[{"content":"","date":"1 November 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Posts","type":"posts"},{"content":"I hope this works.\nI\u0026rsquo;m adding a stock image that looks a lot like the phot i took in scotland wild camping a decade ago\nand this i guess is japan and mount fuji. The night sky reminds me of corsica. I enjoyed that trip. I\u0026rsquo;d like to go travelling again. Maybe soon enough\nAt least I can see that multipel images can be added to a body text.\nI bet there are templates where I can be more specific about a format of a page layout.\nNow some more # Let\u0026rsquo;s try a shortcode from hugo\nView this post on Instagram Wow! That was easy\u0026hellip; I wonder if it got any cookies etc\u0026hellip; It did, but hugo had a config variable that can be set for privacy. I added that and the cookie vanished from the dev console! Fabulousssss!\n","date":"1 November 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/posts/testing-svelte/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Testing Svelte","type":"posts"},{"content":"Welcome to my website! I\u0026rsquo;m really happy you stopped by. This bit is added in content/_index.md The guide says the rest of the homepage is controlled by the homepage layout config parameter https://blowfish.page/docs/homepage-layout/ To add the \u0026lsquo;card\u0026rsquo; style boxes like the blowfish.page I think I might do it by creating a category and putting a content page for each box. That could be handy for when I do the Meet the rooties page. Especially if I can set a weight for each one.\nPosts by year # 2026 (3) 2025 (4) 2024 (2) 2023 (6) 2022 (2) 2021 (11) 2020 (1) 2019 (2) 2017 (2) 2016 (8) 2015 (2) 2014 (7) 2013 (21) 2012 (18) 2011 (6) 2010 (13) 2009 (21) 2008 (88) 2007 (66) 2006 (64) 2005 (49) 2004 (20) ","date":"1 November 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/","section":"Welcome to Blowfish!","summary":"","title":"Welcome to Blowfish!","type":"page"},{"content":"","date":"31 October 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/about-the-site/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"About the Site","type":"categories"},{"content":"","date":"31 October 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Categories","type":"categories"},{"content":"Welcome, this site is just somewhere for me to call home on the web. OK, many of you may already know that I have other homes on the web but this one is just for me, unlike ","date":"31 October 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2026/10/31/image-test/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Image test","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"13 January 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/business/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Business","type":"categories"},{"content":"If you make a mistake deducting CIS tax from a subcontractor, submitting the return to HMRC, and then having to work out how to correct it, this post is for you! (and me, ’cause that’s what just happened and the Xero documentation and initial support response is wrong).\nQuick version: # Void the incorrect invoice (which in turn means first unreconciling any payments made). Create a new correct invoice Allocate the payments Resubmit the return Long version: # CIS is the Construction Industry Scheme. It’s a tax that is deducted from subcontractors and paid directly to the government. We have it because the building industry had a high number of small contractors that would be paid and then vanish or go out of business never paying the income tax. By making the larger contractors deduct a percentage at source (typically 20%, so less than income is likely to be) it protects the public revenue.\nSo far, so good.\nEvery month we submit a return to HMRC saying who’s tax we have collected and HMRC take the money from our bank via direct debit.\nThe dates are based on ‘cash accounting’ which means the tax is ‘taken’ on the day we pay them. It ignores their invoice date, so if they bill on 30th Jan and we pay on the 10th Feb the tax is reported as February.\nThis is different to VAT, where the tax applies on the date the invoice is raised (the tax point).\nIf we make a mistake, eg: I deducted CIS from a roofing contractor when I shouldn’t have because it was a gutter cleaning job which is outside of the scope of CIS taxes, then I must promptly correct my submission.\nI cannot submit a negative number on my next return (the HMRC system doesn’t work that way). Instead I must resubmit a corrected return. There is no penalty for a resubmission.\nTypically to correct accounts we would make a ‘credit note’ to reverse the transaction and the create a new invoice. However Credit notes aren’t applied to past CIS returns. Xero does some strange amortisation in the background too (I once had an issue when materials and labour were switched and the correction to me hours to figure out because what Xero showed on my screen was not the same as what it did behind the scenes when creating the report).\nXero’s first answer is that I could not make the correction in Xero and would need to find another way of reporting the change but HMRC said they require all commercial software to be able to resubmit returns. HMRC were very helpful on the phone and the advisor suggested I could use them manual web page submission system and that would replace our Xero submitted one…. but I figured if HMRC required the software to do it, it could and I just needed to figure out how.\nI thought around the problem and asked Xero what would happen if I voided the original invoice? I assumed that meant it would no longer appear to be included in the past CIS submission, which would change the numbers and I could resubmit the correction. I was worried because of my past experience of Xero hiding things but they confirmed it would indeed allow me to resubmit a corrected return.\nFor me, I’d paid when I shouldn’t have so I just reallocated payment to the new non-CIS invoice I created.\nRemember that CIS is ‘cash accounting’ so if you are allocating or part paying some CIS in a corrected return you need to be careful to ensure you are paying on the correct date (the past, as it were). Putting todays date in as today is the day you are correcting something will probably not give the answer you expect.\nI hope this helps someone!\n","date":"13 January 2026","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2026/01/13/xero-cis-correcting-a-submitted-return-it-is-possible/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Xero CIS – correcting a submitted return (it is possible)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Ah Xero. Every day you disappoint. Not quite enough for me to find a replacement for your poor accounting software (I figure they all have issues but at least I have work arounds for most of your flaws) but one day, I will put enough effort into moving.\nToday though, I’m going to share a fix for Xero’s bulk/batch payment file export being in the wrong format.\nWhere we start # If you have a number of people/suppliers to pay you can create a ‘batch’ payment.\nDetails here: https://central.xero.com/s/article/Pay-multiple-bills-UK\nThis generates a file of payment instructions you can upload to your bank. However the payment file is in the wrong format.\nThe help page says the format is correct for Santander but it is not. I filed a bug report a long time ago and go the now typical Xero response to a bug: ‘Please suggest fixing this as a new product idea’. I maintain that as a piece of software it would be easy for Xero to solve this if they cared. Fixing those files was as simple as adding the total and number of lines to the bottom of the text file and I’ve been doing that by hand. It was just about fast enough to not automate a fix.\nHowever, we’re now moving to Metro Bank and Xero won’t output the correct file format. The fix includes splitting the sort code and account number into two fields rather than the 1 field Xero exports which is not something that would be quick to do by hand, as well as putting them in a different order.\nI did ask Xero about fixing the CSV export and their answer is their software can’t format CSVs (🤦‍♂️but they do it for Santander and HSBC, albeit badly) and that I need to reformat their output to make it useful. The solution (that’s free and you can use too) # I wrote a web page that takes the Xero CSV file and reformats it into the banks requirements.\nIt does this using instructions in Javascript which your browser understands natively. That means it does NOT need to send your file to my server to process and return All the code runs on your own computer.\nYou can find the page at https://sroot.eu/xero-csv-converter/ and although you can convert your CSV there you’ll read in the notes that I suggest you save the page to your computer, check the code, and use it from there to know that no one (including me) has tampered with your payment file. ","date":"12 August 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2025/08/12/quickly-convert-a-xero-batch-payment-csv-to-a-format-that-works-on-metro-bank/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Quickly convert a Xero batch payment CSV to a format that works on Metro Bank","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"12 August 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Tags","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"12 August 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/webdev-amp-code/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"WebDev \u0026Amp; Code","type":"categories"},{"content":"","date":"12 August 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/xero/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Xero","type":"tags"},{"content":"I’ve been training for my first marathon and vlogging my progress on YouTube and Instagram. Early on I was told to start running in my marathon kit as soon as possible. I’m sharing below what I chose, why, and how much it cost. Perhaps it will help other new marathon runners choose.\nI do not promise these are the best choices, or that these are right for you!\nLinks are to the manufacturers websites but you’ll likely find plenty of other retails of their products\nThere’s a video version of this here [note to self, add it when published :-)]\nThe BLUF (Bottom Line, Up Front) # All of my marathon equipment has cost a total of £589.\nThat includes several items I have multiples of so that I can avoid washing them every day. So much for running being a cheap activity.\nTrainers – Brooks Ghost 16 # £135 from my local running shop.\nI went there for an hour and tried on 5 different pairs. Strangely I didn’t settle on the most expensive. I had decided that even £200 would be worth it if it makes my first run more comfortable so didn’t ask the price until I’d chosen my favourite.\nSocks – Balega Blister Resist # £16/pair, £64 for the 4 pairs that I bought.\nBefore I lost my mind and decided to run a marathon I’d been running 5Km 2 or 3 times a week. Buying trail running trainers when I happened to be passing the running shop meant I didn’t have decent socks so I bought a new pair there, and their recommendation was Balega. That pair has been fine so I decided to buy a few more specifically for the marathon. I’ve no idea if they actually resist blisters or it’s good marketing. I did get a few small and minor blisters the first few weeks of having the trainers but none since. For context that’s probably 300km of training runs so I’m guessing they work for me.\nShorts – Montane Men’s Jetstream 5″ Trail running short tights # £44 each, £132 for 3 pairs.\nI love these shorts! I started running in tights over winter and realised I much prefer the figure hugging fabric. Not because I have an amazing figure (watch the videos, you’ll see what I mean), I find the tights more comfortable to run in. Also, if you watch my vlog “Run 36, number 2” you’ll discover a bonus feature they don’t advertise…\nDecathlon breathable Kiprun Run 500 dry+ # £11 each, £33 for 3 t-shirts.\nDespite throwing money at other clothing, I found these cheap T-Shirts from Decathlon that do just what I need. My wife doesn’t like the print pattern but I think they were end of line on offer.\nHydration Vest – Montane Gecko VP 5L+ # £100 including 2 x soft water flasks\nTechnically, I bought this twice. I misread the web site for sizing and ordered large which would be right for some of their other things, but the hydration vest sizes at the bottom I needed medium. Too large, and they bounce as you’ll notice in my early videos. I’m only counting the cost once for this. Also they RRP seems to be around £120 but there are always discounts and offers on Montane so £100 is the realistic price. The alternatives I considered were also around £100 from Salomon (I tried one in the running shop but I can’t remember it’s name, I was going to get that one until I saw the £100 price from Montane and decided to save myself a trip into the city).\nFRACTEL L-TANGLE Legionnaire cap # £45\nI spent ages researching caps. I wanted one with cloth to cover my neck as there’s a good chance my marathon will be on a sunny day. It’s proved useful on my training runs too. Picking a cap was hard because I wanted to put my Run Rootie logo on it with iron on vinyl. The one I chose had a fabric patch that I unpicked to give me the space for my logo. It’s very lightweight and wicks away sweat ever so quickly. It’s always wet from sweat when I return from a run.\nShokz OpenMove Blue refurbished # £80\nTechnically I had these before I signed up for the marathon. One of my suppliers reps is a keen marathon runner and recommend bone conduction headphones when I first started running. I went cheap by ordering the refurbished pair when my originals died and I couldn’t wait for the warranty replacements (I sold those when they arrived). In hindsight I should have got the version with USB-C charging rather than magnetic connecting cable. It’s a minor annoyance to remember to take that cable with me when travelling.\nThe bottom line # £589\nAll of the equipment I’ve chosen to run my first marathon has cost me £589 which to me is a sensible investment in my comfort on my marathon challenge.\n","date":"4 June 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2025/06/04/clothing-for-your-first-marathon/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Clothing for your first marathon","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"4 June 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/uncategorized/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Uncategorized","type":"categories"},{"content":"I’m training to run a marathon (Run Rootie!) and basing my training plan on the Chris Evans book “119 days to go”. That training plan is based around time you spend running rather than distance to run each time.\nI like the approach but it’s made it really hard for me to plan my running routes. Now I know that I’m running around 7 minutes per km I wanted to convert every run duration into distance and add it to my calendar.\nTo do that, I made a spreadsheet with a few formulas, then exported a CSV file in a format calendars like, import it into my google calendar, and quicker than Steve can run a marathon I now have every training run suggested time and distance in my calendar If you’re doing the same thing, here’s my spreadsheet you can download an change to suit your own marathon date. It’s a ODS file (which is Open Document Spreadsheet format) that will open in Excel and many other spreadsheet applications.\nMarathon Training PlanDownload ","date":"26 February 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2025/02/26/marathon-training-turning-planned-run-times-into-distances/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Marathon training, turning planned run times into distances","type":"posts"},{"content":"I recently made a video for a new youtube channel and created a plane towing a banner graphic. The plane came from a photo that was shared with a creative commons licence. That licence requires onward sharing of my modified file, which is a great idea if it saves someone else the time of creating something similar! Go do good things with the time you saved, and here’s the image.\nThe image is a PNG with a transparent background and i used it Piper Super Cub flying for video banner\nThe image is a PNG with a transparent background and I used in a video as a moving title like this: ","date":"27 January 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2025/01/27/sharing-a-plane-cut-out-for-use-in-videos-a-banner-tow-plane/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Sharing a plane cut out for use in videos (a banner tow plane)","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"27 January 2025","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/video-and-youtube/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Video and Youtube","type":"categories"},{"content":"Amazon has it’s place as a supplier, but for many things I’d like to avoid their marketplace and buy directly. So, I’m making a public list for myself so I know where else I can look for suitable alternatives.\nPlease comment if you know good sources for other products, it will help me and maybe help others. Thanks\nName \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; URL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Products \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; Kenable \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; https://www.kenable.co.uk/en/ \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Cables and IT related (computer, audio, network) and accessories. Example, \u0026lt;a href=\u0026quot;https://www.kenable.co.uk/en/hdmi-cables/hdmi-20-cables/certified-hdmi-20-cables/9671-certified-hdmi-20-4k-60hz-uhd-hdr-18gbps-premium-cable-black-1m-009671-0761856016569.html\u0026quot;\u0026gt;HDMI 2.0 cable, £3 each inc VAT \u0026amp; post £1.07\u0026lt;/a\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; Reasons I am trying to avoid Amazon: # Their product listing and search is awful. # My experience is the product search results are often for different items than the search term implies. Sponsored listings appear to be prioritised over more correct results.\nI don’t believe they pay their morally fair share of tax # Tax is complicated. I have no idea how to solve that. Multi nationals will always move money to the lowest possible tax environment before paying dividends to shareholders. That is the nature of our imperfect global tax system and not an Amazon issue alone. Therefore I feel using smaller UK based businesses or wholesalers for a similar spend is likely better in relation to funds reaching our government that can then be spent within our society. Example: https://www.taxwatchuk.org/amazon_tax_cut/ “Amazon UK Services Ltd 2019” Profit: £101m, Tax: £6.3m. 6% doesn’t feel like a fair tax rate to me.\nThey have issues with counterfeit products # They have a system of collocating stock from different sellers in their warehouse if the item is the same. If a seller sends in 100 fake memory cards their fake stock may be sold in place of a seller that sent in 100 genuine memory cards. Even without the colocation, Amazon has a poor reputation for ensuring the products they offer via their market place from third party sellers are safe or legal to sell.\n","date":"29 March 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2024/03/29/alternatives-to-ordering-from-amazon/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Alternatives to ordering from Amazon","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"29 March 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/business/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Business","type":"tags"},{"content":"Note to future me: The reason the new server HDD would not sleep is because ext4lazyinit writes inodes slowly on new disks in the background, so the disks were immediately woken even if forced to sleep.\nBuild a low power server… # It will be easy, says me…\nReplace our 10 year old Atom C2750 running FreeNAS/TrueNAS with a 6 disk raid, that uses 65W of power, with an N100 and 2 disks (+nvme boot disk) on plain ubuntu server. I plan to get it to less than 20W when idle, sure seems I can when checking various blog posts. Processing power isn’t a big deal for this server as it only received backups from the other servers and computers we use.\nSo I bought the hardware, setup the server and noticed the disks were always running when I had it next to me.\nI spent days searching the web, trying various sleep commands. Eventually I found the sudo hdparm -Y /dev/sda which forced the disk to sleep… for 1 second before it came back to life.\nEventually I found a command sudo btrace /dev/sda that told me a ‘ext4lazyinit’ was writing to the disk frequently, led me to https://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-general-1/someone-please-explain-ext4lazyinit-to-me-4175658874/ and https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/?id=bfff68738f1cb5c93dab1114634cea02aae9e7ba and it all makes sense.\nA new file system needs initialising, and that takes time. So now, I’ve reinstalled ubuntu 22.04 for the nth time and this time I’m going to leave it running a week and see if the drives sleep.\nCurrent power usage is between 30W and 35W.\n… it will be easy, once it’s working.\nUpdate April 2024: It is now using 18W when idle. It has been difficult working out if a disk is sleeping or idle, complicated by the 2 disks being from different manufacturers and not responding to hdparm (I forget the how and why, will update the commands I need to check status when I next get to look at this). I think I might be able to get to 12W or less…\n","date":"1 March 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2024/03/01/building-a-low-power-server/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Building a low power server","type":"posts"},{"content":"Hello 👋\nMy name is Steve Root and just like you, I am many things.\nMy business is Roots Kitchens Bedrooms Bathrooms – www.roots.uk, we specialise in the design, supply and installation of kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms from a showroom near Canterbury, UK.\nI volunteer as a Civilian Instructor with the RAF Air Cadets Squadron teaching aviation subjects, camping and navigation skills. As a teenager I qualified as I pilot\nI have been described as an adventurer and I like that.\nI’m a member of Rotary, giving my time and energy to ‘do good things’ in the community.\nSome say I’m good with computers. I created my first web page in 1997. More recently I made https://stampulator.sroot.eu/ – it works out which combination of 1st and 2nd class stamps you need to use on letters and parcels.\nhttps://birthday.sroot.eu – it calculates when an [anniversary]/[birthday]/[excuse for a party] would be if you were [born on another planet]/[distance travelled around the sun]/[other arbitrary numbers].\nOccasionally I create a YouTube video, I like that I’ve helped over 300,000 people fix their oven doors, discover that I don’t know how to cook, as well as view a scientific test of hobs with built in extractors.\nYou can reach me at blog24@sroot.eu at least until it gets too much spam and I change it again. you can find me on the fediverse/mastodon at https://mastodon.me.uk/@Sroot\n","date":"2 February 2024","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/about/","section":"Welcome to Blowfish!","summary":"","title":"About Steve","type":"page"},{"content":"","date":"19 December 2023","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/rotary/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Rotary","type":"categories"},{"content":"This is a Raspberry Pi. A small, powerful, low cost computer. Raspberry Pi Model 3B+\nI’m writing this blog post from the pi you see in the photo. It is very slow compared to my laptop but it works and is in front of me now, whereas my laptop is a whole 2 meters away on another desk.\nThis is the Raspberry Pi Model 3 B+ that used to run the background music for my small business, a shop that sells furniture and appliances for kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms. I retired this pi from service a few years ago when we moved to a different background music service. Before the new company I used Jamendo which allowed me to licence and download a few hundred tracks every few months. I would copy them to the pi over the wifi network and the pi would play the music. I wrote a small script that meant as the pi powered on it would start playing music tracks randomly from the selection I had uploaded to it. No human interaction, once setup it ran and ran and ran. Perfect.\nThis year, as many years before, I have volunteered to help Santa travel around Canterbury with the Rotary Club I’m a member of. We had problems this year with the float background music in that the old donated Ipod ran out of power. When connected to a battery the plug frequently dislodged the audio connection and affected the sound quality. I realised I could repurpose my old Pi to make a better sound source for the float.\nSteps # A fresh installation of Raspbian Find some example code on the internet for auto-starting applications when the pi is powered. Find some suitable music tracks (search, find, repeat) Put them in a directory on the desktop called \u0026#8216;music\u0026#8217; Write a script to autostart the playing of music. Remember to select the correct audio output (3.5mm AV Jack, not the HDMIdisplay) Buy a suitable enclosure to secure the pi against weather. The only connections it needs when setup to run is power (through micro-usb) and the 3.5mm aduio jack out to the float speakers. I found a nice circular panel mount connector for those, easy to drill and fit. ![](/uploads/2023/12/raspbian-select-audio-out.png) Set the audio output by right clicking the speaker icon in the top right.\nThe Script # Modifying a code idea from StackOverflow;\ncreate a file: nano ~/.config/autostart/mygui.desktop\nAdd the following and save.\n\u0026#91;Desktop Entry]\u0026lt;br\u003eName=AutoPlayMusic\u0026lt;br\u003eExec=/usr/bin/vlc -LZ \"/home/pi/Desktop/music\"\u0026lt;br\u003eType=Application\u0026lt;br\u003eHidden=False Exec starts VLC, the music player application.\n-LZ flags set “Loop” and “Random”, it plays forever in random order.\n“/home/pi/Desktop/music” is where I put the Directory full of music files.\nRestart the pi to check it works.\nIn the future anyone can connect a keyboard, mouse end monitor and change the music, although they will have to remove it from the case to access the USB ports. The finished raspberry pi auto playing juke box in it’s weatherproof case.\n","date":"19 December 2023","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2023/12/19/santa-pi/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Santa-pi, a music player for a charity fundraising float","type":"posts"},{"content":"plus call costs of about 1p/minute\nShort version: Get SIP trunks from Dial9.co.uk**, get a small Virtual Machine running at DigitalOcean*, install IncrediblePBX, connect to your own phones.\nWhere we start from: # BT Openreach are turning off analog copper phone lines and moving everyone to an all IP (Internet Protocol) system. It’s called SOGeA (Single Order Generic Ethernet Address). This is a good thing, it’s progress. It means as a network they will only provide an internet connection (think broadband adsl vdsl etc) and it is up to your ISP and/or phone service provider to turn that digital service into an analog phone line for your old style phones to plug into. It means no analog phone line rental just so you have VDSL internet.\nAt home, we haven’t had an analogue phone service for several years. We never plugged a phone in when we bought the house and use our mobile phones for all our calls.\nAt work we still use the traditional approach of ‘desk phones’, via a ‘PBX’ (Private Branch Exchange), multiple incoming/outgoing phone lines, group answerphone, the ability to transfer calls to a colleague.\nFor us that was 1 incoming phone line and all of our outgoing calls went via SIP/VoIP. Over time, Our PBX had simplified from an Avaya IP Office 500 (around £2,000 iirc back when we had 4 analog lines) to a Siemens Gigaset Go-100 dect cordless base station.\nThe gigaset could handle 3 calls at a time (2 VOIP + 1 analog), up to 6 cordless extensions and it had a built in answerphone. We could easily transfer calls between each other and it cost us a few hundred pounds several years ago. Occasionally I’ve replaced a cordless handset. It was simple and worked well.\nBack when I implemented switched to the gigaset VOIP internet calls weren’t as reliable as analog phone lines (and we had to have the analog line for broadband anway) so I kept the analog line but made our outgoing calls prefer to take a VOIP line. For the last few years internet call quality and reliability has been equal to analog lines. Calls via our SIP/VOIP provider were cheaper than our phone service/internet provider too.\nThis year our business phone line/VDSL internet line provider decided they were not going to offer analog phone service at all and instead they suggested we move to a hosted IP phone system. I understand their reasoning. From their view we could have 1 number with 1 extension for £11/month, the same as the line rental. However from my view if I’m moving away from analog lines I’d rather have more available incoming lines. Their system equates 1 line to 1 extension, so even connecting their line to our PBX I could could only have 1 call at a time with them. To have more outgoing calls I’d have to rent more extensions. If I want up to 4 of us to be able to use the phone at the same time, then that’s £44/month.\nCan I get my phone lines for a lower cost? # Yes, and after a learning curve it was actually quite simple.\nFirstly, let’s talk about the idea of charge for phones ‘per line’.\nWhen there was a physical line it made sense, but for an SIP/VoIP system adding extensions is almost zero extra cost.\nThis is like email addresses, as I have my own domain name (steveroot.co.uk) I can have millions of email addresses for no extra cost. Cost is really defined by the server hardware capacity. A thousand user accounts sending 1 email a day uses similar resources to 1 user account sending 10,000 emails a day.\nWhy is an SIP/VoIP phone line any different? In our case as a small business most of the day there are zero phone calls in progress, and occasionally there are 3 calls in progress. So my goal was to find a provider that didn’t charge per line.\nMost of the providers seem to equate line with a user extension. Maybe that would make sense if you want to rent your phone handsets from your supplier, but I buy hardware as it’s cheaper in the long term. I knew there would be less expensive ways to do this and I just had to find them.\nSecondly I’m comfortable running servers\nSince we’ve had fibre broadband from Trooli I’ve been able to host public web servers in my office on IPv6 addresses. This is important as hosting a public server behind an IPv4 NAT is painful.\nMy first approach failed # I thought I could use Twilio\nTwilio is an IT company that provide a “communication platform as a service”. They do many things but their platform is built around enabling developers to write software that connects to their platform to do something useful. For example, you might write a booking system web app and have it send SMS messages to remind your clients of the date and time. You can also use it to set up a phone calls and to do that it uses standard SIP and VoIP protocols. I can make a web app that makes a phone call between my desk phone and your phone. I can also record that phone call, transcribe that phone call, update another piece of software with a record of that call and many, many more things.\nThey offer a flexible SIP service and that should have been straight forward but I strugged to get our Simens Gigaset to connect to it. I’m sure this was due to errors on my part. I know I have had connections to this before when we had FreePBX (open source phone system software, a traditional PBX) running\nI thought part of the issue was my Siemens Gigaset system, so I set up an instance of FreePBX on a local server and tried to connect to Twillio but I still had trouble.\nThen I tried IncrediblePBX , a fork of FreePBX and one I now find a lot easier to use that FreePBX. IncrediblePBX is open source and much of the effort and work behind it is by Ward Munday. He has shared regular, excellent tutorials and guides at his site https://nerdvittles.com/ and is also very active in the forums replying to user questions.\nFreePBX is nice but it has a lot of proprietary modules you can buy. That would make sense in a larger business perhaps but for me I just need basic phone system functions and those modules were muddying the waters, especially when looking for deployment instructions and guides. IncrediblePBX (and it’s forums and guides) also lead me to learn that FreePBX and IncrediblePBX have poor support for IPv6. Not enough people are using it I guess, so no one has volunteered time to fix all the internal code to make it work reliably. My plans to self host a PBX on IPv6 in my office ended here.\nAlso I still didn’t get IncrediblePBX to work with Twilio, so I looked for another solution\nSolution – Use Dial9.co.uk** for SIP trunks # I had looked at Dial9 before. As well as regular phone system provision I realised they offered SIP trunks too. My problem was their SIP trunks only work with IPv4, but now I was forced to IPv4 that was no longer important. SIP trunks from Dial9\nIPv4 (Internet Protocol Version 4) is the numeric addressing system that networks use to know where to send internet traffic. EG: www.steveroot.co.uk on a server at 178.128.42.210. DNS (Domain Name System) turns steveroot.co.uk into 178.128.42.210 for your computer. If you visit 178.128.42.210 you wont see this web site, you’ll see one of my other sites – probably a holding page. This is because my web server has 1 IPv4 address so all of my web sites on that server share it. When your browser asks for steveroot.co.uk at 178.128.42.210 the web server knows what you want, but if you go [nothing] at 178.128.42.210 the web server has to guess.\nThe problem is, the world has run out of IPv4 addresses. There have been a number of solutions to this. One of those is NAT (Network Address Translation) and you have that at home so your single IPv4 address is shared between all of your home computers and phones. That’s fine at home but it’s not fine if you want to allow access to a web server. Running out of IPv4 addresses is not a new thing, IPv6 (Internet Protocol Version 6) was created in 1998 but has taken a long time to become available. Now, finally it’s becoming more widespread and our newish Fibre broadband line came with IPv6 and the nerd in me was very excited about the things I could host locally instead on rented web servers. For example, my phone system… oh well, one day.\nWith Twilio out of the equation I decided to spend the minimum amount on to try a [couple of SIP trunks + phone number + call costs] from Dial9, if I remember correctly is was £20.\nTo use Dial9** had to set up my IPv4 address for port forwarding. It worked, but one catch was that I could only make it work for 1 of our Internet lines or double up the trunks rented from Dial9 at double the cost (we have two providers in case an internet line goes down). This was related to how they authenticate calls between servers using IP addresses.\nThe good news was at this point I had it working with IPv4 addresses and Dial9. Progress!\nReading some more on IncrediblePBX forums a lot people are using hosted web servers for their PBX. I’m already a DigitalOcean* customer so it was trivial for me to spin up a new VM just to run a phone system. Phone system requires very few server resources so my VM/droplet has 1GB RAM, 1 CPU core and 25GB of disk. It costs 7.20$/month including automatic backups. At current exchange rates that’s less than £5/month\nAs a public web server, it comes with it’s own IPv4 address which makes set up much easier. I also used the DigitalOcean firewall to restrict access to the IP to only Dial9 servers and my office IPs\nThe advantage now is I can have each one of our DECT handset connect to the phone system as an extension. IncrediblePBX now provides the group voicemail and emails any messages left for us (as we notice emails to our shared email account faster than we were noticing message lights on our handsets).\nWith that working I did the final setup of the Dial9 service.\nThere is a minimum requirement of 4 trunks (1 trunk = max number of concurrent calls) and each trunk costs £0.75 per month (£3/month)\nPhone numbers are £1.50/month. There was no cost to migrate our number to Dial9 but for testing I bought a second phone number\nTotal cost: £4.50/month\nMigrating the phone number to Dial9 # Our phone number was still on the BT Openreach network via our previous business landline supplier, so transferring the phone number turned out to be very easy. There were clear instructions on the Dial9 web site and Dial9 tech support responded to every question within hours. In advance I set up the new number on the Dial9 portal and my PBX. Then requested the number to migrate on a Tuesday when I knew I would be in the office in case anything went wrong. Our previous provider gave up the number at 10am and by 11am Dial9 had automatically picked it up and started routing calls to FreePBX. With best laid plans… I got called away from the office at 12:00 and didn’t get to test everything but other than callers getting an international dial tone until the next day when I changed a setting I missed, everything worked perfectly.\nI’m just going to repeat this, because phone lines are important and you really want them to work and you really want to know your service provider will respond when there’s a problem. Dial9 (and Adam, who picked up my support request for the migration) respond exceptionally quickly. Here’s the proof, check our the time between my emailing a question and their response, and their follow up responses with new information!\n16:33 Me: Email to request migration\n16:47 dial9: acknowledged and steps to verify my identity\n09:12 dial9: confirming they got my verification confirmation overnight and are creating paperwork to send to the old provider, some questions to answer.\n10:33 me: I answered questions\n10:40 Dial9: Response with Letter of Authority\n11:39 Me: I sent correction to the letter (trading name typo iirc)\n11:52 dial9: corrected letter sent\n12:11 dial9: confirmed they got my signature on the corrected letter and the migration has been requested from old supplier, asked for date we’d like to migrate\n12:41 me: I picked a date\n12:50 Dial9:confirmed date, human written email talked through the progress from here\n13:26 Dial9: Confirmed old supplier had agreed to release and pointer to the setup I need to do in the Dial9 portal.\n13:35 Me: Report a portal bug that on one page my business name is being shortened to “Kitchs” instead of “Kitchens” on a page\n13:39 Dial9: explain that this is the Emergency Service Operators system shortening standard words.\n14:47 Dial9: Adam spoke to the Dial9 developers and they modified the system to show users like me the full words but still send the short version to the emergency services system.\nMigration Day:\n10:44 me: I emailed to say we are getting invalid number when dialing from our mobiles and I’m not seeing the incoming call in the Dial9 portal\n10:48 dial9: confirm the ports happen at 10am but are not instantaneous, migration time is outside of their control but don’t worry yet, this is normal so far.\n10:54 dial9: they’re now watching for the line to arrive too, have tried test calls, will let me know when they see it move to them\n11:01 dial9: email to say they can see the line and their test call rang\nSummary of costs # IncrediblePBX – Free!\nDigital Ocean* – Less than £5 per month\nDial9.co.uk** -£4.50/month\nTotal: £9.50/month + calls.\nFootnotes # I upgraded the Gigaset to a Gigaset N510 IP Pro as it can handle 4 simultaneous voip calls whereas the Gigaset Go Box-100 can only handle 2 voip calls at a time. That cost me £25 on ebay for a second hand model but even new they’re only £80-£100.\nThis link to Digital Ocean is a referral link to give you $200 credit and me $50 if you say for \u0026gt; 60 days ** This link to Dial9 is a referral link. It gives points… I don’t know what they’re worth, I don’t know if you get a benefit.\n","date":"28 September 2023","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2023/09/28/solution-sharing-my-small-business-phone-system-4-lines-6-extensions-and-costs-less-than-10-per-month/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Solution sharing: My small business phone system, 4 lines, 6 extensions, and costs less than £10 per month","type":"posts"},{"content":"I needed to generate a lot of sequential QR codes for work.\nAfter a little searching I found a Python module that generates QR codes so all I had to do was work out a small python script to generate each code and save the image.\nhttps://www.roots.uk/qr/001 as 001.png\nhttps://www.roots.uk/qr/002 as 002.png\nand so on. Having done this, I’ve shared the script on github\nI will be using the codes as signs around our showroom and redirecting the code to particular web pages which will change over time. I could also see the script being useful if you wanted to generate serial numbers as QR codes. I’m also sure someone else has already done this and shared it, but I didn’t have any luck finding those solutions so made my own.\n","date":"8 September 2023","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2023/09/08/batch-qr-code-generator-in-python/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Batch qr code generator in python","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"9 June 2023","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/freepbx/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"FreePBX","type":"tags"},{"content":"New FreePBX virtual machine with two virtual network cards.\nWhen installing, only 1 is configured automatically (eth0) and eth1 does not appear to FreePBX. It also didn’t get an IP address from the DHCP server.\nTo enable the second network interface, in command line SSH as root user and change ‘onboot=no’ to ‘onboot=yes’ in /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-eth1\n# cd /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ # cat ifcfg-eth0 TYPE=\"Ethernet\" PROXY_METHOD=\"none\" BROWSER_ONLY=\"no\" BOOTPROTO=\"dhcp\" DEFROUTE=\"yes\" IPV4_FAILURE_FATAL=\"no\" IPV6INIT=\"yes\" IPV6_AUTOCONF=\"yes\" IPV6_DEFROUTE=\"yes\" IPV6_FAILURE_FATAL=\"no\" IPV6_ADDR_GEN_MODE=\"stable-privacy\" NAME=\"eth0\" UUID=\"cce57258-c43d-4384-b3f0-951dec77586a\" DEVICE=\"eth0\" ONBOOT=\"yes\" ZONE=external DESCRIPTION=\"unset\" # cat ifcfg-eth1 TYPE=Ethernet PROXY_METHOD=none BROWSER_ONLY=no BOOTPROTO=dhcp DEFROUTE=yes IPV4_FAILURE_FATAL=no IPV6INIT=yes IPV6_AUTOCONF=yes IPV6_DEFROUTE=yes IPV6_FAILURE_FATAL=no IPV6_ADDR_GEN_MODE=stable-privacy NAME=eth1 UUID=7e554799-26cb-4760-961f-6a42d434b7f5 DEVICE=eth1 ONBOOT=no (change the ONBOOT=no to ONBOOT=yes, then save and reboot Then go and check firewall settings and more in the web interface\n","date":"9 June 2023","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2023/06/09/freepbx-adding-additional-network-card/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"FreePBX adding additional network card","type":"posts"},{"content":"One of our new work processes is for my by brother to check invoices from a group of suppliers and if they’re OK to pay forward them to a private collaborative inbox/google group in our Google Workspace.\nIt has been working really well so far but there’s been one issue. Some of those suppliers send their invoices as plain text and Google collaborative inbox has no print button. I need to print them as part of our accounting records.\nI found lots of people asking for a print button or trying to find a way around the limitation but no one had a solution. (this example) So I put my lateral thinking hat on and came up with a simple work around.\nSelect with your mouse the text/images you want to print, right click, print.\nand it worked. One of my better ideas, so I’m sharing it here in the hope it helps others. As a bonus, I even did a screen recording to show the steps. The obvious gotcha is that if you select an image as part of the text and right click on the image instead of the text, then you won’t get the ‘print’ option. I hope it helps, say hello if it does 🙂\nhttps://youtu.be/XDtpMwgxFqI\n","date":"2 May 2023","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2023/05/02/google-workspace-printing-the-collaborative-inbox-printing-google-groups/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Google workspace – printing the collaborative inbox / printing google groups","type":"posts"},{"content":" ![](/uploads/2023/02/Loch-Neldricken-2013-10-16-14.44.27-Large-1024x768.jpg) ![](/uploads/2023/02/brassinlay2-Large-1024x683.jpg) ![](/uploads/2023/02/blackbrassdesirelines2020-Large-1024x683.jpg) ![](/uploads/2023/02/Loch-Neldricken-2013-10-17-08.15.21-1024x768.jpg) Loch Neldrinken in the morning. ","date":"10 February 2023","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2023/02/10/testing-galleries-nothing-here-to-see/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Testing galleries – nothing here to see","type":"posts"},{"content":"Some time ago I made our printer print letterheads on demand, and wrote the instructions here: https://www.steveroot.co.uk/2019/11/19/magic-letterhead-tray-making-preprinted-stationary-automatically-on-plain-white-paper/\nWe’ve just replaced our printer with a new model, a Kyocera P7240cdn and that means I need to update cups with a new print queue that generates letterheads on demand for anything sent to that queue.\nTypically, it didn’t work first time. Checking the logs, and error file was created that said\nError: /undefined in !R!RGBL0,0;RGBL1,0;RGBL2,0;HUE0,0;HUE1,0;HUE2,0;HUE3,0;HUE4,0;HUE5,0;HUE6,0;LGHT0,0;LGHT1,0;SATU0;EXIT;\u001b Operand stack: Execution stack: %interp_exit .runexec2 --nostringval-- --nostringval-- --nostringval-- 2 %stopped_push --nostringval-- --nostringval-- --nostringval-- false 1 %stopped_push 1990 1 3 %oparray_pop 1989 1 3 %oparray_pop 1977 1 3 %oparray_pop 1833 1 3 %oparray_pop --nostringval-- %errorexec_pop .runexec2 --nostringval-- --nostringval-- --nostringval-- 2 %stopped_push --nostringval-- Dictionary stack: --dict:731/1123(ro)(G)-- --dict:0/20(G)-- --dict:75/200(L)-- Current allocation mode is local Current file position is 261 GPL Ghostscript 9.50: Unrecoverable error, exit code 1 From that I worked out that the new PPD file contained settings not seen in the old printer (P6035) starting with the section\n*JCLOpenUI *JCLRedLevel/RGB Level (Red): PickOne *DefaultJCLRedLevel: None *OrderDependency: 8 JCLSetup *JCLRedLevel *JCLRedLevel None/Normal: \"!R!RGBL0,0;\" *JCLRedLevel Minus10/-10: \"!R!RGBL0,-10;\" *JCLRedLevel Minus9/-9: \"!R!RGBL0,-9;\" *JCLRedLevel Minus8/-8: \"!R!RGBL0,-8;\" So I first removed the “!R!” thinking that caused the error, then the whole JCLRedLevel section, then finally removed about 300 lines of the PPD file from the JCLRedLevel section to the SATU0 section.\nWith those lines gone, the script succesfully merged the PDF letterhead overlay onto the print file and everything worked.\nUpdate next day!\nNot so fast steve, It started printing slightly smaller first pages, like 30% smaller scale. I traced it back to the original PostScript print file first page being smaller than A4 but all subsequent ones being A4. Eventually, I worked out that the fix was to add the printer to cups in a particular way.\nAdd Printer \u0026gt; IPP \u0026gt; Name of Printer (mars-P… as before), DO NOT add description or location text.\nMake = Generic\nModel = CupsPDF printer (no options)\nAdd Printer\nSet defaults (Page Size: a4, 600DPI)\n","date":"3 November 2022","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2022/11/03/automatic-letterheads-from-a-printer/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Automatic Letterheads from a printer","type":"posts"},{"content":" Migrating Google Sites to the new domain # We use Google Sites for our intranet. It’s a place we keep policies and procedures for quick reference and easy updating. Access is restricted to anyone with a “roots.uk” email address. I struggled to work out how to migrate this service to our new domain until I found this guide, and then it was obvious! Our intranet won’t win any graphic design awards, but it does make it easier to do our best work.\n![](/uploads/2022/01/image-2.png) Step 1: In the old domain, add an editors email address from your new domain (“share with others” near the top right).\nIn the new domain, go the site that was shared with you, choose the menu item “Make a copy”\nNow you have a copy of the site in your new domain. For us, I use the ‘share with others’, link and change the link options to suit, so Anyone in “roots.uk” can access our intranet” but it’s not a public site. ","date":"17 January 2022","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2022/01/17/setting-up-google-workspace-for-a-small-business-part-9/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Setting up Google Workspace for a small business – part 9","type":"posts"},{"content":"Our main A4 colour printer just reached the end of it’s life and is not worth repairing so I turned to my spreadsheet of printer costs to work out what to replace it with. We buy the printers and don’t lease them as this has always been a lot cheaper in the long term. This is our main daily use printer, we also have an A3 printer/scanner which gets less use. I like having 2 printers for when one goes wrong or I forgot to order toner, we can use the other until I get around to fixing it.\nInteresting observations from looking back at my workings:\nI started the spreadsheet when buying a printer in 2010 and bought a new printer in 2014,2018 and now 2022. So that\u0026#8217;s 4 years per printer I assume we only use original toner cartridges even though they are more expensive I work out the total cost of ownership for a printer and all consumables assuming it lasts us for 50,000 pages The current printer has made it to 80,000 pages, the previous one I think around 75,000 pages, so I might have to increase my assumed working life total page prints when comparing TCOs Year \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Model \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Printer cost \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Total Cost of Ownership 50,000 pages \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Total Cost of Ownership 75,000 pages \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; 2018 \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; P6035CDN \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £362 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £2,702 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £3,510 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; 2014 \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; FS-C5350DN \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £442 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £2,442 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £3,000 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; 2010 \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; FS-C5300DN \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £766 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £2956 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £3,285 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; So although inflation has been increasing through that time, our printing costs have remained similar. Also of interest is the hardware cost of the printer has been decreasing. Before 2010 I also remember having to buy more trays for a printer but now we print letterheads on demand for free using ubuntu as a print server and a PDF template document\nWe have always bought Kyocera printers because they always seem to have the lowest Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). Many other printers cost less to buy but have much more expensive toner or maintenance needs. From my workings in 2018 you can see from models I compared;\nthe £362 Kyocera printer forecast a cost of £2,702 but\nthe £185 Xerox C400N forecast £4,872\nso the up front machine cost is not a good indicator of the total cost of using a printer. Likewise you can also see that at 25,000 pages for a working life, the Lexmark CS727 had a lower TCO than the SC827. Summary: Knowing how many things you’re likely to print is important to optimise the total cost of printing.\nHere’s an extract from spreadsheet from 2018 I used to choose a printer. Assumptions that may not apply to you:\nWe print lots of kitchen and bathroom photos at Roots, so I’ve assumed our average page has 15% coverage of ink (3 x each colour at 5%).\nMy prices were all excluding VAT\nI suspect the prices I get for HP are high compared to what larger businesses can get, we’re small so I generally get prices online with no volume or scale discounts.\nPrinter \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Machine cost \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Colour Toner single colour cost \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; pages coverage at 5% \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; cost per page @ 5% using 3 colours \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Colour cost per 1000 pages (1 month) \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; TCO 25K \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; TCO 50K \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; ECOSYS P6035cdn \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £362 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £156 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 10000 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £0.0468 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £47 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £1,532 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £2,702 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; Lexmark CS827de A4 Colour Laser Printer \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £405 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £239 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 15000 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £0.0478 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £48 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £1,600 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £2,795 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; CS727de Lexmark \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £185 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £180 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 10000 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £0.0540 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £54 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £1,535 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £2,885 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; ECOSYS P6130cdn \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £242 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £100 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5000 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £0.0600 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £60 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £1,742 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £3,242 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; Xerox versalink C600NW \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £730 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £198 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 10100 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £0.0588 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £59 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £2,200 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £3,671 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; Xerox Phaser 6600DN \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £330 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £145 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6000 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £0.0725 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £73 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £2,143 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £3,955 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; Xerox ColorQube 8580DN \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £350 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £112 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4400 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £0.0764 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £76 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £2,259 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £4,168 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; ECOSYS P5026cdn \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £195 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £80 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3000 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £0.0800 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £80 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £2,195 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £4,195 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; ECOSYS M5521cdn \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £163 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £80 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2600 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £0.0923 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £92 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £2,471 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £4,778 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; Xerox Versalink C400N \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £185 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £150 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4800 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £0.0938 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £94 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £2,529 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £4,873 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; HP LaserJet Pro 500 color M570dn A4 Colour\u0026nbsp; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £516 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £193 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6000 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £0.0965 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £97 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £2,929 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £5,341 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; ","date":"18 December 2021","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2021/12/18/printers-running-costs-and-life-expectancy/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Printers, running costs and life expectancy","type":"posts"},{"content":" Telling everyone about our new email address # It’s been about 2 weeks and everything is working well. We’ve told a few people about our new email addresses but now I need to get organised and tell everyone, but how?\nOption 1 – Email everyone in my address book # Google keeps 2 address books by default.\nFirst is the contacts you choose to save into your contacts. You can create those manually, save them from an email, create them when you add a new phone number into your phone. You can see from my contacts here I have 218 contacts though not all of them have email addresses (one of those contacts is a shortcut to dial voicemail). Truth be told there’s a couple of contacts I can spot straight away that don’t really need to be in my contacts book any more as we haven’t been in touch with each other for many years. Further down the options is another section called “Other Contacts”. These are the contacts Google assumes from emails you’ve sent and received. They’re used with auto complete suggestions. I have 4,796 contacts there. A quick scan shows many are out of date or no longer needed but also shows a large number of fairly regular contacts that have never found their way to being saved specifically into contacts (friends from various clubs, where I don’t have or need a phone number for them and I email them simply from the autocompleted address). If I was to try and email all 5,000 or so old contacts to advise of my new email address it would\ntake a long time (by hand, only about 90 addresses fit into the gmail BCC space) take a long time (to write a small script to send emails one at a time) exceed the send mail quota (2000 emails per day max ) generate a lot of bounces (old invalid addresses) waste peoples time (support@old-company-I-once-used.net don\u0026#8217;t really care to know I have a new email address). So, I need a better option!\nOption 2 – Use the out of office auto responder to tell people our email address has changed # When you go on holiday and wont reply to emails you can use the “Out Of Office” auto reply to let people know. The out of office message will only be sent once every 4 days.\nI’m going to use this system to send a friendly message to let the sender know their email was automatically forwarded (so they don’t need to resend) and that we have a new email address.\nThere are options to only send out of office messages to your contacts but I’m going to let every sender get the message. I think the only downside will be that spammers will also know our new email address, but it will only be a week or so before they scrape it from our web site and start sending to both addresses anyway. I’ve done this for our shared email address but for my own email address I’m going to wait a while before doing this. Partly that’s because I have a lot of newsletter subscriptions and some might see the constant out-of-office messages as a reason to stop sending emails. If you do this too, remember to keep checking the old email account from time to time as spam isn’t forwarded and if the mail box becomes full you won’t be getting the forwarded emails.\n","date":"25 September 2021","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2021/09/25/setting-up-google-workspace-for-a-small-business-part-8/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Setting up Google Workspace for a small business – part 8","type":"posts"},{"content":" Email for the servers and scanners # As well as user accounts we have emails being sent from servers and scanners. Google have a help page that says how to do this through SMTP relay. However, I also want to be able to see what has been sent. Up until now we’ve set the scanner to use the shared email account which means if someone replies to a scanned email we see the reply – useful for when we send orders to suppliers. (yes, we still scan paper. I’ve yet to work out an all electronic process that works as well. Maybe when I replace our MS Access database).\nI’m not sure if the SMTP relay service will keep the sent email in the shared mailbox but I’ve time to experiment so I’ll try SMTP relay first, and if that fails I’ll have to setup the scanner to used the shared email with an app password.\nSolved – activate Comprehensive mail storage “When you have the SMTP Relay service enabled, user mailboxes will keep a copy of the message in the sent folder (for example, when sending mail from a scanner) if comprehensive mail storage is enabled. This might cause accounts to exceed storage limits if your account’s edition has storage limits”\nSMTP relay needs a static IP Address, which we have. When we change ISPs (maybe once every 5 years) I’ll have to remember to update the IP address here.\nThis took me about 1 hour to get the scanner working. It was a typical error of one setting being wrong – I forgot to change the “sender address” from @rkbb.co.uk to @roots.uk on the scanner.\nAfter that, another hour setting and testing the various servers that send emails.\n","date":"6 September 2021","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2021/09/06/setting-up-google-workspace-for-a-small-business-part-7/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Setting up Google Workspace for a small business – part 7","type":"posts"},{"content":" Making my new email address my default email address # Things are starting to work. I have my new email address on my phone. Now I want to start using it as my main email address and tell everyone else in the office how to make that happen too. I need to:\nImport all my old email Import my old calendar with all future appointments set my new email to collect email that arrives in my old account. Import files saved in Google Drive I’m looking to move domains in the least disruptive way I can think of. That means I’m not going to tell anyone and I’ll just start using the new address. I’ll have emails sent to the old address collected by the new address. Over time people will notice and start using the new address and I won’t miss any emails.\nI’ll gradually start changing login email addresses to use the new email address too but I’m not losing access to the old email address so I’ve no time limit to do that in.\nIf my suppliers change email domain and their accounts department starts using it I always phone them to confirm they’re not being impersonated, just as I do when they change bank accounts (never trust a letter or email changing bank account details! Always phone and check with real people it’s genuine).\nThis page on migrating data into workspace looks useful for giving tools and instructions for migrating data. I mention it as I’ll pick one of these but you might find the others more useful.\nForwarding new emails to the old mailbox to the new mailbox {.wp-block-heading} # So far, these instructions are pretty straight forward I’m going to set up forwarding now. There are two approaches to this;\nMethod 1 would be to have my new email address collect the email from my old email address.\nMethod 2 would be to forward all email that arrives in the old mailbox to the new mailbox.\nI thought about the pros and cons of each and I’m going with google suggestion of forwarding all my emails. Forwarding can be hit and miss as many spam filters treat forwarded email as potential spam. Forwarding also has a problem in that it happens AFTER the google spam filters have run. I often see real email in my spam box so I’ll have to keep a check on the old account for a while. Collecting email is also becoming less straight forward as 2FA is not possible for POP/IMAP (the protocols used to collect email from another mailbox) so some services dont allow it or you have to set special app passwords.\nOne more thing though – in the longer term I will have the option of changing my old email to be an alias domain of the new email so I won’t need the forwarding for too long… i hope.\nSummary instructions:\nOld mail box \u0026gt; settings \u0026gt; Forwarding and POP/IMAP \u0026gt; Add forwarding address\nConfirmation email in new mail box to confirm before it can be used\nReturn to old mail box \u0026gt; settings \u0026gt;forwarding and POP/IMAP, select new email address. I choose to immediately archive the original mail, so I only see old mail in the old account and new mail in the new account. # OK, now for calendar events. {.wp-block-heading} Calendar \u0026gt; Settings \u0026gt;Import and Export \u0026gt; Export\nThis should export ALL the calendars I’ve access too and the Zip file contains each calendar as a file. All I need to do is select just my Calendar as the other calendars I’ll resubscribe too (other people at Roots)\nUnfortunately the export isn’t working and I get a 404 error. I’ll have to come back to this.\nSo, change of plan. Each user can go to Google Takeout, select calendars, just their calendar and export that to re-import it. At first I had an error message to say it failed but then I saw all my appointments past and present appear in my calendar.\nContacts import (easiest part so far) # Export from old account: Contacts (from the 9 dot menu at top right) \u0026gt; Ctrl + A (select all contacts) \u0026gt; More Actions (the 3 vertical dots) \u0026gt; Export \u0026gt; Export as: google CSV\nImport to new account: Contacts (from the 9 dot menu at top right) \u0026gt; Import Contacts (it’s empty so that option is on the front page) \u0026gt; select the file.\nGetting the old email into the new accounts # There are to methods for this too.\nMethod 1: Use the data migration service\nMethod 2: Allow users to import their old mailbox\nPart of me things users doing their own is simple enough (there are only a few of us) but I also think if I get the migration service working for me then it will be easier for me to trigger it for everyone else giving them less to do. So, Data migration service it is!\nYou definitely want to be reading the full instructions for this. I’m summarising here for my own benefit later.\nMy notes: Nothing to add, it was all as I expected but I need each user to generate an app password for me to access their account.\nGoogle Drive files # Now for the transfer of these. We don’t use drive files much but I’ve a few notes in spreadsheets that I want to keep so I’ll transfer.\nIt seems the simplest way to do this is Google Takeout selecting just Drive files. The others can do the same if they’ve files to keep. I don’t think it will copy links to files that are shared with us but we’re still able to see them in our original accounts and I’m sure can get access to them from the new account if needed.\nAlmost forgot! # We have an intranet which is a google site. It’s where we keep procedures and things, so I’ll need to migrate that too.\n","date":"6 September 2021","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2021/09/06/setting-up-google-workspace-for-a-small-business-part-6/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Setting up Google Workspace for a small business – part 6","type":"posts"},{"content":" I gave up with the Google Workspace Collaborative Inbox. # It had a number of problems for my use case, including:\nI couldn\u0026#8217;t get the custom footer working Replies to the originator go as CC: instead of TO: as the group address is always the only TO: address. Sending an email from the Groups web view, you always have to click CC: to add an address (we want to send emails from our collaborative inbox as well as process incoming emails). ![](/uploads/2021/09/image-38-1024x411.png) I got this as a CC’d email instead of To:me@mydomain.com and I don’t like this\nOn the plus side, it did allow email conversations to be assigned to members of the group but I didn’t get as far as testing if marking the conversation as ‘complete’ also allow it to be hidden from view by default.\nSo what now?\nOption 1: Find a suitable helpdesk software platform # like Zendesk, FreshDesk, Gekko, HelpScout, FreeScout, uvDesk or osTIcket (and that’s the shorter list of all the platforms I stumbled upon).\nI mentioned before I like to keep overhead to a minimum. These are typically charged between £4 and £40 per month per user and we have 4 users covering the shop email account, so thats £192-£1920 per year of cost. Some have limited free offerings but the limitation often includes a limited number of records being kept which is too limiting for me.\nThe exceptions here are FreeScout, uvDesk and osTicket which have open source editions. I can run those on my own server and the only cost is time to set them up and maintain them. I can also alter them to suit our needs and processes and I have full control and access to all data. There’s a good argument that an open source solution will cost me more than £192 per year to run but the hosted £192 option doesn’t include all the nice things I could do with open source. The cost of open source is relatively fixed and not dependant on the number of users I have.\nI’ve also got the option of writing my own too. Our needs are not too complex so processing email into a database and having a web front end (viewed like an email client) allowing our users to assign and reply and attach things is well within my technical capabilities but currently outside of my available time to implement.\nTicketing solutions also start edging into full CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and whilst I’ve been considering those for a while we’re a long way off yet.\nbesides, option 2 is far simpler and simple is good.\nOption 2: Use a dedicated email address and give everyone delegated access # Which is exactly what we do now as our legacy account never had the Collaborative Inbox option. The downsides are:\nAnother user account to pay for (£5/month) Having an account with another password (ok, that\u0026#8217;s trivial, I\u0026#8217;ll be the only one with the password and I\u0026#8217;ll delegate access to everyone). If you have a lot of users, knowing if someone was already working on a customer enquiry or a supplier request can get confusing \u0026#8211; the app solutions in option 1 often had \u0026#8216;collision prevention\u0026#8217; so two agents wouldn\u0026#8217;t work on the same thing at the same time. As we only have 4 users and a low volume of mail to our shared email, Delegated Access is the solution I’m using. There’s probably a limit to how many delegates you can allow to access your email, in one place I saw 10 as the limit and in another 100 so beware if you’ve lots of users of the shared email account.\nSetting up delegated email # First, delete the group 🙂\nAdmin \u0026gt; Users \u0026gt; Add a user\nFirst name = Hello, Surname = Roots, [drifts off remembering this post about names for users and how not every culture has a Surname]\nemail = hello@sroot\n[Using an incognito window for the new account] Try to login, I can’t because 2FA is enforced, so Admin \u0026gt; User \u0026gt; hello roots (the user name) \u0026gt; 2 Step Verificatoin \u0026gt; get backup verification codes\nLogin with backup code, accept terms, set new password, enroll in 2 step verification, select phone prompt, then have to add the account to my phone usng another backup code.\nNow, check users can allow delegated access (probably not by default). Unfortunately this change didn’t happen instantly for me, so you might have to come back to this point later.\nSettings for gmail \u0026gt; User settings \u0026gt; Mail delegation (or search for delegation) Add a delegate, instructions here but short version: settings \u0026gt; all settings \u0026gt; accounts \u0026gt; Grant Access to your account \u0026gt; enter the email address of the other user. They need to accept the invite.\nThese are my preferred settings for our shared account. Once the invite is accepted a user can switch to the delegated email account (in this case hello@roots.uk) by selecting it from the top right panel icon with their initial Whilst I’m here, I’d rather have my photo on my profile than my initials but by default users can’t edit their profile. Admin \u0026gt; Users \u0026gt; More is where you can change that. So, I now have users set up and shared email account for us through delegated access. It’s the end of the day so I’m stopping here. Next task from my list will be setting up the server/infrastructure emails like noreply@\n","date":"3 September 2021","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2021/09/03/setting-up-google-workspace-for-a-small-business-part-5/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Setting up Google Workspace for a small business – part 5","type":"posts"},{"content":"Now 2FA is working for my 2 users, I can create our first Shared email address. For Google Workspace this is a “Collaborative Inbox” (see the setup instructions here). We’ve not had this in the past. We used to have a shared email address, showroom@rkbb.co.uk that was a regular user email address and then had delegated access to all of us that monitored it and replied to emails from customers. Whilst that would work still, it will also cost the same as another user account each month (near £55 per year on the cheapest account) whereas a collaborative inbox is free and apparently has built in tools to handle being used my multiple people and stop duplication of replies or not actioning an email because you think someone else is doing it.\nFirst, we create a new Group (9 dot link) then the 3 lines link then create group I chose hello@roots.uk for the group name. We set up showroom@rkbb.co.uk as an address back in 1999 and in todays world hello@ sounds nicer and easier to say then showroom@.\nPrivacy settings next, and that’s easy for our small business as every user can see everything and everyone can join. and finally I can add members now. Me and my brother as owners and as I add the other user accounts I can add them later.\nI’ve left it as subscription to each email but I’m not entirely sure that’s right yet. Now I can go to the group Reading the setup instructions, next I have to go to group settings and turn on “collaborative inbox” There are some permissions to be assigned but I’m going with the defaults for now and will see how they work. The other interesting setting is “Default Sender” and I’m going to start by changing this to “Group address” by default. I think this will mean that if I reply to an email and there’s a response it still goes to the collaborative inbox so that others can see and action it. There’s an email option setting and that includes the ability to turn off the standard groups footer (I’m turning it off) and add a custom footer (which I’ll turn on and add our standard email footer text). Now to send a test email from an address outside of roots.uk to see how it works…\nand it failed, but I think I see why the group only allows posting by people within roots.uk and so my email from my old address was rejected.\nBack to the group settings, I’ve turned on “Shared Labels” whilst passing – I expect that will mean if I label an email “supplier invoice” everyone will see that label. I saw no option to allow posting from outside our domain.\nNext step is to return to admin.google.com, type the group name into the search box then click on the group. Opening the settings box to edit it, I can see a column for “External” and “publish posts” field so I’ll activate that and save. I did not allow external members to the group, as I don’t want anyone joining it and seeing our emails. and it looks like it worked, I have an email delivered to my inbox; I can reply to that as a normal email and that arrives fine. I see the same email in the shared group, but I don’t see my reply. That makes sense as the email was delivered to two places. I think I need to turn of emails to group members. and if I reply from the group I get… confused ahh, I see, I can choose to reply from my personal email or the group address and replying from my address means the reply is sent to:hello@roots.uk and CC: the original sender, that’s no good for me. Back to the group settings and set the default sender to be the group address. and another option “Post replies to” was set as Sender Chooses so I’ll change that to default to the author only I think that means if there are multiple people in the conversation we’ll have remember to select them.\nIn My membership settings I can change from each email to No Email. Time for a new test! Looking good… and it’s still not perfect The email was CC’d to the originator again and I want them to be in the to: location, like a normal email.\nNow it’s late, so I’ll return in the next day or so when I have time to figure out the solution.\n","date":"2 September 2021","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2021/09/02/setting-up-google-workspace-for-a-small-business-part-4/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Setting up Google Workspace for a small business – part 4","type":"posts"},{"content":"Now to set up and enforce 2FA (Two Factor Authentication) for all users in my new domain. First I want to make sure it is active and working for me!\nIn Gmail, clicking the “S” at the top right, which comes from my name Steve, opens a box with an option to “Manage your Google Account” In the next page I select Security and then the right arrow allong from “2 Step verification” The default is to get an SMS message or phone call but I don’t want that. I want to use “Google Prompt” which is an app built into my Android phone and I think it also works on iPhones too. SMS can be compromised so Security Keys or prompts are the way to go. I think my android phone can also act as a security key too, but the prompt has always worked well for me.\nI need to select “show more options” My device isn’t shown, so the link “Don’t see your device”. and this tells me I need to login to my new Workspace account from my phone for it to be seen, so I’ll go to my phone and do that. On android I do this by going Settings \u0026gt; Accounts \u0026gt; Add Account \u0026gt; Google\n(you can have more than one google account linked to your phone)\nMy new email address and password are entered and it takes 30 seconds or so to login and set itself up. Once that’s done, I click the “Try Again” link and my phone appears. Yes it’s an old phone (2 and a half years!) and yes I’m looking to update it but only because the charging port is slightly loose. Can you imagine how long it takes me to pick a new phone? !!\nclick Continue It wants a backup option, and is asking for a phone number again. I’m going with this though deep down I think the current security wisdom is not to allow SMS resets. Enter the confirmation code that came by text message and “Turn on”\nSo that should be working and the confirmation screen gives me more options. First, I generate the backup codes. These can be printed and put somewhere safe for the event you lose your phone and can’t use the Prompt or SMS methods. Perhaps keep them in your wallet. If you’re worried about losing your wallet and someone logging into your account using these backup codes then you can encrypt them with your own secret algorithm. Add 1 to the first and last digit.