Monthly archive: June 2007

So last night I upgraded iTunes to v. 7.3 (the iPhone update). Why I did that, is totally beyond me (I'm very happy with my Windows Mobile thank you very much).

Anyway, I thought, new version, always good practice to update… Although, working in software product development myself, I should have known that sometimes it is best to wait a bit and wait for teething problems to be sorted out (by someone else possibly).

Right, new version then. And Outlook (2002 running on Vista) would not start. Searched for solutions, repaired .pst files, created a new profile. No sweetness there.

Restored system to the point before the iTunes update. Works a treat now. Hmmm.

I could reinstall iTunes 7.3 to double check and be absolutely sure that it was the culprit. But, frankly, I've got better things with my early Saturday morning.

UPDATE: iTunes would not start (missing files or something) so I had to reinstall it. And now I cannot start Outlook. I guess now I'm sure that's what's wrong. About to do another system restore then try to install a previous version of iTunes. Grrr.

Characterized by gusts of wind. Informal. Marked by commotion or disturbance.

Read more about squally at Answers.com

Yesterday at work I overheard a colleague speaking on the phone about his recent trip to Italy:

Yes, we were in Bologna. How bizarre, you know, people, when they give you change, they don't touch you!

And I knew exactly what he meant. Every business establishment (at least in Northern Italy, not entirely sure about other places) has a tiny saucer or a metal plate (usually glued to the counter so that it does not get stolen) where you are meant to collect the change you are given.

Stretching out your hand 'à l'anglaise', expecting them to deposit your change into it, only meets puzzled looks.

I should know. I do it all the time when I'm there. Once, even, the lady at the till went so far as to move my outstreched hand aside because it was above the sodding change saucer.

It's not like Italians are afraid of physical contact. So what's the deal with money then?

A woman member of the orgiastic cult of Dionysus. A frenzied woman.

Read more about maenad at Answers.com

Amazon.co.uk have just sent me this email:

Dear Amazon.co.uk Customer,

As you've recently bought or browsed dance or electronica CDs, we thought we'd let you know about our new releases and bargains. Visit our music store to find out more.

And this is how I found out that both Cross (Justice) and Attack Decay Sustain Release (Simian Mobile Disco) were released last week.

This must be the first time I have ever found an unsolicited email to be useful. It's all in the targeting.

This proves once more how recommendations are Amazon's killer application.

A cloth wound around the head, framing the face (nuns). A fold or pleat in cloth. A ripple, as on the surface of water. A curve or bend.

Read more about wimple at Answers.com

I have mentioned a while back that my taste in music has recently shifted towards a harder sound and darker beats.

After three or four months where I trampled all over my candyfloss pop past and listened day and night to screeching and wailing exclusively, things are a bit more moderate now. Just as well, as I was risking to become single in the process.

The final test was sitting through the Eurovision Song Contest, at a party, with friends, having a fantastic time (guests were greeted with a drinks trolley in theme with the UK entry!) but secretly counting the minutes to the end of the show. Then the end came and someone put on a Best Of Eurovision DVD. Yay.

And still the penny had not dropped that those bands, The Bands that now punctuate my waking hours (and puncture Dr B.'s eardrums), those very same bands were going to be performing, all of them, one after the other, sometimes at the same time, just a quick swim through the mud away. Only when I put on Glastonbury on the telly over the weekend did it dawn on me that yes, I'd have absolutely loved to be there. Mud and all.

Of course, I'd first have to find out where Dame Shirley Bassey got her diamante-initialled wellies. And her helicopter.

In a call center, the practice of letting agents view the incoming call queue and choose their next call based on personal preferences.

Read more about cherrypicking at Answers.com

A person who is not very bright.

Read more about pillock at Answers.com

The BBC News website has recently introduced a new section entitled 'Also in the news…' where odd, weird and bizarre items from across the website are displayed together.

I found out the hard way, because Also in the news has replaced Entertainment as the last section in the BBC News website left hand side navigation (which I check to scan headlines, but not often enough to make me want to subscribe to the Entertainment feed). So now if I click without reading, I end up instead on a lovely collection of stories such as:

• India rattled by vibrating condom
  A vibrating condom has sparked a fierce debate in India, over whether it is a sex toy – which are banned – or a means of birth control.
• Snake bursts after gobbling gator
  An unusual clash between a 6-foot (1.8m) alligator and a 13-foot (3.9m) python has left two of the deadliest predators dead in Florida's swamps.
• Sudan man forced to 'marry' goat
  A Sudanese man has been forced to take a goat as his "wife", after he was caught having sex with the animal.

Mind you, it beats reading about this week's Britney wig colour.

In or into a high place; high or higher up.

Read more about aloft at Answers.com

(Spam PING) A ping from a spam blog (splog) to a Web site indicating that there has been an update. However, since the ping is coming from a spam blog, the ping is phony.

