Ports Thoughts

How an iPod integrates with a BMW

2008-04-18T21:48:00.007+01:00

One of the things I was most looking forward to with my new car was the fact that it features "proper" integration with my iPod Touch. The idea that I could access gigabytes of music, audio books and podcasts on the go was very appealing. Fiddling with an iPod whilst driving is about as dangerous as using a mobile phone. Also on my old car I tried using an FM Transmitter to send the output from the iPod to the car radio using FM. It was rubbish. The problem is that there are no spare frequencies in London and if you go for a long drive the available frequencies change requiring constant retuning. All in all it made it impractical.

The new car features a combined 3.5mm audio jack and USB connector. The advantage of this approach is that it allows the sounds to be routed through to the cars Hi-Fi but also for the control of the iPod to be passed to the cars iDrive Control system. iDrive is far from perfect but is significantly improved since it has stopped being based on Windows CE and has moved to a proper real time OS.

Here we see the iPod Touch hidden away in the Drivers center arm rest.

Another advantage of the combined USB/Audio connector is the the iPod is also being charged when it is connected to the car. So no worries about a dead battery.

The iDrive control screen is in the center of the dashboard allowing either the driver or front seat passenger to operate it using the controller knob on the center console.

The iPod is identified as Audio Aux. As you can see, many of the iPod options are available including all your play lists as well as Artist and Album views.

It is very qucik and easy to zoom up and down these lists by spinning the control know and then pressing it to select.

You will notice that the Audiobook and Podcast views are missing from the menus - but this is not a problem because they are still available in the master list - so an Inspector Rebus audiobook I purchased from iTunes is listed under the artist/author Ian Rankin. Likewise the Russell Brand Podcast I subscribe to is listed under the artist Radio 2.

So it is a little different to the iPod interface but it really doesn't take long to get used to it and then the world is your oyster.

Since I found this information very difficult to find on the Internet let me also include a ...

Mini FAQ.
Q1: Do I need to specify anything when I order my BMW for this great functionality?
A1: Yes. You need to order the optional Auxiliary input port. It was a couple of hundred quid

Q2: Is that it then? I'm ready to rock?
A2: Nope. You will also need a special cable which goes from the iPod Doc connector to a USB and 3.5mm jack. This is where I got mine Cooper BMW on eBay. Should be about £35

Q3: Can't I just use an 3.5mm audio cable?
A3: Of course. But you will have to operate your iPod directly and it will not be charged.

Q4: Will this work for any iPod?
A4: Yup - as long as it has a docking connector. So not the iPod Shuffle. But then the whole point about the Shuffle is that there is no UI so it would be a rather daft thing to do.

Q5: There is loads of stuff on the Interweb saying that the connection is in the glove box and it is free.
A5: That is true - but it is much more basic (essentially the first generation of iPod compatibility from several years ago). To get the cool integration above you need the Aux/USB option.

Q6: Have you tested all BMW Models?
A6: Nope - just my own 520d. But this should all work with new BMW's with the iDrive

Q7: What else doe this Aux/USB port give me?
A7: Well you could do things like copy MP3's to a USB stick, plug it in and play those track through the car stereo. Pretty cool eh?

Q8: What if I have some inferior sub iPod clone?
A8: Dunno. I use and iPod Touch. But the documentation refers to MP3 players rather than just iPods.

New Car

2008-04-18T20:16:00.004+01:00

I find it almost unbelievable how much stuff you need to take with you when you have a kid - especially if you are staying overnight. Push chair, Baby Bath, Travel Cot, food, clothes, nappies etc. So Lucy was a big consideration in choosing my new car, a BMW 520d Touring. It certainly isn't a particularly pretty car. Jeremy Clarkson said it looks like it is wearing Dame Edna's glasses. Obviously I don't agree but the front end is certainly quite distinctive.

From this three quarter view I think the car looks very imposing.

In it's Touring (BMW's posh name for an estate) form it looks particularly good from behind.

One of my favorite features is the split rear door which enables you to just open the window if you just need to pop a shopping bag in the back rather than open the whole boot. And also notice the rock star tinted rear glass which makes people think someone famous is in the back seat but really is so that Lucy won't get sun stroke.

