UK-based weblog on technology, queerness, language and fitness

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I have moved to lucabelletti.com

Wednesday 10 March 2010 / uncategorized / Comments Off

Hello folks.

I have stopped posting everything everything in duplicate and now you will only find me posting at lucabelletti.com.

Bitful will remain as an archive full of all the fantastic memories of nearly eight years of old-school blogging.

Thank you for taking the journey with me, hope to see you on the other side!

Love you all lots

Luca xx

Where's the last month gone?

Thursday 25 February 2010 / uncategorized / Comments Off
I seem to work and work and eat and eat and then eat some more (getting a bit out of control but will spend March detoxing so that's alright. Mmmh, was going to spend January detoxing, then decided it was going to be February…). No gym either, which is making me mad, but I was training for the Brighton half marathon and I have learnt that I cannot do weights regularly and go for three or four long runs every week. Oh, and the half marathon? Had to defer it to next year because of a rib I cracked (possibly, it clicked when touched and hurt like hell when running, it's better now thank you) while snowboarding (or rather, falling from snowboarding). Snowboarding lessons in Milton Keynes were fantastic and glad we thought of doing that before going snowboarding on the Alps in Italy. Leaving tonight actually, so bye for now and back to work.

Posted via email from Luca Belletti's Lifestream

Burns Supper

Saturday 23 January 2010 / uncategorized / 1 comment

Posted via web from Luca Belletti's Lifestream

2009 was not all bad

Thursday 31 December 2009 / uncategorized / Comments Off
I don't think I've ever done one of these end-of-year reviews. I always lacked the energy and motivation to look back.

But as 2009 draws to a close, after seeing so many friends' Facebook and Twitter updates bidding good riddance to what has been for them an awful year, I can't help but ask myself if it was all that bad for me too.

There are a couple of things that yes, I would have been happier if they had not occurred. Stuart mum's breast cancer (chemo- and radiotherapy completed, waiting game started), and my own mother's heart surgery (very slow recovery as she is 84; for a while we feared she would never be independent and lucid again, but we now hope for a full recovery in due time).

These were opportunities for me to grow and develop. I found the discipline to train for the Great South Run in Portsmouth while collecting funds for breast cancer research (a staggering 1,691 pounds, thanks to the generosity of family, friends and colleagues, and you can still donate if you wish to do so). And dealing albeit briefly with my mum I discovered what it is like to care for an old woman who requires assistance for even her most personal needs.

What else is there? I've enjoyed my job, I love the flat, city and country I live in (as a British citizen since August), I have been in reasonably good health and I am grateful for having family, friends and Stuart in my life.

So let me raise my glass (which is definitely half full) to wave goodbye to 2009 and welcome the new decade. May it bring health, love and work to all of you.

Posted via email from Luca Belletti's Lifestream

A timely Christmas present

Thursday 31 December 2009 / uncategorized / Comments Off

Posted via email from Luca Belletti's Lifestream

From email and RSS to Facebook and Twitter

Thursday 24 December 2009 / uncategorized / Comments Off
At the beginning of the month I deleted over 300 unread posts from Google Reader after three days abroad. And then never logged on again. I figured that if news is important it will get to me somehow, and I wanted to spend less time reading stuff online and get faster access to the essential instead.

I now trust my contacts on Twitter and  Facebook to inform me – when I want to be informed – on what matters most to me.

What I appreciate the most about Twitter and Facebook is that I don't have to constantly be connected, I can dive in every now and then, go with the flow, and then get out when I want or need to. If I am away for an hour or a week I don't feel that I have to catch up with everything that has been posted in my absence. This is very liberating and a world away from trying to keep up with RSS, something that now feels like swimming against the current most of the time.

I have just read that I am not alone in moving away from RSS to instant streams. Steve Rubel (that I used to read via RSS and now I follow on Twitter) argues that RSS is fading (and never really peaked), and even Dave Winer (that some consider 'the father of RSS') acknowledges that Google Reader is wrong because it views RSS as email.

Winer's criticism resonates with me, because I am now regarding email as mostly for professional use. Even my personal inbox is full of e-tickets, receipts, delivery slips, online check-ins, and messages from the bloke that fit my kitchen cupboard door the wrong way.

All of that is work. If you want to play with me, you can follow me on Twitter or if you know me IRL look me up on Facebook.

Posted via email from Luca Belletti's Lifestream

Gingerbread Christmas tree ornaments

Sunday 20 December 2009 / uncategorized / Comments Off

Too much butter? Rolled the pastry out too thick? They spread a lot and lost their shape. Will be able to use the stars though.

Posted via web from Luca Belletti's Lifestream

X-Factor pizza party

Saturday 12 December 2009 / uncategorized / Comments Off

Posted via web from Luca Belletti's Lifestream

Paper crown from Christmas cracker, folded, curled up and then slightly unrolled.

