Filed under: Random
Under the big oak at the end of my road – one of my favourite trees in London.
There’s been plenty of things I’ve been meaning to blog about lately – Alabama 3 at Jamm in Brixton playing an amazing acoustic set (with our West country buddies J.E.V.E. rocking to a full house), Christmas madness on Oxford and Regent Street, how Apple makes geekery cool, the del.icio.us buyout by Yahoo! and our lovely new flat (got the keys last night, whoop!) – to name a few.
But the overriding concern on my mind at the moment is why are there still green leaves on the trees in mid-December?
I wasn’t here last year to see this change in seasons to remember when exactly things happen but I’m sure the leaves should have fallen by now. I haven’t even kicked through any large piles of unsuspecting leaves this year (not easy in London but there’s normally the odd heap, trapped by the wind in a street corner, just waiting to be kicked about).
What’s going on?
Filed under: London, Photos, Random
Going under the railway into Tooting Bec Common – a nice park for Winter walks in London.
Fireworks, fat scarves, tasty warm soup, seeing your breath in the air, crackling log fires – all these things make the approaching winter fun. Rain, colds and the complete lack of light after 4pm do not.
Although at the moment, I am enjoying the crisp, clean air – with its frosty mornings and blue skies. It’s quite a change from last year and all rather exciting really. Who knows – it might even snow in London this year…
Filed under: Media
Pure British telly comedy at its best – now I just need to make sure I’m home early on Fridays.
Filed under: Media, Technology
In relation to my previous post, I’ve just found an article from the man that started whole Web 2.0 buzz – he’s saying much the same as me. Only better.
Filed under: Media, Technology
In the wake of Bill Gate’s media spin last week, Microsoft announces a “strategic shift”. The new services will be called Windows Live and Office Live, and Mr Gates said they were “a revolution in how we think about software”.
Hmm. Forgive me but haven’t we all been using applications “online and on demand” for a while now? To unashamedly use a meme that’s been bashed about for the last year or so – it’s all about this “Web 2.0” stuff, innit?
Web services like Flickr, Writely, inetWord and even MSExchange all offer feature rich applications as “online and on demand” software. And with broadband use becoming increasingly prolific, the thin-client model is now a feasible direction for certain applications. I can see that embedded advertising within these applications is a way to make money – particularly for the likes of Microsoft. But I guarantee the developer community will quickly find a way to outrun the displaying of these embedded adverts.
Either way – is this the beginning of the end for CD installed software? Maybe one day even our operating systems will be online…
Filed under: Media, Technology
Sky have apparently seen the light and are considering making a bid for Video Networks – the owners of Homechoice. They say they are not for sale and, of course, it is all rumours but I’d say it was inevitable that a big player such as Sky makes a move on these guys at some point. And what with Sky going on a bit of a spending spree right now, you know it makes sense. Sky certainly appear to be angling towards IPTV – having bought broadband provider EasyNet and a few specialist content providers in recent weeks. I’ve been ranting about Homechoice for a while now and think their technology is second to none. To me it’s true interactive TV – you don’t even notice it happening – the interactivity just happens as part of the viewing experience. Not like Sky’s slow and rather hotch-potch combo of a piddly modem and satellite data feed. Does this mean the technology might finally reach further than the 15,000 Londoners currently subscribing to Homechoice? At the moment the cost of installing digital exchanges required to provide the kind of IPTV you see with Homechoice is preventing its growth but perhaps Sky’s credibility and massive subscriber base will help prolificate the reach of this technology beyond the M25. And it might just keep BT’s move into IPTV at bay too. However, one of the reasons I like Homechoice (technology aside) is the simple fact it’s not Sky. I guess Homechoice is hardly a little guy either – with some heavyweight shareholders such as Microsoft’s Chris Larson, Time Warner, Sony and Disney – but it did feel as if Homechoice was one of the last great hopes in the fight against the Murdoch media empire.
Filed under: Random
Like Shirley Bassey sang, it’s all just little bits of history repeating. Ideas evolve and change. Memes develop and propagate. And books cross and travel… I just heard this programme on the radio. The producers had taken the concept of book crossing one step further and it made fascinating listening. They’d set 84 copies of a book free into the world, with an insert in the book asking people to call in and leave a recorded message describing how they’d found the book, where it was going and so on. The seemingly disparate stories, from all over the world, connected random events and circumstances in people’s everyday lives. It was fascinating hearing how all these people were connected – by a simple book being passed on and on. A bit similar to when, at school, I was asked to write a story I’m sure plenty of school kids are asked to write about – “A Day in the Life of a Penny”. The point being, of course, there is a story to every detail in life – if only we stop to ask.
And, you know, that reminds me about another pastime I need to make sure I pursue soon. Like book crossing, it involves a smidge of randomness, a bit of travel and a dash of hope – geo-caching. Now I just need that GPS…
Filed under: Random
I took the sleeper train to the Edinburgh fringe festival last weekend. It really is the best way to travel to Scotland. A few beers in central London before the train leaves at quarter to midnight certainly help settle you in to the cosy cabin. The train then rolls into Edinburgh first thing the next morning. Couldn’t be easier. Trains are the way forward, you know. If only they were cheaper! This photo was actually taken on the way back from a weekend in the Lake District a couple of weeks ago. On one of those fancy new Virgin trains, no less. I think I might be turning into something of a train fan. There’s no better way to escape London than by train (when they run on time, that is).
