"No, Wait…"
28/08/07 23:36 Filed in: General
Nonsense | Mac
Keep It Really Simple
27/08/07 23:21 Filed in: Blogging
It's not as easy as you might think. Several news sites don't have any RSS link. Planet Rugby provides a link, but the clickthrough bring you to an error page. The Irish Times's special RWC content is locked down under a subscription. RTE have a rugby category in their sports section, but subscribing to the RSS link gives you the full feed for all sports news.
It's a bit of a pain in the aRSSe, to be honest.
Randomness
27/08/07 23:05 Filed in: General
Nonsense
When neon signs go
wrong - WTF Mac Store (via Daring Fireball)
The UK leg of Wilco's forthcoming European tour would appear to be an academic event, judging by the names of all the venues in which they are booked to play.
The Joy of Tech on the difference between cats and dogs.
For some strange reason, I'm looking forward to the DVD release of Helvetica. I reckon I'll be watching that one on the iMac in the kitchen, as I doubt if my better half will want to sit through a feature-length documentary all about a typeface. I have also moved almost all of my default fonts over to Helvetica, and am going to try it out here in place of Verdana, which I have been using since I started this up. The problem is that most browsers will render it as Arial. Even Safari does this.
The UK leg of Wilco's forthcoming European tour would appear to be an academic event, judging by the names of all the venues in which they are booked to play.
The Joy of Tech on the difference between cats and dogs.
For some strange reason, I'm looking forward to the DVD release of Helvetica. I reckon I'll be watching that one on the iMac in the kitchen, as I doubt if my better half will want to sit through a feature-length documentary all about a typeface. I have also moved almost all of my default fonts over to Helvetica, and am going to try it out here in place of Verdana, which I have been using since I started this up. The problem is that most browsers will render it as Arial. Even Safari does this.
15000 And Counting
24/08/07 22:46 Filed in: General
Nonsense
I was
faffing around with an Excel sheet today, when I
made a mildly interesting discovery. If you have
two cells formatted as dates, and subtract one from
the other, it gives you the number of days that
separate the two dates.
Why should this be interesting? Well, I put my birthdate into one cell, and today's date into another, subtracted my birthdate from today's date, and the result was 14998. Which means that I am 15000 days old on Sunday.
Why should this be interesting? Well, I put my birthdate into one cell, and today's date into another, subtracted my birthdate from today's date, and the result was 14998. Which means that I am 15000 days old on Sunday.
New Rugby World Cup Blog
As
mentioned the other day, I have now gotten the
new Rugby World Cup blog
up and
running.
It is called "The Fear of God" in honour of Paul O'Connell's famous words in the RTE documentary "Reaching for Glory"
(clip contains "strong language")
Thanks to Damien, I have a number of potential contributors lined up to add their tuppence worth. If you would like to come on board, let me know and I'll sign you up.
Come on, Ireland!!!
It is called "The Fear of God" in honour of Paul O'Connell's famous words in the RTE documentary "Reaching for Glory"
(clip contains "strong language")
Thanks to Damien, I have a number of potential contributors lined up to add their tuppence worth. If you would like to come on board, let me know and I'll sign you up.
Come on, Ireland!!!
Exclusive!
21/08/07 23:15 Filed in: General
Nonsense
RWC 2007 Blog
I'm in the
process of getting a collaborative blog going for
the forthcoming Rugby World Cup, and I'm looking
for writers to contribute posts. So if you can
write coherently, enjoy and understand the game of
rugby, please drop me a line
Leaving The Past Behind
16/08/07 22:53 Filed in: General
Nonsense
Via
Willie Joe:
This is completely unfair to the people of Limerick. God knows they have worked hard to rid themselves of the "Stab City" reputation, and in fairness have moved on from that by now.
They shoot and throw grenades at one another now.
The Mayor of Limerick is asked about the county's chances of lifting this year's hurling All-Ireland and he says he's not sure how it will go but reckons that Limerick will have good stab at it.
This is completely unfair to the people of Limerick. God knows they have worked hard to rid themselves of the "Stab City" reputation, and in fairness have moved on from that by now.
They shoot and throw grenades at one another now.
"It Sounds Fucking Barbershop…"
16/08/07 22:49 Filed in: Music
Well I Never (Part II)
16/08/07 22:40 Filed in: General
Nonsense
Following
on from yesterday's post about the Tesco eggs that
unbelievably contained traces of egg, today I
noticed another one, again from Tesco. Still spring
water, we are advised, is suitable for vegetarians.
