BBQ in the rain

BBQ in the rain make sure the umbrella that you use stops the rain hitting the grilling plate, and try to hold the umbrella at an angle so that the hot air rise not into your face.

Drink of the day

The drink of the day today is..... Tea with milk and no sugar, and why not its a good way to start the day.

Dark sky

So it's all change gone is the blue sky now it's Gerry skies and dark....

Drink of the day

The drink of the day today is.....

Orange squash with fizzy water and ice and its nice, not very very nice just nice.

BBQ Saturday

So our second attempt to have a BBQ this summer with the family does not look to good, the first one got stopped due to rain and the very high winds, this Saturday it's forecasting rain!

Just can not win with the weather here in the UK!

It's no use moaning about it as that's just the way the weather is here in the UK.

Warm

Still warm which is nice as long as the humidity stays low, as feeling like you are melting is never good.

Live book

Not to sure if live book is working correctly, should it take more than 3 days to index 600GB of data?

Nikon flash

The new flash is working well with the d600 what more do I have to say?

My book live

My book live is working again, in hot weather don't leave it stuck in a cupboard without ventilation. Took ages to get the computer to see the drive again, in the end turning the drive on and off worked!

It's still indexing after two days I know I have a lot of of files on the drive, it does not help that I have 250000 files on the drive I suppose !

New phone

Finally got the discount from O2 fourth attempt.

Hot

Still rather hot 31 centigrade 

New phone

So I have a nice new phone a galaxy s4 the UK version, so not as hi spe'ed as what the rest of the world gets for some reason, the good news is that we are charged more for this than anyone else... Yeah go figure!

The is good the speed is good and the screen is nice, it is a bit of a change from a Nokia but I am sure that I will get used to it.

I already have my kindle software on it and its great being able to read my books anywhere.

I have been looking at plugging in extra memory into it to make it a bit future proof, so I have found that the s4 can use sdxc cards so I am looking for the largest one of them to install.

New phone

So finally I have a new phone, no thanks to the module companies making it so confusingly as to this tariff   and that-tariff    when all I want to to do was have a new phone that just works.

1 hour to get a new phone and I had to pay 50 quid for it.

So I have a s4 just hope it will last 24 years.

Ascot

So for the first time we went to ascot on Saturday. It was a great day even though I am not really into horse racing. Saw seven races and was impressed by just how quick a horse race is. The only sad thing was to see a horse pulled up lame right in front of  the main grandstand.

The good news about all of this was the speed at which the horse was sorted out.

As for betting I think not is good for me as it does not do anything for me.

The other thing about ascot was the numbers of people there! Lots and lots is not really telling you just how many people they were there but thousands is a good start.

So people watching is something you end  up doing at a place like ascot and I did see things and sights that will be with me for years.....

Any Murry

Andy Murray has won what does he go for next? 

BBQ

So as its rather warm this evening we had a nice BBQ

Hot

Yes finally a hot day!

Going Tivo

So I have bitten the bullet and have gone Tivo on my Virgin media service. Due install next Monday I get a speed increase from 20Mb to 60Mb .

My service charge goes down  3 pounds a month! while my internet speed goes up.

Only bad thing on the deal is that Virgin want you to use their super-hub 2, which when you read reviews on it are if you get a good one its really good and if you get a bad one then you are going to have a bad day.

So only time will tell which we are going to end up with.

On the speed front Virgin say they give me 20Mb and guess what? they do! and its more than 90% of time that speed so I hope that the 60Mb I am paying for will be just as good.

Drink of the day

The drink of the day today is .....

Tea!

Why not?

It's a nice drink and an a lot of the world seem to agree with me and drink it as well, so that's not so bad is it?

Happy

What is happy?

Is it the opposite of not happy?

Do you have a right to be happy?

I know silly questions to which I don't have the answers but I wanted to record these stupid questions somewhere, so that perhaps one day in the future I can have a look at all these questions and see if I have any answers to them.

Flash gun

So I have this nice Nikon 600 but don't really have a flash gun that can keep up with the camera. The good news is that I have been paid my bonus this year and I have enough money for a flash gun and a new iPad.