\nSecond, I set up an authenticator app. I used to use Google Authenticator but I had a problem once where a factory reset of my phone meant I lost access to the Generator. Now I use 1password which includes a generator. As long as I can get into 1password I can always get to the Authenticator codes.\nFinally, I tried the security key but that doesn’t work for me as a I don’t have one 🙂 I thought my phone might act as one but I was prompted for Windows to look for one connected by USB. Maybe one day I’ll add that approach too. I think a hardware security key that can be on my keyring and work separate to my phone and wallet may be a useful backup method\nNow to log out, log in and see if I’m prompted for a code: and yes I was. All is good and secure.\nNot to enforce 2FA as a requirement across all users.\nThe 9 dots top right \u0026gt; Admin \u0026gt; Security \u0026gt; 2-Step Verification Maybe I’m bit too worried about security, but these are the settings I’ve chosen for my users. 2FA is turned on from now There is no grace period for new ysers They can trust the device once they\u0026#8217;re logged in. I think google still prompts every 30 days. They can\u0026#8217;t get verification codes by SMS message of phone calls. SMS is not secure and we are all vulnerable to SIM Swapping (that\u0026#8217;s a link to youtube video that explains it well. She also covers a lot of security related topics with great advice for geeks and non geeks alike). So, that should be enforcing 2FA for all our users, which is so far just me and my brother. Except he probably didn’t set up 2FA when I told him he could log in earlier so he’s probably being locked out right now. To fix that, Admin \u0026gt; directory \u0026gt; Users and click on his name and I can see that he does not have 2FA enabled and also he has no recovery options. When I go to edit this (the down arrow on the top right opens the panel up) I see that only the user can enable 2FA. I suspect that the next time he logs in he will be forced to do that so I’ll leave this for now and see what happens. It might be I need to add a recovery email address and/or phone number as he hadn’t set those yet either.\nOnce he is set up with 2FA I will also make him a super admin. This is important as if something happens to me I want him to be have full access to everything in the business. Also if I lose my phone he can also reset my password. I’m always trying to avoid a single point of failure in our business.\n","date":"2 September 2021","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2021/09/02/setting-up-google-workspace-for-a-small-business-part-3/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Setting up Google Workspace for a small business – part 3","type":"posts"},{"content":"In Part 1 I registered a new Google Workspace account and told it our domain name. Now we have to prove to google it’s actually our domain to use. There are a couple of ways to do this and all of them involve adding entries to the DNS records of your domain, which you do through the website of whoever you bought your domain from. For many years I’ve bought all my domains through Gandi and I highly recommend them (not a referral link and I’ve no promo codes to pass on). Google \u0026amp; Gandi work for the “Automatic Activation” method which makes things very easy from this point. Once signed in, the verification process begins! The automatic process is doing what you can do by hand. Firstly, it adds a DNS TXT record with a unique string that is publicly available. Because you can set this google know this is really your domain. Here things get a little complicated, as I already had this domain set up with our old Google Workspace legacy account and I left the email settings in place. These are DNS MX records that tell the world where to deliver your email.\nIf you’re using email on another provider I assume Google Workspace would give you the option as to whether to change these settings from your current provider to the google servers. As we weren’t using the domain for email (at least, not in a way I minded breaking for few days) I can’t tell if that’s the case or if they’d be added automatically if there are no existing MX records. Seeing as this is step 3 in the setup and we haven’t yet done step 2, I’m assuming assuming you get to choose when to switch over the email servers. It can take some time (several hours) for the DNS records to show publicly for google to check but you can carry on with other steps whilst you’re waiting.\nStep 2 is to create your users. Obviously my user is already there so I use the “Add another user” link to add more. After that, it’s time to accept the terms and log into our new accounts! Naturally the dashboard has a lot of options but in my excitement the first thing I want to do is send an email. In google workspace a grid of 9 dots at the top right opens the menu for all the workspace apps. Gmail is the one I want and…. it doesn’t work! I’m signed into the admin panel and every other app I click on redirects me back to the Admin panel. What’s going wrong? I think it’s due to the domain still be verified. Sure enough the next morning I could log in fine. I think there is the option of accessing Gmail by logging in using the test domain whilst verification is happening but it worked before I got to try that. Now my email is working, next on my list:\n2FA – two factor authentication or MFA – multi factor authentication, which is to say I want to enforce better security on our email accounts requiring anyone that logs in not only knows their password but gets an extra security code from a device they own.\nSet up a shared email address – which is all new to me as our legacy workspace account didn’t allow for this\n","date":"2 September 2021","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2021/09/02/setting-up-google-workspace-for-a-small-business-part-2/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Setting up Google Workspace for a small business – part 2","type":"posts"},{"content":"Now I’ve selected Google workspace (see previous post for why) I need to begin the setup.\nI’ve also signed up for a google referral program where you get a discount and I get a commission. I’ve not idea if this will work but if you’d like a discount code, send me an email and ask and we’ll both find out.\nHere’s a my rough and ready task list of what I need to do:\nGet email working, with Multi Factor Authentication, for 2 users (others to follow once it\u0026#8217;s working) i. Create account ii. Changing DNS iii. Adding user Get shared email account working Import from old accounts and setup collection of email from those accounts How to handle the server/infrastructure emails (noreply@ and server@) User calendars and sharing access between us Calendars for resources (Van allocation) Get Google Drive Desktop/FileSyncBackup and sync working, or whatever it\u0026#8217;s called, on our desktops and mobiles I’ve probably forgotten several things from that list so as I remember them I’ll come back and edit it\nSign up # My choice is Business Starter, so I click that link Select the number of accounts I’m going to use. I’m not sure what selecting the larger numbers does Enter my name and my existing email address. Say I already have a domain name and then enter the domain name Things get interesting from this point, so pay attention!\nAt the same time as doing this, we’re transitioning onto a new domain name that we’ve had for a while. It had already been setup with google workspace as an alias to our our old domain name but we’d deliberately not been using it for everyday tasks. As such, I’m treating this domain as if it’s brand new\nHowever, if you are planning on using Google Workspace with your existing domain you have to be careful not to break your existing email! At this point, just like the message on screen says, your emails won’t be affected yet. I like to get the emails with updates and tips, so I said OK. and I like to automatically set that for my users knowing they can unsubscribe if they’re not interested. Now to set a password for my new account.\nIn my business I’m using 1password password manager to create strong passwords (blue circle icon by the password field and it’s suggested a password). NB: I didn’t use this suggested password 🙂 A confirmation screen where I get to enter a promotion code. As I’ve signed up for a google referral program I might be able to send you a voucher code too, email me to ask 🙂 Now a longer review page confirming the price and letting you set your business name, address and enter payment details. Once all of that is done – we have a workspace account and are taken to the admin console to do some more setup and I’ll cover those steps in the next post. ","date":"2 September 2021","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2021/09/02/setting-up-google-workspace/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Setting up Google Workspace for a small business – part 1","type":"posts"},{"content":"It’s time for my small business to update our solution for email, file storage, calendars, etc so I’m making notes as I go that you may find helpful and I will find helpful when I look back to remember what I’ve done and why.\nSituation: # When I started Roots Kitchens Bedrooms Bathrooms in 1998 our email was provided by our Internet Service Provider. Then we got our own domain, eventually our own web server and in the early 2000’s I set up our own email server. A few years after that, spam filtering became unmanageable and we moved onto Google Apps as it was then, Google Workspace as it is now. As an early adopter (around 2006) we had a free 50 user account and to their credit Google still have this free account some 15 years later. It’s a ‘legacy’ account, still free, but several features added to later versions don’t apply to our account.\nWe need different features than offered by the free account so I’m on the hunt to replace it.\nFeatures needed: # Email Shared email account (currently we each have our own email address and check a shared account, but this is less than perfect when we\u0026#8217;re busy, not being entirely sure if someone else is already acting on an email. Our current Google Workspace free account doesn\u0026#8217;t allow for shared email and this is one of the motivations to upgrade). Calendaring The ability to view each others calendars and make appointments, all fairly typical I think. File storage Our current free service offers 15GB per user but for two of us that\u0026#8217;s too small. Low cost We aim to keep overheads as low as possible. We need 6 user accounts. I\u0026#8217;ve compared costs for annual renewals and ignored any introductory discounts What we don\u0026#8217;t need: MS Office desktop applications (LibreOffice works well for us) Options: # A rough and ready spreadsheet to compare options\nPlatform \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; Google Workspace \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; Google Workspace \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; Zoho \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; Zoho \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; M365 \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; M365 \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; Product \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Business Starter \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Business Std \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Workplace Std \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Workplace Pro \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Business Basic \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Business Standard \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; Cost per user* \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £4.60 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £9.20 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £3.20 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £5.60 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3.8 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 9.4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; How many users? \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; Email storage (GB) \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 30 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2000 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 30 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 100 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 50 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 50 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; Extra file storage (GB) \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; same \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; same \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 10 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 100 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1000 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1000 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; Total GB \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 30 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2000 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 40 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 200 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1050 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1050 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; Comment \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Extra storage = 50gb/£5/month, 1tb/£57/month \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Shared drives for team/group \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; no desktop office apps, but online versions included \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; includes desktop apps \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; Monthly \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £28 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £55 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £19 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £34 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £23 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; £56 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; Yearly \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; £331 \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; £662 \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; £230 \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; £403 \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; £274 \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; £677 \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; *price used assumes no introductory offers, monthly rates The also rans:\nrackspace.com – Were an excellent dedicated server host when I used them years ago. I found it hard to identify their cloud email offering and it seems to be “rackspace email” as just email then an option for Microsoft Exchange mailboxes in order to have calendars, and that get’s pricey.\nfasthosts.co.uk – similar to rackspace in selling MS Exchange mailboxes. Only checked because I seem to have been seeing lots of adverts for them lately.\nhey.com is an opinionated email system. It seems like a great option for personal email but the business (hey for domains) setup seems not quite ready for us. Expensive but when I experimented with the personal option when it launched, I think it it could be worth it. footnote: for my personal email I actually have Google Workspace Standard as I need the file storage space.\nWe need 6 user accounts. Whilst per user pricing is great I also like to see the cumulative price for a year. Note one of my business goals is to minimise overhead spend.\nObservations when comparing: # Google Workspace Starter: # Pros: We’re all familiar with Google Workspace as we already use it and have no complaints.\nCons: Accounts can’t be mixed, so once one of us needs more than 30GB of file/email storage we all need to upgrade. Extra storage is outrageously expensive, eg 50GB/£5/month or 1TB/£57/month\nMicrosoft 365 # There are several Microsoft 365 options but the one I’m interested in doesn’t include the Desktop installed Office Apps. We’ve used “Libreoffice” for many years, it’s an open source program with equivalents to Word, Excel and Powerpoint. It functions almost identically to MS Office but costs nothing. It can use MS Office file formats too, so we have no trouble interacting with files sent to us by suppliers. The one down side is that anyone familiar with MS Office takes a day or so to get used to the different software but from that point on it’s hard to tell the difference. We do use an MS Access database but it’s my job to set up forms and queries, everyone else just uses it a a regular desktop application. One day I’ll migrate it into a web application but it works so well it’s never quite reached the top of my todo list.\nPros: Better price than google Starter and way more storage\nCons: I use Outlook on Android and through the web interface for a organisation I volunteer with and I find it not as comfortable and fluid to use as Gmail.\nZoho # There are two relevant options, “Workplace Standard” at £3.20/user/month and “Workplace Pro” at £5.60/user/month\nFor 6 users, Workplace Standard is £230/year for 30GB of email and 10GB for extra files.\nFor 6 users, Workplace Pro is £403/year for 100GB of email and 100GB for extra files.\nZoho looks really interesting as a solution. It appears to play well with standard applications (if you like Outlook, you can keep using that, if you like your phones’ email client, it works with that). Beyond my simple search for a platform, Zoho offer CRM 1, Accounting, ERP 2, social media management, helpdesk software, and more. I’ll be looking at their ‘Books’ accounting software soon as I have time to replace Xero.\n[1] Customer Relationship management \u0026#8211; software that helps you track and improve interactions with your customers. [2] Enterprise Resource Planning \u0026#8211; software that helps manages sales, stock and inventory, deliveries and so on. Pros: Better price than google, Potential to easily expand into their other products\nCons: No familiarity on my part with their systems and how it is to use.\nSo, what am I going to do? # I’m going for Google Workspace Business Starter\nAt £331/year it’s more than Zoho Standard (£230) or Microsoft 365 Business Basic (£274) but I decided the extra cost is worth it for continuing with a product we’re used to using.\nIf I was a new business starting out today and had the time to research as I once used to, I’d start with Zoho. I think it’s other apps could be useful in the future.\nIf I didn’t know Google workspace and gmail so well, then at an entry level M365 business basic is better value for it’s storage and if I needed MS Office then M365 Business Standard at £9.40/m (£677/year) would beat Google Workspace.\nThese things are never easy decisions to make, but now I’ve made my decision I can get onto setting things up.\n","date":"28 August 2021","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2021/08/28/moving-my-small-business-cloud-email-file-sharing-calendars-provider/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Moving my small business [cloud email, file sharing, calendars] to a new provider","type":"posts"},{"content":"I failed. but I had fun trying and learnt things, so I\u0026#8217;m happy. For this blog I tried to use a static site generator, I thought it would make my blog simpler and allow me to post faster. I thought it would make my blog easier to host and easier to secure with no database to run. Here I am, installing WordPress again. So what went wrong? It turns out I really like the ability to log into a place to create content and post. Sure, I could create static content with markdown formatted text, but I had to remember the file format, remember how to link images (and upload them somewhere), then remember where I saved the generator script, and after all that, I didn\u0026#8217;t get around to posting. The trigger to reinstall WordPress was actually needing something for my business site ( roots.uk). We were hosting with Squarespace but I was finding it was slow delivering pages and Google’s webmaster tools were telling me we needed to better ‘or else’… Anyway, installing WordPress was a breeze, a day of setup to manually copy all the content from the Squarespace pages to new WordPress pages. Then another day of optimisation and I went from a page speed score of something like 60/100 to 95/100. To be fair to SquareSpace part of the issue was linking to YouTube videos, which in turn requires a large amount of JavaScript download. I found a WordPress plugin called WP-youtube-lyte that grabs the video thumbnail and makes it a clickable link to YouTube for visitors that press play. Once I had WordPress for work, it was trivial to add WordPress alongside it for this blog, so I have, and here you are. As for the old content, well I might put that back into the wordpress database but for now and probably until the next code overhaul there\u0026amp;#8217;s an archive folder of the static pages that survived the migrations. I had a backup, so restoring the old site and adding the one static generated page into turned out to be easier than I expected.\n","date":"28 August 2021","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2021/08/28/moving-back-to-wordpress/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Moving Back to wordpress","type":"posts"},{"content":"A long time ago I created my own website and created each page by hand in Windows notepad. I probably even used some server side includes and I certainly used Apache as the web server. I don’t have copies of that site. In 2004 I moved to a blogging system called MovableType\nIn 2012 I migrated from Movabletype to WordPress and today in 2020 I’ve migrated my blog to static files, much like the very first pages I created. I’m not writing every page by hand, but using a static site generator that takes simple content files and combines them with templates to make the site as you see it. The generator manages turning formatted text into links, for example\n[blogging system called MovableType]({filename}/about-this-site.md)\ngenerates the link that you see in the paragraph above to my first ever blog post, or at least, the current generated version of the original blog post.\nThe biggest motivation for me to switch was the hassle of keeping PHP, WordPress and all the WordPress plugins and templates up to date to limit the chance of my server being compromised by bad-people(tm). I don’t post here as often as I used to and having a nice web interface to write in really isn’t important to me. I’m comfortable writing in a terminal then running a command or two to generate new pages. This means I don’t need PHP, or a database. It also means I can no longer host comments (although that is possible through third party systems, so perhaps I’ll add them back)\nOf course, there’s a time and effort cost to setting up and learning new software but so far most of it has been intuitive or very similar to things I’ve used before. I chose to use Pelican which is written in Python. Although I’m more comfortably in Ruby, I’m currently working on my Python skills. Actually I haven’t needed to look at any of the Python code! Pelican had clear an easy to follow instructions, I found a template I liked called Flex which I haven’t had to touch at all (although eventually I’ll turn the default red links into my preferred default of blue). There was a plugin that took my WordPress XML backup and extracted all the old blog posts and generated the static files. I’ve also had to use a WordPress plugin to get a list of WordPress URLS to create Nginx rewrites so that people coming from search engines to old pages land on the new pages.\nAll in all, this has been a pretty straight forward migration. There are a few issues to resolve. Several of the images have broken links and I know that some pages have artefacts to fix (and some of those related to the 2012 migration and I never got around to fixing them).\nSpeaking of images, here’s my first image embeded into a page, a screenshot of the old WordPress site and for good measure the same page on the new SITEURL ","date":"21 June 2020","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2020/06/21/moving-from-wordpress-to-a-static-site-generator/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Moving from wordpress to a static site generator","type":"posts"},{"content":"A couple of years ago I stopped buying letterheads for my business and instead created a special print queue that merged any document sent to print with a PDF letterhead template.\nLast month, it stopped working on just my PC. I’m not quite sure if it broke from a Windows update or something else had changed but the result was I needed to start from scratch and make it all again. My original notes weren’t very good and in 3 years time I’ll look back on these notes and think much the same. If you’re looking to print letterheads on demand too, these notes may help you achieve it.\nGetting here took me far to long (days!) but the end result is not having to buy preprinted stationary or an extra tray for our printer.\nSummary of what I’m about to do:\nCreate a Print Server (a virtual machine) running linux (Ubuntu) and CUPS (common unix printing system) Connect the Print server to the network printer Create a queue for the printer and share that queue to the network. Within that queue, call a script that turns the print document into a PDF, merge that with a pre created \u0026#8216;letterhead\u0026#8217; PDF Send that newly merged document to the printer. Things that are good to know: Issues and solutions: # Sometimes windows doesn\u0026#8217;t like browsing for printers, giving error .\u0026#8220;Couldn\u0026#8217;t connect to printer. Check the printer name and try again. If this is a network printer, make sure that the printer is turned on and that the printer address is correct\u0026#8221;\nSolution was to open \u0026#8216;services\u0026#8217; and restart \u0026#8216;Print spooler\u0026#8217; service I also found using \u0026#8220;http:\u0026#8221; for printer connections rather than https seemed to help. Instructions from start to finish (mostly)… # Create virtual server # Start with ubuntu minimal server install 19.10 Because 18.04 LTS doesn\u0026#8217;t have PDFtk, without using snap and other workarounds that caused me problems. Choose at least 8GB disk If choosing the LVM option, https://askubuntu.com/questions/1106795/ubuntu-server-18-04-lvm-out-of-space-with-improper-default # We need to resize the logical volume to use all the existing and free space of the volume group\n$ lvm\nlvm\u0026gt; lvextend -l +100%FREE /dev/ubuntu-vg/ubuntu-lv\nlvm\u0026gt; exit # And then, we need to resize the file system to use the new available space in the logical volume\n$ resize2fs /dev/ubuntu-vg/ubuntu-lv\nresize2fs 1.44.1 (24-Mar-2018)\nFilesystem at /dev/ubuntu-vg/ubuntu-lv is mounted on /; on-line resizing required\nold_desc_blocks = 1, new_desc_blocks = 58\nThe filesystem on /dev/ubuntu-vg/ubuntu-lv is now 120784896 (4k) blocks long. # Finally, you can check that you now have available space:\n$ df -h\nFilesystem\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; Size\u0026nbsp; Used Avail Use% Mounted on\nudev\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; 3.9G\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; 0\u0026nbsp; 3.9G\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; 0% /dev\ntmpfs\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; 786M\u0026nbsp; 1.2M\u0026nbsp; 785M\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; 1% /run\n/dev/mapper/ubuntu--vg-ubuntu--lv\u0026nbsp; 454G\u0026nbsp; 3.8G\u0026nbsp; 432G\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; 1% / Install CUPS # Openssh-server was installed by default, Login and get IP address\n\u0026gt;ip addr show Install cups\n#sudo apt install cups Add my local user to cups lpadmin group\nusermod -aG lpadmin \u0026lt;myusername\u0026gt; Configure cups I had problems with cups rewriting the config files I\u0026#8217;d changed by hand when the server rebooted. The solution is NEVER EDIT THE CUPS CONFIG FILES WHEN THE SERVER IS RUNNING!\nsystemctl stop cups.service Configure following in /etc/cups/cupsd.conf\nListen *:631\u0026nbsp; Comment out the other listen directives. *:631 listens on all connections but you can also restrict to a specific network with 192.168.1.230:631 Need allow access to the web GUI and web admin GUI by adding an \u0026#8216;Allow all\u0026#8217; line to cupsd.conf. Note: This may not be a good idea if you can\u0026#8217;t trust every device on your network. In that case I think you can restrict access by IP address or other auth methods. Order allow,deny\n\u0026nbsp; Allow all\n\u0026nbsp; Order allow,deny\n\u0026nbsp; Allow all\nsystemctl start cups.service\nTurn off discovery of remote printers There seems to be an issue with remote discovery of printers. They disappear through reboot and maybe other triggers.\u0026nbsp; So for now I\u0026#8217;m manually adding the network printers in the hope they are retained (this has worked so far\u0026#8230;) systemctl stop cups-browsed.service\n/etc/cups/cups-browsed.conf\nBrowseRemoteProtocols none\n# was BrowseRemoteProtocols dnssd cups systemctl start cups-browsed.service\nAdd printers via the CUPS web interface # Go to web interface in browser, http://:631 Check box “share printers connected to this system”\n+ check allow printing from the internet\nNb: it will redirect you to https pages then ask for your username/password as per the account you added to the lpadmin group.\nI decided to call my print server “Mars” and setup up print queues using the format ‘server’+’printer model name’+’optional descriptive label’\nAdd network printers manually to print server. Administration \u003e Add Printer Other network printers \u003e Internet Printing Protocol (ipp) Connection address: \u0026#8220;ipp://:631\u0026#8221;\u0026nbsp; where IP is the printer IP. EG: ipp://192.168.1.220:631 Name \u0026#8220;mars\u0026#8221;+model+(dash)+description\u0026#8221;, eg \u0026#8220;marsP6035\u0026#8221; for the default printer \u0026#8220;marsP6035-letterhead\u0026#8221; for magic letterhead, or maybe \u0026#8220;marsP6035-duplex\u0026#8221; for a forced duplex mode Leave the description blank (it appears in the\u0026nbsp; windows print dialog boxes, better for us to have useful description detail as part of the name). Check the box \u0026#8216;share this printer\u0026#8217; Use the manufacturer provided PPD file (mine all came from the manufacturers install files, in a sub directory called ../linux/eu/) Test print to make sure it works Footnote: Adding printers for the magic letterhead has been problematic. The last printer I set up needed to be set up as described here https://www.steveroot.co.uk/2022/11/03/automatic-letterheads-from-a-printer/ using generic CUPS driverless drivers rather than the manufacturer provided PPD.\nInstall PDFtk # Apt install pdftk disable aparmour, it seems to block the scripts we\u0026#8217;re going to create. I guess there\u0026#8217;s an easy way to allow them but I don\u0026#8217;t know what it is. AppArmor\u0026nbsp;can be disabled, and the kernel module unloaded by entering the following:\nsudo systemctl stop apparmor.service\nsudo update-rc.d -f apparmor remove To re-enable\u0026nbsp;AppArmor\u0026nbsp;in the future enter:\nsudo systemctl start apparmor.service\nsudo update-rc.d apparmor Add the magic letterhead code # The knowledge of this came from from http://technik.blogs.nde.ag/2012/08/28/watermarking-printouts-in-the-linux-world/ but I have slightly modified parts to suit my needs Copy your Letterhead.pdf artwork into /etc/cups Setup watermark scripts in /usr/lib/cups/filters named: letterheadwatermark Chmod 755 #!/bin/bash logfile=/tmp/watermarkpdf.log\nwatermark=/etc/cups/Letterhead.pdf tempdir=$(mktemp -d) echo $(date) \u0026#8220;$0 $* (tempdir: $tempdir)\u0026#8221; \u003e\u003e $logfile # Command line arguments\njob=\u0026#8221;$1\u0026#8243;\nuser=\u0026#8221;$2\u0026#8243;\ntitle=\u0026#8221;$3\u0026#8243;\nnumcopies=\u0026#8221;$4\u0026#8243;\noptions=\u0026#8221;$5\u0026#8243;\nfilename=\u0026#8221;$6\u0026#8243; if [ -z \u0026#8220;$filename\u0026#8221; ] ; then\n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;filename=”-”\nfi\nif [ $# -ge 7 ]; then\n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;cat $6 \u003e $tempdir/ps.in\nelse\n\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;cat \u003e $tempdir/ps.in\nfi # convert Postscript to PDF\n/usr/bin/ps2pdf $tempdir/ps.in $tempdir/pdf.in 2\u003e\u003e$tempdir/err # watermarking.\u0026nbsp; \u0026#8216;stamp\u0026#8217; puts letterhead over document, \u0026#8216;background\u0026#8217; puts it under. Some documents send all white background so letterhead will not show through white areas.\n/usr/bin/pdftk $tempdir/pdf.in stamp \u0026#8220;$watermark\u0026#8221; output $tempdir/pdf.out 2\u003e\u003e$tempdir/err # convert PDF to Postscript\n/usr/bin/pdftops $tempdir/pdf.out \u0026#8211; 2\u003e\u003e$tempdir/err # clean-up. I don\u0026#8217;t remove the tmp files as they are very useful to find out what stage of this script is failing\n# rm -rf $tempdir From \u0026laquo;http://technik.blogs.nde.ag/files/2012/10/watermark.sh\u003e\u003e\nIn /etc/cups create a link to the cups filter folder, eases finding things later\nLn -s /usr/lib/cups/filter/ cups_filter_directory Copy script into filter folder, chmod 755 \u0026 chown to root Restart again: systemctl restart cups.service I\u0026#8217;m using the kyocera PPD from /software/printer then inserting cupsfilter line to make it print a letterhead. I wanted to use the IPP everywhere PPD (default in cups) but that didn\u0026#8217;t work. I suspect the IPP everywhere PPD gets the first input as PDF whereas the kyocera PPD gets the first input as postscript. I tried skipping the PStoPDF but that didn\u0026#8217;t work either and I stopped searching once I got it working with the kyocera PPD Modify the printer PPD (/etc/cups/ppd/ to call the script.\nsystemctl stop cups.service\nthen add this as second line:\n*cupsFilter: \"application/vnd.cups-postscript 100 letterheadwatermarkpdf\"\nthen\nsystemctl start cups.service Add the printer to the client # Add printers to clients Printer and scanners \u003e add printer or scanner From the printers discovered, select printer, eg: \u0026#8220;marsP6035 @ marsprint\u0026#8221;. Selecting the @server i\u0026#8217;m guessing is selecting the IPP service. Send a test print, hope it works 🙂 Alternative method that had issues of print being scaled down, perhaps near a5 printing instead of a4 before the stamp/watermark applied. Ps2pdf command seems to be the issue here. Add printer, The printer that I want wasn\u0026#8217;t listed, select a shared printer by name Paste the url from the printers page on the server, it will be like:\nhttp://192.168.1.230:631/printers/marsP6035 Note: not https (sometimes that seems to fail, not sure why) Driver: Microsoft \u003e Microsoft PS Class Driver Add printer directly to computer with manufacturer driver file This is useful because the Kyocera drivers allow more print options and control, eg paper type, make poster from multiple pages, etc. Test print\u0026#8230; Hopefully this works too ! ","date":"19 November 2019","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2019/11/19/magic-letterhead-tray-making-preprinted-stationary-automatically-on-plain-white-paper/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Magic letterhead tray – making preprinted stationary automatically on plain white paper","type":"posts"},{"content":"My apologies in advance for the grammar and sentence structure. I haven’t blogged for ages but having just overhauled my small business payroll solution and procedures this post will help me remember what, why and how I did things and also may help someone else going through the same steps.\nStarting point:\nMy small business has 4 employees. Many, many years ago we paid for Sage software’s payroll solution. It cost a lot of money every year. We then moved to ‘Payroll as a Service’ where a local accounting firm charged a £50 per month to do all of our payroll needs and had been doing that for many years. I’d email the accountant our workers hours, variations for the month for sick pay, etc. The accountants would do: all the calculations, report to HMRC, send me a list of journals for Sage Line 50, post printed payslips to us. It worked, things were good.\nWhy the change:\nSending the accountants the hours and variations each month added a few days between knowing these numbers and when I could actually set things up to pay people. We pay for the whole month on the 26th of the same month. Allowing me time to set up the payments meant I wanted to know the numbers by around the 22nd. To allow time for the processing and weekends I’d be emailing the accountants around the 18th, probably trying to find out how many hours people had done from the 15th. Accounts are human too so allow for the occasional error and time to fix, I started to look for ways to improve the process and reduce the time I needed to wait for numbers.\nWe’d already moved onto Xero a couple of years ago 1 and they have a payroll module so my starting point was to assume that we’d start using that instead of our accountants.\nPlanning ahead:\nBefore changing our processes I like to try and work through all the details. My experience is that no software or system is perfect and my goal is to find out what is likely to go wrong or work in unexpected ways so we can mitigate any impact. As well as Xero I looked at several other payroll software providers, lead mostly by a list of suppliers on the HMRC web site https://www.gov.uk/payroll-software\nXero were out of the frame quickly due to [attitude towards bug reports] + CIS + [the mess of their user forums] + [finding someone having significant payroll issues on a forum and seeing them getting nowhere]. I went through several other vendors and opened up trial accounts with fictitious payroll data to see how they worked.\nI was generally not feeling very good about changing at all, until I finally contacted payfit.\nI’d excluded them early as they had no prices on their web site and to find out more the only real option was to ‘book a demo’. They appeared a relatively new company and I’d briefly researched them to find they had some venture capital funding a couple of years before. Their move into the UK market was newer still and seeing no prices I thought their target was much larger business than our small business. I also expected their prices to be out of our league but having excluded all other options as being no better than our current process I bit the bullet and got in touch. I was pleasantly surprised! The demo answered all my questions and the software looked like something I could work well with. The price was good too(better than using our accountants) so I decided to switch.\nThe switching process\nLet’s not hide from the fact, payroll is complicated by all the details and rules, the variations and exceptions, the historic requirements and the new things constantly being applied as legislation changes. My switch has been stress free because I’ve been working to keep ahead of things that could trip us up.\nFirstly, Payfit provide an onboarding point of contact and they were great at working with me to make sure every detail was complete before the first pay run. I was sent an invite to a secure file sharing platform which contained some spreadsheets for me to complete. They contained placeholders for employee names, rates of pay, hours of work, holiday entitlement, pension provider details and so on. Whilst I could answer most questions for the few I couldn’t I solved by a) Asking payfit for help (every query answered same day) and b) sending copies of my previous months pay slips and journals (the onboarding contact then pointed out several other answers to questions I hadn’t yet asked which was handy). It took me about 2 hours to find all the answers but that was spread over 5 days.\nNext was the first pay run, set for 3 days before the pay day. It wasn’t perfect. I found errors like a wrong amount of tax taken on one employee. I messaged payfit and within hours I’d had emails explaining what went wrong and that they had fixed the problem, including regenerating payslips. Yes, within hours! I was very relieved at this point. I think payfit must have been newer than I thought, or maybe no one reports bugs as thoroughly as I do, because one of the issues was that an export of different reports reused the same file name. I reported that and it was fixed the same day! That’s a small detail but the different file names help me automate things as you’ll see later.\nHaving got everything working well, and repeated a second month, I could start perfecting my automation. I still had a few problems but that was mostly related to me learning how to enter hours, pay rates and sick pay. Once again, Payfit answered questions the same day and reran reports to show corrected information. I also discovered the helpful UI messages within the app, for example, this one Automation – because I don’t like typing numbers repeatedly.\nSo, I now have a payroll software as a service application that will generate reports in various formats. Payfit provide a journal template for Xero and several other things but like most businesses I have requirements that are slightly different from the next business. For example, our Xero account numbers are different than the default numbers Xero uses. We want to record some staff as a direct cost and some as an overhead. I also want to take all the numbers from Payfit and set up payments to my employees, tax payments to HMRC, the pension scheme and so on. Less typing means less chance for typping errors, and it’s also very fast 🙂\nHere’s my magic Payfit-to-Xero conversion spreadsheet and you’re welcome to use it and modify it to meet your own needs\nThere are notes throughout the sheet to help you. As a rule, I put formulas in blue text (so I know not to edit them) and Yellow background cells need editing each month.\nMy process is as follows:\nFrom:\nPayfit \u003e Accounting \u003e Reports \u003e [Set Month!] \u0026#8212; Company costs : Employee Pay Structure : Pension contributions Download and copy the 3 tables into this spreadsheet Write the pay date into the yellow box (these words are used to creating meaningful descriptions in journals and bills) Employers Allowance Calculations Make a note and adjust values if we have any employers allowance left to use. Go to NEST Pensions web site (our pension provider) and create a schedule based on the numbers in the ‘Pensions’ table. Data Exports and Imports: Export spreadsheet tab ImportTemplateBill as a CSV file then import to Xero as a bill Export spreadsheet tab ImportTemplateJournal as a CSV file then import to Xero as a journal Approve the draft bills in Xero. Pay HMRC and Employees in normal way, I use batch payment for the relevant dates and upload the file to our bank in advance NEST is a direct debit, so ‘view bill’ then pay from bank (without actually going to bank and sending money, so the Direct Debit will match the payment when it happens and it wont be listed on bills waiting to be paid) If you find the spreadsheet useful or if you use it an improve it leave a comment to help others.\n1 Foot note on Xero: A blessing and a curse.\nXero does the basics fine but I find the CIS implementation is awful (how dare I receive a credit note from a subcontractor in the same month and expect the monthly total to work! – let alone make an input error and use a credit note to make the correction) and when I reported an error with an export format for bank transfers (Xero doesn’t follow the spec – I even sent a link to the specification file on the bank web site) after 12 months of requesting updates on a fix I was told they’re not going to fix as it doesn’t affect enough users. How hard can it be to export a TXT file with a correct date? Generating the wrong date creates a failed import so I have to hand correct each one.\nI still like Xero for the basic accounts functions \u0026amp; that out of all the accounts software I tested it was the only one at the time that allowed me to do my own form of project costing (using ‘tagging’ + several custom reports). I hate Xero for it’s poor support, terrible user forum/platform, limitations in report formatting and exports.\n","date":"14 June 2019","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2019/06/14/a-small-business-payroll-solution-how-and-why-i-moved-our-payroll-process-from-an-accounting-firm-to-do-it-ourselves-using-software-as-a-service/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"A Small Business Payroll Solution  – how and why I moved our payroll process from an accounting firm to do it ourselves using ‘Software as a Service’","type":"posts"},{"content":"In our office, we buy Royal Mail stamps in ready to use denominations of “1st Class”, “2nd Class”, “Large 1st Class” and “Large 2nd Class”. However, these are only useful for 100g weight letters.\nFor heavy letters, we can use multiples of these stamps. I noticed I was routinely having to do the calculation in my head as to what is the optimum combination of stamps. For example, what to stick on a 500g 2nd class large letter. I know that’s £1.58, I know the stamps represent the 100g values, so 1st=65p 2nd=56p Large_1st=98p and Large_2nd=76p.\n…\nIt’s not too hard to work out, but it takes time and gets harder with bigger letters and parcels.\nFor a coding challenge, I wrote “Stampulator“. It’s a single web page that tells us which combinations of stamps to use, so for the 500g 2nd Class large letter, £1.58 example, we need 1 x 1st class and 1x Large 1st class. That’s over by 5p, but it’s the nearest value to the cost.\nI also made it so that if I have different value stamps or a different target value to reach (say; special offer or I’ve been slow to update the values when Royal Mail prices change) I can input those and get an instant result.\nI then printed the page and stuck it buy our post box. Stampulator is on my web server and free to use – it works well from a mobile phone too.\nPost a comment here if it’s useful and that’ll encourage me to keep it up to date.\n","date":"20 October 2017","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2017/10/20/how-many-1st-class-stamps-to-use-on-heavy-letters/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"How many 1st class stamps to use on heavy letters?","type":"posts"},{"content":"For the last few weeks I’ve had trouble downloading from Google Photos files. It only happened on large files; videos \u0026amp; zip files of multiple images. The problem only affected Chrome – the files would download fine using Firefox. For single images the download would work so I decided it must be something related to the files size. A lot of googling and it seemed to only affect me so I removed and fully reinstalled chrome, that didn’t fix it.\nI found similar problems in the help forum but none of them had solutions (technically, one did by changing the download folder location but that didn’t work for me).\nI used developer console to see what happened on the page and try and get more of an error message. I found “load resource: net::ERR_QUIC_PROTOCOL_ERROR”. I then googled that and found a page on stack overflow suggesting that disabling QUIC would help, and to disable it here: chrome://flags/#enable-quic\nWhat is QUIC? It appears to be a protocol to improve performance of pages of the network using UDP. There were mentions that some networks/routers/devices don’t work properly with this format. I don’t know which part of the network between me and Google Photos is at fault, but once I disabled QUIC the downloads completed perfectly. If you want to know more, you’ll need to research it from here yourself. Sorry, I have work to do 🙂\n","date":"24 April 2017","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2017/04/24/google-chrome-failed-network-error-on-downloading-files-greater-than-5mb-ish-solution-for-me-disable-quic/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Google Chrome ” Failed – Network Error.” on downloading files greater than 5MB (ish) – solution for me = Disable QUIC","type":"posts"},{"content":"Following on from an old blog post about Margins and markups What everyone in business needs to know a reader posted this question in the comments\nIf you’re not sure how to calculate margins, read that first.\nHi, how do you do multiple rebates % to give a true value of what the total discount would be.\nI.e. 3% + 6% + 8%, is this 17%\nTL;DR … probably not 17% but it depends on how your supplier intended you to do it, more likely\n100*0.97*0.940.92 = 83.8856 remaining, so\n100 – ( 100*0.97*0.940.92 ) = 16.1144%\nThe answer is a blog post in it’s own right, but the short version is: It depends.\nThe most common use I’ve seen in my industry (UK businesses supplying other businesses with kitchen furniture and appliances) is to Apply each discount in turn, using the last result with the next discount value. The only way to be certain is to ask. Even then, you need to make sure you ask the right person. It seems to get confusing to sales reps and accounts departments alike. In once case, I only figured out by checking past supply invoices.\nSimple example:\nSupplier gives terms of:\n30% off retail price to all customers 10% for displaying 1 product 5% for displaying 3 products This is typical of the ambiguous wording we see.\nNote: I’m using the decimal form to calculate the margin – see how and why on the original blog post\nIn my own industry;\n£100 * 0.3 = £30 discount, £70 cost.\nThe next 10% is 10% off the remaining COST, not 10% off the original retail price\n£70 * 0.1 = £7 = £63 cost\nThe next 5% is in addition to the prior two discounts and also taken off the remaining Cost, not the original retail price\n£63 * 0.05 = £3.15 = £59.85\nTherefore, the margin for this supplier is: 40.15%\nIf you only have one location to put the margin, then use 40.15.\nHowever…. it’s not always this simple, which is why you NEED TO CHECK YOUR SOURCE.\nHere’s another example of what I’ve seen.\nSupplier gives terms of:\n30% off retail price to all customers 10% for displaying 1 product 5% for displaying 3 products This is typical of the ambiguous wording we see.\nWait, that’s the same example….. That’s right. But this time the supplier thinks it’s obvious everyone knows that the first 30% is given to everyone and that the extra for displaying 10% is 10% off the cost and that the extra extra 5% makes it 15% for displaying 3 products.\nSigh.\n£100 * 0.3 = £30 discount, £70 cost.\nThe next 10% is 10% off the remaining COST, not 10% off the original retail price\n£70 * 0.1 = £7\nThe next 5% is off the remaining cost before we got our earlier discount.\n£70 * 0.05 = £3.50\nOr, we could just say, 15% off the remaining cost in this case, £70 * 0.15 = £10.50\nTotal cost: £59.50\nMargin: 40.50%\nThese small differences add up and can get confusing quickly.\nWhy isn’t there one system? It depends on why the extra margins are being applied and used. I’ve seen it deliberately used to make the discount appear bigger. A sales rep will incorrectly say: “We’ll give you 40% off for displaying this product, and if you display another product too we’ll give you an extra 20% off, that’s 60% discount!”…. no, it’s 100-(100*0.6*0.8)= 52% discount.\n","date":"2 December 2016","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2016/12/02/margins-and-markups-how-to-handle-multiple-discountsrebates/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Margins and Markups: how to handle multiple discounts/rebates","type":"posts"},{"content":" According to cloudflare, my blog traffic this month.\nAccording to google analytics, my blog traffic this month.\nThe difference?\na) Cloudflare is counting requests to my server (each image, each file, each style sheet) whereas Google Analytics is joining requests from the same visitor into a session.\nb) Hackers don’t always ask for a page, and don’t load the javascript that google analytics need to track the visitor.\nWhat can we infer from this?\nComputers in Ukraine that are visiting the blog aren’t reading this text, but they visit a lot.\nWe cannot state with certainty the users instigating this are in Ukraine though, just that the requests can be traced as far as there. Likewise, computers in the USA requesting items from my server are less likely to be people than computers in the UK.\nMy guess of the reason for this: Hacking attempts, search engines.\nYou cannot tell from the source (eg: Ukraine) that the people controlling the computer requesting files [be that hacking or search engine or other uses good and bad] are in Ukraine. For example, for a long time my web server lived in Paris, but I’m not in France to control it.\n","date":"30 September 2016","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2016/09/30/blog-traffic/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Blog traffic","type":"posts"},{"content":"wp-cli, a command line interface for WordPress, just saved me a big headache.\nIt all began when I updated my server to the latest ubuntu LTS. That removed PHP5 support and replaced it with PHP7. That meant several of my sites stopped working as the nginx configuration had to change. With that done I thought the blog as the pages were still displaying OK but for some reason I could no longer access the admin interface to make new posts or moderate comments. Instead, when I logged in I would see a message: Sorry, you are not allowed to access this page\nI decided the most likely cause of this would be a plugin. However, I couldn’t use the admin interface to disable all the plugins so I needed to find another way. I read that I could start editing the database directly but then I stumbled upon wp-cli. Installing that allowed me to use an SSH shell to check, disable, enable and update the plugins. I quickly discovered that there was an update to cloudflare that hadn’t been applied. I applied it and it failed. I’m not entirely sure if it failed due to the background change of PHP5 to PHP7, or if my earlier fault finding had changed a file owner (I tried removing the plugins by moving the directory to a new name), but once I used wp-cli to update cloudflare everything started working perfectly, including the ability to preview theme changes which had stopped working a long time ago.\nIf I didn’t find wp-cli I would have been checking my backups, creating a test server in my office to install and test backups and assuming they worked removing and reinstalling wordpress.\n","date":"30 September 2016","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2016/09/30/upgrading-my-server-to-php7-broke-wordpress-admin-interface-cloudflare/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Upgrading my server to PHP7 broke wordpress admin interface (cloudflare)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Spam annoys me.\nMore specifically, the effect of spam annoys me. It annoys me that from time to time I find emails I really need have been filtered to a spam folder. It annoys me that from time to time customers don’t receive emails from us because our email is filtered to their spam folder. It annoys me that I’ve had to jump through hoops to get email delivered to members of a community group I’m a part of ’cause Microsoft’s email servers overzealous approach to spam filtering (tell my server the email was accepted and delivered, but not deliver it to the member or even the spam folder of the member – took several hours to figure out they were doing that..)\nAnyway, in the UK we have laws that ban companies from sending unsolicited email. Sure, it won’t stop the non UK spammers or those peddling dodgy things, but it’s a start at least. The rules are called The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 – abbreviated to PECR. The sad thing is, there is essentially no enforcement of these[1]2. Most of the spam I get is from small companies that have been sold my address and don’t realise that is not allowed by the regulations. Last month I got new spam email from Scottish Power. I’d expect them to know better than buy email addresses, but apparently they think it’s OK.\nFrom the regulations:\n_a person shall neither transmit, nor instigate the transmission of, unsolicited communications for the purposes of direct marketing by means of electronic mail unless the recipient of the electronic mail has previously notified the sender that he consents for the time being to such communications being sent by, or at the instigation of, the sender.\n(3) A person may send or instigate the sending of electronic mail for the purposes of direct marketing where—\n(a)that person has obtained the contact details of the recipient of that electronic mail in the course of the sale or negotiations for the sale of a product or service to that recipient;\n(b)the direct marketing is in respect of that person’s similar products and services only; and\n(c)the recipient has been given a simple means of refusing (free of charge except for the costs of the transmission of the refusal) the use of his contact details for the purposes of such direct marketing, at the time that the details were initially collected, and, where he did not initially refuse the use of the details, at the time of each subsequent communication.\n_\nThe text I put in bold, to me at least, makes it clear that if I’ve never communicated with your company I can’t possible have given consent to your company to send me email. The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) appear to agree – “You must not send marketing emails or texts to individuals without specific consent. There is a limited exception for your own previous customers, often called the ‘soft opt-in’.”\nScottish Power made it clear in their replies to my emails (all below) that they think it is acceptable to buy email addresses. Even though they will stop sending to me (’cause I asked them to stop, and I believe they will), the people they bought it from will continue to sell my address to other companies. Scottish Power did not provide contact details for those companies (they named two companies) so did not provide a way for me to unsubscribe from future spam. They claim (in the emails below) they only send to corporate email addresses or opt-in addresses but on this occasion could not find proof of opt in. Maybe that’s true, maybe my address is the only one that slipped through a vetting process, however my instincts are that they’ve bought a load of addresses as ‘businesses’ and used them all.\nA long time ago, I read a Mailchimp article (mailchimp are a company that provide email services for newsletters, marketing etc) about whether you should use bought in email lists, the answer: http://caniuseapurchasedemaillist.com/\nScottish Power – here’s a public message to you; Please stop sending spam!\nFor those who like to know the detail without my summary, here are the emails:\n`\nFrom: ScottishPower Business\nDate: 28 April 2016 at 08:13\nSubject: Let’s make your business energy simpler If you are unable to view this email, click here to view online.\nWe know it takes a lot to run a business – being on\ntop of every detail matters. That's why, when you switch If you are unable to view this email, click here\nto view online.\n[image: ScottishPower]\n` `\nFrom: Steve Root\nDate: 28.04.2016 07:58:31\nTo: genesys.routing@scottishpower.com\nCc:\nSubject: Fwd: ))) scottishpower1 ((( Fwd: Let ’s make your business energy simpler Where did you get this email address from please?\n` `\nFrom: CONTACTUS@SCOTTISHPOWER.COM [mailto:CONTACTUS@SCOTTISHPOWER.COM]\nSent: 28 April 2016 13:37\nTo: Data Protection (Energy Retail)\nSubject: Fwd: Fwd: ))) scottishpower1 ((( Fwd : Let ’s make your business energy simpler\nHi ,\nWe have recieved an auto reponse and customer is quering where we got the email address from ,I have no way of tracing this as per email below ,Please advise or contact the customer if possible .\nRegards\nKim McLaughlin\nScottish Power Business Energy Team Glasgow\n` `\n29th April Dear Mr Root\nThank you for your email of 28 April 2016.\nHaving contacted our business marketing team, I can advise you that your email address was purchased from a Third Party for use in marking activity.\nFollowing on from your email, I have arranged to have your email address removed from any marketing activity so you will no longer receive emails from ScottishPower.\nMany Thanks\nAndrew Healing\nIberdrola Group|Global Retail Operations\nData Protection Adviser\n` `\n30th APril Thank you Andrew, can you provide contact details for this company please.\nRegards\nSteve\n` `\n2nd May Good Morning Mr Root\nThank you for your email.\nI have received confirmation that your information was supplied to us from our Third Party provider Call Credit. They purchased your data from a Company called Blue Sheep.\nMany Thanks\nAndrew Healing\nIberdrola Group|Global Retail Operations\nData Protection Adviser\n` `\n3 May\nThanks Andrew,\nI'm really curious how your company's decision to buy addresses, like mine, correlates with the requirements of the PECR regulations. Can you help me understand your interpretation please?\nThanks\n` `\n10th May\nThanks Andrew,\nI'm really curious how your company's decision to buy addresses, like mine, correlates with the requirements of the PECR regulations. Can you help me understand your interpretation please?\nThanks\n` `\n10th May\nGood Morning Mr Root\nI am awaiting a response to an email that has been sent to our marketing team. This has been chased up today. As soon as I receive a response I will be back in touch.\nThanks\nAndrew Healing\nIberdrola Group|Global Retail Operations\nData Protection Adviser\n` \u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; 16th May\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Hello Andrew,\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; I'm still curious.\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Thanks\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Steve\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; `\n18th May\nGood Afternoon Mr Root\nI am sorry that I have not been able to come back to you with the information you have requested.\nWe are keen to understand exactly how and when your details were collected so that we can provide an accurate response. We are awaiting a full response from our data provider. I have asked for this to be pursued again today and have expressed the urgency. Thank you for your patience, I will be in touch with you as soon as we have the required information.\nKind Regards\nAndrew Healing\nIberdrola Group|Global Retail Operations\nData Protection Adviser\n` `\n26th May\nHello Andrew,\nI restate my question:\n\"I'm really curious how your company's decision to buy addresses, like mine, correlates with the requirements of the PECR regulations. Can you help me understand your interpretation please?\"\nMaybe it's time to escalate this?\nThanks\n` `\nSteve Root steve@rkbb.co.uk\n31 May\nto: Andrew Healing\nto: richard.taylor, marion.venman\nOK, still no response as to why Scottish Power think it's OK to ignore the PECR regulations.\nI'll guess a couple of email addresses and see if that helps find an answer...\n` `\n31st May\nDear Mr Root\nWe received your email address from our data provider as “consented data”.\nWe have noted your wishes that we do not contact this email address any further.\nWe are reviewing our processes to ensure we adhere to both the PECR and Data Protection requirements.\nKind Regards\nAndrew Healing\nIberdrola Group|Global Retail Operations\nData Protection Adviser\n` `\n1st June\nHello Andrew,\nThank you for replying but you still ignore my question:\n\"I'm really curious how your company's decision to buy addresses, like mine, correlates with the requirements of the PECR regulations. Can you help me understand your interpretation please?\"\nThe PECR regulations are very clear and having a job title of 'data protection advisor' I'm sure you know this but to spell it out;\nhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2003/2426/regulation/22/made\nUse of electronic mail for direct marketing purposes\n22.—(1) This regulation applies to the transmission of unsolicited communications by means of electronic mail to individual subscribers.\n(2) Except in the circumstances referred to in paragraph (3), a person shall neither transmit, nor instigate the transmission of, unsolicited communications for the purposes of direct marketing by means of electronic mail unless the recipient of the electronic mail has previously notified the sender that he consents for the time being to such communications being sent by, or at the instigation of, the sender.\n(3) A person may send or instigate the sending of electronic mail for the purposes of direct marketing where—\n(a)that person has obtained the contact details of the recipient of that electronic mail in the course of the sale or negotiations for the sale of a product or service to that recipient;\n(b)the direct marketing is in respect of that person’s similar products and services only; and\n(c)the recipient has been given a simple means of refusing (free of charge except for the costs of the transmission of the refusal) the use of his contact details for the purposes of such direct marketing, at the time that the details were initially collected, and, where he did not initially refuse the use of the details, at the time of each subsequent communication.\n(4) A subscriber shall not permit his line to be used in contravention of paragraph (2).\nAnd from the ICO\nhttps://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-pecr/electronic-and-telephone-marketing/electronic-mail-marketing/\nIn brief…\nYou must not send marketing emails or texts to individuals without specific consent. There is a limited exception for your own previous customers, often called the ‘soft opt-in’.\nThe rules on electronic mail marketing are in regulation 22. In short, you must not send electronic mail marketing to individuals, unless:\nthey have specifically consented to electronic mail from you; or\nthey are an existing customer who bought (or negotiated to buy) a similar product or service from you in the past, and you gave them a simple way to opt out both when you first collected their details and in every message you have sent\n... and so on.\nIs your current answer \"We are reviewing our processes to ensure we adhere to both the PECR and Data Protection requirements.\" an admission that Scottish Power currently do not abide by the PECR regulations? As I said, on 26th May, perhaps it is time for you to pass this up your chain of management if the company wishes to make statements like that.\nRegards\n` `\n7th June\nFermie, Andrew Andrew.Fermie@scottishpower.com\nto me, Andrew\nDear Mr Root\nI am writing further to the issue you have raised about PECR and your correspondence with Andrew Healing about it. Thank you for taking the time to raise this with us.\nWe have been unable to obtain the assurances we would expect in relation to this case. Specifically, we would expect either that the record can be demonstrated to be a corporate record or the gathering of a valid consent can be shown. I am sorry that this has been the case in this instance. We will be taking appropriate action to safeguard against any recurrence. As well as doing all we can to make sure our practices are compliant with both PECR and the Data Protection Act, I also understand the real annoyance and inconvenience that can arise from unwanted marketing activity. And if we do get it wrong, I am keen to ensure we have the measures in place so that we don’t get it wrong again. If someone indicates they do not wish to receive any more marketing from us, we ensure we have processes in place to that end.\nWe have confirmed to you that you will not receive any further unwanted marketing from ScottishPower. I can also give you my personal assurance that we take the marketing rules seriously. I have answered the question you asked and, for the avoidance of doubt, this cannot be equated to an assertion that “ScottishPower do not currently abide by the PECR Regulations”. We have contractual arrangements in place designed to help ensure that we do and I cannot go into any more detail than that.\nI would appreciate it if you could let me know if there is anything else that I can do.\nRegards\nAndrew\nIberdrola Group|Global Retail Operations\nUK Operations - Data Protection Officer\n` `\nSteve Root steve@rkbb.co.uk\n7 Jun\nto Andrew, Andrew\nThanks Andrew,\nI've no other questions.\nRegards\nSteve\n` 1 I did email the ICO, but they make it clear they won’t investigate every instance of spam and will only start taking an interest if lots of people complain about a specific company.\n","date":"27 June 2016","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2016/06/27/spam-from-scottish-power-their-response-well-carry-on-spamming-just-not-to-you/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Spam from Scottish Power, their response: we’ll carry on spamming (just not to you).","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"27 June 2016","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/spam-wars/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Spam Wars","type":"categories"},{"content":"Ahh, computer backups. I’ve said before and learn’t first hand how important they are over the years.\nMy business backup routine is to copy the files from the server in another building. I used to have a ReadyNAS NV+ (image on wikipedia) and for many years it served us well. Actually, 8 years, which is long enough for any piece of hardware you rely on. Last Christmas (yeah… 6 months working on this between other tasks) I spent some time reading up on hardware and software solutions to replace our ReadyNAS. I did consider getting the latest ReadyNAS or equivalent but in the end decided to build my own solution. An excellent blog post by Brian Moses about FreeNAS set me on the right track and pretty much I followed the suggestions there along with reading the FreeNAS forums. Brian chose the the Silverstone DS380 case and so did I. I was really tempted by the 8 hot swap trays.\nI’ll not repeat all the logic of Brian’s post but the one thing that didn’t work for me was the case. The airflow was so poor the disks were overheating. Reading forum posts, it seems the biggest difference between users is how many disks people were using. 4 disks 5 disks with space between each one and things are fine. Using all 8 slots for disks and they all get a touch on the hot side.\n2pm Wed 11th May – with Stock Fan # Using the fans that came with the case, all 8 bays populated with disks, and an additional piece of cardboard to help guide the flowing air over the disks (which did help a little) these were the temperatures:\n_\n(nb: I wasn’t worried about the CPU temperatures, but I’ll share them anyway)_\nCPU 0: 47 C\nCPU 1: 48 C\nCPU 2: 48 C\nCPU 3: 50 C\nCPU 4: 49 C\nCPU 5: 49 C\nCPU 6: 48 C\nCPU 7: 48 C\nada0 WD-WMC300111734: 37 C\nada1 WD-WMC300109616: 35 C\nada2 WD-WCC4N3KK2FF4: 43 C\nada3 W6A0JJ85 : 42 C\nada4 PK2234P9J6RM5Y : 45 C\nada5 WD-WCC4N4VA3V61: 40 C\nada6 W6A0FZ8V : 36 C\nada7 PK2234P9J95JKY : 43 C\nMonday 17th May 17:30 – with PWM Fan # The stock fans were 3 pin but the motherboard supported 4 pin ‘PWM’ fans. This allows it to control the fan speed so if the system heats up it will speed up the fans. I thought maybe all I need to do is change the fans.\nCPU 0: 51 C\nCPU 1: 51 C\nCPU 2: 52 C\nCPU 3: 52 C\nCPU 4: 51 C\nCPU 5: 50 C\nCPU 6: 53 C\nCPU 7: 53 C\nada0 WD-WMC300111734: 41 C\nada1 WD-WMC300109616: 39 C\nada2 WD-WCC4N3KK2FF4: 47 C\nada3 W6A0JJ85 : 48 C\nada4 PK2234P9J6RM5Y : 52 C\nada5 WD-WCC4N4VA3V61: 44 C\nada6 W6A0FZ8V : 40 C\nada7 PK2234P9J95JKY : 46 C\nSo, £50 of fans later (I didn’t scrimp) and…. oh, it’s hotter. I guess the orignal fans were always running at full speed.\nWed 1st June, in the Fractal case – with fans that Fractal included. # I settled for buying a new case, a “Fractal Design ARC Midi R2 Black Mid Tower Quiet Performance Case with Side Window USB 3.0 w/o PSU”. The window wasn’t important but that’s what the supplier had in stock. It’s a much bigger case and reading reviews and looking at pictures cooling seemed better and there’s more air gap between each drive. The one thing I’ve given up by choosing this case is having a hot-swap facility for the drives. In truth, I’ve only ever swapped hard drives out about once a year or less so I decided I really don’t need hot swap.\nSo, what difference did it make?\nCPU 0: 30 C\nCPU 1: 31 C\nCPU 2: 31 C\nCPU 3: 31 C\nCPU 4: 32 C\nCPU 5: 31 C\nCPU 6: 32 C\nCPU 7: 31 C\nada0 WD-WMC300111734: 28 C\nada1 WD-WMC300109616: 28 C\nada2 WD-WCC4N3KK2FF4: 26 C\nada3 W6A0JJ85 : 26 C\nada4 PK2234P9J6RM5Y : 31 C\nada5 WD-WCC4N4VA3V61: 25 C\nada6 W6A0FZ8V : 27 C\nada7 PK2234P9J95JKY : 30 C\nIt made a lot of difference!\n","date":"24 June 2016","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2016/06/24/hot-topic-our-backup-server-overheating/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Hot topic – our backup server (overheating!)","type":"posts"},{"content":"My small business specialises in the design, supply and installation of kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms. With my penchant for computing it’s no surprise we rely heavily on information technology. However, I don’t write and build all the software we use and that’s especially true when it comes to CAD [Computer Aided Design].\nOn the surface, CAD is really simple. Draw some lines on the screen. Colour in some spaces, print some pictures and maybe export some things for other software. So far, so good. Of course, the devil as always is in the detail. We need our software to draw the pictures based on products and materials we can buy from our suppliers. We need it to generate accurate plans and we need it to generate respectable pictures so our customers can visualise what they’re going to (hopefully) buy. Being the type of business we are, a lot of what we do includes unique and bespoke configurations. ‘Simple’ things like doors shaped to fit a ceiling and exceptional work like the Star Field ceiling.\nFrom shortly after we began our business almost 20 years ago we’ve been using software called ‘Planit’, which then changed it’s name to became ‘Fusion’, which then changed it’s name to become ’20-20 Fusion’ (as Planit were bought out by another CAD company called 2020). This is an industry specific program. Rather than use a generic CAD program which just creates the graphics and images (maybe AutoCad or Sketchup are good comparisons to this), this program lets us choose and add cabinets quickly to the design and then also shows the price for all the items we’ve added. Being industry specific it also is set up to do things we need quickly. For example add and calculate cornice and pelmet lengths and quantities for a room in a few clicks of the mouse. All of these things can be done in products like sketchup, they just take longer.\nThe ranges we can add in Fusion represent the real world ranges, with accurate and ‘photo realistic’ representations of real products. Indeed, this is the whole reason for using Fusion – the accurate range of products and the prices. Without that, the product is no better than any other generic design program.\nWe pay over £1,000 a year to 2020 for ‘maintenance and support’ (not the same as the licence to use the software, which was several thousand pound as a one off charge a long time ago) but we’ve come to some disagreement recently over what that actually means. To me, that means they provide the software and updates to that software over time (eg: making sure it works with Windows 10, adding features to keep up with modern technology) and most importantly they’ll keep up to date with changes the manufacturers make to their products, be that new products, new pricing, new shapes of end panel… and so on. Most of the software updates over the last few years have been minor from our view, we simply don’t need bells and whistles as much as we need accurate 3D objects and prices. It’s the accurate 3D objects and prices that have become a problem.\nThe 2020 Fusion view of the arrangement is;\nI understand your frustration with catalogue updates. However the maintenance \u0026amp; support monthly fees include software updates pertaining to the Fusion software, manufacturer catalogues updates are maintained as per the contract agreement with each manufacturer.\nPasquale Brancati, 2020 Director Customer Support \u0026amp; Retention\nI don’t understand how that sits alongside the \u0026lt;a href=\u0026ldquo;https://www.steveroot.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/2020supportletter.pdf\"rel=\"\"\u003esupport renewal letter (2013-14 was the first I found) which says things like ‘Full access to our extensive library of supported manufacturers catalogues’ and ‘maintenance and updates to certain selected catalogues’.\nI’m also struggling to reconcile that with their \u0026lt;a href=\u0026ldquo;https://www.steveroot.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Brochure_2020Fusion_EN_UK_20160225.pdf\"rel=\"\"\u003ebrochure, which says things like ‘Instantly produce customer quotes, with all manufacturer items accurately priced, based upon the features and options chosen.’ (page 2) and “We are continuously working with manufacturers to forge new and lasting partnerships, ensuring that our customers benefit from the widest range of options available, delivered in parallel with the release of their product manuals.” (page 6). Without the manufacturer catalogues, there is no useful program.\nMy experience is 2020 no longer provide accurate and up to date supplier catalogues or even timely corrections to error reports. A few examples:\nCrown Kitchens ‘Rococo’ range, released almost a year ago (I have, to hand, a price list from May 2015 that offers this range) yet still not in the Fusion catalogue. PWS end panel with a radius front profile, no graphic despite availability for a long time. Daval Kitchens \u0026amp; Bedrooms… Years out of date, though to be fair, Fusion have *just* begun to provide an almost working kitchen catalogue but I’m pretty sure it’s only because Daval have paid them to do so. It still isn’t complete at the time of writing this Those 3 suppliers are listed in the Fusion marketing brochure (page 6) and yet clearly Fusion are not updating the data. Why?\nWell, I started asking questions (it appears I’m not the only one) and eventually I have a reply. Fusion are trying to charge the manufacturers as well as me for keeping the data up to date. Perhaps they always did and perhaps the manufacturers have decided Fusion want to charge too much. This means the updates aren’t done, this means the software is becoming useless. OK, useless is harsh, it’s becoming expensive and ineffective for it’s original use. It is no longer fit for purpose.\nHere are extracts of the Fusion response emails\nfusionsupport fusionsupport@2020spaces.com\n24 Jan 2016\nThanks for getting in contact with us.\nYes there has not been a update on the PWS Second nature catalogue for a while, this is due to the manufacturer not providing us with the latest information. I am very certain that there is a update due soon, i will double check with my colleague in our data team and get back to you. I have looked through our outstanding data errors and i can see that you reported a missing item from PWS.\nFrom: fusionsupport\nSent: 09 March 2016 10:37\nHello,\nData can you provide some info on the below concern please, as the customer is quite frustrated.\n**From: Sacha Smiley Sent: March-09-16 9:57 AM\u2028**\nHi,\nSales are currently in discussion with Crown and PWS about updating the Fusion catalogues.\nGary, can you provide a status on Crown, PWS? Daval we’ve had approval for an update on bedrooms, but were instructed to hold off due to the Insight project.\nThanks\nFrom: fusionsupport\nSent: 11 March 2016 11:12\nSubject: RE: Yet more catalogues out of date… is it time we move software?\nHello,\nI still haven’t received an update on this. We are in the midst of losing another customer. We need answers please.\nThanks\nFrom: Gary Court Sent: 11 March 2016 12:03\nSubject: RE: Yet more catalogues out of date… is it time we move software?\nSacha\nI met with Crown at KBB he has asked me to look at outstanding SOW as he feels it is expensive and he is also sending me another update to analyse both sow’s will be completed at the same time\nPWS I am in talks to use System Six cat and rename ranges as it is all PWS doors\nGary\nSo, there we have it. The public line always given to me, over the years, has been ‘The manufacturer isn’t supplying us the data’ but the real story is Fusion won’t do the update until the manufacturer pays. The manufacturers won’t tell us this, because I’m sure they don’t want to upset Fusion. Planit has a lot of businesses like mine using their software so it’s very important for manufacturers to have their products available there. Indeed, I wouldn’t consider replacing Daval, PWS or Crown with another supplier unless their products were available within the design software we use.\nI don’t have a problem with manufacturers being charged, but I’m not keen on how it’s been hidden from view and I’m very displeased the current situation is that catalogues are out of date and updates and fixes not being carried out. If only the industry had a more open system and manufacturers could more easily create their own data. We have every supplier send us price lists by email, mostly excel with a few using CSV. I then import and reformat these to suit our needs and our business system. If only they could send us a file for design software in the same way. Maybe, one day, we’ll all be using software like Sketchup and manufacturers will send us catalogues directly. Could you imagine if you could only send a spreadsheet to your customer if you paid Microsoft to create and update it for you?