be used as an excuse. But how could any human being, and especially a person of God, ever sanction such a policy, especially with the possible forfeits for not applying the policy. I just find it beyond belief.

 

At least it has come out now.

 

Lets hope that the real world will prevail and this policy remain where it should be - in the files of forgotten, and regretted, history.

 

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Any questions or comments - click on the links and feel free to let me know

God Bless

Dave    

Back to Work Monday - "Sigh!"

Well here we are, it is again Saturday, and bar Sunday, it's back to work on Monday for Smudger - "big sigh" - that's my Summer Holidays over and done with.

The plan for our fortnight off was one week holiday, with which we succeeded with completely, and then one weeks redecorating, in which we have succeeded in buying the laminate flooring for Laura's bedroom, although we have managed to "empty" the main part of her bedroom out, into boxes, and then into the loft thanks to my previous "loft boarding" days. The plan for the net two days is to at least get some paint on the ceiling and skirting boards, but going on the time we had to spend "calming" a garden full of water fighting kids  yesterday, this may well be a bit of a pipe dream.

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BT starts Wi-Fi revolution in British homes          [via Designtechnica Articles]

 

As many of you know, I work for the "beloved" monolith that is BT. But I nearly fell of my chair when I read this. BT is not renowned for being the first to do anything, at least not in the past few years anyway. From where I sit they have been pushed and cajoled to many of the things they used to be pioneers at (and the broadband roll out here in the UK hasn't helped the "Dinosaur" image) . But it would appear that, for once, BT may well be one of the first to encourage wireless technology for the masses. SHOCK - HORROR. What will be next? BT actually getting DSL technology into the countryside?

 

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Cities on 'flash mob' hit list Several cities are named as future targets for the phenomenon of "flash mobbing".

[via BBC News | UK | UK Edition]

 

I saw this on the news yesterday. Hundreds of people rushing to a furniture shop in London to do what?. Loads of people pile into a New York Toy shop to "venerate" an animated T Rex head - "What for"?

 

I've seen people do some pointless things, but this really does take the biscuit.

 

Why, Why, WHY?

 

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EU gives Microsoft 'last chance' The EU executive says the US software giant has a final chance to comment before action is taken against 'market abuses'.

[via BBC News | Technology | UK Edition]

 

The Microsoft saga goes on.

 

I never really fathomed out what happened to the various legal actions that were taken out against Microsoft in the US, and although I know they sort of lost some of the points, it would appear that they effectively got away with what they were doing (anyone got any more accurate information and/or comment?). Now the "know-it-alls" in Brussels have decided to give Microsoft some grief and hassle for uncompetitive actions. With things the way they are in the Cyber-Universe, you have to seriously wonder what damage ANYONE can do to Bill Gates inc.

 

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Football: Countdown to kick-off England's Nationwide League and the Scottish divisions get under way on Saturday ahead of Sunday's Community Shield.

[via BBC News | News Front Page | UK Edition]

 

The football season is back here in the UK (Smudger shakes his head sadly from side-to-side), and I know several people ( Liam and Englishjuls for two ) who can't wait. Football I can take it or leave it (more of a Rugby man my self) but it also means that Liams , now under 13's, team will be back on the road again (Parents taxi required - ), the shouts of "LIVERPOOL" reverberating around the house(the street, the town , the WORLD). And, as usual, the local Third Division team, Scunthorpe, will be "talking the talk", but whether they can "walk the walk"?, well that remains to be seen.

 

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Gay bishop approved in US The Anglican Church's legislative body votes for the controversial appointment of an openly gay bishop.

[via BBC News | News Front Page | UK Edition]

 

I have left this one till last, so to speak. I have been watching this story develop over the week. First the American Convention (I suppose this is the US version of the UK Synod Parliament). Claim and counter claims. Votes for, Votes against. Accusations and "mud slinging". An then another vote approving this chap as a Bishop.

 

Now this comes close on the tail of a "near miss", so to speak, when a Gay candidate withdrew from being nominated to become an English Bishop, even though he had the support of the Archbishop of Canterbury as I remember.

 

I don't think that this will be the last we will hear about this. I am no ecclesiastical expert, but this , I know, even in my simplicity, will cause theological "waves". This is questioning the foundations of a lot of Anglicans beliefs. I like to think of my self as a pretty liberal person - but even I'm not sure that this is quite the right move to make at this point in time. I know nothing goes forward, nothing develops, without some "pain and discomfort", but there is a time and place for everything. Here in the UK the discussions are really starting on earnest, but I can see the more conservative African Anglicans not being very happy about this at all.

 

Like I say, I am a very simple, straightforward person when it come to my beliefs. Maybe I'm a bit more conservative than I would like to admit.

Headline news from Sky News - Witness the event

Headline news from Sky News - Witness the event


I must admit, whilst the whole saga with John Leslie was going on, I did wonder many times if this was going to end up the way it did.

