tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63907762009-03-05T07:32:18.995ZThe occasional journal of a very much politically disillusioned technophile, cameraman and Macuser (the computer, not a Scottish drug addict).Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03851642585686790590noreply@blogger.comBlogger189125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390776.post-53638027621247574122009-02-19T14:38:00.004Z2009-02-19T14:44:11.995Z

Alex Dalmady might well come across as a bit of a financial geek but boy can he stir up a hornet's nest. Having looked over a friend's portfolio invested in Stanford he immediately told his friend to get out a.s.a.p. Further analysing the bank he continued to blog his thoughts, such as:So far today this humble blog has had several visits from major newswires, three visits from the US Federal

Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03851642585686790590noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390776.post-72241966173148348282009-02-11T09:56:00.003Z2009-02-11T10:14:11.832Z

... did I ever think I would discover an article by George Monbiot which I wholeheartedly agreed with. In The Guardian he assails Hazel Blears (Gordon Brown's pocket minister for local government and communites) for her earlier sneering attack on Monbiot.

Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03851642585686790590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390776.post-9154912991746936132009-02-06T16:34:00.003Z2009-02-06T16:43:32.752Z

Alex Bell and Andres Pacheco are a couple of very clever chaps who have put together a motorbike using a Ballard fuel cell stack for electrical generation. The unit is a Polymer Exchange Membrane (PEM) device which reacts oxygen from the air and pure hydrogen across a membrane to create electricity with a maximum of 1.2 kw (1.6HP) and water vapor as its only bi-product. Hydrogen is ingeniously

Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03851642585686790590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390776.post-79311418452379230932008-05-23T08:13:00.004+01:002008-05-23T08:22:36.229+01:00

Can't afford to make your own music video? Simple. Perform your video in front of some of the 13 million CCTV “security” cameras available in England and then file a Freedom of Information request to get the footage back, which is exactly what a band called The Get Out Clause did. Unable to hire a production crew for a standard music video, they performed their music in front of 80 of the 13

Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03851642585686790590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390776.post-87823395783279125592008-04-19T11:41:00.005+01:002009-01-26T16:48:07.827Z

Forty years ago Enoch Powell made a speech at the Midland Hotel in Birmingham to a meeting of the Conservative Political Centre. Earlier in the week, Powell had said to his friend Clement Jones, who was a journalist at the Wolverhampton Express & Star, "I'm going to make a speech at the weekend and it's going to go up 'fizz' like a rocket; but whereas all rockets fall to the earth, this one is

Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03851642585686790590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390776.post-49138390130624236612008-03-20T10:41:00.000Z2008-03-20T10:42:11.341Z

Oh .. yuk!

Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03851642585686790590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390776.post-51372809520601509942008-03-17T10:40:00.003Z2008-03-17T10:43:55.790Z

Seems the Kremlin has been reading Harry Hutton's blog a bit too much ...

Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03851642585686790590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390776.post-31448372774194625142008-03-09T12:00:00.003Z2008-03-14T13:19:09.950Z

For a long time now I have been running a mental spreadsheet where I add reasons for emigration into one column and reasons to stay into another. I've finally clicked the 'calculate now' button and come up with a significant balance in favour of permanent emigration, however I'm not about to do the big deep breath thing and launch myself over to the other side of the planet and cut all ties.We

Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03851642585686790590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390776.post-14342245248288884062008-02-03T10:40:00.000Z2008-02-04T11:47:09.858Z

Lewis Hamilton, who finished runner-up in last year's championship, has become a hate figure in Spain because of his rivalry with former McLaren team mate Fernando Alonso who now drives for Renault. A number of papers report that the McLaren driver was booed and insulted whenever he made his way from the team motorhome and into the pits on Saturday, during testing at the Spanish Grand Prix

Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03851642585686790590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390776.post-69670226860734807942008-01-31T12:28:00.000Z2008-01-31T12:30:14.227Z

The Daily Mash reports:AN advert featuring a grown woman in a short skirt has been banned by Britain's regulator of masturbation fantasies.Offwrist, the Office for Wanking, Rubbing and Independent Sexual Techniques, said the images would encourage men to think about grown women in short skirts in an inappropriate way.Tom Logan, Offwrist deputy director, said: "This country has a deplorable

Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03851642585686790590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390776.post-51010199978224512022008-01-31T12:16:00.000Z2008-01-31T12:19:38.276Z

Clicking on the above link will take you the London Elects website. Please do remember that you only have until April 16th to register if you want to take part in the election to oust the truly odious Ken Livingstone from office on 1 May 2008.

Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03851642585686790590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390776.post-32389912617036829162008-01-10T16:51:00.000Z2008-01-14T12:52:59.134Z

Time to replace all the computer equipment we use, soooo first up are the Macs. Very neatly coinciding with the release of the new multiple processor Mac Pro we have just spent about £5000 on just one computer, with a massive NVidia 8800 graphics card, 16Gb of RAM, 2x320Gb hard drives and 3.2Ghz processors. Tomorrow its Sony Vaio time, which will probably be all consigned to being donated to

Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03851642585686790590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390776.post-13101301397966907672008-01-10T16:46:00.000Z2008-01-10T16:50:53.516Z

Introducing the Stun gun MP3 "iTaser" (not its real name, just a trendy label). Arizona-based Taser International sells the handheld stun guns under the rather hyperbolic banner of 'Changing the World and Protecting Lives'. It maintains that the iTaser "allows for both personal protection and personal music for people on the go".

Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03851642585686790590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390776.post-18186103072015589782007-12-24T14:08:00.000Z2007-12-24T14:12:58.741Z

Why is it that most banks do not have the capability to issue you foreign currency on the spot? Went in to my local branch of Lloyds TSB only to be informed that if I wanted £500 in Euros it would take at least 1 working day and most likely 2 before they could get Euros. Withdrew £500 and went around the other 4 banks (Natwest, Barclays, HSBC and RBS) and they all said the same ... i.e a minimum

Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03851642585686790590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390776.post-69941949889634275652007-12-19T09:01:00.000Z2007-12-19T09:10:48.027Z

Now it would appear that Customs have 'lost' 1.5Kgs of cocaine. According to the 'Acting Chairman' David Hartnett (the last one was ostensibly fired only to pop up again later in another government position, rather like scabies),I am very concerned about what has happened in Coventry. All I know is that an amount of cocaine - 1.5kg - is missing from the place it should be in asecure lock-up.What

Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03851642585686790590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390776.post-47766805916293607582007-12-03T21:04:00.000Z2007-12-04T13:46:06.074Z

The fighting capability of the Army's new generation of armoured vehicles could be limited by European rules on greenhouse gas emissions. To avoid breaching the EU rules, the 3,000 vehicles must be specially designed to limit the damage to the environment in the battlefield. However, critics claim that this could compromise their fighting effectiveness and say protecting British troops should

Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03851642585686790590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390776.post-46323499820092280192007-12-03T17:26:00.000Z2007-12-03T17:29:51.686Z

Andrei Lugavoi, wanted for questioning by the British authorities, in connection with the investigation into the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, has evaded future arrest by being elected.Lugovoi will now enjoy guaranteed immunity from prosecution, further frustrating British efforts to have him extradited to face charges over the polonium poisoning of the Russian dissident in London.

Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03851642585686790590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390776.post-84815027549810142812007-12-03T15:46:00.001Z2007-12-03T15:46:59.687Z

Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03851642585686790590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390776.post-89716260919649298872007-11-24T12:19:00.000Z2007-11-24T12:25:55.562Z

Unpleasant scenes broke out at Leatherhead Leisure Centre in Surrey when the wounded veterans, who are at Headley Court Military Hospital, had to use the 25-metre public pool because the hydro-pool at the defence rehabilitation centre is not big enough for swimming.The servicemen were about to begin their weekly swimming therapy in closed-off lanes when they were verbally abused by the

Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03851642585686790590noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390776.post-67706966485166445632007-11-15T18:43:00.000Z2007-11-15T18:52:56.155Z

Helping to edit some of the new adverts for the new Eurostar terminal I got invited to the launch a couple of days ago. Very cold indeed but the new terminal looks really amazing and far better than the 'tacked on' look of the old Waterloo terminal. Of course, as lots of wags at the launch reminded us, the French might start using Eurostar a bit more now that they don't have to arrive at Waterloo

Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03851642585686790590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390776.post-25961639178402110682007-11-12T10:46:00.000Z2007-11-12T10:56:45.873Z

Went to see it last night. Despite being a massive fan of Shekhar Kapur I was still very, very impressed at his cinematography and his clever use of both Winchester, Ely and Wells cathedrals as royal palaces. Worth noting that had the Spanish actually succeeded in The Enterprise then,But for the Great Storm ..... without which their would have been no British Empire. Spain would have probably

Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03851642585686790590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390776.post-72656692885724980032007-10-26T19:44:00.000+01:002007-10-27T10:40:19.295+01:00

Andrew Orlowski, one of my favourite Mac journos echoes my sentiments once again with a piece about Apple's new OS 'Leopard' and the symbiosis between Apple's software and hardware, which always makes it all more of a computer than just an operating system bolted onto a lump of hardware.

Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03851642585686790590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390776.post-19903222284806370362007-10-18T09:15:00.001+01:002007-10-18T09:19:25.098+01:00

Now the cancer is 'cured' and I don't have to undergo more of the awful chemo sessions I can relax and just deal with the withdrawal anguish from almost 9 months of various drugs and other noxious substances being injected into me.Last Saturday morning I did my customary Waitrose shop, only to have the checkout lady sneeze over me. By the time I had got back to the car I was already sneezing,

Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03851642585686790590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390776.post-61893102955834210642007-10-18T09:11:00.000+01:002007-10-18T09:14:23.008+01:00

Ok, if that had been the UK my reaction would have been "yeah, yeah... Gordon Brown/Tony Blair authoritarian twattage etc etc" but it isn't.Herb, a resident of West Scranton, was tackling her overflowing toilet last Thursday evening when she lost patience and let rip with some choice expletives. This bog-based ballyhoo upset her neighbour, off-duty police officer Patrick Gilman, who called his

Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03851642585686790590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6390776.post-10491552146444541122007-09-23T21:30:00.000+01:002007-09-29T10:10:20.187+01:00

This is the Google cached transcript from Craig Murray's website, which has been taken down following action by (yet another) Russian criminal:Alisher Usmanov, potential Arsenal chairman, is a Vicious Thug, Criminal, Racketeer, Heroin Trafficker and Accused Rapist I thought I should make my views on Alisher Usmanov quite plain to you. You are unlikely to see much plain talking on Usmanov

Julianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03851642585686790590noreply@blogger.com0