Someone just showed a slide where they'd spelled "future proof" as "future poof"
A rather queer approach to business strategy, I'm sure you'll agree.
Friday, June 30, 2006
Welcome to the World of Tomorrow!
Incoming text message from the other half, who is stuck in meetings all day at a large British Telecommunications company.
A rather queer approach to business strategy, I'm sure you'll agree.
A rather queer approach to business strategy, I'm sure you'll agree.
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Monday, June 26, 2006
The very definition of squick
Pickled worms have always been something I've found rather unpleasant.
Written like that it sounds patently obvious - I mean, pickled worms. Pickled. Worms. Ew. You'd not expect to find people who say 'Mmm! Pickled worms! Bring it on!'. But I really have come into contact with more pickled worms than you'd expect, and than I'd like - it's a result of having studied Zoology for a bit.
Old-school A level zoology courses (and, for that matter, the bit of degree I did too) were broadly based on comparative anatomy - you know, the reason that natural history museums have all of those skeletons of different animals displayed in their main rooms; so that by looking, you can see just how similar the constructs are. It's a simple demonstration of the power of evolution to produce a smart, adaptable design (although that sentence does rather anthropomorphise 'evolution' as a thing that designs, which it absolutely isn't - it's a random process of winnowing out the chaff through breeding).
Part of studying comparative anatomy involves cutting things up. I used to be a whiz at dissecting out frog nervous systems; imagine trying to preserve a 2mm thick thread of soft cheap hot-dog meat whilst cutting away a surround with the consistency of expensive sausage skins, and you'll get an idea of the manual dexterity you need for doing that. The thing I used to find less enjoyable though, was dissecting worms.
I'm not someone who is scared of spiders. At all. But I do have an irrational dislike of maggots. Not quite a standing fixed screaming, but a definite can't-bring-myself-to-stand-near-them sort of thing. They disgust me, in that visceral, nasty, primal way. It turns out that maggot fear intersects in quite a bit way with annelid fear, too. Not earthworms, no - they're kind of cute, and harmless. Quite happy to pick them up, no problem. Even marine bristleworms are ok; some of them are quite pretty, and what's more, they explode en masse when they have sex, which is somehow almost endearing. They're definitely less cool than earthworms though, and the ones with fat jaws start to hit the squick button, too.
The fear actually intersects with a mild flatworm/fluke/leech disgust - so fat, wriggly and... Juicy, blindly seeking the chemical incline that brings them closer to your nice, tasty blood... Which should give you the clue that the fear really intersects with parasite disgust - so, roundworms, hookworms, tapeworms and so on. Anything, in fact, that gets inside you and uses its nasty little prostoma to... Ugh. Well. Do whatever it is that parasites get up to inside you - squirm disgustingly inside your gut like living spaghetti, mostly, I expect. So its a disgust based on foreignness inside, on having things inside you that shouldn't be there, gestating quietly inside your body, or consuming you from within. Hmn. Freudian. Anyway.
This is where the pickled worms come in. When you're given them to dissect, they come in big jars. They've gone hard and waxy from preservation. They're bone white, and glisten slightly, pointed at each end, sort of the dimensions of a crochet needle. They smell of formaldehyde - sort of a mix between vinegar, rot and treated chipboard. You have to tweezer them up and pin them out. They're kind of springy, and leathery, and ooze fluid as you scalpel them open. And. And. And.
It used to take huge efforts of will for me to handle them. You can imagine. Of course, the fact that it was worm dissection day was never a guarantee that you wouldn't encounter them anyway - cutting into a dogfish gut reveals a tightly coiled wire wool of worms. I haven't eaten Rock from the chippy since.
And there's never a guarantee that you won't encounter the horrible things randomly elsewhere; in catsick (particularly memorable those, they were about 5 inches long and still thrashing...), or insinuating their way out of a piece of Cod you bought from Sainsbury's and kept in the fridge for a day or two too long. Their sheer ubiquity is what gets me too; they're everywhere. Inside. Ugh.
