Archive for October 2005

Rob and I popped along to the Mac Expo at Olympia today, hoping to tinker with some shiny new gadgets and software. You know, expensive toys that we could convince ourselves would change our lives for the better. Unfortunately we left disappointed by the show; half the stands seemed to be selling iPod covers and other related tat, and after about an hour we’d pretty much run out of things to look at. At the MacUser stand we were given a carrier containing a free copy of a magazine - great, we thought, until we opened the bag on the tube only to discover that the magazine was an issue of “Poker Room”. Rather summed up the whole event.

Adobe were doing some demos on their stand, but unfortunately there was no sign of Macromedia’s new releases. Apple were also showing off Aperture, which has a great interface and looks like it could be pretty useful.

I did finally get my hands on an iPod nano, but it didn’t do anything to allay my concerns about the scratching issue; after a day and half on display, the nanos on the Apple stand seemed pretty badly scratched. I think I’ll wait for the second generation nano instead.

For us, the highlight of the show was definitely the Solio - a solar powered charger and battery for iPods, mobile phones and PDAs, which the inventor’s charming sister demonstrated for us. It’s such a great bit of design, with 3 solar panels that fan out when needed, and it’s made from recycled and recyclable materials. Would have been perfect for Glastonbury this year.

On the way back through Victoria we were sad to see the last of the Routemasters running on the 38 route. After today, the only remaining Routemasters will be on the 159 run, and they’ll be stopping on the 9th of December. Seems such a shame that a solution couldn’t be found to their accessibility problems.

I know my blog’s been looking a little unloved of late, so I’m determined to get back to the once-a-day+ posting of old. I was actually planning to post a long piece about my ordeal of building a new PC, but then the South East Asia earthquake happened, and my ordeal didn’t exactly seem much of an ordeal any more.

The same thing happened back in July; there I was, poised to post a big rant about the London bloody Olympics, when loads of people get blown to bits on the tube. In fact, in a year that’s felt more “the end of the world is nigh” than any I’ve lived through, it’s hard to find a day that’s not filled with horror, disaster, corruption or oppression. Sometimes blogging just seems so trivial and self-indulgent, and at other times the sheer number of stories to get angry or upset about is just too overwhelming.

Anyhow, for those of you in need of a good laugh in these dark times, I recommend watching Store Wars (requires Flash). Darth Tater… Chewbroccoli… Brilliant.

Oh, and on the subject of organic food, it’s about time I put in a little plug for Riverford Organic Vegetables delivery service. I’ve been getting my weekly fruit and veg delivered by them for a few months now, and it’s great. The food has so much more flavour, it’s cheaper than in Sainsbury, and it’s delivered to your door.

What I particularly like about it (apart from the fact it cuts out the evil supermarkets, and isn’t flown halfway around the world to be sprayed, sorted and packed) is that I often end up getting more interesting produce than I would normally buy. Thankfully they include a recipe each week which normally covers how to cook the more obscure vegetables (”OK, cook for 15 minutes, but which bit do I eat???”).

I’m also buying all my meat from the organic and free-range butcher up the road too. He’s only been open about a month, but seems to be thriving - with people literally queueing out of the door. Let’s hope the bird ‘flu doesn’t put an end to that. Oh dear, better stop before I get all dark again…

And it’s good night from him…

Sadly comedy legend Ronnie Barker has died at the age of 76.