As the iPad 5 will not come out to October this year that only leaves the flashgun. Luckily I know just the flash gun that I need and it's a speed light 910 made by Nikon, why its so expensive I don't have a clue but from reading the reviews it appears that you really do get a lot for your money. I will soon see, as soon as it gets delivered.

The iPad 5 is supposed to come out in October, it had better have more storage, as 64gb is not enough, I know they do an iPad 4 with 128gb, but I will need something with more storage than that as it will have to last 2 to 3 years before I can buy another one.

Month 7

So it's already month 7 it doesn't feel like it but I just hope we can have a few warm days as a sort of summer this year.

Gallery programme

I have a web host who offer one click installs, and nice that it is I am beginning to wonder when the last time they carried out an update of the programmes that they provide.

Why you may ask?

Well I wanted a quick and diry install to have somewhere to easily show off the pictures I took at daughters engagement party.

As I did not want to go to the trouble of installing a database and all the work that that can entail I saw in the one click section that they had a gallery programme that required no database. Which is just what I was looking for.

It installed no problem, I found that the 600 photos had to be reduced in size as they were far to large for the programme and the upload to the Internet as each image is some 24mb in size, so it would take some time to upload, and more importantly it would also take a while to download, and as I don't know what kind of connection or device people are using to get at the photos it made sense to down size them.

So I have gallery 1.6 working on my machine it appears to date back to the 2000's?

I am not sure what date it goes back to, the main thing is it works, I just hope it has not got to many security holes and stuff in it, and that's the point of this blog post. 

Is okay to offer one click installs but shouldn't they be up-to date so as to reduce the chances of the bad people using an old exploit ?

The good news is that the gallery will only be on the net for a short time, just long enough for all to see the pictures before I delete it.

Engagement party

So my daughter had her engagement party it was fun and it was great to meet loads of new people from his side of the family.

Nigella 3

So still the newspapers here in the UK seem to have lots of time in following Nigella Lawson and what has happened to her and what she is doing now.

I can not understand all this interest in her, does she deserve all the attention? 

I am sure she does not want it. 

In fact I suppose her life must be s@@@ at this time what with her private life splattered all over the media, it's not a good place to be.

How is she and her children coping with all of this?

I know that if it were me I would have trouble coping with it all, maybe it's time for her to have a break from the media and time to think about it all and what if any changes she needs to make to her life.

Grass

Just happened to have an odd thought about grass and that is that we really do take it for granted, the thing that struck me was how come we still have it?

Why I ask this question is the fact that we do are upmost to cut it short to within an inch or less of its life yet still some how it's here and produces seed somehow.

How often have you seen your lawn grass flower?

Exactly!

I can't remember the last time I saw lawn grass flowering, maybe it only. Flowers at night for several hours and then returns to normal in the morning, I know I know it doesn't but I do know that there is a cactus that does just that for one night of the year. It relies on night pollinators to do the job and to get the job done it also uses scent otherwise nothing would find it.

Any way grass I love all the greens that it can be in and the fact that it is better than seeing dirt.

Nigella 2

So Nigellagate carries on, I notice that her twitter feed is silent at this time, which I suppose is not a surprise I just wonder where do you go to get out of the limelight when your face is well known and is also all over the tv and the Internet .

And that when you do break cover every man and his dog with a camera will be trying their upmost to photograph you

I don't know the answer to these questions, I just hope that who ever is helping her has worked it all out.

Sunshine and BBQ

I have found a new law of this part of the universe and that is if you are looking forward to a BBQ then the weather will be bad..........

Rich

If I was rich would I lead my life any different?

The answer has to be yes

Trouble is that I keep changing my mind on just how many different things I would want to do if I was rich.

As I am never going to be its a great game to play in your head.

Dirk Maggs Website

So for personal reasons I have not had the time to update the Dirk Maggs website now for sometime, part of the reason is that after spending ten hours a day on a computer the last thing that I appears I want to do is work on the computer at home.

This is sad as I like updating my websites 

Perhaps my mojo will come back and I can do something about my websites?

Converting flvs

So is there a programme that will let me convert FLV files to something that will play on my iPad?

I have tried format factory and it does not like the FLV files one bit.

Drink of the day

The drink of the day to day is....Pepsi Max with ice and lemon and nice it is too.

It would be nice if it was a bit warmer but I suppose you can't have everything.