For our US friends, John had been implicated in a attack on another presenter, Ulrika Jonson, after her book had been published. The story went along the lines she had been attacked, sexually, early in her career by another "young male" presenter. Although she never actually said this persons name, a Channel 5 program, "The Wright Stuff" and then quickly followed by a number of tabloid newspapers, all naming Jon Leslie as the culprit.

The poor lad, and his family, has suffered 10 months of slurs, alligations and investigations, to have his name cleared last week in a Court of Law. When they interviewed him out side the Court it was very hard to see if the tears where those of relief or of anger.

And in all those months - the cause of it all has said nothing. I can understand why Leslie's girlfriend is till asking why

Not a happy Bunny

This is actually version two of this weblog entry. Originally the moan had two parts, and now it has three. Anyway here we go again.

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Some times I don't know why I waste my time in the cyber world. Although the main thing is pretty robust, it is the minutia of life that becomes very irritating.

The (NOW) three things that annoyed me this day are:

1:Xanga.

To be honest, Xanga wasn't on the original moan list, but seeing as it just lost the majority of a well setout, lengthy moan when all I wanted to do was add an image, well here they are.

2:Spam

This was actually the original Number one moan, as it has been before, but coming back off holiday really topped it off.

It really annoys me that someone has to bombard us with things we don't want, will never want, and didn't ask for in the first place.

To put things in order, I already have had to pay for a decent Spam Filter program - MailWasher Pro, and then spend additional "personal" time setting up the filters, reading and allocating filters for "new spams", but the system works. the other thing to bare in mind is that the family, like many other people, have several e.mails for various sources.

When we came back on Saturday we checked the e.mails. When Mailwasher had gone through its tests it had recorded 263 e.mails, out of which it filtered out 245 as spam - only 18 odd where e.mails we wanted. To top this off I decided to clear out the filter folder held on the BT Openworld server (they run Brightmail Software for filtering spam) - and in that folder were 465 spam e.mails. The folder allows you to check the contents just in case some of them are not spam - but guess what - all 465 e.mails were spam.

Will you spammers ever take note. We don't want your rubbish. Most of us are intelligent people - if we want medicines we will source them our-selves, the size of my "private parts" is an issue between me and "she who must be obeyed" (homage to Rumpole-of-Bailey), and I could never understand why ANYONE would send out a spam e.mail about clearing a cesspit

and finally

3:Blogger

Now, to be fair, Blogger was the very first Weblog ( click here to have a nosey) that I ever posted my ramblings on, and it still holds a special place in my heart. The moan, if that is what it is, is that, since they have updated their servers, the blog template has not been behaving. When you view the site, an old date and comments link forces the rest of the pages down the page, so that the latest posts are not quite so obvious. I have spent hours looking and comparing codes, changing templates and then changing them again - all without success. I have trawlled their FAQ's without success so I have e.mailled them with a question. What annoyed me more was that my second blog (An Opinionated Parent) has been totally unaffected. No problems. The code works, in fact pretty much the same code as the other site. I can't work it out.

Maybe I'm more annoyed with my lack of skill in the coding department, or just I can't see what's in front of my face. Somehow I just know that it will turn out to be something simple.

Maybe I should have the constitution of "The Robert the Bruce" Spider, and not give up.

Daves been trawlling again

I've been looking through a weeks' worth of Newscrawler stories (the joy of having a week away - LOL).

Hope you like?

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F1: Montoya eases to German win Juan Pablo Montoya avoids a first-corner crash to win the German Grand Prix and throw the title race wide open.

[via BBC News | World | UK Edition]

 

This has really made my weekend I must admit, but boy what a smash up on the first corner. It's a pity that that crash took out Kimi and Rubio, I think this could have been an even better race than it turned out to be (and what a shame Michael suffered from a puncture - NOT). This has made this years competition a close one, and that can only be good for the sport.

 

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Search for web's favourite colour A quest to find the favourite colour of internet and picture messaging users is under way.

[via BBC News | Technology | UK Edition]

 

This tickelled my fancy. I know everyone has "their" colour, mine being green. I suspect that there are people out there who can "diagonose" what that choice of colour means - but how can an inanimate system have a colour?. I know that it will be the colurs that people use for their various sites and the like, but I still find it incredulous that you can "allocate" a coulour to a computer network.

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Freeview set sales soar The number of homes watching digital TV through Freeview almost doubles in the last nine months.

[via BBC News | Technology | UK Edition]

 

I don't know how TV is distributed worldwide, but here in the UK we have the choice of Terrestrial Transmitters (Analogue Signals) with the huge choice of 5, yes 5 channels. There is also Cable and Satellite (usually Sky). And now there is also FreeView. This is via the Terrestrial Transmitters, but is a digital transmission. There are 30 + channels - all free of charge. Now this has potential problems - if that is what you can call them. First of all the Government were threatening to turn off the Analogue Transmissions - forcing people into taking out some form of Digital service. Although I understand this has been put off - it is still going to cost Joe Public, either for some sort of decoder (the Freeview being the cheapest option - a decoder of between ?60 - ?100 but no ongoing costs) or they are going to have to buy a New TV with a built in decoder - not really a option for the Older members of society like my Mum - who has to survive on their pensions, and doesn't really want anything further than the ablility to watch the news, EasterEnders and Corrie. What annoys me is that "force them " fact. The Government want - and everyone suffers.

