Last Post

This is the last post for this month and all in all so of the projects that I wanted to work on have been worked on, which is good.

The websites that I have, so far only one of them which is the Dirk Maggs Productions website has been updated, work on it will take some months yet but I think there is light at the end of the tunnel as the saying goes.

Updates 7

Updates

I have managed to update the Dirk Maggs website for production year 2001 and 2003. For some reason that I have yet to work out the layout on pages that I am sure I had sorted out are now all wrong with all the headings all hard over to the left-hand side, why this is I just don't have a clue.

Any way these two years all the production pages where looking okay as of this post on my blog.

So that of course means that the next time that I go and have a look they will be broken again!

Moon

Just a note to me that the Moon looked real big on the horizon and the red "star" by it was Mars.

ipad

So the ipad is out, I don't know why but I wanted it to have more than they gave. By that I mean that as a version 1 device it has some failings that to me here in little old England are so obvious that you begin to wonder just what plant so of the folks in Apple are on.

I suppose will will never know what sort of discussions went to to decide what the machine should or should not have but the sad fact is that for what ever very good reasons, some of the stuff that they have left out are well to me just strange.

Take for instance multitasking, if I understand it right the new cpu that the ipad has, is more than capable of doing more than one task at the same time, the OS in the ipad can multi-task, in fact I think I have read somewhere that it does multi-task if you happen to be Apple and its your software running at the time.

So why does it not multi-task? there must be a reason, what it is I just don't have a clue.

The other thing that is not there is a forward facing camera, which would make the ipad just so much more usable, may be Apple don't want to sell too many devices or the cost of adding a camera broke the budget on the build cost.

Talking of build cost, I wonder just how much it does cost to make an ipad?

One thing that makes me really unhappy is that when I use my itouch ( which I do use very heavily, and have also run out of space on lots of times, its a 32G unit) is the number of website that don't work because I don't have flash on the itouch and I now see that for some reason Apple have still not got over there fears, worries about allowing it to work on the new ipad, why?

I am told by those in the know that the machine eg my touch is more than capable of running flash without any real problems.

So I have looked at other version 1 devices that Apple has done and have decided that a version 2 device is the better way to go.

So I have 12 more months to go before I will have to look at replacing my touch , I hope it lasts that long as the use it gets is stupid.

Reading

I have just finished reading the latest Peter James novel that has come out in paperback. Its called Dead Tomorrow and is the latest in the Roy Grace series, and I have to admit that it was a good read with lots going on, and I think this bit is important the characters in the novels do change and progress and the way they act to the world they are in also change.

I like the main character Roy Grace, not sure why? maybe because he is human he makes mistakes and is not flawed like so many police men in fiction you meet these days.

By that I mean you only have to look on telly what is coming out of the USA to see that all the policeman have something wrong with them, if its not that then they appear to have a budget so large that any new kit that that comes out that could be used to catch the bad guys is brought and suddenly every one knows how to use it perfectly.

What I like about Peter James is that in the story money or resources are tight and sometimes Roy Grace can't have the item or resource that he needs, but and this is a big but he finds another way to do what needs doing.

So this book is a good read, you do not need to have read the early books but you do get more from the book if you already know Roy Grace and his world.

I suppose that it will only be time that will tell when it gets to the small screen which I think would be a pity as this is a series that needs you the reader to get involved, a multicast radio series would I think be really good, but these days the money and the interest for such a thing just will not happen which is sad but that's how it is.

I suppose the only consolation to this is that Peter has written the new book in the series, I just wish he was just a bit like Terry Pratchett and published a book every 6 months, cause I need my Roy Grace fix, I want to know what is going to happen next.

Updates

The updates to the Dirk Maggs website are still going on, the only trouble is that for most users of the site you can't see any changes.

The other thing that I have also noticed is that the number of visits to the site has collapsed, where I used to have thousands I am now lucky if I have 20 or 30 a day. Which is a bit of a surprise as I am still very high up on Goggle when you do a search for Dirk Maggs.