Personal Cloud part 2

The personal cloud is working well I have used 18percent of the 3TB so far. I just wish that I had gotten  a gigabit router as it would make streaming content much better.

Oh well these are I suppose things that you learn.

Nigella

So the pictures of Nigella Lawson being grabbed by the throat by her husband are all over the Internet and also on the telly. I suppose that in the heat of an argument things can get out of hand, but the thing that has upset me most is seeing this woman looking so sad and I think very scared, this is made so much worse by the fact that on the food Chanel you can see her looking very happy and smiling and having everything to live for.

I wonder how she is coping with all the attention, for something that only happened by chance and for it to get caught on camera, I suspect that the camera man was there on spec just waiting to see if any famous people would turn up to eat at the cafe, I bet he could not  believe  his luck!

So is Nigella okay?

How does she now cope with all of this? 

and what happens to her when she is seen in public again?

I would hope that her and her husband sort out their relationship, but does she give an interview?

 if it was me the answer is no as its a private matter.

I suppose that in time we will find out what is going to happen to both of them.

I am begining to think that the media attention is going to be far worse than the argument!

The only thing is that the image of her looking scared and upset has gotten into my head and I am having trouble clearing it from my head.

No BBQ

So with the new BBQ built and so far used just twice will we get any weather that will let us us it again?

It will be interesting to see when the weather will let us.

Cloud server

Just a note to me that I have used 17 percent of the 3TB drive.

Longest day

So in a few days it will be mid summer, some how this year it just does not seem right that mid summer is already here and we have not had the weather to enjoy it.

Oh well that's the way the world works sometimes.

My cloud server

So I have my own cloud server, so far it's not been as I expected it to be, mainly as I appear to have mixed up a media server with a could server.

Oh well back to the drawing board

Cold

Am I supposed to be cold in mid June?

Building

So I had the delight of building the new BBQ it took rather a long time as one of the screws for part of it proved very difficult to screw into the metal work due to the fact there was very little room for it.

But in the end we have got a working BBQ and that's all that counts.

Personal cloud

As I said in an earlier post on this blog I have brought myself a 3TB cloud drive and so far all has been well and it works.

Just a couple of things that I don't like are that the media player that it comes with does not seem to know many video types.

The second thing is that the IOS apps are a little bit flakey and that sometimes it fails to see the shares on the cloud drive, it see's the drive but not the shares on it.

So far I have only put 300GB on it, sadly most of the video files fail to play due to the media servers shortcomings.

Sunshine

Finally more than two days with blue sky and sunshine, it could even be a record this year with the weather we have been having here in the UK.

June

June already but it does not feel like it.

Rain

Rain, rain and more rain it could start to get you down.

Personal cloud

So I have taken the plunge an brought myself a 3TB hard drive to use as my personal cloud, that way I have total control over my files and all of that sort of stuff.

Only thing is after I ordered it and paid for it I then started to read reviews on it, if you start to take all the reviews seriously then I don't think anyone would buy anything, I do wonder if some of the reviews are written by people who don't even have the item that they are reviewing!

So I have got myself a WD Live Drive it will be interesting to see just how many of the reviews are right and how many are wrong.

Drink of the day

The drink of the day today is.....

Pepsi Max with lots of ice, I know the weather here in the UK is not very warm or sunny but a pint of ice cold Pepsi Max just does a good job.

May

So it's very near to the end of May so why are we having temperatures of 4 centigrade ?

I know strange, but that's how the weather is these days. 

Cat

Cats on laps always fun

iPad

Why is it so hard to move 2000 photos from the iPad to the computer?

Books

Brought a some more books, it's like an addiction for me I must now have some 10 or more books to read that I also want to read but for some reason or another I have not read. These are book that I have looked forward to as well.

So the books that I brought yesterday where the new Dan Brown book which I believe is not just written by him I think his wife has a lot to do with the books but for some reason she does not get co author tagged, which is sad as she clearly can write or come up with plot twists or something, maybe one day it will be revealed just how much a partnership the books were.

Anyway I have his new book which here in the UK came out on my birthday, I have yet to even look through the book but from what I have heard else where it's been written like a screenplay for what that's worth, the only thing I want to know is is it a good story? Will I be entertained?