I imagine, by now, that you're feeling as unwell and jumpy as I am. So, sensitised as you are to just what it is that makes me squick about worms, I'll pass you on to this article about a new medical robot designed for investigating the gut.
I haven't been able to bring myself to watch the video.
Excuse me, I'm just off to quietly retch and pass out in the corner.
Written like that it sounds patently obvious - I mean, pickled worms. Pickled. Worms. Ew. You'd not expect to find people who say 'Mmm! Pickled worms! Bring it on!'. But I really have come into contact with more pickled worms than you'd expect, and than I'd like - it's a result of having studied Zoology for a bit.
Old-school A level zoology courses (and, for that matter, the bit of degree I did too) were broadly based on comparative anatomy - you know, the reason that natural history museums have all of those skeletons of different animals displayed in their main rooms; so that by looking, you can see just how similar the constructs are. It's a simple demonstration of the power of evolution to produce a smart, adaptable design (although that sentence does rather anthropomorphise 'evolution' as a thing that designs, which it absolutely isn't - it's a random process of winnowing out the chaff through breeding).
Part of studying comparative anatomy involves cutting things up. I used to be a whiz at dissecting out frog nervous systems; imagine trying to preserve a 2mm thick thread of soft cheap hot-dog meat whilst cutting away a surround with the consistency of expensive sausage skins, and you'll get an idea of the manual dexterity you need for doing that. The thing I used to find less enjoyable though, was dissecting worms.
I'm not someone who is scared of spiders. At all. But I do have an irrational dislike of maggots. Not quite a standing fixed screaming, but a definite can't-bring-myself-to-stand-near-them sort of thing. They disgust me, in that visceral, nasty, primal way. It turns out that maggot fear intersects in quite a bit way with annelid fear, too. Not earthworms, no - they're kind of cute, and harmless. Quite happy to pick them up, no problem. Even marine bristleworms are ok; some of them are quite pretty, and what's more, they explode en masse when they have sex, which is somehow almost endearing. They're definitely less cool than earthworms though, and the ones with fat jaws start to hit the squick button, too.
The fear actually intersects with a mild flatworm/fluke/leech disgust - so fat, wriggly and... Juicy, blindly seeking the chemical incline that brings them closer to your nice, tasty blood... Which should give you the clue that the fear really intersects with parasite disgust - so, roundworms, hookworms, tapeworms and so on. Anything, in fact, that gets inside you and uses its nasty little prostoma to... Ugh. Well. Do whatever it is that parasites get up to inside you - squirm disgustingly inside your gut like living spaghetti, mostly, I expect. So its a disgust based on foreignness inside, on having things inside you that shouldn't be there, gestating quietly inside your body, or consuming you from within. Hmn. Freudian. Anyway.
This is where the pickled worms come in. When you're given them to dissect, they come in big jars. They've gone hard and waxy from preservation. They're bone white, and glisten slightly, pointed at each end, sort of the dimensions of a crochet needle. They smell of formaldehyde - sort of a mix between vinegar, rot and treated chipboard. You have to tweezer them up and pin them out. They're kind of springy, and leathery, and ooze fluid as you scalpel them open. And. And. And.
It used to take huge efforts of will for me to handle them. You can imagine. Of course, the fact that it was worm dissection day was never a guarantee that you wouldn't encounter them anyway - cutting into a dogfish gut reveals a tightly coiled wire wool of worms. I haven't eaten Rock from the chippy since.
And there's never a guarantee that you won't encounter the horrible things randomly elsewhere; in catsick (particularly memorable those, they were about 5 inches long and still thrashing...), or insinuating their way out of a piece of Cod you bought from Sainsbury's and kept in the fridge for a day or two too long. Their sheer ubiquity is what gets me too; they're everywhere. Inside. Ugh.
I imagine, by now, that you're feeling as unwell and jumpy as I am. So, sensitised as you are to just what it is that makes me squick about worms, I'll pass you on to this article about a new medical robot designed for investigating the gut.