 

The other major "downer" with Freeview is that it is the successor to the now defunct OnDigital. Now, I know works have been in progress, but there are still parts of the country that could not recieve the OnDigital signal because of local conditions (Hills, Mountains - wind in the wrong direction - that sort of thing), and I do know that there are still some palces that suffer transmission problems. Now this will force people to go for the more expensive options until everyone can get the enhanced signals.

 

I shall have to do some further checking to see if the "Turn Off" date has been altered - and I hope it has, but TV is a major part of peoples lives - and restricting that is not nice.

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Heat is on for temperature record The highest temperatures ever recorded in the UK could be days away, say forecasters.

[via BBC News | Front Page | UK Edition]

 

I had to put in story about "The English Pre-Occupation", especially seeing as I got wet last week on holiday. That's just typical - I go on holiday and it rains, the week we come back and they guess-timate that temperatures could hit record high's, - seesh what a sod.

 

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Smoking 'shock tactics' needed Shocking images of cancer victims should be introduced on cigarette packets, suggest experts.

[via BBC News | Front Page | UK Edition]

 

I, personally , have never Smoked in my life ever. Never tried it, never wanted too. But it is obvious that smoking is not a smart move - health wise. But to put photo's on smoking damaged organs on packets of cigarettes, for everyone to. I feel that, not only is this a "lunch returning" situation, but this may well be one step to far.

A Holiday and a Longing?

Good morning everyone, and I hope you are all well this fine morning.

If you thought that it had been quiet at Chez Smudger this week , you would have been right. The last week has been family vacation week - and boy did we need it.

Tilly, my little one, made a valid point though.

"Could daddy survive a week without his computer?" - Good question.

Our Holiday

As you can probably guess from the picture left, we went to the Lake district. We love it up there. Such a beautiful place - but now so busy.

We are not great walkers, but boy did we walk this week. Not that far compared to the "professional" hikers and walkers, but a long long way for us. The car sat there , for the most part, unused, which I suppose is a good thing.

We have a few pictures to show (when they are developed) and I will post them when we get them.

One of the fav places to go was the District Visitors center at Brockhole. Liam and Laura, at their request I might add, spent an afternoon weaving a fish, and then decorating it. (and also gave myself and Cathy a quiet afternoon together walking through the woods - very pleasant) Sounds ludicrous in some ways I know, but the results where pretty good.

Another day involved a demonstration of Birds of Pray from Muncaster Castle - with the day finishing with Laura having a picture taken with a Barn Owl - very pretty.

We stayed in a lovely complex of flats and apartments on on the hillside in Ambleside, at the north end of Lake Windermere. The Kids were well happy as the complex had its own pool - open all day to the residents (and we ended up spending a lot of time swimming) - but we , of course, had to suffer one of the main British pre-occupations' - the weather. For the later part of the week it was awful in part. Heavy rain, mist on the hills, not that that stopped us going out.

Whilst Cathy and Liam went to see the local Cumbrian Games, Laura asked to go and see the local glass blowers. Adrain Sankey ( http://www.glassmakers.co.uk ), has a studio by the famous Ambleside Bridge House. As a present for my beloved, I had already been and brought a lovely glass candle holder (she loves the more discrete - tee light type holders - small, not "in your face", candle holders) - the last one of a particular order, but Laura wanted to see again the glass blowers at work. She was fascinated. Both Liam and Laura had seen the blowers working before - but Liam had seen, asked his questions and that was enough for him.

But Laura?.

So we went back and she stood there for a good hour, watching, taking all the activity in - everything. There were the odd questions, but normally silence. I must admit, I do like to watch the glass blowers myself, but not to that extent.

I even managed, or should I say Tilly and I , to get a little bit of painting in too. Still not great, but at least this time I had ago at a landscape. Not bad for a first go I suppose, but I still had to look longingly at the professional "Lake District" Watercolours. Now there was skill.

The M.V. Teal - c/o the Winderemere Lake Cruises

Another must for us (although I didn't go cause I wasn't to well) was the lake cruise. This started a very long time ago when Cathy and I went to the Lake District with some family friends (this was for the first ever visit up there). Now I had, and to some extent still have, a fear of large tracks of water. I thought lots of things. The boat will rock to much. It WOULD sink, you know that sort on non-sense thinking. After some little persuasion, I agreed to go on the boat ( the Swan ). It was great. The gentle rocking of the boat, the wind blowing through my hair. I have been on the lake a number of times since. No great problems, but even now, after all that time , I am still nervous of the whole thing. I guess that will never really change.

 

And How did Dad manage without his computer for a week?

We noticed that this year, and we haven't been for a few years as it was, that even the Internet had managed to imprint its-self into the Lakes. The was an Internet Cafe on Ambleside High Street and a several BT Internet phone booths. But did I succumb.?

No.

But it sure is good to be back on "sugarbug" now that I am home.