\nWhat to do now?\nWe’re going to move to another software solution. I’m absolutely certain there will be some annoyances with that software – maybe the pictures aren’t as nice, maybe it doesn’t allow us to import 3D objects we’ve designed in sketchup (for our more bespoke solutions), but the truth is I’d rather have the up to date catalogues. So important is the data to my business, we’ll be spending several thousand pounds a year for the alternative software. The data really is the valuable bit.\nMy biggest concern remains that the system we move too will at some point in the future also deteriorate into not maintaining manufacturer catalogues. We use different software for bathroom design (better 3D objects, no pricing but that isn’t so important in bathroom design) and they too go through phases of being slow to update some catalogues.\n","date":"22 March 2016","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2016/03/22/2020-fusion-design-software/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Why it’s time to move our business away from 2020 Fusion design software","type":"posts"},{"content":"Ah, the spam wars. I haven’t posted to this topic for a long time. Not because the spam has stopped but because I’ve had other things to occupy me.\nI thought I’d blog this bit of spam though, solicitors firm Edwards Duthie who decided to spam my email with the image below. I emailed them twice to ask where they got my email address from but they didn’t reply. I then thought I’d look for the email address of their data controller but it turns out the information commissioner only publishes a postal address to the public register of data controllers.\nOn their web site, they describe themselves as “With 13 Partners and some 100 staff operating out of two main offices and three satellite offices, we are one of the largest law firms in the East London/West Essex region.” so perhaps I’m naive to have expected a reply to my emails, or for them to follow the law. Or maybe they know the law has no teeth, so it’s OK to spam because it won’t affect their business negatively as much as they will gain from people that reply.\nThe email was sent via mailchimp. That means I can unsubscribe knowing mailchimp will block any more, perhaps even drop Edwards Duthie as a customer if they have lots of complaints. It also means it got through my spam filters (mailchimp do a good job of keeping spammers from their network) and there’s every chance wherever Edwards Duthie bought my email address from will continue selling it, I’ll continue getting spam and a couple of times a week I’ll be pulling email I want from my spam folder amongst the thousand or so others from people like Edwards Duthie.\n","date":"22 February 2016","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2016/02/22/solicitors-who-spam-that-would-be-edwards-duthie-solicitors/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Solicitors who spam? That would be Edwards Duthie Solicitors","type":"posts"},{"content":"Here’s a great way to start 2016, Win an award for “Best Domestic Bathroom Installer 2015“.\nMy brother David entered the Geberit Awards, Geberit being a large multinational manufacturer of bathroom products and out of all the entries from all of the UK, he won. We’re very proud 🙂\nThat prompted us to finish editing a timelapse video of the winning bathroom. Rather than a silent movie sound I went searching for suitable music to accompany the movie and found the track “Pamgaea” by Kevin McCleod. Best of all, the licence to use this sound track was ‘Royalty Free‘ as well as being free of cost on condition it was clearly attributed to the author. That’s very much like the software code I’ve written and shared, although Kevin is a master of his craft, whereas I’m just an amateur coding for fun.\nAs well as free when attributed, the music can also be licensed for a fee when an attribution is not possible or wanted. Example: Background music when you’re on hold. In my mind I always thought licensing that type of music was expensive, turns out to be a lot less than I expected.\n","date":"5 January 2016","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2016/01/05/royalty-free-music-and-a-time-lapse-video-for-work/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Royalty free music and a time lapse video for work","type":"posts"},{"content":"For many years I’ve run a tiny web site for the village we live and work in. 8 years ago (or maybe more) I added a forum to the site using phpBB, as they say about themselves ‘THE #1 FREE, OPEN SOURCE BULLETIN BOARD SOFTWARE’.\nIt’s been very good software, regularly updated and very easy to maintain. However, the most interaction I have with the forum now is blocking spam registrations and migrating it to new servers every couple of years. There are only a couple of posts a year now, so I wanted to find a way of reducing my administration workload.\nI decided to migrate it to a “google groups” group. Which is just like a forum with less customisation options. I couldn’t find any guides to migrate away from phpBB so I worked out my own method and here’s how I did it, in case you’re trying to do the same.\nSteps in short form:\nGet data from phpBB database tables as CSV file Write script to process CSV file into multiple emails to the group 1) Get data from phpBB database tables as CSV file\nI only needed to migrate each topic and all it’s replies. None of the other database content was important to me.\nTo do this, I wrote a SQL query:\nSELECT po.post_subject, po.post_text, po.post_id, po.topic_id, po.post_time, us.username_clean, top.topic_title, top.topic_time\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; FROM phpbb_users as us, phpbb_posts as po, phpbb_topics as top\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; WHERE us.user_id = po.poster_id and po.topic_id = top.topic_id\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; ORDER BY po.topic_id ASC, post_time ASC\nEssentially, this takes selected columns from the tables ‘phpbb_users’, ‘phpbb_posts’ and ‘phpbb_topics’. I’m not sure using ‘WHERE’ is very efficient and perhaps ‘INNER JOIN’/’OUTER JOIN’ would be technically better, but mine was a small database and this was more than fast enough for me (58ms for 114 rows).\nThen, I saved the result as a CSV file. Opened it in LibreOffice to check. Several of the fields needed some hand editing, remove first line (headers), replacing some html characters, escaping speech marks, etc. I may have been able to fix those when saving the result of the query as CSV but I didn’t have many to do, so hand fix and move on was fastest.\n2) Write script to process CSV file into multiple emails to the group\nMy script language of choice is ruby. Not because it’s any better than anything else, just what I happen to be using lately. I could have done the same in PHP if I spent a little more time on it.\nThis is the script:\n`\nI saved file as: process.rb\n# to run, \u0026ldquo;ruby process.rb\u0026rdquo; \u0026hellip; assuming you have ruby installed ;-)\n# I had to install Pony from github, which i did using the specific install gem\n# gem install specific_install\n# gem specific_install -l https://github.com/benprew/pony\n# #\nIf you\u0026rsquo;re reading this later and forget where it came from,\n# https://www.steveroot.co.uk/2015/11/migrating-from-phpbb-to-google-groups/\n# Share any tips and fixes in the comments there to help others please!\n# require 'csv'\nrequire 'date'\nrequire 'Pony'\n#initialise the topic counters\n#some default text for the first email\n#you will need to delete this manually in the google groups!\ncurrenttopic = 0\nlasttopic = 0\nbody = \"initialise\"\nsubject = \"initialise\"\nCSV.foreach('phpbb_data.csv') do |row|\n#get current topic\ncurrenttopic = row[3]\nif currenttopic == lasttopic\n#This is a reply to the topic, add to the existing body\nbody = body+\"\"+\"n\"\nbody = body+\"-----------------------------------------------------\"+\"n\"\nbody = body+\"reply_by_username: \"+row[5]+\"n\"\nbody = body+\"reply_date: \"+DateTime.strptime(row[7],'%s').strftime(\"%d/%^b/%Y\")+\"n\"\nbody = body+\"\"+\"n\"\nbody = body+row[1]+\"n\"\nelse\n#This is a new topic. SEND the last group of messages\nPony.mail({\n:to =\u003e 'YOUR-FORUM-NAME@googlegroups.com',\n:from =\u003e 'YOUR-EMAIL-ADDRESS',\n:subject =\u003e subject,\n:via =\u003e :smtp,\n:body =\u003e body,\n:via_options =\u003e {\n:address =\u003e 'smtp.gmail.com',\n:port =\u003e '587',\n:enable_starttls_auto =\u003e true,\n:user_name =\u003e 'YOUR-EMAIL-ADDRESS',\n:password =\u003e 'YOUR-PASSWORD',\n:authentication =\u003e :plain, # :plain, :login, :cram_md5, no auth by default\n:domain =\u003e \"YOUR-SENDING-DOMAIN\" # the HELO domain provided by the client to the server\n}\n})\n#A message to terminal on every send, nice to know that something is happening!\nputs \"Sent \"+subject\n#Reset the body (subject is set only once, no need to clear)\nbody = \"\"\n#Set subject, create standard header text and set subject for email.\n#Set the subject as the topic name\nsubject = row[6]\n#Put some generic header text in place\nbody = body+\"-----------------------------------------------------\"+\"n\"\nbody = body+\"This post was transfered to the google group when the phpbb based forum was shutdown\"+\"n\"\nbody = body+\"You might find relevant information at YOUR-DOMAIN\"+\"n\"\nbody = body+\"This entry includes all replies to the original topic\"+\"n\"\nbody = body+\"-----------------------------------------------------\"+\"n\"\nbody = body+\"\"+\"n\"\nbody = body+\"Topic: \"+row[6]+\"n\"\nbody = body+\"created_by_username: \"+row[5]+\"n\"\nbody = body+\"topic_date: \"+DateTime.strptime(row[7],'%s').strftime(\"%d/%^b/%Y\")+\"n\"\nbody = body+\"\"+\"n\"\nbody = body+row[1]+\"n\"\nend\n#set the value of last topic ready for the next loop.\nlasttopic = currenttopic\nend\n# These are the fields in order in the CSV. Here for easy reference whilst I coded\n# numbers start from zero (so post_subject = row[0])\n# \"post_subject\", \"post_text\", \"post_id\", \"topic_id\", \"post_time\", \"username_clean\", \"topic_title\", \"topic_time\"\n` Being very lazy, I didn’t write the code to understand the first pass should *NOT* be emailed to the group, so the first email to the group titled ‘initialise’ will need to be deleted manually.\nYou will need to enter your own values for: Forum name, your email address, your sending domain. You’ll need a password, but be aware that if you use 2 factor authentication you’ll need to get an app specific password from your apps account.\nYou will want to customise the text that is added to every email, perhaps correct the spelling of ‘transfered’ too 😉\nThe script isn’t particularly fast as it connects and sends each email individually. We use google apps and as there weren’t many topics to send it was well within my daily limit of gmail usage. However, if it was higher then I could have sent them directly via smtp. There are instructions for using different email methods on the ‘Pony’ github pages. The other problem I had was errors in the CSV causing the script to stop. For example some replies had no topic name and that made the script error when it encountered them. For me, I had fixed the CSV, deleted the posts already made to the forum, and run the whole script again. For others, you might like to set up a dummy group to send your messages too first to make sure everything works, then delete the dummy group and re-run the script to send messages to the new group.\nTo test the email messages, I suggest you take a few rows of your CSV file and send them to your own email to check formatting and content.\nIf you’re wondering what my results looked like, here’s one of the topics with a reply once posted to the google group\n","date":"3 November 2015","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2015/11/03/migrating-from-phpbb-to-google-groups/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Migrating from phpBB to Google Groups","type":"posts"},{"content":"We have a tradition where I live. We celebrate being alive with a party and that party generally coincides with being alive for another 31,557,600 seconds. 31,557,600 seconds happens to be just about equal to a solar year, which is a happy co-incidence as it’s not so easy to remember otherwise.\nI decided I could really do with a good excuse to party before that arbitrary unit of time though. The solution? Write a web application where I can put in my date of birth and it will tell me other dates that I can celebrate on.\nTry it for yourself at http://birthday.sroot.eu and it will tell you amazing things like;\nHow old you would be if you were born on Mercury, Venus, Mars and the other planets in our solar system When your next MegaSecond birthday is (so you can have a party when you survive another 1 million seconds of existence) Or for a really big bash, celebrate the very infrequent in our lifetime GigaSecond birthdays. If you’d like me to add another arbitrary repeating unit of time post a comment.\n","date":"8 January 2015","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2015/01/08/birthday-calculator-in-case-you-dont-want-to-wait-a-whole-year-to-celebrate-being-alive/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Birthday Calculator – in case you don't want to wait a whole year to celebrate being alive","type":"posts"},{"content":"Alternative title: How I got multiple cups-pdf printers on the same server. (I didn’t, but postprocessing let me work around the problem).\nPreamble:\nI have a small business. For years we’ve been creating PDFs from any computer on our network through a “virtual appliance’ called YAFPC (“Yet Another Free PDF Composer”).\nThe appliance originally ran on an old PC, then on a server that ran several other virtual machines. It had a neat web interface and would allow PDF printers to be created that would appear on the network for all of our users to use. It had one printer for plain A4 paper, one for A4 paper with a letterhead background, another one for an obscure use of mine, and so on. If you printed to it, it would email you the PDF (for any user, without any extra setup needed per user). It could also put the PDFs on one of our file servers or make them available from it’s built in file server.\nIf I remember correctly it cost £30 and ran since 2006 right through until today, November 2014. One of my best software investments!\nHowever, Windows 8 came along and it no longer worked. Getting Windows 8 to print to it directly turned out to be impossible. The program was not going to be updated or replaced with a new version. I managed a short term work around having windows 8 print to a samba printer queue which converted and forwarded to the YAFPC virtual appliance. There were problems, page sizes not be exact and so on but it worked in a fashion.\nRoll forward to today when I’ve just got a new network PDF virtual printer working. It wasn’t so easy to do (some 20 hours I guess) so here are my setup notes for others to follow. The final run through of these notes had it installed and working in about an hour.\nThese steps assume you know quite a bit about setting up linux servers. Please feel free to use the comments to point out errors or corrections, or add more complete instructions, and I’ll edit this post with the updates. Also please suggest alternatives methods that you needed to use to meet your needs.\nOverview – We are going to create:\na new Ubuntu based linux server as a virtual machine Install CUPS, the Common Unix Printing System Install CUPS-PDF, and extension that allows files to be created from the print queue Create a postprocessing script that will run every time CUPS-PDF is used that will customise our PDF’s and send them where we want them (to our users). Sounds simple, right 🙂\nThe actions are are formatted like this. Notes are italic and begin with a # Step 1:\nYou need to create a virtual appliance. My server is using KVM but you can use any flavour (VirtualBox, VMWare, Parallels, etc). I won’t go into how creating this here.\nGet the latest Ubuntu server from http://www.ubuntu.com/download/server. If you want to follow along with me, I used Ubuntu Server 14.04.\nMy virtual machine was set with 1GB Ram, 1 Processor and 8GB disk space.\nMy finished system currently uses under 2GB of disk space and each new PDF has been less than 1MB\nInstall ubuntu 14.04 server, these are the setting I chose. RAM: 1GB, Processor: 1 Disk: 8GB Package Selections: Only OpenSSH server Local User Name: pierredf (for this example, but you can use any regular name, including your own.) IP address in this example is 10.18.6.202 but yours will be different! Step 2:\nUpdate the virtual appliance with the latest ubuntu patches. Between downloading 14.04 and getting things working 14.04.1 had been released so my final run through included updating to this.\nsudo apt-get update sudo apt-get dist-upgrade Step 3:\nNow I install CUPS from the standard ubuntu repo. Note I’ve not built any of the software for this solution so the Ubuntu version is often older versions.\nInstalling CUPS also installed Samba automatically.\nsudo apt-get install cups # edit the cups config file sudo vim /etc/cups/cupsd.conf # Find then edit/add the following ServerAdmin yourname@example.com Listen 10.18.6.202:631 # Save the file! service cups restart sudo cupsctl —remote-admin —remote-any —share-printers # enables web interface and enables printing from any # address (e.g.: internet \u0026 your network) and allows # printers to be shared # check the connection works - use a web browser to visit # the admin page. Don't move on until this works http://10.18.6.202:631 # replacing 10.18.6.202 with your IP! Step 4:\nOnce cups is working (you can see the web interface), install CUPS-PDF\nsudo apt-get install cups-pdf #edit the cups-pdf config file sudo vim /etc/cups/cups-pdf.conf #Find and edit/add the following Label 1 # this prefixes “job_” to the file names which will # stop prints with the same title overrighting each other. # You can also use 'Label 2' to have a postfix, or 0 to # leave it unchanged. Geek fact – you get to feel smug # seeing how many PDFs your setup has created over time. AnonUser pierredf # The post processing script runs as this user so you need # the PDFs to be created by this user. If you used a # different user name, put that here instead PostProcessing /usr/bin/cups_postprocess # This should go in the postprocessing section Step 5:\nWe need to create a Printer via the cups web interface.\n# Using your web browser https://10.18.6.202:631/admin # replacing 10.18.6.202 with your IP! # the user name is the system user name password, eg: pierredf Add Printer \u0026gt; cups-pdf Virtual Printer \u0026gt; \u0026gt; Name: PDF-Generator \u0026gt; Description: PDF-Generator \u0026gt; Location: Outputs to Vine\u0026gt;roots\u0026gt;PDF_Printer \u0026gt; Share this printer = checked \u0026gt; \u0026gt; Make: Generic \u0026gt; Model: Generic CUPS-PDF Printer (en) # Note: My mac used the Description as the printer name, so I kept # description and printer name the same, with location the note for # users as to where they can find their pdfs. Step 6:\nNow we add ‘pdftk’ the PDF Tool Kit, to our ubuntu install. This program lets us easily manipulate PDFs and we’ll use it to create our letterheaded paper prints.\nsudo apt-get install pdftk Step 7:\nPrepare the postprocessing script that we pointed to in step 4.\nsudo touch /usr/bin/cups_postprocess sudo chmod 755 /usr/bin/cups_postprocess #makes the script executable. Step 8\nThe script wont be allowed to run yet. When called AppArmor will stop it.\nsudo vim /etc/apparmor.d/usr.sbin.cupsd # Add the end of the file /etc/apparmor.d/usr.sbin.cupsd, # before the last }, add this line: /usr/bin/cups_postprocess Ux # using 'Ux' is bad, turning off AppArmor is also bad # I read to use the 'rPx' flag but it doesn't seem to # work (apparmor denied error) # # Example: # My file looks like this. #=============================== # /var/log/cups/cups-pdf_log w, # /var/spool/cups/** r, # /var/spool/cups-pdf/** rw, # # Added postprocessing script # /usr/bin/cups_postprocess Ux #} #================================ # See blog comment from Alex, you may need a comma after Ux if you get an error. sudo service apparmor restart Step 9\nNow add the content to the postprocessing script.\nThere are lots of comments in the file below explaining what is happening. You’ll need to set your own values in several places. Eg: the destination location which you’ll set up in step 13.\nsudo vim /usr/bin/cups_postprocess #!/bin/bash FILENAME=`basename $1` DIRNAME=`dirname $1` # The script is called by: # postprocessing commandline built # (/usr/bin/cups_postprocess /var/spool/cups-pdf/ANONYMOUS/Title_of_your_print.pdf username printuser) # username is the user running this script. Remember you changed this to be your regular system user name. If you skipped that step it will be 'nobody' # the printuser is the username the print client gave. It's probably the user account on their pc. # You can use these as variables in this script, $1 is the file name, $2 the username and $3 the client print user. # I want PDF on blank pages to be called user-bl-job-name.pdf PBLANK=\"$DIRNAME\"/\"$3\"-bl-\"$FILENAME\" # I want PDF letterhead pages to be called user-lh-job-name.pdf PLET=\"$DIRNAME\"/\"$3\"-lh-\"$FILENAME\" # Rename the default to blank style name mv $1 $PBLANK # Use pdftk to set the letterhead as the page background. pdftk $PBLANK multibackground /etc/cups/Letterhead.pdf output \"$PLET\" # this file is created with 600 but it will need 660 on the other server so we can change that here chmod 660 $PLET # the original file had world read. No file on our server should be world readable, so fix that before the copy chmod 660 $PBLANK # Now we can use scp to transfer the two files onto the server # Note - I also had to 'chmod g+s PDF_Printer' on the destination to force new files sent there # to have the group permissions. Otherwise it arrived with user:pierredf and group:pierredf so no one # else could open/read the PDFs # use scp to send the new files to the remote server scp $PBLANK user@some.other.server.com:/path/to/send/files/ scp $PLET user@some.other.server.com:/path/to/send/files/ ### Things I'm still working on ### # Use the user name to determine who to email the files too. # IF user matches THEN try and email ELSE send to the general account # sanity - check file size, if email greater than than Y MB # message: did not attach file, go look on the server # else # message: attach files # clean up the remote folder. # this could be done by cron on the remote server, but it's handy # to just do it from this script. Obviously only runs when a PDF # is printed, but that's fine for my needs. # Any files greater than 3 days old to be deleted # (mtime = n * 24 hours ago) # remote directory ssh remoteuser@your.other.server.com 'find /path/to/send/files/* -mtime +3 -exec rm {} ;' # local directory find /var/spool/cups-pdf/ANONYMOUS/* -mtime +3 -exec rm {} ; Step 10\nAdd the template PDF file(s). The postprocess script adds a background to the print, which is our company letterhead. If the template file is missing the postprocess script will fail and not tell you why!\nHere is an example you can download to get you started: ExampleMultipageLetterhead\nPut the template(s) in: /etc/cups and name it Letterhead.pdf sudo chmod 664 /etc/cups/Letterhead.pdf sudo chown pierredf /etc/cups/Letterhead.pdf #chown the file to your user name sudo chgrp pierredf /etc/cups/Letterhead.pdf #chgrp the file to your user group (same as user name was fine for me) You’ll notice this is a 2 page template. If you print a single page you’ll only get the first page of the template used. If you print a multipage document the 2nd and subsequent pages will all use the 2nd page of the template. It’s like having a letterhead with a logo for your front page and continuation sheets for subsequent pages. Perhaps you’d think of it as having a cover page and different internal pages.\nTo do this the post processing script uses the line:\npdftk $PBLANK multibackground /etc/cups/Letterhead.pdf output “$PLET”\nand it is the ‘multibackground’ command that organises this ability.\nIf you use a single background you could try\npdftk $PBLANK background /etc/cups/Letterhead.pdf output “$PLET”\ninstead.\nStep 11\nCreate an SSH key for the new server. Add this key to your file server so that SCP will work without asking for a password.\n# Log into remote server first ssh remoteuser@your.other.server.com # you should be asked for a password. You should be asked # to confirm the remote server RSA fingerprint to confirm # it's authenticity. ssh-keygen -t rsa # Accept defaults, don't set password ssh-copy-id remoteuser@your.other.server.com # Use your password for the other server. This will copy # the new key to the other server. # see if it works ssh remoteuser@your.other.server.com # you should connect to the remote server without # needing a password. exit Step 12\nAdd your new network printer to your client operating system as you would any other network printer.\n# Some tips: Get your printer url # from http://10.18.6.202:631/printers/ # where 10.18.6.202 is replaced by your servers IP, then # click on your new printer's link. The url of the page # is the printer's address you can use when adding a printer. # Example - mine is: # https://10.18.6.202:631/printers/PDF-Generator These settings worked for me:\nWindows 8 ---------- Open \"Advanced Printer Setup\" Choose \"The printer that I wanted isn't listed\" Select a shared printer by name Enter your printer url, eg: https://10.18.6.202:631/printers/PDF-Generator For the printer model Vendor = Microsoft Driver = PS Class Windows 7 --------- Vendor = Generic Driver = MS Publisher Colour Mac OS X -------- Settings \u0026gt; Printers \u0026 Scanners \u0026gt; '+' key to add new printer Printer appeared on the list, set itself up automatically. Step 13\nCreate a directory on your remote server to receive the files\n#On your remote server mkdir /someplace/PDF_Printer chmod 775 /someplace/PDF_Printer chown youruser PDF_Printer chgrp yourgroup PDF_Printer chmod g+s PDF_Printer #this forces new files in the directory to have the group settings. Step 14\nPrint!\nYou should see:\nthe PDF’s generated in /var/spool/cups-pdf/ANONYMOUS/\nand also see them on your remote file server\nStep 15\nRemove old PDF’s from the local and remote directory.\nNB: The following is already included in the script at step 9\n# clean up the remote folder. # this could be done by cron on the remote server, but it's handy # to just do it from this script. Obviously only runs when a PDF # is printed, but that's fine for my needs. # Any files greater than 3 days old to be deleted # (mtime = n * 24 hours ago) # remote directory ssh remoteuser@your.other.server.com 'find /path/to/send/files/* -mtime +3 -exec rm {} ;' # local directory find /var/spool/cups-pdf/ANONYMOUS/* -mtime +3 -exec rm {} ; Step 16\nEmail the PDFs\nFortunately, my users are happy getting their PDFs from the shared folder. The PDF prints arrive almost instantly and the folder is tidied up automatically so everyone is happy. I didn’t have to work the detail out here so if you do, please let me know and we can share your setup to help others. Setting up email is easy but not trivial in todays world. The steps you’ll need to work out are:\nSetting up a MTA (mail transfer agent – I suggest Exim4) Adding SPF and DKIM to your DNS settings and server, or set up an email account/method of relay through a server that has this setup (otherwise you’ll have delivery issues in the future) Add to the script above code that will attach the files to an email, providing the attachments are less than X? Mb in size (I’d suggest X? is less than 10Mb, but that will depend on your users email accounts). If they are larger than that, just let the user know where they can get their PDF from (probably the shared folder) Delete the file once the email is sent Make sure any bounces get reported to you I’m going to add to the script to allow for emailing the files and cleaning up the remote directory. I plan to have this updated before the end of December 2014, so if you’re reading this and I haven’t updated it – let me know!\nSolving bugs\nProblem: Letterhead background isn’t showing but PDF size has increased as if it is there.\nSolution: Pages printed from a web page (test chrome \u0026amp; firefox) cannot have ‘background’ added by pdftk. I also found the same behaviour from the CAD design software we use in our business. pdftk does add the background but the printing page has a white background, not transparent, so the letterhead doesn’t show through. Print a word/writer document and see if it works. If you frequently need to print from web pages with background, try using pdftk’s ‘stamp’ instead. This overlays your letterhead on top of the printing document, so as long as your letterhead has transparency, this will work.\nProblem: PDF appears in /var/spool/cups-pdf/ANONYMOUS but nothing else happens.\nSolution: In cups-pdf.conf set “LogType 4”. The logs will show the command that is calling the post processing script. You can run this command yourself (it specifies the file that has been created). If might fail and tell you why.\nAfter that, try running each part of the script (eg the line; pdftk…. then scp…. etc) separately to see which bit is stopping. I had a number of problems I solved with this approach, including lots of file write/read permission issues.\n","date":"22 November 2014","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2014/11/22/virtual-pdf-printer-for-our-small-office-network-a-step-by-step-how-to/","section":"Posts","summary":"Alternative title: How I got multiple cups-pdf printers on the same server. (I didn’t, but postprocessing let me work around the problem).\nPreamble:\nI have a small business. For years we’ve been creating PDFs from any computer on our network through a “virtual appliance’ called YAFPC (“Yet Another Free PDF Composer”).\nThe appliance originally ran on an old PC, then on a server that ran several other virtual machines. It had a neat web interface and would allow PDF printers to be created that would appear on the network for all of our users to use. It had one printer for plain A4 paper, one for A4 paper with a letterhead background, another one for an obscure use of mine, and so on. If you printed to it, it would email you the PDF (for any user, without any extra setup needed per user). It could also put the PDFs on one of our file servers or make them available from it’s built in file server.\nIf I remember correctly it cost £30 and ran since 2006 right through until today, November 2014. One of my best software investments!\nHowever, Windows 8 came along and it no longer worked. Getting Windows 8 to print to it directly turned out to be impossible. The program was not going to be updated or replaced with a new version. I managed a short term work around having windows 8 print to a samba printer queue which converted and forwarded to the YAFPC virtual appliance. There were problems, page sizes not be exact and so on but it worked in a fashion.\nRoll forward to today when I’ve just got a new network PDF virtual printer working. It wasn’t so easy to do (some 20 hours I guess) so here are my setup notes for others to follow. The final run through of these notes had it installed and working in about an hour.\nThese steps assume you know quite a bit about setting up linux servers. Please feel free to use the comments to point out errors or corrections, or add more complete instructions, and I’ll edit this post with the updates. Also please suggest alternatives methods that you needed to use to meet your needs.\nOverview – We are going to create:\na new Ubuntu based linux server as a virtual machine Install CUPS, the Common Unix Printing System Install CUPS-PDF, and extension that allows files to be created from the print queue Create a postprocessing script that will run every time CUPS-PDF is used that will customise our PDF’s and send them where we want them (to our users). Sounds simple, right 🙂\n","title":"Virtual PDF Printer for our small office network – a step by step how to","type":"posts"},{"content":"Short version:\n————–\nIn my sunspot.yml I used a FQDN ( solr.rkbb.co.uk ). Solr was slow\nWhen I used the server IP (10.18.6.224). Solr was fast.\nSetting the scene (you can skip this bit):\n——————————————-\nI’ve been slowing working on some improvements to our business system at work. Whilst most of it currently runs on MS Access and MySQL, I’m slowing working on moving bits into Ruby on Rails. One of the most important things our current system does is store prices and descriptions for over 200,000 products. Searching that database is a crucial task.\nSearching in Rails turned out to be very easy. Sunspot had it working very quickly on my development machine. I also had it running on my production server using the sunspot_solr gem which is meant for development only (but mines a small business, so that’s fine). However, when the server was restarted sunspot_solr needed to be manually restarted which was a pain. I thought I should probably get around to setting up a real solr server and point my application to there. So far, so good, simply: copy the config from my rails app to my new Solr service , set the servers hostname in solr.yml, commit, deploy, it worked!\nThe problem – Solr was terribly slow!\n——————————————-\nRe-indexing was slow. I could tell something wasn’t right. Neither my rails server or my new solr server were under load.\nI created a new product instead (so that would appear in the solr index).\nThat was slow, but it worked. Displaying search results was also slow.\nCheck the logs – wow! Yep, Solr is the slow bit\n\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Started GET \u0026quot;/short_codes?utf8=%E2%9C%93\u0026amp;search=test\u0026quot; for 10.18.6.3 at 2014-10-01 14:28:03 +0100\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Processing by ShortCodesController#index as HTML\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Parameters: {\u0026quot;utf8\u0026quot;=\u0026gt;\u0026quot;✓\u0026quot;, \u0026quot;search\u0026quot;=\u0026gt;\u0026quot;test\u0026quot;}\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Rendered short_codes/_navigation.html.erb (1.0ms)\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Rendered short_codes/index.html.erb within layouts/application (6.7ms)\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Rendered layouts/_navigation.html.erb (1.3ms)\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Completed 200 OK in 20337ms (Views: 10.3ms | ActiveRecord: 1.7ms | Solr: 20321.1ms)\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; No way should Solr take 20321ms to respond.\nI tried the search on the solr admin interface and the response was instant, so I knew that solr wasn’t the problem. It must be my code (as always!).\nAs solr replies over http, I tried querying it from my rails server command line. Also slow. So… maybe it’s not my code… then I tried pinging the solr server from my rails server:\n\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; ping solr.rkbb.co.uk\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; it said replies were coming back in less than 1ms .. but then I realised they were taking about 3 or 4 seconds between each report.\nI tried pinging another server … same effect…\nthen I tried pinging my office router… reports every second, just as fast as I’m used to seeing it. But this was the first time I’d used an IP address and not a FQDN\nThen I tried pinging my solr server by it’s address … reports every second!\nSo, maybe all I have to do is configure my application to talk to solr via the server IP instead of FQDN…\nI tried…\n\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Started GET \u0026quot;/short_codes?utf8=%E2%9C%93\u0026amp;search=test\u0026quot; for 10.18.6.3 at 2014-10-02 11:51:49 +0100\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Processing by ShortCodesController#index as HTML\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Parameters: {\u0026quot;utf8\u0026quot;=\u0026gt;\u0026quot;✓\u0026quot;, \u0026quot;search\u0026quot;=\u0026gt;\u0026quot;test\u0026quot;}\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Rendered short_codes/_navigation.html.erb (0.9ms)\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Rendered short_codes/index.html.erb within layouts/application (8.4ms)\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Rendered layouts/_navigation.html.erb (0.8ms)\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Completed 200 OK in 27ms (Views: 12.2ms | ActiveRecord: 1.1ms | Solr: 8.3ms)\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; … and I fixed it 🙂\nWell, solr is working great. Now I need to figure out what’s wrong with using FQDNs in my network.\n","date":"2 October 2014","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2014/10/02/sunspot-solr-slow-in-production-fixed-by-using-ip-address-instead-of-domain-name/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"sunspot solr slow in production (fixed by using IP address instead of domain name)","type":"posts"},{"content":" I wouldn’t have noticed them doing this except google told me. That does beg the question, if I was buying something on a website and didn’t notice the redirect from HTTPS to HTTP, could other people on the hot spot be snooping my transactions?\nI guess BT have a good reason for doing it but this reminds me I must always connect to the internet via a VPN when on a public hotspot.\n","date":"5 May 2014","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2014/05/05/bt-wifi-hotspots-intercept-and-redirect-google-ssl-searches/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"BT Wifi hotspots intercept and redirect google SSL searches","type":"posts"},{"content":"In an earlier post I showed how I set my screenshots to save in a custom folder rather than onto my desktop (I seem to take a lot of screenshots). I also shared a little camera icon that I made for it. One of the comments asked how I changed the folder icon, so I’ve made a 30 second screen recording to show how.\nGo to web page that has the image you want Right click image (or ctrl + left click) choose Copy image select folder you want to change the icon for (single left click the folder) Press cmd + i keys together (opens the info pane) left click folder icon shown in the top left of the info pane (it will get a blue highlight border) Press cmd + v keys together (this is the shortcut for paste). You’ll see the image will have replaced the folder icon. ","date":"22 April 2014","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2014/04/22/how-to-change-a-folder-icon-to-a-picture-in-mac-os-x/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"How to change a folder icon to a picture in Mac OS X","type":"posts"},{"content":"As always seems to be the case, a routine update of server software becomes a problem. This time it was updating VMware ESXi from 4 to 5. I know, I’m a little behind the times, but it was working, and it’s only a small office server… and I should have left it alone, sigh.\nSo, shutdown the Virtual Machines, overnight copy them all over the network to my laptop and a handy external disk. – Done.\nNote: I probably should have used the VMWare standalone converter to copy them, rather than just copy them direct from the datastore.\nThis morning, in at 8am, install the new ESXi (having lost two hours ’cause the DVD on the server was playing up).\nStart restoring the Virtual Machines. First a non important one… all good\nSecond, the most important one, our file server…. uh oh.\n\u0026quot;The VMware Consolidated Backup source ... has a missing catalog file.\u0026quot;\nSeveral hours of trying to fix it, editing files trying different versions of the VMWare standalone importer (which may have helped, I’m not sure),\nI solved it by Opening the Virtual Machine in VMware Player,\nwhich spotted the problem (I had the VM disks split across two datastores but I’d saved them into one folder), asked me to tell it where they were, and that fixed it for VMware player, which also meant the importer was happy again.\nPS – I also realised why I never upgraded from VMware ESXi 4. Version 5 takes away a lot of the essential functionality from the vSphere software. That makes ‘it not a lot of use’ for me. Still, it was free. So having fixed the import, I’m now waiting to import it back to a fresh install of version 4. At least I finally set up the 3+1 raid 5 (instead of the 2 sets of raid 1 left over from the original disks and an upgrade 2 years ago).\n","date":"13 April 2014","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2014/04/13/vmware-consolidated-backup-missing-a-catalogue-file-fixed/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"VMware consolidated backup missing a catalogue file – fixed!","type":"posts"},{"content":"I’m building a web site for a charity that needs to take credit cards for tickets being sold. I’ve chosen to use stripe.com as:\nIt’s simple to implement They take care of all the security and PCI DSS (I never get any card details to save, that’s a good thing). It’s not expensive (compared to other options like having a merchant account for the charity). I couldn’t get away with using existing services (eg: eventbrite, picatic, etc) Users don’t have to register on this charity site (essentially it’s selling a one off event ticket) so my process is:\nVistor completes form and submits [let’s call it ‘Registration’] Server validates form (email address present, other information entered, etc) Server sends page with Stripe pay now button. That button contains the code to precomplete some of the stripe form (eg: the email address). Vistor clicks stripe button, enters card details which are sent direct to the stripe server (ie: not through my server) stripe returns a ‘token’ that can be used to charge the credit card and visitor is directed to my ‘charge’ page with their token (sent as a https post request). when my /charge page is requested, My server can request the card is charged using the single use stripe token. Then thank the customer for paying. I wanted to record the payment as processed against my Registration_ID, and thought I would be able to use the browser session to link the stripe request with a specific registration. It didn’t work, every test transaction came back with nothing in the session. It was as if the session was being refreshed every time a Stripe transaction occurred.\nAfter several hours of frustration, I tracked it down to rails built in CSRF protection.\nAs the post form is coming via Stripe, it won’t read the session cookie from the browser and resets it.\nAll I have to match the registration record with the stripe transaction is the visitors email address. This obviously causes problems if:\nA visitor wants to buy more than one registration on the same email address A visitor changes their email address during the stripe process (not easy for them to do, but possible). However, it’s the best I’ve got so I’ll have to write some backup code to prevent two registrations on one email address (they’ll have to get in touch and pay another way) and raise an error if the email address that stripe got is different from the address in our records (the charity will have to match the records manually which isn’t difficult for such a small event).\nHere’s the part in my dev log that help me find the problem, along with this blog post on kalzumeus.com.\nStarted POST \u0026quot;/registers/charge\u0026quot; for 127.0.0.1 at 2014-03-14 16:12:34 +0000\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Processing by RegistersController#charge as HTML\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Parameters: {\u0026quot;stripeToken\u0026quot;=\u0026gt;\u0026quot;tok_1234sometokendata\u0026quot;, \u0026quot;stripeEmail\u0026quot;=\u0026gt;\u0026quot;asdf@asdf\u0026quot;, \u0026quot;stripeBillingName\u0026quot;=\u0026gt;\u0026quot;CARDNAME\u0026quot;, \u0026quot;stripeBillingAddressLine1\u0026quot;=\u0026gt;\u0026quot;asdf\u0026quot;, \u0026quot;stripeBillingAddressZip\u0026quot;=\u0026gt;\u0026quot;ME13 9AB\u0026quot;, \u0026quot;stripeBillingAddressCity\u0026quot;=\u0026gt;\u0026quot;Faversham\u0026quot;, \u0026quot;stripeBillingAddressState\u0026quot;=\u0026gt;\u0026quot;Kent\u0026quot;, \u0026quot;stripeBillingAddressCountry\u0026quot;=\u0026gt;\u0026quot;United Kingdom\u0026quot;}\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; WARNING: Can't verify CSRF token authenticity\n","date":"14 March 2014","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2014/03/14/a-quick-note-on-my-first-steps-using-stripe-com/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"A quick note on my first steps using stripe.com","type":"posts"},{"content":"This is interesting. This blog just had a comment which, at first glance, looked normal.\n![URL redirection can hide the destination, not always a good thing](/uploads/2014/01/tinyurl_to_adfly_link.png) URL redirection can hide the destination, not always a good thing The link first runs through URL shortening service tinyurl.com.\nThat in turn redirects it to adfly (http://adf.ly) which is where it becomes interesting.\nAdfly is an advertising system. Instead of linking directly to the destination, you link with a custom link from them. Before the visitor can go to the new page, they see an advert.\nThey can interact with that advert or click the big “Skip Ad” button at the top of the page.\nIf people click on the advert, whoever created the link gets a commission.\nI don’t have a problem with Adfly. I’ve seen my son skip the adverts lots of times when he’s getting plugins for Minecraft. What I hadn’t seen before was this method of hiding the adfly link and as far as I know, it’s the first one posted on my blog.\nIs it a problem?\nI don’t think so, just an observation. It means I’m going to be less trusting of any url shortening from now on.\nIs it an opportunity?\nNot for me, at least not yet.\nIt would not be difficult for me to write some code that redirected all my off site links via adfly, including those posted in comments. It does mean anyone visiting and following a link would have an extra step to go through and I’d rather not do that readers.\nI used to have google adverts on the blog but when I came to update WordPress I didn’t bother rewriting the templates or installing any plugins. The revenue it was generating was trivial.\nI suspect Adfly revenue from this site would also be too small to be worth the effort.\n","date":"21 January 2014","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2014/01/21/a-new-form-of-comment-spam-url-shorteners-and-redirection/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"A new form of Comment spam? – url shorteners and redirection?","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"21 January 2014","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/internet/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Internet","type":"categories"},{"content":"It’s anti virus renewal time! Not the most exciting job of the year, which is why I’ve been renewing for at least 2 years at a time.\nBottom line: So, after all my research, reading and testing, we’re sticking with Nod32 for another 2 years.\nWe’ve been Eset Nod32 customers a long time, but for this renewal a few warning signs meant extending the licence wasn’t the no brainer it has been in the past.\nTheir web site is way out of date. Here’s a screenshot:\nIt’s November of 2013, so why are all these certifications dated 2006 to 2010? Being pedantic when it comes to presentation of data, I read the claim of “ESET has won an unprecedented number of Virus Bulletin’s VB100 awards, more than any other security product” can also mean “We’ve been around years longer than everyone else, so we can say that whilst the new companies can’t”. It doesn’t tell me Eset are still leading the field and I’m sure they used to say they were the only provider with a 100% detection rate. They don’t say that now… maybe they’re not as good? The big plus in their favour: The renewal price is cheaper than the new customer price. I like that. I hate it when companies give discounts to new customers but not existing, making me need to spend time switching supplier each year.\nDespite the plus, it was time to do a little more research.\nI went through each month of reports on this site, as well as a couple of others. About 4 hours of study (yeah, I should get a life).\nResult, ESET isn’t the leader any more. It may only be behind by a couple of percent, but going through several months of av-comparatives.org tests, they are now often a little behind. My fear, of course, is that one or two new viruses they mis in a given month is the one that gets into our network and causes mayhem [at this point, I am obliged to remind you to make sure you backups work, lest this latest virus called ‘cryptolocker’ destroy your files].\nI looked at the new consistant leaders. I settled on the best alternative for our needs to be BitDefender. I wanted to try Kaspersky. Mostly because I admire their stance against a patent troll but unfortunately it’s a lot more expensive than Eset Nod32. Of course, I’ll regret that one day if we get a virus Kaspersky would have stopped, but in 6 months time it could be Kaspersky misses the virus Eset would have stopped. Hey ho!\nI registered for the trial and at first, I liked it. I went for their ‘Cloud Security’ option, which as best as I can tell, is their ‘Small Business Pack’ (ie: regular PC Antivirus) but with a web based console for reporting and installing. I installed it on a new Windows 8 PC (Our first in the office, and I like Windows 8 a lot) and I love the console. It gave me a link to download the install which was super smooth (no licence ID’s to type in). It later told me that we have 7 other PC’s that aren’t running BitDefender (it searches the Windows network for machine ID’s and matches it to the machines BitDefender is installed upon).\nEverything was great… until I got a virus. OK, not a real virus, the EICAR test virus file. It’s a small piece of text you can download to see if your virus scanner will detect it. Except. It didn’t. Or, I thought it didn’t. It immediately quarantined the file BUT DIDN’T TELL ME. So I did what any user would do, I tried again. I then decided the download function wasn’t working, so copied the text into a new text file, saved it, closed it – but it had disappeared. I then created the text file and left as .txt. Saw it on my desktop, renamed the file… and it disappeared.\nOnly then did I go and check the notification panel to see all these files were quarantined. So it’s good, it did it’s job, but it’s bad, because I didn’t know that. If one of our users has the same situation trying to read a customer’s .doc attachment, how are they to know what’s happened? It’s annoying.\nSo I put in a support request:\nIssue: I’m testing bitdefender for our business. I tried the EICAR test file. Bitdefender spotted the file and moved it to quarantine. However there was no warning for the user (that the file they just downloaded was quarantined). The action was reported in the web console.Is there a setting that prevented a warning for the user or is this always the case (users don’t get told)\nA few days having had no answer, I took to their product forums. The forums were pretty quiet. No one with a similar question to mine but it appears I wasn’t the only one waiting for an answer\nA whole 8 days later, I got an answer to my support email:\nWhen running in Auto Pilot Mode, the product will take automatic actions for all malware and all information will be logged in Events.\nThe user will be notified via the Security widget that will display the number\nof Events.\nSo, if you realise, you can open the widget and see what’s happened. It doesn’t pop up a warning. Until then, you’ll be clicking download wondering why nothing seems to be happening. Today, I also noticed a new warning “7 Days since last system scan” or similar. I don’t understand why BitDefender hasn’t just gone ahead and scanned if that is significant to the antivirus protection, I know Eset Nod32 does. Sure, a full scan can affect PC performance so make it happen when the processor is idle, or as a low priority background task.\nI’ve only put one support request into Nod32 over the years we’ve had it, but looking back it appears to have been answered on the same day (with the solution, my further thank you reply 4 days later shows).\nSo, after all my research, reading and testing, we’re sticking with Nod32 for another 2 years.\n","date":"18 November 2013","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2013/11/18/bitdefender-v-nod32/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"BitDefender v Nod32","type":"posts"},{"content":"I’m using Parallels 9 on Mac OS X (Mavericks) to run Windows 7.\nA couple of days ago I duplicated my Windows 7 virtual machine. Parallels spotted the duplicated machine when it started and offered to create a new MAC address. All looked good.\nI uninstalled some software but Parallels was still using just as much disk space. Windows said it was using 64GB but Parallels and the folder size in Mac OS X reported 137GB. I wanted that free space back!\nI searched the knowledge base but couldn’t find an answer. I then sent a long support request to Parallels complete with about 7 screenshots of various things and information that I thought might be related. Less than 12 hours later (great support!) they emailed back with the solution. Although I had no snapshots, it appears some snapshots from last year remained and that was what caused the problem. In case someone else is having the same problem, here is what they said:\n`[Parallels #1780846] Windows 7 Virtual Disk much larger in Mac/ Parallels than windows and can\u0026rsquo;t reduce\nHi,\nThank you for contacting Parallels Desktop Technical Support and taking some time to explain with us the concern.\nBased on the details that you shared with us. We would like to recommend some troubleshooting steps/article that might help us on solving the concern.\nPlease follow the advanced troubleshooting part of the article below.\n\u003eERROR: Unable to delete the snapshot\nhttp://kb.parallels.com/en/111736\nWarning: We strongly recommend to create a backup copy of your Virtual Machine before applying the solution below!\nPlease take into account the size of virtual machine comparing to free space on Macintosh HD.\nOnce you created a backup copy, please proceed with the following:\n1. Locate your Virtual machine in Finder\n2. Right click on the *.pvm file of your virtual machine -\u003e choose Show Package Contents\n3. In Mac OS X, go to Applications \u003e Utilities and launch Terminal. Type the following but do not execute:\nprl_disk_tool merge --hdd\n4. Drag the *.hdd file into Terminal and drop it right next to \"prl_disk_tool merge --hdd \". In Terminal you will see something like this:\nprl_disk_tool merge --hdd /Users/Username/Documents/Parallels/Windows 7.pvm/Windows 7-0.hdd\nNote: There should be a space between '--hdd' and 'Users/Username...'\n5. Press Enter/Return key to run the command and merge the snapshots.\n6. At the same directory (inside Virtual Machine's bundle) delete Snapshots.xml file\nAfterwards, please try to shrink the Virtual Hard disk size or compress it.\n\u003eCompressing the Disk\nhttp://download.parallels.com/desktop/v9/ga/docs/en_US/Parallels%20Desktop%20User's%20Guide/33140.htm`","date":"12 November 2013","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2013/11/12/parallels-virtual-disk-much-larger-on-mac-than-windows-is-actually-using/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Parallels virtual disk much larger on mac than windows is actually using","type":"posts"},{"content":"Update: I wrote a step by step guide on creating a virtual PDF printer as a new virtual machine. This has been more reliable and has replaced the work around I used below\nOur small business is beginning the move from Windows XP to Windows 8. Moving to a new operating system is always a problem. There’s new things to learn, old systems that stop working together and many many hours of hair pulling on my part. It is progress though – I can’t imagine going back to Windows 98!\nThe biggest problem I’ve had is making our Network PDF printer work with windows 8. It’s based upon Ghostscript but there are no Ghostscript printer drivers for Windows 8. After two or three days of working through the problem, I’ve solved it.\nQuick version:\nSetup a CUPS printer service on a linux server Have cups connect to our PDF Print appliance Have the print appliance put the PDF on a new network share Pros: We can generate PDFs (some have automatic letterhead backgrounds which I couldn’t do with CUPS alone)\nCons: It means having another print server set up to look after, It means users will no longer get their PDF’s by email (it will go to a new network share).\nLong version:\nPart 1 – The existing solution\nFor several years I’ve used YAFPC (Yet Another Free Pdf Composer). It is a self contained print appliance that runs as an instance on our VMWare server. I can’t remember what I paid for it, but it has been worth every penny. It is the sort of stable appliance that hasn’t needed to be updated for many years. It just works and I like that. Virtual Printers are created (A4_Blank, A4_On_Letterhead_Background, etc) and users can print to those printers.\nThe resulting PDF document is emailed to them as well as put in an automatic shared folder in their name on the appliance. It is controlled by a simple web interface. Behind the scenes, it’s a linux server and the print engine is GhostScript. It includes GhostScript print drivers for Windows XP and Windows 7 (and Mac) but Windows 8 has changed things and there is not yet (and may never be) a GhostScript print Driver.\nPart 2 – CUPS (Common Unix Print System)\nCUPS is a print server for networks that runs on unix like systems (Linux and Mac OS X included). There is a plugin called CUPS-PDF and my first thought was this would be all I need.\nWe already have a server running Ubuntu so I installed the packages (apt-get install CUPS CUPS-PDF) and set up a PDF printer. That was all pretty straight forward but it really only allowed for blank backgrounds – I couldn’t find a way of having a ‘letterhead’ printer as well as a ‘blank a4’ printer.\nI reasoned in my mind that if I could print from Windows 8 to the CUPS server, I could probably forward the CUPS server to YAFPC PDF Printers. My logic was that CUPS would convert the print file in a way YAFPC/GhostScript would understand.\nPart 3 – Connecting CUPS to the YAFPC\nThrough the CUPS web page admin:\nAdministration \u0026gt; Add Printer \u0026gt; [Other Network Printers | LPD/LPR Host or Printer ]\nConnection = lpd://networkpdf/PDFLetterhead [alter that path to suit your printer]\nName/Description/Location as you choose,\nShare this printer.\nFor the driver: Generic \u0026gt; Generic CUPS-PDF Printer (en)\nworked for me, I assume any PostScript driver would work.\nFinally \u0026gt; Add Printer.\nYou get to set a few defaults based on the driver you chose. EG: I could set the print resolution.\nPart 4 – Changing some YAFPC settings\nYAFPC normally recogises the windows user account name and makes some clever/customisable assumptions in order to email the PDFs to the user that printed them. It also stores them locally in a shared folder with the same name as the user. All very clever, but now the printing user is the CUPS user.\nYAFPC lets you choose to store PDFs in an external storage location. I entered some credentials for a location on our Samba server (which happens to be the same server the CUPS service is running on).\nEach virtual printer had to be updated to copy the file to the external storage.\nPart 5 – Adding the network PDF printer to Windows 8\nOpen Control Panel\nTip: Try shortcut “[Windows Key] + I”\nAdd a Printer\nWait for network printers to be found, select the new network printer\nYou’ll see a warning “No driver found”, choose OK to locate one manually\nChoose the driver “Generic” \u0026gt; “MS Publisher Color Printer”\nThis is a PostScript Printer driver. I assume any postscript driver will work (a lot of forum comments suggested HP drivers), but this worked for me first time so I’ve stuck with it.\nDecide upon a printer name, Finish.\nPrint a test page to see it’s worked.\n","date":"24 October 2013","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2013/10/24/network-pdf-printing-from-windows-8/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Network PDF printing from Windows 8","type":"posts"},{"content":"I’ve been setting up our first Windows 8 PC at work and working through all the bugs and gotchas a new operating system introduces to work.\nPart way through the process the Windows 8.1 update happened and once rebooted there was a black border around the screen. AMD Catalyst wouldn’t start but windows reported the correct screen resolution being sent to the monitor. The monitor was fine when plugged into another PC.\nI reinstalled the catalyst control centre (download from AMD) and started working through the settings to see if I could find the problem.\nIn Scaling Options (Digital Flat-Panel), the update had somehow corrupted the setting for underscan. I have a feeling that setting was wrong when I first installed the graphics card and drivers, so maybe the error is the AMD side rather than the Microsoft side.\nSetting the scaling to 0% solved the problem.\n","date":"24 October 2013","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2013/10/24/after-win-8-1-update-display-has-shrunk/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"After Win 8.1 update display has shrunk","type":"posts"},{"content":"I’ve decided to start naming and shaming the people who spam me. I have an email address hidden in the code of one of my web sites. It doesn’t display to visitors but robots will read it. To give the spammers a sporting chance, the email address is nospam@….mydomain… I then email them to ask where they got the address from.\nTheir response to asking where they got the email address from? # They never responded.\nObservations # Whilst this is the first time they’ve been caught in my current spam trap, scraping web sites and sending spam seems to be their method of operation to sell advertising space. They appear to have set up servers just to send spam. I say this because mhglobalmc3.co.uk doesn’t have a public website and displays a default virtual server login. They also run their own name servers. From an IT perspective, they seem pretty switched on – although their web server has been hacked so they’re not that good. I wouldn’t wish that on my worst enemy let alone spammers like this company. I’d email them and tell them, except I guess they wouldn’t read that either.\nThey are based in Kent, not so far from us, so back in 2009 I took the time to phone them and ask them to stop spamming us. I spoke to ‘Paul’ who promised to look into it. I’m assuming that was Paul Attwood. He was and is the owner of the domain sending spam back then;\nDomain name: pamediasolutions.co.uk Registrant: Paul Attwood Registrant type: UK Individual Registrant's address: 47-48 Hawley Square margate CT9 1NY United Kingdom Is the owner of the domain currently sending the spam;\nDomain name: mhglobalmc3.co.uk Registrant: Paul Attwood Registrant type: UK Individual Registrant's address: 347a Margate Road Ramsgate Kent CT12 6SG United Kingdom The destination, randrnews.co.uk, is owned by a dissolved company, MH Media Solutions Ltd of which Paul Attwood was a director. I guess they transferred it to a current company and forgot to tell the registry.\nDomain name: randrnews.co.uk Registrant: MH Media Solutions Ltd Registrant type: UK Individual Registrant's address: Lead Centre Dane Valley Road Broadstairs CT10 3JJ United Kingdom randrnews.co.uk has a link to what I guess would be a parent company; http://mhmediaglobal.com/ except my browser wouldn’t let me visit;\nI’m beginning to think the publishing industry like sending spam, seeing as Archant have started spamming again.\nEmail headers # Delivered-To: nospam@.... Received: by 10.76.88.49 with SMTP id bd17csp150210oab; Tue, 6 Aug 2013 06:01:27 -0700 (PDT) X-Received: by 10.180.74.210 with SMTP id w18mr1934845wiv.20.1375794086684; Tue, 06 Aug 2013 06:01:26 -0700 (PDT) Return-Path: \u0026lt;ryan@refurb.mhglobalmc3.co.uk\u0026gt; Received: from plesk.mhglobalmc3.co.uk ([91.206.183.157]) by mx.google.com with ESMTPS id f5si722923wjx.46.2013.08.06.06.01.08 for \u0026lt;nospam@...\u0026gt; (version=TLSv1 cipher=RC4-SHA bits=128/128); Tue, 06 Aug 2013 06:01:26 -0700 (PDT) Received-SPF: pass (google.com: domain of ryan@refurb.mhglobalmc3.co.uk designates 91.206.183.157 as permitted sender) client-ip=91.206.183.157; Authentication-Results: mx.google.com; spf=pass (google.com: domain of ryan@refurb.mhglobalmc3.co.uk designates 91.206.183.157 as permitted sender) smtp.mail=ryan@refurb.mhglobalmc3.co.uk X-No-Relay: not in my network X-Antivirus-Status: Clean Received: from ADVENT1 (host31-51-58-179.range31-51.btcentralplus.com [31.51.58.179]) by plesk.mhglobalmc3.co.uk (Postfix) with ESMTPA id 244805968D1 for \u0026lt;nospam@...\u0026gt;; Tue, 6 Aug 2013 14:01:04 +0100 (BST) From: \"Ryan Bunce\" \u0026lt;ryan@refurb.mhglobalmc3.co.uk\u0026gt; To: \u0026lt;nospam@....\u0026gt; Subject: Editorial Opportunity Date: Tue, 6 Aug 2013 13:53:45 +0100 Message-ID: \u0026lt;8a9e01ce92a4$e607b640$b21722c0$@refurb.mhglobalmc3.co.uk\u0026gt; MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; boundary=\"----=_NextPart_000_8A9F_01CE92AD.47D63060\" X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook 14.0 Thread-Index: Ac6SkO5QeOa53URdSzqFQjxDYyR4CQ== Content-Language: en-gb X-Antivirus: avast! (VPS 130806-0, 06/08/2013), Outbound message X-Antivirus-Status: Clean This is a multipart message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_8A9F_01CE92AD.47D63060 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary=\"----=_NextPart_001_8AA0_01CE92AD.47D63060\" ------=_NextPart_001_8AA0_01CE92AD.47D63060 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=\"iso-8859-1\" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Description: Description: Description: Description: cid:image001.jpg@01CE8A0C.A0729EB0 We are currently putting together the September edition of the Refurb \u0026 Renovation News publication, which will for this issue have an added = bonus of an extra 5,000 circulation at the Grand Designs Live exhibition and = the 100% Design show. =20 I am tasked with closing off some of the editorial positions within this issue and as I feel you would be really relevant for this I wanted to = see if you have something you would like to promote we could include. =20 =B7 Exclusive total 63,000 Circulation=20 =B7 15,000 glossy A4 hard copies =B7 48,000 Digital Versions of the publication =B7 8 Week Circulation period (bi-monthly publication) =B7 Media Partner with all the main UK Exhibitions =B7 Extra 5,000 copies of this edition =20 Specifiers that we target include; Building Contractors - Builders Merchants - RIBA Registered Architects = and Large Architecture practices =96 Heating \u0026 Plumbing Engineers - BIID Registered Interior Designers - Property Developers - Health Authorities = - Education Based Specifiers \u0026 Local Authorities. =20 We run just 6 editorials per page giving you a good sized space with 1 = full colour image, 120-140 words of text as well as full company contact = details. I am currently able to offer you a 1/6th of a page editorial at =A395. =20 Please respond by Wednesday 14th August at the latest if you would like = to take one of these positions. =20 Best Regards =20 Ryan Bunce Sales Manager Refurb \u0026 Renovation News =20 Refurb \u0026 Renovation News Suite 1, The Lead Centre, Dane Valley Road, = St Peters, Broadstairs, Kent CT10 3JJ Tel: 01843 601705 ","date":"1 October 2013","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2013/10/01/caught-in-my-spam-trap-randrnews-co-uk/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Caught in my spam trap – randrnews.co.uk","type":"posts"},{"content":"I take a lot of screenshots on my mac. Sometimes it’s simply the quickest way to save information from a web page or design I’m working on, sometimes it’s because I need to show someone what they should be seeing on their screen when I’m helping them with their computer by email.\nTaking a screenshot is so simple on a mac. Using the three key shortcut “Shift CMD 4” brings up crosshairs and you can draw the area of the screen that’s of interest. Easy. They’re saved to the desktop with the name ‘Screen Shot 2013-08-23 at 16.55.19.png’\nDoing so many and not always wanting to delete them immediately was making my desktop a bit of a mess, so I googled for a way of changing where they’re saved. OS X Daily had exactly the answer I was looking for.\nLaunch Terminal and use the following syntax:\ndefaults write com.apple.screencapture location /path/\nFor example, if I want to have the screenshots appear in my Pictures folder, I would use:\ndefaults write com.apple.screencapture location ~/Pictures/\nTo have the changes take effect, you then must type:\nkillall SystemUIServer\nUpdate from the comments: Some have said this only takes effect when they restart their computer.\nSo I created a folder on my desktop called ‘ScreenShots’, used the code\ndefaults write com.apple.screencapture location ~/Desktop/ScreenShots/\nAnd it all works perfectly 🙂\nI wanted to make the folder look a bit different, so quickly created an icon for myself. It’s actually the “icon-camera-retro” from Font Awesome with a white gradient background inside the camera and transparent background. Sure, it won’t win any awards but if you want it, help yourself. Click on the image and you’ll get the standard wordpress image page with a download option (or right-click, save-as as you prefer).\n","date":"23 August 2013","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2013/08/23/mac-os-x-screenshot-save-to-folder-instead-of-desktop/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Mac OS X Screenshot save to folder (instead of desktop)","type":"posts"},{"content":"I spent 8 hours trying to get this to work. I googled and found lots of people asking the question but no one with a solution, or rather the given solutions wasn’t working for me.\nrake sunspot:solr:stop\nEdit the solr/conf/schema.xml file;\n\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;fieldType name=\u0026quot;text\u0026quot; class=\u0026quot;solr.TextField\u0026quot; omitNorms=\u0026quot;false\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;analyzer\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tokenizer class=\u0026quot;solr.StandardTokenizerFactory\u0026quot;/\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;filter class=\u0026quot;solr.StandardFilterFactory\u0026quot;/\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;filter class=\u0026quot;solr.LowerCaseFilterFactory\u0026quot;/\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;filter class=\u0026quot;solr.PorterStemFilterFactory\u0026quot;/\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;filter class=\u0026quot;solr.NGramFilterFactory\u0026quot; minGramSize=\u0026quot;1\u0026quot; maxGramSize=\u0026quot;15\u0026quot;/\u0026gt; \u0026lt;!-- This is The New Line --\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/analyzer\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/fieldType\u0026gt;\nrake sunspot:solr:start\nrake sunspot:reindex\nI think my problem was changing the schema but not restarting the solr server. Restarting the rails server isn’t enough.\n","date":"17 July 2013","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2013/07/17/rails-sunspotsolr-returning-result-for-single-character-searches/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Rails Sunspot/Solr returning result for single character searches","type":"posts"},{"content":"Executive summary:\nStop reading, backup your computer. Done that? Let’s continue. [1]1\nSecond Executive summary:\nTimeMachine on my mac failed, I now use Carbon Copy Cloner.\nYes, that cost me £26. Yes, it’s basically rsync (free opensource software I already use) but it’s easier to configure and has other useful features that I decided are worth me paying for.\nPart 1: What happened to TimeMachine.\nPart 2: How I solved it\nPart 3: Other backup options that may be better for you\nPart 4: Backup of yesteryear\nPart 1: What happened to TimeMachine.\nOne of the things I liked about my mac was ‘TimeMachine’. I liked it because the old ReadyNas NV+ I use as an offsite [2]2 backup destination supported TimeMachine. Backup’s were easy to setup. Backup’s worked. When I bought a new hard disk for my mac, I re-installed everything from the backup over the network. Life was good.\nAbout 2 Months ago, My TimeMachine backups stopped. It reported a problem and that it needed to start the backups from scratch. Fine, it told me, so that’s not a problem. Except, it just wouldn’t complete a new full backup. It would get through most of the backup and then the volume (both quantity and size) of files left to backup would grow as fast as it made the backup. I cold see plenty of data being passed across the network link to the backup destination – more data traffic that data on my disk in fact, so it was doing something but never finishing.\nI tried deleting the backup and starting again, no luck. I found a dashboard widget that would provide information about TimeMachine backup – but it didn’t tell me anything useful as to why my backups wouldn’t complete. I tried looking for error messages in the log files, no luck. I bought an external hard drive (thinking maybe the ReadyNas or network link was the problem), no luck. I resorted to an emergency backup method – I used rsync to mirror my user directory to the office network. The more I researched TimeMachine as a backup tool, the more I felt disappointed at the lack of capabilities it had, especially regarding feedback as to whether the backup was working.\nPart 2: How I solved it\nSo, it was time to find a solution.\nOption A) rsync\nrsync is an old command line tool that can make two directories on different computers look the same. It is very efficient, only transferring files that have changed. It can be set to only send files in one direction (so deleted files remain – useful for recovering a file accidentally deleted). I already use it as one part of my backup routine for my linux servers and one of our windows desktop clients (and used to use it to backup my Windows laptop)\nI like rsync, but I hadn’t quite worked out the best settings for the mac.\nMy quick get-out-of-jail backup command was\nrsync -avz --exclude 'steve/Documents/Parallels/' --exclude '*/Library/*' /Users/ rsync://backup5.rkbb.co.uk/mac_rsync\nI’ve been running that by hand every couple of days. You can see;\n-avz in the command means ‘archive’ the files, ‘verify’ the files and ‘zip compress’ the transfer.\n–exclude are things i don’t want to sync, my Parallels virtual machines and the Library. There are things in the library that may be worth keeping (I think “Notes” may save there, and “Mail” does but I have all that on my gmail)\n/Users/ is the directory I want to mirror from my machine and\nrsync://backup5.rkbb.co.uk/mac_rsync is the rsync daemon on the backup server, into the direcotry mac_rsync.\nThis isn’t ideal. It doesn’t backup the applications and it backs up unnecessary files like .DS_Store which the mac will create when it needs them.\nWhilst looking for examples of rsync backup scripts for Mac, I discovered Carbon Copy Cloner.\nOption B) Carbon Copy Cloner\nCarbon Copy Cloner is an application that can back up your mac. I gather it uses rsync behind the scenes, but it has some neat wizardry that makes it very simple to use.\nIt can make a bootable clone – which means if you need to recover your whole mac, it’s ready to go. I think that means you can even plug your clone into another mac and run from there. I could see that being very useful if I was travelling to friends and wanted to take my mac software with me, but use their mac so I could travel light. It can be easily set to run automatically. 09:40am for me, it starts and backups up. If the backup disk isn’t available (like, I’m not in the office), it will tell me and let me choose to delay or try again (in case I just need to plug the disk in). It will work on any disk. If you have a HFS+ formatted disk (apple) it can do more like make it a bootable clone, but if you’ve just got a simple shared directory on a file server it will happily backup your files to that. It means I didn’t have to work out exactly what was worth backing up and what I could ignore. It does cost £26 but for a one off cost and piece of mind I’m happy to pay that. Just think, if I’d have known about Carbon Copy Cloner sooner I probably wouldn’t have spent £269 on a big external hard disk.\nSummary:\nIf your TimeMachine backups are working for you, great, keep it going.\nIf they’re not then I suggest you try the free trial of Carbon Copy Cloner.\nPart 3: Other backup options that may be better for you\nI didn’t use it for my Mac, but for the other family PC’s I use ‘CrashPlan‘. It’s a web based, off site backup service. I think it’s a great solution for many people, but not for me and my mac. I have too much on the disk and it would take too long to backup over the internet (lots of files change frequently, more so now we’re playing with video) and more importantly I HAVE OFF SITE BACKUP ALREADY! If you don’t have off site backup, you should seriously consider CrashPlan or one of the many other online backup services.\nTo put that in context I put all the people I care about on my family CrashPlan account. My daughters laptop uses CrashPlan, my parents laptop uses CrashPlan, my sister in Australia uses CrashPlan.\nIt has one other neat cost saving feature. If you have a friend who always has their computer on, and you always have your computer on, you can backup to each other over the internet for free. You can’t see each others files as they are encrypted but at least you don’t have to pay the monthly fee.\nPart 4: Backup of yesteryear\nThinking of backup reminds me of being 16 years old with our first home computer. A Pentium 486 from Gateway 2000 if I remember correctly. I used to do backups on a Travan TR-1 tape drive. I also remembering trying to improve the PC performance by tweaking software settings, breaking it, then spending all night and into the early hours restoring from the tape backup. Here’s hoping I have no need for any more late night/early hour data recovery missions.\n1 I hope you have a current backup if you have anything on your computer you’d like to keep\n2 A backup must be off site to be a backup. What if your house burnt down? What if your computer was stolen along with the backup disk sitting next to it? Offsite for me is backing up home to work\n","date":"7 July 2013","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2013/07/07/backup-bye-bye-timemachine-hello-carbon-copy-cloner/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Backup! (Bye bye TimeMachine, hello Carbon Copy Cloner)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Look at this infographic\n![The way I read this, before and after were the same.](/uploads/2013/07/IBMInfographic-1024x630.png) The way I read this, before and after were the same. So,”Stockholm convinced the skeptics to pay for a faster commute.”?\nI’m assuming that means pay for an IBM traffic management system as I’m not exactly sure what was being paid for. I’m don’t I agree the skeptics were convinced though from reading their infographic. The two key bits of data to prove their point are: “Before: Over 50% say no. After: Over 50% say yes”\nNow, I’m not a statistical genius, but I don’t imagine they’re doing too much rounding on these numbers. If 60% said no, I’m sure they’d have told us. If 55% said no, I’m sure they’d have told us. We don’t know how accurate their data is either, did they ask everyone or try for a representative survey? They may be out by 10% anyway (let’s hope not). To keep it clearly written, let’s replace the word “Over” with “About”. Does that sound reasonable? Well it does to me so let’s do it.\nNow let’s put the ‘after’ into the same context as the ‘before’. As “Over 50% said yes”, that’s the equivalent of “Under 50% said no”, or replacing Over/Under with About, that’s the equivalent of “About 50% said no” Let’s rewrite their phrase:\nBefore: About 50% say no. After: About 50% say no.\nAt least, that’s how I read it, but maybe it’s me that needs the help with statistics.\n","date":"4 July 2013","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2013/07/04/ibm-need-help-with-statistics/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"IBM need help with statistics","type":"posts"},{"content":" What a lovely surprise! A T-shirt arrived in the post from the folks at Gandi.net\nGandi are the company that provide all my domain names and server hosting for work and play, including the hardware behind this blog. I’ve been using them since 2009 and they’ve always super. If you need domain names or hosting, I can recommend them with confidence.\nThey are always improving things and the side effect is small errors on the web site admin interface. Mostly, that means they’ve forgotten to translate a French word into English (eg, it displays Serveur instead of Server). One of the recent improvements to their web site was to allow a table of information to show how much memory each of my servers was allocated, but it was showing the maximum amount that could be allocated. A small error, but as always I sent an email with the details. Not only did they fix it and say thanks, they sent me a Gandi T-shirt in the post. Nice 🙂\nSpeaking of Gandi, they are always improving things. Today, I’ve just been switched to their new IaaS platform (Infrastructure as a Service). The previous platform style was to have VPS (Virtual Private Server) shares. So my one rackspace dedicated server back in 2009 became 8 Shares of their VPS platform (actually, the VPS had more power, but could be scaled up and down on demand). Over time they’ve increased the power. Couple that with some software improvements to my web sites and yesterday I was running on 2 VPS shares (which I had set as two servers) with a little extra memory as an extra and a ‘SimpleHost’ instance. Hosting is a lot cheaper today then I when I first moved to Gandi.