Gartner predicts the collapse of Windows

2008-04-11T15:18:00.006+01:00

Slashdot is reporting that Gartner has predicted the collapse of Microsoft Windows. It is quite an interesting article.

It talks about the monolithic nature of windows and the bloat of Vista when the requirement is for virtualisation and modularity in order to support differing workloads and platforms. One size does not fit all. In fact it concludes that if Windows 7 follows the current path then Windows will collapse. Being Slashdot many of the MS haters were happy to predict the rise of OSX and Ubuntu as Windows dies and as ever they are way premature. Neither Microsoft or Windows are going anywhere any time soon.

I have been running Vista for about 4 months on my home machine and I have been enormously disappointed. Of course there are some nice features (the Windows Photo Gallery is a great improvement and I love the DVD creator) but the performance when running on a super fast Quad core machine with 3 gigs of memory is nowhere near what I was getting from my previous single core AMD box with just one gig that was running XP. I am also getting up to 3 BSOD crashes per day with analysis of the dump files showing no clear pattern. That is aside from the hangs and the lock ups. But I have stuck with Vista in the hope that SP1 will resolve many of the reliability and performance problems when it hits Windows Update later this month.

If that little rant sounded bad - that isn't my biggest problem with Vista. What winds me up the most is that in it's flurry of new features and pretty new UI it hasn't actually made my life any better. In fact many of the things I do day in day out now take many more steps that they did on previous versions. I find the nannying UAC throws undesired prompts at some really basic operations and the redesigned file explorer slows down navigation unless you are using the prescribed Vista directories (Pictures, Documents, Video etc). Unfortunately some of us need a bit more granularity that that. In short it appears that Microsoft has done its own thing without seeking or responding to feedback from their customers.

But I don't think Service Pack 1 is going to be able to do much about that.

One comment on the Slashdot thread that I particularly liked was from Johannesg who writes; "And one day, someone will ask "what operating system are you running that on?", and despite being a card-carrying geek with a 4-digit slashdot ID, you will be forced to admit "Uhm, I'm not actually sure." Because it won't matter anymore."

Getting your gun off

2008-04-06T20:19:00.002+01:00

For my 40 birthday present my brother in law Stew took me and a couple of mates for my first experience of clay pigeon shooting.

The ear plugs aren't particularly attractive - but very necessary.

I shot 19 out of 50 clays. Apparently that is "rubbish". It was a cracking day out though. Maybe these toffs aren't so stupid after all.

Demilitarised Zone

2008-03-25T20:16:00.005Z

Some time ago I wrote about the dilemma I had making our main living room safe for Lucy. The fact is that we have a environment that is virtually impossible to make child friendly. 3 computers, loads of wires and cables, loads of plugs and sockets, bookcases, rubbish bins, guitars. Basically - carnage. So I decided on a rather orthogonal solution. Rather than make the whole room baby safe - why not divide the room into the safe side and the dodgy side. For a divider I found the Summer Infant Super Wide Safety Gate. So on Lucy's side she has sofas, toys and a big TV to watch "In the Night Garden" on.

And then on the other side of the fence is Ali and my Office. The sad thing is that Lucy's safe side if far bigger so it make us feel like the cages ones :-(

Trinitron Gone

2008-03-20T20:15:00.002Z

A sad day - Sony has announced the end of their Trinitron line of televisions. Here is an Obituary on Slashdot. The first Trinitron I used was around 30 years ago when my mate Matt had one as a monitor for his BBC Model B Micro computer. The last one I had was a 32 inch widescreen which I bought in 2000 with the money I received for working in Lotus Support on the night of the Millennium (incidentally - money for old rope - nothing went wrong apart from a minor problem with an unsupported cc:Mail X400 gateway).

I say the last one that I had - but actually I still have it. For various reasons I have upgraded to a new Sony Bravia flat screen LCD. It is actually about the same size as the old Trinitron - the difference is that the new Baravia is all picture. The problem is that the old Tele is still in perfect working order with a brilliant picture - but you can hardly give them away. I can't stand the thought of just throwing such a loyal old friend in a skip - so if anyone out there is willing to give it a good home then you can enjoy owning a bit Trinitron history.

Which Greek God are you?