Read more about sping at Answers.com

1. If you want to set WordPress to display all posts for a given archive, you can type -1 in the options field instead of the maximum allowed figure. I found this in the instuctions for the excellent Custom Query String WordPress plugin (that lets you set a different maximum number of posts or days for each type of page in your weblog).
2. The pronunciation of piraha language depends on the gender of the speaker. Men have one more consonant than women (via kottke).
3. The software company Opera is based in Norway<./li>
4. The satellite constellation Iridium takes its name from the chemical element Iridium because the projected planning size was 77 (the atomic number for Iridium).
5. Hitting the Windows and D keys together shows your desktop. I found this out when my fingers did not stretch far enough to open Explorer with a Windows key-E
6. The 'Delete' option in the right-click drop-down menu of Vista's Recycle Bin deletes the waste basket itself, not its contents (that's done with the 'Empty Recycle Bin' option' instead). You can restore an accidentally deleted Vista recycle bin and hide the delete command from Recycle Bin in Vista.
7. You are more likely to get acanthamoeba keratitis, a painful eye infection, if you swim or shower while wearing contact lenses.

(SPam bLOG) A blog site set up for the sole purpose of increasing page ranking in Google.

Read more about splog at Answers.com

No biggie, I hear you say.

Oh yes biggie, big biggie instead. It was perhaps the first time as far as memory goes, and if you think we've known each other for a little over forty hears now, it's a shame. We just don't do feelings too well in our family.

My mother recently spent three weeks in hospital and had a battery of test performed to identify the cause of heavy internal bleeding. She is now at home but next week will undergo an innovative procedure at a state-of-the-art cancer unit about seventy miles away from her place.

Yes, we shivered too when we heard the dreaded c-word, but doctors denied categorically that her condition has got anything to do with cancer. Nevertheless, my mother cannot forget the time she moved in with her beloved cousin who was slowly, painfully and miserably dying of bowel cancer – bits and bobs lost and replaced by external pouches. Dignity lost and unfortunately unreplaceable.

Mother has always been a brave little trooper in the face of adversity, so for her to tell me that she is scared, last night over the phone, it must be a living daylights kinda thing.

And so it just came out, unrehearsed, unplanned, raw: 'I love you mum'. Because that's exactly what I felt.

I have been exchanging emails with Dr B.'s brother, who is into his third month since stopping smoking, and only a few weeks since giving up nicotine patches.

He has been having dreams about smoking and I told him I used to have them all the time too when I stopped over four years ago. He says:

'The dreams are horrid. The nice ones are when I just think "I've blown it", the bad ones are when I think "This is really nice, why did I stop?". I am ok though.'

If you are a smoker and are considering stopping, do it. It was probably the best decision I ever took in my life, and I wish I had made it sooner.

If you have stopped smoking, please get into your head that there is no such thing as 'just one cigarette'. I had stopped for over a year, when at a party I had one, thinking I could manage it.

One month later I was back to one packet a day.

It took me twelve years to finally manage to quit again, with dozens of failed attempts.

So, dont (have just one if you have stopped). And (do stop now if you are considering it).

Do you need more motivation? OK then. It has now been four years and days since I stopped smoking. I did not smoke

A short close-fitting coat; a coat with short flaps.

Read more about coatee at Answers.com

To separate or detach.

Read more about decouple at Answers.com

On the way home tonight (two tubes, one person under a train, a bus and a short walk) I clicked on a URL in an email on my phone to read a friend's message on Facebook, and the T-Mobile nanny informed me that

Content Lock has barred this service because this site is rated 18. If you are over 18, you can access this site and others like it if you register to remove Content Lock.

You can remove Content Lock by registering using a credit card, T-Mobile will check your card is valid by applying a charge of £2 and then recrediting this amount immediately.

And so I did (when I got home, not in the street – I had a hunch my friend's message was not that important, and it did turn out to be a disappointingly disinterested 'How's Dr B.?' question) not without asking myself: 'Why two pounds? Why not a 'charge' of zero pounds like others do just to verify the validity of a card?

Maybe you only allowed to have over two pounds in funds on your credit card account if you are over 18. Bottle of Coke plus KitKat plus crisps = 1.99?

A word used by the schoolteacher in an episode of The Simpsons, in which she defended one made-up word by making up another: "It's a perfectly cromulent word."

Read more about cromulent at Answers.com

I recently read somewhere that in 10 years time multitasking will not be considered a quality any longer.

Over the weekend, I saw all the people (including myself) at Hack Day listening to presentation, developing their own hacks at the same time, IMing people, twittering, checking email, taking photos, uploading photos, tagging photos, searching for similarly tagged photos, ending up looking at photos of cute kittens instead.

Sometimes I feel that we are inebriated with the heady scent of everything we can do with the web today which, compared to only five years ago (remember dialup?) is indeed breathtaking. And so we do everything at the same time, while looking out for more things to do and publishing everything out for the world to see and comment about.

I can't wait to see how this will evolve and possibly calm down and become an intrinsic aspect of each and everyone's lives. The day when we will all take for granted what a few mad techies are experimenting with at the moment. I hope to see that day.