\nThe new IaaS allows a more fine grained control of the resources allocated to my virtual servers. On the old platform if I needed more than one processor it would have to come with more disk space. Now I can just allocate more processors, or more memory, or more disk, all independently. The change also means they’ll be charging me less for the same resource as before. So it’s still a virtual server, it just costs less.\nThe other new feature is a ‘web accelerator’. I haven’t played with this yet, but I think it will work like a Varnish Cache in front of my servers so that pages can be delivered faster with no alteration to the servers themselves. That will also mean I can reduce the power of the server and save more money.\nThis blog is hosted on the ‘SimpleHost’ platform they offer and has been since November last year. Essentially that’s a virtual server that they set up and control and has a lot of restrictions on what software will run on it, which version, and so on. Its other restriction is that it can only process two simultaneous requests at a time (on the cheapest package that I have) but that really isn’t a problem. As the pages don’t change very often, the built in varnish cache has probably delivered the page your reading so the server never even got the request, and there’s no limit or delay in responses from the cache. Here’s a quick fact: In the last hour 73% of the requests that reached the server were robots or spammers trying to post. Even then, there are nowhere near enough of these to block both processes to real users. I have other web sites on the simplehost server as well as this blog (just like you would a virtual server) and for the simple sites simplehost is great.\n","date":"23 May 2013","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2013/05/23/gandi-said-thanks/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Gandi said thanks :-)","type":"posts"},{"content":"This is a day when I love computers. I have a multipage PDF and I need to extract the images from it.\nOption 1: Open the PDF on screen, capture each section, save each file.\nNo thanks, that’ll take far too long and lose quality (which already isn’t too great)\nOption 2: Open the PDF using Adobe Illustrator. select each image, copy/crop/save as, etc.\nNo thanks, almost as bad as option 1\nOption 3: Google for an answer to “Extract images from PDF”. Discover all the top results are for paid applications.\nNo thanks. I don’t mind paying for applications but this is a (probably) one off job and I feel sure someone would have written a script to extract all the images from a PDF.\nOption 4: Try PDFtk, a PDF toolkit that takes instructions by command line.\nAlmost there. It can do all sorts of things to PDFs, but extract the image objects appears not to be one of them.\nOption 5: Re-discover The Unarchiver\nIt works! It really was so simple. The Unarchiver views PDF files as if they were a compressed file. Select the PDF, tell it to extract all. Voila! 652 tiff images from 44 pages of PDF. 20 minutes to find the solution. Maybe 2 seconds for unarchiver to run (oh, and I already had it on my Mac, probably from having to extract a less common file archive format).\nOne last note. It maybe that ghostscript could also do this task, that would have been my option 6…\n","date":"22 May 2013","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2013/05/22/extracting-images-from-pdf-free-using-command-line/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Extracting images from PDF (free, using command line)","type":"posts"},{"content":" My second Arduino based project has been to build an infrared remote control that will turn on a TV when the TV is powered up and defaults to standby mode.\nHere the background. I have a showroom that sells kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms. On the second floor one of the displays has a TV that we use to play videos from suppliers along with our own youtube videos (which we still haven’t got around to creating).\nHowever, we don’t get very many customers during the day (we’re a specialist shop) and so to save energy I had our electricians install an infrared timed switch for all the upstairs power. The lights turn on automatically when people walk up the stairs and turn off 15 minutes later. The original TV was connected to this power circuit and everything was good. Except it died. The replacement TV doesn’t automatically turn on when the power comes on but it does remember the channel that was selected.\nSo, I needed to find a way of turning the TV on when the power came on. I couldn’t find any off the shelf solutions so I built my own remote control using an Arduino. Arduino is\n“an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software. It’s intended for artists, designers, hobbyists, and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments.”\nFor me, I treat it like a simple small computer. I can plug in various components like LEDs, flow meters and LCD display screens and program it to respond to events in the way that I want. I’ve used an Arduino to build a flow meter for the showroom so we can compare the performance of different showers. I’ve realised I’ve never blogged about that so I may do later. This weekend though I wanted to build an InfraRed remote control.\nBuying some components. # I ordered about £50 worth of parts on the internet. The Arduino board was about £24, the IR receiver, LED IR emitters, a suitable resistor (all in pack quantities far larger than I needed) about £10 and a prototyping board and jumper cables made up the difference.\nIf you’re trying to replicate my remote, the important bits I bought are:\nInfrared LED 5mm, 940nm 22deg Vishay TSAL5300\nIR Remote Receiver 38KHz 45m Vishay TSOP38238\nPR01 Resistor, A/P,AXL,1W,5%,39R Vishay PR01000103909JA100 [remember to size the resistor according to the LED you get]\nPutting them together # It’s important to remember that I don’t work out all this stuff. I’m not that clever. I rely on a lot of googling and a little past experience. For this project, I relied upon Ken Sheriff’s Multi Protocol Infrared Remote Library for the Arduino. You’ll want to read that blog post. It may be old (2009) but it worked just like described there. I also found a useful hint at this blog about prefixing HEX output.\nI put it all together just like Ken Sheriff said. Well, almost. I had a different IR Receiver so I had a slightly different pin setup there. I had my IR Led connected to pin3 of the Arduino which is a requirement of the library.\nMy plan was to: 1) get the IR reciever working to record the code from my remote. 2) Send the IR code from the LED, make sure I’m receiving it. 3) Test it on the TV.\nStep 1 worked very well. The sketches (example code) included with the IR library worked perfectly. I used it to get the power code from my remote (It reported the TV uses NEC codes and FE50AF is power).\nStep 2 I thought worked very well, but I later discovered it didn’t work at all. I did read that the library could only send or receive and not do both at the same time. To test sending, you’d need a second Arduino. So the code I wrote to send and receive wasn’t working and the result I got which I thought was a success was a coding error on my part. See how I’ve lined my LED up with my receiver? Well, don’t bother, it won’t work.\nWhen it didn’t work on the TV I started to fault find. Seeing an IR LED is a little difficult.. seeing as our eyes can’t see it. Fortunately a camera can so I used my smartphone to see the LED. I couldn’t see it. It took me a while to discover, because the LED is sending a command it’s modulating so fast and that on my smartphone it was very faint. When I wrote some code to test the IR Led I was giving it full constant power so it was nice and bright on my screen. When I used the library to send a remote command it was dim, but working fine. Here’s a video, if you look really closely, you’ll see the IR LED pulsing slightly.\nhttp://youtu.be/3gVDKSJln2s\nSo why didn’t my IR LED turn on my TV? I’d forgotten to prefix the HEX code with 0x. I’ve learnt that before… but forgotten. Now I know it again, at least until I forget again.\nWith that fixed, my remote was working. All I had to do was tidy up the code, position the Arduino and LED somewhere in range of the TV and watch it work. Here’s what it looks like:\nHere’s the code:\n``\n//Steve Root's IR signal to turn TV on when Arduino powered // //Created because our showroom TV doesn't turn on when the power comes on //The power only comes on when people walk into the showroom //So this arduino will pause for a short while then send the command //TV_on via infrared to the TV. #define NECPower 0xFE50AF //NEC TV power. the 0x in front is because FE50AF is hex #include \u0026lt;IRremote.h\u0026gt; IRsend irsend; void setup() { //when the device is powered, pause then send remote TV on by IR delay(15000); //15 second delay. the tv takes a while to wake up. irsend.sendNEC(NECPower, 38); } void loop() { //nothing to do here now. } Note for future me: IR LED connects pin 3 to ground\n","date":"6 May 2013","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2013/05/06/building-an-automatic-infrared-remote-control-for-the-shop/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Building an automatic infrared remote control for the shop","type":"posts"},{"content":"One down side of running a blog has got to be the amount of comment spam. I’m going to have to put in place better systems to stop it but before then, here’s a brief unscientific analysis of the last 23 spam comments (they all get held until I approve them) and what I think the spammers are trying to do:\nTrying to flog fakes Brand name sunglasses are popular. Rayban and Oakley frequently appear. Also hand bagsThe destination sites appear to like Western Union money transfer and a good number are based in China.\nSometimes the link(s) they include point to another site which then links to their site\nThey comment with phrases like\n“Have a good day!I’m very pleased when see your post.I quite approve of your point of view.I will continue to following on your blog.I believe that the future I will see more about your wonderful views….”\n“If you thinkI do not care to set eyes on this article, the next time I am concerned about your article, I think I will never again careless. Do you be satisfied of yourself, you do not know your article can make people so obsessed with….”\nOne of my recent favourites, several appear to have an error in their code,\nHave a {great|good|excellent|fantastic} day!I’m very {happy|glad|pleased} when see your post.I quite {agree with|endorse|approve of} your {point of view|viewpoint|standpoint|views on politics|opinion on public affairs}.I will continue to {focus|atte…\nMy web server is in Paris. A fair number of spammers appear to recognise this fact, spamming with French phrases like “longchamp pas cher”\n… actually, it appears they all want to sell fakes All the spam was trying to sell fakes and it was all priced in US dollars. My really simple anti spam question commenters have to answer stops a lot of the robots. Here’s an extract from the logs which shows one persistant robot being refused.\nwww.steveroot.co.uk 175.42.80.130 - - [28/Apr/2013:18:21:37 +0200] \"POST /wp-comments-post.php HTTP/1.1\" 500 4132 www.steveroot.co.uk 175.42.80.130 - - [28/Apr/2013:18:21:44 +0200] \"POST /wp-comments-post.php HTTP/1.1\" 500 4132 www.steveroot.co.uk 175.42.80.130 - - [28/Apr/2013:18:21:47 +0200] \"POST /wp-comments-post.php HTTP/1.1\" 500 4132 www.steveroot.co.uk 175.42.80.130 - - [28/Apr/2013:18:21:52 +0200] \"POST /wp-comments-post.php HTTP/1.1\" 500 4132 www.steveroot.co.uk 175.42.80.130 - - [28/Apr/2013:18:21:58 +0200] \"POST /wp-comments-post.php HTTP/1.1\" 500 4132 www.steveroot.co.uk 91.121.64.168 - - [28/Apr/2013:18:31:23 +0200] \"POST /wp-comments-post.php HTTP/1.0\" 500 4130 www.steveroot.co.uk 175.42.80.130 - - [28/Apr/2013:18:32:02 +0200] \"POST /wp-comments-post.php HTTP/1.1\" 500 4132 www.steveroot.co.uk 175.42.80.130 - - [28/Apr/2013:18:32:07 +0200] \"POST /wp-comments-post.php HTTP/1.1\" 500 4132 www.steveroot.co.uk 175.42.80.130 - - [28/Apr/2013:18:32:12 +0200] \"POST /wp-comments-post.php HTTP/1.1\" 500 4132 www.steveroot.co.uk 175.42.80.130 - - [28/Apr/2013:18:32:15 +0200] \"POST /wp-comments-post.php HTTP/1.1\" 500 4132 www.steveroot.co.uk 175.42.80.130 - - [28/Apr/2013:18:32:25 +0200] \"POST /wp-comments-post.php HTTP/1.1\" 500 4132 www.steveroot.co.uk 175.42.80.130 - - [28/Apr/2013:18:32:29 +0200] \"POST /wp-comments-post.php HTTP/1.1\" 500 4132 www.steveroot.co.uk 142.4.209.47 - - [28/Apr/2013:18:32:36 +0200] \"POST /wp-comments-post.php HTTP/1.0\" 500 4130 ","date":"28 April 2013","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2013/04/28/a-quick-review-of-wordpress-comment-and-trackback-spam/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"A quick review of WordPress comment and trackback spam","type":"posts"},{"content":"What a pleasant surprise! I had a contact through LinkedIn (which, to be honest, I don’t really use very much) from Hannah Skerritt of Qube Recruitment Ltd saying\nHi Steve\nyou just popped up on my “people you my know” screen and for the first time I think I do!! I think we studied together for a very short while many many years ago… Did you study software engineering at Mid Kent?\nWhilst I didn’t study Software engineering, I did do a business studies course there as part of a training scheme with GEC Avionics in Rochester. So a short email conversation with Hannah later she explained she remember me from the induction training week we both did there. There were about 40 of us starting different training schemes that week. So having met me for that short period of time she remembered me because of the way I introduced myself. She says that I said:\nI’m Steve Root, that’s Steve with a V and Root like a tree\nWow! I remember using that in the past but didn’t realise it had such an effect. It’s impressive and humbling to be remembered for that long simply because of a few words of introduction. Maybe I’ll need to start future presentations with that phrase.\nAlso worth noting is how lucky it was that LinkedIn made the connection. I’ve not put on linked in that I worked at GEC or that I studied at Mid Kent College so I think the only connection it could have had to work on was that I’m also in the ME postcode area. We have no other links in common.\n","date":"27 March 2013","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2013/03/27/how-to-get-noticed-on-linkedin-before-linkedin-existed/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"How to get noticed on LinkedIn (before LinkedIn existed)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Hoorah! Matthew actually took the time to visit our web site, read the page about supplying to us and use the special email address. Sure, the video wasn’t really just for our company but effort was there. So, we don’t need a video right now but maybe if I share this here google will notice him quicker and help this new business become an established business.\nHi my name is Matthew Jones, I have started a new business called Blue Dot Media offering promotional videos as well as graphic design, since this is my first week in business I have made a video for your company please find below. The reason for this email is I am offering you a promotional video with your own photos for only £65.00.\nClick to view the video on Youtube\nA professionally designed video adds value to your website and credibility to your business, you can put it right on your homepage to be viewed as soon as a visitor hits your site. Another bonus is YouTube videos have a habit of coming close to page one faster than your website does sometimes. You’re also able to submit the video to the top video sharing websites, creating a network of back links and potential traffic sources to your business. You can post it on your Facebook page, it gives you something to Tweet about, send out to your mailing list etc. Thanks Matthew Jones\nBlue Dot Media My Website\n","date":"15 March 2013","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2013/03/15/email-from-a-new-business-that-wants-to-supply-my-business/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Email from a new business that want's to supply my business","type":"posts"},{"content":"I’ve decided to start naming and shaming the people who spam me. I have an email address hidden in the code of one of my web sites. It doesn’t display to visitors but robots will read it. To give the spammers a sporting chance, the email address is nospam@….mydomain… I then email them to ask where they got the address from.\nTheir response to asking where they got the email address from? # hello@cloud-mailer.co.uk – no response\nObservations # Appear to be a couple of web developers. They seem quite nice on their web site. A shame then they are not only sending spam to my spam trap, but offering a service of sending spam for others too.\nHeaders # Delivered-To: nospam@.... Received: by 10.76.80.100 with SMTP id q4csp157962oax; Tue, 12 Feb 2013 11:00:10 -0800 (PST) X-Received: by 10.194.89.167 with SMTP id bp7mr33008343wjb.0.1360695609612; Tue, 12 Feb 2013 11:00:09 -0800 (PST) Return-Path: \u0026lt;cmail@server.brainycat.co.uk\u0026gt; Received: from server.brainycat.co.uk (server.brainycat.co.uk. [5.77.38.165]) by mx.google.com with ESMTPS id d2si4372759wix.36.2013.02.12.11.00.09 (version=TLSv1 cipher=RC4-SHA bits=128/128); Tue, 12 Feb 2013 11:00:09 -0800 (PST) Received-SPF: pass (google.com: best guess record for domain of cmail@server.brainycat.co.uk designates 5.77.38.165 as permitted sender) client-ip=5.77.38.165; Authentication-Results: mx.google.com; spf=pass (google.com: best guess record for domain of cmail@server.brainycat.co.uk designates 5.77.38.165 as permitted sender) smtp.mail=cmail@server.brainycat.co.uk Received: from cmail by server.brainycat.co.uk with local (Exim 4.80) (envelope-from \u0026lt;cmail@server.brainycat.co.uk\u0026gt;) id 1U5L5M-0002E6-7b for nospam@....; Tue, 12 Feb 2013 19:00:08 +0000 To: nospam@.... Subject: Marketing From: hello@cloud-mailer.co.uk MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1 Message-Id: \u0026lt;E1U5L5M-0002E6-7b@server.brainycat.co.uk\u0026gt; Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2013 19:00:08 +0000 X-AntiAbuse: This header was added to track abuse, please include it with any abuse report X-AntiAbuse: Primary Hostname - server.brainycat.co.uk X-AntiAbuse: Original Domain - .... X-AntiAbuse: Originator/Caller UID/GID - [521 32007] / [47 12] X-AntiAbuse: Sender Address Domain - server.brainycat.co.uk X-Get-Message-Sender-Via: server.brainycat.co.uk: authenticated_id: cmail/from_h X-Source: /usr/local/bin/php X-Source-Args: /usr/local/bin/php /home/cmail/public_html/cron/hourly_marketing.php X-Source-Dir: /home/cmail \u0026lt;html\u0026gt; \u0026lt;head\u0026gt; \u0026lt;meta http-equiv='content-type' content='text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1'\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/head\u0026gt; \u0026lt;body bgcolor='#FFFFFF' text='#000000'\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p style='color: #125474; font-size: 22px;'\u0026gt;\u0026lt;strong\u0026gt;Reach Thousands Of People This Evening\u0026lt;/strong\u0026gt;\u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt;We'd like to take the opportunity to introduce href='https://www.cloud-mailer.co.uk/'\u0026gt;\u0026lt;strong\u0026gt;Cloud Mailer\u0026lt;/strong\u0026gt; - a revolutionary new email-networking platform that provides millions of UK business email addresses for you to use in your email marketing campaigns. \u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; Delivered-To: nospam@.... Received: by 10.76.83.136 with SMTP id q8csp93204oay; Fri, 1 Mar 2013 14:45:19 -0800 (PST) X-Received: by 10.194.89.169 with SMTP id bp9mr20366076wjb.57.1362177919027; Fri, 01 Mar 2013 14:45:19 -0800 (PST) Return-Path: \u0026lt;cmail@server.brainycat.co.uk\u0026gt; Received: from server.brainycat.co.uk (server.brainycat.co.uk. [5.77.38.165]) by mx.google.com with ESMTPS id ua5si6017960wjc.61.2013.03.01.14.45.18 (version=TLSv1 cipher=RC4-SHA bits=128/128); Fri, 01 Mar 2013 14:45:19 -0800 (PST) Received-SPF: pass (google.com: best guess record for domain of cmail@server.brainycat.co.uk designates 5.77.38.165 as permitted sender) client-ip=5.77.38.165; Authentication-Results: mx.google.com; spf=pass (google.com: best guess record for domain of cmail@server.brainycat.co.uk designates 5.77.38.165 as permitted sender) smtp.mail=cmail@server.brainycat.co.uk Received: from cmail by server.brainycat.co.uk with local (Exim 4.80) (envelope-from \u0026lt;cmail@server.brainycat.co.uk\u0026gt;) id 1UBYha-0006qM-67 for nospam@....; Fri, 01 Mar 2013 22:45:18 +0000 To: nospam@.... Subject: E-mail Marketing From: team@cloud-mailer.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1 Message-Id: \u0026lt;E1UBYha-0006qM-67@server.brainycat.co.uk\u0026gt; Date: Fri, 01 Mar 2013 22:45:18 +0000 X-AntiAbuse: This header was added to track abuse, please include it with any abuse report X-AntiAbuse: Primary Hostname - server.brainycat.co.uk X-AntiAbuse: Original Domain - .... X-AntiAbuse: Originator/Caller UID/GID - [521 32007] / [47 12] X-AntiAbuse: Sender Address Domain - server.brainycat.co.uk X-Get-Message-Sender-Via: server.brainycat.co.uk: authenticated_id: cmail/only user confirmed/virtual account not confirmed X-Source: /usr/local/bin/php X-Source-Args: /usr/local/bin/php /home/cmail/public_html/cron/hourly_marketing.php X-Source-Dir: /home/cmail \u0026lt;!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN\" \"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd\"\u0026gt; \u0026lt;html xmlns=\"http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml\"\u0026gt; \u0026lt;head\u0026gt; \u0026lt;meta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text/html; charset=UTF-8\" /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;title\u0026gt;Cloud Mailer - Revolutionary Email Marketing\u0026lt;/title\u0026gt; \u0026lt;style type=\"text/css\"\u0026gt; body { color: #000; line-height: 140%; font-family: Georgia, 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans'; font-size: 16px;} h1 { background-color: #f4f4f4; padding: 12px 8px 12px 8px; font-size: 25px; margin: 0; width: 100%; height: auto; font-family: Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial; color: #124b66; } h3 { background-color: #f4f4f4; font-size: 18px; padding: 8px; width: 100%; height: auto;font-family: Helvetica, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial; color: #124b66; } p { padding: 8px; margin: 0; } ol li { line-height: 140%; margin-bottom: 10px; } a { color: #124b66; } a:hover { color: blue; } strong { color: #124b66; } hr { background-color: #e9e9e9; height: 1px; border: none; } .normaltxt { font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; line-height: 16px; color: #000000; font-style: normal; } .normaltxt a:link, .normaltxt a:visited { text-align: left; color:#000000; font-weight: bold; text-decoration:none; } .normaltxt a:hover { text-align: left; color:#000000; font-weight: bold; text-decoration:underline; } .nametxt { font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; line-height: 18px; color: #000000; font-weight: bold; } .subtitletxt { font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; line-height: 13px; color: #84888b; } .jobtitletxt { font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; color: #84888b; line-height: 13px; } .blackaddresstxt { font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left; line-height: 17px; color: #000000; font-weight: bold; } .addresstxt { font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left; line-height: 17px; color: #000000; } .addresstxt a:link, .addresstxt a:visited { text-align: left; color:#000000; text-decoration:none; } .addresstxt a:active, .addresstxt a:hover { text-align: left; color:#000000; text-decoration:underline; } .verticalsplittxt { font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left; line-height: 17px; color: #84888b; font-weight: bold; } .nametxt { font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; line-height: 18px; color: #000000; font-weight: bold; } .footertxt { font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left; color: #969696; line-height: 12px; } .unsubscribe_text{ font-family:Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size:11px; color:#ccc; } .footertxt a:link, .footertxt a:visited { text-align: left; color:#969696; text-decoration:none; } .footertxt a:active, .footertxt a:hover { text-align: left; color:#969696; text-decoration:underline; } --\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/style\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/style\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/head\u0026gt; \u0026lt;body\u0026gt; \u0026lt;h1\u0026gt;Thanks for your interest in Cloud Mailer\u0026lt;/h1\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt;With many returning customers, href=\"http://www.cloud-mailer.co.uk/\"\u0026gt;Cloud Mailer has changed the way people make new business contacts and leads.\u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;strong\u0026gt;If it still isn't clear what we do - \u0026lt;/strong\u0026gt;We send your email to an \u0026lt;em\u0026gt;up-to-date\u0026lt;/em\u0026gt; database of UK based companies in industries and locations of your choice. All you need to do is choose who you want to send your email out to, write your email and then choose when you want to send it out. \u0026lt;strong\u0026gt;We do the rest\u0026lt;/strong\u0026gt;.\u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; ","date":"14 March 2013","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2013/03/14/caught-in-my-spam-trap-cloud-mailer-co-uk-brainycat-co-uk/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Caught in my spam trap – cloud-mailer.co.uk / brainycat.co.uk","type":"posts"},{"content":"I’ve decided to start naming and shaming the people who spam me. I have an email address hidden in the code of one of my web sites. It doesn’t display to visitors but robots will read it. To give the spammers a sporting chance, the email address is nospam@….mydomain… I then email them to ask where they got the address from.\nTheir response to asking where they got the email address from? # sales@paramountbathrooms.com – asked twice, they never responded.\nObservations # Their third spam email actually used someone elses domain (A foreign exchange business) as the sending address. I suspect that was an error rather than deliberate.\nHowever, they are using multiple domain names to send the emails, probably so the spam filters don’t associate the main domain name with the spam they are sending. You can see them using tradeonlyfurniture.com and parabath.asia\nEmail headers # Delivered-To: nospam@... Received: by 10.76.167.167 with SMTP id zp7csp32517oab; Wed, 23 Jan 2013 12:37:15 -0800 (PST) X-Received: by 10.68.200.228 with SMTP id jv4mr6271839pbc.139.1358973435326; Wed, 23 Jan 2013 12:37:15 -0800 (PST) Return-Path: \u0026lt;bounce@parabath.asia\u0026gt; Received: from smtp8.parabath.asia ([69.163.35.79]) by mx.google.com with ESMTP id y9si21951485paw.333.2013.01.23.12.37.15; Wed, 23 Jan 2013 12:37:15 -0800 (PST) Received-SPF: neutral (google.com: 69.163.35.79 is neither permitted nor denied by domain of bounce@parabath.asia) client-ip=69.163.35.79; Authentication-Results: mx.google.com; spf=neutral (google.com: 69.163.35.79 is neither permitted nor denied by domain of bounce@parabath.asia) smtp.mail=bounce@parabath.asia; dkim=neutral (bad format) header.i=sales@tradeonlyfurniture.com DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha1; c=relaxed/relaxed; s=dkim; d=tradeonlyfurniture.com; h=To:Subject:Message-ID:Date:From:Reply-To:MIME-Version:List-Unsubscribe:Content-Type:Content-Transfer-Encoding; i=sales@tradeonlyfurniture.com; bh=MfK1igzDiEHCErhHt425qJHnp9U=; b=4echPfnHqn2ifY7Xaj+DldwWQ+nivZa5wkBuiyZgzNgieicGahcw4s5O21+BDZiL2vv2RikvyhiT x91MY6LZAmmtEzdmxA3+lR9dHHZZ3oawyMjbexrG00L4V/dfyV6hJSMY3OG0rMbCw1Yn9+nyT9+q IT0F17OUd7GwYEAmsAk= DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; q=dns; s=dkim; d=tradeonlyfurniture.com; b=ePacO6003esB+1NpbkhcBQXBt136pmZoMYK0CZXhkmPwM2EVvD8JjDpmHUgg9LmHI6kblMkGbOtL 6yc+xjwN2lp+SsHBQ/05sW3aEiP5lAFPST0tiJ7mw9AGQC67w0M9y9H1WW3kdUELIGSfk6zUgPAs S40ZGeeVnnxnwqyuBuw=; To: nospam@.... Subject: Trade only furniture prices Message-ID: \u0026lt;839dd245850f86aabd86a30cfa0b42e5@tradeonlyfurniture.com\u0026gt; Return-Path: bounce@parabath.asia Date: Wed, 23 Jan 2013 06:50:15 -0700 From: \"Trade only furniture\" \u0026lt;sales@tradeonlyfurniture.com\u0026gt; Reply-To: sales@paramountbathrooms.com MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer-LID: 10 List-Unsubscribe: \u0026lt;%%HEADER_UNSUBSCRIBELINK%%\u0026gt; X-Mailer-RecptId: 62235 X-Mailer-SID: 16 X-Mailer-Sent-By: 1 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; charset=\"UTF-8\"; boundary=\"b1_65aaffd92098ab741635a3be8d1c70fa\" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit --b1_65aaffd92098ab741635a3be8d1c70fa Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset=\"UTF-8\" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Paramount Bathrooms The UK's number 1 furniture supplier www.paramountbathrooms.co.uk sales@paramountbathrooms.co.uk Dear nospam@.... ----------The best quality furniture at TRADE ONLY prices------- These prices are ongoing prices and not just a special offer. At lot of our customers make a tidy sum each month just from supplying And another\nDelivered-To: nospam@.... Received: by 10.76.167.167 with SMTP id zp7csp157377oab; Tue, 29 Jan 2013 12:16:01 -0800 (PST) X-Received: by 10.68.209.230 with SMTP id mp6mr5645209pbc.8.1359490561457; Tue, 29 Jan 2013 12:16:01 -0800 (PST) Return-Path: \u0026lt;bounce@tradeonlyfurniture.com\u0026gt; Received: from smtp8.parabath.asia ([69.163.35.79]) by mx.google.com with ESMTP id rg4si13467235pbc.323.2013.01.29.12.15.59; Tue, 29 Jan 2013 12:15:59 -0800 (PST) Received-SPF: temperror (google.com: error in processing during lookup of bounce@tradeonlyfurniture.com: DNS timeout) client-ip=69.163.35.79; Authentication-Results: mx.google.com; spf=temperror (google.com: error in processing during lookup of bounce@tradeonlyfurniture.com: DNS timeout) smtp.mail=bounce@tradeonlyfurniture.com; dkim=neutral (bad format) header.i=sales@tradeonlyfurniture.com DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha1; c=relaxed/relaxed; s=dkim; d=tradeonlyfurniture.com; h=To:Subject:Message-ID:Date:From:Reply-To:MIME-Version:List-Unsubscribe:Content-Type:Content-Transfer-Encoding; i=sales@tradeonlyfurniture.com; bh=C1fm2Xc58QbaHwLIozse44OOv2k=; b=eDKzKplg11sZC9VZ9BDdd8akalLTBTTwkq9UCoZ1q8YIcvGhK/42579pdUlfqbq5RRa+7yrZJDVx aUO9YHH5YxTzyW9CwYgFMBPK+7JJbDn0sxysm2VoVpTOn9elCJB2NEemaGqgLWGhekyOTgCaiFV2 RCmp521KMsbff5ytDhM= DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; q=dns; s=dkim; d=tradeonlyfurniture.com; b=qwM01mq514iC3cPtNSY0wirabc77kDoDHlVwUxAniXnbTcScmfutrGfNdBk9uPTluUHqScisj56I 16mUtss2YGGnu1tZigV1HD2oNyYWpb3Ye8/obDqvB38GivekgphvJ7AkzNbRsLmIpz1lrTnp7kvk gyxgqrQT2BugCifKflo=; To: nospam@.... Subject: Trade only furniture prices Message-ID: \u0026lt;df6a8af754cbc985f3203fb731b52eb7@tradeonlyfurniture.com\u0026gt; Return-Path: bounce@tradeonlyfurniture.com Date: Tue, 29 Jan 2013 05:44:08 -0700 From: \"Trade only furniture\" \u0026lt;sales@tradeonlyfurniture.com\u0026gt; Reply-To: sales@paramountbathrooms.com MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer-LID: 11 List-Unsubscribe: \u0026lt;%%HEADER_UNSUBSCRIBELINK%%\u0026gt; X-Mailer-RecptId: 66944 X-Mailer-SID: 18 X-Mailer-Sent-By: 1 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; charset=\"UTF-8\"; boundary=\"b1_f7c7d8b7d4c760c1fb02191f3bbcd7bf\" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit --b1_f7c7d8b7d4c760c1fb02191f3bbcd7bf Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset=\"UTF-8\" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Paramount Bathrooms The UK's number 1 furniture supplier www.paramountbathrooms.co.uk sales@paramountbathrooms.co.uk Dear nospam@.... ----------The best quality furniture at TRADE ONLY prices------- These prices are ongoing prices and not just a special offer. At lot of our customers make a tidy sum each month just from supplying And even after asking twice where they got the email address from they continue. Obviously I’m being too subtle.\nDelivered-To: nospam@.... Received: by 10.76.80.100 with SMTP id q4csp149267oax; Tue, 12 Feb 2013 07:59:52 -0800 (PST) X-Received: by 10.50.88.228 with SMTP id bj4mr4140815igb.85.1360684792036; Tue, 12 Feb 2013 07:59:52 -0800 (PST) Return-Path: \u0026lt;bounce@tradeonlyfurniture.com\u0026gt; Received: from smtp2.parabath.asia ([69.163.35.207]) by mx.google.com with ESMTP id d6si1343494paw.260.2013.02.12.07.59.50; Tue, 12 Feb 2013 07:59:50 -0800 (PST) Received-SPF: temperror (google.com: error in processing during lookup of bounce@tradeonlyfurniture.com: DNS timeout) client-ip=69.163.35.207; Authentication-Results: mx.google.com; spf=temperror (google.com: error in processing during lookup of bounce@tradeonlyfurniture.com: DNS timeout) smtp.mail=bounce@tradeonlyfurniture.com; dkim=neutral (bad format) header.i=tradeonly@trade.com DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha1; c=relaxed/relaxed; s=dkim; d=trade.com; h=To:Subject:Message-ID:Date:From:Reply-To:MIME-Version:List-Unsubscribe:Content-Type:Content-Transfer-Encoding; i=tradeonly@trade.com; bh=8Uo4IJnEM6oSi3E92G1oYiNtO34=; b=lyn+8E1YRksUlkjO8KrBZHKd2tN+gE3Zzn7ZaggHoyWXB/6I1KiMoUy/OLjR8eAInODFG78Db1zT h9CxZjb3pK3kQFN/+1dGmV7l/cSAlYzS9xevch/k/ajJnxItJ46jHDAMQSWChZmWpo0ht7U/hHEt KsZ1hSEFAgGdWBFwm5s= DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; q=dns; s=dkim; d=trade.com; b=K/b9Slma+Ee6IbDL+B6k26rX3vULqOg61cmaXbndp6CeSkJKUwwSWL8kVw0SD4BlTyGccaO00wQ8 JyJ6cYYO4CKPe7E4RVcSICAoNh4hgWBZy3Y74JHVSSFn92UCeMUOXBovMJF9zZuhovxQcpIltQj9 A1bDsdr+gBr3ydoujEs=; To: nospam@.... Subject: Why use anyone else? Message-ID: \u0026lt;e5c5f6bf9ad026910436816c1c1cde83@tradeonlyfurniture.com\u0026gt; Return-Path: bounce@tradeonlyfurniture.com Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2013 01:30:29 -0700 From: \"Why use anyone else for bathrooms?\" \u0026lt;tradeonly@trade.com\u0026gt; Reply-To: sales@paramountbathrooms.com MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer-LID: 11 List-Unsubscribe: \u0026lt;%%HEADER_UNSUBSCRIBELINK%%\u0026gt; X-Mailer-RecptId: 66944 X-Mailer-SID: 32 X-Mailer-Sent-By: 1 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; charset=\"UTF-8\"; boundary=\"b1_8bce6dbe71b7111c29a83ae3a319f45e\" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit --b1_8bce6dbe71b7111c29a83ae3a319f45e Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset=\"UTF-8\" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Having trouble reading this email? [http://tradeonlyfurniture.com/display.php?M=66944\u0026C=a9ef5551407eef3445e5d28533ecfc6e\u0026S=32\u0026L=11\u0026N=10]http://tradeonlyfurniture.com/display.php?M=66944\u0026C=a9ef5551407eef3445e5d28533ecfc6e\u0026S=32\u0026L=11\u0026N=10 [http://tradeonlyfurniture.com/link.php?M=66944\u0026N=32\u0026L=2\u0026F=T] www.paramountbathrooms.co.uk email:sales@paramountbathrooms.co.uk Tel:02392 586616 Newsletter February 2012","date":"14 March 2013","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2013/03/14/caught-in-my-spam-trap-paramountbathrooms-com-co-uk/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Caught in my spam trap – paramountbathrooms.com / .co.uk","type":"posts"},{"content":"I’ve decided to start naming and shaming the people who spam me. I have an email address hidden in the code of one of my web sites. It doesn’t display to visitors but robots will read it. To give the spammers a sporting chance, the email address is nospam@….mydomain… I then email them to ask where they got the address from.\nTheir response to asking where they got the email address from? # No reply from ibenson@buildingmergers.co.uk (also the address on the web site)\nEmail headers # Delivered-To: nospam@.... Received: by 10.76.167.167 with SMTP id zp7csp11088oab; Sun, 6 Jan 2013 13:22:30 -0800 (PST) X-Received: by 10.194.123.105 with SMTP id lz9mr93095986wjb.43.1357507349814; Sun, 06 Jan 2013 13:22:29 -0800 (PST) Return-Path: \u0026lt;ibenson@mergermail.co.uk\u0026gt; Received: from nm2-vm0.bt.bullet.mail.ird.yahoo.com (nm2-vm0.bt.bullet.mail.ird.yahoo.com. [212.82.108.92]) by mx.google.com with ESMTPS id y7si7407329wix.34.2013.01.06.13.22.29 (version=TLSv1 cipher=RC4-SHA bits=128/128); Sun, 06 Jan 2013 13:22:29 -0800 (PST) Received-SPF: neutral (google.com: 212.82.108.92 is neither permitted nor denied by best guess record for domain of ibenson@mergermail.co.uk) client-ip=212.82.108.92; Authentication-Results: mx.google.com; spf=neutral (google.com: 212.82.108.92 is neither permitted nor denied by best guess record for domain of ibenson@mergermail.co.uk) smtp.mail=ibenson@mergermail.co.uk Received: from [212.82.108.229] by nm2.bt.bullet.mail.ird.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 06 Jan 2013 21:22:29 -0000 Received: from [217.146.189.78] by tm2.bt.bullet.mail.ird.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 06 Jan 2013 21:22:29 -0000 Received: from [127.0.0.1] by smtp828.mail.ird.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 06 Jan 2013 21:22:29 -0000 X-Yahoo-Newman-Id: 109670.56545.bm@smtp828.mail.ird.yahoo.com Message-ID: \u0026lt;109670.56545.bm@smtp828.mail.ird.yahoo.com\u0026gt; X-Yahoo-Newman-Property: ymail-3 X-YMail-OSG: sLH2K_UVM1kwPXZM0.Ah8akr8wNQ930om9q9JK4WB4hdc8u Ariw1Bdel_5usjDGzr0rK9j_ZZKarqT2DABdVVbqi_IfACfQcLQCBtYBXabF KW0gQPl0lyfA4Og1qc3sfrFt1Y1MAEwfCZiO_xqseGb5nY42BHlojG9f_uuZ Uffed.5Tht5yv6h9GArJKrkPgj4rr7Jwy4YNZLhzQoqna.n_9pUXdBK8Gh_B ckAWpZ6ty6vl2JTq13G3UK7ZovncSurQ7bKD8iJgX7gmshgv1idVjw0tw3fy 2H8sCFgyJkw3X1na_k8O8ymPyBAASj8yJA.cfOyoQKf3Lhvg0bg5nvMv0_pf uUe7a3b_NmnlJdEaiOEP8T6uCPGAkwifrh35w5Bzs2uuWVBYMR5.Z6JnSwH0 pNrBFVs8_3uqeE20E6wDebSPNl0gBaQD2ZhhqIEavyyfWIJLu6KNEcLe5ej6 imyx3M3eef8bMlSl5AXvMJHH0JQwsuwa6DkA3D1QvbkGOTPOYhtJEnLQEQ84 VgXgERU6G3.1VHa5jpzXWPlODTfWNhgrTtva6bn7Pty0- X-Yahoo-SMTP: 5XLkSliswBDaNmfSrYcmC2Iyqy2G6up4yzBofV05ID6qaACd56g3sp0- Received: from IAN-LAPTOP2 (ibenson@92.41.236.239 with login) by smtp828.mail.ird.yahoo.com with SMTP; 06 Jan 2013 13:22:28 -0800 PST From: \"Ian Benson - Building Mergers\" \u0026lt;ibenson@mergermail.co.uk\u0026gt; Subject: Design, Construction, Fitting Out \u0026 Maintenance Businesses For Sale To: \"nospam\" \u0026lt;nospam@.....\u0026gt; Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary=\"winmDNq44pC1H=_jEWoPgurp494tw2s4he\" MIME-Version: 1.0 Reply-To: \"ibenson@buildingmergers.co.uk\" \u0026lt;ibenson@buildingmergers.co.uk\u0026gt; Date: Sun, 6 Jan 2013 21:22:19 +0000 This is a multi-part message in MIME format --winmDNq44pC1H=_jEWoPgurp494tw2s4he Content-Type: text/plain; charset=\"utf-8\" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: inline =EF=BB=BFBuilding Businesses For SaleBUILDING MERGERS Design, Construction, Fitting Out \u0026 Maintenance Businesses For Sale We market design, construction, fitting out and maintenance businesses= for sale across the UK. These include retirement sales, disposals by = larger firms concentrating on core activities plus sales by entreprene= urs who have built up businesses and wish to embark on fresh challenge= s.","date":"14 March 2013","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2013/03/14/caught-in-my-spam-trap-buildingmergers-co-uk/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Caught in my spam trap – buildingmergers.co.uk","type":"posts"},{"content":"I’ve had a problem for a while connecting to BT Openzone from my mac. I get an IP address. I can ping the gateway, but I can’t get online. Using my android phone the connection always worked first time. I read one forum post that the problem for one mac user was the DNS not being updated when the network was joined (he had google DNS set instead of BT Openzones DNS). I also had google DNS settings present (8.8.8.8) but removing them didn’t solve it for me.\nToday, Skype interrupted my connection and asked if I’d like to go online with BT Openzone. It allowed me to use my account with BT to connect and once I’d entered the details BT Openzone is working fine.\nI don’t know my problem is caused by skype, but on the other hand if you’re also struggling to connect maybe this will help you one step closer to a resolution. Please comment if it works or if it doesn’t work to help the next reader.\n","date":"5 March 2013","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2013/03/05/bt-openzone-mac-os-x-connection-problems/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"BT Openzone, Mac OS X connection problems","type":"posts"},{"content":"Edit: what a rubbish title! I probably should have written:\nHow to change light grey text to black when printing a web page # Sometimes you need to print a web page and sometimes that becomes quite a challenge. In an ideal world the designer will have foreseen you might print some pages and will add relevant settings to the site CSS styles that make things better for you. For example, they’ll turn the light grey text into black and maybe remove the menu from the view when you print.\nHowever, we’re all imperfect and if that hasn’t happened it’s nice to have a way to set your own rules. It’s not easy, but it’s doable. We have this problem occasionally because one of our suppliers web sites has a light grey text. I struggle reading it on screen some times but when printed it’s near invisible. This is how I fix it so I can print a useful page.\nStep 0: Find the problem\nOn my screen shot, it’s the light grey text below the picture of a sink. OK ish to read on screen but too light when printed. I want that text in another colour. Black is good, but I’m going to make it Red so you can see what I’ve changed.\nStep 1: Open the developer tools\nI use Google Chrome for most things. Going to ” settings \u0026gt; tools \u0026gt; developer tools ” allows us to start tweaking the page we’re viewing. Although my screen shot is taken on a Mac, the same menu exists for windows too. Step 2: Find the part of the page you want to tweak\nUsing the elements pane (left hand green icon), work through the HTML document sections until you’ve found the section you want to change. Note that the developer tools open as a new window, I’ve put it below the page to keep it all on one screenshot. Also the page turns blue in places as you hover over each section. You’ll probably have to ‘open’ the sections to find the right part. On the screen shot you can see I’ve had to open the section to get to the section in order that the right part of the page is highlighted.\nStep 3: See the offending codeFont colour is set on a webpage by a CSS style called ‘color’. I know, it’s spelt wrong, it’s an American thing. Don’t worry about it. Now I’ve found the right section the colour setting can be seen on the right side of the developer tools as part of a section reading:\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; div#content, a {\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; color: #7E7E7E;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; }\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;a href=\u0026quot;https://www.steveroot.co.uk/2013/02/grey-text-on-a-web-page-not-visible-when-printing-how-to-fix-it/printblacknotgrey3/\u0026quot; rel=\u0026quot;attachment wp-att-691\u0026quot;\u0026gt;![screen shot](/uploads/2013/02/printblacknotgrey3.png)\u0026lt;/a\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Step 4: Click the box to change the colour\nWhen you click on the little grey box in front of #7E7E7E, you can pick a new colour. The grey is actually the colour represented by the code #7E7E7E so your box will be different. In this case I’ve changed it a red represented by #FF0B0B and you can see the text on the page has now turned red.\nStep 5: Print and give yourself a pat on the back for making the computer do what you want.\nAre there other solutions? Probably, but I haven’t looked for any. Do comment if you know some though to help other readers.\nIs there a browser plugin that will do this for me? No idea. On the one hand it wouldn’t be too difficult to make, on the other hand it isn’t that common a problem. If the site designer had thought about it they would have prevented the problem and in the majority of times I’ve gone to print things, they have.\n","date":"11 February 2013","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2013/02/11/grey-text-on-a-web-page-not-visible-when-printing-how-to-fix-it/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Grey text on a web page not visible when printing, how to fix it","type":"posts"},{"content":"How annoying. I’m discovering the hard way that a TimeMachine backup is NOT complete. It’s missing things all over the system.\nSure, it has backed up my documents and applications but so far it appears to have missed:\n/private/etc/hosts (lost some custom DNS settings) Missing symbolic links, fixed by sudo ln -sn /usr/bin/g++ /usr/bin/g++-4.2(Thanks StackOverflow!) All my ruby gems (fixed by running bundle install) Whilst none of these are major issues they do result in strange errors. Gem::Installer::ExtensionBuildError: ERROR: Failed to build gem native extension sure does make the heart jump and slow things down. I’m still glad I bought a new hard disk though\n","date":"11 January 2013","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2013/01/11/mac-timemachine-backups-are-not-complete/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Mac Timemachine backups are NOT complete","type":"posts"},{"content":"It’s always annoyed me when I want to write an if statement where true is based upon more than one fact and I have to nest if statements. Today I looked at lots of other forumulas and found one that let me create an if_between effect. Like “IF a number is between 2000 and 3000 DO this ELSE that”\nFirst, a little background on simple if statements # An if statement in calc is written:\n=if(test_something,do_if_thats_true,do_if_thats_false) test_something has to return true or false, so we can have if we have cell A1 with value of 6, A1=6 would return true whereas A1=5 would return false and A1=”six” would return false (the written six is not the same as the number 6).\nIf our test_something is true, calculate the do_if_thats_true section. If our test_something returns false, then calculate the do_if_thats_false section.\nExample; if we put this formula in cell B1\n=if(A1=6,\"I see the number 6\",\"Not 6\") then put ‘6’ inside A1, B1 is displayed as “I see the number 6”\nif we put anything else inside A1 (‘six’,7,true,false,or even leave it empty) then B1 is displayed as “Not 6”\nUsing ‘between’ or ‘and’ in our if statements # That first example was easy. I often find myself wanting to do something more clever than that though. Here’s a real example I’ve just had to figure out for my work. We sell bedroom wardrobes and I’m creating a spreadsheet that given a particular width will work out which component parts we need to order.\nI need to order a different number of lights depending on the width of the wardrobe. My lights come in strips of 1 metre or 2 metre lengths that can plug together and be cut to fit shorter lengths. My wardrobes can be between 1.2m and 4m long. Therefore:\nif my wardrobe is 2m or less I need a single 2m length of light. if my wardrobe is more than 2m but less than 3m I need a 2m and a 1m length of light if my wardrobe is more than 3m i need 2 x 2m lengths of light. I have two different product codes, let us call them ‘LIGHT1M’ and ‘LIGHT2M’ and I need my spreadsheet to tell the user how many of each code to order for any length of wardrobe the customer has.\nSo I create a spreadsheet that needs to one input from the user; the Wardrobe Length. I then have a row for each component. In column B I can calculate the quantity of the components needed from the wardrobe length. I’ve also copied my forumula to column C so you can see it (it is displayed because I haven’t put the = sign in front).\nMy results in column B are blue because I always colour calculated results blue so I and users know not to change the field manually.\nIn B3 (the easier part) I nest two if statements. If “length is less than or equal to 3000”, then I need a single LIGHT2M so I can output the number 1. If my length is more than 3000 I’ll move into the ‘false’ part of the if statement. Here I’ve put another if statement (and you can nest if statements quite a long way – I think I’ve had seven in a row before – but it gets confusing so sometimes it makes sense to put each statement in a separate cell calculating based on the result of another cell) and that says if my “length is more than 3000” I want to return the number 2 as my quantity to order. If I get here and my length is less than 3000 I return error. With my code here that can never happen. However I do this because I make mistakes (frequently!). If you’d like an example of an easy mistake to make, change B3 to read “if(B3\u0026lt;3000…” [remove the = from the \u0026lt;=] and put the wardrobe width as 3000 and see what happens. If I’m writing something that should never result in false (or true), I often output a text description to tell me where the error is.\nNow the interesting bit # There is a forumla called ‘and’ which works like this:\n=and(something_that_returns_true, something_else_that_returns_true, ...repeat other statements as you need...) if every ‘something_that_returns_true’ in our and statement returns true, the result is true. I don’t think there is a limit to how many statements we can include in this but I’ve not pushed it very far. If one of them returns FALSE, our result is FALSE\nIn my case, I need a statement that will work as ifbetween(something), and I get the same effect by making two tests:\nis my wardrobe greater than 2000? is my wardrobe less than or equal to 3000? Providing both of those are true, and(…) returns true to my if statement. So if both of those are true, I can return the value 1 as I need a 1m length of light if my wardrobe is between 2m and 3m long (and I realise I’m switching units, 1 metre = 1000 mm and I’ve been using mm in my spreadsheet – sorry if that’s confusing!). If either of those tests were false, and(…) returns false and my if statement returns 0.\nOne last note: # If statements are using True and False. the number 1 is also the value of True and the number 0 is also the value of False. There’s nothing to stop you confusing yourself by doing something like ‘if(something_is_true,0,1)’ then setting the cell display to ‘boolean’ [menu \u0026gt; formatting \u0026gt; cells \u0026gt; numbers] so when the result is true you actually see the result false!\n","date":"15 December 2012","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2012/12/15/calc-openoffice-libreoffice-if-statements-using-between-or-and/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Calc (Openoffice / Libreoffice) If statements using 'between' or 'and'","type":"posts"},{"content":"A note for my future self.\nSummary: When adding a new production server to my cap deploy that will clone a repository from my gitolite server, First SSH into the gitolite server so the production server has the gitolite server in it’s trusted hosts file.\nMore detail:\nA repository on my gitolite server wouldn’t allow a new server to read it. Cap Deploy failed with lines like:\n\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; failed: \u0026quot;sh -c 'git clone -q git@my.server.ip:myrepo.git ....\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; I couldn’t find any logs on the gitolite server to help. Whilst fault finding I read that gitolite replied to a standard SSH login with details about Repo’s you can access.\nWhen I tried, I got the ssh untrusted host warning. Having added the host to my trusted hosts, my cap deploy worked fine.\n","date":"6 December 2012","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2012/12/06/gitolite-wont-let-server-read-repo/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Gitolite won't let server read repo","type":"posts"},{"content":"So I had to upgrade my mac hard disk. 12 months and I filled the 320Gb disk so I treated myself to a Seagate Momentus XT 750Gb disk.\nIt has NOT been fun. Problems so far include:\nInitialise disk over the internet and restore from TimeMachine – fails to restore the recovery partition so cannot use FileVault2. Correct way: initalise disk over the internet and reinstall OS X Lion with a new temporary user that has a different user name (not one that’s within your TimeMachine backup). Then restore Mac from TimeMachine, then delete temporary user to keep things tidy.\nBootCamp has been a nightmare. I eventually bought WinClone which has made things slightly easier. I got dual boot working, then setup FileVault2 which managed to prevent me logging in to the windows partition. I’m sure I had FileVault2 running before on the old disk with bootcamp and without any problems. Trouble is it takes hours for the encryption process, hours to clone the windows partition, hours to restore the windows partition. I have yet to get that working.\nNow, I want to do some ruby coding and discover TimeMachine doesn’t save my ‘path’ information so Git didn’t work (it was backup up). TimeMachine also didn’t backup my /etc/hosts file (I had entries that weren’t important but finding them gone is a little disconcerting) and at the moment I can’t compile some software for a variety of errors.\nArgghhhh!\n","date":"3 December 2012","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2012/12/03/installing-a-new-hard-disk-in-a-mac-not-fun/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Installing a new hard disk in a Mac = not fun","type":"posts"},{"content":"Moving from movabletype to wordpress has involved several post moving to new locations. The redirection plugin has made adding redirects easy but only once I figured out the correct regular expressions to use. Here’s what I’ve had to use.\nOld MT pages had .html on the permalink\n\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Source: /(d*)/(d*)/(.*).html\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Target: /$1/$2/$3/\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; A much earlier MT site had pages in an ‘archive’ directory. They also had urls with underscores instead of hyphens the wordpress pages are using, instead of spaces generated from the page title. So some archive entries had one hypen, others had four. I didn’t figure out a singe elegant regex and instead used five to do the job. Note, I couldn’t use “.*” to match as “.” would match the underscores too. The same applied to using the shortcut w as that also matches underscores.\nNo underscores\n\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Source: /archives/(d*)/(d*)/([a-zA-Z0-9]*)/\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Target: /$1/$2/$3/\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; One underscore\n\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Source: /archives/(d*)/(d*)/([a-zA-Z0-9]*)_([a-zA-Z0-9]*)/\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Target: /$1/$2/$3-$4/\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Two underscores\n\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Source: /archives/(d*)/(d*)/([a-zA-Z0-9]*)_([a-zA-Z0-9]*)_([a-zA-Z0-9]*)/\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Target: /$1/$2/$3-$4-$5/\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Three underscores\n\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Source: /archives/(d*)/(d*)/([a-zA-Z0-9]*)_([a-zA-Z0-9]*)_([a-zA-Z0-9]*)_([a-zA-Z0-9]*)/\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Target: /$1/$2/$3-$4-$5-$6/\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Four underscores\n\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Source: /archives/(d*)/(d*)/([a-zA-Z0-9]*)_([a-zA-Z0-9]*)_([a-zA-Z0-9]*)_([a-zA-Z0-9]*)_([a-zA-Z0-9]*)/\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Target: /$1/$2/$3-$4-$5-$6-$7/\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; ","date":"30 November 2012","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2012/11/30/wordpress-redirects/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"WordPress redirects","type":"posts"},{"content":"That didn’t take long. Last night I pointed the domain name to the new WordPress server. This morning I had 50 spam comments held for moderation. I was impressed the spammers had noticed the blog change so quickly, then I thought the robots probably change their behaviour depending on the comment page. Clever those spammers.\nStill, there are plenty of solutions. Before I get into writing some unique code I found a simple plugin. If you want to comment you now have to answer a question. I’ve begun by asking you to type the number 6. You can answer with any of: 6, Six, SIX, six.\nIf the spammers decide it’s worth adding that answer to their bots then I can change the question.\n","date":"28 November 2012","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2012/11/28/results-are-in-wordpress-gets-as-much-spam-as-movabletype/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Results are in, WordPress gets as much spam as movabletype","type":"posts"},{"content":"Having just migrated from MovableType to WordPress here are my notes just in case they help anyone else.\nTime it’s taken from empty wordpress to viewing complete posts: about 6 hours\nTime it would take to do now knowing exactly how to solve problems: about 1 hour\nTime you need to allow…. decide for yourself based on your past experience of migrations! I was happy with 8 hours or less. Oh, and there are few broken images I need to find and some hard coded html within some old posts I need to look into.\nSetup wordpress (d’uh!)\nInstall Plugins\nMovableType-Backup-Importer Redirection From MovableType, delete spam comments from the database I had 15,000 spam comments in my database. Removing them turned a backup that took over 15 minutes to create (at which point I gave up to investigate why it was so slow) to less than 2 minutes. I did this using Mysql workbench. It was pretty clear what sql commands to use for me, but if you’re finding it hard post a comment and I’ll work it out again and post. It was something like\n\u0026quot;Select * from `mt_myblog`.`mt_comments` WHERE `spam_field` = -1;\u0026quot;\nThen having checked I was correctly selecting the records that were spam, using DELETE FROM instead of SELECT *.\nGenerate the MovableType full backup. This is good, it includes images and comments.\nImport the backup file using the MovableType Backup Importer Plugin. I had two gotchas. 1) I had a non-ascii character within my xml file. There was a solution on the plugin forum – a one line perl command that fixed the file by removing the non ascii characters. I was too lazy to see what they were. 2) The Gandi Simplehost php max execution time is 120 seconds. The scripts was taking more than that to import my blog (some 600 entries, a 2mb xml file and a few hundred images). It turns out I just had to keep running the import routine until it finished. It recognised the entries it had imported and skipped them and after 3 or 4 attempts everything was imported and I got the success message.\nSetup redirects for the old MT page names to the new WordPress names My MT permalinks were /YEAR/MONTH/some-name.html.\nIn WordPress the default is /YEAR/MONTH/DAY/some-name/\nSo, I changed the WordPress default to /YEAR/MONTH/some-name/ then installed the Redirection plugin. I created a redirect with regex match (to tick the REGEX box too):\n\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Source: /(d*)/(d*)/(.*).html\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Target: /$1/$2/$3/\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; This regex matches slash – any number of digits – slash – any number of digits – slash – any character and any number of characters before – “.html”.\nI then get those 3 regex matches and rebuild the correct URL. There are probably easier ways of doing this, but it seems to work OK. I’ve started by using a temporary redirect but once I see that I’m picking up all the right 404 errors and not creating any new ones I’ll make it permanent.\n","date":"27 November 2012","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2012/11/27/technical-notes-on-migrating-from-movabletype-to-wordpress/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Technical notes on migrating from MovableType to WordPress","type":"posts"},{"content":"Finally I’ve got around to updating my blog from MovableType to WordPress.\nHow the old blog looked\nIf you’re looking at this today (and maybe for another month.. or year) you’ll see the template is still the default WordPress template. Eventually I’ll update it but for now at least the content from all the old posts is still visible.\nThe move has come about because of a number of reasons:\nSpam. There was too much comment spam. Most didn’t get past the spam filter but every attempted post was a load on the server. At times the server was overloaded by spammers trying to post. The anti-spam features stopped almost all of them but it was annoying me. I say this knowing there’s probably even more spammers trying to break WordPress….\nServer Migration. The old server is being retired. My web host gandi.net has introduced a new service where instead of having a fully managed ‘virtual private server’ (VPS) they run a ‘platform’ they call ‘simplehost’. Simple host has a number of advantages\nIt has a built in web cache for performance They keep all the software up to date (PHP, Mysql, etc) It costs less than their VPS (less than half for roughly equivalent performance) It scales easier than a VPS (in the unlikely event one of my posts becomes popular I can up the power for a short time to handle it and lower it once the world moves on) It has a number of disadvantages\nI don’t get full control. Limited control of PHP settings, limited Cron options, no Perl, no Ruby, no Nginx. It’s just plain LAMP (Linux Apache Mysql PHP) Each vhost can only have one domain pointed to it. Although I’ve got the WordPress Network working by using symbolic links and actually this might make my spread of domains and subdomains being used somewhat neater (I have lots of vanity domains pointed here, steveroot.co.uk/com/sroot.eu). I only get one login (so where I used to host a few friends and gave them SSH access to upload their files, I can’t do that any more because they could access all the sites and accidentally break something. Note that only applies for those that need to upload things, where they login through a web interface like with WordPress I can still host that for them, or they can send me the files they want uploaded like my sister in Australia does.). If I put my blog on the simplehost service I no longer have Perl which is the software MovableType runs on. Wordpress uses just PHP so that’s another motivator to switch\nA lot of friends are using WordPress for different things. I’ve had to use it for a couple of community/charity projects I’ve been involved with so I thought I might as well learn how to use it full. I actually had it running on the old server too but just as an experiment a year or so ago.\nWhich is best? I honestly don’t find much difference between them so far. Although any code alterations I want to do should be easier in wordpress (I’ve coded PHP in the past but never Perl) I found there was always an open plugin that did the job and that’s been good enough for me. After all, I’m just typing rubbish for my own benefit anyway 🙂\nNext post – some notes on the migration method.\n","date":"27 November 2012","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2012/11/27/goodbye-movabletype-hello-wordpress/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Goodbye MovableType, hello WordPress","type":"posts"},{"content":"Some days, I love computers.\nDays like today, where we want send a mailshot to 900 past customers. I got the address list from our MS Access database. I got a PDF of the artwork. What I wanted to do was create a mail merge using the PDF as a background.\nLibreoffice/Openoffice didn’t seem to have a neat way of adding a background so I googled the problem and instantly found the solution here.\nWhen I next read this, with my luck the page will be gone, so here’s the important bit just in case.\n—\nSo, solution; pdftk + background\nI had been reading the pdftk manual like the bishop reads the bible. I don’t know what that means, but I think it is bad. Anyway I only saw what I wanted to see, and that was not background.\nThe merging I’ve been looking for was right there. And so the years I spent on this problem were finished! Here’s the procedure:\nUse OpenOffice to mail merge all the names just like blank pages.\nExport as PDF.\nSo you’ll get this big, blank document:\nOpen a terminal, and add the boat as a background to your 30.000 page PDF.\npdftk names.pdf background boat_background.pdf output out.pdf\nAnd there you go. The sweet deal about this, is that the background is only saved once, and referenced on all the other pages. Nice, just like I wanted.\n—\nI’m sure there are other ways to solve this, but this was quick and easy (more so because pdftk is open source and ready to run on Mac OS X, linux and windows).\n","date":"16 November 2012","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2012/11/16/mail-merge-onto/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Mail merge onto a PDF background","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"18 September 2012","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/family/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Family","type":"categories"},{"content":"When you go on a family holiday and your car gets a longer holiday than you do, you just know something didn’t go to plan.\nThis year our camping trip to france had a little ‘incident’ that left me pushing my French skills to the limit, learning new words concerning vehicle parts, pleading with insurance companies and waiting, lots and lots and lots of waiting.\nStill, it was a great holiday! Read on to discover what happened when we broke down and what we learnt.\nLesson 1: Always always always check your oil and water before you go on long journeys.\nI did, really and truly I did! I checked a couple of days before we left. When we left from our home in Kent for the half hour drive to catch the Eurotunnel train at Folkestone everything was fine.\nWhen we left the train in Calais and started the long drive south through France, everything was fine.\nEventually, perhaps about 4 hours into France we were getting low on fuel so we stopped to fill up. It was also a good time to have a break so we had 15 minutes or so, double espresso for me. Things were good, our friends daughter decided to come in our car, we were well on our way to the land of sandy beaches and red wine. What could possibly go wrong?\nLesson 2: Always always always check your oil and water every time you get petrol on a long journey\nOK. I didn’t. really and truly I didn’t check 🙁\nI’ve learnt from that.\nI’ve never checked before and part of me thinks I wouldn’t have found anything wrong if I had. When we started off from the petrol station, everything seemed fine. Then things didn’t seem right…\nSpotting the signs\nAir Conditioning: After we left the service station the air conditioning didn’t seem to be so effective. I put that down to the fact we’d stopped, had the doors open, it was warmer anyway as we were further south. Yeah, just perception – no problem really.\nCruise Control: We were going up a hill which didn’t feel particularly steep and yet the cruise control cut out. That normally only happened on steep hills. I thought the hill must just be steeper than I thought.\nFuel Economy: My analytical mind likes to know data. I’ve always reset our trip computer when we leave home for holidays so I can see how we are doing. I try and drive conservatively to get the best fuel economy I can. I’ll still drive to the speed limit (it’s a long way!) but I’ll try to read the road ahead so I can slow for traffic without using the brakes. So perhaps I should have noticed something was amis when the fuel meter started changing from 10 litres / 100km to 11 litres /100km. I thought perhaps the road had more hills, perhaps the wind had changed. We had an extra person in the car too. Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps… still, we were going along fine and making good time\nThe final sign\nSuddenly, the temperature gauge was in the red. I mean suddenly, it wasn’t showing higher than normal before, it was suddenly at the top. I was approaching an autoroute exit, I decided to stop. I put the car into neutral to take the pressure off the engine…. and then the engine stopped. I put the hazard lights on and continued to coast down the slip road, eventually stopping about 100 metres in front of the toll booths. At least we weren’t on the side of the autoroute, the cars and lorries were travelling much slower where we’d stopped. Our friends travelling behind us said there was a lot of smoke the second before put the hazard lights on.\nI did the normal male thing. I lifted the bonnet and looked. Quite how looking will fix the engine I have no idea, but I didn’t have any better ideas. I could see there was no water in the reservoir. No problem I thought, give it a little while to cool down, put more water in (we had plenty of water for drinking along the route), then we’ll carry on. I thought I’d try starting the engine anyway, I wasn’t quite pleased with the way the engine had stopped as we coasted along. There was a horrible noise… it was clear to me then we’d need a little help.\nOut come the reflective jackets and warning triangle\nLesson 3: Ensure everyone in the group knows enough to carry on by themselves\nOur friends had never driven in France before. We met at a campsite in Cornwall a few years ago. That year the constant bad weather persuaded us to look further south for a campsite where the weather would most likely be better. Protip: holidays are cheaper if all the children want to do is play on the beach and the weather is good enough for them to be able to do that.\nWe’d told them about how great things were last year and that they were welcome to join us so they did. By following us it would be much easier for them, right? Well, it would have been if we hadn’t broken down. Fortunately I’d printed them a route to the first hotel using google maps. Unfortunately they don’t speak any French and the little hotel I’d booked us in didn’t speak English. Still, we were still hoping to be on the road again 5 minutes after a mechanic arrived so told them to carry on and we’ll catch up later.\nLesson 4: Prepare all your insurance documents and phone numbers before you travel.\nSo, there we were broken down on the autoroute. Fortunately I plan ahead. I had phoned our insurance broker the week before to get the international breakdown number. International breakdown was an option on our fleet insurance although I’d never seen any details about what was covered (Note: That’s a mistake I almost came to regret!).\nI phoned the number, listed to the ‘if you are in Europe and need immediate roadside assistance, press 2’, pressed 2 and spoke with Oscar at the RAC. Oscar was great, I later found out he’s French but he spoke with a london Frank Bruno like accent and clearly told us what we needed to do;\n“You’re on the autoroute so we can’t help you there, you’ll need to phone the emergency services on 112 and they’ll arrange to get you off the autoroute. Once you’re off, call me back and tell me where you are and I’ll get a local garage to come to you”\nHe took our insurance details and I phoned 112….\nGood job I speak a little French, the ‘pompier’ (firewoman) that answered said I need the gendarme (policeman) and she transferred me. The gendarme said I need the mechanic and he transferred me. The mechanic said he’d send someone to us.\nJust like the beginning of Dicken’s ‘A Tale of Two Cities‘ (read it for free on that link) where he famously begins “It was the best of times, It was the Worst of times. It was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness..” I was about to meet my on English / French opposite, “Help is on the way, Help is not on the way”. Oscar called back, “Hello, Mr Root, did you speak with the emergency services?”\n“Yes thanks, they’re sending someone to help, I’ll phone you back when they take us off the motorway”\n“Oh, that’s good. Unfortunately I’m having trouble finding your insurance policy on our system, can I try checking by your postcode”….\nGreat. Just great.\nLesson 5: If you have to breakdown, breakdown on a weekday during working hours.\nSo, RAC said we weren’t covered. Fortunately I had our brokers number in my documents file, so I phoned them. They said we were covered and they’d investigate and call back. It took about an hour for them to discover that although we’d paid for cover, it apparently wasn’t on our insurers system that we’d paid and that therefore the RAC didn’t know we’d paid either. It was being fixed as we spoke…and by this time I was speaking from the back of a recover lorry so I was hoping it was being fixed very quick! I shudder to think what would have happened if our brokers office was closed. Well, actually I can guess it would have cost us a lot of money and we’d have had to reclaim it later I guess.\nWhen we reached the garage I called Oscar and was relieved to find he’d been called by our insurers and everything was fine, he’d be able to help. He spoke to the mechanic for me. It was clear the mechanic was saying fixing our engine was not a small fix. Our car wasn’t going anywhere for now. Oscar paid the mechanic and then spoke with me again to talk about what options we had. He said it’s too late in the day to get a hire car for us now. He’ll organise a hotel for the night and send a taxi to collect us. In the morning they’ll get a hire car and we can carry on our journey.\nWhen I say everything was fine, I mean that we had 14 days of cover for a 16 day trip. You see, although our insurance covers us for up to 31 days in europe apparently the breakdown cover only covers 14 days. That would mean we’d have to come home early. I decided to ignore that fact for now, hoping our car would be fixed and we’d return home in that anyway. In the end, it didn’t seem to cause a problem, we had the hire car until the day we returned.\nAs we were camping we couldn’t take everything with us to the hotel so we got a small bag of essentials together and waited for the taxi. The taxi took us to an Ibis hotel in Lemans. As I watched the taxi meter going up past 50, I was glad we had insurance.\nLesson 6: Be prepared to make the most of a bad situation\nWe went out into the town for dinner and treated ourselves to a pizza. We had a look around the town. I emailed the hotel we were meant to be staying at to cancel our room (our friends had already tried but not being able to speak French they didn’t get very far).\nIn the morning we phoned the RAC to ask about our hire car arrangements.\nLesson 7: Hire Cars have limitations\nWe were camping. We had a roof box. In order to continue we needed a car with a big boot and that could take a roof box. The RAC said we were entitled to the largest type of hire car as our car was in that category (it’s only now I realise just how big the boot of a Mondeo Estate is). We also needed roof rails for our roof box. This left two problems.\nThere weren’t any large hire cars in Le Mans. No, really. That place that’s famous for car racing, had no large hire cars with any of the national hire car fleets the RAC could use. There weren’t any hire cars with roof rails fitted. The RAC said Roof boxes aren’t allowed by the hire car companies.\nI said I’d pay the upgrade to the next level or car (a minivan/people carrier size). It would cost us about 300 but we could carry on with the holiday. The extra space would hopefully be enough for us to take everything from the roof box. We went for a walk around the town in the morning to fill time. I phoned every hour to see if there was progress. It was becoming clear there was a problem. At 3pm we had a call to say they’ve found a car, it’s in another town so they’ll send a Taxi.\n80 of taxi fare later (yes, it was a long, long way away!) we arrived at a local garage with attached Hertz hire car rental garage. They had one car left, a Peugeot 5008. It had no roof rails. It was a 7 seater but it was similar in size to our Mondeo (actually, the boot was slightly smaller). Que a frantic phone call to the RAC – “We’re not going to fit into this car!”\nIt was apparent there was no other solution. There were no other hire cars available, so I made a suggestion. Despite the RAC telling us all day that we weren’t allowed to, the Hertz hire owner said we were allowed to put a roof rack on the car. The only problem being he was a Renault garage and had none that would fit. He phoned a peugeot garage nearby and they had none in stock but could get one tomorrow.\nI should also point out a couple of other things here. Firstly, if we had a caravan we wouldn’t have been able to have a hire car. They never have tow bars. I have no idea what you’d do if you broke down with a caravan. Secondly, we were already very lucky. Speaking with Oscar he said if we’d been any further south there really weren’t any hire cars at all. They’d been flying people home all week.\nLesson 8: Prepare to compromise\nI made a suggestion to the RAC. We’d take this car and I would BUY a roof rack tomorrow, could they please please please meet us part way and find us a hotel for the night (it was about 6.30pm by this time). My only leverage was being very very nice (as I had been all the way through) and pointing out if they’d found a car in the morning like they’d said a over a day ago I would have been able to go the French equivalent of halfords and buy something. At 6.30pm there was no where I could try. Sure, it would cost me what ever a roof rack would cost but I was willing to do that.\nThey agreed and found us another hotel in Le Mans. It turns out the hotel had a few other English residents who’d also broken down. So, we had another night in Le Mans and another meal out. Then we got to see the light show projected onto the Le Mans Cathedral. If you break down, breaking down near Le Mans turns out to be quite pleasant.\nWe left early and arrived at the Peugeot dealer in Le Mans at 8am. They didn’t open until 9am but their service area was open so I asked there in my best French for ‘la galerie pour la 5008’ (roof rack for a Peugeot 5008), trying to describe a ‘coffre, pour haute’ (roof box… I guessed). I understood him saying they’re called ‘rails de toit’ and they had one in stock. He check the VIN number on our hire car to make sure they were compatible and he fitted them for us too.\nLesson 9: Write down the address where you left your car\nWe then had to drive North to return to our car and collect our things. The RAC gave us the address but as we drove along we were certain this was not the right place. En route they called to say our car wasn’t yet at that address, it was still at the recovery garage. The address they’d given was the garage that were going to (try) and repair it. Once we’d found our car, we transferred the roof box and all of our camping equipment. The holiday could once again continue. Sure, it was delayed, but at least we could carry on and meet up with our friends.\nWe still had several hours of driving to go. We had to que for almost 3 hours to cross the Gironde on the ferry (it was now Saturday, peak season late in the afternoon. My original plan was to arrive mid morning on Friday and according to our friends they drove straight onto a ferry).\nArriving at the camp site near sunset gave us just enough time to pitch the tent and sit down for a well earned supper of French bread, cheese and red wine.\nLesson 10: The hire car stays in France, you get yourself across the channel\nWhile we enjoyed the beach, I kept in touch with the RAC whilst they had our car moved to another garage and looked at repair options. Unfortunately the engine was dead and a replacement wasn’t available before we were due to return home. Although that may have been in our favour, because the quote for a new engine in France was more than the car was worth (it costs less over here for some reason). As it was, the RAC were going to recover our car to the UK where we planned to get it fixed. However, the hire car we were in wasn’t allowed to cross the channel with us. We had to leave it at the port. The insurance doesn’t cover the cost of crossing the channel and our Eurotunnel ticket doesn’t really work for foot passengers (tempted as I was to walk in pretending to be a car) and beside that we had far too much equipment to carry across. So, we met up with our car once more in Alencon and put all of our camping equipment inside (including the roof box, which fitted inside once the seats were down) and carried on north via the hotel we’d already planned to stay in at Rouen.\nCrossing as foot passengers by ferry is as expensive for four people as crossing by car but we didn’t have a lot of choice. The RAC did offer us another hire car from Dover but as we live in Kent it was simpler to ask the ‘Mum and Dad Taxi company’ to collect us.\nWe were warned our car may take up to 4 weeks to return, as it was it was back about 5 days after we were. I liked the way the French mechanic clearly labelled our keys with the status of our car.\nI hope you never break down on a long journey but if you do I hope your recovery is a lot easier than ours was.\n","date":"18 September 2012","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2012/09/18/what-happens-wh/","section":"Posts","summary":"When you go on a family holiday and your car gets a longer holiday than you do, you just know something didn’t go to plan.