The other book I brought is on a road called the A303 which here in the UK is famous as the road that leads to the west and it goes past Stonehenge, the road is only 90 miles long but it does go through some great countryside and is one of the roads that I have traveled down many a time, in fact I had to travel down it to get to Newquay.

The last book I brought I think is the second to last book that Ian Banks will ever have printed its called stone mouth and looks like it will be a good read. You may ask why I can state that it is the second to last book by Ian banks the reason is sad but true in that he has terminal cancer with less than six months to live, he will be sadly missed as some of the books he has written have been good reads with great stories.

The sea

Sea watching is fun especially when it's a nice day, there always appears to be something going on.

Rest

It's nice to have a day when I can do nothing if I want to.

Breakfast

Not sure if I have ever recorded what I have had for breakfast before, or even why I should recorded what I have had for breakfast, but when on holiday a fried breakfast for some reason or other always tastes nice and does really set you up for the feast of the day.

Weather

So it's the right time of the year for it to be warm and there to be lots of sunshine. I at this time in Cornwall where by rights it's should be warm with lots of that stuff called sunshine.

So you can guess what we are having down here at this time?

Yes it grey cloudy very windy and cold, single figure cold..

I just can't figure out the weather this year.

Birthdays

So everyone has them, birthdays that is and I have one this month in a few days, the thing is that I am not that excited about it, I can remember when I was younger being very excited about having a birthday, but now it's really another day.

I suppose as you get older and the years pass by the fact that you are a year older is just one of those things that happens to you.

May

May then, and the weather has been a bit up and down, but better than it has been and that's all that counts.

Bank holiday

So it's bank holiday weekend so will it be wet or will it be dry?

I don't know the answer but it will be fun to see what happens.

iPad 4

I wonder if apple has brought copies of what the over makers of tablets produce, just so they can see where they need to go if they want to stay in business.

I think it's sad that apple appear from where I am sitting in the sunshine if you must know, that they are coming across as we know better than our users and this is what we are going to give you even if its not as good as what the rest of the market if offering and what's more we shall charge you a lot of money to own our product that is already falling behind what the market is already producing.

I hope apple don't fall into this trap as I happen to like the iPad but as you use it more and more there are some things on it that just start to get you a bit pissed off with some of the designs that apple have in in the pursuit of profit.

One of the things that I don't like is that 64G is not enough memory or storage I need more than this so why can't I just plug a memory card into the machine?

Why does the keyboard have no cursor keys? Is that apple employees never have to backspace more than once?

I don't know the answer to these questions?

My last thought is why is the gallery so poor in options to filter and sort? Why is there no facility to make folders? So I can store my pics by date or subject without them all being in the photo roll ?

Again I don't know the answers to these questions, perhaps I should do some looking on the Internet to see what others have said about the choices apple made when making the iPad?

Drink of the day

The drink of the day today is.....

Pepsi Max with ice and lemon and very nice it's is in the warm sunshine and the blue sky thank you very much.

Sunshine

Today was a sunshine day and very nice it was to.

Blog posts

So I notice that its the last day of April, it does not feel like it, I suppose part of the reason for that is that this year winter just dragged on and on and I must admit I was starting to wonder if it would ever end.

The good news is that it has but I can't say that the seasons feel right, it feels like the reason has slipped a month or so or so it seems to me, but then what do I know about the weather and the seasons we are meant to have here in the northern hemisphere, I sure that I can't be the only person to have seen the way that the Seasons are appear to be getting late or even not started right.

Any way I am glad that spring appears to be napping now, and that's good.

Blue sky

Finally some blue sky and strong sunlight, nice that's what it is....

Girly girl

Are there such girls as girly girls?

If there is such a girly girl i have yet to meet one.

Are they something that is made up by the media?

If they are real what are they like to live with?

As I have never meet one I don't have any answers to the above questions.

Perhaps the thing for me to do is have a look on the I telnet and see what comes up!

Drink of the day

So the drink of the day is water!

I know but sometimes that's all that you need is a drink of water.

Happy

What is happy?

Can you tell me what happy is?

I know when I am happy but is that the same thing for you?

I know it's a stupid question but sometimes you have to ask yourself these questions it's all part of the joy of being alive.

Drink of the day

The drink of the day today is one that I have never had before in my life, it's called cusquena and its an inca beer, it's nice but I think it has to be served cold, I drank mine warm....