2008-03-15T15:34:00.000Z

Haven't seen one of these for a while. I'm still basking in the fact that my Muppet was Kermit. Anyway - this is a little more high brow.

You are the god: Ares

Ares is the son of Zeus and Hera and is the God of (savage) war. Ares is one of the gods that takes no sides regarding the battles of mortal man. He readily takes human life and is driven by bloodshed without remorse. Wielding a spear and associated to animals like the dog and the vulture, Ares is feared by men and envied by other gods. He was fearless, good-looking and impulsive. Interestingly, he was secretly making love to Aphrodite, Hephaestus' wife at the time. This was soon discovered by Helios and revealed to the other gods residing on Mount Olympus in aims to humiliate the adulterers. Ares has never married, and although his real love and passion is war, he still gets around. Homer references Ares in the Illiad, whereby Ares sided with the Trojans as they fought against the Achaeans. He was wounded by a spear from Athena, and later Ares flipped sides after discovering his child, Ascalaphus. Ares cried at this moment.

I am the Ancient Greek God:

Ares

Greek Gods Quiz

Matt's Domesday

2008-03-09T14:05:00.004Z

I got a phone call from my best pal Matt a few days ago. He said "I'm sorry I can't come round tonight - I'm on Richard and Judy." For the few people who don't know, Richard and Judy are a bickering married couple who have risen to national treasure status on the back of their daytime and early evening cheesy chat shows. Matt making an apperence on their show was, to put it mildly, unexpected.

However, it turns out that the invitation came becasue of Matt's long involvement in the Domesday Online project with his Dad, Prof. John. (Incidentally trivia fans, you should refer to Domesday Book and not The Doomsday Book). Channel five is not noted for it's coverage of medievil history so it was very refreshing to see a piece that was both interesting and educational.

It was also very nice that Matt gave such a brilliant performance given how potentially nervous one could get appearing on live national TV. Although I'm pretty sure that he is still wearing the makup.

Awesome and frustrating

2008-03-07T11:34:00.000Z

My lovely wife kindly got me a Sanyo Xacti HD1000 digital movie camera for my 40th birthday. Now that our baby is just about to turn one year old and has started moving about and doing funny things it will be nice to capture some of them. And there is always the chance of getting on You've Been Framed if she falls over.

Unlike many movie cameras the Xacti is tiny and has a docking bay making it just as easy to synchronise with the PC as a stills camera. Until recently video cameras used tapes which were heavy and awkward. Re writable DVD's were also popular but their size and shape adversely affected the shape of the camera. Some even feature a built in hard disk. But the Xacti uses SD cards for storage. This is great because they are cheap, small and use minimal power which in turn allows the camera to be so little despite still being very capable.

As you can see it has a reasonably large 2.7 inch screen and supports full HD at 1920 x 1080. If you have a 8Gb SD card it can store about and hour and a half at top quality or 5 hours of standard TV quality. Pretty impressive.

The problem is that Ali ordered the camera and the 8Gb SD card at the same time - but so far only the camera has arrived. And the only spare SD card I have is 128Mb which can only record about one and a half minutes. So I have Smallest and Lightest full HD camera in the world with nothing to record onto! How frustrating. Hopefully the 8 gig card will arrive soon.

Engineer vs. Manager

2008-03-04T16:01:00.002Z

A man in a hot air balloon realised he was lost. He reduced altitude and spotted a woman below. He descended a bit more and shouted,
"Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don't know where I am."

The woman below replied,
"You're in a hot air balloon hovering approximately 30 feet above the ground. You're between 40 and 41 degrees north latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude."

"You must be an engineer," said the balloonist.

"I am," replied the woman, "How did you know?"

"Well," answered the balloonist, "everything you told me is technically correct, but I've no idea what to make of your information, and the fact is I'm still lost. Frankly, you've not been much help at all. If anything, you've delayed my trip."

The woman below responded, "You must be in Management."

"I am," replied the balloonist, "but how did you know?"

"Well," said the woman, "you don't know where you are or where you're going. You have risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise, which you've no idea how to keep, and you expect people beneath you to solve your problems. The fact is you are in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but now, somehow, it's my fault."