No meat traces whatsoever.
Which leads me to think, what about meat-eaters? Shouldn't we be catered for too? Never mind all these waters with "a hint" of lemon, lime, strawberry, or whatever, let's have meat-flavoured water!
I have even knocked up a prototype. I deliberately chose Kerry Spring, because they are all good, solid, meat-potatoes-and-veg-dinner-eaten-in-the-middle-of-the-day types there.
Which leads me to think, what about meat-eaters? Shouldn't we be catered for too? Never mind all these waters with "a hint" of lemon, lime, strawberry, or whatever, let's have meat-flavoured water!
I have even knocked up a prototype. I deliberately chose Kerry Spring, because they are all good, solid, meat-potatoes-and-veg-dinner-eaten-in-the-middle-of-the-day types there.
The UnLaoised Groove Supply, Volume 14
15/08/07 23:17 Filed in: UnLaoised
Groove Supply
Ban It!
Many years
ago in London, I worked with a right-wing looper
called Seth. Well, Seth wasn't his real name, but
he was reputed to resemble a character in some soap
opera or other, and so that's what he was called.
Anyways, Seth was your typical Sun-reading
reactionary. His response to anything he found
objectionable could be summed up in two words -
"Ban it!"
The Notting Hill Carnival? Ban it!
Trade unions? Ban them!
Football 'ooligans? Ban them!
Etc., Etc.
I was reminded of Seth last week when I was reading A Tangled Web. (I made a vow last year never to visit that site again, but it's just one of those things. It's like watching an excruciating scene from The Office, through your fingers, from behind the sofa.) Under a headline "Ban the Koran?" a writer called "The Fulham Reactionary" discusses the idea of treating the Koran as a hate text, and banning it the same way as other hate texts like Mein Kampf. The first comment came from the blog's publisher, David Vance:
"I say don't ban the Koran.
Ban Islam."
Now, maybe David was being a little tongue-in-cheek with his comment, but you don't have to delve to far into his own writings to conclude that he may well be serious.
So just for one moment, let's imagine that this was to happen, and Britain did indeed "ban Islam." (A Tangled Web is a hardline unionist blog, so the context here would refer to the UK.) What would happen?
For a start Britain would be isolated by all the international institutions to which it belongs. The EU, the UN, the Commonwealth and Nato would all kick the UK out. Now some 'wingers would be delighted at the prospect of annoying Brussels or the UN, but the UK would soon find itself in a lonely place. The Arab League would boycott trade with Britain, which would have a detrimental effect on the supply of oil. Inflation would spiral out of control and the pound would go through the floor in an instant.
Domestically, the situation would be out of control within days. Hundreds of thousands of previously innocent, blameless people would be criminalised overnight. Bradford, Luton, Birmingham and any other town or city with a significant Muslim population would be in flames. The police would be stretched to the limit as they struggle to cope with the unrest as well as clamping down on all of Britain's now illegal mosques. Islam would be driven underground, and those Muslims that were previously abhorred by the actions of those who committed atrocities in the name of Islam would be driven to the margins of society. When something is banned unjustly, the reaction of those affected is not to acquiesce to the new law, but to fight against it. Moderates would become hardliners overnight.
Then of course, Britain would become a major target for an attack by international Islamist terrorists. Every ululating nutjob from anywhere on earth would start making his way to Britain in order to attain martyrdom and the attendant 72 virgins upon completion of his mission. The population would live in a constant state of fear, wary of congregating in crowds in case it attracted the attention of a jihadist.
Basically, Britain would collapse as a society within a couple of weeks. And that would be a good thing, eh, David et al?
The Notting Hill Carnival? Ban it!
Trade unions? Ban them!
Football 'ooligans? Ban them!
Etc., Etc.
I was reminded of Seth last week when I was reading A Tangled Web. (I made a vow last year never to visit that site again, but it's just one of those things. It's like watching an excruciating scene from The Office, through your fingers, from behind the sofa.) Under a headline "Ban the Koran?" a writer called "The Fulham Reactionary" discusses the idea of treating the Koran as a hate text, and banning it the same way as other hate texts like Mein Kampf. The first comment came from the blog's publisher, David Vance:
"I say don't ban the Koran.