I know that I still have the old Dirk Maggs site, but that is not getting any more hits than the new one, so I am not too sure just what is going on.

I also have the problem of working out just how to safely remove the old website without loosing the new one.

Blood

Today is the 1st time this year that I have given blood. Apart from the booking system not working how it should I have now given 114 units of blood.

To say I am proud of myself would be an understatement. As the worst thing to me about giving blood is when they pull the plasters off that hold the needle in your arm, it real really hurts and the number of hairs that get ripped out of my arm is well lots.

But its a small price to pay to help others.

Updates 6

on the Dirk Maggs productions website I have just sorted out production year 1998, so it joins the list of pages that now have some form of navigation.

Still loads to do.

Website Updating

1996 and 1995 of the Dirk Maggs productions website production years have now had there navigation sorted out and do look much better for it.

I have even managed to reinstall some of the cast pictures that have been missing since the move to the new site.

Not to sure just how many more production years there are to go, one part of me is just a little scared in that I really don't want to know just how much more work is left to be done.

but it's nice to say that we have moved forward.

Tuna

Just had to note here for me that Honey and soy hot noddles and tuna is nice but next time find out just how small the portions are, so that you don't end up hungry.

Blogs

Funny how one minute you have lots you want to say in your blog and the next either you do not have the time or you don't have anything that you think needs to be said.

Updates 4

The updating of the Dirk Maggs Productions website carry s on and on or so it seems, the good news is that all the productions from 1987 to 1993 now have there correct navigation system installed.

The bad news or which there are two is that 1 the years 1994 to 2010 need to be done, and in some of those years Dirk did do a lot of radio work, so there are lots of productions to add the navigation system to.

The second bit of bad news is that as I have gone through the productions from 1987 to 1993 I have found that quite a few are missing cast photo's which I know that I have.

It goes without saying that I will have to add the photo's that I have, but this also means that I will have to search out some of the missing ones and credit them if that information is out there.

As my head was starting to spin with all the edits I have called it a day on the edit front.

Blue sky

So today it looks like we may be very luck and have a day with some blue sky, I can't think when we last had a day with it, its been that long.

I also don't know if the sun will be very warm, it does not matter as long as we have some hours of bright daylight.

Website Updating 3

I have done some more work to the Dirk Maggs Productions website, I have now started on the very long road to put a navigation system in for every production by year. This is something that I said that I started a while ago and I am still doing it!


So far progress is slow as each production pages takes some 5 minutes or so, and I find that after a while my concentration starts to go and I start to make errors. So I have sound the best thing to do is to pick a year that I have not done and do it, and if there are not too many productions in the year then pick another year and do that. I have found that sometimes I can do more than one year at a time before I get *issed off with it all.

I think that at my current rate of doing the editing I shall finish in a few weeks.

There is plenty of stuff that still needs to be done, eg sorting out cast photos and getting them all the right size, I suspect that this task will take months and may never really be complete as I hope there will be new stuff to report on that Dirk has done.

The other final very important job that has got to be done is to work out how my host works so that I can remove all the old Dirk Maggs website and just leave the new one.

Snow

The report on the snow we had is this, its finally going, in fact it has been raining and you know what I don't care one little bit that it is wet.

The weather men are saying that we could see some blue sky tomorrow. It will be nice to see some as we have not had any for so long now. What little snow that is left is where it was piled up after being dug off the roads or the paths

Bread maker

Just some great news got a replacement bread maker

Heating

Well we have had a bit of a situation here the last few days. Yes the heating failed, and it is still cold, and I can tell you a house at 10 centigrade is not much fun to sit in.

Lucky as we have four star maintainance with the Gas board they came out the next day after we placed the call, as we made it at gone 6 pm.

The result the main circulation motor had died and the 3 port valve had failed in that the spindle had snapped.

Gas board man said will be back at 10am on Sat to fix it, and he was and it is all working.

House temp at 16.45 hrs was 18.1 centigrade and rising.