Writing

As you may not knowi written a few items on chemistry, which is a subject that has always interested me since I was as all person. Now that I am a bigger person I am still interested in chemistry, not sure why that is but that's how it is.

Any way because I like chemistry some time ago I wrote a few books and articles on various bits of the periodic table that interested me in one way or another.

I have just had cause to go back and have a look at what I have produced and I am amazed at just how much stuffing wrote!

I am thinking that I might set up a wiki with all the stuff I have written but in an easy way to look at the various version of the items I wrote. This is something I shall have to think about.

Emm

Can you feel emm?

I do today, not too sure why....

Wampserver

Playing with wampserver just found that it does not like copper mine the gallery programme loads of errors, but it works. Lots of errors on stuff being static which sadly I don't have a clue about, then to top all of it off it does not like half the images that i am trying to upload into copper mine. What is strange the same images load into Gallery 3 with no problems.

I suspect that copper mine might need some more setting up, which is something gallery does not need.

Spring

Just a note to me that Hawthorn leaves when they first appear are a lovely light green.

Semantic wiki

So as you know of you have read my blog I have in the past played with a semantic wiki and as you know it did not go to well in that some how or over I managed to loose all the hard work I did in creating the wiki.

Well the news is that my luck with a semantic wiki has not changed and I have so far failed in my attempts to install a wiki on my local server, even though the semantic software is much more up-to date for some reason or other I just can not yet get it to work.

Oh well there is always another day.

Happy

Are you happy?

Drink of the day

The drink of the day today is,

Bavaria. And very nice it is too, just make sure that you have it cold, not ice cold as that does not work so well, for some reason it looses it taste some what.

Wampserver

Having a play with wampserver, so far it's working we'll.

Wet

So it's wet now which is what I think April weather should be about here in the UK.

Give blood

So I gave blood today, which is something I have done many times. At this time I have given 126 units which is a great total if I do say so myself.

So do some thing amazing give a unit of blood.

Sun

Where has the sun gone, one day of blue sky and now it does a dissapearing act.

Odd Thoughts from a High Desk: How to make a Largerita ( Updated Content)

Odd Thoughts from a High Desk: How to make a Largerita ( Updated Content)

Books to be read

I have noticed that I have some how ended up with a pile of books to read, how did that happen?

Time

Does the hour hand on a clock break the speed of sound when you are not looking?

Podcasts

I note to me, podcast above and beyond just as good as 5 years ago, that's right 5 years.......

Reading Blogs

Reading Blogs just how many do people read in a day, week or month?

I asked myself this question today as I noticed that I have a list of blogs that I visit on a semi regular basis and enjoy what the various authors choose to write about.

As some of these authors live in different parts of the world their outlook on the world is different from mine and its nice to see their world through their eyes.

Some of the authors are a different sex to me and so the way they see and interact with the world is also different from mine, saying that can you really tell from reading a bit of text if the author is male or female?

I know I can't unless the author is taking about something that is very female orientated like the experience of giving birth and what that feels like from their perspective.

Some of the Blogs I read are on subjects far removed from my way of life, but the authors have a great way with words and I have learnt stuff that I would never have known anything about.

So of the blogs that I have read have been on items that to me here in the UK are so direr rant that I have had trouble understanding why and how things can be so different.

I have read blogs on photography that have help me become better at taking photos and also better at enjoying looking at photos and also teaching me at least a little bit on why some photos are better looking to me than others.

I have also wish that some of the photos I have seen I wished that I had taken them, or that I knew the model or the place they were taken.

Blogs are on the whole another window into a world that as I get older is even more amazing that I could have ever thought.

Some of the blogs I have read are by people who are one sex but for reasons that I don't think anyone Truley understands want to live part or all their life in the other sex. The things that I have picked up from this are the hurt and pain that they suffer for something they did not ask for and also the hate and just dam right nastiness that they also have to put up with.

Some of the blogs are sad and some are very happy, it's amazing just how people cope with all the trouble placed on their shoulders.

I have learned new words while reading these blogs and have learned that their is no such thing as two genders just as there is no such thing as black and white, the world truly is grey and it appears that this grey is all over the place and in all the different things that we do each day.

Has reading these king of blogs changed me?

