Cephalopod Dreams...

Flapjack

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 18:04:12 +0100

Flapjack

I want one of these. So bad.

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 00:00:00 +0100

I want one of these. So bad.

innocence?

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 23:04:48 +0100

Elki11: has joined #dm-hacking
Elki11: i'd like some one to help me
Elki11: i mean hello...first of all
dkubb: Elki11: you are aware this is a channel to discuss programming of the Ruby DataMapper ORM, and has nothing to do with hacking right?
Elki11: of course
Elki11: but that's why i need help...dont know what u are talking about
Elki11: has left #dm-hacking

Comprehensive Instructions

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 10:37:07 +0100

Comprehensive Instructions

An Underbelly of Evil?

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 09:37:24 +0100

“A seaside town hardly conjours up images of evil spirits. But a priest was so scared of dark forces in Portishead, Sommerset, he warned his flock to pray for it and fled to another town. ‘I believe there are spiritual forces of wickedness in this place,’ Rev Clive Laws, 58, wrote in the parish magazine. One churchgoer said: ‘Well, I don’t think there is an underbelly of evil. It’s a lovely place’”

Source: ‘… and finally’, the Metro on Monday, August 11, 2008

Books Etc. II

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 20:06:35 +0100

The Diamond Age, by Neal Stephenson

This doesn’t count for my 101, as I have read Neal Stephenson before, but still, I was enthralled by the book and the way it is part science fiction, part fantasy.

The book itself is set in a future world that was once ours and is now both different and very much the same. The book itself is an extrapolation of what living in a relatively advanced nanotech society is like. Or rather, societies. The world presented in The Diamond Age is split not along the lines of countries, but along more philosophical lines. There is less talk about what can be done, and rather what what should be done, or not done.

What I would very much like to do now is read it again and gather quotes, and try to understand it a little deeper.

Bacon. That is all that needs to be said. Sourced from /tg on...

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 09:55:43 +0100

Bacon. That is all that needs to be said. Sourced from /tg on 4chan.

Coffee~

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 20:22:00 +0100

So, I successfully completed #41 on my list. I gave up coffee for the whole month of May, and then rewarded myself with a drink of the stuff this afternoon. It was an interesting experience as it really emphasised to me when I drink coffee and also perhaps when I shouldn’t. Whilst I will continue to drink coffee with people, or while reading in a cafe I am going to try and keep off the coffee in the mornings.

In other 101 related news, I have started work on both #2 and #52, so links will followfor them when they are more complete. And, of course, the eventual migration of all the tasks to #2.

I once again failed to swim and I failed to write anything of any significance to people this month, but otherwise my ‘continuous improvement’ tasks seem to be going well.

I (heart) Gunnerkrigg Court

Wed, 21 May 2008 17:51:00 +0100

I (heart) Gunnerkrigg Court

Update!

Sun, 18 May 2008 20:43:32 +0100

First: I really need to make these updates more often.

But now onto the actual reason for the update. I’m still off coffee, for quite a few days now. I actually miss the ‘social’ aspect of it more (although I’m substituting hot chocolate mostly) and also taking a book down to the coffee shop.

Also, I’m now fairly regularly buying, and reading, the Guardian. Which is a convinient size to read and is generally interesting. Plus the g2 crossword is one I can actually do. *grin*

Today I baked, a Ginger Cake from Delia. It worked pretty well, although the icing had too much lemon in (so it was too runny) and the ginger pieces could probably have been chopped up smaller. But still, it was very tasty, which is the main thing! (No picture, as camera was broken :( )

Finally, today I climbed Knowl Hill with mum and dad, which was a very pleasant walk and completes #29 of the list!

All in all, I feel fairly accomplished.

Day 2/31

Thu, 01 May 2008 19:45:14 +0100

…of days without coffee.

As per my 101/1001 (#41) I’m trying to give up coffee for a month (accompanied to a lesser extent, by also giving up tea, so as to avoid just turning into a massive tea drinker). The first cup of the day, a regular feature for a few years now, is the hardest. But I’m going to keep at it. It’s in part to prove that old saying of “It’s not an addiction, I can give up any time I want.”

In other 101/1001 news, things are less rosy. I still save money, but I failed to bake something last month, and to swim. I’ve also been lax about papers. So I need to try harder at that. Still, I did start to write a rubygem, Todoist, which has a github repo, and is helping with learning git too!