Slush

Today in honour of the thaw my word of the day is SLUSH

Dirk Maggs

I got a bit more of the Dirk Maggs website done, in that I think I have worked out a simple page navigation system for his radio work by year. Well it appears to be working the only snag is that I now have some 100 pages to edit and change, and each one has to be done by hand, which is not good.

As each page takes some 10 to 15 minutes to do it is going to take some time to do every radio production, but then there is no rush, as its my website and I can take as long as I like to get it into the format and layout that I want.

Book reading 2

This is the first book that I have finished reading this year 2010, well I think it is.

The book is called American Connections by James Burke, its an interesting read in that as a Brit I do not know how many men signed the American Declaration of Independence, and I did not know just how close it came to being not signed and not needed.

It would appear that a lot of the men who signed the document all made in some way a lot of money from it, may be that was one of the un-written reasons and why they would not compromise.

So I did learn a lot from this book, but I got the feeling that even James had trouble linking some of the men back to today.

Well worth a read if your history of how or who some of the men behind the declaration is non existent

Updates 3

The Dirk Maggs Website was updated a bit more yesterday in fact I found new information for one of Dirk's lesser known productions of the 1990's in fact it's a pilot show that he did that never got taken up.

I still have lots of layout problems and I still have not yet worked out a good and easy navigation system.

Hills

Living at the bottom of a long hill eg its height difference from top to bottom is some 100 odd feet but the distance from top to bottom is much more and that the top of the hill and to add to the fun there is a set of traffic lights as there is a major A road at the top of it.

Add snow about 9 inches

Add no salt


Add no grit


Result I can't get my car out of my road and it is doing my head in

Website Updating 2

For reasons that should be obvious eg the very bad weather, I am too tied to do any updates to the Dirk Maggs Website. Its not as if I don't want to its just that I am just having trouble staying awake.

Snowed In

So I am snowed in in that I live at the bottom of a hill that does not get salted,( which at this time does not work as its too cold) So at 6.45am I started off for work and got there at 10.15am after walking non stop.

Its not something I want to do again, as walking in deep snow is not nice, and I am very tied tonight.

All being well I have a lift (I still have to walk about a mile to the pick up point)

Snow 2

It has been snowing all day and the end result is we have nearly 10 inches of snow, so you can guess who did not go to work today and why.

Tomorrow dos not look any better with the very hard frost and snow due.

Snow

Why do we have to have more snow?

I mean we had some last year do we really need some in 2010?

CM5 Tables

Why cant I get tables to work in CM5?

Its doing my head in

Editing Website

The editing of the Dirk Maggs website carry on and on, as there are over 200 pages to sort it is going to take some time. One problem that I have still not sorted is the layout of tables with all the actors names and what they did in the radio production in question.

The end shot of all this is that some table layouts are okay but others are broken.

Image uploading works and I have now found how to resize..

So some of the pages on the website are starting to look okay.


One thing I can't help but do is add new bits and pieces as I go so the site has already changes a lot since it was installed into the CMS back in October 2009

Reading stuff

The book that I have started to read is called "Love & Sex Robots" by David Levy so far all I have read is the introduction, which was okay but to be was trying to say don't take all this too seriously and this is not something that should be thought of as dirty and a fetish subject.

But with the title of the book it will be seen as just that, from what I have read of the book its been written too early in that most robots and stuff are no where near the point that people will take this stuff as a serious problem and that it should be something that needs to be talked about.

But as I have not read the book I shall have to say here that I will keep an open mind and I will just have to see where David Levy takes us and if he can prove his introduction.

2010

So my very first post of the year, I wonder how many other people will be starting out doing a blog this year, and just how long they will keep it up for.

I see that last year I did my most blogs ever, this year the idea is to just blog as and when I have something to talk about or that I want to record for later use.

I think one change that I want to do sometime this year is to change the layout of the blog, as it's been then same for sometime.

I don't have anything else to talk about at this time so I will spot.