The answer has to be yes, as my eyes have been opened to the fact that there are lots of different ways to be happy in your life, but if you are only slightly different from everyone else then for some reason you are singled out and treat differently when all you want to do is enjoy your life without stress and hurt.

Other blogs that I have read have been funny, other sad others have been so different that I have had to book mark them and come back to them when I have an understanding as to what they were talking about.

It goes without saying that there have been many blogs that were just there to sell something and some are just about sex..

So will I still read these blogs?

Yes is the answer, as these dirrerant blogs show me a world that for one reason or another I would never get to see or hear about and surly that makes be a better person with a better world view?

Drink of the day

The drink of the day to day is....

Coffee and why not, not an instant coffee mind you but one of them fancy pod coffee's which has a name that at this time I can't remember as I am know-where near the machine or the pods.

All I can say is that the coffee was very nice thank you very much and it did the job.

Sunshine

Well we have had some sunshine and to make it even more of a surprising weekend we have also had some blue sky. Sad to say that the blue sky did not last long but it was great to see it even if it was only for a short time.

So I ask myself is this finally the start of spring?

The answer I suppose will come in the next week or so if the weather starts to warm up to where it should be for this time of year in the UK.

Shares

Is it worth buying shares in the company you work for if you can afford it?

Warm

So will the. Weathermen get it right and we get a bit more spring like weather?

Only time will tell.

Iain Banks

So have just heard the sad news that one of the authors that I like is going to die this year due to the cancer that he has got. This is sad as I have spent many an hour reading his books and enjoying the different worlds that he created and also enjoying the stories that he told in his worlds that he made.

59 is not old and I think he has written 20 odd books and has enjoyed his life his way, I notice from the news that he has just got married for the second time to his lady partner of many years, I wonder how she is holding up with this sad news and that her marriage may not last as long as they both wanted, how do you cope with this kind of news?

I know that it is something that I dread being told that the one you love and want to be with is soon going to leave you forever, what do you do?

I don't know the answer and I don't want to find out either, I just wish them both as happy times as they can have in the time left and hope that she gets some great memories of the good times.

To Iain I say thank you for the entertainment you have provided me through your books.

Rumours

There are rumours from the weathermen that early next week we might have a start to spring, this would be good I think.

Sunrise

Today had a nice sunrise in that I could see the sun, which has been rare around here for the last few weeks and also it was a lovely red orange ball, which I have not seen for even more weeks.

Then the weather men ruin it all by saying that here in south England expect snow showers!

I mean why?

I have started to think that 5 months of winter is just too long I want a hot day without having to put loads of clothes on just to stay warm in April!

Sunshine

Not used to it but we had sunshine today, even if I had to scrape the car windows this morning.

Happy

So some very good news is that daughter has got engaged and I am very happy for her.

Drink of the day

The drink of the day is.... Pepsi max with ice and lemon, nice to drink while stuck indoors with the heating on at Easter at the start of British summer time......

Hot cross buns

I have had the pleasure ? Of having some hot cross buns and from more than one shop,the thing is none of them are what I call great to eat, I have a feeling that if I ever get the chance to have real hot cross buns they will taste completely different to what I have had.

Easter

So it's Easter the clocks have now moved forwards because its summer time and its cold just 4 centigrade so stuck indoors with the central heating still on....

Arh summer or spring or winter I wish the weather would read the script and get on the right page.

Reading

Still managing to do some reading, which is good.

Gone

Note to me noticed that eloree stopped in feb 2013

Cold

Cold so it must be Easter?.....

DJ Studio

dJ studio is an app on the iPad which is as the name suggests is a dj mixes app and I have to say I have had some fun with it , I now have a way of getting my mixes off the iPad and into the big wide world which is something that the app it's self does not do a good job of in my mind.

But the biggest problem with the app now is lack of new content as I can not import my own samples I am stuck with what the app provides and I am sad to say that they are getting stale.

Drink of the day

The dink of the day today is and you are not going to believe this ....Bravia zero alcohol I know it's strange but this zero alcohol beer really to my taste buds tastes okay and that's all that matters.

Software

Finally brought an app called audio copy and it just works and has solved my problem of getting my mixes out of dj studio and into the big wide world.
I am being to think that dj studio has stopped being updated as its so long since the last update.