Ban Islam."
Now, maybe David was being a little tongue-in-cheek with his comment, but you don't have to delve to far into his own writings to conclude that he may well be serious.
So just for one moment, let's imagine that this was to happen, and Britain did indeed "ban Islam." (A Tangled Web is a hardline unionist blog, so the context here would refer to the UK.) What would happen?
For a start Britain would be isolated by all the international institutions to which it belongs. The EU, the UN, the Commonwealth and Nato would all kick the UK out. Now some 'wingers would be delighted at the prospect of annoying Brussels or the UN, but the UK would soon find itself in a lonely place. The Arab League would boycott trade with Britain, which would have a detrimental effect on the supply of oil. Inflation would spiral out of control and the pound would go through the floor in an instant.
Domestically, the situation would be out of control within days. Hundreds of thousands of previously innocent, blameless people would be criminalised overnight. Bradford, Luton, Birmingham and any other town or city with a significant Muslim population would be in flames. The police would be stretched to the limit as they struggle to cope with the unrest as well as clamping down on all of Britain's now illegal mosques. Islam would be driven underground, and those Muslims that were previously abhorred by the actions of those who committed atrocities in the name of Islam would be driven to the margins of society. When something is banned unjustly, the reaction of those affected is not to acquiesce to the new law, but to fight against it. Moderates would become hardliners overnight.
Then of course, Britain would become a major target for an attack by international Islamist terrorists. Every ululating nutjob from anywhere on earth would start making his way to Britain in order to attain martyrdom and the attendant 72 virgins upon completion of his mission. The population would live in a constant state of fear, wary of congregating in crowds in case it attracted the attention of a jihadist.
Basically, Britain would collapse as a society within a couple of weeks. And that would be a good thing, eh, David et al?
A Secular Church Holiday
15/08/07 22:09 Filed in: General
Nonsense
Today, 15
August, is the Feast of the Assumption in the
Catholic Church. (It is also St Sweary's Day, by the way.)
Le quinze août is one of the main holidays in France, which I always thought was a little odd. France likes to present itself as a scrupulously secular republic, yet here it is marking a distinctly Catholic feast day as a national holiday.
Le quinze août is one of the main holidays in France, which I always thought was a little odd. France likes to present itself as a scrupulously secular republic, yet here it is marking a distinctly Catholic feast day as a national holiday.
Tech Support Bites Back
It started
with this: 10 Things Your IT Guy Wants You To
Know
which merited the reply: 10 Things The Techno-Retarded Want The IT Guy to Know
which in turn caused John C.Welch of bynkii.com to respond: A response to the Tecno-Retarded
All good geeky fun.
which merited the reply: 10 Things The Techno-Retarded Want The IT Guy to Know
which in turn caused John C.Welch of bynkii.com to respond: A response to the Tecno-Retarded
All good geeky fun.
Well, I Never!
15/08/07 21:53 Filed in: General
Nonsense
Wilco Live In Dublin, November 14/15
14/08/07 23:45 Filed in: Music
Wilco are on their way to Dublin this November, and will play two nights at Vicar Street, on Wednesday 14 and Thursday 15. I had heard a rumour that they were coming, and hoped that it wouldn't be the weekend of the 17th, as I am away in England for a wedding that weekend. Just made it!
Booked me ticket already. This will be the first time to see them since June 99, when they were touring Summerteeth. The only two members from that gig still in the band now are Jeff Tweedy and John Stirrat.
It should be one hell of a gig and I'm really looking forward to it.
(Found out via Jim)
Happy Birthday, Aoife
Is it
really a whole year since our beautiful little girl
came into the world? In one way it only feels like
a few months has passed, yet in another way we find
it hard to believe that it's only a year.
A selection of some of our favourite photos from the 1500 or so we have amassed over the last 12 months. (And if you have the patience to watch through to the end, you'll even get to see her in the arms of her Dad!)
(QuickTime movie with sound)
A selection of some of our favourite photos from the 1500 or so we have amassed over the last 12 months. (And if you have the patience to watch through to the end, you'll even get to see her in the arms of her Dad!)
(QuickTime movie with sound)
Catching Up
08/08/07 16:13 Filed in: Blogging
| Dadage
| Food &
Drink | General
Nonsense | Personal
| Mac | Sport | Tech | Work
Things have
been quiet on the blog front for the last while,
for one reason or another. Work has been quite
busy, with a lot of toing and froing. I have found
that I have had a dearth of ideas for posts, and
those that do crop up seem like too much effort to
write up.