\nThis year our camping trip to france had a little ‘incident’ that left me pushing my French skills to the limit, learning new words concerning vehicle parts, pleading with insurance companies and waiting, lots and lots and lots of waiting.\nStill, it was a great holiday! Read on to discover what happened when we broke down and what we learnt.\n","title":"What happens when you break down in France (10 things I learnt)","type":"posts"},{"content":"I like to be helpful. It makes me feel good. When I post lots of technical questions to a community I’ll look to see if I can offer something in return for others. When the spree group asked for volunteer anti-spam moderators I was happy to volunteer.\nOne side effect of that was being added to the spree github group which leads to seeing a variety of pull1 requests. I don’t action any as I don’t have the code skills to validate other peoples submissions. This morning randomecho.com submitted a request which has made me start the day smiling.\n`\n[spree-guides] Copyedits on Customization section (#59)\nIncludes such tales as:\n- camel expeditions - basically just casing on JavaScript and GitHub\n- the its/it's trip - where the parents find out one sibling is wearing the other's pants\n- sentence flow - trying to make the examples in the extension versions a little easier to read\n` This makes me think, can I make my own writing of neccessary technical things make others smile?\n1 Pull Request = When someone improves or fixes code in an open source project, they ask project maintainers to ‘pull’ their fix into the project so others can benefit.\n","date":"3 August 2012","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2012/08/03/the-joy-of-bein/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"The joy of being a forum/newsgroup moderator","type":"posts"},{"content":"Recently my parents had some friends visit. They had a laptop with them and asked to use the internet. We’ve not problem with that so let them connect…. except when they connected they were running a peer-to-peer file sharing program.\nIf you’re here, you probably know what that is. A way of sharing large files by turning it into lots of small pieces and allowing all the people who that file to share a little piece with you, until you have the whole file. Then you can share your little pieces with other users.\nThe advantage of peer-to-peer file sharing is the originators don’t need to have and pay for a server with lots of capacity. Used properly it’s a great idea. In the past I’ve downloaded and shared Ubuntu and OpenOffice files this way.\nMy parents house is connected to the internet via our office. I was trying to set up a server and getting very confused as to why my connection kept dropping. It was making a difficult task impossible. I noticed other things like web pages taking longer than usual, or being sometimes fast and sometimes slow. I check the router and realised what was happening, so I blocked my parents guest completely.\nThat wasn’t enough to solve my problems though. I eventually gave up setting up the server and did it from home in the evening. The problem with torrents is the computers looking to you for little pieces ask for them hours after you’ve stopped advertising they can have them. This screen shot showed my problem clearly – this was taken AFTER I’d blocked the computer at 10.18.6.56. Essentially they’d invited DoS attack. 11,000 incoming connections was more than enough to ruin our ADSL connection for everyone else on the network.\nSure, we could still email, see web pages slowly, but everything was so much harder than it needed to be.\nMoral of the story: If you’re a guest with us, please turn off any torrent software before you connect.\n","date":"26 July 2012","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2012/07/26/peer-to-peer-do/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Peer to Peer downloading (Torrents) and network problems","type":"posts"},{"content":"Mac OS continues to keep me happy. Sure, it has it’s faults but I just needed to capture my screen to file a software bug report. I could have explained step by step by typing but sending a video file is so much simpler. Except, I hadn’t done it on my Mac before. A quick google lead to a page of results of screen capture applications. Most cost money, a couple of open source solutions… I was reluctantly expecting the need to invest in more software. Then I noticed another search result that basically said – ‘use Quicktime Player’… and I thought.. I have that – it’s comes built in to OS X!\nI never realised, quicktime as supplied with the Mac (and maybe with windows, I never looked when I used it before) has an option to capture video of your screen. Giving the option of the whole screen, or just a section of the screen you select. Just what I was looking for to file the report with an example the developer could see happening.\nPerfect. Simple. Life is good…. or it will be better once that bug gets fixed.\n","date":"17 July 2012","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2012/07/17/screen-recordin/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Screen recording on a mac","type":"posts"},{"content":"Here’s a useful bash command, great for finding the source of any ruby “unintialized constant” errors.\n\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;strong\u0026gt;steve@Steve-Root-MBP$\u0026lt;/strong\u0026gt;grep -r 'Spree::Admin::Application' .\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Returns the file name and the line with the matching string, like:\n\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; ./app/controllers/spree/admin/satisfies_controller.rb: class Spree::Admin::SatisfiesController \u0026lt; Spree::Admin::ApplicationController So, my constant that caused the error is located in app/controllers/spree/admin/satisfies_controller.rb\nThe command is made up like this:\ngrep = grep is a command-line utility for searching plain-text data sets for lines matching a regular expression\n-r = recursively search all the sub directories\n\u0026lsquo;Spree::Admin::Application\u0026rsquo; = The Needle = the string you want to search for, I enclose in apostrophes, I think you can use speech marks etc. You can also use a regular expression to match things\n. = The Haystack = Where you want to search, using just a dot means search every every file.\ngrep can do much more, read the man file (grep man) or google for more ideas. The other cool thing I do all the time is use grep to extract data from a log file and output it to another file. For example;\n\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; grep '111.222.333.444' apache.log \u0026gt; analyse.txt\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Here, any log line that has \u0026lsquo;111.222.333.444\u0026rsquo; will be copied into the file analyse.txt. This is an IP address, but it could just as easily match dates, pages, referrer strings and so on.\n","date":"11 July 2012","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2012/07/11/useful-bash-com/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Useful bash command for ruby programming (find a string within a file including sub directory files)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Ahh, the joys of computing. My plan for a 30 minute task dissolves once more into 3 hours of head scratching. As always, the solution was ridiculously easy.\nThe aim: To add Spam Protection Filter/Sender Policy Framework to our DNS.\nThe problem: Having more than one TXT entry wasn’t possible with my DNS provider (and if it was, it would have created an error)\nThe solution: Put all the TXT strings in the same TXT entry field, ensuring a space character is present WITHIN the strings if multiple strings are to be concatenated.\nThe TL;DR detail:\nWe use google apps, so google conveniently suggest the SPF code to use. At the time of writing, that’s:\n`\nTo create an SPF record for a domain:\nLog in to the administrative console for your domain.\nLocate the page from which you can update the DNS records.\nYou may need to enable advanced settings.\nCreate a TXT record containing this text: v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all\nPublishing an SPF record that uses -all instead of ~all may result in delivery problems. See Google IP address ranges for details about the addresses for the Google Apps mail servers.\nIf your registrar also requires a host setting (such as @), see the TXT records for specific domain providers list for precise instructions.\nSave your changes.\nKeep in mind that changes to DNS records may take up to 48 hours to propagate throughout the Internet.\nIf you have difficulty creating an SPF record, contact your domain provider for assistance.\n` Which sounded so easy, except adding that to my DNS hosted with gandi failed with an error about a duplicate line.\nThe duplicate was a google site verification entry also using the txt field. From reading about BIND, it appears TXT fields can be on multiple lines but will be consolidated later. I guess the Gandi interface want’s you to do the consolidation yourself.\nSo for me, the correct SPF and Google Site Verifcation code look like this:\n\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; @ 300 IN TXT \u0026quot;v=spf1 a include:_spf.google.com ~all \u0026quot; \u0026quot;google-site-verification=1-3-y-blah\u0026quot;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Notice: The two strings enclosed by speach marks. I could have done this as one long string but I think I’ll find adding any other TXT entries easier if I can see where each one starts and finishes. Actually, I’ve simplified my TXT entry for the blog, I also list a couple of server IP’s and eventually will need to add some IP6 addresses. The a in SPF records appears to only picks up the domains @ host, not every single host in a domain.\nNotice: The extra space character within the SPF string – because …~all” “goog… gets concatenated to …~allgoog… with the missing space causing a PERMERROR for SPF validation and probably breaking the site verification too.\nNotice: using 300 seconds for the life is fine for testing but probably wants increasing to a larger number once you know it’s working. I’m going for 43200 seconds which is 12 hours.\n","date":"27 June 2012","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2012/06/27/spf-with-google/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"SPF with google site verification","type":"posts"},{"content":"or at least, I *thought* my SSL certificate wasn’t working in Safari.\nWhen I launched our new company web site last month I thought I’d checked the SSL certificate was working in all browsers. It wasn’t, a customer quickly pointed out it didn’t work in for him and I tracked down a particular issue to do with chains. It seemed fine for google Chrome but Firefox couldn’t work it out. Anyway, fixed in half an hour, or so I thought.\nBeing extra vigilant, I fired up safari on my mac and cringed when I saw that although the url said https:// , safari wasn’t giving me a secure connection and I couldn’t view the certificate. Look, here’s a screen shot:\nSo, I spent an hour googling for people with similar problems, reading up on SSL certificates, studying the nginx config file thinking I probably had a typo (after all, it was working in both Chrome and Firefox) and then I stumbled upon a post (I can’t remember where, sorry, otherwise I’d link to it) that said safari looks just the same when on a secure connection as an insecure connection. I checked apple web site using https://www.apple.com and sure enough, no sign of things being secure. Except, there is…. look very closely in the top right corner of safari. If you click on the padlock you can view the certificate.\nSee, it was there all along, working fine. Ho hum, another hour lost to computing glitches.\n","date":"20 June 2012","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2012/06/20/my-ssl-certific/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"My SSL certificate was not working in Safari, but it did in Chrome and Firefox","type":"posts"},{"content":"Dear\nlifestyleadvertising@archant.co.uk life-style@archant.co.uk (22nd February 2012)\n“Bolton, Jamie” \u0026lt;Jamie.Bolton@archant.co.uk\u0026gt; (11th March 2012)\n“Blick, Sharon” \u0026laquo;Sharon.Blick@archant.co.uk\u0026raquo; (8th May 2012)\nand again “Blick, Sharon” \u0026laquo;Sharon.Blick@archant.co.uk\u0026raquo; with “Harwood, Jason” \u0026laquo;Jason.Harwood@archant.co.uk\u0026raquo; (30th May 2012)\nI know your company. We have advertised in your publications in the past.\nHowever, when you scrape web sites for contact information to send spam \\[1\\] (which also breaks the PECR regulations, but nobody cares, right?) you could at least stop sending the spam when asked. I’ve asked three times now.\n1 the email address of ”seewebsiteforcontactdetails@rkbb… is not obvious enough?\n","date":"31 May 2012","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2012/05/31/dear-archantcou/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Dear archant.co.uk, please stop spamming me","type":"posts"},{"content":"Missing options in outlook web access? I was. I wanted to forward email from a service using Outlook Web Access but I didn’t have the option. It was simply missing. A friend had told me where to find it. I googled it and saw instructions on how to set it, but it wasn’t there. I could not see the ‘rules’ option. It was as if this account had restricted privileges.\nThen I noticed, all the instructions on the internet had different colours and layouts. Was this service using a very old version of OWA? Probably… (It’s on an MOD server used for the Air Training Corps) but also… this is Microsoft Outlook Web Access and I’m using Chrome on Mac…. you wouldn’t think… surely not… Microsoft would write the web interface to only work on Internet Explorer…..\nSo, I fire up parallels and Windows 7 on my Mac, open Internet Explorer, log in and the world changes. All of a sudden I have every option I’ve been reading about. Suddenly the crippled web program becomes useful. Well, useful enough to set up forwarding – now I can action the emails through my gmail account 🙂\n","date":"26 May 2012","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2012/05/26/outlook-web-acc/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Outlook Web Access – missing options","type":"posts"},{"content":"Every so often someone tries to post spam to this blog using a computer program. They never manage to because even if their computer does solve the captcha I manually approve every post. It’s not like there are a lot of posts here after all.\nAnyway, I’ve been meaning for a long time to work out how to ban them from accessing web pages anywhere on my server. I always knew it wasn’t difficult, just a case of reading, testing, then making a note for the future. For future me, here’s how:\niptables is already installed and running\nas the root user, running:\n\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; iptables -I INPUT -s 1.2.3.4 -j DROP\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; where 1.2.3.4 is the IP address to block, will block the user. If it becomes an issue, I can also block ranges and subnets and things… perhaps I’ll block the whole of China which is where most of the spam attempts seem to come from but that’s not very nice to 99% of the Chinese people, one of whom may want to find out what an English red mushroom with white spots looks like.\nTo check the rule has been included:\n\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; iptables -L -n\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; the -L tells iptables to list all the current rules it’s working with\nthe -n tells iptables NOT to try and work out the hosts name using DNS. Whilst my own office IP will resolve quickly, spammers generally don’t bother to setup reverse DNS and the list will take ages to display.\nAnother thing, I *think* I set up iptables to save it’s configuration when the server is shutdown and reload it when it starts. It certainly remembers the important rules I setup a couple of years ago. However, I’m not really worried if it forgets these IP blocks as I don’t have to do it very often.\nWhile I’m here, I haven’t blogged at all lately. I’ve been very busy working on our new business web site (which will be at www.rkbb.co.uk sometime very soon). I thought it would only take 2 weeks over christmas to do but it’s turned out to be harder and more complicated. It’s been fun though, so not long and I’ll be able to write about thinks like the arduino based water flow meter I built for work (that was tough and fun too!)\n","date":"31 March 2012","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2012/03/31/block-web-spamm/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Block web spammers by their IP address","type":"posts"},{"content":"Moving from Windows/Linux to Mac, one of my Ruby on Rails applications wasn’t working. I’d forgotten to install sphinx, and the error was a little cryptic for an amateur like me.\nAnyway, knowing the problem, installing sphinx I expected to be easy. 2 hours later and I realise it’s working. It was probably working within 5 minutes. These notes are here to remind me what I did next time I need to.\nGet the 2.0.2(beta) from http://sphinxsearch.com/\nI couldn’t work out what to do with the Mac Binaries, so I grabbed the source .tar.gz version.\nInstalled ( `./configure` `make` `make install`)\nI didn’t realise it had installed fine – I should have typed “searchd” in bash to get a response like:\nSphinx 2.0.2-beta (r3019)\nCopyright (c) 2001-2011, Andrew Aksyonoff\nCopyright (c) 2008-2011, Sphinx Technologies Inc (http://sphinxsearch.com)\nFATAL: no readable config file (looked in /usr/local/etc/sphinx.conf, ./sphinx.conf).\nThen carry on and get the config working. If anyone reading this knows what to do with the binary version, please share! ","date":"10 December 2011","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2011/12/10/installing-sphi/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Installing Sphinx on Mac OS X Lion","type":"posts"},{"content":"Where did that month go! It seems only 2 weeks ago I was opening the box of my new macbook pro but it’s actually been a month already. So, what have I learned?\nRemember how I said how I found it strange the mouse wheel direction had reversed? Well, that’s a new ‘feature’ of OS X Lion. It’s called “natural scrolling”. Well, it might be natural if your on a touch screen grabbing the page, but I’m still used to considering the scroll controlled by mouse as moving the scroll bar down the side of the page. Fortunately, there’s an option to turn that off. Now I like keeping to as many software defaults as possible so that when I use someone elses machine things work the way I expect, but this change doesn’t seem ideal to me. It feels like a change for the point of change rather than a thought out user interface decision. That is, a nice idea in theory, but everyone is used to the standard so don’t change it. To me, this would be the same as changing the keyboard number pad (number 1 is at the bottom) to match a telephone keypad (number 1 is at the top). Or, why not make a desk calculator the same as a desk phone (calculator number 1 is at the bottom). That difference has been a minor irritation of mine for years, but I wouldn’t change it – not when so many devices are set that way and I’m used to it.\nWhat else? Ahh, disk and memory. So, I knew I need to put windows 7 on the mac, but I hadn’t realised just how much memory the two together would need. Some irritating slow performance of the Mac software has been caused by limiting it 3GB for the Mac, 1GB for Win 7. I know, that’s not a lot for Windows 7 but for the design software and MS Access database I use that should be sufficient. Maybe it’s not, maybe Parrallels is letting Win 7 use real memory as virtual memory (that would be clever), but I was constantly over the 4GB and noticing slow performance due to pages swapping in and out of Virtual Memory. For the geeks, on Friday after a couple of days use (I’m getting used to suspending the laptop, rather than not shutting down – I like that feature!) I had Page ins and outs of something like 20GB. So, I spend 35 on 8GB of memory chips (2 x 4GB) and after a day I have page ins of 3GB and page outs of 3MB (or 0.003GB). I haven’t noticed any slow downs either but the proof will be a full day of design work, rather than just opening a load of programs.\nRuby, on the other hand, has been a pain in rear. I have at least become familiar with RVM (and I like the idea), JewleryBox (a GUI for RVM, which I like a lot) but I’ve yet to get one of my Ruby on Rails applications running. Things are falling down because Xcode 4.2 didn’t include C compilers, I spent the time installing 4.1 and I still can’t install Ruby. While I type this I’m downloading another set of compilers, uninstalling then reinstalling RVM and feeling every bit that all the people that rave about how Mac is great and doesn’t go wrong, simply don’t push their computers hard enough or far enough to experience the problems. That, or they accept the problems and don’t find ways to fix them. Pretty much the same as me and my car – having spent about 2 years without a light behind the rev counter simply because it didn’t really bother me a night knowing how many RPM’s the car was using, especially as it’s an automatic.\nOh, I gave up using the windows keyboard, had to buy a Mac keyboard. It’s wired because I need the numberpad in my job. Although the wireless small version looked nice. I also have yet to get the Thunderbolt to HDMI adapter working. It may be my TV, but there’s video and no audio. Another work in progress.\nI’ll leave this post with a picture. This is my desk last month, with new Mac, existing monitor and old laptop. When seen together I realise why it was getting so hard to use my old laptop – the screen had dimmed so much. It will be interesting to see if this Macbook lasts as long (5 years).\n","date":"19 November 2011","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2011/11/19/windows-to-mac/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Windows to Mac continued","type":"posts"},{"content":"Part two of my notes of moving from Windows to Mac – read part 1 here\nOne of the most popular posts in the blog is the shortcut key in windows to ‘show desktop’. I love shortcut keys, but they’re all different on the Mac so I’m having to learn them all over again.\nHere are the one’s I’ve found so far along with their Windows equivalent;\nAction \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; Mac \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; Windows \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; Show Desktop \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;del\u0026gt; Fn + F11 \u0026lt;/del\u0026gt; Ctrl + DownArrow \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Windows Key + D \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; Lock Screen (when going away from my desk) \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Ctrl + Shift + Eject \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Windows Key + L \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt;\u0026lt;/table\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt; For some things though, I\u0026amp;#8217;ve found I need to use a shortcut where I used to use a key. For example, \u0026amp;#8220;Delete\u0026amp;#8221; on windows, is the delete key. It removes the character to the right, as opposed to the \u0026amp;#8220;Backspace\u0026amp;#8221; key, which removes the character to the left. My Macbook Pro doesn\u0026amp;#8217;t have a delete key, but the action is available using Fn + Backspace. \u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt; It also doesn\u0026amp;#8217;t have a right mouse button\u0026amp;#8230; I\u0026amp;#8217;m still learning to live without that but haven\u0026amp;#8217;t quite memorised the shortcut. I\u0026amp;#8217;m also finding gestures a little hard. While I\u0026amp;#8217;m remembering to use two fingers to scroll the page (my previous HP had a scroll function on the right side of the mousepad area), I\u0026amp;#8217;m finding a feeling of fatigue in my fingers similar to that I remember from learning to type or play the guitar. I like the principle of the gesture control though, so I suspect I\u0026amp;#8217;ll wonder how I managed without it once I\u0026amp;#8217;m used to it. \u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt; Update May 2012 \u0026amp;#8211; For some reason Fn + F11 isn\u0026amp;#8217;t working for me any more. So, I looked in [apple menu top left of screen] \u0026gt; System Preferences \u0026gt; Mission Control and I see the shortcut is: [ctrl] + [down arrow]. Maybe I got it wrong before, maybe I changed it and forgot, maybe it changed with an update\u0026amp;#8230; but this is what it is for me now. \u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; ","date":"18 October 2011","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2011/10/18/useful-mac-shor/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Useful Mac Shortcut Key (show desktop)","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"17 October 2011","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/mac/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Mac","type":"tags"},{"content":" My trusty HP laptop (nx6325 circa 2006) has finally reached retirement.\nActually, as a PC it was running fine. It’s processor was expensive for it’s time (a 64bit dual core AMD) and routine improvements (memory to 1.5GB, hard disk to 256Gb, 2 replacement batteries) had extended it’s life nicely. The reason for replacing was the screen backlight becoming to dim to work effectively. For years I’ve been using it connected to a desk monitor for everyday use and it only became apparent this month when I needed to display a document on my laptop monitor alongside my desktop monitor while I worked. While I have a reputation for spending little money on computers and extending their life beyond many others it wasn’t worth buying a new screen or replacing the backlight… at least, not for work. I may well play with doing that just because I can, but I can’t be without a decent laptop for work.\nSo, what to go out and buy? A mac! Well, no, at least, I thought a mac would be far too expensive and then I’ve got all the incompatibility issues to deal with. That was, until I spent my mandatory several hours investigating models, options and prices. To cut a long story short, the cheapest 13″ Macbook Pro worked out for me to be the best option for price and performance. Note here, I said “for me”. My needs are quite specific. I expect my IT hardware to last a long time (I look after it, I’m happy to pull it apart and repair/update things, I don’t need the latest \u0026amp; greatest processor or connectivity ports). I compared Sony Vaio, Asus, Toshiba, Lenovo and hunted through reviews on many different IT sites. As a quick summary:\nThe Macbook Pro won on a combination of:\nScreen Size I wanted no more than 13″ screen. Smaller than my last laptop, more portable Battery Life claimed 7hrs, but I take that with a pinch of salt from all manufacturers. It does declare a WattHour of 63, equal to one of the HP options and greater than many others. Build Quality (+2 for the aluminium body, -1 for the screen’s glossy surface and for two of my friends who’ve both managed to crack theirs… maybe thats co-incidence though) Connectivity I think the thunderbolt connection will be a common standard in the future, as USB is today. I could be wrong (SCSI only ever got popular on Mac desktops if I remember correctly, Firewire never made mainstream PC’s) but I decided that was another nice to have feature My programming hobby – a lot of ruby stuff is written on Mac, so the tutorials lean that way. Easier to bug fix (well, I don’t use windows for programming anyway – I dual boot my old laptop into Ubuntu) LearningAs the key IT person in my small business, it’s good for me to know about the alternatives. Maybe Mac is really really good and our next office PC’s will be replaced with Macs. I have a friend who’s whole business runs on Mac, including their web servers, business databases, everything. If Mac could help me be as successful I’d be very happy! It lost on:\nIt doesn’t include Windows (having to buy the licence is an additional cost) Battery isn’t easily/user replaceable. I gather that’s a side effect of getting so much battery in such a small laptop. I just about decided I could accept that compromise. I’d have to almost relearn how to use a computer (all my shortcut keys!) I don’t really want to be seen with a Mac I have a feeling some of the ways the Mac expects me to work will be at odds with my penchant for OpenSource software, using hardware for more than the 3 year lifecycle IT salespeople seem to work to, and so on. It was equal on:\nPrice. Yes, really. 832 ex VAT against 992 ex VAT for a compariable (for me) HP Elitebook. Although, I did need a copy of Windows \u0026amp; Parallels/Fusion to run it, along with a few adapaters to connect the Thunderbolt to HDMI, VGA \u0026amp; HDMI. Processor the Intel core i5-2415M was better than some options, but slightly under some of the latest releases. However, my work isn’t that taxing (the CAD design images can be left overnight to render). On the subject of price, I bought it from a local (Whitstable based) company called Serviceweb who are Apple Authorised Service providers. The total order was for;\nMacbook Pro 13″ Magsafe Power Adapter (one for my desk, spare for home and travel) Displayport -\u0026gt; VGA Adapter Displayport -\u0026gt; DVI Adapter Displayport -\u0026gt; HDMI Adapter Parallels Desktop 7 Windows Pro7 64Bit Apple Remote and the total cost 1095 + VAT (1314 inc VAT @ 20%).\nConsidering that even for the HP I would have needed to buy a second power adapter the Mac was surprisingly well priced.\nSo, I’ve spent a couple of days using it so far, and so far, so…. average. Yes, average. I’m learning the new shortcuts quick enough. I knew it would take a while to get used to that. However, I’m also finding a few bugs. Or perhaps they’re not bugs, maybe they’re ‘features’ as no easy solution is jumping from google searching. Anyway, more on those next post, along with the essential shortcuts I’m discovering.\n","date":"17 October 2011","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2011/10/17/notes-from-movi/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Notes from moving from Windows to Mac","type":"posts"},{"content":"I haven’t posted for a while, I know. I’ve been busy doing other things is all. Some of which you may hear about soon, others only if I get around to posting about it.\nOne thing I have done recently is set up an http://about.me page. For most people, that’s a very easy thing to do. If the name you want hasn’t been taken you’re good to go. For me, picking the name sroot turned out to be quite a challenge!\nI’ve always had problems with my name and computing. On unix and linux, ‘root’ is the name of the super user. ‘root’ is god. ‘root’ can access anything, do anything, delete anything. When a server gets hacked, the last bit you want hackers to get access too is the ‘root’ account. Many services often prevent anyone registering the name root. Many prevent people registering anything that contains the string ‘root’. I first remember noticing this when I tried to get a hotmail account. ‘steveroot’ and ‘rootskitchens’ were simply not allowed.\nWhen I tried to sign up for an about.me page, I figured the failures being displayed were because of my name. I like the about.me site, so I persevered. I emailed their support and they helped! It turns out the name was blocked by the AOL namespace. I don’t really know what that means, but I guess their usernames connect with AOL services in some ways and my name failed to be accepted. What’s most impressive, is that for this FREE service, they actually took the time to find a solution. I genuinely expected to be told, ‘you can’t have a name that contains root, try using a nickname, or maybe remove the last letter like steveroo’.\nHaving had them go to so much effort just for little old me, I hope my about me page http://about.me/sroot does them justice.\nBy the way, I’ll keep that page up to date with things like my twitter name, social media spaces and any other big projects I may be working on.\n","date":"21 July 2011","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2011/07/21/my-name-root/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"My name (root) – most dangerous word in computing?","type":"posts"},{"content":"I haven’t posted here for a long time as I’ve been busy on other projects, but this is a quick sharing of a very good sailing opportunity (which I’d take up myself if I wasn’t working). Too many words to include on facebook and twitter!\nMorning Star Trust (Sail training ship) Vacancies on board\n7 day or a 5 day sailing trip with us for just 99 ! This is a special price to fill the last few places on the boat\n(From the newsletter I get)…\n– action please: (from Ted) We have some great news, people can come on a\n7 day or a 5 day sailing trip with us for just 99 ! This is a special price to fill the last few places on the boat on the Normandy Wine Run (14th-20th May) and the the Channel Islands Adventure (23rd-27th May).\nThe only problem is that people don’t know about it!\nYou are by far the most effective way for them to find out. A recommendation from a friend carries more weight than any advert these days.\nCould you make your friend’s year by emailing them or putting out a Facebook message or Tweet, telling them about these discounts and giving them the link to the brochure, which is\nhttp://www.morningstar.org.uk/images/MSTBrochure2011.pdf\nThe brochure still shows the trips at 330 and 240 respectively, so please let them know that about the last minute deal. Thank you. I know you are busy people, but this seems to be the best way to help Morning Star Trust serve people\n(Quick addition from me: I loved sailing on this ship as a teenager. It’s where I learnt about halyards, bowline knots, how to make pasta and cheese and so many other great things and memories – I recommend you all inundate them with bookings right now!)\n","date":"11 May 2011","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2011/05/11/good-sailing-op/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Good Sailing opportunity!","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"11 May 2011","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/zzz---none-of-the-above/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Zzz - None of the Above","type":"categories"},{"content":"One reason I’ve posted less and less to my blog this year is because I’ve joined a Rotary club. Rotary has been a tremendous amount of fun and given me a real big buzz of feel good factor seeing the difference my effort, combined with others, can make as we ‘Do good things‘.\nThe best thing for me this year has to be converting an empty shop window in Canterbury to an educational display about Polio, re-using enlarged images from a comic called “Amazing Stories of Polio”. I’m going to unashamedly claim credit for the idea of this window display, or at least, I joined ideas from other places to come up with this one. However it wouldn’t have happened without the help, both in time, effort and resources of friends who shared the vision.\nWe’re not talking a small effort either. From getting permission to re-use the artwork, to finding the shop, to the managing agent agreeing, to the graphic design, the printing of the large panels (which in itself took many hours) and the hours spent hanging them carefully in the window of the empty shop.\nI’ve still a lot of things to write about the window project and I’ll probably never be satisfied with anything enough to put it here in full. So, without further ado, why not follow this link to the artist, Steve Buccellato’s blog to read all about it.\nOther ideas are in the pipeline. I expect I’ll be posting less and less to this blog as a result.\n","date":"11 September 2010","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2010/09/11/amazing-stories/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Amazing Stories of Polio – in a shop window","type":"posts"},{"content":"I admit I’ve not been so busy posting the to blog this year. One thing that’s kept me busy has been learning Ruby on Rails making my first opensource application.\nI’m a hobby programmer, so the idea of sharing my code is worrying. I’m sure there are lots of errors, bad practice and so on. On the other hand, I had a problem to solve at work and the application I wrote may help others. I use lots of open source applications for home and work so it seems only right to share my efforts with others.\nWhat have I created? An application that backs up google calendars for all of our office users.\nWhy? Because occasionally we delete something we didn’t mean too. For example Mrs X phones up to cancel an appointment with Mr A. Mr A is out of the office but Mr B can edit Mr A’s calendar, so deletes the appointment. Except Mr A had all the Mrs X contact information on that appointment and hadn’t yet created our own internal computer record. We’ve no longer got any way of contacting Mrs X.\nHow? The application I wrote reads the Private XML feed of a google calendar. That contains the most recent newly created or amended appointments. I check each entry in that feed to see if it’s new, or if it’s an existing appointment that’s been modified. If they are new or modified, I add them to a database. If they’re old and unchanged, I ignore them.\nOne thing to note – it doesn’t restore appointments. As you’ve got all the content though, it shouldn’t be so difficult to add it again should you need to.\nWhere to get it? I’ve shared it through github – http://github.com/steveroot/Google-Calendar-Backup\n","date":"29 August 2010","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2010/08/29/backups-for-goo/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Backups for Google Calendar – a ruby application","type":"posts"},{"content":"This post will (hopefully) remind me in the future how to do something very simple.\nA crontab is normally running one command on each line. EG:\n# m h dom mon dow command\n01 00 * * * /home/cronscripts/vine-warn-when-large-user-profile\n05 00 * * * /home/cronscripts/vine-get-remote-pc-backup.sh\n01 01 * * * /home/cronscripts/vine-samba-users\n01 02 * * * /home/cronscripts/vine-database-backups\nSo the above jobs run at 00:01, then 00:05, then 01:01am then 02:01am.\nInstead, I can run these cron tasks one after the other by putting \u0026amp;\u0026amp; between each task. EG:\n# m h dom mon dow command\n01 00 * * * /home/cronscripts/vine-warn-when-large-user-profile \u0026amp;\u0026amp; /home/cronscripts/vine-get-remote-pc-backup.sh \u0026amp;\u0026amp; /home/cronscripts/vine-samba-users \u0026amp;\u0026amp; /home/cronscripts/vine-database-backups\nSo these jobs start running at 00:01am. When vine-warn-when-large-user-profile finishes, vine-get-remote-pc-backup.sh starts immediately, and so on.\nWhy is this useful?\nI have several backup scripts for our linux servers. Each script creates a tar archive of a directory, compresses it, SFTP’s it off site, then deletes the tar archive from the server.\nIf the scrips all run at the same time, the server runs out of disk space. I need them to run one after the other. I can’t effectively guess when to start each one. The backup can’t start until after midnight and must be finished by 7am when users are likely to start work again. Some directories can take minutes to archive, compress, send, delete. Others can take 2 or 3 hours. One server also collects backups from a couple of other places, so that script has to complete before others start too.\nRunning this scripts concurrently means no useful transfer time is lost and I don’t have to guess the time each script will take to run.\n","date":"5 July 2010","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2010/07/05/cron-multiple/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"CRON – multiple cron jobs on one line (running consecutively, not concurrently)","type":"posts"},{"content":"In the hope I find this post next time I’m trying to monitor a SmartArray drive controller, A fresh install of Ubuntu 10.04, installing package cciss-vol-status didn’t seem to work. I couldn’t even find the file on the system using ‘locate’.\nFor some reason, it installed as cciss_vol_status (using underscores instead of hyphens).\n","date":"22 May 2010","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2010/05/22/cciss-vol-statu/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"cciss-vol-status on Ubuntu didn't work, it was cciss_vol_status","type":"posts"},{"content":"Sigh. Here I am at work on Tuesday morning. List of jobs to do being interrupted by our web server triggering over load alarms. Actually, it’s been doing it for quite a while, but I’ve never sat down to analyse the logs to find what’s happening to trigger the alarm (our gandi.net virtual server is more than powerful enough to cope, so fault finding has been low on my to do list). This morning as I walked to work I saw an overload message arrive in my email. The sun is up, the sky is blue, it’s 8am. It feels a good day to fault find…\nIt didn’t take long to find the problem. I used grep to pull out todays log entries from the apache log and put them into a temporary file\nme@server4:/path_to_logs/rkbb.co.uk$ grep ’06/Apr/2010′ apache-log \u0026gt; check.txt\nThe bot causing the problem has a user agent of “Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; Purebot/1.1; +http://www.puritysearch.net/)”, going to puritysearch.net I find a ‘search engine’ that doesn’t appear to do anything but display adverts disguised as search results.\nSo, how to stop this bot. Nice bots read a file called robots.txt which tells them where they’re allowed to go. Purebot didn’t read the robots.txt so I couldn’t excluded it there.\nMy next thought was to use apache to exclude the user agent. After an hour or so of trying I gave up with that (it is possible, I just didn’t figure it out and took the easy for me approach). The site is running Coldfusion (actually BlueDragon) so in the Application.cfm I can check the user agent and stop processing requests from Purebot there.\n\u0026lt;cfif useragenttest GT 0 \u0026gt;\nPurebot banned\nThe code isn’t my most elegant but it works. Next time I come across a badbot (or Purebot changes it’s name) I’ll just updated this piece of code to ignore their requests.\n","date":"6 April 2010","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2010/04/06/bad-bot-go-away/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Bad Bot go away!","type":"posts"},{"content":" I’ve been looking at buying dragon naturally speaking from an IT supplier for typing on to the computer. It is software I heard of many years ago that converts speech into type as you speak. I had an mail offering it for only 30.00 which is less than I remember. However I like to test things before I buy them especially when it comes to software. I searched the Internet but couldn’t find a trial version to download. Just as I was about to give up I discovered a webpage that mentioned windows built in speech recognition.\nSo I’m sitting at home to blog for the first time ever without typing a word. I’ve been through the tutorial and so far I’m finding it very accurate. In the first paragraph I Can Count Three mistakes, I’m sure that as I continue to use it accuracy will improve over time.\nIt isn’t quite plain sailing, I’m having a little trouble remembering all the commands but that’s no different to when I first learned to use a computer. (quick note, I was brought up with a local dialect where I use the word learnt, but the computer heard learned. I’m sure there’s a blog Post about observations of my local dialect somewhere here). One thing I am glad of is that my headset microphone has a microphone mute button. The software does it by saying stop listening to stop listening, but sometimes while I’ve been thinking of what to say and start speaking it thinks it misheard my silence as a word and asks me to repeat.\nAs a beginner with speech recognition the other problem I’ve been having is getting the cursor mixed up with an action. For example, a moment ago I managed to select a whole section of text inadvertently and then change the format by telling the computer to use a button on the webpage.\nI think I’m a long way off using this is a regular way of inputting text. I just tested my typing speed on the website and got a result of 72 words per minute. I think my current speaking speed is actually slower than 72 words per minute as I’m waiting for the computer to display each sentence as I’ve spoken. Those of my friends who have seen one of my presentations may know that one of my biggest floors (and there are many I know) is speaking too fast. Maybe I should record all of my presentation through speech recognition as a way of slowing myself down!\nNow to see if I can publish this blog post without touching the keyboard …\n","date":"20 March 2010","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2010/03/20/bloging-without/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"blogging without using a keyboard (using windows built in speech recognition)","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"20 March 2010","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/root/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Root","type":"categories"},{"content":"Taking Nicola to swimming club tonight we were talking about memories of her Nan and that reminded me of my Nan. Two things immediately sprung to mind, the first was going to Nan’s for lunch.\nShe’d always lay on a huge spread of food, filling a table that to a 6 year old as as big as I was (so, I imagine, about 1.5m diameter?). It had fresh bloomer bread thick cut and spread with real butter (at home we had margarine so it was always a treat). New potatoes that always tasted unique (I later discovered, it was the salt. Nan always added lots of salt whereas mum didn’t, which is why it always tasted so different at Nan’s). Fine bone china bowls with pastel colour flower patterns spring to mind, though not in any detail. Runner beans and peas, fresh from Granddad’s flower bed. Happy days of childhood. I then remembered the ‘Mars Milk’. I guess I was staying at Nan and Granddad’s for a weekend. We’d gone shopping and I asked if we could buy the ‘Mars Milk’. I didn’t understand what Nan was trying to tell me at the time, that the Mars chocolate bar was an advert for Mars and the milk was normal milk. I liked it enough to ask for it again though. Several years later, and Mars flavoured milk appeared on the supermarket shelves.\nI don’t claim that any of the above is of interest to anyone but me, but the memories are wonderfully tasty in my mind.\n","date":"24 February 2010","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2010/02/24/memories-of-nan-root/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Memories of Nan Root","type":"posts"},{"content":"I treated myself to a rails training course last weekend (with Well House Consultants, rather good, I’ll write about it if I get around to it). Immediately I start to create my first ruby app and I forget all the sqltypes I can use in my Model and where to look them up. As I think I’ll be looking them up quite a lot, I’ve put them here on my blog for my later reference\n:primary_key,\n:string,\n:text,\n:integer,\n:float,\n:decimal,\n:datetime,\n:timestamp\n:time,\n:date,\n:binary,\n:boolean.\nOptions that I can use in my migration\nI must remember to specify the decimal precision I need!\n:precision [1..63], :scale [0..30]. Otherwise Mysql Default is (10,0).\n:limit – Requests a maximum column length. This is number of characters for :string and :text columns and number of bytes for :binary and :integer columns. :default – The column’s default value. Use nil for NULL. :null – Allows or disallows NULL values in the column. This option could have been named :null_allowed. :precision – Specifies the precision for a :decimal column. :scale – Specifies the scale for a :decimal column. These came from: http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActiveRecord/ConnectionAdapters/TableDefinition.html\n","date":"4 February 2010","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2010/02/04/a-reminde-for-m/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"ruby on rails sql_type – A reminder for me","type":"posts"},{"content":"I’ve been meaning to write about this for a while. Many people we send images files to don’t know how to view beyond the first page of a multi page tiff file in Windows XP (probably Vista, I haven’t tried). If you open a multi page tif using ‘Windows Picture and Fax viewer’ (the default unless another program you’ve installed has taken over as your preferred tiff viewer) you get an extra little drop down box at the bottom of your screen, that allows you to choose which page you’d like to view. When you go to print, you’re shown a preview of each page and can choose (by tick box) which pages you’d like to print.\nOur fax to email scanner creates these multipage tiff’s.\n","date":"28 January 2010","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2010/01/28/view-a-multi-pa/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"View a Multi page tiff file in windows","type":"posts"},{"content":"An old friend on facebook asked if anyone still had the Kent Challenge Team (KCT) promotional video so Rhonda found our copy and we’ve uploaded it. Happy memories flood back 🙂\n","date":"14 January 2010","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2010/01/14/kent-challenge/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Kent Challenge Team (1994 promotional video – have I aged much?)","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"14 January 2010","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/root-memory/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Root Memory","type":"categories"},{"content":"In June 2004 we went on holiday to Australia. The photos were shared on my web site, crafted hand coded pages in the days before I used movable-type to blog. One day, I may move them into the main blog but for now they still live in their own little folder at http://www.steveroot.co.uk/australia/. Amongst the requisite family holiday photos is an aerial photo of Sydney taken from a helicopter flight.\nThis is ‘Deco by Night’, an image created by visual designer Albert Keifer. If you look really closely you can see our holiday picture in that image…. no I struggled too. The nice chap emailed a series of images to show me…\nSo here’s our original holiday photo. The city of Sydney, it’s wide blue river, Opera House, distinctive bridge and some of the email Albert sent asking if he could use the image.\nI am an illustrator, visualiser and I was approached yesterday to enter in this contest. I had the shape lying around and started working on rendering it from different angles and see how I could build an atmosphere. I was coming to a stage where I felt it needed some nice atmospheric background city to put this monumental shape in its correct feel of ‘being very big and aloft’.\nSo I started a Google Image search on birds eye view and that’s how I came across your Sydney image. It immediately struck a chord and I went on to integrate it into the picture. I did not want recogniseable features since this is supposed to be a futuristich ‘somewhere’ place and a landmark building like the opera house would immediately distract from that and root it back to a well known place. That’s why I started to do a quick manipulation (which is also part of what I do for a living) and that’s how this image ended up the way it is now.\nI asked nicely if I could post it on my blog (OK, it’s taken almost 2 years for me to post, but I’ve finally got to it!) so he emailed me some of the interim images to show how the steps used to crate the image.\nClick on the images to see them full size, you’ll probably need to do that to see the detail of the changes\nThe first image is \u0026#8216;the-beach\u0026#8217; which is used for the skyline and low sun. The second image is ‘the-city-base-added’, click and see the full size image and you can see how it’s been flipped, cropped and laid on top of the first image.\nIn the third image \u0026#8216;city-remodeled\u0026#8217; you can see how Sydney has been transformed into a generic city, losing the landmarks of the harbour bridge and opera house. Finally, the computer generated image of futuristic chrome petal shapes is the top layer.\n","date":"9 January 2010","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2010/01/09/our-sydney-holi/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Our Sydney holiday photo (after a little CGI…)","type":"posts"},{"content":"So I may have been quieter than usual over the summer, but the blog still goes on. What visitors are reading though has changed since last year when this post gave the top 4 posts. Now they are:\nUseful Windows Shortcut key to show Desktop is still number – This was written for XP but the shortcut works in Vista too. Margins and Markups – what the difference is and how to calculate them. Red mushroom with white spots – a photo I took while walking BBC iPlayer and it’s built in Kontiki software – though I must make a new entry about this, as the iPlayer has moved on since 2 years ago. We’re now watching iplayer via our Ninendo Wii! Nicola used it to watch Gavin and Stacey for the first time to see the kitchen I designed (it’s the maple one, in the house set in Essex). Welcome to the Christmas Party season – a review of our 2007 works christmas party. ","date":"2 January 2010","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2010/01/02/5-and-a-bit-yea/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"5 and a bit years of blogging… just","type":"posts"},{"content":"Happy new year everyone!\nIt may be apparent I’ve not been typing a lot lately. Well, I have, just not in the blog. Having caught up with work and other real life fun things I’m hoping to post several entries that are overdue. Before I do that, some suitable geek humour that had me in fits of laughter (good job I’m the only one in the office).\nfrom: (funnier for me perhaps, ’cause sudo refers to the ‘root’ user…. hey, it’s geek humour, it’ll mean nothing to 99% of the population so you’ll not be perfectly normal not to understand it)\n","date":"2 January 2010","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2010/01/02/happy-new-year-1/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Happy new year!","type":"posts"},{"content":" Brother Dave decided to go on a cycling holiday, from Oslo in Norway to Copenhagen in Sweden. His Nokia phone has built in GPS and with a little software from http://www.mapmytracks.com/ and a not inexpensive data contract with O2 (mostly needed so we can pester him with work email while he travels) we’re able to watch where he cycles in real time. You too can see him cycle slowly up hills on a scrolling map the wizz down the other side.\nTo find out where he is now, or where his last section finished, follow this link: http://www.mapmytracks.com/explore/author/davidjroot/latest , or visit his blog for anything else he uploads (he’s going to try and geotag his photos…..).\nSpecial thanks to the developers of mapmytracks.com, it wasn’t possible to link directly to the latest route yesterday so I sent an email asking for it to be added to the wish list. Less than 12 hours later and they’ve added it already!\n","date":"15 September 2009","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2009/09/15/brother-dave-go/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Brother Dave goes on a cycling holiday, we track his position live by GPS","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"15 September 2009","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/gps-tracking/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"GPS Tracking","type":"tags"},{"content":"This is so I don’t forget, it took me a while to not find the answer via google, guess the solution successfully, and then read the solution by chance while looking at something else.\nI use googlemail (actually, google apps but let’s not get pedantic).\nI have a friend with several email addresses, (work, other, home, other, other).\nRecently she asked for emails not to go her work address (unless they’re really urgent).\nWhen I use gmail to write an email just to her, it’s easy to choose which address it’s going too (and I know roughly which address is most appropriate at the time), but I have a contact group set up with her in it and those emails were always going to her work address.\nThere was no option when creating the group to choose which of her email addresses should be used by default. The address being used (work) was also the address that came up first when composing a message and including her specifically.\nI guessed that this apparent default email address was the first contact address I’d entered for her and when I checked it was showing on the top of the gmail list of addresses for her contact record. I replaced the top of list email address with the prefered ‘other’ address, added the work address to the bottom of the contact list. Created a new email and using the contact group and gmail used the ‘other’ address’ instead of her work address.\nI later read ‘googlemail defaults to using the first email address of a contact….’\n","date":"10 September 2009","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2009/09/10/gmail-default-c/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Gmail default contact for a friend with more than one email address","type":"posts"},{"content":"This is a note for my future self, because something tells me I’ll come across the same problem again….\nThe old server ran Colfusion MX 6.01, the new server is running Open Bluedragon, the near equivalent to Coldfusion 7 or 8. (Colfusion MX6.01 doesn’t work properly with Apache 2, or more recent linux operating systems and I couldn’t justify the upgrade cost to the latest version of coldfusion. My next big project will be to rewrite the Roots web site into an open source language though as Open Bluedragon runs coldfusion code and is open source, I might be able to develop rather than re-write from scratch, anyway, enough of that background).\nThings change between program versions and to my horror I found the shopping cart wasn’t working yesterday. The blame lies with me, I didn’t properly test and I should have spotted it before the server move. Hey ho, 3 hours to debug and fix, and the problem was with\n\u0026lt;cfset this = val(evaluate(listgetat( form.FIELDNAMES, listcontains( form.FIELDNAMES,\"_ID_\"))))\u0026gt; The Fieldnames are coming out as all lowercase, and the original code was written to handle the form.FIELDNAMES returning all uppercase.\nIf i’ve a bottle of white wine at home, I’ll open it and have a glass to celebrate my satisfaction 🙂\n","date":"4 September 2009","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2009/09/04/migrating-coldf/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Migrating Coldfusion to Open Bluedragon – form.FIELDNAMES","type":"posts"},{"content":" Googlemail is down 🙁 Looks like they think they’ll be an hour. At times like this I think ‘if only there wasn’t so much spam I’d still have my email on my own server, that’s working fine”. Then I remember, I’m pretty sure the googlemail server uptime is higher than my server, and seeing as I haven’t had to spend any time updating this, that and t’other software to make gmail work, I should be patient and wait for my gmail to return to service.\n","date":"1 September 2009","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2009/09/01/googlemail-down/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Googlemail down :(","type":"posts"},{"content":"I’ve just moved the blog to the new server. More on that later. I’ve been very slow on posting things lately, perhaps once this task is off the to do list I’ll make a little more time.\n","date":"31 August 2009","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2009/08/31/moving-the-blog/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Moving the blog to a new server","type":"posts"},{"content":"If you’re in Medway on Friday evening, 17th July, please consider going to to this event organised by some friends of mine.\nThanks everyone!\n– – – –\nDear Steve,\nOnly a week to go until the big event which promises to be the biggest of its kind ever seen in Medway.\nAs you know, our group of volunteers, attached to the Rotary club of Medway, is aiming to raise funds to End Polio Now once and for all.\nIts still infecting hundreds of children and adults in some parts of the world and its presence is still here in Medway; among the audience next Friday night will be local people who know first hand how the disease affects patients.\nWe need your help, so please let me know how many tickets you want and whether I should post them to you or leave them at the reception at Dickens World.\nLooking forward to seeing you there!\nBest wishes\nClive Lawrence\nRotary Club of Medway\nPS And if you know anyone else who might be interested in supporting the campaign, please point them in my direction!\nDATE: FRIDAY 17 JULY\nTIME: 7.30pm\nWHERE: BRITANNIA THEATRE, DICKENS WORLD, CHATHAM MARITIME ME4 4LL\nCOST: 10 PER TICKET\nCHEQUES: ROTARY CLUB OF MEDWAY\nADDRESS: c/o 1 SOUTH AVENUE GILLINGHAM ME8 6EG\n","date":"13 July 2009","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2009/07/13/are-you-in-medw/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Are you in Medway on Friday?","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"13 July 2009","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/rotary-polio/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Rotary Polio","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"21 June 2009","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/rotary-convention/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Rotary Convention","type":"tags"},{"content":"The afternoon of the first day was my turn to volunteer. There was no pressure to volunteer but no good reason no to. There were two perks of volunteering, the first was an orange cap with the Birmingham convention badge upon it (Believe me, it’s a perk, one American asked wher eto buy them from) and the second was meeting Rotarians from all over the world as I gave out the goody bags.\nOne of the noticable traights of Rotarians is their age, most Rotarians are over 60, many over 50. Being the only male volunteer that looked youthful (now I’m the grand old age of 33). Immediately I was given the job of moving boxes full of goody bags from the back store into the distribution area. Having moved all those in fairly quick time, I had to get bags from the ‘container’. No problem I thought, these boxes are easy to move and they told me there was a pallet truck – just like being at work really. Well, not quite. All the bags that were boxed had already been moved in, all the remaining were loose. Some small attempt at bundling them had been made, strapping them in groups of 20, but most of these fell apart if not when carried when the whole pile would collapse. Still, there was no point moaning about it and another Rotarian, Colin, who came from Scotland was helping too, so we had a good chat about the differences in our clubs and the projects we’re involved in.\nGiving out the bags, we had one returned from an Australian lady who (rather appropriately as she said herself) had been given an incorrectly printed bag. All the text and logos were printed upside down! So, I gave her another and suggested she tell all the local media back home how we Brits had made merry fun with her by giving her the misprinted bag, and that they can use it as an excuse to recruit more people into the great environment Rotary is. She went away happy. Rotary really is as much about fun and fellowship as “Doing Good Things“.\nThe next post will be about the Opening Ceremony that was held this morning but that will have to wait until later. Shortly we leave for the Medieval Spectacular at Warwick Castle.\n","date":"21 June 2009","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2009/06/21/rotary-internat-1/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Rotary International Convention 2009 – Volunteering","type":"posts"},{"content":"Here I am, hooray! blogging from the NEC for free, at a net cafe at the Rotary Interational Convention in Birmingham.\nIn another 15 minutes I’ll be off to be a “HOC Ambassador”, HOC means “Host Organising Committee”, and ambassador means I volunteered to help. In my case, I’m told I’ll be handing out goody bags.\nWe (Rhonda and I) arrived early this morning from the Peak District where we’d been camping and walking (more on that later, with photos of the wonderful midsumer English weather – gale force winds, rain, thunder, lightning…. guess the weather God forgot what summer means). Getting our pass was a breeze – we were booking number 51 thousand and something and they found our envelope within a minute. A quick wander around the “House of Friendship”, get our goody bag, then off to find our hotel in Birmingham.\nThe “House of Friendship” has lots of stands, many representing charities, many representing fellowship (like the Fellowship of Flying Rotarians (if I remember that correctly) – may be I’ll get back to flying one day). One thing I found funny, a stand taking 4 spaces, selling just handbags – larger than many of the other good causes and larger than some of the Rotary parephenalia stalls. Speaking of which, Rhonda said she’d make me a Bow Tie in special colours… guess I should learn how to tie a bow tie then.\nOf to volunteer now. If there’s no image with this post, it means the internet connection is so slow here I couldn’t get one in time. Although I have logged into my MovableType admin page OK, my home page still isn’t up, and even the RI home page isn’t loading.\n","date":"20 June 2009","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2009/06/20/rotary-internat/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Rotary Internation Convention 2009 – First timer notes","type":"posts"},{"content":"Sad news.\nMy mother in law, Alicia, died on Tuesday morning at 4am from Cancer. She was 53.\nThe whole family were with her, we’d all travelled to the hospital in London to be there.\n","date":"27 May 2009","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2009/05/27/goodbye-alicia/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Goodbye Alicia","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"15 May 2009","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/gandi/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Gandi","type":"tags"},{"content":"For many, many years (well, since 2004 which is a long time for internet things) my web server has been at Rackspace. Well, I say ‘my’ web server but in reality it’s their web server, dedicated to just my use and fully managed by them.\nThey’ve been great. Small amounts of downtime, answering the phone at 2am to help me fix things I’ve broken, swapping out faulty hard disks, power supplies (twice). They are however very expensive and as my server needs haven’t grown as fast as computing power, I can now save some money moving onto a virtual server. The theory is that the hardware down time wont happen on the Virtual Server. My rackspace server has a single disk, single power supply. Multiple disks and power supplies cost a lot of money so the chance of failure was worth taking. Now though, servers are powerful enough for the resources to be shared across multiple users so we all benefit from RAID 60, multiple power supplies. If my needs change (EG a lot more visitors than currently stop by) then the Virtual Server can be moved to another physical server without any noticeable down time, where it can have more resources (bandwith/processor/disk space etc).\nSo, this week I’ve signed up for 8 shares on a server with ‘gandi.net‘. They’re a web host based in France so close enough to the UK to retain network speed (all the other good virtual hosts seem to be in America). I was a little concerned about not having my trusty 24hour phone number but I’ve just had my first email support call answered very quickly. I couldn’t get a piece of software to install (IP tables) and it appeared to be an issue with the Xen Vitual host setup. I emailed and the resolution came back within 2 hours. I decided to install the latest Ubuntu 9 server which they only released last week, so I was no doubt the first to come across the problem. After emailing me, they posted the solution in their forum and wiki. Great!\nI might write some more on the move later but as you might be able to tell from the lack of posting lately, I’m really busy with other things. At the moment at least, Gandi looks great.\n","date":"15 May 2009","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2009/05/15/moving-to-a-new/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Moving to a new web server","type":"posts"},{"content":"For some time I’ve had trouble installing Ubuntu Server to test things. Affecting 7.10 \u0026amp; 8.04, but only at work and not at home. Strange. Now though, I’ve just figured out what the problem was, at least, I thought I had.\nAt work, we have a gateway/DHCP box (say: 192.168.55.254). When handing out IP addresses, it gives a nameserver IP of 192.168.55.225 first, and should that not be working 208.67.222.222 second (www.opendns.com)\nWhen booting, the Ubuntu box created it’s /etc/resolve.conf with:\nnameserver 192.168.55.225\nnameserver 208.67.222.222\nI edited and saved that file to read:\nnameserver 192.168.55.254\nnameserver 192.168.55.225\nnameserver 208.67.222.222\nso adding the gateway as the namesever (our gateway can be the name server but I had a particular reason for not having it that way).\nRebooted, tried my ‘sudo apt-get install …’ again, everything resolved and the essential updates happened. However, when looking to write this post for when I next have the same problem, I’ve noticed the /etc/resolve.conf file has returned to it’s earlier two entries.\nI’d assumed that the Ubuntu server install expects the gateway to be at the same IP as the nameserver. This is true for my home (which is why it worked at home without trouble but at work it didn’t). I’m not so sure now, maybe it was just rebooting a second time after the install that fixed it. At least it works.\n","date":"4 May 2009","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2009/05/04/fresh-ubuntu-in/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Fresh Ubuntu install could not resolve domains names – and how I fixed it… maybe","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"4 May 2009","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/ubuntu-nameserver-resolve/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Ubuntu Nameserver Resolve","type":"tags"},{"content":"","date":"19 April 2009","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/eurocon-2009/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Eurocon 2009","type":"categories"},{"content":"Time flys when you’re having fun and this 4 days have certainly flown past. Several players are already packed and left (having 14 or even 20 hours to spend driving home). Others are still sleeping, several have had breakfast, there are only a hundful of us in the con room at this hour (09:30 local time).\nAs I start to pack things back into the car I thought I’d mention some other observations of the con. To begin with, the way google assumes I speak Dutch. The way there are two network switches, one at each end of the room, along with lots and lots of power cables. The background music that always seems to fit the atmosphere. The humour (Ninja, at the beggining of his duel, jumping up and waving a broomstick with a white T-Shirt tied to it shouting ‘I surrender’). The differing types of setup that people have to play the same game (from one player with full flight control system, rudder pedals, joystick mounted in front of the chair between your legs just like you’d have it in an original fighter – to some playing with basic old joysticks on laptops that struggle to maintain the frame rate at the lowest of all graphic detail settings). The way so many different languages are spoken around the table and watching English be used as a middle language between Dutch, Polish, German, Spanish and French players.\nIt’s been great fun, I’m going to enjoy the last few hours so this is my last blog post from the con.\n","date":"19 April 2009","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2009/04/19/eurocon-2009-th-1/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Eurocon 2009 – the final day","type":"posts"},{"content":"Last year, the duel became an epic. Myself and Unguis faught until our fuel ran out – twice!\nThe duel is played as a pair of players and this year I flew with Zonix. You fly towards the enemy at the same altitude, once you have ‘merged’ (passed each other head on), the fight is on. You can do anything you like, but the goal is that you must kill both your opponents. The rules were changed this year, so that if you run out of fuel the first to crash, lose.\nOur second game was against Tomkin and Unguis, just like last year. Just like last year, Tomkin was damaged quickly and was out of the fight and my partner (Zonix this year, Dhyran last year) was shot down, leaving just Unguis and me to battle it out. In an almost exact replay of last year, I ran out of fuel seconds before unguis.\nOh well, maybe next year.\n","date":"19 April 2009","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2009/04/19/eurocon-2009-th/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Eurocon 2009 – The Duel","type":"posts"},{"content":"Every year the Eurocon organisers find an interesting place to visit for guided tour. Last year it was the Wings To Liberation museum, this year “Fort Eben-Emael” in nearby Belgium. Built just before the second world war, the Germans captured it in just 37 hours.\nThe fort was designed to withstand a frontal attack and had huge cannons to defend it ant he surrounding area. To capture it, the germans landed gliders on the top of the fort (The fort is built into a limestone hill) and attacked it with infantry from above, a clever and effective tactic.\nEarlier I wrote how my journey to the Eurocon had taken quite a long time. Having arrived in France so early I drove for a few hours throught he night until I felt tired then stopped to sleep for a few hours in the car. I arrived in Liege at about 9am so went looking for a swimming pool partly for the chance to swim but mostly for the chance to have a shower and freshen up before the Rotary meeting. After the swim I followed the SatNav directions to a nearby tourist attraction, listed as a Fort. Fort’s are good destinations for tourists – they normally have good views over the area and this one did too.\nJust outside was a memorial to soldiers who died during the first world war. This fort, at Chaudfontaine, was also used during the second world war along with the new, larger fort at Eben-Emael\n","date":"18 April 2009","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2009/04/18/eurocon-2009-vi/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Eurocon 2009 – Visit to Fort Eben-Emael","type":"posts"},{"content":"Already it is Saturday morning. It’s been lots of fun. Shortly, we’ll be off to see a nearby Fort. That is, those of us that awoke this morning. For some, the liquid experience of last night may mean they’ll need a few more hours to sleep it off.\nI’ve taken some of my photos of the camera now. If you remember reading last years postings you might recall about a player from Monaco that reduces his PC to only the essential items in order to save weight. Carrying a PC case on a plane is very expensive. It is almost a regular feature of Eurocon – Ninja and his naked PC.\nAnother regular feature is late nights and lots of conversation. It was 3am local time when the last 10 of us left the con room for the night. We must be getting old, last year we were up to 4am!\nI delivered Dhyran’s amplifier as promissed. and every so often he and others have been putting out a little tune. One of the things I’d forgotten about Eurocon from last year is the atmosphere created by music. Not dhyran playing, but the ongoing selection of songs played over the PA system. I can’t recall hearing a bad track.\nSpeaking of music, the indoor ski slope had a sound system too. Listening to the latest pop music while going up the chair lift was very pleasant. Going down the noise of the skis was too loud to hear the music.\nThis year I also brought a little present for my euro friends. Being that beer is a popular beverage at the con, I brought some from the local Faversham brewery appropriately called “Spitfire”. One of the players, Sweepy, has always created pictures of the event and put humour speach bubbles on them. I thought his take on the Spitfire drinking was hilarious so I’ve put the picture here too. Maybe it’s an aquired humour though. Click on the picture to see the full size version so you can read the text.\n","date":"18 April 2009","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2009/04/18/eurocon-2009-wh/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Eurocon 2009 – Memories of day 1","type":"posts"},{"content":"You might imagine that the Eurocon is a group of 40 grown ups playing computer games and drinking beer. Well, that’s only part of what’s going on. This morning 4 of us went to the local indoor snow ski slope. At about 500m long and kept at a steady minus 7 degrees, it made a nice change from the heat of all the computers in the con room. It appears that after 8 years of no skiing, I still remember enough to be comfortable zipping down the slope.\nI’d write more, but I’m quite tired now. Before you ask, I didn’t stay up until 3am unlike many others. I was too exahusted from the journey so went to be around 11pm. Maybe I’ll add to this when I get the photo’s off the camera.\n","date":"17 April 2009","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2009/04/17/eurocon-2009-mo/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Eurocon 2009 – More than just simulation","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"16 April 2009","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/rotary/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Rotary","type":"tags"},{"content":"On the way to Eurocon I decided it would be good to visit a foreign Rotary Club. One of the objects of Rotary deals specifically with encouraging international friendship so Rotarians all over the world are welcome at clubs wherever they happen to be visiting.\nHaving decided, the next problem was finding a suitable club. The criteria were quite specific:\nAlong the route from Calais to my destination (Simpleveld, Netherlands) Ideally less than 1 hour away from my destination Meeting on Thursday Lunchtime Meeting conducted in French After a lot of reserach on the internet (it took longer as I didn’t know the town names. For example, if a Visitor was going to Canterbury on holiday, how would they know Faversham is along their route?) Eventually, I choose to visit the Rotary Club of Lige Rive-Droite. There were a couple of options (Thursday being a lucky day for passing through the area) but Liege Rive-Droite was chosen because their web site had more information about them than the other clubs. They seemed active and approachable, so I sent an email. I wrote it in French first, then English in case I made no sense. The reply (you’re welcome to join us) came back in English. A good sign, if my French wasn’t up to scratch there’d be someone to help out.\nAfter an unexpected long journey to meet them, I’m glad I went there. Asside from being very friendly, the food was definately the best I’ve had at any Rotary event.\nLearnings:\nVousing and Tuing – All Rotary friends are Tu, and also “Chez ami” (Dear Friend) even when you’ve just met them [note 1] When I speak in French to a group (when I present our club banner), I really must prepare a bullet list. speaking in english I can remember the 3 things I would like to emphasise, whereas speaking in French I forgot the messages I wanted to put accross as I had to think long and hard to find the right words – along with ensure the best pronounciation I possibly could. To raise funds for charitable purposes, they organise an annual, 8 hour long go kart race of around 30-40 go-karts. It raises (from memory) around 20,000. Useful to know as our develops into its second year [note 1] At a recent meeting, when Lucy gave her presentation on herself, one of the questions was when should you use ‘vous’ and when should you use ‘tu’ when speaking to a French person.\n","date":"16 April 2009","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2009/04/16/rotary-club-vis-5/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Rotary – Club Visit 9 to Lige Rive-Droite","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"15 April 2009","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/eurocon-2009/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Eurocon 2009","type":"tags"},{"content":"I’ve not been bloging as much lately because I’ve been very busy. Busy organising an ‘outdoor skills day’ (I’ll write about it later), busy with work and busy with life in general. Life has been good. You’re about to see a torrent of postings, not on things that are still in the ‘waiting to be written queue’, these will all be up to the minute current events as close to real time as I can make them happen. For the next 4 and a half days, I’m on holiday. I’m going to Eurocon!\nLast year, my journey to Eurocon was at rather short notice. Just 24 hours before the start my friend and online gamer from Germany known as ‘Flubby’ posted in our forum that he was too ill to go and his already paid for place was free to anyone who could cross Europe at such short notice. Rhonda said I could go and thus began a dash to the port and 4 days of fun.