Touch Me, I'm Karen Taylor is a new comedy show on BBC Three. Very funny – and at last a sketch show that does not rely almost exclusively on catchphrases (remember Little Miss Jocelyn? 'It's going to take a looong time').

Best bit in episode 1: Cash Cow, the late-night quiz show.

Best bit in episode 2 (or so I've heard, as I've yet to watch last night's recording): Glamorama, a WAG-hosted current affairs/politics programme.

• When is Touch Me, I'm Karen Taylor on next?

A hole that is drilled into the earth, as in exploratory well drilling or in building construction.

Read more about borehole at Answers.com

Head's a bit fried from all I saw. Limbs ever so slighly numb from the walking about helping out. More info as I get a couple of brain cells to interact.

Just a few links for now – got to rush to work:

• Official Hack Day blog
• Hack Day London unofficial Wiki
• hackdaylondon tag on del.icio.us
• My Hack Day London 2007 photo set on Flickr
• Hack Day Flickr group photo pool
• Hack Day London cool/geek t-shirts Flickr group photo pool

Fully informed; conscious. Aware.

Read more about cognizant at Answers.com

Going a bit mad, removing all colours and images and fancy things from bitful.com.

So here are the former bells and whistles recorded for posterity.

Just in case they are missed.

You know those times when you look around you, and there's stuff everywhere (mostly tat), and you go Right, where's the bin?

You know those times when you take one last look at yourself before going out, and you realise you have caked on the sluttiest makeup you could find, and you try and blend it in but you only smudge it all over, and all's left to do is wipe your face clean?

Well, I've just spent the last hour doing a frenzied website cleaning blitz and removing styles, colours, customisations, feeds bringing in links and images and statuses (statii? stati? stata? statuses?) and songs and books and whathaveyou. Come over and have a look at bitful.com if you are reading this in a feed.

I will probably add things back little by little, and only if I really need them.

In the meantime, here is all the stuff I do somewhere else:

• Flickr
• Twitter
• Last.fm
• del.icio.us
• word of the day

Or you can get all of that in one go at my Tumblr lifestream.

To climb (a rope or pole, for example) by gripping and pulling alternately with the hands and legs. To move quickly on foot.

Read more about shinning at Answers.com

The default WordPress search widget used with the default WordPress Kubrick theme displays the Search button on a new line. I don't like that.

I spent a fair amount of time looking for a fix, then looked into it myself and found that:

1. you need to remove the return 'br' tag in wp-includes\widgets.php (line 411 in WordPress v. 2.2.1, or line 375 in v. 2.2, or line 413 in v. 2.3.1 and 2.3.2, or line 444 in v. 2.5, or line 464 in v. 2.5.1), and

the

2. you must style the form element #s to be 107 instead of 108 pixels (or reduce the padding from 2 to 1px), otherwise the extra pixel throws the search button on a new line.

Remember to reapply the change to widgets.php every time you upgrade to a new version of WordPress, as the new file will overwrite the old one.

I have absolutely no idea why they made it so complicated. If anyone can explain that to me, it would be much appreciated – thanks!

UPDATE Saturday 9 August 2008: I just upgraded to WordPress 2.6 and there was no need to edit the form element #6, as the search button was already on the same line as the text field.

UPDATE Sunday 7 December 2008: I just upgraded to WordPress 2.6.5 and there was no need to edit the form element #6, as the search button was already on the same line as the text field.

UPDATE Thursday 11 December 2008: I just upgraded to WordPress 2.7 and there was no need to edit the form element #6, as the search button was already on the same line as the text field.

UPDATE Saturday 13 June 2009: I just upgraded to WordPress 2.8 and there was no need to edit the form element #6, as the search button was already on the same line as the text field.

1. It is getting harder and harder to transfer your credit card balance from bank to bank to take advantage of their interest-free joining periods. First, transfer fees were introduced. Now Lloyds applies a Minimum spend of £100 in the first 3 months.
2. If you copy some text in the clipboard, then Ctrl-V it when you are in your inbox, Outlook will create a new email and paste your text into its body.
3. More of a question than a discovery: is hating certain food items genetic, or do you develop disgust through education? I guess it's hard to determine whether nature or nurture determines what we like and hate to eat. I'm only saying this because I recently found out that both Dr B. and his dad hate celery.
4. Marathon runners never run a full-length marathon (26.2 miles) in training. The thought gives me the shivers, as the day I will attempt to do anything in public that I have not fully rehearsed and that I am not 100% certain I can do will be a glorious achievement for me.
5. Reverse engineering (RE) is 'the process of discovering the technological principles of a device or object or system through analysis of its structure, function and operation'. I knew the process (I do it a lot), I had no idea of what it was called.
6. Gmail can be skinned with Firefox extensions. Alternatively, you can change Gmail's appearance with user-defined stylesheets.
7. Cost Per Impression is abbreviated with CPM because M is the Roman numeral for 1,000.