Life begins at forty

2008-02-17T16:24:00.002Z

I still remember being 16. I quite distinctly recall my clear understanding that anyone over the age of 30 was utterly pointless and totally incomprehensible. In fact Logan's Run should have been a documentary rather than a film. Myself and my best mates Matt and Phill used to spend hours plotting the downfall of the fascist Thatcher government, being proud Yorkshiremen supporting the Miners Strike (despite not really knowing what it was about), worrying about our untimely demise by atomic bomb due to the Cold War and generally setting the world to rights. However, perhaps the principal focus of our attention was the general desire to beat the system and resist the corrupt and cynical grasp of "The Man". OK, perhaps our principal focus was actually on girls and our seemingly endless quest to gain the attentions of one - but after that it was beating "The Man". Our future plans mainly revolved around our inevitable successful career as rock stars (our band was called The Strangled Wombats) whilst simultaneously writing worthy but witty novels and moonlighting as peace campaigners for CND and humanitarians bringing parity and fairness to the Third World. In short we were stupidly idealistic, impossibly opinionated and of course girlfriend less.

So what would my 16 year old self make of me now I have hit 40? I guess he would see me living with a huge mortgage in a twee suburb of London and think I had been a traitor to my Yorkshire roots. He would bristle at my "ostentatious" BMW since it is "Only a badge and that car could buy a house in Hull". I'm quite sure that he would be disappointed that the music career didn't pan out but disgusted that I ended up working in IT and worse still for a behemoth like IBM (perhaps softened by the fact that I work in the cool Lotus bit). I guess he would be ashamed that I had followed convention and got married rather that just "living in sin" but be secretly relieved that I had a kid since that showed that he was definitely going to get a shag sometime in the future. I'm sure he would be baffled that I spend money on white goods but quite chuffed to see I have a garden shed. And he might even like the goatee beard. But probably not. 16 year olds are a very difficult crowd to please.

Fortunately I don't judge myself like Mini Me. In fact I'm well happy to be 40. So happy I had a party with my twin sister. This was the invitation (don't worry if you didn't get one - the room was limited to 90 people for fire regulations - so not being invited doesn't mean I don't like you. Necessarily.)

Here are a few pictures from the party. We made some poster sized copies of some pictures from when we were little - so here are my sister and I in front of a picture of ourselves from when we were small and black and white (taken by my Mum).

This was the band that played the party. They are called Beautiful Losers (clicky clicky for Myspace Page). They rock!

Here I am approving of the band.

Here are Andy, Heather, Richard and Johanna.

This is most of the legendary indie rock band Angelfield. Lynne, Ian and Brian. Brian gave me a birthday card with a cartoon stegasaurus saying "From one dinosaur of rock to another". Respect :-)

Here are Helen, Pete and Alexis.

Ali (with the bag) talks to Simon and the band at the bar.

Oh dear - comedy headwear has come out!

Various folks start "cutting a rug".

Me and my idealistic foil Matt may have moved to London and forgotten our idealistic past but at least we both have cool goatee beards.

And despite what Mini Me might have though - being married is pretty cool ;-)

And so is the Beemer ;-)

What could have been

2008-02-09T11:54:00.000Z

So it looks like Yahoo! is going to reject Microsoft's takeover bid of $44 Billion. The co branding opportunities between the behemoths would have been quite interesting. Here are a couple of suggestions from the Photoshop Funsters at Vallyway.com.
First the predicatable Blue Screen of Death jape

But my favorite ... Moo!

Lucy

2008-01-23T15:25:00.000Z

It's hard to believe that Lucy is already over nine month old. The childminder said yesterday that she is now more like a little girl than a baby. *sniff*. Everyone warns you when you have a kid that they grow up really fast but I guess you have to experience it to fully understand. And aren't the policemen looking younger ...

ZoneAlarms problem on Windows Vista

2008-01-22T14:43:00.000Z

I have been using Windows Vista on my home PC for a few weeks now - I will write about my experiences and opinions of Vista soon. But I was about to upgrade it back to Windows XP because of the appalling performance and reliability I was suffering. It would randomly hang or start going slow despite being a new machine with 3Gb ram and Quad core processors. I would also get cryptic errors like this one.