\nThis year, it’s a little better planned. I booked my place months ago, I booked the ferry months ago and I sit here at my laptop writing not from a ferry this time, but from the terminal waiting area.\nI was booked on the 04:30 am ferry to leave tomorrow morning 15th April, but I’m in the terminal at 9pm on the 14th. Why arrive 8 hours early for a ferry? Blockade! The French fisherman have been blockading French ports again, lorries are parked all along the motorways of Kent waiting for crossings. Disruption galore to channel crossings, my journey could be over before I’ve even left blighty.\nAll is not lost, last night a few ferries left overnight and on the phone to P\u0026amp;O they said I could arrive early if I wanted but they couldn’t guarantee a crossing. Fair enough, I arrived very early and they think they’re going to get a ferry out at 11pm. They’ve given me a ticket, now I just have to hope it leaves.\nOn the plus side a group of German students are singing songs around a guitar here in the terminal building so it’s actually quite a happy pleasant place to be. Just like going away with the youth club all those years ago. Except for the language of course the only work I remember from German is Hangover that I learnt last year. Oh, and something like Ich haben deinen medicine! when I delivered a special bottle of Spitfire Ale to Flubby at home in Achen at the end of the Eurocon (it being only a few hours drive away).\nAnyway, time to go post this, set up the sat nav, stick on the head lamp adapters and try and remember what I’ve forgotten to pack (well, there’s always something!).\n","date":"15 April 2009","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2009/04/15/eurocon-2009-le/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Eurocon 2009 – Let Battle Commence","type":"posts"},{"content":"I often think I’m lucky. Well luck isn’t just mine, Rhonda won two tickets to see a special screening of a new film not out until March, from the local radio station Invicta FM. Things got better, Uncle Dave agreed to baby sit and said he really liked the book. Marley and Me* was set to be the first grown up film we’d been to together for years. Children affect life in many ways, Wall-E, Toy Story and other similar films become the only cinema experience you remember after a while.\nMarley and Me is based on a nonfiction book, which is based on 15 years or so of a news paper reporters life. Starting just before he and his new wife get a dog after a friends suggestion that will delay her needs for a baby for a little while. It ends…. hmm, I’m trying not to give too much away, but it ends when the dog dies.\nI liked and enjoyed the film. It follows the real life trials and tribulations that happen to us all and that I think gives something that almost everyone can relate to. It’s a true life story that hangs around the presence of a pet dog but could just as easily hang around a much beloved family car or home. That said, Marley added his own life to the situation as only an animal can. Time flew by, the film was 2 hours long and there were good times and bad, happy times and sad, making the whole audiance move from laughter to tears then back again.\nI always find it hard to know whether a film is worth watching before hand and I’m often disappointed by the ends. In all honesty I’d often choose not to go the cinema and just have a couple of hours time with one of the many books I have waiting to be read. This film though was well worth watching. If you’re not lucky enough to win the tickets as we were, I’d recommend it as worth paying for.\nRootie Ratings are normally a book thing, but I’d give this a four out of five. If only it could be found in the second hand bookshop along with all my other favourites.\n*The little animated dog also came from the films web site http://www.marleyandmemovie.co.uk/ where you can also dowload desktop wall papers and other parephenalia. The animated gif was suggested as an ‘e-signature’ that you can use within your email. I wont be, but it makes a nice little place holder graphic for the review.\n","date":"26 February 2009","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2009/02/26/marley-and-me-r/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Marley and Me (Rooty Film Review)","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"26 February 2009","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/rooties-recent-reading/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Rooties Recent Reading","type":"categories"},{"content":"It’s true to say my rate of posting to my blog has diminished of late, but that’s simply due to being so busy with other things. While it’s fresh in my mind I must just post about this mornings visit to the Rotary Club of Chestfield.. The last time I visited was a special evening meal and presentation though I’d decided to go during that same day. This time, I decided to go less that 24 hours before hand too, partly to spread the word about our club ‘Outdoor Skills Day’ (more another time on that).\nAlthough it’s been a while since I’ve visited another club (having been so busy), once again it was time well spent. They had an excellent speaker talking about how to implement successful, sustainable water projects in the developing world. The speaker (who spends 3 months in America and 3 months in the UK for her work in this field.. or perhaps lake seeing as we’re talking about water) clearly understood the issues involved in not only delivering an aid project, but making it sustainable. She’s also worked with Rotary in the past, including at the Rotary International level and explained some of the RI logic in allocating the international charitable funds. For example, RI wont support a project to put a well into a village unless there is a justification this is the best of all systems for that village. She had a photo of an RI person at a well in a village that was very overgrown. The well worked fine but the locals didn’t use it, they were happy to drink the water from the river not aware that it caused disease. For that particular village, a different solution would have been a more effective investment of resources.\nSummary of things learnt at this meeting:\nRotary International is careful about how it spends funds collected for the international projects Even a single Rotary Club can call upon the skills of experts working internationally All daffodils are Narcissus* *Thanks go to President Andrew for that fact, they were selling flowers, I think to raise club funds.\n","date":"12 February 2009","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2009/02/12/rotary-club-vis-4/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Rotary – Club visit 8 to Chestfield","type":"posts"},{"content":"My French prof runs an email list of… well, a mixture of humour, observations and such, the sort that many people forward to your email. The good thing for me is that a lot of it is in French and try as I might, I often have to really work at reading it.\nIf I don’t understand a word, I’ll open google and translate it. If I still don’t understand it, I’ll translate a sentence. One word in the last email was “entuber”. Google didn’t know the english translation so I search the web. Entuber = to con, apparently commonly used though colloquial. The web site I found the answer on had an advert to “Learn French in 10 days”. Well, clearly I’ve not been trying hard enough. I followed the link to find out more (always looking to improve, to think I’ve spent years trying, on an off, to `parler en plus francais` [Sic]*) so I had to find out more.\nThe course contains a very comprehensive ‘More than 200 hours learning’…. Well, I’ve learn’t enough maths to know that 200 hours / 10 days = 20 hours per day of learning. Clearly I’ve been limiting myself by requiring more than 4 hours per day for sleep, eating, washing and such.\n*[sic] because I know the grammar is wrong, the spelling is wrong, but that’s how I’d say it. Full marks for effort, ‘nil point’ for grace 🙂\n","date":"14 January 2009","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2009/01/14/learn-french-in/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Learn french in 10 days…. assuming you don't need sleep?","type":"posts"},{"content":"Part 2 and Part 3 of a trilogy I started in the summer with “Out of the Silent Planet“. I loved the first book, giving it a Rootie rating of 5 out of 5, surely these would carry the trend, may be drop to a 4?…\nPerelandra sees our character visit a different planet. This planet is almost entirely covered by sea and floating islands made of plants. The description of the environment was great but for me the story dragged more than if I’d had to read it as part of my English Literature lessons at school. I really can’t say I enjoyed this story, just forced myself to continue turning pages. I give it a Rootie Rating of 1 out 5 and hope the third part of the trillogy is better.\nThat Hideous Strength is different from the first two. Hmmm, how to describe the difference; instead of traveling to another planet, the whole story happens on earth. It links into early medieval history and the time of Merlin the magician. It has a clever set up where people are used by others to control the media and alter the perception of society. For all that, I found this story very hard to read through. This trilogy started so well for me, but I can only give this part a Rootie Rating of 1 out of 5.\n","date":"26 December 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/12/26/perelandra-cs-l/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Perelandra (C.S. Lewis) and That Hideous Strength (C.S.Lewis)","type":"posts"},{"content":"It appears a lot of people have been looking at my waffle on “Markup and Margins” page in order to convert prices from “inclusive of 17.5% VAT” to “inclusive of 15% VAT”. By the way, if you’re not in the UK, VAT = Value Added Tax and after many many years of it being 17.5%, it’s just been changed to 15%. The government have said they will increase it again after one year.\nSo, if you want to know WHY the following calculations work, read about Markup and Margins – VAT is a Markup type of calculation. If you just want to know what to tap into your calculator or spreadsheet, here’s what you do:\nTo convert a price from 17.5% inc VAT to 15% inc VAT – Multiply by 0.9787 (beware of rounding!)\nExample: 117.50p x 0.9787 = 115.00\nTo convert a price including VAT at 17.5% to an Excluding VAT price – Divide by 1.175\nExample: 117.50 / 1.175 = 100.00\nTo add VAT at 15% to an Excluding VAT price – multiply by 1.15\nExample: 100 x 1.15 = 115.00\nThe dangers of rounding.\nCurrency is used with an accuracy of 2 decimal places, the smallest unit being 0.01 or 1pence. The exact result of 117.50 x 0.9787 is 114.99725. As we don’t have a coin for 0.725 of a pence, we need to round up. Depending on when you round a number in a calculation, you can get an error that grows as you use that number in further calculations. To help prevent this you have two options,\nyou could multiply by a more accurate figure, like 0.97872340425531914893617021276596, divide by 1.175 then multiply that answer by 1.15, which is the method I prefer as I find it easier to remember ","date":"16 December 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/12/16/15-vat-how-to-w/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"15% VAT – How to work it out from 17.5% inc prices","type":"posts"},{"content":"12 months ago I never thought I’d title a blog entry like that. Then again, 12 months ago I didn’t really know anything about Rotary – a lot has changed this year.\nThe picture is of me with Rotary International President D.K. Lee. DK (He’s always introduced by his initials, his full name is Dong-Kurn) is a Rotarian from Korea. His day job is chairman of a company called BuBang Techron, though I have to wonder how he gets time to work there and make time to travel the world serving Rotary\nI’ve just returned from the “Rotary Presidential Membership Conference”. Membership is a big issue in Rotary at the moment and to address the problem the DK Lee is traveling the world to attend special conferences to address the problem. Membership levels in Rotary are important because without members Rotary can’t continue to do all the good things it does in the future. More members also means more opportunities to do good things. Simple stuff really. So why did I, new Rotarian in a new club go? To get answers.\nAs a new Rotarian in a new club, I thought Rotary in the UK was growing. Surely 30 new members in the last year was a common occurance in every town and city in the UK? No, I’ve mentioned that I asked for some real statistics and when they arrived they were surprising. In the UK 10 years ago there were 60,000 Rotarians. Today there are 55,000. My next thought was “how many should there be?”. I got two answers, one I worked out myself and one worked out by my friend Clive. Clive looked at the population of the medway towns, compared it with the membership of the clubs in the area, did some thinking, and came up with the idea that there could be around 3 to 5 million Rotarians in the UK. I was a little more pessimistic. One of the ‘qualities’ a Rotarian has is to be a ‘leader in the community’, leader in the sense many will be senior managers in business. Now that’s not the most accurate of defnitions but it was enough for me to extrapolate from. Let’s say, I will only count people who run a business as potential Rotarians. There are 4 million small and medium businesses in the UK, so let’s make that 4 million potential Rotarians. Let’s say half of those don’t have the attitude or ability to put “service above self” in rotary words, or put back into their community. For example, in the early years of my business I didn’t have the free time. So, 2 million people in the UK, by my rough reckoning and not counting a huge proportion of people who are actually members, could be in Rotary. There are only 55,000 now, so why am I so special to get an invite to join?\nThe answer is someone made the effort to form a club in my local area and I was lucky enough to be invited. Lucky too, in that they formed a club that decided to meet at I time I could manage (breakfast). I couldn’t join 5 of the nearby 6 clubs simply due to the time they meet, let alone never being invited. My question developed into “Why is there only one person in our district (covering 82 clubs) working on creating new clubs? Why is club formation not a task encouraged of individual clubs?”.\nI was told that the PMC (Presidential Membership Conference) is a place where that would be answered along with many other things. So I decided to go. I was also asked if I would mind being interviewed ‘on stage’. Now, I didn’t know how many people were going to be there (around 250 as it turned out) but that didn’t worry me. As you have probably guessed by now, I don’t mind giving my opinion. Fortunately the interviewer emailed questions to those of us being interviewed in advance so we knew what was coming. I can’t say I ever enjoy presenting, more that I’m willing to challenge myself and learn from it. This challenge was not in the questions or the audience, it was the first time I’ve used a hand held microphone. Anyway, John the interviewer delivered a perfect question (just as he said he would before hand) – “Steve, you’ve got an idea that we could double the size of Rotary in the UK in a very short time, tell us more about that”… so I explained breifly my introduction to Rotary, my surprise at the declining numbers and my question to everyone there as to why only one person in a district forms new clubs, and not every club working on forming new clubs.\nIt appeared to be well recieved. Several people stopping me during the rest of the afternoon and complimenting me. When I questioned them as to what they heard me say, it appears they understood my question and didn’t have any reason why a new club couldn’t be formed by a club, that is, if the club (or rather, just 2 members of the club) would make an effort and make that their personal service project for the next 2 to 12 months. One specifically commented without prompting that I did well with the handheld microphone, keeping it close enough to my mouth to be heard, not too close to be too loud and distorted and especially since we were all sitting on stools limiting our movement on stage. Apparently I didn’t speak too fast either which is my normal failing when presenting things.\nHopefully delegates found my opinion useful, for me though I have learnt lots of different things:\nI got two ideas for a service project that may be effective for our club to copy. There’s nothing wrong with copying good idea’s around Rotary. I got an idea for a way of improving the ‘Outdoor Skills Day for young people’ our club is organising. I was speaking with Clive about something my brother had said to me and he thinks there may be a way we can capitalise on it… if we do, it could be huge… so we both said we’ll investigate the opportunity further. I spoke with DK Lee and asked him about how he was so succesful in growing membership in Korea (that’s within the standard text you read about him in all the Rotary publications). He said “If you start a new club, you need to find the right first president”. He started 32 clubs in one year I gather. Sure, there’s always more to something than one line could convey, but if/when I’m able to sponsor the formation of a new club, I’ll keep that in mind. In summary, I’ve learnt a lot from the membership conference, and it’s not every day you get to say you’ve spoken with the president.\nPS – I know the title is misleading, but Rotary International’s head office is in the USA and he had come from America, via several other countries, before returning to his home in Korea for Christmas 😉\n","date":"14 December 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/12/14/steve-meets-the/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Steve meets the president (yes, the nice one, from America)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Wow. 4 Years. Amazing. Amazing I can still type so much waffle. Amazing to me anyway.\nLast year’s comments are still valid. Statistic wise, page views grew to over 26,000 this November (10,208 Nov 2007, 6,024 Nov 2006)\nMy backlog of unposted things is growing longer by the week but I don’t mind, it’s because I’m busy with other things. Eventually I’ll tell you about the Australia Photo used in a CGI competition and the reply I wrote to a trade magazine that became a full page article in it’s own right. Some things though will never see the electrons of publication, despite my lack of writing ability, waffle seems somewhat thereputic.\nMost popular pages are:\nUseful Windows Shortcut key to show Desktop – This was written for XP but I’m told works in Vista too.\nBBC iPlayer and it’s built in Kontiki software\nMy Best PDA Phone Ever (which I still rely on every day by the way)\nMargins and Markups – more relevant than ever as the whole country get’s used to the new VAT rate.\n","date":"4 December 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/12/04/4-years-of-blog/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"4 Years of blogging","type":"posts"},{"content":"How do you spell “hungry horse” in 4 letters?\nM T G G\nNow you know why I’m not a comedian, but when my Nan told me that joke I thought it was very funny. Well, actually, she had to explain that another name for horse was gee-gee which is why I remembered it so I guess I didn’t find it funny.\nStill, the reason for the bad joke was a weekend or two ago Rhonda and I went to London for the evening to see a comedy show. It began as a west end musical but the phone line of the show said they’d sold out for every Saturday. Then I remembered my friend Richard. I’ve known Richard for many years, first as a talented script writer, more recently as an Actor and Comidian. True, I’d seen more of him on TV in recent years than face to face but I’d never seen his comedy. From his myspace page I found out he was going to be at a comedy club that same weekend so I booked to go and see him. All of this was a bit of a surprise to Rhonda, this was a romantic weekend away complete with posh hotel. Best of all, I discovered comedy clubs are cheaper than west end shows.\nThis particular gig was organised by the Laughing Horse comedy club “Upstairs at the Old Goat Tavern” not far off… was it Oxford Street? I’m terrible with London places. Anyway, the upstairs room was about 8m long by 4m wide and comfortably seated all 20 or so of the audience. Intimate? Yes, giving me the feeling it would be very good or very bad.\nIt turned out to be very good. Richard told me afterwards that this sort of venue is great for testing out material before using it in bigger clubs. There were about 8 performers and a compare who was funny in his own right. I felt that the performances were lined up in order of ability, best last. Although, that may be simply the audience had warmed up more as the evening went on. Come to think of it, there may be a correlation between the amount of Ale drunk and how funny I remember people being.\nBest of all, Richard was funny. When I booked I hadn’t considered the possibility of him being rubbish and then having to be honest with him afterwards. Rhonda enjoyed it too, we’ll definately go again.\n","date":"4 December 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/12/04/laughing-horse/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Laughing Horse?  It's a comedy club a friend was performing at…","type":"posts"},{"content":"Great*, The VAT Rate has changed from 17.5% to 15%.\n*Great as in, I’m not sure if I like it or not!\nI think that may actually help the economy but for a different reason to what Alistair Darling may expect…. it means that all of our printed price lists will be out of date in less than a week so will have to be reprinted – anyone want to by shares in a printing business?\nFor my business that’s not too bad because we print our own price lists as we need them. Several of our suppliers though provide price books – one of which only changed their prices in October and normally they plan at least 6 months before the next price change.\nSo, what happens? Well, I imagine they will announce a price increase for the 1st December which just happens to be in line with the reduction in VAT. If they don’t it means paper and ink sales will suddenly increase next month, graphic designers will have the fun job of updating each individual price.\nI get the fun job of updating all of our computer code – the chances are high that somewhere is a hard coded calculation on VAT so every price update I do from now will need to be checked, even if I automated the update routine. Seriously, I doubt that every product in sainsbury’s or Tesco’s will fall by the VAT difference – why should they change the price on the shelf? They’ll leave it the same and make a little more profit.\nOur customers will benefit, the guidance on the HMRC web site is that we can credit and reinvoice at the new rate any products that we have not delivered before 1st December. They’ll get a refund if they’ve paid already or owe less when the job is finished. I still have to go through each sales order though, yet more time lost in paperwork. Hey ho, at least we’ve had a really good November and maybe the thought of cheaper prices will encourage more people to go out shopping.\nAnyway, in case you are wondering what the difference actually means;\n117.50 including VAT = 100 excluding VAT = 115.00 at the 15% VAT RATE\n100 including VAT = 85.11 excluding VAT = 97.87 at the 15% VAT RATE\nSo, for every 100 you’ll save 2.12p using the new rate.\nTo work it out using a calculator to get the excluding VAT rate, divide by 1.175.\nTo add VAT at 15% multiply the ex VAT price by 1.15\n","date":"25 November 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/11/25/vat-rate-change/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"VAT Rate changes – more work for the printing industry, more non revenue generating office work for me","type":"posts"},{"content":"Wow! This was a big surprise. The setting is a town in France where the author himself meets with an old lady. She, it is revealed, was the inspiration of the heroine in his earlier 3 books (and there are 3 earlier books which I’ll now start looking out for). Rosie was a special agent during the war and this story is about her first mission, the one mission the author couldn’t have written about because his source didn’t know about it. Best of all, there is a twist at the end which I’ll not tell you lest I spoil it.\nI tend to like books where a history is revealed. In this book we hear not only of Rosie’s struggles to survive as an undercover agent but also of what happened to her after the war, right up to the present day or in this case, right up to the reason she is talking to an author in a small French town, attending a re-union of the few remaining resistance and special operations staff that still survive after 60 years.\nRootie Rating 4 out of 5, time to go and find the other 3 books in this series.\n","date":"20 November 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/11/20/staying-alive-a/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Staying Alive (Alexander Fullerton)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Strangly, I haven’t seen the film. Or at least, I haven’t seen the film all the way through. Part of me has always felt that having seen the film the book is not worth reading. Part of me has always felt that having read the book the film is not worth seeing. I know, that’s wrong, and I’m so glad I picked up this story.\nIt’s unusual in that it’s made of many short chapters, 47 in all. We follow the story from the discovery on the mood of a ‘monolith’ and the journey to reach a small moon around Jupiter.. or was it Saturn, I’ve always mixed those two planets up. Anyway the journey has some eventful things happen which many of you will already know. The computer, known as HAL behaves in a way that was not predicted by the programmers but quite logical in hindsight.\nThis book was a very easy read, not difficult to follow. Having read 3001 first didn’t reduce the enjoyment of this book one iota.\nRootie Rating 4 out of 5 – enjoyable epic\n","date":"20 November 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/11/20/2001-a-space-od/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"2001 A Space Odyssey (Arthur C Clarke)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Having enjoyed other Brian Aldiss stories I thought I’d give this one a try even though the cover was a bit off putting. I know, you should never judge a book by it’s cover, but the monster on the front, man with cloak, beautiful woman in graceful dress, made for a pretty accurate impression.\nThis book is a fantasy, set either in the distant imaged future or distant imagined past. We follow an actor as he lives his life within the small city, making ends meet, meeting and seducing attractive women, endeavouring to leave the working classes and become part of the ruling classes. The story is inventive, the description brings the city and strange animals to life in vivid detail. It has a quality of realism that works surprisingly well with the fantasy background.\nThis isn’t the sort of book I’d normally read but it more than held my attention, I couldn’t wait to turn the next page. Rootie Rating 3 out of 5 – Fantasy is not my thing but the writing style saved it.\n","date":"20 November 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/11/20/the-malacia-tap/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"The Malacia Tapestry (Brian Aldiss)","type":"posts"},{"content":"There are two Rotary clubs near me that meet on a Monday evening. One is “Canterbury Forest of Blean“, the other is “Faversham“. A couple of weeks ago I decided at short notice to visit Faversham. I hadn’t phoned or called anyone before going, I just took the chance they’d have space for one more. I arrived to the busiest club I’d seen for a long time – there must have been 50 people present. Strange I thought, I’m sure the club directory said they had 20 or so members, so where did all the extra people arrive from? It turns out all of the Rotary Club of Ashford were visiting and there was a presentation on the work of the Princes Trust.\nThings learnt from this visit:\nThe Princes Trust still work with 14-30 year olds as I remember from growing up. They still have some business start up support but also run courses developing skills for young people without formal qualifications. They are particularly keen to recruit volunteer adult mentors, especially experienced business owners and managers. The Faversham club have a strong twinning with a club in Germany (or was it Austria? I forget) and every year they all meet up at a Ski resort The main project for them is the provision of 3 trailers that visit different schools. I can’t remember the aim of those trailers, but I do remember seeing it at our local school and both my children looking forward to the visit. This is another good example of where a club is providing a service in the community more than just raising money for other charities ","date":"16 November 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/11/16/rotary-club-vis-3/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Rotary – Club visit 7 to Faversham","type":"posts"},{"content":"After the speakers (well, between really, on the Saturday night) was the ‘ball’. An excuse to get dressed up in a dinner suit and have a mass produced meal that would have been prepared several hours before it reached me. Still, I don’t enjoy dinners for the food, I enjoy it for the company. I didn’t know for certain Rhonda and I would get into the ball as we booked so late (by Rotary standards, quite soon for my mind as a new Rotarian). We were lucky though, but our late entry put us on a table with people from other clubs. To me, that was a bonus. It’s not that I don’t want to be with my club, I love them dearly but I’m sure they’re bored of my conversation by now and if not they’ve got the Christmas meal where I can bore them further. I still haven’t learnt about all the formality of these things. When the announcement was made Gentlemen may now remove their jackets it was pure luck I still had mine on I would have removed it earlier if it wasn’t comfortable. The other confusing thing to me was a string of announcments along the lines of The District Governer John Wilton would like to drink wine with……. Fine, go and drink wine with them but I really don’t need to know you’ve just interupted the person I was listening to on our table. Perhaps there is a purpose to that announcment, maybe it reminds us who the important visitors are.\nI also took the opportunity to meet some other people at the ball. Lyn Mitchell who’s been suffering some of my many questions about Rotary membership, she’s an Assistant Governer and in her club Chair of service projects like I am for my club.\nIan Thompson, president of RIBI, also suffered my questions because of something he said during his presentation. I need to find his email address to get the rest of the answer. The question was essentially, What proportion of the population should be in Rotary?, I want to know what the informed view is as to how big Rotary should be in the UK. His answer, the first person who’s actually given an answer, was 100% of all the eligible population should be in Rotary. I now have to find out just how many people are eligible.\nAt the end of the weekend, I’m sure I’ll be going to the next one. The best part of all being not each individual presentation, but the opportunity to meet so many different people all united by one cause. Speaking over lunch, speaking over dinner, speaking to another club member while we both served as stewards, it’s meeting with so many different people that I enjoyed most. Next year, the conference is off to Brighton so the challenge is set to see what can be achieved before then by our new Rotary club.\nThis entry is last entry in a series about my visit to the Rotary District Conference. It might not make much sense on it\u0026amp;#8217;s own, why not start at the [first post][1] and read all the way through. ","date":"7 November 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/11/07/rotary-1120-dis-8/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Rotary – 1120 District Conference – Other things","type":"posts"},{"content":"This is one of the best presentations I’ve seen for a long time, so that’s two phenomenal presenations over the course of one weekend! I was worried at first, there was no title in my original programe and I really had no idea on what the topic would be. Some tired, aged Rotarian on an obscure detail of Rotary perhaps?\nGeoff began by standing behind the lecturn, a slow introduction, tediously slow first presentation slide of his name coming up, the longest possible introduction ‘President of this, presedent of that…..’ and eventually ‘ and my fellow Rotarians’. Then the pace changed, he said ‘ photo! ‘ and dashed to the side as a photographer was taking a picture. Returning he said ‘Sorry, I didn’t want the microphone to be in the way of the shot’, which had most of us in laughter the joke being he was clearly larger than the microphone stand.\nIt got better from there on, video clips of silly things being used to highlight different points of his presentation. Covering all the good things of Rotary in his, if I rememember, 20 years of service. Dressing up as Father Christmas, helping build things in third world countries, meeting a myriad of different people united by the objects of rotary.\nThe presentation was both motivating and entertaining. He said that Rotary needs to change today as it has always changed with time in the past. We, as Rotarians, need to tell people what we are doing and invite them to our clubs not for the boring bits of ‘business meetings’ but to the events and activities we organise. The long term future of Rotary as an organisation is up to us as members today. He did the best presentation gesture I’ve seen for many years. At the back of the stage, hanging from wires was a large Rotary emblem. During the part he was telling us that we could make a difference he took some paces back, pushed the emblem so it started swining and said Look even I can move Rotary, to great appluase from the audience.\nI read later the topic he was speaking on was Laughter to the end! , pretty accurate then.\nThis entry is part of a series about my visit to the Rotary District Conference. It might not make much sense on it\u0026amp;#8217;s own, why not start at the [first post][1] and read all the way through. [\u0026lt;\\--- Previous Post][2] or [Next Post in this series \u0026amp;#8212;\u0026gt;][3] ","date":"7 November 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/11/07/rotary-1120-dis-7/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Rotary – 1120 District Conference – Rotarian Dr Geoff McKay presentation","type":"posts"},{"content":"The Yellowmen of Kadongdong was a short presentation by a club called Senlac from Sussex. Their members have worked on building a health clinic in Kenya. It really is quite inspring to see what a group of people can achieve when they work on it. It’s also nice for me to see the variety of club activities and ‘service projects’. This club has made a big difference to the international community in the same way other clubs have made a big difference to their local communities. As time goes on, I wonder what our club will achieve, maybe there’ll be a group of Canterbury Sunrise members on stage in 10 years time, inspriing members of a new club not yet imagined.\nThis entry is part of a series about my visit to the Rotary District Conference. It might not make much sense on it\u0026amp;#8217;s own, why not start at the [first post][2] and read all the way through. [\u0026lt;\\--- Previous Post][3] or [Next Post in this series \u0026amp;#8212;\u0026gt;][4] ","date":"7 November 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/11/07/rotary-1120-dis-6/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Rotary – 1120 District Conference – Yellowmen of Kadongdong presentation","type":"posts"},{"content":"Orpheus centre with Richard Stilgoe. I have vague memories of Richard Stilgoe on TV. Circle of children around and to the side of him. Guitar maybe, piano or organ. I can’t recall any of his music but imagine he was once quite famous.\nToday, he runs the Orpheus centre providing an education for a few 18-21 year old disabled students. They skills they teach are about self sufficiency, the things I would take for granted like paying the gas bill his school will teach. They also use music and drama as a tool to build self confidence and we were treated to a performance by 4 students. It really was a treat. Richard would accompany them on his keyboard but they would sing and play instruments adapted to meet their needs. At the end, they had the whole theatre singing along to an upbeat song they’d written, they had us doing the actions too.\nOrpheus is a school to be proud of, making a real and visible difference to the lives of people in our community, teaching skills we don’t (can’t?) measure with any standard of GCSE or A level grading system.\nThis entry is part of a series about my visit to the Rotary District Conference. It might not make much sense on it\u0026amp;#8217;s own, why not start at the [first post][2] and read all the way through. [\u0026lt;\\--- Previous Post][3] or [Next Post in this series \u0026amp;#8212;\u0026gt;][4] ","date":"7 November 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/11/07/rotary-1120-dis-5/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Rotary – 1120 District Conference – Orpheus Centre \u0026 Richard Stilgoe presentation","type":"posts"},{"content":"Graham Clarke. A true English eccentric! Said the person sitting next to me in the Auditorium. I couldn’t put it better myself, so I’ll use those words verbatim. Graham entertained for 20 minutes, changing hats, telling his stories and poetry, playing some sort of mouth organ as a divider between scenes. I first heard of Graham about 5 years ago from his books and watercolour pictures. I gather he is a Rotarian in the maidstone area and his paintings feature on this years club directory, the confernce guide and I believe a calendar that is being sold. I’ve always liked his pictures for their simple, childlike detail that looks so simple yet I imagine would be so hard to create effectively.\nThis entry is part of a series about my visit to the Rotary District Conference. It might not make much sense on it\u0026amp;#8217;s own, why not start at the [first post][2] and read all the way through. [\u0026lt;\\--- Previous Post][3] or [Next Post in this series \u0026amp;#8212;\u0026gt;][4] ","date":"7 November 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/11/07/rotary-1120-dis-4/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Rotary – 1120 District Conference – Graham Clarke presentation","type":"posts"},{"content":"Leonard Cheshire School 4 All.\nThis charity impoves the lot of the disabled children in the third world. If you think how important disability access to public buildings has become in the last few years in the UK, you might imagine the problems disabled children will have in getting to school in the third world. Couple this with generations of discrimination against those who have a disability and the result is very few will get an education. Leonard Cheshire has been working to change this.\nThey help fund and organise the renovation to school buildings to make access by disabled children possible. Equally important to the buildings, they work with the disabled children, the families and the wider community to enable the disabled children to be accepted into school.\nThis is another worthy charity but I couldn’t help feel sorry for the presenter, having to follow Help for Heroes.\nThis entry is part of a series about my visit to the Rotary District Conference. It might not make much sense on it\u0026amp;#8217;s own, why not start at the [first post][2] and read all the way through. [\u0026lt;\\--- Previous Post][3] or [Next Post in this series \u0026amp;#8212;\u0026gt;][4] ","date":"7 November 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/11/07/rotary-1120-dis-2/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Rotary – 1120 District Conference – Leonard Cheshire School 4 All presentation","type":"posts"},{"content":"Help for heroes has been raising funds since last year to provide rehabilitation for soliders who are injured whilst on duty. While you might expect the MOD already provide this, they do but many people feel the MOD does not do enough. It appears the MOD agree, along with the government and royal family (link). They have raised 12 million pound in less than a year and already servicemen (and I guess servicewomen) are benefitting from better rehabilitation facitilities while recovering from injuries sustained while working on behalf of our country.\nThe presentation was exceptional and one of the best I have ever seen. They charity puts forward a strong brand, an easy to understand cause, emotional video’s of the people they are actively helping. Bryn Parry spoke clearly and concisely throughout and no opportunity was left for anyone in the audience to be without feeling for the cause. I personally felt I wanted to get working on a project in their name as soon as I left the hall. The charity is well organised too, with a commercial side selling merchandise that allows, if I remember correctly, 97% of the money donated to go to the cause. The commercial side now pays almost entirely for the overheads of staff and premises.\nThis entry is part of a series about my visit to the Rotary District Conference. It might not make much sense on it\u0026amp;#8217;s own, why not start at the [first post][2] and read all the way through. [\u0026lt;\\--- Previous Post][2] or [Next Post in this series \u0026amp;#8212;\u0026gt;][3] ","date":"7 November 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/11/07/rotary-1120-dis-1/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Rotary – 1120 District Conference – Help for Heroes presentation","type":"posts"},{"content":"Two weekends ago I joined rotarians from all over district 1120 for the anual conference, this year in Eastbourne.\nWhat is it, what happened and will i go again?\nDistrict Conference is a chance for everyone to get together, meet with other clubs and have a good time. Its based around a variety of presentations held in a theater. With over 1100 people it’s a sizeable operation.\nI volunteered to steward and was allocated the first sessions of friday afternoon. Stewards do the job of making sure the exits are clear and making sure people go the right way in a fire. Having volunteers saves the cost of the venue providing them.\nThe first session was the official opening complete with bell to ring. I don’t think i’ve got any photos but I found the bell a quaint tradition.\nThen the talks, i’ll write a post for each to do them justice.\nThe only catch now is that so much was going on and I was enjoying every second of it to the point I didn’t make very comprehensive notes. My memory of the detail is already failing so I won’t report on every speaker now, just those that are still firmly wedged in my mind after two weeks.\nThis entry is the first part of a series about my visit to the Rotary District Conference. [Next Post in this series \u0026amp;#8212;\u0026gt;][1] ","date":"7 November 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/11/07/rotary-1120-dis/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Rotary – 1120 District Conference","type":"posts"},{"content":"What better thing to be done on a day off than play with the Pure Highway DAB radio that I won. So on a sunny afternoon I took the box into the car and unpacked it like a 6 year old unpacking toys on Christmas day.\nSo here it is in the box, in the car. Ever get the feeling you’re taking too many photos of things not very interesting? Yeah, we’ll move on then.\nThe way it connects to the windscreen holder is clever. It’s a magnet on the holder side. Though quite secure only one thing worries me – putting the holder in my rucksack near my laptop. Hard disks don’t like magnets very much and even though the radio itself is obviously OK I really will have to be careful. I guess the trick is to put the holder under the car seat and only take the laptop and radio with me from the car. I’m sure leaving the holder on the windscreen is just asking to have a window broken in some areas of the country.\nThe next challenge is where to put it. First i thought to the right side of the steering wheel but it seemed a little big there.\nThen I thought in the middle which happens to be where my GPS phone lives. It’s OK there but I thought I might be able to find a better position. Both of these positions mean that I’d have to remove the radio every time I left the car in a public place – perhaps there’s a position where I could leave it permanently yet out of site and within easy reach?\nHow about the roof? I could live without the sunglasses holder and maybe find an extra long power lead….\nStill not happy, maybe I could stick it to the dashboard above the parrot car kit display? Not there either, it would cover the air vents. OK, time to give up for now. Might as well check it works before I decide where to stick it.\nSo, my car has an ‘Aux’ connection in the glove box that looked great when I spotted it but doesn’t actually work very well. I’ve tried connecting a 3.5mm Audio lead to it before from my phone and an iPod. It works sometimes, then sometimes gives audio to one speaker only, then sometimes cuts out completely. The 3.5mm plug fits but perhaps it’s a different size. I did try it again though and the DAB radio played through on the left channel only. So, the DAB works, time to see if the FM transmitter within it will do the job. On the plus side that means only two wires will need to be connected in use – the Aerial and the Power.\nThe DAB radio may have been already set to use 107.9 as a broadcast channel. I tuned in and it worked first time. The only catch I found was when I turned it off to find 107.9 is the frequency for KMFM, a local station. The car radio quite happily reported PURE DAB as the station though and sound was crystal clear.\nSo, back to the challenge of where to put the unit in the car. Maybe I could fix it above the rear view mirror?\nIn the end I decided to mount it in the middle of the windscreen. I fixed the aerial to the left side of the windscreen. The instruction book said about 5 cm away from the side of the windscreen so I followed that advice. Usefully the box contained 5 sticky back cable holders so I fixed those to the windscreen to keep the cable under control. The one thing that I didn’t think so clever was the suggestion that the aerial be hooked to the windscreen mount. The windscreen mount will need to be removed when the car is left in public (at least, in some of the places I go the presence of a holder could be too tempting to a passing opportunist criminal) so that would mean hooking and unhooking the wire every time.\nAmongst the instructions was the very useful warning “Do not operate the unit while driving”. Perhaps that was also in the car radio’s instructions. I’m sure they mean – “don’t fiddle with it while driving, set it up then leave it alone and concentrate on the road”. However, the instruction do mention the need to retune the FM broadcast frequency from time to time on long journeys should there be interference from a local station so I can’t see how you could avoid fiddling with it.\nFinally it’s time to put it to use. I was going to Medway in the evening which is about a 30 minute drive. Radio station wise, I started with birdsong just for fun. It’s a station purely of birdsong, a little heavy on the cuckoo’s perhaps, but probably OK as background sounds. I quickly moved onto Radio 7 and Radio 6, purely because I can’t get them on FM. I settled on Radio 2 which is a bit of shame as I that I could do that using the FM band. At a couple of points on the journey I had to switch to another FM broadcast channel from the DAB unit to avoid interference, although technically I was probably interfering with their broadcast! I wonder how far the unit broadcasts? Maybe any cars passing me had their listening pleasure interupted with my choice of station.\nI did find the unit wobbled a lot with the cars normal vibrations. The magnet held it on fine but the holder for my GPS phone is rock solid in comparison. Still, if I’m not meant to be operating it whilst driving I guess it doesn’t matter if it wobbles.\nThe unit has another plus too in that you can put batteries in it and use it as a portable DAB radio. Perhaps it doesn’t need the aerial when it’s outside the car but our home DAB alarm clock get’s nowhere near as many stations as this one does.\nI guess the ultimate question is “If I didn’t win it, and I had the money and the desire to have more radio channel options in the car on long journeys, would I buy it?”. I’ve just looked at the alternatives because I hate the clutter of more things on the dashboard. I already hate to have the GPS phone mount and wires trailing to it. The alternative is to get a replacement for the car radio but to have DAB they seem to be in the order of 130 upwards, whereas Amazon are selling the Pure Highway DAB for 55 at the moment. The other thing I read is that a built in unit will need a new car aerial so it’s not something I’d make the effort to fit – so more expense and more parts to buy. I don’t have the worry about buying one then changing car in a couple of years though, we buy cars and keep them for a long time. So, if DAB radio was really important to me I’d buy a built in unit. However, it’s not. For the occasional long journey 55 is better value for money. So, if I didn’t win it and I had the money, yes, I’d buy it.\n","date":"21 October 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/10/21/pure-highway-in/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Pure highway in car DAB radio – time to play with my prize!","type":"posts"},{"content":"It must be around 4 years ago I first heard about Chaucer Speakers Club. I remember a man named Jim visited the BNI group I’d set up and gave a very confident and clear presentation. He spoke of his involvement with the Chaucer Speakers Club as a place where anyone can visit to learn ways of improving their presentations. You can deduce how well presented that 60 seconds was as I remembered it until I met Jim again when he joined Rotary at the same time as me in March this year.\nLast week Jim gave a presentation to our Rotary club on what makes Jim, Jim. He bought with him 3 visitors and those visitors made notes throughout his presentation to give him constructive criticism at a later date. He brought 3 people just to criticise him speaking on a subject he should know well? Yes, and they all came from the speakers club.\nSo, 4 years after meeting Jim I joined him tonight for a Speakers Club meeting. About a dozen of us met in the Kent and Canterbury Club and I must say it was a very refreshing meeting. There were 3 people prepared for long presentations of around 7 minutes. I say prepared, two were prepared in advance and with specific goals of achievement, for example, one had to present a topic with humour. However, one person had the unenviable task of presenting for 7 minutes on a topic she was to be told just 10 minutes in advance.\nAfter these three had spoken, another three members gave a critique of each presentation. Stating the goals, highlighting good and bad within each part, the critique was like a presentation in it’s own right. Then a short interval and some 2 or 3 minute presentations on a topic given on the spur of the moment. Geoff (who is also a Rotarian with Jim and I) acted as compare nimbly starting a theme of music then responding to details within each presentation to create the next topic. For me (he had asked me if I wanted to speak on a topic before hand, and despite the fact I force myself to do it so often I still have a fear of presenting things) he said in his booming orators voice, “I recently discovered that the Whitstable Players are having trouble recruiting songsters,… Steve, ..tell us why you haven’t yet joined.”.\nI thought I made quite a good start. Everyone else had a formal introduction..”Mr Topic Chairman, Speakers, …” and on they went. I figured that I already had an introduction with Geoff’s question and beside I had no idea what title’s were being used so having stood, I looked at some of my audience and went straight in with “Perhaps the reason I haven’t joined the Whitstable Players that I’d never heard of them until now. Now I know about them they’ll have to join a long line of things waiting for me to do. Jim invited me to the Chaucer speakers club some 6 years ago…..”. No one knew the 6 years was an on the spot over estimate and Jim never corrected them (though I guess my impression on him at that meeting was far less than his impression on me!).\nI continued into describing my first presentation, which was really a Christmas reading in front of the High Sherif of Kent and how, as I read that for the first time, my knees shook so much I could feel both sides of each trouser leg and how I had begged to do the reading again they year after so I could do it better. I said how I have to work on something until I truly understand it and that I couldn’t join the players until I have some other things completed. I finished with a sentence something along the lines of “On the subject of presentations, I still have to learn to speak slower.”. And then sat down to polite applause.\nAfter everyone had spoken on a topic, a member gave a review of each presentation. I was quite correct that I speak to fast – it’s a known flaw that I’ve been working on for years.\nAt the end of the meeting another member gave a critique on the meeting as a whole. Picking up things both good and bad with the way the chair had run the meeting, how the critique of the 3 minute topics took 13 minutes when the member knows the goal is to critique in 7 minutes. Analysis was on the verge of over analysis yet at the same time was full of gems, not just “That was poor”, “That was poor because….. try…..instead”. Really useful things to have as feedback. Things in a lot of company people just wont tell you for fear of offending.\nIt was so refreshing to see the whole meeting honestly review itself in different ways. Some very accomplished speakers were plying their trade. They knew they were good but they were seeking out ways of being better. No skill in life is easy and this club is like a training ground for speakers as a football player will practice penalty shots.\nAt the end I got more feedback from Suzie who reviewed all the mini topics. In addition to speed, when pushed she identified a limited vocal range. Going so fast also gave me little time to make full use of gestures. This nugget in itself might help me slow down – ensuring a gesture is put to full and good effect. I also found out that of my 2 minute target time (they gave the new boy a smaller target) I spoke for exactly 1 minute and 48 seconds. Not bad! Especially as I didn’t look at their traffic light timing system as no one had explained it to me. It would have been too much to think of anyway.\nAll in all this was a great meeting to have been to. Everyone supportive, a real fellowship of self improvement at work. Oh, I haven’t mentioned the several hundred page binder they have which sets the challenges and the skills to work on. Turning the art of presenting into a science of subtle but definitive objects.\nOn reflection, I’m still scared of speaking in public, but I’m better at speaking than kicking a football – The difference is just where I’ve been training myself.\n","date":"20 October 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/10/20/im-still-scared/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"I'm still scared of speaking in public","type":"posts"},{"content":"We all have nicknames. Some we know of, some we don’t. Some we find fun, some we don’t.\nA friend just emailed me on a Rotary topic using “Rootlebaumeisterstuck”. I have no idea how that came to be made up! Within the club I’m often named Rooty simply because there are 4 members called Steve.\n","date":"20 October 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/10/20/root-nicknames/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Root Nicknames","type":"posts"},{"content":"My first web browser was Netscape 1.1\nI remember sitting in the training rooms of GEC Marconi Avionics sometime in the late 90’s, going through the self study ‘How to use the internet’ course. They were good courses, I spent many evenings learning better driving skills (spotting the hazards) and the most time consuming course of all – how to type. Still, now I can type almost as fast I think. The downside of which is my ramblings tend to digress very quickly, so getting back on track, I used Netscape 1.1 to search for ‘porsche’, because that was the suggested search using Altavista. We’re in pre-google days here, Internet explorer may have been around but wasn’t on the work computers.\nThen we move to today and the browser of choice is….. well, I can’t make up my mind. I once preferred Netscape, eventually moved onto Internet Explorer. Then Firefox became my friend until the last year or so where it seemed to keep crashing every time I closed it. Now we have google Chrome. So, time to try them all and see what I think.\nStart with…. Internet Explorer.\nAlways there, installed on my laptop. It does the job but I’ve never quite got used to the new layout of IE7. Tabs were a great improvement, it was those that attracted me to firefox a few years ago. I always have more than one window open, and I much prefer to have them all grouped into one program on my task bar.\nFirefox\nFirefox is great. I prefer the open source angle. I found it easier to use and faster than IE6 (but that could just be perception). I liked the tabs and it was my browser of choice for a few years. Unfortunately it started crashing on exit. Solution was probably just to uninstall then reinstall from scratch but I never got round to it. Still on my list of things to do.\nGoogle Chrome.\nGoogle should stick to making money from searches. The browser is rubbish. OK, a little harsh. The launch marketing was very clever. The design principles are great (single bar for search or URL input was ever so easy to use). The automatic home page creation of most visited sites and recently closed tabs made usability a breeze. Being able to drag a tab into it’s own window even had it’s uses. Unfortunately there are a few bugs to iron out. Like the “view source” command that should show you the source HTML of the page but actually requests the page again so you get a different source. I haven’t got all the plugins working correctly either, both flash and quicktime seem to have issues. Still, for the basic web browsing tasks it’s OK. Comparable to firefox I’d say. It does win the battle on leaving the largest viewable page area, with it’s ultra minimalist interface. When/if they fix issues like the ‘view source’ command it may well become my browser of choice, although by then the other players will no doubt improve too.\nSafari.\nMac lovers are taking over the PC world it seems. Apple pushed the download through an iTunes update (only got iTunes for wining an iPod). I’m using Safari this afternoon for this blog post. I find the page a little more blurry than all the others. I think there is some ClearText Font Smoothing (insert correct term here if you know it!) but I haven’t found the setting to reduce it’s smoothing. Coming from the land of Mac, this also has a few things done a little differently to the PC way. Not right or wrong, just different. Like the close button being to the left of the name instead of the right. I’m not a fan of the grey shading style of the browser either, but it’s something I’ll get used to.\nSo, when it comes to desktop browsers which will I settle on?\nNone of them. I like things from each so will be keeping them all around for different reasons. Use them all for their strengths and switch between them to avoid their weaknesses.\n","date":"20 October 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/10/20/choosing-a-web/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Choosing a web browser – why can't I just put up with the default","type":"posts"},{"content":"My last post said I was visiting a nearby club but unfortunately I was the only one who arrived. The members had all gone to a special event somewhere else. I did call the club secretary in the morning but I guess he’s away on holiday as I got no reply. I was going to phone others in the club directory in the afternoon but was busy with work. Still, no trouble, the short walk did me no harm.\nSo, club visit number 6 was actually 30 minutes away in Strood. I grew up in the Medway towns so it was almost like going home. One of the club members is Dennis Spiller, he’s last years District Governor and as I’ve mentioned before was one of my youth leaders when I was a teenager. He hadn’t seen me for years before I joined Rotary and now I keep turning up like a bad penny 🙂\nSo, with a past district governor in their club, I was expecting good things. In many ways, things were very good, but I left feeling very, very frightened. Me, writing negatively about Rotary? Surely not I hear you cry! Well, yes, if being frightened is negative for you then this will be negative. However, being frightened can also be a force for change, a positive thing, and I’m going to be concious from now on of doing things to prevent my club getting into the current position of Strood.\nTo begin with, this was the smallest meeting I’ve been too, just 13 people including me. On the plus side this meant I could speak in more detail to everyone so it was still worth going. There were also several people still on holiday (and one member had landed in the UK at 4am in the morning so the members dedication cannot be faulted).\nThey were proactively planning their version of ‘Do Good Things’, in particular organising chestnuts to be roasted on a stand at the nearby Dickens festival. They raise a lot of money through that and collecting with buckets at the nearby Morrisons. Bucket collecting is something we’ve yet to investigate but clearly effective if you’re in the right place.\nAll good so far, so why was I frightened? They formed just over 30 years ago and from what I can tell were exactly like us. I can see myself in their position in 30 years time. A club membership who’s average age is in the late 60’s. They have 21 members according to the directory and taking into account illness and holidays their attendance when I there must have been 90%. So why so few in the club?\nIn fact, they know their age balance is wrong and are working on fixing it. A few years ago a young teacher joined. This year he recruited another 30 year old professional into the club. The club are battling to find the younger people that can join and continue the good things their club is already doing. I’m frightened because if we are not careful our club will be in exactly the same position in 30 years time, or worse, we wont realise it at the time.\nThey have just moved to a new venue which will give them more space for members to meet, their past venue was described as ‘cosy’ with 16 present. I didn’t find out their growth goals but I hope they’re aiming to be 30 members or more within 12 months.\n","date":"16 October 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/10/16/rotary-club-vis-2/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Rotary – club visit 6 to Strood","type":"posts"},{"content":"I’ve written, lots!, but somewhere along the line I’m sure I’ve mentioned how Rotary appears to be a very good infrastructure for ‘Doing Good Things’. Above each club is the Rotary District. Each District reports to RIBI, Rotary International in Britain and Ireland. RIBI reports to Rotary International. The system is a classic heirachy, rules come down from above and should be implemented. Feedback and ideas come from the ground up and will re-shape the rules from time to time.\nOur club’s District is 1120, and the structure is open that even a new Rotarian like me can turn up to the quarterly district meeting to find out whats going on and give an opinion. As you’ve probably guessed I have plenty of opinions! I went to the district evening meeting last month where most clubs were represented, giving a room full of somewhere near 100 people. The structure to handle that number of people was such that most things had already been discussed in separate sub committees and the meeting was essentially a forum for these to report their status and seek approval to do new things or make significant changes to procedures, as well as answer questions from anyone present.\nI learn’t two things:\nThat there’s a fine line between; giving a large group of people information as a basis to vote upon, and them all understanding information in order to vote the way they mean. This is especially true when there were more than a couple of Rotarians with a hearing aid or two…\nThis (Rotary at District level) is an organisation that actively looks to improve things and it not, in principle, frightened of change.\nThe biggest example of this was a brief discussion on the organisation of the District Conference. It has been organised 2 years in advance (it happens each year but takes 2 years to plan) but the suggestion was made it’s organised further in advance by a new sub committee. The reason being there are so few conference venues that can take over a 1,000 people in a single weekend event. Next week I go to this years District Conference being held in Eastbourne, a town not in our district! I booked ‘late’ by Rotary standards, which meant I haven’t got a place at the formal dinner – 1,150 people booked before me and I’ve since found out that some clubs choose to go to local restaurants so there will be a lot of people there. Next year, or maybe the year after – I forget now, the conference will be in Brighton at a large hotel with more space. You don’t have to stay in the hotel but if you can. It’s 350 or so for the weekend with accommodation. Some people in the room took this as you HAD to stay at that hotel in order to go to the conference – out of the budget of many, therefore voted against brighton for the following year and said they’d rather go back to Eastbourne. The idea of planning 5 years in advance seemed to get pushed aside in the end.\nFor me this meeting also highlighted the pleasure of fellowship. I was on a table with a retired paper salesman. While talking the conversation came around to youth clubs and my involvement with the Air Training Corps (I’m a Civilian Instructor at 1242 Faversham Squadron). It turns out this retired paper salesman was a Cadet in the Air Training Corps in the first few months of it’s formation in 1941. He left to join the air force and flew Mosquito’s over northern france amongst other things. I am constantly amazed by the people I’m meeting through Rotary. I don’t think I should be amazed, after all there were a lot of pilots, and a lot of people have done a lot of different things. I think the difference is I’m taking the time to speak to more people and therefore finding things I’d never have known about before.\nAnyway, back onto the topic of district, outside of the meetings I’ve seen lots of email on different subjects continuously developing things. There seems a growing emphasis on recruitment and ‘the missing generation’, Rotarians between the age of 25 – 50. No doubt this was the impetus to our club being formed. At 32 I’m clearly in the missing generation referred to. I’m curious to find out more about what this means (I’ve started asking for the membership statistics) and the history that’s led to this. At the moment I’ve no idea if Rotary is growing or shrinking in size. It’s reassuring to see that at a District and higher level these details are being worked on, so I can concentrate on my roll within the club. It’s also nice that, so far at least, everyone I’ve emailed a question to has been very helpful. I get the feeling that if I emailed the R.I. President for this year, D.K.Lee, I’d get a personal response.\n","date":"15 October 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/10/15/rotary-the-next/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Rotary – The next level of administration","type":"posts"},{"content":"Thursday the 2nd October. For some reason I had a spare evening in the week. Best of all Rhonda said I could visit another Rotary club so a quick flick through the district directory and I find the Rotary Club of Chestfield meet on Thursday’s, 7.15 for 7.30. A quick phone call to Hilary who I met when she visited our club – “Hi, is your club meeting tonight and do you think it’s a problem if I come along”. No, come along, we’re meeting at 7.30 for 8.00. Still, at this point I hadn’t realised my mistake!\nSo, I arrive early ish, meet some people (names forgotten already!) and get myself a drink. I was surprised to see Ruth from our club also there. Then, Jim from our club arrived. “Hello Jim, what brings you along tonight”, cue interesting story of how in his younger years he’d worked in Africa developing agriculture and that prompted his interest in tonights speaker. Tonights speaker? David Mann, speaking on his recent visit to Tanzania and the fund raising for a school that’s been carried out. At this point, I still didn’t realise my mistake.\nThen, Jarle, Diane and Lucy arrived. Lucy said “I didn’t know you were coming, you weren’t on the list”. No, I phoned earlier. I had the evening free and this is an evening club so I’ve come along. Then I was told my mistake. Chestfield is a morning club like ours. This was a special evening for the special presentation, held only once a quarter. It just so happened I’d mis-read the directory but the meeting was happening anyway. I was also put in my place for not remembering that this has been in the events folder for the last month. Maybe that was the subconscious prompt that made me find Chestfield in the directory. Anyway – a fortunate mistake on my part! Two things I learn’t from the visit:\nIt really is amazing what one person can achieve when they get on with it. David, two years ago, would never have dreamed of going to Tanzania. He’d never have dreamed he’d raise over 15,000 to build a school following a meeting with a local bishop in Tanzania who was visiting Canterbury Cathederal. As David quipped, there’s no such thing as a free drink so the champagne reception the cathederal hosted is being well repaid! As the fund raising continues to develop he’s been able to call on rotary contacts to formalise things – at the moment it’s not a registered charity so can’t claim gift aid. When he visited he found a need for sanitary towels which he has been promised in the UK but needs to ship them to a specific area. Rotary is finding and providing contacts with knowledge of shipping to make this good thing happen.\nThe president, Andrew, is a farmer and was clearly showing signs of exhaustion from a busy harvest. Speaking to him about the ‘credit crunch’ he confirmed my thoughts that credit has little impact on farming. The fact his grain sells for a third less this year compared to last is all due to how the weather has been around the world. Last year several countries had a poor harvest so grain prices increased. This year the UK harvest hasn’t been so good but most other countries did well. Therefore more grain on the international market means lower prices per tonne. He also commented on storage being expensive – the grain has to be chilled and have a low moisture content to store well and this requires energy input. The longer it’s kept, the more it costs to keep. Rotary continues to be an education.\nThis is a very fast written post. I’ll correct the spelling later (or maybe leave it here on the pretense that it’s now part of history) but now Rhonda has said I can visit another rotary meeting, this time a little closer to home. 7 minutes to walk there – plenty of time.\n","date":"13 October 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/10/13/rotary-club-vis-1/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Rotary – Club visit 5 to Chestfield","type":"posts"},{"content":"[][1] Red Mushroom with white spots I love mushrooms. As an alternative to cheese (one of my other loved foods), I love mushroom sandwiches too. Bread is of course my other loved food. Yes, I’m a cheese sandwhich junkie first, mushroom sandwich junkie second.\nImagine my joy when walking through the woods to find this beauty. I’ve heard it said that most mushrooms in the UK are OK to eat… fortunately I don’t think ‘most’ is anywhere near a good enough probability ratio to experiment with. I did spend 10 minutes on my PDA accessing the internet to identify it but gave up and carried on walking. Having now looked up what this mushroom is, it’s an Amanita Muscaria and the website of “Rogers Mushrooms” give it an edibility rating of “Deadly”.\nPerhaps the bright red cap with white spiky bits on top of the red are natures way of telling me “Red is danger, spiky bits mean danger too so you really don’t want to eat me Steve!”, that and I thought it looked like a friendly cartoon mushroom far to good to eat, happily growing in tree dappled sunshine.\nUpdate: Steve in the comments section posted a link to a YouTube video from BBC Worldwide talking about this mushroom\n","date":"6 October 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/10/06/red-mushroom-wh/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Red Mushroom, White Spots, found on my walk through the woods","type":"posts"},{"content":"Do you remember the saying that things always come in threes? Well, I really should buy a lottery ticket. Instead the numbers I would have picked had I bought a ticket for Saturday will be 7,11,32, 40,48,49.\nWhy do I tell you this? Well I believe the odds of me winning the lottery are so far stacked against me I’m not going to spend the money on a ticket. However, I have just won TWO competition prizes. Yes, TWO! Maybe the lottery could be the third…. Oh, hang on, I’ve had THREE prizes this year now, I never got round to blogging about the first.\nSo, here they are in order. I won an iPod Touch back in May. This is the second iPod I’ve won, the iPod shuffle came from Ford in 2006. The iPod Touch was won in April after I replied to a survey on out-law.com. 16Gb of music player worth around 200 promptly borrowed on a long term basis by my wife. Well, I wouldn’t use a music player much but it did reveal to me the clever touches an iPhone would have. I can’t have an iPhone because it isn’t as flexible as I need it to be as a PDA organiser and phone – the touch cruise is still a better option for me. However the safari web browser it has built in outperforms Internet Explorer mobile version and Opera mobile so if it weren’t for the application flexibility I like I’d probably be on an iPhone already. Out-law.com is an online legal magazine that reviews ongoing, erm, legal things. I find it well written, informative, impartial and it’s one of the few RSS feeds I have set on my phone.\nLast week a ‘signed for’ package arrived in the post. In it was a prize courtesy MXR Digital. There was a competition in a trade magazine which, for some reason, I decided to enter. I must have had a lucky feeling because I won a Pure Highway DAB Digital Radio for the car. Looking at the prices online, they’re around 70. I wouldn’t choose to buy one though on long journeys I do occasionally wish for some different radio entertainment. However, now I have it I can’t wait to find time to put it together and play with it. It transmits to the car through an FM transmitter built in or through a cable you can plug it into. Hopefully I’ll have some free time in the next week or two to try it out and report back.\nThe third prize is a lot more special than this little picture shows. I’ll be telling you all the amazing technical features later when I get to play with it, once it arrives. Today, I got a phone call from the magazine and email from the supplying company to say I’ve won a flat screen, 23″ TV. This, however, is no ordinary flat screen TV. It’s a Bath-o-vision 23″ wall mounted, mirror fronted flat screen TV worth around 1,800. Excuse me while I pick myself up off the floor. How on earth can you justify that for a TV? Well, this TV is designed to go in a bathroom, or swimming pool. When turned off it looks like a normal mirror. When turned on, you get to have a decent size TV with a wide viewing angle (178 degrees!), HD Resolution and a built in digital TV tuner. This is not the kind of TV you’ll buy in the supermarket! It’ll be a month or so before this prize arrives, the company are organising for the magazine to visit for photos of them presenting the screen to me.\n","date":"3 October 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/10/03/a-very-lucky-we/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"A very lucky week for Steve!","type":"posts"},{"content":"I spent the afternoon of my day off going for a walk. From my house in Faversham I walked to canterbury via some woodland, old villages and the North Downs way. As my PDA has a GPS receiver built in I thought I’d try logging it’s output to see exactly how fast I’m walking nowdays. Last time I checked, walking without a rucksack on clear footpaths and not too hilly, I walked an average speed of 6km per hour.\nWell, my first fast analysis of the log file shows I’m going a little faster. It also shows I need to improve my map reading, I certainly don’t remember passing through customs on my way to Canterbury via South Africa and Germany…. hmmm, perhaps there’s something wrong with those logs.\nFor completeness, I’ll add my PDA is a Windows Mobile 6 HTC Touch Cruise. The GPS logging software is called Sunset from Kharsim.net. The GPX log file sunset created was uploaded first to http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/ and the analysed view came via http://www.everytrail.com/.\nI’ll try and spend a little time finding the flawed data from the log then finding a better way of creating route paths and analysis. Everytrail does look reasonably complete from a fleeting first impression and has the facility of hosting the maps so you can zoom in and out. Now, how to find the error lines in that GPS Log and remove them.\nTo finish on a high, my average walking speed according to my GPS is 3,758 miles per hour. Must dash, I fancy visiting nipping down to the south of France before tea time, should only take me 20 minutes from here 🙂\n","date":"2 October 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/10/02/gps-logging-fro/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"GPS Logging from my PDA…needs a little work I think","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"2 October 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/gps-walking/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"GPS Walking","type":"tags"},{"content":"If I’d seen this book in the second hand bookshop, I would have been unlikely to choose it. However, it came highly recommended by a friend who lent it to me and I’m so glad they did!\nThe island is a story of a family history and it’s discovery by a girl from London. Her mother has rarely mentioned her past so the London girl sets off to discover it, taking us back to before her mother was born.\nIt’s hard for me to say just why I enjoyed this story so much. Perhaps it was that the story covered such a wide range of time and that I’d love to know as much history of my family. To know my grandparents grandparents would be wonderful. Perhaps it was that the story felt so real; trials and tribulations of life randomly spaced with the happy times of families rich and poor. Perhaps it was the setting, the island and nearby town of Spinalonga. Spinalonga was a leper colony until a cure for Leprosy was fond after the second world war. Perhaps it was that when a group of city folk were deported to Spinalonga due to their leporsy, they didn’t give up made a place where people went to die into a place with a living standard that nearby mainlanders began to envy.\nI found it hard relating to some of the greek terms, in the same way as someone from Greece would probably stuggle to comprehend the translated meaning of Mr Brown, Right Honourable Mr Brown, Prime Minister Brown and First Lord of the Treasury – being all titles related to the same person. I think a similar thing was happening with the titles of the women in the story, growing from girls into women.\nSpinalonga is a real place and I’m not entirely sure at what point fact ends and fiction begins. Another friend said she visited the island having read the book and been on holiday in the area and the island is accurately depicted.\nRootie Rating; 5 out of 5 – I’m so glad is was recommended to me\n","date":"2 October 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/10/02/the-island-vict/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"The Island (Victoria Hislop)","type":"posts"},{"content":"I have a well needed day off work (its’ been busy since returning from holiday so I’ve been in the office every day) and I’ve set myself two goals for the day. First is to catchup on my book reports and other blogging. Second is to go for a long walk.\nI’ve noticed for a while that the keys on the home computer keyboard are getting a bit stiff to touch type on, today, just as I’m motivated to type lots, they’re really sticking. Especially the space bar, pushing down requires just the right amount of pressure and direction. Push a little sideways and it sticks until it’s forced. Keyboards eh, just how long has this keyboard lasted?