I haven't been able to bring myself to watch the video.
Excuse me, I'm just off to quietly retch and pass out in the corner.
Monday, June 19, 2006
Automatic Lawnmower
Automatic Lawnmower Invention Newsreel and Stock Footage - Google Video
This is rather marvellous.
I love the stop motion at the end. Sweet.
This is rather marvellous.
I love the stop motion at the end. Sweet.
Monday, June 05, 2006
Overwhelmed
I know the internet doesn't really care about this, but I've not been posting much because I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed, and under inspired.
I've got a couple of days of peace and quiet which I'm using to iron out a few crinkles in my head. And then, slowly, getting things underway again, with a bit of luck.
And to start - keep a clean house in just 19 minutes a day. Marvellous.
The Keep-It-Clean Plan | Cleaning : RealSimple.com
I've got a couple of days of peace and quiet which I'm using to iron out a few crinkles in my head. And then, slowly, getting things underway again, with a bit of luck.
And to start - keep a clean house in just 19 minutes a day. Marvellous.
The Keep-It-Clean Plan | Cleaning : RealSimple.com
Monday, May 22, 2006
Among the audience | Economist.com
Among the audience | Economist.com: "Mr Diller concedes that ?all of the distribution methods get thrown up in the air, and how they land is, well, still up in the air.? Yet Mr Diller is confident that participation can never be a proper basis for the media industry. ?Self-publishing by someone of average talent is not very interesting,? he says. ?Talent is the new limited resource.?
?What an ignoramus!? says Jerry Michalski, with some exasperation. He advises companies on the uses of new media tools. ?Look around and there's tons of great stuff from rank amateurs,? he says. ?Diller is assuming that there's a finite amount of talent and that he can corner it. He's completely wrong.? Not everything in the ?blogosphere? is poetry, not every audio ?podcast? is a symphony, not every video ?vlog? would do well at Sundance, and not every entry on Wikipedia, the free and collaborative online encyclopedia, is 100% correct, concedes Mr Michalski. But exactly the same could be said about newspapers, radio, television and the Encyclopaedia Britannica."
I kind of agree with the talent as a finite resource model.
What the second argument fails to take into account is that the rank amateurs do have talent; the ones that become popular beyond their immediate social circle.
The others are only really interesting to their immediate circle of friends; because a pre-existing relationship makes their content valuable to a limited audience.
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Any colour you want...
So Apple have released the new MacBook. It looks kind of sweet, and I'm nearly tempted by a Mac Laptop.
But... but... but. OK, so you look at the middle model. The White one. £899. The only difference between that and the £1029 black model is the size of the harddrive. That'll be 60gig vs 80gig.
And then on the customisation page, you get to upgrade the size of the white MacBook's harddrive to 80gig, taking the total cost to £939.00.
Um.
Ninety quid.
It costs ninety quid to have it in black.
I'm not sure what I despair more about - that Apple are doing this, or that idiots will actually buy it.
But... but... but. OK, so you look at the middle model. The White one. £899. The only difference between that and the £1029 black model is the size of the harddrive. That'll be 60gig vs 80gig.
And then on the customisation page, you get to upgrade the size of the white MacBook's harddrive to 80gig, taking the total cost to £939.00.
Um.
Ninety quid.
It costs ninety quid to have it in black.
I'm not sure what I despair more about - that Apple are doing this, or that idiots will actually buy it.
Rebecca Warren FTW!
BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Turner Prize judges cast net wide
Gosh - my old Photography Tutor has just been nominated for the Turner Prize.
She rocked. Hurrah!
Gosh - my old Photography Tutor has just been nominated for the Turner Prize.
She rocked. Hurrah!
Saturday, May 13, 2006
AC FTW
Any description of this weekend is going to make me sound like a phenomenal geek. But hey, I am a phenomenal geek, so what's your beef? Anyway.
My Warcraft guildmates came to London. I currently have Four Danes, a Scot, and a bloke from High Wycombe sitting in my livingroom making jokes about Palladins. And it's been great.