But anyways, I'm on hols at the moment. I'm at home minding the little 'un. My sister, who looks after her during the week is away with her gang on their jolliers. My wife started a new job last month, so she can only get one week off, hence my status as a househusband this week. We will be on hols en famille next week.
The burtda went grand. I was working all day, but we managed to avoid the rain in the evening and get the barbie going. A nice piece of lamb was the order of the day, and we accompanied it with a nice bottle that we had originally planned to open last year on the 40th, but circumstances dictated otherwise. (Pontet-Canet 1966, in case you're curious.)
We
were in Mayo last weekend, and took ourselves off
to the beach on Sunday. Folly, you might think, but
it was a lovely day on Cross Strand near Louisburgh. Not
warm, as such, but very pleasant. I love the
beaches around there, as the sea can be quite
wild and dramatic, and also the fact that they
are nearly always practically deserted. This
weekend was no different, and with the exception
of a few surfer d00dz, we pretty much had the
beach to ourselves. It was Babba's first trip to
the seaside, and she even got to dip her piggies
in the Atlantic. Back home on Monday, and since
then thankfully the weather has been holding up.
Walks at Emo
Court are a regular
feature of our days this week, and in this
weather, it's a very pleasant way to pass an
hour.
So what's been going on? I had planned to write at length about the Darren Graham affair, and may yet live up to that ambition. That sort of nonsense should have no place in any sport. Hopefully the GAA will use the opportunity to do something positive.
The recent Irish Times series about "Rip-Off Ireland" almost inspired me to put fingers to keyboard, but so far I have manfully resisted. Maybe next week. Or then again, maybe not.
On the tech side of things, Fake Steve Jobs has been unmasked. Apple have released new iMacs,
so my
machine is no longer cutting-edge. Still, I got ten
months or so on the frontline, so it wasn't too bad
a stint. Also, the new iLife and
iWork suites have been
released. I have ordered my copy of iLife '08
already. And to top it all, my .Mac account goes
up from a measly 1GB to a much more respectable
10GB of storage. Once I install Leopard, I will
use some of that space to back up all my photos
(to go with my current backup regime of external
HDD, Flickr and monthly DVD burn.)
Next week is Aoife's first birthday, so there will be lots of excitement to be had. She has a new little cousin as well, who was born just three weeks ago.
Then there's the preparations for the World Cup coming up as well. Loads to write about, just have to find the time.
So that's it. The babba is having a snooze at the moment, but is due to wake up any minute, so I'd better sign off.
But anyways, I'm on hols at the moment. I'm at home minding the little 'un. My sister, who looks after her during the week is away with her gang on their jolliers. My wife started a new job last month, so she can only get one week off, hence my status as a househusband this week. We will be on hols en famille next week.
The burtda went grand. I was working all day, but we managed to avoid the rain in the evening and get the barbie going. A nice piece of lamb was the order of the day, and we accompanied it with a nice bottle that we had originally planned to open last year on the 40th, but circumstances dictated otherwise. (Pontet-Canet 1966, in case you're curious.)
So what's been going on? I had planned to write at length about the Darren Graham affair, and may yet live up to that ambition. That sort of nonsense should have no place in any sport. Hopefully the GAA will use the opportunity to do something positive.
The recent Irish Times series about "Rip-Off Ireland" almost inspired me to put fingers to keyboard, but so far I have manfully resisted. Maybe next week. Or then again, maybe not.
On the tech side of things, Fake Steve Jobs has been unmasked. Apple have released new iMacs,
Next week is Aoife's first birthday, so there will be lots of excitement to be had. She has a new little cousin as well, who was born just three weeks ago.
Then there's the preparations for the World Cup coming up as well. Loads to write about, just have to find the time.
So that's it. The babba is having a snooze at the moment, but is due to wake up any minute, so I'd better sign off.
Here We Go Again…
04/08/07 07:29 Filed in: General
Nonsense
As if the
poxy weather, or the undrinkable water in Galway,
Ennis, Clonmel, etc weren't enough, we now have to
contend with defending the country once again from
foot and mouth disease, after a case of the
disease was confirmed on a farm in the
UK.
It's That Day Again!
01/08/07 00:00 Filed in: Personal