I did loads of monitoring and analysis but Vista was giving no clues as to the source of the problem. However, through a series of troubleshooting steps that involved uninstalling just about everything and re adding it and then testing I discovered the the culprit was ZoneAlarms Security Suite. It was causing the machine to run like a dog. So if you are running ZoneAlarms on Vista Home Premium (32-bit) and are suffering similar problems then this may well be the solution to your problems.

The current (as of 22nd Jan 2008) gold version of ZA for Vista is 7.1.078.000. This has seemingly been the root of most of these performance problems. If you go here http ://download.zonelabs.com/bin/free/beta/zavistabeta.html you will find a Beta release of version 7.1.247.000. This release so far seems to have fixed the problems and the performance has returned to normal - certainly sufficiently for me to persevere with Vista for a while longer.

I should say that even though this has fixed my problems it is Beta software so you should read all the terms and conditions and warnings carefully before you decide to install it. Beta software is rarely if ever supported.

The Bathtub Test

2008-01-12T17:28:00.000Z

During a visit to the psychiatric hospital, a visitor asked the Director how do you determine whether or not a patient should be institutionalized.

"Well," said the Director, "we fill up a bathtub, then we offer a teaspoon, a teacup and a bucket to the patient and ask him or her to empty the bathtub."

"Oh, I understand," said the visitor. "A normal person would use the bucket because it's bigger than the spoon or the teacup."

"No." said the Director, "A normal person would pull the plug. Do you want a bed near the window?"

How do you make a Computer Monitor a TV?

2008-01-02T20:25:00.001Z

Perhaps you can help me. I have an excellent Sony flat screen monitor which I no longer need to use on the computer. I wondered if it was possible to use it as a conventional digital TV. I realise that I can't just add a Freeview DVB box since those normally output to SCART or RGB and my monitor accepts DVI or VGA.

I have had a Google about and can't find an easy answer. Is there one? Any hints appreciated.

What does the colour of your car say about you?

2008-01-01T19:49:00.000Z

The time has come round to order my new company car. It is almost four years since I got my current motor so I'm quite excited about getting a new one. Things have changed since then though, not least the fact that Lucy has come along so now I find I am much more interested in ISOFIX car seat connectors than top speed. The biggest change is that I will be getting an estate car because even though Lucy is only 2 and a half feet long she takes up an unbelievable amount of room. What with her car seat, pushchair, travel cot, baby bath, clothes, toys and nappies she has more packing than Posh Spice.

But the real dilemma is what colour do I chose. In my opinion, the best looking car I ever had was this one in green with beige interior. That was 10 years ago. Since then I have boringly stuck with a blue/grey combination. So I thought I would return to Green for the new jalopy.

But then I found this list here
Black cars denote an aggressive personality or someone who's an outsider or rebel.
Silver cars indicate someone who's cool, calm and slightly aloof.
Green cars can often be chosen by people with hysterical tendencies.
Yellow cars signify someone who is idealistic and novelty loving.
Blue cars are chosen by the more introspective, reflective and cautious driver.
Gray cars represent those who are calm, sober and dedicated to their work.
Red cars denote those who are full of zest, energy and drive and who think, move and talk quickly.
Pink cars are chosen by gentle, loving and affectionate drivers.
White cars represent status-seeking extrovert drivers.
Cream cars are the least likely to be involved in accidents and denote self-contained and controlled owners.

Notice that it suggests people with green cars have "Hysterical Tendencies"! Perhaps I should go with Pink instead.

Sideburner Video

2007-12-20T20:00:00.000Z

6 years ago Lightning Tom and Al, my good friends and fellow bandmates in the awesome Alt Rock group Sideburner went with me to California for a rockin' holiday and shot some video. The idea was to mix some of it with live footage to produce a promo video to amuse friends and family. At last I have now got hold of a video capture device that has enabled me to grab the footage off the dodgy old VHS tapes. So here is my first effort at creating a film (using Pinnacle Studio).

Do you think Spielberg will be worried?