There's more to follow, possibly, about the strange things that happen when people who've been playing together for a year finally meet - mostly about how it's impossible to call anyone by their given name. This weekend, I've been answering to 'Kuya'.
The best thing has been the interchange of jokes - both ongoing jokes from the game - More Dots! Banana Phone! - but also trading jokes between cultures.
Which brings me on to wanting to fuck your ear.
I think that the english-speaking world needs to be made aware of the sheer marvellousness of Dolph and Wulff. It's a cult comedy show in Denmark, with puppets. One of the characters is a beaver called Rocco, who is... well. He has a large libido. And wants to Fuck you in the Ear.
I thoroughly recommend listening to this clip about Bird Flu. You won't follow the Danish, but the English will make you laugh like a loon.
Uh, wear headphones in the office, guys.
My Warcraft guildmates came to London. I currently have Four Danes, a Scot, and a bloke from High Wycombe sitting in my livingroom making jokes about Palladins. And it's been great.
There's more to follow, possibly, about the strange things that happen when people who've been playing together for a year finally meet - mostly about how it's impossible to call anyone by their given name. This weekend, I've been answering to 'Kuya'.
The best thing has been the interchange of jokes - both ongoing jokes from the game - More Dots! Banana Phone! - but also trading jokes between cultures.
Which brings me on to wanting to fuck your ear.
I think that the english-speaking world needs to be made aware of the sheer marvellousness of Dolph and Wulff. It's a cult comedy show in Denmark, with puppets. One of the characters is a beaver called Rocco, who is... well. He has a large libido. And wants to Fuck you in the Ear.
I thoroughly recommend listening to this clip about Bird Flu. You won't follow the Danish, but the English will make you laugh like a loon.
Uh, wear headphones in the office, guys.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Six Degrees of Muscle Strain
"The controller's got X-Y-Z, pitch, roll, yaw, lateral motion detection. The controller uses bluetooth and wireless controls. It's lighter than the PS2 controller. This is interesting, because it suddenly makes Microsoft look like the odd man out on the motion-sensing controller front. "
Engadget & Joystiq's live coverage of Sony's PlayStation 3 E3 event - Joystiqjavascript:void(0);
Publish Post
Well, that's going to completely shag my RSI, then.
Friday, April 28, 2006
Vice magazine: LONDON - A&E PATIENTS MAKE ME SICK
Vice magazine: LONDON - A&E PATIENTS MAKE ME SICK
And just whilst I'm in pointing to things mode - this is the most excellent rant by a Casualty receptionist.
We do love to complain about the falling standards of the NHS - and yes, the brave founders in the 40s would be shuddering to see what's happening to some areas of it. But on the other hand, we treat it with the kind of cavalier idiocy and helplessness that we bring to so many areas of our lives these days.
I wonder what it is that leads people to treat colds like medical emergencies? Why do we have so little faith in our ability to look after ourselves? What have we done to our collective societal common sense? When did we turn in to helpless lambs looking for someone to sort us out? Is unthinking disempowerment the malaise of our society?
I blame the media.
And just whilst I'm in pointing to things mode - this is the most excellent rant by a Casualty receptionist.
We do love to complain about the falling standards of the NHS - and yes, the brave founders in the 40s would be shuddering to see what's happening to some areas of it. But on the other hand, we treat it with the kind of cavalier idiocy and helplessness that we bring to so many areas of our lives these days.
I wonder what it is that leads people to treat colds like medical emergencies? Why do we have so little faith in our ability to look after ourselves? What have we done to our collective societal common sense? When did we turn in to helpless lambs looking for someone to sort us out? Is unthinking disempowerment the malaise of our society?
I blame the media.
Soap and Flannel
eBay.co.uk: 1978/79 UNOPENED PACK OF PERSIL E3 DETERGENT! (item 7409875353 end time 01-May-06 15:22:17 BST)
How much do I love ebay? So very, very much.