\nWell, the logo on the top says “Gateway”. It came with our 2nd office computer in 1998 when we started the business. How do I know? It has the manufacturing date stamped on the back – 24th November 1998\nYes, this keyboard has lasted a measly 10 years (almost), or put another way;\nIt’s lasted longer than 15″ monitor, a 17″ monitor and a 17″ TFT screen (actually, the 17″ TFT didn’t really die, it replaced a dead monitor in the office and I had the new one at home)\nIt’s survived use on 4 computers (I think, certainly that’s how many computers we’ve had at home)\nIt’s outlived every joystick I’ve ever had, and come to think of it every mouse, although when this keyboard was made we were still using mice with wheels inside them.\nIt’s seen every password I’ve ever created, and failed to remind me what the password was when I’ve forgotten.\nIt’s left me with unanswered questions, like which key has been pressed more than any other? (the half shiny surface on the space bar might be the clue, that and that the space bar is the key suffering most and making this typing hard work).\nThe label on the back also tells us that even 10 years ago “Improper or prolonged keyboard use may cause injury”. I wonder if 10 years is prolonged?\nSo if you’re question is “how long does a keyboard last?” This one is about to go to keyboard heaven after 10 years.\n","date":"2 October 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/10/02/life-and-times/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Life and times of a Keyboard","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"2 October 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/root-observations/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Root Observations","type":"categories"},{"content":"Issac Asimov is an author who’s work I’ve loved, even if on this book his first name is entirely missing. Who knows, maybe the next book of his I’ll find will just call him ‘A’, or ‘Mov’. I guess when you’re that great and well known as an Author, who needs first names.\nThis book is a collection of short stories, some of which I’ve read before, some being completely new to me. My favourite new story found in this collection is “The Last Trump”, where the Angel Gabriel arrives to call an end to Earth based on a decree by God. It presents an impression of hell that is created by the common desire to survive without pain or suffering. In a clever twist of office politics at the Deity level (God, Gabriel and our unknown to us guardian angle Etherial) our life with it’s highs and lows, births and deaths is returned, for the time being.\nCompared to the other series of short stories I’ve read recently, this one has to get a Rootie Rating of 4 out of 5, enjoyable and memorable make the difference.\n","date":"2 October 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/10/02/earth-is-room-e/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Earth is Room Enough (Issac Asimov)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Another old book from the second hand bookshop, this reprint had an authors introduction where he fondly referred to the collection as “Stan”, shortening Space, Time And Nathaniel into a name more cosy. It’s a collection of short stories and was an enjoyable read. The only trouble I have now is that having read it last month and being a little behind on recording my reading, I can’t remember one of them! I know they were good enough I enjoyed the book (that’s why I went on to read the other Brian Aldiss book I bought) and I remember the last story had something to do with Nathaniel. Alas, it escapes me. Rootie Rating 3 out of 5, Good, if not memorable amongst my other recent reading.\n","date":"2 October 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/10/02/space-time-and/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Space, Time and Nathaniel (Brian Aldiss)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Printed 6 years before I was born, the jacket of this book showed it’s age in the second hand bookshop. On the plus side, if it’s been kept that long it can’t be too bad. There were also several other books by this author which I’ve found to be a good sign. Lots of old books by the same author seems to mean the stories were successful enough to be printed in large quantities, so that many copies survive to stand tightly packed in the limited shelf space of second hand book shops. I bought this and another couple of them to read over the summer holidays.\nOnto the story, and for me this is a classic piece of science fiction. Think of the future as it would develop from now. Imagine it going the way we wouldn’t like it to, on a social level. Imagine war pushing the development of space exploration, in a way that only war can create a technology growth spurt. Imagine then discovering intelligent life on another planet. This story eloquently describes this situation, an intelligent extra terrestrial species that mankind isn’t intelligent enough to recognise. The book makes you ask a fundamental question; How do you define intelligent?\nIt’s a really good read so perhaps it’s not surprising it’s still in print. Rootie Rating: 4 out of 5\n","date":"2 October 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/10/02/the-dark-light/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"The Dark Light Years (Brian Aldiss)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Two weeks in, the “Sunday European Campaign” is going well. The SEC, as it’s been shortened to, is an event within the game of Aces High 2 where players from all over the world virtually fly world war 2 aircarft and virtually kill each other. The irony is that this (and many other online games like it) are bringing people together from all over the world. The group of online friends I fly with are mostly German and it’s great to know we’re at peace now when playing a game recreating a war just 60 years ago.\nAnyway, when our squad moved to this new game from warbirds a year ago, we missed a regular event on Sunday nights where we flew historically based missions over 2 hours. Different to the “main arena” style of game play, these events would encourage a foundation in history, tactics and planning, and very careful flying, given only 1 life per hour.\nAfter some encourage among the players, I had a list of 80 or so players who were interested in the idea and the support of the game creators. Some players volunteered to run the event (on the server setup side), some for future event design too. The big question was would they actually turn up to play?\nI’ve just finished playing the 2nd frame of the first event (3 frames = 3 Sunday nights per event) where 100 players from all over the world joined in! Last week we also had just over 100 players, so it looks like there is a genuine interest for the events to continue.\nThe picture on this post is what’s left of my Hurricane during the first frame. You’ll notice (ok, you’ll notice because I’m telling you not because you’re looking closely) that it’s missing both ailerons. For those with a love of flying, you’ll know the ailerons are the important bit that lets the plane roll and therefore turn. You might also know of the “secondary effects of control”, where using the rudder will roll the plane. That and a little use of elevator meant I landed safely, just, with a fuel leak and other damage too. The screen shot was taken by Odee, a player from Virginia USA. The game has a recording facility and he replayed from my view point to get the shot. Thanks Odee ","date":"28 September 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/09/28/sunday-european/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Sunday European Campaign – on target so far…","type":"posts"},{"content":"Jumping back along the time line for a bit, I’ll tell you about ‘Charter Night’. Charter night is different from Inauguration. I think inauguration is the formal welcoming into Rotary whereas Charter night is more of a celebration of the new club joining the Rotary family.\nOur Charter night was June 21st 2008. I confess I had nothing to do with the organisation of the event. In fact, not many in the club did – it appears mostly the work of our first President, Jarle. We used a large room at Kent County Cricket ground for a formal meal. Rotarians from all over the district came to join us along with the President of Rotary Internation in Britain and Ireland, Allan Jagger. He gave a very entertaining speach welcoming us into Rotary and set a challenge I think we have no hope of achieving. He joked that ‘your club has in a single swipe halved the average age of Rotary’, the challenge is that in 10 years time we keep the same average age as now. Our club was given gifts by other clubs of things that a new club will find useful. Chains of office for the President, President Elect and Tresurer, a table lecturn, a bell (I assume that Rotarians are generally rowdy and need calling to attention by bell) and lots of pennants.\nThe event was also used as a fund raiser for Odyssey. A gambing area was set up on the floor below. For a donation of real money you got some tokens to play with. At the end of the night if you had lots of tokens left you might win a prize that had been donated by a member. The crupier (or whatever they’re called) told me how to play roullete. I’ve decided I’m still not a gambling person.\n","date":"25 September 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/09/25/rotary-charter/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Rotary – Charter Night","type":"posts"},{"content":"There’ll come a time when I’ll visit a club and not learn anything while I’m there. At least about Rotary, though there is perhaps infinite scope to learn from meeting people anywhere. My fourth club visit was much closer to home, the Rotary Club of Medway. I grew up in Medway and a long time friend (someone I met in the early years of starting Roots) has been a member there for longer than he’s known me. I’d said to Clive a few months ago that I really need to visit and just as I was coming back from holiday he suggested meeting for lunch. Instead of lunch, I said I’d meet him at his Rotary club before dinner (Medway is an evening club).\nAll was set, this time I told Jarle I was going so could pass the presidents greetings with conviction. It was a special meeting in a way as the District Governor, John Wilton, was also visiting to set out his goals as governor for the Rotary year. Something else special happened too, but more on that latter.\nA district governor serves for one year. Before then they are District Governor Elect. Before that (so 2 years before being District Governor) they are Vice District Governor… I think. Coming soon – Acronym Dictionary for Rotary! Anyway, I missed his presentation to our club as I was on holiday so this was quite good timing. Despite the tendency people in his position can develop of talking rubbish or in such a way as to send the audience to sleep, I found his speech (about 45 minutes if I remember correctly) pretty specific, relevant and interesting. Of course, this is the first time I’ve seen a District Governor speak so perhaps it’s the same every year but from a different person so may have been very boring to everyone else. He clearly set out the current focus of Rotary on an International Level and it’s chosen charities. He clearly set out the current focus of Rotary at a national (RIBI) level. He clearly set out the current focus of Rotary at District Level. He did make it clear that while all of those are good causes it really is up to the club to choose whether to support it or not – its not mandatory for each Rotary club to support those charities but support is welcome. He said that District is there as a support framework for the clubs and should be used as such. If there is a problem, let him know and he will do his best to keep the wheels in motion effectively during his year in office.\nHe then took questions from members one of which was, to me at least, was nice to hear. The question was “Shouldn’t we be focussing on more local charities than all the National ones?” or at least words to that effect, I paraphrase. The answer from the District Governor was; each club sets it’s own goals and local good causes are normally expected to feature but it is for the club to decide. I stood (not being frightened of standing and making a fool of myself) and added my two pence. Starting with the question “Has anyone here learnt the Object of Rotary by heart?” – answer given without exception – “No!” I continued, that as a new Rotarian, in a new club, I hadn’t learnt it either. I had though reduced it to three words that I could understand and work towards… “Do Good Things”. That Do Good Things applies to our activities locally, nationally or internationally, that Do Good Things is not defining any amount of money to be raised and given, but includes things as simple as collecting tents left behind at a music festival to distribute to youth clubs free of charge, or raising 50,000 (we hope) in an event in aid of the Pilgrims Hospice. My close was rubbish – that’s what you get for not planning to speak – in that I agree we shouldn’t forget the local charities. I’ve not thought how I’d close that properly, but thinking now I’d say it doesn’t matter whether we do things locally or nationally or internationally, just that whatever we do is as effective as it can be and meets the aim of “Do Good Things”. I think that’s what the Object of Rotary says, just in 103 more specific words than my version.\nJust before I visited this club our club Pennants arrived. What’s a club pennant? It’s like a little flag that when clubs visit each other they exchange. I mentioned them all around the walls when I visited the Rotary Club of Lochabber. Jarle posted me one and at this meeting I exchanged our first club pennant with another club. One more step along the road to club traditions and the honour fell on me. I’m a lucky chap. Here’s the photo of me exchanging the pennant with Medway Club President Bob Curtis\nIf you thought the pennant exchange was special, well, it was, but not so much as this astounding event that occurred at the meeting. There were two visitors. I was one, the other visitor was member who joined his local club near his home Brisbane in Australia just 11 months ago. His name is Derrick Coppack and he was visiting the UK for just 2 weeks. Nothing unusual there…\nAs a teenager I went skiing with my family and a group of friends in France. Derrick Coppack was on that same trip. My Dad used to do plumbing work for him when he lived in Rochester but he returned to Australia about 8 years ago to look after his parents. I haven’t seen Derrick in over 15 years. I recognised the name as familiar but knowing this visitor had arrived from Australia the same day of the meeting really didn’t think it would be the same person. What are the chances of that? Both of us joining Rotary this year, both of us meeting in a club that we would never normally visit. I’d work out the mathematical probability….but it’s late so feel free to do it for me if you fancy a challenge.\nLearnings from this meeting:\nJarle probably has a suitcase full of pennants given to us by other clubs. It would be nice to display them, another Rotary tradition for us to work on. I met and spoke with 3 members at the club who’d been members for less than a year. Fresh enthusiasm is contagious. It’s a small (and friendly) Rotary world. ","date":"8 September 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/09/08/rotary-club-vis/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Rotary – Club Visit 4 to Medway","type":"posts"},{"content":"After the bonnie hills of Scotland we headed south for two more destinations before home. Our plan was to drive to York and find a camp site there for a few days. I remember going to York as a child and reading of Vikings and it seemed as good a place as any to head. We thought we’d make it but a late start meant we wouldn’t get to the area until about 7pm. As we didn’t have a camp site booked, we decided to stop at Ripon. Arriving about 6pm we discovered the camp sites were all full. Something to do with it being a bank holiday weekend…. oh, forgot that was coming up! We did find a site eventually in a small village about half way to York. They had 1 space for 1 night so we took it.\nLeaving as early as we could the next morning we carried onto Windsor. Windsor, for those that didn’t know, is where there’s a very big castle where the Royal Family have been known to visit. As James will tell you, it’s made from hundreds of lego bricks, and look, over there, a lego boat. Yes, our primary draw to Windsor was nothing to do with the real castle, Legoland held far more attraction to the children. Arriving there around lunch time we went to the tourist information centre to get a list of camp sites. Every site we phoned was full. The 7th site said they did have one pitch left, they don’t normally use it because it’s the nosiest pitch… it was 10 metres away from and below the level of the M4. We took it! To be honest, it wasn’t that noisy. As the road was above us I think most of the noise didn’t reach us. It was a bit loud compared to our previous remote camp sites but at least it could be home for a few days.\nDay 1 in Windsor we visited the (real) castle, saw the Dolls house, read about how the fire had damaged the building and how it had been repaired. There was an exhibition area with displays of original Leonardo Da Vinci drawings and some of Prince Charles’ things, including his Bronze Duke of Edinburgh’s award book opened on the expedtion page. He assessor said the prince completed it “satisfactorily” if I remember correctly.\nWe had a couple of Days in Legoland too and then, on the Tuesday evening, I visited another Rotary Club, the Rotary Club of Windsor St George. Rhonda, Nicola and James had dinner in the restaurant and were very patient while I was in a very long and enjoyable meeting. I mean, how many people can say that they were one of only 30 or so people at a dinner with Al Gore! Mr Gore spoke for about an hour and gave a very interesting speech about his work. Did you know, the origin of the term “Police Station” comes from when the Railways had police posted regularly along the track? I’d often wondered what made it a ‘Police Station’, rather than a ‘Police House’ or ‘Police Office’. Oh, perhaps a little clarity, you thought I was speaking about Al Gore that’s an American diplomat or something didn’t you? Sorry, couldn’t resist. This Al Gore is a member of the Rotary Club of Windsor St George and was giving a talk on his occupation. He gave a very thorough history of Policing Railways from beginning to current day.\nAnother local club had visited in force (around 8 of them) as their regular club meeting place was closed. It seems there is a practice of having ‘scatter’ meetings, where instead of meeting as a club, members will go and visit other clubs. It seems a good idea as it pretty much forces people to go outside their comfort zone and meet other people.\nOnce again everyone was very friendly. Also visiting that night was a girl from a “Rotaract” club. Rotaract is like a young version of Rotary for people aged between 18 to 30. I gather they still work towards ‘do good things’ as a goal, but have a greater focus on social things and less protocol and formality.\nI’m also wondering whether club presidents need to have unusual names – at least names I’m not very familiar with. Our president is Jarle, and the Windsor St George president is Emrys. Emrys used to be Mayor of Windsor and offered to show my family and I around the guildhall the next day but unfortunately our holiday time was up and we had to go home.\nLearnings from this visit\nIt is tradition to bring greetings from your president to the club you visit. I stood and introducing myself as a New member in a new club, said I’ve just learnt of this tradition and although I’m sure Jarle would send his greetings he didn’t even know I was coming. Everyone saw the fun side As a club funds raising technique, they had a “Master at Arms” who would fine members (and visitors if he could) for anything that might add to club funds. A few pennies here, a few pennies there all helps. If you visit and you’re from Kent, decide whether you’re a Man of Kent or Kentish Man before you go. Don’t expect it to help as there’ll be something else to fine you for but you wont fall into the same trap I did! So, that’s a total of 3 club visits but before returning to my regular Wednesday morning meeting I was meeting a friend at a 4th…\n","date":"6 September 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/09/06/rotary-and-its-1/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Rotary and it's impact on our holiday (Part 2)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Continuing from previous writings, I went to the Alexandra Hotel bar in the evening to use their free wi-fi to catch up on things using my laptop. The only downside of the arrangement was having to drive there from the camp site – diet coke only for me!\nWhen I got there I noticed the microphone and speaker setup in the corner and found out there was live music on that night. Decisions decisions…. should I stay or should I go? If the music was really loud or the bar became packed I wouldn’t be able to work. I stayed, very glad I did.\nI really like live music. I’ve a musical taste that covers something from everything, I know what I like, I know what I don’t, and I rarely ever manage to remember the name of the songs being played, or the person performing them. I was a little nervous at first when the singer arrived. Clearly young, he turned out to be just 14, I had a feeling this was going to be a very amateur performance with a limited range of songs. It brought back memories of me as a young teenager going to events in a white school shirt and black school trousers. How wrong first impressions can be, this lad was superb!\nI should expand on superb. To begin with he was playing an instrument I’m not a huge fan of, the accordion. Playing like a professional, singing well along side it. I could appreciate the talent of this young man by the end of the first song, just not my thing. Still, I could carry on typing on my laptop as it certainly wasn’t bad background music. Then the switch to guitar. I hadn’t even seen the guitar hidden in the corner. I much prefer a guitar with some good vocals and as soon as he started playing the work rate on my laptop slowed to a near halt. This was great music. He kept switching from according to guitar, then back again. Playing a range of songs and styles, with a strong flavour of Scottish songs. As the evening progresses he picked up a feel for the audience and managed to get people singing along. Fortunately you’ll be pleased to know I didn’t join in. Aside from the English accent I would introduce thus spoiling the atmosphere, I didn’t know the words.\nI recorded one song on my camera phone. The phone doesn’t do any justice to the singer or the song, but if you recognise it maybe you can tell me the songs name. Yes, I recognise it, but as I said earlier I’m very bad at remembering the names of songs\n","date":"6 September 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/09/06/robert-robertso/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Robert Robertson, talented young singer","type":"posts"},{"content":"If you know me, you probably know I play a flight sim from time to time called Aces High 2. Some of the players (me included) have been working a new series of events to run on Sunday evenings in the Euro Time Zone.\nThe first event will be Sunday the 21st September. If you’re here looking for more information, you need to be looking here for the original show your interest page or here for the official launch forum pages on the game creators site\n","date":"4 September 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/09/04/aces-high-2-sun/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Aces High 2 – Sunday European Campaign series begins!","type":"posts"},{"content":"I’m not writing this quite in chronological order. Now I’ve mentioned one club visit I’ll carry on and write about the other visits before returning to things like our club’s Charter Night. The observant reader (assuming there is a reader of my waffle) will have noticed the title is “Rotary and it’s impact on our family holiday (part1)”. Yes, even on holiday I ended up ‘rotarying’ (I’m sure that’s not a word but I’ll use it anyway).\nOur family holiday this year was based around 2 weeks of camping. Leaving mid week we drove to the Lake District and stayed in a camp site near Lake Windermere. (here come the holiday photos!) Having spent a few days there our next stop was Fort William, the Scotish town next to Ben Nevis. Rhonda walked up Ben Nevis with her parents when she was young and we decided to try walking it with our Children. James made it over half way much to our surprise and when he and Rhonda turned back Nicola and I continued to the summit. Nicola bouncing along as if it was just a small hill, me feeling every metre of gained height in my legs. I’m not as fit as I used to be.\nWhile at Fort William I decided to look for a Rotary Club to see if I could join them in one of their meetings. It turned out the Rotary Club of Lochabber meet in Fort Williams’ Alexandra Hotel just a couple of miles away from our Camp Site. I sent an email to their contact the day before (I know, not a lot of notice!), confirmed the times and went to join them at their lunch time meeting.\nVisiting this club became an important part of our family holiday – not just for me, the children were glad I went too. One of the tenets of Rotary is fellowship. Talking and getting to know people can create opportunities that wouldn’t exist without it. For the meal I was sitting on a table with a lady called Mairi. She turned out to be the curator of the West Highland Museum in Fort William. I’d only walked through the high street once before and I hadn’t noticed the museum (despite the huge banner across the pedestrian area). I hadn’t really considered visiting any Museums in the area. Being a small town I imagined a quite small museum with things of minor interest but not quite enough to spend any time in, especially with two hyperactive children in tow. As a result of meeting Mairi we decided to stay an extra day and visit the Museum. I’m so glad we did! We must of spent over 2 hours looking at all the exhibits squeezed into the building. Mairi was talking about plans for an extension over lunch and I can see why the museum needs it. Nicola and James enjoyed it too, Nicola deciding that she’s going to try and create a secret painting just like the one in the museum of Bonnie Prince Charlie. The secret painting is only visible when a reflective cylinder is placed in it’s middle. The image is viewed in the reflection.\nThere was another reason my family liked this meeting. They weren’t going to the meeting with me, the plan was for them to go swimming in the nearby council pool and for me to walk along and join them after the meeting. Unfortunately the pool was closed due to a strike so they came back to the hotel to leave a message for me. The hotel gave us a free pass to use the nearby Ben Nevis Leisure Club swimming pool instead so despite the strike they still went swimming. I also discovered they had free Wi-Fi internet in the hotel bar so returned that evening to catch up on emails. They had a great (and surprisingly young) singer that evening but more on that in the next post.\nBack to Rotary, things I observed and learnt from this meeting:\nThe room was surrounded by pennants from other clubs. They were pinned to bigger backgrounds that looked as though they could be rolled up and stored between meetings. I always find it interesting talking to people. At this meeting, aside from Mairi and the West Highland Museum, I also had interesting conversations with several other people. We (the family) almost went to a Highland Country Dancing evening that night which was covered in formal part of the meeting . Despite being part of RIBI, the club is further away than the French club we (Canterbury Sunrise) are working on twinning with. Scotland is another country to England so perhaps this should count as my first international visit too 😉 ","date":"2 September 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/09/02/rotary-and-its/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Rotary and it's impact on our family holiday (part 1)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Being new to Rotary, I’m learning as I go along. I decided that one way I can learn quickly the best way to carry out my role within the club (Chair of Service Projects Committee) is to visit other clubs and find out how they do things.\nWhen a club is formed there is a sponsoring club, and our sponsor club is the Rotary Club of Canterbury. They were formed way back in 1922 and meet on a Tuesday Lunch time. For me, I could never regularly attend a lunch time meeting as I couldn’t take that much time away from work. However, being self employed does have some advantages so occasionally I can be out of the office for a long lunch, so Tuesday 15th July I made my first visit to another club.\nI learnt a lot about Rotary in that meeting. I’ll try and collect all those observations and condense them;\nFirstly the welcome. Everyone was easy to talk to, keen to hear how the new baby club was coming along (they’d met a few of the members at previous meetings and some of them regularly attend our meetings). Secondly, age brings with it the trappings of establishment. That’s not a bad thing, just an observation. At our Charter night (more on that later) we were given things useful to new rotary clubs by many other rotary clubs. The gong – to bring the meeting to order, a lecturn for meetings, chains of office for the president and so on. Canterbury has some very ornate member name badges stored in a sizable wooden box to keep them safe. Our club badges are on order but won’t be quite so ornate. They gave me a printed booklet with all their members contact details – it’s already been useful as I met someone that couldn’t make morning meetings but was interested in joining a lunch time Rotary club. As our club develops we are getting more and more of these trappings which should help us to work more effectively. Thirdly, they are all a lot older than our club. I get the impression that people rarely leave Rotary so the club’s average age gets older and older. That can start to cause trouble recruiting as there starts to be a generation gap. Fourthly, I spoke with a Rotarian who was very candid with his opinion of the club. In essence, he said that he found the club ‘stuffy’ and not like the first rotary club he joined in a different area. However, when he moved he wanted to continue within Rotary, at lunch times, and this was the only club that met his availability. The working style of the club was far less important than the activity of Rotary within the community. This I found most impressive, the attitude I’m finding as I meet more and more Rotarians is they are not their for personal gain, they really are there for the benefit of others, fostering the ideal of service as per the object of Rotary Finally, the meeting was longer and more formal than our club meetings. Lunch (lamb and vegetables if I remember correctly) was served whereas we have a buffet and get our own breakfast when we arrive. On the plus side it gave me more time to talk to people around the table. I’m planning to visit more clubs as time allows, which brings me onto my next club visit…\n","date":"29 August 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/08/29/rotary-a-wider/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Rotary – First visit to another club","type":"posts"},{"content":"So, all of a sudden it seemed Club Assembly day was upon us.\nLucy spent an evening with me planning what we would say and preparing a flip chart pad as our presentation tool. Now, you’re probably aware that I’m not afraid of doing a presentation but I generally hate every second of it. I fret all the way through, I miss bits I wanted to say, I speak far to fast and at the end of it I go over in my mind all the things that I should have done better. I can’t remember ever doing so complex a presentation as this one. Complex in that I wanted a lot of things to happen in the right way and it wasn’t just me speaking, there were parts for 4 other members.\nI was taught that when presenting it is perfectly acceptable to control the room and event in order to get your message across. I sort of decided that this would apply not just to my allotted presentation time but to control of the whole assembly meeting. The week before Lucy had read the “Object of Rotary” at the start of the breakfast meeting. She stumbled upon a word or two at the end at which point John made light of it. Ours is a happy and light hearted club, so all was taken in good humour. At the beginning of our Club Assembly meeting we gave John the Object of Rotary to read…. in French. Well, seeing as Lucy is French and stumbled over the English version we thought it would be fun to get John to read the object in something other than his first language. This wasn’t done purely for fun though, I wanted everyone to remember the “Object of Rotary”. Having it read in a different language was more effective than my original plan – to get someone to give the object of rotary from memory. As I said earlier, the object is a tough set of words and no one in our club has memorised them. Much merriment later, the Assembly meeting continued in what I assume is the normal way, with each committee reporting their progress to everyone in the club – finishing with a short speech from Martin who was visiting to represent District. Poor chap, It was his first visit to us and I don’t think he quite understood our approach to Rotary.\nAfter all the other committees had spoken, we were the last to go. The meeting was slightly overrunning so I made the decision to condense the first part of our presentation. Referring to the object of rotary I challenged anyone to stand up and say it. Obviously no one could. If I had more time I might have managed to get the gist of the object from those around the room. We had the full objects printed and taped into our flip chart so everyone got to remember what the object was, then we gave them our “Object of Rotary in 3 words” version:\nDo Good Things\nHaving set the objective clearly, the next question is ‘What counts as a good thing?’. This is where I got to introduce Craig to talk about what Playing for Success is. Following him was Steve Auty on the Pilgrims Hopice, with Diane following Steve on how we will be helping Pilgrims by organising and running a Summer Ball and how she would eventually be getting more of us to help as things developed with her plans. I think this is the part we lost Martin from District, when Diane said with a straight face she expected us to raise 50,000. I gather that’s a large amount for a club in it’s first year but the amount itself is a side effect of knowing what we can achieve. The week before Assembly the target was 40,000 but a local farmer offered a better venue so Diane expects us to raise more.\nClosing the presentation I wanted to get across two messages. Firstly, I wanted everyone to at least remember our short object of rotary (Do Good Things) if they weren’t going to remember the full version. Do Good Things is something everyone is starting to say. Secondly, I wanted them all to realise that as members it’s up to them all to find the Opportunities to Do Good Things. Present the opportunity to the club and maybe someone in the club can help. Maybe we can’t, we’ll certainly not be able to help in every case but the first step is always to identify the opportunity to serve. I’m not sure I got that message across so well.\nWhat next? Well, time start Doing Good Things…\n","date":"29 August 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/08/29/rotary-club-ass/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Rotary – Club Assembly","type":"posts"},{"content":"You might get the feeling that my involvement in Rotary is a lot of meetings. That might be true, but think only in the good sense of meetings. That is, the good thing of meeting people, talking and learning, rather than boring meetings that drone on forever with no aim.\nMeeting Steve Auty, another new Rotarian, at the Pilgrims Hospice was another huge learning experience for me. Firstly, let me tell you what Pilgrims is and what it does. The hospice movement steps in once the NHS step out. When you have a terminal disease and you can no longer be treated, the hospice movement will help you and your family cope with that news and make sure the last stage of your life is the best it can be. As Steve said to me, as a society we rarely speak of what happens when you know you’re going to die and we should probably speak to each other more about it. While some of us will die suddenly, for others there will be a period where a doctor runs some tests and tells us there is little that modern medicine can do for us. If that’s said to you, what will you do?\nThe hospice movement is entirely funded by charitable donations. They will be there with specialist staff to help not only you come to terms with things, including managing treatment that can ease suffering through to the end of your life, but the hospice movement will be there for your family too. Steve explained to me that many people view the hospice movement as somewhere you go to die, but in reality only 40% of … i don’t think patient is the right word but it will do for now, only 40% of patients die in the hospice. Many make a decision they would prefer to die at home and the hospice will do everything they can to allow people to stay at home instead of in the hospice itself. While the number of volunteers at the hospice outweigh paid staff by a huge amount, some staff need qualifications and resources cost money. The hospice needs around 8 million pounds a year to run. This funding allows them to care for around 4,000 people in the final stages of life, out of around 6,000 people that deserve their care and attention in the area Pilgrims Hospice covers.\nPlease read this with the notation that I’ve typed these figures from memory, if they’re grossly wrong I’ll correct them but I’m sure they’re near enough. Pilgrims would very much like to expand their service to look after all the 6,000 people in East Kent and they are working hard towards growing their fund raising base to provide this.\nI’ve been fortunate in that I’ve visited a lot of places through my business. I’ve seen large offices and small offices, offices for designers with no expence spared and offices for workshops with sawdust or machine oil on every surface. Visiting Pilgrims I felt straight away that every penny donated to them goes to the cause and not to the office furnishings! Part of Steve’s office was occupied by a folding bed. When I asked about it he said it had been donated by someone, along with another pile of things in another corner. His office was used for storing lots of donations, if the space was needed it was used. Steve is the Chief Executive of Pilgrims Hospice and his coffee table, chairs, desk and filing cabinets looked like they’d seen service since the 1970’s. That’s not to say there was anything wrong with the furnishings, they were all fully functional. If anything it made me appreciate even more how this charity is focused directly on it’s cause and that niceties like matching furniture really aren’t important. I can say with 100% confidence this is a cause worth supporting and definitely within the ethos of “Do Good Things”.\nBut what to do? Well, another new Rotarian, Diane, already has that in hand. She’s organising a summer ball to take place next May in order to raise funds for Pilgrims. Pilgrims haven’t had a summer ball before. Diane’s original target was to raise 40,000, although that’s since been changed to 50,000 because in her words “I’ve been offered a better venue than I thought I could get”.\nWow! To me those figures sound huge but the more I get to know Diane the more I just know it’s going to happen.\nSo, two good causes, presentation day next – how we presented it and how it all went.\nOh, I almost forgot, I spent some time with Steve talking about his past as well. He made the rank of Commodore in the Navy (that’s very, very senior officer!) and told me a couple of great stories of his time in the forces. There’s some amazing experience and knowledge in our Rotary club, the more I meet with people, the more I’m glad I joined.\n","date":"20 August 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/08/20/rotary-meeting-2/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Rotary – Meeting Steve (at Pilgrims Hospice)","type":"posts"},{"content":"One of our members (Craig) was working as a teacher in an organisation called “Playing for Success” which brought them to the clubs attention. Playing for Success is a scheme part funded by the Education authority locally, part funded by a special national education fund and part funded by a sports club. Why the sports club? They provide the venue and their superstar players.\nThe theory goes that children can be motivated to learn things outside of school within a sports environment. The program takes 14 children each evening (56 children per 4 day week) from different schools for one term. They use a session around 2 hours long to do activities with the children that will help develop their confidence and attitude to learning. Being at the sports club means the children get to meet professional sportsmen and women and that is woven into the course as an integral part of the motivation (professional sportsmen and women are always motivated people to have reached that level).\nI went to see Craig on a Thursday afternoon to find out what Playing for Success Kent is and what their goals are. They run sessions at the Kent County Cricket ground. I wanted to find out if there’s any way we (as a Rotary Club) can “Do Good Things” in a focused way. Talking with Craig was interesting in itself. Craig is from Zimbabwe but had been forced to leave due to the current political troubles there. The school he was working at had a falling student roll as farms closed and people moved away so he too had to leave with his wife. He hopes to go back one day, having seen how good a teacher he is the selfish part of me would rather he stays teaching in the UK. Still, for the time being he’s teaching the children at Playing for Success and the benefits of the program are instantly visible. Seeing work of past groups and the excitement generated by meeting different cricket stars, the way he handled and motivated this group, it’s easy to understand why the scheme is in such demand. As they are outside of the national curriculum they can focus very much on those hidden skills of confidence and positive mental attitude. These are the things that you can’t measure but intrinsically know are important.\nAt first glance you’d think Playing for Success has everything it needs. Great venue, all the IT equipment necessary to deliver the course. Great teachers and volunteer mentors (each class has 1 teacher and 3 volunteer mentors). The organisation is itself naturally motivated to deliver this training to as many young people as it can and to increase the use of the facility they’ve been running courses outside of school term time. For these courses they have to charge which means they don’t get to choose the children that will most benefit from the course. One of our Rotarians suggested that if we raise funds to pay for the additional course then the additional spaces can be directed via the local Education Authority towards the children that would normally be targeted. This would definitely fall within the ethos of “Do Good Things” and as I write is still being investigated as an opportunity our club can work on.\nAfter meeting Craig I next had to learn about Pilgrims Hospice, more reading here!\n","date":"20 August 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/08/20/rotary-meeting-1/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Rotary – Meeting Craig (at Playing for Success Kent)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Club Assembly is when the club presents to itself it’s goals and ambitions for the forthcoming year.\nSounds easy. Probably is if you’ve done it before – I on the other hand had only recently joined Rotary and still hadn’t quite organised to my satisfaction the plans for the next month let alone the next year!\nInitially, I said to Jarle that I’d need at least 15 minutes to present the parts from Service Projects. That was a gross underestimate on my part – in the end it needed 27 minutes. So what did we do and why?\nI’m an objective driven person. I really need to know what the aims are in order to work towards them. Rotary has aims, I copied them on this blog earlier, but they are not exactly easy to digest or summarise. When you read them closely, you realise that every word has it’s reason for being there. Still, I’ve found them awful tough to learn and integrate in my mind. I decided that before I could present my committee’s objectives, I needed to present the object of rotary in a way that everyone would instantly know and understand. Only then could I go onto to how in the first year we can achieve that. I worked out that I could put across the Object of Rotary in just 3 words. Sure, they wouldn’t carry the minute detail of how Rotary can achieve things, but it would be enough that every new Rotarian around the table could use, remember, and apply. Here it is, my Object of Rotary in 3 words:\nDo Good Things\nHaving an aim is one thing, but we need to follow it up with actions. There were already two causes others in the club had begun work on. I needed to find out very quickly what those causes were beyond just their name so that I could stand and present them as a worthy “Good Thing”. The first was Pilgrims Hospice, the second was Playing for Success. I went to visit them both, and if you want to find out what I found then you can read on once more.\n","date":"20 August 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/08/20/rotary-planning/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Rotary – Planning for Club Assembly","type":"posts"},{"content":"Less than 2 weeks later, the day of the fun day had arrived.\nThe fun day was a large event organised by District. We got (if we wanted it, and we did) a free pitch to have whatever type of stand we wanted to. The event was open to the public and had a few large attractions, including a parachute display, a Spitfire flypast and a fun fair.\nOur stand had 2 Nintendo Wii machines with WiiFit Boards. Steve Charman works for KCC in Education and was able to borrow them from a youth club for the day. We charged a pound a go with two iPod prizes donated by Apple specialist ServiceWeb for the highest score in two different games (hula hoops and a ski slalom).\nI wrote that Lucy and I set two aims for the event. Firstly that we should involve as many of our club members on the day as possible. Over half the members took part which I consider a fantastic response. Many changed their plans to turn up at some point through the day. Our second goal was to raise money for our chosen charity, we raised 163.30 for Odyssey. All in all a good day.\nOne other surprise was when my family arrived in the afternoon. My daughter ran across to Steve Charman’s wife, shouted her name and gave her a hug! Why? Steve’s wife Rosie is a guide leader at my daughters guide pack in Faversham. None of us knew of the connection until then.\nThe fun day was a great success, but looking forward, it was now just a few days until “Club Assembly”, whatever that was. Read on, if you’re still with me!\n","date":"20 August 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/08/20/rotary-the-fun/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Rotary – the Fun Day","type":"posts"},{"content":"I can come clean, I’m really not very good with names. I’ve found it very hard to get to know everyone at Rotary – at the time of writing this I’m still finding it hard to get to know everyone.\nI’d spoken to Lucy in one of the earlier meetings but still knew very little about her. I’d only been to 12 meetings at this point and still felt very much the new boy. I gather many new Rotarians felt the same way. I thought Lucy had been there for a lot longer but in fact had only started going regularly in March too. New or not, we’d taken on a challenge to run the committee and had a pressing engagement – a Fun Day to organise. In the initial organisation chart I had been put in the Public Relations committee so I had no idea what had been going on in Service Projects. Lucy was within the Service Projects committee under the “International” section. That was a job she’s kept in addition to her new Deputy role. Our club had already set the goal of twinning with a Rotary club in Amiens, that meets at Amiens Cathedral. Lucy’s perfect English accent effectively conceals the fact she’s French, grew up in France and speaks the language fluently. Rather handy member for setting up twinning with a French club then!\nIn an effort to get to know her more and figure out what the aims of our committee were we met at her local pub. What could have taken an hour ended up taking all night until closing time – the functional bit an hour or so, the rest a lot of interesting conversation. Initially she filled me in on what had happened within the Service Projects committee up until that point. Only one meeting, some initial ideas on what to do at the fun day. I think it was then I discovered that we weren’t organising a whole fun day – but running a stand at a Rotary organised fun day – Phew! Lucy already had the Risk Assessments under control, another couple of members had suggested some activities for our stand to generate some revenue.\nWe set our objectives as\nGet as many club members involved in the Fun Day as possible, Raise money for our chosen charity. The club had already chosen Odyssey as the charity.\nI also found out that although Lucy was as new to Rotary membership as I was, she had been a secretary for another Rotarian when she first came to work in England. She already knew a lot about how Rotary worked, how it’s organised and what the protocols are. That knowledge has been very useful – simple things to the experienced Rotarian (like what ‘club assembly’ means) are very confusing to me. Lucy has been picking up on all the times I’ve use the wrong term preventing yet more confusion.\nThe non Rotary discussions covered how it came to be that a French girl acquires a perfect English accent yet has only been working in the UK for a few years. It turns out her Mum is English and every year after French schools had finished she’d visit England and stay with a pen pal, spending a month in an English school before our summer holidays. One of her brothers now lives in England too – at least for the time he’s not doing charity work overseas. Her degree studies in Paris sounded like hard work but a solid foundation to life too, one of the things I’d like to learn more of is how different education systems work and their strengths and weaknesses.\nThe more I get to know the other members, the more I feel able to make a difference within the club. Shorter conversations with other club members have already revealed that Karen is a couple of years younger than me and grew up in the same village and went to the same school! I never remember meeting her before, but we must have as children.\nTwo weeks to go until the fun day, how did it all go? Read on once more….\n","date":"20 August 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/08/20/rotary-meeting/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Rotary – Meeting Lucy","type":"posts"},{"content":"Post inaugeration and I was keen to see our club start to do things. There were a couple of things going on but all on a very small scale by what I felt our club was capable of. I was keen to see action, I wanted to volunteer my time and skills (assuming I have some of use to the club) but needed someone else to come up with the cause. Then, at the end of one of the Morning meetings Jarle asked me if I’d take on the job of “Chair of Service Projects”. First response: What’s that?\nThe club is organised for different people to take on different roles to ensure the club runs smoothly.\nThe club President (Jarle for our first year) runs the meetings and acts as our public face\nThe President Elect (Karen) will be next years president. Karen is also Chair of the Public Relations committee.\nAll the functions needed to run a club have a person responsible for managing that area. Without writing hundreds of words, we also have members in the roles of Secretary, Treasurer and Membership. These members also form the club “Board”. I’ve oversimplified here a little, so forgive me for not mentioning every member in every role.\nThe role of “Service Projects” within the club is to oversea the activities the club is involved in. As a Committee it’s the largest within the club – involving 10 members from our 28 member total after inauguration. As chairperson I would have to run those committee meetings and report to the Board. The committee includes people overseeing our clubs activities within the “Avenues of Service”, that is International, Community and Youth (the forth Avenue is Club Service).\nI had to borrow Jarle’s blue book, kind of like an instruction manual of how Rotary works to read about what Service Projects was. Before saying yes I wanted to know I’d be capable and that it would fit alongside other things I do. Having read that, I was happy to say yes – at last I could start feeling useful!\nThere was good news and bad news in this.\nGood news: The board had decided that this committee needed a Deputy to assist in it’s running and Lucy was being asked if she’d like to take this role on. Both of us would report to the board.\nBad News: I had become responsible for organising a Fun Day. That was all I knew, my first fear was that we had to organise everything, including publicity,and it was less than a month away.\nNow I had the job, I had to figure out how to do it. Fellowship, a word so often mentioned through Rotary, seemed to be the key…\n","date":"13 August 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/08/13/rotary-getting/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Rotary – Getting to work","type":"posts"},{"content":"So far, I’ve been invited to a new club then decided to join a new club. However, the club was still in formation phase. To start a new club Rotary needs it to have a certain number of members and an infrastructure in place. The new club members need to commit themselves to the serving the Object of Rotary. They need to pay their membership fees too (yes, there is a cost to joining Rotary – it’s what pays the expenses of running the system). I’d like to explain more about exactly what hoops the club had to pass through, but the truth is I don’t really know. I’d only been going for 6 or 7 meetings when Inauguration day had arrived. Whatever we as a club had to have achieved, we’d done it and a special meeting was arranged where the whole of Rotary (or perhaps, the local Rotarians able to visit) would get to inspect us as a new club.\nWednesday April 23rd 2008 is a day I will remember for a long time. Before the meeting I saw that the Rotary District Governor* would be joining us for breakfast to officially inaugurate our club and us as new members into Rotary. I recognised the name of the District Governor. Dennis Spiller was, for want of a better word, one of the Youth Leaders who worked with me as a teenager. It was through the Kent Association of Boys Clubs (which later changed it’s name to KABC Kent Youth Trust because there was trouble having Boys in the name, even though girls had been involved for years. It’s now known as just “Kent Youth”). Dennis is also part of a group called the “County Boys Club” (CBC), they organised a range of events and activities for young people on a county wide basis. Actually, I’m still a member of County Boys Club myself but life took me away from that in other directions. One of the things they organised was a set of weekend training courses aimed at developing young people, teaching skills useful in running a youth club. Dennis was one of the several staff organising and teaching on those weekends. One of the things I learnt at those weekends (I still remember) was how to run meetings. The role of the Chairperson, the Secretary, the Treasurer (if there was one), how an agenda works, how minutes work, how to take minutes, how sub committees work, and so on. One of my first observations of Rotary was how the meetings were run the same way as the systems I’d learnt at those weekend training events with the CBC. Meeting Dennis again brought back lots of happy memories of growing up.\nThe ceremony itself was run like clockwork. As our club meets at Canterbury Cathedral it already made for a most impressive venue. After breakfast, Dennis made a speech about what Rotary is and how important it is that new clubs are formed. Another Rotarian then introduced all of us new members by name and profession. Dennis then made the formal statements that officially announced the “Rotary Club of Canterbury Sunrise” as part of Rotary. He finished at precisely 07:59 and 58 seconds, then the Bells of Canterbury Cathedral rang out as if to join in the occasion (they ring at 8am every morning – but I had to admire the timekeeping of the whole morning).\nSo, there we all were, a group of new Rotarians, founder members of a club that, if it is as fortunate as other nearby clubs, will last over 100 years. Or maybe it wont, but it’s kind of special to be there at the beginning.\nNow we’ve formed a Rotary club, what happens next? Read on dear friend…\n*A quick comment on the organisation structure.\nOur club is a part of District 1120. The District has a District Governor who in the year we were formed was Dennis Spiller.\nThe District is a part of RIBI, Rotary International in Britain and Ireland, and that in turn is part of Rotary International.\n","date":"13 August 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/08/13/rotary-inaugura/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Rotary – Inauguration of a new club","type":"posts"},{"content":"I like to understand things before I make any commitment. Joining Rotary meant I had to understand exactly why I was joining and what I was committed to. Let’s be selfish here too, what’s in it for me? Getting up earlier than normal one day a week isn’t really very demanding but even so – I like my sleep!\nI didn’t join on the first meeting. In fact I think it was about 3 meetings before I confirmed I’d join and completed the application form. I had to find out what Rotary was about and why. As a large organisation it does have an objective, simply called the “Object of Rotary”. Read it, and you’ll know why it took me a few weeks to understand it!\nThe Object of Rotary is to encourage and foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise and, in particular, to encourage and foster:\nFIRST. The development of acquaintance as an opportunity for service; SECOND. High ethical standards in business and professions, the recognition of the worthiness of all useful occupations, and the dignifying of each Rotarian’s occupation as an opportunity to serve society; THIRD. The application of the ideal of service in each Rotarian’s personal, business, and community life; FOURTH. The advancement of international understanding, goodwill, and peace through a world fellowship of business and professional persons united in the ideal of service.\u0026lt;/blockquote \u0026ldquo;foster the ideal of service as a basis of worthy enterprise\u0026rdquo;? Sentances like that make me think I should have studied English to a higher level at school. It sort of makes sense to me at the same time as being completely meaningless! Fortunately, I didn\u0026rsquo;t get to read those in isolation. Speaking with Jarle and other members (new members as well as existing Rotary members from other clubs supporting the creation of a new club) it became apparent the Object of Rotary is to do good things in the community. Community being local, national and international. Perhaps the most important thing that became apparent to me was the infrastructure that enabled those things to happen. A club doesn\u0026rsquo;t run in isolation. The aim of doing good things is supported by Rotarians working at a collective, let\u0026rsquo;s say, management level to further the aims of the organisation. That leads me nicely onto what Rotary describe as the \u0026ldquo;Aveunes of Service\u0026rdquo; Based on the Object of Rotary, the Avenues of Service are Rotarys philosophical cornerstone and the foundation on which club activity is based:\nClub Service focuses on strengthening fellowship and ensuring the effective functioning of the club. Vocational Service encourages Rotarians to serve others through their vocations and to practice high ethical standards. Community Service covers the projects and activities the club undertakes to improve life in its community. International Service encompasses actions taken to expand Rotarys humanitarian reach around the globe and to promote world understanding and peace. The club service element positively encourages things to run smoothly. I can appreciate an organisation that includes it’s administration processes as an integral part of its aims. The more I’m involved in Rotary, the more I see an impressive infrastructure for organising huge events by spreading the load effectively over a large number of commited people.\nThe “what’s in it for me?” question is also covered by the word “fellowship” in that line. The people I’ve met in and through Rotary have all been nice people. The reward for being so community spirited is meeting lots of like minded people. I’ve had interesting conversations with Rotarians in my own club and in other clubs, sharing experiences, knowledge and their opinions on the way things are. I’ve also found it interesting that so far I haven’t seen too much politics getting in the way of the Object. People have differing opinions but seem to understand the importance of of the object of service over the detail that allows things to functions. One good example of this is when I visited another club. For that story though you’ll have to read this later blog posting. For now, the summary of this post is that Rotary is an organisation I felt comfortable joining.\n","date":"13 August 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/08/13/rotary-new-memb/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Rotary – new member, new club","type":"posts"},{"content":"I’m sure there’s a better pun on the name Root and the organisation called Rotary, for now I just can’t think of one. Go on, post a comment and be applauded by the other visitor for your ingenuity.\nThis very overdue post follows an email from a past customer way back in February, inviting me to join a Rotary club. What’s a Rotary club? I didn’t know before I went along. Jarle’s invitation managed to get me along so let’s begin with that:\nHi Steve,\nLong time, no speak. I trust you are keeping well. I am to be the founder President of the Rotary Club of Canterbury Sunrise and have been thinking of who might be interested in joining us. Knowing the sort of person you are, I wondered if you might be interested. Please find below a little bit about us.\nFor nearly 6 months, a number of like-minded people have been meeting every Wednesday at 0715, in the grounds of Canterbury Cathedral, to establish a new Rotary Club in Canterbury – The Sunrise Club.\nRotary is a service organisation of business and professional leaders united world-wide who help those in need, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations and work towards world understanding and peace. Rotarians meet weekly to enjoy each others’ fellowship and discuss ways to serve others.\nWorking full time and trying to fit in social commitments is often difficult, but our hour long meetings at the International Study Centre, in the grounds of Canterbury Cathedral, minimises the intrusion into normal working hours.\nIf you would like to widen your circle of friends whilst giving something back to the community, please come along to one of our meetings. We meet every Wednesday morning at 7.15am for breakfast (8). Hopefully, you will be sufficiently impressed with what you see to want to come along regularly.\nOur current membership numbers just short of twenty and we are confident of attracting several new members. This is your chance to be in at the start of a new and exciting club – we are to inaugurate as an official Rotary Club on 23rd April 2008!\nRotary is approximately 1.2 million service-minded men and women belonging to more than 32,400 Rotary Clubs in virtually every country of the world. Membership is by invitation.\nHope to hear from you.\nKind regards,\nJarle Tatt.\nSo, what else could I do but go along. I later discovered my reply was fairly typical:\nHello Jarle,\nGood to hear from you – I’m honoured you remembered me!\nI’ve heard of Rotary for years, seen the “Rotary meets here” signs in lots of places, but have never taken the time to find out more about it. I guess this it perfect time to find out more! I’m visiting a supplier this Wednesday, how about Wednesday 5th March?\nAnything I should know before hand? (Dress code? Best place to park?)\nRegards\nSteve\nLots and lots of people have heard of Rotary but only by name, having no idea what the organisation does or why.\nIf 7.15am sounds an early start – it is! At least for me. A few years ago I was a member of an organisation called BNI. The BNI group I was in set a meeting start time of 6.45 but I was typically there by 6.15. BNI is a group that focuses on business referrals. I started that in 1998 as a new person in business and finished about 2 years ago. I gained a lot from BNI, improving my presentation skills (because I’m proud of it, I’ll add here that I got an award from BNI founder Ivan Misner for a 60 second presentation when he visited our chapter’s meeting in Rochester), developing new contacts (especially when I started a chapter in Faversham) and making lots of friends in business who I still talk with regularly. The reason I left BNI after 8 years was to reduce my working hours and avoid the early starts. BNI brought business into Roots but also took at least a day of my time a week in order to do so. I wanted to move from a 6 or 7 day week into a 5 day week. Stopping BNI was one way of achieving that.\nSo, 7.15 is early but BNI was earlier so it didn’t seem so bad. That still leaves the question of why go? Jarle’s email said “Rotary is a service organisation of business and professional leaders united world-wide who help those in need, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations and work towards world understanding and peace. Rotarians meet weekly to enjoy each others’ fellowship and discuss ways to serve others.”. That’s very wordy but as it turns out, a very accurate way to summarise what Rotary is. There’s a little more to it and there are other ways of phrasing it but unlike BNI this is a group where the aim is not generating business.\nThe summary of all of this is I went along to a Rotary meeting, and I haven’t missed one since. Why? What happened? I’ll continue on the next post.\n","date":"13 August 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/08/13/rotary-and-root/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Rotary and Rootary","type":"posts"},{"content":"First things first, I love the cover of this book. It’s got pixelated drawings of people like you’d find in games on Atari ST and Amiga’s in the early 90’s. Brings back fun memories.\nAnyway, onto the story, it all begins with a robbery from within an online game. We follow a policewoman as she works with a game programmer to understand what’s happened and why it really means anything. It means a lot when people start getting killed over it. The story twists and turns and reveals an innovative vision of the future. Scotland is an independent country, though it shares some of it’s police computer system with England still. Online gamers play games in the real world unwittingly doing tasks for the government and children still go to school. That last bit is to let you know that as outlandish and creative as some Charles Stross books have been, this one is set in a believable near future. A great read, Rootie Rating 5 out of 5\n","date":"29 June 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/06/29/halting-state-c/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Halting State (Charles Stross)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Growing up, I read all of the Narnia books. I’d persuaded my parents to buy me the full set of 7 as a 12 year old and read from the first to the last. I loved those books. I already knew of the “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe” but until I got the set I didn’t know that was the 2nd in the series. I remember the set taking up a huge space on my bedroom bookshelf. I also remember thinking of the author C S Lewis as someone who lived in the 1800’s. How wrong could I be. In the local second hand bookshop I found 3 books, all by C S Lewis, all in the Sci Fi section. I had to pick them up. Reading the cover of one, I found that CS Lewis only died in 1963 and wrote many other stories.\nOnto this story, Out of the Silent Planet is about a man who is taken to a different planet in our solar system. There he meets intelligent beings and discovers lots of things. OK, that’s probably the worst review I’ve written in a long time (not that I’m assuming any have been any good!). The trouble is, this is a really good book that is really worth reading, and if I give away any little part it has a good chance of spoiling the story. I can tell you one thing though, I really like the way the whole aspect of launching a spaceship from Earth was neatly sidestepped. All the physics, all the pages of description there could have been, all made redundant by having our central character unconscious for the time of launch. Rootie Rating 5 out of 5.\n","date":"29 June 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/06/29/out-of-the-sile/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Out of the Silent Planet (C S Lewis)","type":"posts"},{"content":"If you read some of my earlier reviews you’ll find I really didn’t like The Floating Madhouse (Alexander Fullerton) having given it just 1 out of 5. However, I’ll often give an authors other books a try when I come across them as I don’t expect to enjoy 100% of any authors work. This is a book that made me glad I did.\nThe Torch Bearers follows a Navy Captain as he escorts a small flotilla of ships from the west coast of Africa back to Europe. War is tough, he doesn’t have enough escorts and to make matters worse he is the only one on board that knows the true mission. They are a diversion for ‘Operation Torch’. The object is that the dozens of German submarines will discover this convoy and concentrate their attack there while the ships of soldiers and supplies of Operation Torch slip past to take their fight into North Africa. How well do they do? You’ll need to read the book. Rootie Rating 4 out of 5.\n","date":"29 June 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/06/29/the-torch-beare/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"The Torch Bearers (Alexander Fullerton)","type":"posts"},{"content":"If the last Hammond Innes book wasn’t for me, this one surely was. Still based on real events, this had the scope for some creative fictional work. We follow a group as they build by hand a new design of aero-engine based on a design stolen from Germany during the war. Their aim, to have it ready for the Berlin Air Lift. Enjoyable read, Rootie Rating 4 out of 5\n","date":"29 June 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/06/29/air-bridge-hamm/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Air Bridge (Hammond Innes)","type":"posts"},{"content":"There’s a reason I prefer fiction for entertainment rather than fact. This book reminded me of it. It’s based on the last voyage of Captain Cook and while there is a fair amount of made up events I didn’t find it an enjoyable read. It had to follow so closely the known events of that last voyage it’s pace became very slow. I’m sure it’s an accurate representation of the trials and tribulations of the time though.\nJust not a story for me, Rootie Rating 1 out of 5\n","date":"29 June 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/06/29/the-last-voyage/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"The Last Voyage (Hammond Innes)","type":"posts"},{"content":"It may have been February since I last posted a book review but I’ve still been reading books. Life has kept me busy in some great ways this year so my rambling postings have reduced accordingly. Anyway, It’s Sunday morning, the rest of the family are at Church, so I’m going to get through some of the backlog. Albeit with some very short reviews.\nThis is a story of an 18th century dash across Europe all started by some documents someone is trying to hide. The documents incriminate most of the gentry and politicians in a type of stocks and shares scam. I really enjoyed it – enough to remember some of the the parts very clearly 3 months later. It didn’t hurt my European Geographic knowledge either – albeit in a way that’s 200 years out of date. I’d read more from this author, Rootie Rating 3 out of 5\n","date":"29 June 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/06/29/sea-change-robe/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Sea Change (Robert Goddard)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Firstly, I should point out once again that the Eurocon is held in the Netherlands so local time while we were there (I’m home now) was 1 hour ahead of UK time. My server is set to publish times based on the UK so while that last comment said it was 3am when ‘Flower’ kicked us out of the con room it was actually 4am and there were still around 15 of us talking in groups.\nAfter that I chatted with Shuzon before sleeping, fellow Parrot and cage-mate for the weekend (poor him). Another interesting hour as he told me about how to make beer (though I still couldn’t do it). Shuzon is our ‘Brewer from Bavaria’ having studied it at university and then having his own ‘micro-brewery’ making mostly pilsner. Now days he is retraining to be a waiter. Now, at this point you may be thinking like me “how hard can it be to be a waiter?”. Well, it takes 3 years of training but you wont find him just pulling pints (erm, ok, based on previous photos from this Eurocon it’s clearly VERY hard for me to pull pints). His course covers a wide range of things from the back office paper work, food preparation, cooking the perfect meal at a customers table (flambee without burning the customers). It also covers the most difficult of all waiters tasks, correctly taking an order when 5 people order at once, speaking a language that for you is not your first, second or third language. So pretty much a degree then.\nAnyway, back to the title. Remember the old arcade games where if you got so far you’d get “Extended Play”? Well, I had a plan. I was only at the Eurocon because of a sick parrot; Flubby. Now, it turns out flubby lives about 2 hours south of where the Con was held so by checking my driving times I worked out I could get to his house and still drive another 4 hours back to reach the ferry in time. The plan was set, I checked with the other parrots to make sure it wouldn’t likely be a problem to just turn up on his door step. Kculon was staying with Flubby after the con – he’s from America and combined Eurocon with part a European tour with his wife. Gath was driving KC to Flubby’s house on his way home. So with everyone agreed it would be good, the plan was set – “Operation Flubby”, or “let’s have a Parrot Con”, because Shuzon then decided he could change his route home if I could drop him off at the nearest station after our surprise visit. I thought I was being nice by visiting, on the drive down to Flubby’s house Shuzon casually mentioned that from Flubby’s house the train will take 4 hours longer but he wouldn’t get another chance to say hello for another year at least so it was worthwhile.\nOn arrival I made the mistake of trying to speak German. Not good. “Ich bin Kanga und ich haben dienen Meditzen”. I’m sure the grammar as well as the spelling is wrong – please fix it flubby like I get to fix your English spellings. Anyway, when he eventually realised it was kanga he appeared more than surprised enough to make it worthwhile. Especially since Gath and Kculon had been there for a while already and hadn’t let it slip that I was coming too. Meditzen referred to the Spitfire Beer I had brought for him (a small thank you for letting me go in his place while he was ill), along with a little book of funny adverts for the beer. Meeting flubby reminded me of that song “Isn’t it Ironic”, i forget who by. Not because meeting him was ironic but because of the words of the song that go “It’s like meeting the man of your dreams, then meeting his beautiful wife”, Flubby being only a voice to me in all the time I’ve known him and Suzanna, being his wife.\nSo, we had a mini parrot con, Kanga, Flubby, Kculon, Gath, Shuzon, Suzanna (Flubby’s wife), Arianne (Gath’s girlfriend), Pam (Kculon’s wife, apparently a mean guitar player so maybe we’ll have a parrot theme tune soon!), and Flubby’s children, Alexander and …. , sheesh, 28 hours later and I can’t remember, was it Felix?\nThis should really be my last post on the Eurocon so I’ll try to remember the other great moments and answer some earlier questions I wrote.\nAnother good time we had; All of us flying together a big mission. All of us means over 30 players. We took B24 bombers from a field and flew a long mission to bomb a target on the far side of the map. Each bomber has 2 wingmen, so that was 90 or so bombers taking off and flying together. One of the problems of having so many players up together is that the computers have to work so much harder generating the graphics. I hear that Krod had a frame rate of 2 frames per second. Normally a monitor should display 60 frames per second! My PC will normally make 50 to 60 frames per second but you can see from the screenshot my rate dropped to 22FPS.\nYou may remember earlier I pondered over the power usage and data rate to the internet for so many players is one small room, or large room in this case. -bijl-, one of the organisers enlightened me just before I left. The internet connection was a regular ADSL line, 3mb down, 512kb up. To me that’s impressive! 40 players were using that 512kb up for Teamspeak (a radio channel we can all talk to each other over), the game connections, any other uploading/downloading, everything. Consider that UK ADSL providers suggest their connections are suitable for ‘up to 5 PC’s’ in an office, and we had 40 doing very internet intensive stuff. It shows to me how well the games are written to transfer all the information they need over such a small line.\nOnto power. The reason the event was limited to 40 players is they did some calculations on how many watts are used by a PC, monitor and worked out that the safe maximum was 40 – even though the hotel had more rooms, it didn’t have any more power points that could handle more load. I asked how many power points they had us all connected to via extension leads. The answer. 3. 40 PC’s, 40 screens, 1 local server , 1 huge network switch, 1 not so huge network switch, 1 ADSL router, that’s at least 80 devices not counting some joysticks that need power, the projector, the fridges (for the drinks of course), all running off 3 connections to the hotel power. Don’t try this at home folks!\nThe hotel was actually a converted monastry from what I could work out. The rooms were small but did have a shower and toilet. The monastry bit comes from some black and white pictures in one coridor showing photos of monks in front of the building, and statue of jesus on the cross in the courtyard. The food was very good, a selection of foods provided for dinner and no one went hungry.\nWe weren’t the only ones in the hotel. There were a group of singers practicing in a nearby room as well as several large families. It looked like a great base for a family holiday, the large garden was full of climbing frames and slides and there was also a large field. Next year (if I get to go) I’ll take some bats and balls for a game of rounders.\nThis time last week I didn’t know I’d be going to the Eurocon. The first Eurocon photo was taken on a ferry. Book, Coffee, Laptop. Let’s play spot the difference with a return photo; Book, Coffee, Laptop, ahh, I can see the difference, an original Eurocon 2008 ‘Dead Parrot Con’ ID badge :-).\n","date":"19 May 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/05/19/eurocon-extende/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Eurocon – Extended Play","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"19 May 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/warbirds/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Warbirds","type":"categories"},{"content":"Eurocon – They tell me to shut my computer down.\nUntil tomorrow friends!\nGoodnight\n","date":"18 May 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/05/18/eurocon-they-te/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Eurocon – they tell me to shut my computer down","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"17 May 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/tags/eurocon/","section":"Tags","summary":"","title":"Eurocon","type":"tags"},{"content":"Phew!\nThe Dual is an event everyone took part in. 2 pilots working together against another 2 pilots. A warbirds fight to the death using the same aircraft, same level, same fuel. My partner, Dhyran.\nThe rules (as they started): Same Plane, Same Altitude, Same Fuel: No firing until after the “merge”, which is where the two aircraft pass each other straight and level. Then you can turn, pull up, push down, roll, whatever you like. Fight until someone hits the ground.