Ear Today, Gone Tomorrow

2007-12-12T22:07:00.001Z

I first got my ear pierced almost exactly 20 years ago. I was 19 and it was the day before the interview which would result in my first job in IT. I was such a rebel. My employer was no fan of male ear furniture but they were far more distracted by my long curly hair so didn't mention it. Would you hire this man as a VMS Systems Programmer? Incidentally - this photo is not taken at the interview, it is at the legendary "Spiders" nightclub in Hull.

Over the following 20 years no one seems to have been particularly bothered. One of the comments I have had was a customer saying "You are the first IBMer I have ever seen with an ear ring" to which I pedantically replied "I'm sure you mean Male IBMer". On several other occasions IBM colleagues have commented that it was good because it made me look like a geek :-/ Mrs Ports thinks it makes me look more like a pirate being a silver hoop.

However, all good things have to come to an end and I have decided that the earring has to go. It has nothing to do with work - it is all to do with the baby. Every time I give Lucy a huggle she grabs it and she is getting very good at grabbing things and holding onto them. So I have given up. It is just a matter of time before she either rips my ear off or ends up swallowing it. I just don't understand how people with babies and lots of Jewelery, specifically jangly earrings, don't go bonkers.

iPod Touch: Object of Desire, Software of Derision

2007-11-20T17:26:00.000Z

I have always liked the idea of Apple. I like the way that when IBM's motto was "Think" they made their motto "Think Different". I like the fact that when Microsoft stole all their ideas (e.g. Windows) they didn't just complain like so many of their long gone competition, they came up with some better ideas. I like that they always seem to be a step ahead of the rest. But more than anything else, I like it that Apple don't just make beige boxes that do accounts they make beautiful objects of desire. Having said all that, I have never owned anything by Apple.

Since I have started going to the gym I thought that perhaps this was the time to take my first faltering steps into mobile music. I had been tempted by an iPhone until I discovered how draconian the restrictions were (O2 only, 18 Month Contact, No 3G etc.) so the obvious candidate was the iPod Touch. All that is good about the iPhone, except without the phone.

I have to say that my first impression of the Touch was awesome. Even the box it comes in is a work of art (Except for Macy Gray on the cover - her music sounds like an Alligator gargling). The Touch itself is extremely slim but weighty enough so it doesn't feel dainty. The first disappointment is that I can't do anything with it until I have connected it to iTunes.

The second disappointment is that iTunes is a disgrace. Having downloaded the software it would not allow me to proceeded until I had given it my address and credit card number. I know muggers who make less demands on their customers. I have bought a media player yet it is forcing me to be a record shop customer. Absolutely disgraceful and I now start to see where some of the criticism of Apple comes from. That is not to mention the fact that it crashed my PC several times. And it is also about as intuitive as Latin. In braille.

This myth that Apple software is easy to use really is a myth. It is pathetic. However, if you search on the web you will find loads of good people railing about the evils of iTunes so I won't waste more time ranting about it any more here other than to say that iTunes stands in stark contrast to the excellent software on the Touch.

I have previously commented on the Web browser Safari being a bit rubbish on Windows but on the Touch it is a revelation, helped by the ease by which you can enable wireless networking. Being able to access You Tube is less useful but still quite amusing to show friends.

Getting back to using the Touch as a media player it is very good with the basics. Music played pretty well and it automatically picked up most cover art to make the "Album Flow" interface work well. Likewise I could download a few videos and TV Shows after I had converted them from .mov to .m4v format. I was disappointed that other videos and DVD's didn't want to transfer even though they were all legitimate. The curse of DRM.

The other major suprise was how crap the built in headphones were. I would have replaced them anyway since white earbuds just scream mug me, but the sound quality was awful. A pair of discrete black in ear Sennheisers has cured all that though.

The final addition was a Griffin iTrip. The current jalopy doesn't have an iPod connector so the iTrip allows the Touch to become a radio transmitter which can be picked up by the car radio so I can listen to all my new podcasts as I dive. Neat.

www.Build6000.com

2007-11-18T16:34:00.000Z

A build number can be a quite interesting things in software. It represents the number of times that a computer program/suite has been assembled and compiled up to that point. Lotus stopped bothering with build number for Notes and Domino years ago because we normally have several versions that are being built at any one time (currently 6.5.x, 7.0.x, 8.0.x and "Next") and they are often built more than once per day. So we tend to go with build names that are version and dates - so I am currently running Notes V801_11152007. However, Microsoft has continued using build numbers for Windows and they have a sort of iconic status for Softie geeks. Windows NT 3.1 was build 528, NT 4.0 was build 1381, Windows 2000 was build 2195,Windows XP was build 2600 and Windows 2003 was build 3790. You can probably see why geeks make such delightful conversationalists at dinner parties.