"Unopened packets of retro detergent have become highly collectable and I have here a packet of PERSIL from 1978/79. It has a competition on it with a closing date of July 1979, and requests proof of purchase must date after 1 October 1978. Offered sealed."
How much do I love ebay? So very, very much.
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
Creative Future Day at the BBC
The following are my own views, and not necessarily those of my employer, the BBC.
(Although I am about to go and help with research on the BBC web 2.0 strategy, so hopefully the two views will coincide a bit more over the next few months...)
I thought, seeing as there's a bit of a kerfuffle around this idea that 'The BBC is building it's own version of MySpace' going around the internets, that, as a public service, I'd use a couple of quid of licensefee to transcribe the actual words uttered by Ashley Highfield in the internal BBC video.
This comes in the 'Share' section of a presentation under the headings of 'Find, Play, Share, Transform, Enable'. It was part of today's Creative Futures sessions. I've tacked on a bit about the Creative Archive too, just so you get the *whole* of the share section.
And from this, you get a report in the Guardian that states (at the time of writing):
And:
I'd encourage you to make up your own mind on whether or not the BBC is actually doing its own version of MySpace. The Guardian certainly did.
What I'd like to point to instead is the Programme Archive. A couple of folk here, just for a giggle, took an enormous database of eighty odd years worth of BBC output, and plopped it out on to the web. It's amazing.
The lovely thing is the way it all links together - by people, time, concepts. You have to admire the detail the hidden unsung heroes of the BBC archives have been adding to their database over time.
Imagine that, but with clips. And possibly a wikipedia entry for each show...
Anyway. If any of you have any interesting thoughts about what the BBC should be doing in thisgrim meathook brave web2.0 future, do let me know.
(Although I am about to go and help with research on the BBC web 2.0 strategy, so hopefully the two views will coincide a bit more over the next few months...)
I thought, seeing as there's a bit of a kerfuffle around this idea that 'The BBC is building it's own version of MySpace' going around the internets, that, as a public service, I'd use a couple of quid of licensefee to transcribe the actual words uttered by Ashley Highfield in the internal BBC video.
This comes in the 'Share' section of a presentation under the headings of 'Find, Play, Share, Transform, Enable'. It was part of today's Creative Futures sessions. I've tacked on a bit about the Creative Archive too, just so you get the *whole* of the share section.
SHARE
Ashley Highfield: He's the 'big picture guy'
The ability of sharing programmes, your own thoughts, your own blogs, your own home videos along with our content - creating YOUR space.
Working out what your friends are watching, exchanging views and comments, and actually sort of building bbc.co.uk around you.
Grant Bremner
The creative archive is basically a license - its a framework the BBC has created along with other partners - including the British Film Institute, Channel Four, the Open University - that allows the public to effectively download the content from the BBC that we make available for non commercial purposes, that they can use for their creative endeavors. So basically we're allowing the public to actually download our content and use it.
And from this, you get a report in the Guardian that states (at the time of writing):
The BBC today unveiled radical plans to rebuild its website around user-generated content, including blogs and home videos, with the aim of creating a public service version of MySpace.com.
And:
Mr Highfield said the share concept would allow users to "create your own space and to build bbc.co.uk around you", encouraging them to launch ther own blogs and post home videos on the site.
I'd encourage you to make up your own mind on whether or not the BBC is actually doing its own version of MySpace. The Guardian certainly did.
What I'd like to point to instead is the Programme Archive. A couple of folk here, just for a giggle, took an enormous database of eighty odd years worth of BBC output, and plopped it out on to the web. It's amazing.
The lovely thing is the way it all links together - by people, time, concepts. You have to admire the detail the hidden unsung heroes of the BBC archives have been adding to their database over time.
Imagine that, but with clips. And possibly a wikipedia entry for each show...
Anyway. If any of you have any interesting thoughts about what the BBC should be doing in this
Thursday, April 13, 2006
PIPEX System Status - System Status
PIPEX System Status - System Status
Sometimes, you suddenly get the desire to poke around in your hosting package. Specifically, when you get invoices from your hosting company.