Admitting Failure Is Hard

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:04:54 +0100

… but I actually managed to do that today. To my supervisor, as well. Hopefully maybe I can actually learn something from this. Going off past experience this probably will not happen, but since it has too then perhaps it will.

Recently I’ve really not been focused on my work, distracted by things I shouldn’t be distracted by, and things that I perhaps I have some reason for. If I don’t get this sorted out then I probably won’t get a PhD, which will be ‘fun’. So.

They do say the first step to a solution is admitting that there is a problem.

So there, this is my admission.

It's EVOLVING!

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 20:31:00 +0100

It's EVOLVING!:

Thanks Mox

LOLgrues. I’m not sure anything more needs to be said

Sun, 20 Apr 2008 22:38:00 +0100

LOLgrues. I’m not sure anything more needs to be said

Books, etc. I

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 19:56:29 +0100

As part of my 101/1001, one of the things I want to do is read more authors. I tend to stick to a favoured few, very rarely introducing new ones into that list, so I set myself a task of reading a new author at least every three months. So, that brings me to my first book:

The Glass Books Of The Dream Eaters, by G. L. Dahlquist

Which is probably best sumarised by some of the blurb from the inside cover:

“three most unlikely but never the less extraodinary heroes become inadvertantly involved in the machinations of a cabal bent on enslaving thousands through a devilish ‘process’.”

Which is what it is. A very exciting, very pulpy adventure (and, indeed, it would be a great Adventure! plot), with a nice splash of the erotic in there. The three heroes, Miss Temple; Cardinal Chang and Dr. Svenson are all engaging and I very much liked the way the drama cut between the three of them when seperated. There were almost always enough ‘signs’ that you could work out when in the other’s dialogue the events took place, and so figure out what was happening.

So I’m very much in anticipation of The Dark Book, due out this May.

Snow, and a 101/1001 update!

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 12:26:17 +0000

So, first of all: Snow! Once more we have snow, and my view is a sea of white.

Next, updates on the 101 things.

My pound coin idea continues to be a good one, although it seems to be the only one I have settled to regularly. I’ve repeatedly failed on sleeping early and buy papers, for example. This is something I need to rectify.

I’ve sorted out half my CD collection (the musical half). It’s all on the shelves now, and sorted alphabetically, which makes it much easier to use. Now that just leaves the other half, all the miscellaneous games, backups and things like that.

I’ve also started to learn to use git, and I’m finding it generally superior to my previous vcs, mercurial. It seems to be much faster, and much easier to use for branched development and I like the server which can be run. I currently have most of my home directory stuff in git and I’m starting to develop some merb projects in it.

Finally, finances. I’ve settled on using ledger, which is a commandline based client which parses a very simple textfile to keep track of your money. It’s really simple to use, I can keep the records in version control (git again) very easily and it seems flexible enough to handle anything I could want. I’m considering writing a wrapper around some of the more common commands in sinatra (and maybe with graphs in gruff) to let me do some things via a web interface. But anyway, in recognition of this fact, I’ve updated the goal. Next April, I want to know where my money went.

I still need someone to write to for March and to bake for March, although hopefully I’ll solve the latter one this afternoon!

Forest Fruits Pie, cooking from the M&S cookbook again, with...

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Forest Fruits Pie, cooking from the M&S cookbook again, with handmade pastry even. It worked pretty well, but I needed more pastry.

If I’m going to make a habit of this, I need to learn to photograph food better.

"If you guys don’t say anything, I’m going to assume you’re zombies and melt your..."

Tue, 04 Mar 2008 23:42:00 +0000

““If you guys don’t say anything, I’m going to assume you’re zombies and melt your flesh off.””

- Mr. Rock Hardy threatens a couple of guys (who turned out to be zombies), with the Flesh Melting Ray.

I can has curtains!

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 20:24:45 +0000

I can has curtains!

#82/101 My new server (Kaori), built around a VIA C7...

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 21:36:47 +0000

#82/101

My new server (Kaori), built around a VIA C7 chip. It’s tiny (the black box under the monitor) and is basically silent! It’s also, with a total power usage of ~25W, considerably more energy efficient than my old server could ever hope to be.