Friday 4 December 2009 / uncategorized / Comments Off

Sent from my iPhone

Posted via email from Luca Belletti's Lifestream

In the gutter, looking at the sky

Wednesday 2 December 2009 / uncategorized / Comments Off

Posted via email from Luca Belletti's Lifestream

Graffiti in Moor Street, Soho, London

Tuesday 1 December 2009 / uncategorized / Comments Off

Posted via email from Luca Belletti's Lifestream

Logs in nets

Monday 30 November 2009 / uncategorized / Comments Off

Posted via email from Luca Belletti's Lifestream

Blow-up winter castle at Westfield shopping centre, London

Thursday 26 November 2009 / uncategorized / 1 comment

Posted via email from Luca Belletti's Lifestream

Looking after a baby and a crate of Lego bricks

Sunday 22 November 2009 / uncategorized / Comments Off

Posted via email from Luca Belletti's Lifestream

Euston station tickets hall ceiling

Saturday 21 November 2009 / uncategorized / Comments Off

Posted via email from Luca Belletti's Lifestream

DTPM at the top of Centerpoont

Sunday 15 November 2009 / uncategorized / Comments Off

Posted via web from Luca Belletti's Lifestream

7 things I did not know last week

Sunday 8 November 2009 / uncategorized / Comments Off
  1. M&S and Argos have audio versions of their catalogues. (Via James Cridland's blog)
  2. Newborn babies cry with mother's accent.
  3. Avatar is the first movie James Cameron's has directed since 1997's Titanic.
  4. Greenland used to be part of the European Union but it is now one of its overseas territories.
  5. Nigella Lawson's mother wanted to call her Gondola.
  6. Tajik (spoken in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Russia) is a modern variety of Persian. It is written with the Cyrillic alphabet but authorities are considering switching to Persian script.
  7. A cat and a Volkswagen Golf have the same eco-footprint.

Posted via email from Luca Belletti's Lifestream

How to view Gmail contacts' birthdays in Google Calendar

Saturday 7 November 2009 / uncategorized / Comments Off

I knew you could sync your Gmail contacts' birthdays and events with Google Calendar, but I could not find the 'Browse public calendars' link mentioned in the post Contacts' birthday and events calendar supported in Google Calendar.

I found it instead under Settings > Calendars > Browse interesting calendars > More > Contacts' birthdays and events > Subscribe

Posted via email from Luca Belletti's Lifestream

Old building in Aurisina, Italy

Monday 2 November 2009 / uncategorized / Comments Off

Found while getting lost. Sometimes I cherish my lack of sense of
directions.

Posted via email from Luca Belletti's Lifestream

Happy November!

Sunday 1 November 2009 / uncategorized / Comments Off

Posted via email from Luca Belletti's Lifestream

Happy November!

Sunday 1 November 2009 / uncategorized / Comments Off

Posted via email from Luca Belletti's Lifestream

Vote Ray for Mister Eagle 2009

Sunday 1 November 2009 / uncategorized / Comments Off

Went for a drink at the Eagle across the road to support my friend Ray
who is competing in Mr Eagle 2009!

Posted via email from Luca Belletti's Lifestream

Vote Ray for Mister Eagle 2009

Sunday 1 November 2009 / uncategorized / Comments Off

Went for a drink at the Eagle across the road to support my friend Ray
who is competing in Mr Eagle 2009!

Posted via email from Luca Belletti's Lifestream

7 things I did not know before watching Life

Saturday 31 October 2009 / uncategorized / Comments Off

Last night I watched the first two episodes of the BBC series Life and learnt that:

  1. Cheetas are mush smaller than ostriches.
  2. Some fish can fly – well, glide actually but it's impressive nonetheless.
  3. The sensors on a Venus fly trap must be touched twice within twenty seconds for the blades to shut.
  4. The Brazilian pygmy gecko is unsyncable.
  5. Komodo dragons can kill a much larger water buffalo with a single poisonous bite – and then wait for up to several weeks next to the buffalo waiting for it to die so that they can feast on it.
  6. Brown basilisk lizards can walk on water and are therefore nicknamed 'Jesus' or 'Jesus Christ' lizards.
  7. Dolphins are even more intelligent than I thought they were. A small group of dolphins in Florida make a circle of murky water by swimming rapidly, and then wait outside the circle to catch panicked fish jumping out straight into their open mouths.
Life is a beautiful series and totally worth the licence fee. You can still catch it on iPlayer (UK only I think, and until the 21st of December). Watch it in HD on a big screen if you can, it's stunning!

Posted via email from Luca Belletti's Lifestream

Help me raise money for Breakthrough Breast Cancer

Saturday 24 October 2009 / uncategorized / Comments Off

Posted via email from Luca Belletti's Lifestream

My top for Sunday's race

Thursday 22 October 2009 / uncategorized / Comments Off

I've just received the vest from the charity I'm running the Great
South Run for. Blimey it's pink. I love it.

More info, and the possibility to donate and sponsor me if you wish,
at http://www.justgiving.com/lucabelletti

Posted via email from Luca Belletti's Lifestream

Loving the ad choice, Google!

Tuesday 13 October 2009 / uncategorized / Comments Off

Posted via email from Luca Belletti's Lifestream

Marble Arch station platform art

Monday 12 October 2009 / uncategorized / Comments Off

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Dumped deflated blow-up sex doll

Sunday 11 October 2009 / uncategorized / 1 comment

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John and Edward welcome you

Saturday 10 October 2009 / uncategorized / 2 comments

Watching the x factor live show with friends. They have pinned this on
the front door. I think it is meant to be ironic.

Posted via email from Luca Belletti's Lifestream

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