Now, I've used my 'dedicated server administration' package about twice in the year I've had a server behind my domain. It's clunky, frankly, and I generally use FTP to squirt files on to the box, and that's it.
Surely some coincidence, then, that the two times I try and use the server admin stuff in the year, it's bloody broken.
Grr. Broken internets. Bad internets. Grr.
Sometimes, you suddenly get the desire to poke around in your hosting package. Specifically, when you get invoices from your hosting company.
Now, I've used my 'dedicated server administration' package about twice in the year I've had a server behind my domain. It's clunky, frankly, and I generally use FTP to squirt files on to the box, and that's it.
Surely some coincidence, then, that the two times I try and use the server admin stuff in the year, it's bloody broken.
Grr. Broken internets. Bad internets. Grr.
Ganking
60ganking.wmv (video/x-ms-wmv Object)
Heh. Human ingenuity, as applied to pwnage.
Sweet.
(Um, for those of you that don't speak fluent nerd.... that's a nice fan made warcraft video, showing a clever trick for killing high level characters when you're low level. Sort of David and Golliath, but with goblins, if you will.)
Heh. Human ingenuity, as applied to pwnage.
Sweet.
(Um, for those of you that don't speak fluent nerd.... that's a nice fan made warcraft video, showing a clever trick for killing high level characters when you're low level. Sort of David and Golliath, but with goblins, if you will.)
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
The Original Chinese Conjuror
Aldeburgh Productions | Series '59th Aldeburgh Festival'
My husband is - finally, after Years of very hard work, having his not-quite-an-opera performed at the Aldeburgh festival.
Hurrah!
My husband is - finally, after Years of very hard work, having his not-quite-an-opera performed at the Aldeburgh festival.
Hurrah!
THE ORIGINAL CHINESE CONJUROR
A Musical Diversion Suggested by the Lives of Chung Ling Soo
Music: Raymond Yiu
Libretto: Lee Warren
Director: Martin Duncan
Designer: Francis O?Connor
Lighting Designer: Chris Ellis
Almeida Ensemble
Conductor: Timothy Redmond
59th Aldeburgh Festival
Southwold Pier, Suffolk
15th, 17th and 18th of June, 2006
See: http://www.aldeburgh.co.uk/events/event_listings/series_event_display.cfm?current_row=11&catref=59th%20Aldeburgh%20Festival
Almeida Opera Season 2006
Almeida Theatre, London
1st, 2nd and 7th of July, 2006
See: http://www.almeida.co.uk/index.cfm?id=conjuror
Before the performance on the 7th July at Almeida Theatre, there is a concert given by my friend, the counter tenor Andrew Watt, who also stars in the show.
See: http://www.almeida.co.uk/index.cfm?id=concerts2006
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Lily Allen
Crikey. This is going to be huge.
www.myspace.com/lilymusic
More grist to the faux/retro mill, I guess.
In other news, I'm just back from a week at MILIA. It was odd. I have notes, they may become a post at some point.
Standout event - being harangued by a very drunk, angry dutch producer whose pitch didn't win in their category. Still trying to decide whether to be really nice and contact her for a civilised chat about it all...
www.myspace.com/lilymusic
More grist to the faux/retro mill, I guess.
In other news, I'm just back from a week at MILIA. It was odd. I have notes, they may become a post at some point.
Standout event - being harangued by a very drunk, angry dutch producer whose pitch didn't win in their category. Still trying to decide whether to be really nice and contact her for a civilised chat about it all...
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Put your hands in your pockets NOW.
Justgiving - a marathon for the hospices
My friend Kass is running the Marathon.
Sponsor her, immediately.
That is all.
My friend Kass is running the Marathon.
Sponsor her, immediately.
That is all.
Friday, March 31, 2006
auctineer - Google Search
auctineer - Google Search
Carla Gianolini is a Professional Auctineer. Yes, really. Trust her with your money and valuable posessions.
Carla Gianolini is a Professional Auctineer. Yes, really. Trust her with your money and valuable posessions.