Anyway, my mate Marcus is a royal expert on all things Windows and has set up the definitive resource for folks who are trying to find out about Vista and Windows Server 2008 and above. Not only that - but he has gorn and nabbed the domain name Build 6000 because that it the build number of Vista! Clever or what! The site is designed to embrace all the social side of stuff and become a community area so there will be blogs, forums, articles, links and such like as it develops as well. It is brand new though so bear with any teething troubles.

Dave

2007-11-05T01:17:00.000Z

Several of my friends have derided me for not having Sky+ or some such 600 channel televisual extravaganza. Fortunately I have a "life" and so don't require such frivolous rubbish. Or more accurately Mrs Ports has forbidden it. Whilst this did make me feel like a second class citizen in this multi media age, I was able to mitigate it by purchasing a splendid Humax 9200T PVR. Whilst I don't get 600 channels, I do get 40ish and they are all for free.

However, what's been missing is a channel for the gentleman. I don't mean Playboy. I mean a channel about comedy and hovercrafts, cars and survival. But that was before the arrival of the excellent new channel called Dave. It is unbelievably genius. A typical night may involve a couple of classic episodes of Top Gear, then maybe a couple of Clarkson's Extreme Machines followed by QI and Have I got News for You. Perhaps this might be rounded up with Ray Mears explaining how to survive in a Jungle. Quality.

Dave TV is the best channel ever. Mrs Ports thought the Humax had gone wrong when she saw that it had recorded TopGear 12 times. Nope. Just obeying instructions. So if you are a bloke and wish you were still 16 then tune your Freeview box to channel 19.

Cats

2007-10-28T13:16:00.000Z

My mate Matt sent me this cartoon which has been doing the rounds on the Interweb. If you have a cat you will know how accurate it is. Specifically it is Boo.

Fit as a fiddle

2007-10-23T17:32:00.001+01:00

A few months ago I was down at the Doctors getting an MOT. I was obviously feeling quite smug having given up smoking cigarettes over two years ago and figured that I would pass with flying colours. I was not unaware that I weighed slightly more than was ideal and that I occasionally slipped over the recommended alcohol limit. Neither had my fondness for cheese and roast dinners escaped me. But I was rocked to the very foundations when the Quack explained that I suffered from "being fat".

What's more, the medical profession has devised a new and hideous treatment for this ailment. Apparently it is called "exercise". I asked for a second opinion but he would not be shifted. I was sentenced to a regime of "Gym" attendance and "dieting".

I can't say I have much enjoyed hauling myself to the gym twice a week, but I had my three month assessment yesterday and it appears to have done some good. I have lost about a stone in weight, my resting heart rate has dropped by 12 bpm and my flexibility has gone from 33cm to 46cm. Whatever that means. Cutting down on the booze and cheese was hard at first but I haven't exactly turned into a Monk.

So all in all I'm glad I gave this "exercise" lark a try. I think I'll keep it up and see where I am in another 3 months.

Back to Work

2007-10-19T17:08:00.000+01:00

So a very symbolic but also slightly sad day today. Ali is returned to work and that means that Lucy will be spending her week days with a child minder. I've been working for the last six months so this isn't a great change for me - but it is quite a wrench for Ali who has spent just about every waking hour with the little fella since she was born.

Our child minder is lovely and clearly adores children. We know that Lucy will have a great time with her and fortunately she just lives round the corner. We have checked her impeccable ofsted report and talked to her awesome references. But the fact is that she could be Father Christmas and we would still feel a bit guilty about not being able to look after Lucy forever.

But wages need to be earned because the mortgage needs to be paid (the banks seem very insistant on this). I'm sure that this is just the first of the many difficult things that we have to do, for instance I'm not looking forward to explaining why she can't have a pony. Anyway, it will always be nice coming home from work knowing that we can give the Spocket a big huggle.