Filed under: London, Photos, Random
Walking round the corner during my lunch break today I stumbled into a kind of flash mob going on inside the Starbucks on Oxford Street, led by the infamous Reverend Billy . Bizarre – one moment the coffee shop was packed full of “worshippers” and then they instantly diluted into the crowd of shoppers and passers by. This was followed by a theatrical rant against consumerism/iraq/bad coffee by the reverend himself. It’s good to see some humour injected into protests. I can’t help but think the messages are a bit confused though – it’s a very tongue in cheek approach to some potentially serious issues. I mean – good coffee is important.
Filed under: Random
These last few days, as I squeeze onto the tube, I reckon I’ve been even less aware of those around me – with my head buried deep into a good book in a vague attempt to block out anxious glances and the blatant headlines. Not exactly vigilant, I know, but there’s so much anxiety beneath our streets at the moment. It’s understandable but we must be careful not to over react. A slight tan invites more attention than usual but carry a rucksack and you are asking for it. Apparently. So I was pleased to see a friend at work growing a beard in an act of defiance. Particularly considering he has dark skin and carries a rucksack to work. Maybe a nice weekend in the country would make him see sense. According to the press, John Prescott has been rafting in Wales recently too. I just hope he isn’t late for work one morning and has to run to catch his train. Especially at Notting Hill Gate.
Filed under: Friends, Photos
I like england in the summer.
Filed under: London
Driving through the east end and financial centre of London, on our way back from a beautiful weekend in Cambridge, was a little edgey last night. Road closures forced traffic down narrow back streets as police stood impassively at every corner, while locals and meandering sunday night revellers picked their way through the congestion. An unsaid thought evident in the expressions of drivers and pedestrians alike – “had there been another?”. Everyone is getting on with their lives, as you do, but the reality of the ever present threat in London has been brought home and people certainly seem more aware now, what ever the headlines say about it being “business as usual”.
Anyway – I’d like to take you This Way Please for a far more eloquent take on things.
Filed under: Random
That someone is willing to pay for something that doesn’t exist in “meat space” is bizarre yet eventually understandable, as we inevitably move towards an increasingly Neuromancer style world. But when people start to value bits and bytes enough to want to kill another person, things start to get really rather intriguing.
Filed under: Random
How can I possibly have so much crap? I’m clearing out the last of the boxes that have been sat gathering dust in storage for months now and there’s a few things that the charity shops just won’t take and even the most resourceful hoarders at car boot sales won’t look at. What’s most ridiculous is the 3 large and cumbersome, yet otherwise perfectly functioning, computer monitors that I know would be valuable to someone in this world. But here – nobody wants them. And to recycle them costs £55! Perhaps I should have some fun.
Filed under: Random
Eek – don’t be surprised if a few things aren’t quite working as expected… There’s some changes to this site afoot.
In the meantime, did anyone get to go to the Critical Mass on Friday? To be fair, you can understand why some drivers weren’t paying attention to their driving (first photo).
Filed under: London, Science, Technology
Considering where I am working right now, I haven’t seen enough of the local area during lunch breaks and so on. But when I do, I’m happy to have dragged myself away from the usual half hour of joy – slowly dribbling bits of sandwich between the keys. Walking in from a bright Spring afternoon, this place – with its perspex tables, neon lights, beeps, whirls and blips – was all a bit disorientating but then this is the future after all (and maybe that’s how I’ll feel at eighty years old). And what a future it is. I am going there more often. The Wellcome Wing at the Science Museum that is – not the future. Although you never know…
Filed under: Random
As my password collecting got closer to being complete, the closer I felt to getting collared by the guy at the South Ken news stand. Rifling through the broad sheets of this cumbersome paper, I could hardly be particularly furtive. The brazen approach was working but my conscience had started to get the the better of me. Anyway, we are done! The last password is EXPERIENCE.
Filed under: London, Media, Random
(CULTURE) – only one more to collect.
Filed under: Random
Apparently I fit the canvassers’ ideal “swing-voter” target profile – being a middle class urbanite with liberal tendancies. I have a fair idea of which way to go but what do the computers say?
You should vote: Liberal Democrat
The LibDems take a strong stand against tax cuts and a strong one in favour of public services: they would make long-term residential care for the elderly free across the UK, and scrap university tuition fees. They are in favour of a ban on smoking in public places, but would relax laws on cannabis. They propose to change vehicle taxation to be based on usage rather than ownership.
Take the test at Who Should You Vote For
“The vast majority who were expecting Labour as a result end up as LibDems – this isn’t due to any bias on the site, but rather an indication of the clear ownership of the left-wing agenda by the LibDems as the Labour party has moved more to the centre” – interesting…
Filed under: Random
I like the sound of two Eurostar tickets for the price of one. The catch is you have to buy the Telegraph for a week. Not, however, if you sneak a peak at the newspaper stand coming out if the tube. Today’s password is CUISINE and yesterday’s was CELEBRATION. Bon chance.
Filed under: Random
Not being one to feel left out during all the election furure – here’s a rather topical website I’ve been working on these last few weeks. Makes for interesting reading, even if sometimes a little condescending. I might even vote – seeing as I’ll be in the country this time around. But have you considered tactical voting?
Filed under: Random
Just like time seems to move faster as we get older, technology moves faster every day. Considering our fresh start back in London, I thought I’d treat ourselves to faster internet and gamefully had Homechoice installed. I had no idea what was possible these days. I am completely awestruck by the new potential to choose my own TV and films – as and when I want it! Last Sunday afternoon was a wet and miserable one – what better way could there be to spend such an afternoon than to watch the entire first episode of Peep Show? Fantastic. And all this through a standard telephone line.
No cable installations, nothing. The internet connection ain’t half fast too! This is the future.
Filed under: Random
London, UK Feeling a bit like Mr Benn – getting back into life here. Good to see that Google knows the answer.
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