Monday, March 27, 2006
What Day is it Again?
Well, I'm coming to terms with the fact that yes, my body clock is broken, broken, broken.
I'm sure it's a lot to do with bad sleep hygiene, and the ammount of time I spend underneath artificial light at work, and when I get home. Clue: all of the time. It's particularly not being helped by the clocks changing today (not going back, as I've said in three different conversations already, but actually forward...).
There's added complexity to this at the moment. As I spend a lot of time in Warcraft, arranging things on server time (which is CET, or GMT+1) I've got used to mentally performing the maths to adjust to local time. I was rather excited by the idea that finally, BST would mean that Local time and Azeroth time were the same. Oh no - it turns out that Europe jumps to summertime now. I have NO idea whether any of my PC based clocks have changed, either, so I'm in an odd time-approximate limbo. Anyway, the upshot of this was accidentally going to bed at 1am on a schoolnight. It makes the Australian's trouble with Outlook look relatively trivial.
Boing Boing: Aussie timezone switch borks Exchange Server
And then thinking, weirdly, that the London Marathon was yesterday, whereas it is in fact in a months' time. Not to mention my diary slowly creeping out of control...
Something that seems to have slipped into the entertaining curiosity section of the newspapers is Friday's Lighter Evenings (Experiment) Bill reading in the House of Lords.
Now, more sunlight in the evenings is a Good Thing. I hate dark evenings, and long for the extra sunlight of summer. It makes me happier and more productive. But I do wonder about the bill - if, for instance, the Tabliods picked it up, and realised that it is actually a way of getting us on to Central European Time by stealth - can you imagine? it would be worse than giving up avoirdupois for kilos in the shops... I don't mind about the europe bit at all, personally, but I'm always sad to leave GMT for the magic of it being the universal standard, the zero point. It pleases my sense of mathematical balance, if not my sleep patterns.
Anyway, I'm hoping that I'll have woken up by the end of the day; at some point, hopefully, willpower willing, I'll be able to report that I've taken positive action on the whole sleep patterns thing. But I wouldn't set your watch by me.
I'm sure it's a lot to do with bad sleep hygiene, and the ammount of time I spend underneath artificial light at work, and when I get home. Clue: all of the time. It's particularly not being helped by the clocks changing today (not going back, as I've said in three different conversations already, but actually forward...).
There's added complexity to this at the moment. As I spend a lot of time in Warcraft, arranging things on server time (which is CET, or GMT+1) I've got used to mentally performing the maths to adjust to local time. I was rather excited by the idea that finally, BST would mean that Local time and Azeroth time were the same. Oh no - it turns out that Europe jumps to summertime now. I have NO idea whether any of my PC based clocks have changed, either, so I'm in an odd time-approximate limbo. Anyway, the upshot of this was accidentally going to bed at 1am on a schoolnight. It makes the Australian's trouble with Outlook look relatively trivial.
Boing Boing: Aussie timezone switch borks Exchange Server
And then thinking, weirdly, that the London Marathon was yesterday, whereas it is in fact in a months' time. Not to mention my diary slowly creeping out of control...
Something that seems to have slipped into the entertaining curiosity section of the newspapers is Friday's Lighter Evenings (Experiment) Bill reading in the House of Lords.
Now, more sunlight in the evenings is a Good Thing. I hate dark evenings, and long for the extra sunlight of summer. It makes me happier and more productive. But I do wonder about the bill - if, for instance, the Tabliods picked it up, and realised that it is actually a way of getting us on to Central European Time by stealth - can you imagine? it would be worse than giving up avoirdupois for kilos in the shops... I don't mind about the europe bit at all, personally, but I'm always sad to leave GMT for the magic of it being the universal standard, the zero point. It pleases my sense of mathematical balance, if not my sleep patterns.
Anyway, I'm hoping that I'll have woken up by the end of the day; at some point, hopefully, willpower willing, I'll be able to report that I've taken positive action on the whole sleep patterns thing. But I wouldn't set your watch by me.
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