\nOK, so that was a good start, Dhyran won last year’s event with Flubby. Seeing as I replaced Flubby at short notice it was only natural we should set out to win.\nEvent 1: Dhyran \u0026amp; Kanga versus Kculon \u0026amp; Zonix – It’s a \u0026raquo;\u0026gt;PARROT\u0026laquo;\u0026lt; fight folks! Bearing in mind we had just beaten KC and Zonix in our practice sessions we were pretty confident. Plane selected was the KI43, a Japanese fighter Luck was on my side, they both went for Dhyran! While they followed his 6 o\u0026rsquo;clock I got to come in and kill one and after lots of circling between the 3 of us I got to kill the other too. Alle ist gut! We\u0026rsquo;re through to round two. Event 2: Dhyran \u0026amp; Kanga versus Fo-ski \u0026amp; PJK - It\u0026rsquo;s a \u0026ldquo;Trainer\u0026rdquo; fight folks! Well, all except for me. Dhyran had convieniently forgotten to tell me they were past Warbirds Trainers which is perhaps just as well. The second round had the Spitfire 1a. I quite like this plane though if you try any negative G manoeuvres the engine stops. I got some shots on one of them after turning from the merge. Then it was hard work as I remember. Dhyran killed the other one shortly after. A minute or so later Dhyran was close behind the remaining player and he crashed into the ground during his avoiding turns. Dhyran hadn\u0026rsquo;t got a shot off and I got the kill credit - it was the player I hit earlier. So, two rounds, we both survived and I even managed to get three out of four of the credits. Alle is gut! We\u0026rsquo;re through to the semi-finals. Event 3: Semi-finals: Dhyran \u0026amp; Kanga versus Tomkin \u0026amp; Unguis - Parrots versus our old friends the Greenwings OK, this had us a little nervous. Unguis is still a CM and we know he is a very good pilot. Tomkin doesn\u0026rsquo;t fly so often so we felt we had the advantage there. So, we used the same tactics but I found myself being followed by someone. Suddenly, Dhyran died. Collision! No kill message on the buffer but he lost his wing as he passed by the enemy. Someone was behind me firing. I lost an aileron - meaning I could no longer roll as fast as they could. Things were not looking good. The person behind me kept firing, but my turns meant they kept missing. Things were looking good, I figured they must be low on ammunition. Then, no more firing. I took my chance to turn towards the second. And earlier pass I fired for just pure luck and he hadn\u0026rsquo;t been so active since. It turns out I had shot off his elevator, the fact he was still flying was a miracle. So I followed him and shot him down properly. It was Tomkin. So, unguis was behind me but not firing, the noise from the room made it clear he was out of ammo. The question was, could I get behind him. Not easy, he was very good at following. I climbed then cut the throttle he got close, I turned, got behind a little for seconds but then he was behind again. I climbed, kept the throttle full, he expected me to cut it so was falling back, then just before stall I roll and dive behind. Again I get shots off but no kill. This went on for 20 minutes! It became a race for fuel. I thought that as he needed fuel to fly, perhaps I could land, wait then go up and get him later. Not a fair fight, even if it wasn\u0026rsquo;t against the rules, so I pressed on. Just before my fuel ran out I turned off my engine. He and the whole room saw my engine stopped and assumed I ran out of fuel. I hadn\u0026rsquo;t, three litres left to let him pass, turn it on and make one last pass. I still missed! The Eurocon management had come to a decision. Never, in the history of Eurocon had a fight lasted so long. We would go head to head to decide the win. First, we needed a break! So, back again after a rest. Same plane, just 3% fuel so we didn\u0026rsquo;t fight all night. We dived, we climbed, we turned. Neither appeared to have the advantage though it felt to me Unquis always did. Then, I ran out of fuel! That was it, they had decided to end it there, Ung shot me as I glided earthwards. Phew! It was over, Unguis won and I could at last relax. The final was won by two other players, Unguis accidentally put too much fuel in his P40B which didn\u0026rsquo;t help. In defeat he was gracious as I would expect having known his name for years (and his voice over TeamSpeak for a shorter time). Krod, from South Africa originally but currently working in the UK, and Netfly were the winners. For them, lots of prizes (Champagne, Mobile hard disks, software and other things). I also gave them each a bottle of prized \u0026ldquo;Spitfire\u0026rdquo; Ale.\nNext some beer. I’d like to say it was the stress of fighting that meant I performed so badly in the beer pulling steaks. In reality, I’m just not barman material. That’s not white beer, that’s white beer foam. I guess I won’t apply for any bar work in the near future.\nHalb has to leave tonight. He has to go to work tomorrow. Therefore we had the official parrots photo for our web site, along with the official autographed flag. This flag was created by KC last year and signed by every parrot at last years con. Now, it’s been signed by those of us here this time too. You might just about see my squiggle above the parrot.\nI finished this post about 2am local time, it’s great to talk to people face to face ","date":"17 May 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/05/17/eurocon-the-due/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Eurocon – The Duel Championship","type":"posts"},{"content":"Let’s start with lastnight. I gave out a few presents to my fellow parrots. Also Unguis (seen here in the photo) and Lapwin, who both helped lots with the EMC (unguis still does). The present? A bottle of spitfire beer from the brewery in my home town of Faversham. Everyone likes the bottles so much many remain untouched, waiting to travel home to live on a mantelpiece. Clearly ung wanted a taste first 🙂\nThis morning was visit to the Museum time. The transport provided was a little unexpected, especially for our two American parrots who used to go to school in a bus just like this. It belongs to the museum and they used it to collect us as we were a large group.\nThe museum (Wings to Liberation, in a town called “Best”) itself was impressive. It began as a collection of Market Garden related memorabilia and has grown to include several other things. They’ve been doing lots of work recently on the exhibits and made a very nice job converting the old vehicle garages of the site. I’ve always felt a museum is better with a guided tour and Jac, our guide and museum volunteer, certainly delivered the information. They also had several aircraft displays and the recovered remains (steel framing) of a glider that landed nearby and was excavated nearby.\nA section of the museum was dedicated to the Highland Division of the British Army. They landed nearby and the collection of their presence has grown to include information about all their activities during the war. That got me thinking, I know very little about my Granddad Mitchell’s war. I had to text my uncle to find out which regiment he was in. He was in the Highland Infantry so perhaps he came through here. One things for sure, I’ll be asking questions about his history when I return home.\nAnother thing that surprised me was the reaction of people to the Nuremberg trial pictures. Immediately saying they should all have been hanged for their war crimes. I don’t know much about the trials, the people, or their crimes to comment specifically, but it did make me ponder. So I had the following conversation with Dhyran:\nMe: “You wanted to join the Air Force didn’t you?”\nDhy: “Yes, as a pilot”\nMe: “So, say you got in, flew for a few years, became squadron commander, then base commander, then a senior commander and eventually became responsible for the whole Luftwaffe.”\nDhy: “Ok…”\nMe: “and say this was just before Hitler came to power in Germany. You’d have to follow orders right? That’s a key part of military discipline. So at what point, and which person in the military, is in the position to say no?\nDhyran couldn’t answer that any easier than I can.\nOur guide also made a comment at another point in the tour that Germany suffered from it’s lack of 4 engined bomber. There were plans to develop one in the 1930’s but the officer in charge died suddenly and no one carried on his belief in the need. From an allied point of view, that was fortunate. Essentially we benefited because their military failed in that area. Should he have continued his work, would he have been tried for developing the technology used in the war? I guess I’m saying war is a terrible thing and nothing will ever repair the damage it does. Apportioning blame may make us feel better but it changes nothing of history.\nOK, onto some brighter things now. An old Eurocon tradition is to taste the “FPO”, short for Flak Panzer Oil, a drink (allegedly) made by Kossu from Finland. I’ve wanted to taste it for years last night I got my first taste, and my second… Want to know what it taste’s like? Get yourself a place on the next Eurocon ","date":"17 May 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/05/17/eurocon-yesterd/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Eurocon – yesterday, or today, or i forget already","type":"posts"},{"content":"The end of my first 24 hours here approaches. It’s been great (even the FPO was nice, more on that later) and I just checked tomorrows programme:\nSaturday 17 May\n08:15 – till 09:30: Breakfast. (If there are any survivors left from Friday) Tongue\n09.30 – Depart to the “Wings of Liberation” museum\n10.15 – Arrival at the museum.\n10.30 – We have a full guided tour (approx 2 hours) including 4 guides, so we go in 4 groups.\n12.30 – Lunch at the museum.\n13:00 – Depart with the bus to Moergestel for the Euro-Laser Zap’athon 2008, laser gaming event (All versus NINJA) Grin\n13.45 – Arrival and play the laser game event. 2x 1 hour (max. 24 lasers)\n16:00 – Depart back to the hotel\n18:00 – Dinner in the hotel is served\n19:00 – 2 vs 2 write up.\n20:00 – WarBirds 2 vs 2 duel / This classic is still here and can’t be missed on this special edition of the Eurocon. The pilots battle for the trophy, the honour and a very nice price! iEN sponsors free accounts again for everyone. Your CM for tonight will be the honorable Unguis, Cool\nAfter the winners ceremony we will also announce the pilot who can carry the famous title of “the EuroPilot Of The Year” for 2008.\nMuseum, Laser game, then the 2 vs 2 duels. It’s going to be a GREAT day!\n, and goodnight\n( = salute)\n","date":"16 May 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/05/16/eurocon-great-t/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Eurocon – great times with more to come","type":"posts"},{"content":"A little break from talking and playing gives me time to post a few more photos and explanations.\nWe can start with what sort of Personal Protection Equipment is necessary to play a computer game. In other countries it appears players take their safety more seriously than I ever have. Here Unguis (Germany) demonstrates his safety headgear and goggles.\nHowever, it appears rules in Ninja’s homeland (Monaco) aren’t so stringent. Here we can see his PC is looking rather naked missing it’s entire outer case. Notice how the plastic carrier bag is neatly covering the DVD player by the monitor. The hard drive resting on a purpose angled cardboard box lid. OK, serious explanations now, Ninja flew to the con from Monaco and in previous years had to pay a heavy surcharge for the weight of the PC. So, his solution is to take only the essential parts of the PC which is why there is no case. The monitor was loaned for the con by one of the local competitors. Don’t try this at home folks, I’m told last year static electric destroyed his motherboard.\nOf course, if you travel by car then there’s not much of a limit to what you can take. This behemoth has a control panel just for the cooling fans. That wouldn’t even fit on my desk at home.\nWhereas this beautiful set up is fellow \u0026raquo;\u0026gt;PARROT\u0026laquo;\u0026lt; \u0026ldquo;Halb\u0026rdquo;, An american living in Amsterdam in the day time he travels the world as a professional film cameraman shooting commercials and movies any time any where. His Mac laptop runs bootcamp to run all the PC games, and the screen is simply a huge apple TFT. Two things to note on this photo, firstly the black edge of the screens is where he\u0026rsquo;s pulling a tight high G force turn and is starting to black out. Second, behind the screen of his laptop you can see a little grey box? That\u0026rsquo;s my PC from home, tiny little thing that at 2 years old can\u0026rsquo;t be upgraded any more and will be on my next years wish list. Oh, thirdly, that little box on top of Halb\u0026rsquo;s screen is not a webcam, it\u0026rsquo;s a TrackIR sensor. More on that another time though.\nI’m not the only one posting pictures around the internet. There is a forum for all the players and interested parties and already several photos have been posted there complete with humorous captions.\nBeing the afternoon, it appears most players have recovered from the night before and surfaced to play, chat, drink more beer… actually most people seem to have been taking it easy so far.\nFinal shot of the posting goes along the line of 1st ROF squadron players. First in the row is Lapwin, one of the 8 who organise the event. I’m guessing he’s the one who came up with the “Dead Parrot” logo for this years event, which all we \u0026raquo;\u0026gt;PARROTS\u0026laquo;\u0026lt; felt was quite a compliment. We just turn up and play after all, they do all the hard work. Now for a little writing. It\u0026rsquo;s not been non stop playing games. In fact, I\u0026rsquo;ve played less than I expected, only about 4 flights so far. The rest of the time has been talking to people. It\u0026rsquo;s strange to put faces to voices I\u0026rsquo;ve heard for years now but never met. Baubai was completely different to what I expected (imagined overweight aging German, found very fit late middle age german). It\u0026rsquo;s funny how you make judgements from a voice alone. Better than all the gaming has been a short discussion with Livius (german). We were talking of how great it is that we can all be friends, 60 odd years after our countries were fighting a horrific war. I told how in my Granddads life story he wrote of coming off the boat onto the Normandy beaches and his first sight was “the headless Canadian officer”. Livius then told me of his Dad’s similar story. Driving as a passenger in a lorry they were targeted by a sniper. His driver was shot clean through the head and the bullet passed over Livius fathers head by a truly small measurement. He didn’t hear the shot, only becoming aware of the drivers death as they began to veer off the road. He also told me of his personal experience of visiting the Imperial War Museum in London as a teenager and how it differed (for the better) when he visited it 15 or so years later. I keep praying that this new age of easy communication will bring countries closer together. I still hope that all wars will end soon, and that my grandchildren (should I be blessed) get to enjoy friendship with nationals of Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and every other country where British national relations are less than ideal. I hope this, yet I also hope for the safety of the British servicemen and women who have to do the difficult job required today, as Livius father and my grandfather did 65 years ago.\n","date":"16 May 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/05/16/eurocon-interna/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Eurocon – international culture at it's best…","type":"posts"},{"content":"There are 14 Parrots at this year’s Eurocon. Perhaps they are trying to tell us something with this years logo design 🙂\nI’ve also learnt some new German words, everyone say in a German accent – “hangover” (not me, yet, but at least I know I’ll be able to communicate my pain in more than one language)\n","date":"16 May 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/05/16/eurocon-dead-pa/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"EuroCon – Dead Parrots?","type":"posts"},{"content":"I made it safely! The drive from Calais to… erm, wherever we are (TomTom did it’s job) took 3 hours so I pulled into the car park at 02:15 local time. Surprisingly there were still a few people up (perhaps just as well or I would never have found my room and had to sleep in the car). Those that hadn’t succumbed to tiredness or Alcohol are (from left to right):\nOrelle (\u0026raquo;\u0026gt;PARROTS\u0026laquo;\u0026lt;) - From Spain Lbollin (\u0026raquo;\u0026gt;PARROTS\u0026laquo;\u0026lt;( - From Spain Ragge ( 1st ROF ) – From (Sweden) Unguis (Greenwings) – From Germany Zonix (\u0026raquo;\u0026gt;PARROTS\u0026laquo;\u0026lt;) - From Germany On to the “Con Room” itself, and this photo may be a little scary on the “number of trailing cables” scale, and very scary on the carbon footprint scale. If I remain sober enough, I promise to have a stab at working out just how much power is consumed when everyone is playing.\nOK, time to fire up a flight sim and see how stable the internet connection here is….\n","date":"16 May 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/05/16/eurcon-the-arri/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Eurocon – The arrival","type":"posts"},{"content":"This is not something I expected to be writing last week. It’s not even something I expected to write two days ago but life moves in mysterious ways, so here I am, Laptop, Book, Coffee, sitting on the SeaFrance Rodin Dover Calais Ferry, writing for my blog offline because I don’t have internet access. Well, I do if I use my phone but that’s much slower to write in, expensive and it’s easier to save and post later when I return to civilisation.\nSo, What’s Eurocon and Why am I going?\nEurocon is a big meeting of like minded players of flight sims. Predominantly Warbirds, and for our squadron (\u0026raquo;\u0026gt;PARROTS\u0026laquo;\u0026lt;) at least, AcesHigh2. It\u0026rsquo;s held at a place in the Netherlands (that\u0026rsquo;s about all I can say for now, I\u0026rsquo;m trusting TomTom SatNav to guide me safely for an old map hand like myself that\u0026rsquo;s not a comfortable thing to do but needs must and all). like minded players is essentially middle aged men from all over the world, you\u0026rsquo;ll meet them later if you\u0026rsquo;re not bored of reading already. At the meeting we will play on the flight sim (fairly normal, we do that from home), make friendly conversation visit an aviation museum learn some things drink a little\u0026hellip;. Why am I going? Firstly, it looks like fun. However, I wasn\u0026rsquo;t planning to go and hadn\u0026rsquo;t booked a ticket. Wednesday morning all our \u0026raquo;\u0026gt;PARROTS\u0026laquo;\u0026lt; squadron got a message that one of our members was ill (Flubby perhaps it was bird flu?) and he could not take his already paid for place. If one of us would like to take it, all we had to do was get to the hotel. Did you know it\u0026rsquo;s only 3 hours from Calais? The big question was whether I\u0026rsquo;d get permission from my wife Rhonda. I asked Wednesday night when I got home and the answer was no. However, 11am Thursday morning she changed her mind (Perhaps that very large bar of Galaxy chocolate left in the fridge had something to do with it). So, Here I am, sitting on a ferry, Home PC loaded in the car, laptop rolling from side to side as I try to type, sailing away from the white cliffs of Dover. Grown men, playing flight sims sound strange? Perhaps, but stranger still is the international nature of my group of friends within the \u0026raquo;\u0026gt;PARROTS\u0026laquo;\u0026lt;. We may all fly a World War 2 style flight sim, trying to shoot each other out of the virtual skies, but we are all children of the modern age. We all detest war, we are all grateful we are not going to war ourselves. We all appreciate the sacrifice of our forefathers in the wars of our past. \u0026lsquo;Strange\u0026rsquo; is that it\u0026rsquo;s quite likely My grandfather was fighting my friends grandfathers while retreating to Dunkirk and landing landing on the Normandie beaches. Yes, every other \u0026raquo;\u0026gt;PARROT\u0026laquo;\u0026lt; comes from a country Britain has been at war with, yet fortunately now we are friends. Germany, France, USA, Argentina, Spain, Italy, are all represented by my friends. Anyway, for the rest of the crossing I\u0026rsquo;ll enjoy my book (review to be posted after a dozen others I haven\u0026rsquo;t got round to posting) and look forward to posting more about EuroCon, with pictures, from the EuroCon itself.\n","date":"16 May 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/05/16/eurocon-im-goin/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"EuroCon  I'm going I'm going!","type":"posts"},{"content":"One of my childhood heroes died last week.\nI’ll always remember how he taught me to ski, lessons so memorable I remember them over 20 years later.\nI’ll always remember how he was the one who picked me up and carried me over 100m down the ski slope when I fell and broke my wrist as a 10 year old (I still have the scar where the bone came through)\nI’ll always remember how he could keep us, we children, entertained with games and tricks using nothing more than a tin tray with a little water, or simpler still just our fingers. I still play those games with my children.\nI’ll always remember the barbeque with chicory wood chippings smoking the meat.\nI’ll always remember an impromptu game of rounders in the park behind his house.\nAt his funeral, I found he wasn’t just my hero.\nOver 200 people crammed in to celebrate his life and share how Bob had influenced their lives. There were a dozen readings, every one filled with how he’d inspired that person, and often their friends, to achieve a myriad of different things.\nI never knew he’d introduced a city teenager to canoeing, who later canoed for England\nI never knew he’d inspired so many in Skiing, working at a national level to develop the sport when I only knew him as the instructor at my local dry slope.\nI never knew he’d inspired not only the children at the local rugby club, but the parents too.\nI never knew… so many more things that I learnt about Bob yesterday.\n","date":"10 May 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/05/10/hero-lost-hero/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Hero lost, hero found","type":"posts"},{"content":"The thing I hate most about learning a new programming language is the time it takes to do the simplest things… something goes wrong and it takes hours to figure it. Sure, it’s worth it once you know but boy do I hate that time consuming learning process.\nMeet today’s problem.\nNameError in StoryController#index\nuninitialized constant StoryController::Story\nRAILS_ROOT: C:/Documents and Settings/sroot/My Documents/NetBeansProjects/scaffoldlearning\nApplication Trace | Framework Trace | Full Trace\nC:/InstantRails-1.7-win/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activesupport-2.0.2/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:478:in `const_missing’\napp/controllers/story_controller.rb:5:in `index’\nHaving spent 6 hours, googled as many variations as possible, I’ve finally tracked the problem is something to do with activesupport-2.0.2. I know this only because an earlier ruby program I created following a tutorial works without problem using the same code. When I purposefully break the earlier program, it’s error reads:\nNameError in StoryController#index\nuninitialized constant StoryController::Storys\nRAILS_ROOT: ./script/../config/..\nApplication Trace | Framework Trace | Full Trace\nC:/InstantRails-1.7-win/InstantRails/ruby/lib/ruby/gems/1.8/gems/activesupport-1.4.2/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:477:in `const_missing’\n#{RAILS_ROOT}/app/controllers/story_controller.rb:7:in `index’\nA similar error message but on a different version of activesupport. Unfortunately I have no idea how to fix this (or downgrade my rails install, or know if it’s a good thing to downgrade my install – will that just break something else?), so that will now have to wait until tomorrow.\n","date":"31 March 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/03/31/ruby-woes-namee/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Ruby woes: NameError and uninitialized constant","type":"posts"},{"content":"Interesting, I just tried to report spam to a company who I assume ran the campaign in good faith. The report got an unexpected response:\n\u0026lt;support@emailiq.com\u003e: host lonvs07.kinexus.net[212.113.24.167] said: 554 Service unavailable; Client host [89.234.3.158] blocked using relays.ordb.org; ordb.org was shut down on December 18, 2006. Please remove from your mailserver. (in reply to RCPT TO command) Panic! One of our server IP’s got blacklisted as a spam source!….. phew, not the case (thank you slashdot), emailiq are filtering their email for spam using a blacklist database that shut down over a year ago. The blacklist have decided they gave enough notice to people filtering against their list, so from now on they are reporting every email checked as being spam. If you’re not getting email today, better check with your mail provider.\nThis company may not have meant to send spam, but because of spam they now have no email until the reconfigure their servers. Events like this show just how much spam is really costing everyone.\n","date":"26 March 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/03/26/spam-filter-tha/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Spam filter that blocks the spam senders from RECEIVING email!","type":"posts"},{"content":"I’ve got a backlog of things I want to post, delayed by a backlog of things I need spend time on at work first, but this one jumps all the queues. Our family business (Roots Kitchens Bedrooms Bathrooms) was featured on ITN news as a small business case study. The wonders of modern technology mean you can see it on their web site.\nThe story that began it all is the CBI warning of ‘prolonged economic misery’. ITN asked if we’d give our view of the economy, both as a business and as individuals. They sent the reporter, cameraman and Satellite broadcast truck to us for the afternoon to film, edit and dispatch back in time for the evening news. They phoned to arrange it this around 11am, and it was broadcast across the nation during the 18:30 news programme. If only we could turn around kitchens that quick….\n","date":"25 March 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/03/25/we-featured-on/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"We featured on ITN National news","type":"posts"},{"content":"I’ve just come across an interesting article on boingboing (a web site with blog like posts related to computer things), it appears the BBC are trialling the iPlayer service to work to iPhones. BoingBoing noticed (or at least someone noticed and boingboing re-reported it) that they identify an iPhone by accepting the browsers name. They then send an MP4 video stream for your viewing pleasure.\nThere’s a couple of interesting things there:\nThere’s no “DRM” – the software technology that prevents you copying and sharing the file with others. I guess the thoughts are you’ll not be copying it because you’ll be ‘streaming’ the file and wont get to save it. You can download the file though, the article on boingboing explains how. I also imagine they’ve changed the screen size to suit an iPhone which is quite low quality for TV so it may not be too pleasant to watch on other screens anyway. MP4’s can be played by my windows mobile 6 PDA/Phone. I’m not sure I can persuade my windows mobile browser to tell the BBC it’s an iPhone but the effort the BBC have gone to in trying this on an iPhone means that they may extend that to other platforms later. ","date":"9 March 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/03/09/bbc-iplayer-it/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"BBC iPlayer – it might reach your iPhone but not my PDA (…yet)","type":"posts"},{"content":"I wonder if there is a term in use called “Messenger Lag” or similar, meaning; the effect of having two or more differing conversations with the same person when typing over instant messaging services.\nI’ve just been talking to my Mum on Messenger, she’s staying with my sister in Australia at the moment. Whenever we talk on messenger we have at least two simultaneous conversations. While I type the reply to one question she’ll start asking the next, or reply to a question from a couple of lines before. Sometimes that gets a little confusing… like this;\nsharon says:Hi Steve,\nJust about to go to bed – just checking you are okay?mum x\n_Steve Root says:_i’m ok\n_Steve Root says:_busy busy week\nsharon says:thats good. lots of orders? or just work\n_Steve Root says:_KBB in birmingham yesterday, kinetico tomorrow\n_Steve Root says:_just busy with work, though dave did some orders yesterday\nsharon says:sounds good\n_Steve Root says:_i’ve had one survey this morning, one new measure this afternoon, margaret is jus tfinalising a bedroom for survey next week\nsharon says:was kbb worth going to?\n_Steve Root says:_may have found a good custom size door supplier, but I need to do more on bedrooms first\nsharon says:any sliding wardrobes?\n_Steve Root says:_long way to go though\n_Steve Root says:_not worth having, current sliding doors are better\nsharon says:where\n_Steve Root says:_where what?\nsharon says:you said a long way to go though\nsharon says:so i said where\n_Steve Root says:_Birmingham is a long way\nsharon says:oh\nsharon says:i thought you meant the supplier\n","date":"5 March 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/03/05/coining-phrases/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Coining phrases: \"Messenger Lag\"","type":"posts"},{"content":"When learning PHP I spent hours fixing errors simply because I forgot to put a semicolon ‘;’ at the end of a line\nCreating my first Ruby on Rails application today I’ve just spent hours on one small part just because I forgot the equal ‘=’ sign in the view file where I wanted to see things\n\u0026lt;% can anybody hear me? %\u0026gt;\nnope.\n\u0026lt;%= We hear you now Steve! %\u0026gt;\nhooray!\n","date":"3 March 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/03/03/post/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"","type":"posts"},{"content":"Does podcast start with a capital P? It’s not something I’ve though of before, the whole podcast thing passing by me until today – when I stared in one!*\nPodcast’s are like radio shows that you listen to offline. If you have the right software, the show will download when you are on the Internet and copy itself to your music player. Then you can listen to it when you are out and about. Although I am a fan of audio (be it music, documentaries, comedies and so on) as much as the next person, I’ve never got round to playing with podcasts and finding ones I want to listen to regularly.\nThe biggest reason for that is the difference between iTunes and Windows Media. Having just played with the iTunes podcast setup instructions as directed on this page, I had the system setup in less than a minute so I should automatically receive the future shows as they are released. Unfortunately, I don’t use iTunes for all my music. My new phone syncronises through Windows “ActiveSync” which talks to Windows Media Player. I dare say I could change that to sync with iTunes, or figure out how to make podcasts work with Windows Media player but I simply haven’t spent any time to figure that out. I used iTunes when I won an iPod Shuffle, but I don’t use the device that often. I’ve been using my new phone to listen to music (it synchronises with Windows Media Player) but that too may be a passing fad.\nNow, that’s my excuse for not listening to podcasts out the way, what made me start listening today I hear you ask.\nWell, my experiences with taking a spammer to court have garnered a little media interest, to which point I was interviewed at the beginning of the week by “Out-law” magazine. They are a magazine that focuses on legal issues of technology. I’ve been reading it myself for a few years too. They have a weekly podcast but I’ve never listened to it. I have read the transcripts though, just never downloaded to listen. The interview with me has been included in this weeks podcast. The whole show is 10 minutes long and if you’ve ever wondered what I sound like now is your time to find out. (If you don’t figure it out during listening the spam story is in the last half and the harmonious Scot’s accent isn’t me, it’s the journalist).\nHappy listening folks.\n*star is probably a bit strong, featured may be a more accurate word.\n","date":"29 February 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/02/29/steve-the-podca/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Steve the podcast star?","type":"posts"},{"content":"My recent posts about taking a spammer to court have had quite a lot of interest. A whole host of people came via something called “Stumble Upon”. I’d never heard of that site so had a little look… which has turned into a longer look!\nStumble Upon is a web site where people share links to other web sites. Using their toolbar, you can click the “stumble” button and it will take you to a web site that may be of passing interest. Where it takes you is defined initially by the subjects you say you are interested in and then (at least I guess) how you rate those sites.\nMy first stumbles this evening have taken me through a variety of linux related web sites, including this one (screen shot provided in case it vanishes off the web). It appears to be the text of the linux kernel (the operation system) but someone has changed the font colours in different places so that you can see a picture of the Linux penguin logo. I highlighted the bottom row of text in the screenshot so you can see the text is still there – just black on black.\nI’m not sure how long I’ll stay on ‘stumble upon’ though, I can see it eating a lot of spare time.\n","date":"23 February 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/02/23/stumble-upon-fi/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Stumble upon – first stumbles","type":"posts"},{"content":"For the last few years I’ve had a phone that made people gawk in awe… In awe of why on earth I dragged it around mostly, not because it was a thing of beauty. It was an O2 XDA Exec, or HTC Universal.\nThe universal ran Windows Mobile 5, had a huge touch screen (640 x 480 – even iPhones don’t have screens that big), covered all my PDA needs (synchronising via Outlook to our office diary system), covered my mobile internet needs (running a cut down version of Internet Explorer that mostly worked well enough on most web sites) and of course worked as a phone. It did all those things but it was never a pleasure to use. It was a jack of all trades, master of none. It meant I could check my email at home over Wi-Fi but would be forever trying to get it to connect to my bluetooth car kit. It meant I would always have my phone and diary with me, rather than leaving one of them in the office (my palm was a better PDA, my nokia was a better phone, but the Universal was better simply by combining those devices – albeit with quite a few compromises).\nThose days of aggravation and compromise have disappeared. For the last 2 weeks I’ve been playing with a new “HTC Touch Cruise”, also known as the “Polaris” for a while while they developed it. My computer still thinks it’s called a HTC P3650 when it synchronises.\nLet’s run through some of the differences;\nHow about the size! The touch cruise is smaller, lighter and a lot more pocket friendly.\nIt has Windows Mobile 6. I’m pretty sure this is one of it’s biggest improvements over the Universal. Bluetooth now connects seamlessly to my car kit…. well almost, occasionally it connects to the car kit thinking it is in mid phone call. At least I don’t have to get the phone to recognise the car kit each time. I’m guessing that WM6 improved the bluetooth functionality.\nThe screen is SMALLER, I think this is a good thing. At least because it fits better into the pocket but also because I think the phone processor has less work to do. The universal had a rotating screen and if you opened it to see who was calling the phone would ‘hang’ for a few seconds and not answer the call when you pressed the button. I’m thinking that a smaller screen = less processor work = faster phone reaction time. The slow response was one of the biggest drawbacks of the Universal for me, though something I preferred over not having the flexibility\nIt has a better camera. I’ve joined the world of 3 Megapixels on a phone. My ‘proper’ camera is still an Olympus 2.1 Megapixel. First impressions are the photos aren’t quite as sharp as that camera produces and it doesn’t have an optical zoom, so perhaps the old camera will be saved from the scrap heap for a while yet. This photo (you can click on the picture to enlarge it) was taken at the weekend at the Kent and East Sussex Railway’s Thomas the Tank Engine Day. If you look at it full size you’ll notice the graininess of the picture. I printed it via our laser printer at work (not known for it’s photo print abilities) and I’m more than happy with the output. I didn’t buy this phone for the camera afterall\nIt has GPS built in! This wasn’t a key feature for me buying the phone. Nice to have, but far from essential. It came with TomTom Navigator and my choice of free ‘city map’. City Map really means ‘Area Map’, so I’ve been testing it over an area half the size of Kent. It’s been working surprisingly well. I expected the phone to not have enough processing power for it to be effective but it chatters directions away as well as any specific GPS unit I’ve tried. The maps move on screen just like the TomToms we have in the office. The only downside is that it takes a few minute to find any satellites (the GPS only turns itself on when requested to save battery power I guess). Oh, and I’ll need to buy a cradle for it in the car if I decide to use it. Actually, the only thing that I think will stop me using it as a GPS is the cost of maps – 80 or so if I remember correctly and I just don’t do enough travelling to make it worthwhile. The few times a GPS has been useful I’ve taken the one we share in the office. It has the “Touch Flo” interface and some other software improvements. For the universal I ended up buying SPB Mobile Shell to make the windows interface slightly more practical and faster for me to use. The Touch Cruise has a similar interface built in – but much improved. The Touch Flo interface comes into play when you wipe your finger from the bottom to the top of the screen. It brings up a special screen of big buttons with your chosen 9 phone numbers and some shortcut keys. Drag your finger to the side and you get other shortcut menus. I’m not sure if HTC have added to Windows Mobile, or Windows Mobile has improved a lot, but the interface for the Music player is more fluid and responsive than it used to be and the photos in the “Camera Album” can be ‘dragged’ off to display the next one in a way I would associate with an iPhone more than a Windows Phone. I’ve only played with an iPhone for two minutes though, so I’m not best qualified to compare between the two. The phone also came with SPB GPRS Monitor and the Opera web browser. The Opera browser is something I always considered buying for my Universal – It’s a lot better than Internet Explorer Mobile. In fact, I’m surprised IE Mobile didn’t improve more in WM6. Opera allows you to open different tabs so you can have more than one web page open at a time which I find most useful. Other differences are relatively minor, both struggle with some web sites, neither cope with the Web 2.0 Ajaxiness so I can’t post to this blog from my mobile at the moment. Anyway, Opera was a nice addition Both have a stylus (necessary for writing lots into my diary, on a word document and so on) and I made the decision I’m happy not to have a small keyboard (there is another similar HTC device that has a slide out keyboard) having gained the advantage of a smaller device. The Touch Cruise has gained a ‘wheel’ on top of the Universals 4 way direction pad. The wheel works really well allowing you to scroll through contacts list then click to activate (or click to one side to expand, click the middle button to do something else). I don’t have a big iPod but I’m told the iPod ‘wheel’ is actually a sensor that detects you making a circular movement, whereas on the touch cruise it is really a moving wheel on the surface. I’m told the iPod wheel is more effective and I bow to that persons knowledge of having played with both devices. Having not experienced the difference first hand I’m finding the Touch Cruise wheel great to use. Perhaps if I get an iPod i’ll return to being less satisfied! Finally, the choice of ring tones is better. I was never quite happy with the “ring” of the Universal but it appears WM6 has introduced a few more normal phone like rings. A small detail I know, but there nevertheless There was another phone that compared on specifications and would have been available to me 1 month sooner, the E-Ten X800 glofiish. Actually, it has a 640 x 480 screen so in some respects would have been better. I think the camera was 2Mpixels (not that I was worried about the camera). The key reason I chose to wait was that the user forums on the E-Ten web site are only accessible if you own an E-Ten product. The few reports I could find on similar E-Ten phones elsewhere suggested problems with a lack of support from E-Ten in the UK. The problems all looked manageable (the first phones shipped with an out of date software ROM which could be patched by downloading from the E-Ten website) but without seeing what the problems were it gave me a bit of a confidence problem. At least with the HTC I had already had one of their products and had found plenty of information on their web site and other places which allowed me to fix or work around things which cause me problems – even if most other users were happy with it.\nThat brings me neatly onto the problems with the Touch Cruise. So far they are all superficial.\nThe slide button on the top left that controls sound volume appears a bit cheap, plasticy and likely to break. I hope it’s just an impression and the phone will comfortably last the 3 years I’m hoping for, but it does make me nervous. The button above the slider – used to activate voice dialing, and the camera button on the opposite lower side, are hard to activate. They have to be pushed just the right way in the right position to activate them. Perhaps that means it’s me pushing them weirdly in the first place and everyone else is using them without trouble. They certainly feel solid and durable enough. In summary, this is the best phone I’ve ever had, doing everything I need it to do well, and lots of other things well I really didn’t need it for.\n","date":"21 February 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/02/21/my-best-pdaphon/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"My best PDA/phone ever! (it's a HTC Touch Cruise)","type":"posts"},{"content":"It’s arrived, the County Court Judgement against the spammers known as Cybernet Media Limited and Chris Mortimer. The court awarded me 100 in compensation and a further 325 in costs (425 in total). The big question now is will they pay? They have until the 28th February.\nI admit this still isn’t really what I wanted. In the original court documents I asked for two things.\nFirstly, for them to pay the charges I told them I expected them to pay if they continued to send spam – at a rate of 50 + VAT per email. The judge said he couldn’t award that because it didn’t reflect the costs their breaking the PECR regulations incurred me. In his words, I could have asked for a million pounds per email and it wouldn’t be a valid claim. If however those particular emails had stopped our system working and the repair had cost a million pounds then that would be allowable. I’m not unhappy with the judges decision, it’s perfectly logical, but I understand why others don’t bother trying to stop spammers – it’s simply not worth the time.\nSecondly, I asked for them to put in writing that they would stop sending the spam and follow the regulations. The judge couldn’t order that (not within his powers) and as we know from reading the comments of my earlier posts Cybernet Media continue to send spam, not because they don’t know the regulations, just they choose to ignore them.\nI’ll update the blog if there are any developments.\n","date":"19 February 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/02/19/spam-wars-the-s/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Spam Wars – The spammer lost in court, but will they pay?","type":"posts"},{"content":"My recent supplier visit to Sweden meant long hours of travel, both waiting in airports and sitting on a plane. Perfect time to read some good books, in fact, I started and finished two in a 31 hour trip (and considering I spent a whole day in a factory and managed half a nights sleep I was quite pleased with that).\nAnyway, onto the stories. The Stainless Steel Rat is a regular James Bond type hero in the future. There are several books in the series I’ve now discovered so I’m going to be looking to read them all. In the ‘..Saves the World’ book our hero’s organisation is under attack by someone altering the past. The Rat (real name Jim Di Griz) has to go back in time and stop it from happening. Technology merges seamlessly with history as Jim returns and alters first the 1960’s, then the 1790’s before.. well, saving the world. Yes they hero always wins but there’s a neat twist towards the end which is both plausible at the same time as being pure science fiction (is that possible?).\nIn the Stainless Steel Rat for President, our hero is on holiday with his wife when a dead body turns up nearby with his nickname on a piece of paper in his mouth. The Rat has never met this man so he investigates further. This takes him to a world run by a not very nice dictator. The Rat helps the limited resistance movement to overthrow the dictator having all the requisite adventures on the way.\nWhile these books all have very predictable “hero always wins” endings, they were just really fun to read without stretching the brain cells. They were also ideal travel books being just 160 pages long (the books fitted perfectly into my big trouser leg pocket).\nWhat about some ratings? Both get a tidy 4 out of 5 Rootie Ratings – James Bond has competition.\n","date":"13 February 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/02/13/the-stainless-s-1/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World (Harry Harrison) and The Stainless Steel Rat for President (Harry Harrison)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Some things make you smile, some make you laugh out loud.\nIf you’ve been here before you may know I’ve taken some spammers to court. After the directions hearing I actually posted who they are. It seems that they also visit this blog, because they replied! Not in their own name though – read the comment from “Richard Jones” and how I identified him as the original spammer.\n","date":"4 February 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/02/04/spammer-comment/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Spammer comments on my blog pretending to be someone else!","type":"posts"},{"content":"I love my boots. I know, they’re not a lot to look at but they are the most comfortable boots I’ve ever owned. I almost fear the day I need to replace them. What are they? a 1994 Vintage “Brasher Hillmaster Classic“. The date is stamped inside the soft leather ankle area and I remember buying them in 1995. I was doing the thing you never do, buy boots just before an expedition. As a 19 year old I had not a lot of money and had bought a cheap pair (perhaps 20) of walking boots. They didn’t last the breaking in period, the cheap lace hooks cut through the laces within two days. Time to push the boat out and spend some serious money, more than half a weeks wages at the time, a staggering 100 – a huge amount of money to a 19 year old Steve\nI still remember two parts of the sales pitch. Firstly, the sole. Not only big chunky grips but the deliberate shape that keeps the toe’s high. As you put your heal down and roll forward the shoe literally helps you keep going, rolling the next part of each step. At least that’s the theory, in practice I certainly have no complaints. They’re gorgeous when you get into a stride and so much more ‘walkable’ than any other shoe or boot I’ve ever owned. Secondly, the tag line: “Travel light, travel far, travel in comfort”. I know, now days I ignore tag lines for the marketing hype they are…. well, I pretend to ignore them. Every time I strap these boots on I get excited by the thought that I’m going somewhere and remember that phrase, even if it’s just across the local fields with the children.\nThe only thing I ever do to them is smother them liberally in Grangers G-Wax before any major walk (my, this really seems like I’m getting carried away with the brands… perhaps I should be BBC like and add ‘other brands are available’).\nThey’re first trip out was an epic, trekking for 3 weeks across Nepal. I was fortunate enough to be growing up within the youth group culture. We were organised by our leaders to fund raise enough to pay for a trek into the Himalayas, around 1800 which could also be described as far-too-much-of-my-annual-salary-for-me-to-cover-it-myself. The boots were an essential purchase as until then I’d survived in a pair of “High Leg DMS” army boots (very appropriate for ATC running around in wood things but I wanted something more appropriate for general walking). The trip was an experience of a lifetime, things I learnt on that expedition still benefit my life today.\nThis week I had to visit Sweden to check out a potential new supplier. It may sound like fun but the web-cam for the town showed snow on the ground, the forecast said snow, the UK Agent that was meeting me there said ‘dress warm, it’s very cold this time of year’. “Travel Light, Travel Far, Travel in Comfort”…. I immediately decided to grab my Brasher’s and my prized 30L Karrimor daysack (enough space to take as cabin baggage yet still carry 3 books, a change of clothes, a packed lunch and a “small clear plastic bag with not more than 100ml of any liquid” to meet the new stringent security requirements of air travel). My kit was light, Sweden is far, and I flew with Ryanair. OK, that may not sound like comfort and it sure isn’t luxury but it was more than comfortable enough for my needs. I’ve not flown with Ryanair before and I’ll have to write about it, some very interesting business principles well applied there.\nEnough of my diversification though, you too can own the current incarnation of this boot by buying a pair of “Brasher Hillmaster Classic GTX“, including the modern improvements of things like a Gore Tex Lining, for an under the rate of inflation price of 100. Yes, 14 years, 0% inflation and technically a much better pair of boots. Shall I treat myself to some new ones? No, my current pair are still perfect and besides, I don’t have 100 to spare.\n","date":"2 February 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/02/02/mr-roots-and-hi/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Mr Roots and his lovely old boots (or 14 years of heaven courtesy of Mr Brasher)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Another book from the second hand bookshop that pre-dates ISBN numbers. I’m almost beginning to feel that’s the sign of a good book. Perhaps because people loved it enough to keep it before it found it’s way to the bookshop.\nAnyway, this sci-fi book could easily be the beginning of a series… (thanks to Google and this site, it appears there are more in this vain though they are not grouped as a series of novels). This book was a short and comfortable read with an easy to follow story. One of the things I noticed most was that my thumb was never in the way. I’m serious, you know how when you hold a book your right thumb is over the bottom lines of text? Well this book has a huge 4cm bottom margin so your thumb is never in the way of the text. I have no idea if this was the style of typesetting of the time (there’s not a date in the front cover to even know when it was printed) but it sure made a difference to the quality of the read. Perhaps that was just novelty though.\nBack to the story, Empress turned retired empress uses her battleship to do some ‘good’ in the universe. Mixes things up with a solar system of bird like creatures some of whom are are picking on an isolated human colony that got there way before the birds discovered space flight. Some neat ideas on future technology mixed with a little politics.\nRootie Rating…4 out of 5, though I could almost give it more for the thumb space!\n","date":"28 January 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/01/28/space-mercenari/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Space Mercenaries (A. Bertram Chandler)","type":"posts"},{"content":"One of my rare moments of watching TV happened to be a segment that detailed the link between “1984” by George Orwell and “Brave New World”. I loved reading 1984, or at least, I think I remember loving reading 1984. I read it while at school around the age of 15. One of those books that everyone has spoke of and for some reason I actually read – even though it wasn’t part of my English homework. The impetus probably came from performing in “Animal Farm”, a play I thoroughly enjoyed (yes, I was one of the squares that did the am-dram at school. I wasn’t any good which is why I only ever had a a couple of lines.. like “and she’s got ribbons in her hair” while dressed as a pigeon).\nAnyway, the link if I remember it correctly was that George Orwell was a student in Aldous Huxley’s class at whichever university it was. Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World is said to be another great Utopian Society type novel and a must read. Que my comment before Christmas to my brother “that’s a book I must read” and his reply, “Julia lent it to me, you can have it”. Wrapped and ready for Christmas day. I actually prefer that sort of present. It didn’t cost him anything and it was high on my list of desires. Perfect.\nAs for the story, I can’t be quite so enthusiastic. It’s a story of a modern highly ordered society with a ‘reserve’ for those weirdo’s who follow the old ways (that’s our ways of course). It’s interesting on how the story plays out but perhaps my expectations were raised too high from remembering my love of a story that others compared it too. It was undoubtedly well written and it’s quite clear to see why it has survived from it’s first publication in 1932 (according to the copy I have) to continuous reprints up until my 1984 vintage copy. Would I read it again? yes. Would I recommend it to others to read? yes. How do I rate it? Sorry to say I could only give it 3 out 5, just short of the 4 for me (perhaps Rootie Ratings should become a 10 point rating!)\n","date":"28 January 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/01/28/brave-new-world/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Every now and then you read a book and think “this would make a good film”. This book would make a good film. I could even place half of Hollywood’s famous actors in different parts of it.\nThe story is sci-fi but with all the best sci-fi I have read it could easily be applied to today’s world. In a society with planets of varying riches and sophistication, our lead character is one of the few remaining criminals. Quite what happens to all the wealth he is accumulating never becomes part of the story. He is caught quite early by another criminal turned policeman and recruited into a secret interplanetary anti-crime organisation. Who better to catch a criminal than a criminal. Our lead criminal is a nice criminal, in that he has never killed anyone in all his heists. However, his first assignment is to catch a criminal that has no regard for the life of anyone leaving death by the hundreds trailing behind.\nThere are so many details and twists in the story it was a joy to read. One thing I’ve noticed about a good book – it never dates. This was written in 1961.\nRootie Rating a clear 5 out of 5, and I found two others in the series too!\n","date":"28 January 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/01/28/the-stainless-s/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"The Stainless Steel Rat (Harry Harrison)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Backups are important. This tenet will be learned the first time you lose important files. Knowledge in itself is useless, it’s the application knowledge that reaps rewards.\nHaving learnt many years ago the cost of losing data from a computer, I’ve become a dab hand at setting up backup routines for my laptop, desktops and servers. In the past I used a windows shell script to copy files from my laptop to a space on my office server. That server backs up again to an off site server just to make sure the data is kept. Unfortunately this script has been somewhat unreliable of late. At some point, on a never quite identified file, the copy action would fail and backup would stop. I needed a new solution, one that would be reliable, simple to set up and cost nothing but setup time. I found it in the shape of some linux software called rsync and a windows client to rsync called DeltaCopy. Actually, DeltaCopy is more than just an rsync client, it can be an rsync server for windows machines but I didn’t need that. That would be very useful though if you are using an old windows PC as your file server though.\nWhat’s rsync?\nFrom their web site: rsync is an open source utility that provides fast incremental file transfer. rsync is freely available under the GNU General Public License.\nI’ve known of rsync for years, but never used it until now. Essentially the programme will compare files in two directories, if a file has been updated it will copy the updated parts and not the whole file. My script solution copied everything whether or not it needed to be. As I’m on the same network as my backup server bandwidth really isn’t a problem. However, the rsync solution means I will be able to succesfully backup from home over the VPN.\nSetup was really easy.\nFirst set up our linux server to run rsync as a daemon. That means it runs all the time waiting for other rsync programs to connect to it. That’s the same way a web server like apache works, sits there waiting until it has something to do, does it, then waits again. How to do that will depend on your server software but for my Trustix powered server it was simply “swup –install rysnc-server” and it was downloaded and installed automatically. Trustix has reached end of life now, so if you are looking for a new operating system you’ll find rsync on most ready to go, including redhat and ubuntu.\nSecond set up my laptop to use an rsync client. That includes choosing which folders I want to synchronise with the server\nThird, enable the rsync client to run as a scheduled task on my laptop.\nThis is where the DeltaCopy program is so useful. It’s a windows point and click graphical interface. Installation was a breeze and I confess I didn’t read the instructions to see how it worked it was so simple. You create a “profile” for each synchronisation task you want. For me there’s only one, I called it “laptop backup”. Then add all the folders (or specific files) you want backed up followed by the server details. At the bottom of the profile is a section called “schedule”. DeltaCopy links seamlessly to the windows scheduler, so I set my backup to occur every day at 11am. Later I found settings that let me get an email on whether the backup worked and how well it went. If it works, the email includes the rsync result information too.\nToday the first success email arrived at 11.07. In 7 minutes the folders had been synchronised and my backup completed. It’s so fast because only changed files have been copied across the network. The full backup is a huge 21Gb…. perhaps that explains why the script would fail, 21Gb over a wireless network would take…. a long time.\nThe final step of any backup: Test it worked and test regularly. Testing is easy using this method, just open the file from the server over the network. To think of all those hours I used to spend waiting for a file to be recovered from my TR1 tape backups.\n","date":"21 January 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/01/21/automatic-backu/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Automatic backups of my windows laptop","type":"posts"},{"content":"A pre world war one novel of… well, little interest to me as it turned out. The ships are the early ironclads of the 1900’s and although there were sections of interesting detail the story as a whole just didn’t hold my attention.\nThe setting was clever, a Royal Navy junior officer with Russian family connections joins a Russian fleet as an observer. The love of his life has just been engaged (against her will) to a Russian naval officer twice her age – who happens to be the Captain of the ship our officer is sailing with. It made for a love story of interest coupled with the difficulty of absence created by a sailors life. In one respect, it was realistic – the naval action when they finally reached their Japanese enemy was short and unpleasant. Our central character being most certainly on the loosing side of the battle yet being fortunate enough to survive to reach port.\nIt was readable but for me not enjoyable. I have another one of the other stories in the series though that I still plan to read, ever the optimist am I. Rootie Rating – 1 out of 5\n","date":"21 January 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/01/21/the-floating-ma/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"The Floating Madhouse (Alexander Fullerton)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Taking a spammer to court to get them to stop isn’t for the faint of heart.\nHere’s the history:\nA company, “Cybernet Media” (stick .co.uk on the end of that and you’ll find their website, I’ll not give them the benefit of a link) started sending spam way back in 2006.\nI asked them to stop, they continued.\nI pointed out to them that by sending it they are breaking \u0026lt;The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003\u0026gt;. I asked them to reply and confirm they would stop sending the spam. I said that if they send any more I’ll bill them 50 per email for my time so far. I said if they didn’t reply I’d take more formal action.\nThey didn’t reply, I didn’t get round to taking the formal action… until they sent 2 more emails. I phoned them and faxed them. They said by phone they’d stop but decided to send 4 more emails within 24 hours. This was now August 2007.\nSo, I sent them an invoice for 6 emails. They didn’t pay or respond.\nI called them again in September and said if they don’t pay I’d take them to court. They didn’t pay so I started a small claims court action against them.\nHere I made a mistake: I asked for the damages plus a statement from them that they would comply with the regulations in future. That meant it had to have a “directions hearing” which of course cybernet didn’t turn up to either. Still the result of the directions hearing was headed by a line: “1. There be judgement for the claimant for damages to be determined by the court” – so I guess that means they agree I have a claim the only question left is how much.\nI now know the small claims court can’t make people say they will comply with regulations (that’s what the judge explained to me in the directions hearing). To do so I would have to take out an injunction. If they break the injunction and send more spam, they commit a criminal offence of contempt of court (and could even go to prison for that). Problem is I still haven’t figured out how exactly what to do to take out an injunction. At the moment all I’m claiming from them is the damages from them sending spam and me having to chase them to pay the damages (which, incidentally, they’ve never contested. They haven’t even replied to the court which as directors of a limited company may be another offense under the Companies Act, I’m not sure though). Anyway, damages so far 1,005.37.\nI still have another week in which to decide if I want to take out an injunction on them but to be honest I have proper work to do and I can’t afford the time to research it. I do now realise why the information commissioner has never taken anyone court for breaking the regulations though. The judge raised a good question – “Do you think they will actually pay?”. I have no idea, I’d rather hope that with a court order against them they would have to. My case is against both an individual and a company. They don’t declare their company number on their website (they really should, but hey, no one’s perfect), “Chris” who I spoke to didn’t know the company number and then claimed he worked as an agent, not for the company. As he sent the spam, I put him down personally on the claim as well as the limited company. Mid February is the hearing date – I’ll keep you posted!\n","date":"10 January 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/01/10/spam-wars-deter/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Spam wars – \"determination of damages\" hearing date set","type":"posts"},{"content":"The BBC iPlayer came out of beta recently and they’ve been advertising it’s release to the masses across BBC TV. I tried the beta version earlier in the year (well, 2007, you know what I mean) and my first response to it coming out of beta was simply “Have they fixed it then?”.\nWhy?\nWhen I tried the Beta there were two big flaws. First, “Peer to Peer”, second “Kontiki“.\nWhat’s Peer to Peer (For those that haven’t already come across it…. probably most of you)? Traditionally if you want to download a file from a server, your computer visits that server and asks for the file. The server sends it to you as quick as the smallest bottleneck in the system would allow. For example, on a lightly used web server like mine, I can download a file as fast as my broadband connection will allow. A quick test gives me 4,656kb/s (or about 4.5Mb which is what my router says my BT Broadband speed is running at). Now, what happens when a hundred people try and do that from my server? Well, the server only has a 100Mb connection to the internet so the best all of the 100 visitors would get is 1Mb of speed each. More likely, some get the file slowly, others get a ‘server busy’ response. Time to buy another server, but what if your budget doesn’t stretch that far? Some bright spark realised that if 10 people have already got the file, they could start acting as servers themselves and share the file with other people. Their upload bandwidth from their internet service can be used to increase the speed at which others can get the file and take the load off the original server. If the server were to be unavailable, people would still be able to get the file from other people who already had it, thus the network becomes faster and more reliable as more people download and share the file.\nAll good so far. This technology, known as “Peer to Peer” file sharing, was the reason Napster became so successful in sharing music (OK, mostly shared illegally) and other still available software (like BitTorrent) helps people share digital files and software (for example OpenOffice) legally (although there is a lot of illegal file sharing on BitTorrent and other Peer-to-Peer networks too).\nSo where was the problem with Peer to Peer in the BBC iPlayer Beta? Simply – they never said they were using it. Installing the software then downloading a programme meant I started to upload it too. This unexpected extra upload bandwidth caused me problems. The video was uploading so other more important things got delayed (EG: why did that server backup take so long today? Why is my email sending so slow today?). I’m a great fan of using Peer-to-Peer to share files but I like to have control of how much network upload bandwidth it can use and the time of day it can use it.\nThe second problem was the peer-to-peer software itself. It’s a programme called Kontiki and while being simple for the user to install (well, I didn’t even know it was installed) it gives NO control of upload or download speed. Now in Peer-to-Peer situations download speed generally isn’t a problem, you are limited by the upload speed of everyone else and as typical broadband upload is 450kb/s I would need to 10 uploaders for me to download at my broadband line’s capacity. No control of the upload causes a real problem as I said above, important traffic can get delayed. With software like BitTorrent I would simply limit the upload speed but Kontiki doesn’t allow that. I read since then that turning off the iPlayer didn’t turn of the Kontiki file sharing either – files uploading even when the software was turned off.\nAnyway, enough about the Beta, Betas are meant to find real world bugs so they can be fixed. Surely our great BBC found fixes to them before releasing the product to the masses?\nErm, Yes and No.\nYes, they added a warning that it uses a Peer to Peer application to share the file. Even have a nice video on their web site with Huw Someone (the newsreader whose name I forget) saying how peer to peer works. They didn’t really make enough of a point in my opinion about how people on capped broadband connections may use up all their bandwidth allowances without realising. I also wonder how the ISP’s will find this, with everyone uploading files (knowingly or not) their bandwidth usage will increase and I’m sure somewhere along the line that will cost them more money. Still, the BBC do now tell you that iPlayer will use Peer to Peer technology and I gather other online TV providers don’t yet do that.\nNo, they didn’t fix Kontiki. Within minutes of installing my laptop performance suffered. Aside from the issue of not being able to control upload speed (my hardware firewall at work thought it was being attacked and stopped all the uploads though – it emailed me several hundred lines of blocked traffic logs to tell me) it took almost exclusive use of a processor. Fortunately my processor is a Dual Core and only one core was getting hammered. It still destroyed the start up time, shut down time and generally made everything perform slower than normal.\nI went online and looked around for fixes for Kontiki, there doesn’t appear to be any. It appears that Kontiki have made a very good job at selling themselves as the software to use if you’re a TV company and want to send TV over the internet for the lowest cost to you. Sure it saves the BBC, Channel 4 and Sky a fortune on bandwidth costs and should be improving the download speed to people who want to watch the programs – it just takes out decent PC performance in return.\nI did allow it to continue to download a program. Once downloaded the program played fine. It played on Windows Media Player (albeit in an iPlayer view of WMP), quality was OK, sound was OK, sure it won’t win any awards for perfect clarity but then I didn’t take the time to plan to watch the program on the real TV so I don’t mind that.\nLooking for Kontiki fixes I found some people moaning about the DRM security in the files. DRM (Digital Rights Management) stops you copying the program to other devices, like another PC at home or to your friends PC. It’s necessary because the people who created and own the program only allow the BBC to show it to people in the UK. Unfortunately the DRM system they are using limits the iPlayer download software to work only on Windows PC’s with Windows Media Player. Read on though, iPlayer’s web only version solves the Microsoft Only problem quite nicely.\nSorry to say it BBC, Kontiki isn’t for me – I’m uninstalling iPlayer shortly and I just HOPE you made sure it removes all traces of itself. (later note: it appears it did – phew!)\nDon’t get me wrong, I love the idea of being able to catch up on programs at times other than the TV schedule says. Which brings me onto the one GREAT thing about iPlayer. You can now watch the program online, on demand. No downloading to watch later, just fire up your web browser (Firefox for me, Internet Explorer for others, or perhaps Safari if you’re Mac way inclined), press play and enjoy the program. The quality seemed to me much the same as the downloaded program quality. Hooray! no Kontiki! no PC performance issues! no software to install!\nI ran a bandwidth monitor to see just how much bandwidth the iPlayer wanted to just watch the program and was pleasantly surprised, it averaged between 530 – 605Kb/s over the 1 hour program., about 0.6Mb/s. Even if you don’t get the maximum ADSL 8mb/s second your ISP offers, 0.6Mb/s should be well within your range. In December, BBC news carried a story comparing broadband speed across the world and gave 3Mb/s as the average UK speed, so for most of us iPlayer online should work fine.\nSo in summary, I think iPlayer is a good thing if you only use the online version. Perhaps the download version will improve over time.\n","date":"9 January 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/01/09/bbc-iplayer-sti/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"BBC iPlayer – still not worth installing but worth watching online","type":"posts"},{"content":"Another completely surreal novel by Charles Stross, it somehow takes real world technical knowledge of mundane things like TCP/IP (that’s the protocol the internet uses to send and receives information), compares it to using carrier pigeon instead of copper wire and then uses it set up a network via demon worlds to save our realm/domain/planet/reality (or however the here and now can be referred to).\nThe story is a continuation of “The Atrocity Archives” but prior reading of that is not necessary. Our hero becomes a secret agent of the James Bond ilk, at least, he thinks he does, but the real James Bond hero is ** (well, I can’t tell you that would spoil the story) which he discovers much later.\nMy favourite bit was the short story at the end of the story. It begins with Charles Stross writing what I would imagine would make a good PHD thesis on the James Bond series. Clearly Charles is a man who knows his James Bond fiction. However the factual presentation degenerates rapidly into a hilarious interview with one of Bond’s enemies giving and his side of the story. I’ll never look at the Ariane Launch site in quite the same way again.\nRating this book: Demon’s aren’t normally my thing but the creative plot more than makes up for it – Rootie Rating 5 out of 5\n","date":"8 January 2008","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2008/01/08/jennifer-morgue/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Jennifer Morgue (Charles Stross)","type":"posts"},{"content":"It’s been a great Christmas for reading. My brother does a fair amount of reading too and for Christmas he gave me two books. The first to be read is “Tales from the White Hart” by Arthur C Clarke. It’s a collection of short stories told in a regular pub meeting of scientists, writers and publishers. The pub is called the “White Hart” and the stories are all originally told by a character called Harry Purvis. They are re-told and narrated by one of the regulars, whose name I forget as it played little significance in the stories.\nOne of the stories I’d read in a previous collection, the others were all new, all imaginative and all believable to a point. That’s what I like most about science fiction – the extension of real proven scientific theories into nonsense… or at least what might be nonsense but close enough to possible there might be some truth.\nNot all the stories are pure science fiction, some are clever plays on expectation and situation. Without wanting to give away too much, one story centers on scientists working at a weapons research station. Drinking in their local pub, the locals were always naturally cautious about exactly what weapons were being developed (especially remember, this is the 1950’s when the atomic bomb was at the forefront of everyone’s mind). When a lorry comes from the direction of their works towards the pub and crashes in view (though a mile or two away) everyone fears the worst. The locals decide the lorry has come from the works and the speed at which the driver ran away from his overturned lorry suggests they should all be doing the same thing. The scientists are also thinking the same thing. One decides to walk the mile and find precisely what disaster they conspired in releasing in the countryside… it’s not what would seem apparent.\nThat reminds me of one of my favourite short stories that Arthur C Clarke wrote called “Neutron Tide”. You can read it on this website – it’s less than 5 minutes to read.\nAnyway, what Rootie Rating to give Tales from the White Hart? 4 out of 5 – there are some real gems in this book.\n","date":"31 December 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/12/31/tales-from-the/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Tales from the White Hart (Arthur C Clarke)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Perhaps I’m going for my longest ever review title, or perhaps the first book was so good I just had to read the following three in quick succession. In the first book, Star Risk Ltd is a fledgling mercenary company out to earn a fortune and take on the universe. I loved how easy to read the books were though missed the thoroughly thought out detail contained in other Sci-Fi stories I have read.\nThese 3 books continue with the same easy to read style and a couple of nice twists. Our mercenaries get themselves into a couple of difficult situations but between them manage to make every situation work in their favour. A sturdy 3 out of 5 rootie rating for each one of these.\nOnto something slightly different. The author, Chris Bunch, died in 2005 (it was mentioned at the beginning of one of the books). I would have thought that this was the end of the Star Risk saga but googling for him brings me to his new book “Star Risk – The Gangster Conspiracy“. Can he write from beyond the grave? Perhaps not. The cover of the new book reads:\n“Chris Bunch’s The Gangster Conspiracy, A Star Risk Novel, By Dal Perry \u0026amp; Steve Perry”.\nPerhaps he did write some before he died and it was finished but I think the series has been successful enough the publishers and/or his family are allowing it to continue, albeit written by other authors. Chris Bunch, and his creation Star Risk have become a brand it seems, long to continue in print as well as re-print.\nPart of me wonders if the new story is up to the same standard (or perhaps better?). If I come across it I’ll read it and let you know. The other part of me is most impressed. I heard somewhere (so take this with pinch of salt) that most authors work is out of print within 5 years of their death. Only a small few reach the immortal status of stories that span generations. If the Gangster Conspiracy is up to scratch, Chris Bunch may be one of the few that achieves an authors immortality. Good for him.\n","date":"28 December 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/12/28/star-risk-the-s/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Star Risk – The Scoundrel worlds (Chris Bunch), Star Risk – The Doublecross Program (Chris Bunch) and Star Risk – The Dog From Hell (Chris Bunch)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Part one of a sci fi series (I managed to buy all 4 in one go at the second hand bookshop – woohoo!) all covered in bright metallic covers with a stylised logo on the front. My first thoughts… this looks like the sort of thing I would have bought as a teenager… perhaps I shouldn’t buy it now. Still, it was in the Sci-Fi section, and there were 4 of a series so in for a penny, in for a pound (OK, more than a pound, even second hand bookshop owners have to feed their children).\nIt may be true you can’t judge a book by it’s cover but in this case I managed too. The story is a simply written tale that watches the creation of a mercenary/security company that manage to compete against other companies as they build their fledgling business. All highly skilled, they use a few pieces of technology to outwit their enemies. Of course, they succeed. It really is the sort of book I would have read as a teenager (I found the cover quite appropriate in that respect). I don’t think that’s a bad thing, it’s been a very simple, easy read that required little thought and was actually quite relaxing. Although I can’t rate it as highly as other books I’ve read, I’ll not rate it as poor either. Rootie Rating 3 out of 5 (Now, onto reading book number 2)\n","date":"11 December 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/12/11/star-risk-chris/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Star Risk (Chris Bunch)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Wednesday night was hospitality night for me. First, I went to Ashford to see my friend Annie Browne’s opening of her new training centre. Apple juice, nibbles, some words from the mayor and meeting people I haven’t seen in a while. All good fun! It’s a smart training setup in more ways than one; it’s a nice new professional training area, it’s also the first time I’ve seen a smartboard in use in business.\nSmartboards are like great big computer screens that you can draw on. Gone are the days of looking for a piece of chalk, you can write things using just your finger. You can write things in different colours, save your notes and email them to people later. You can use it to show a PowerPoint presentation, watch a move or surf the Internet.\nThis may be new to me in business, but my 10 year old daughter would know exactly how to operate a smartboard. Her school started installing them 5 years ago and now every classroom has one. My 5 year old son arrives in class to move his name tag into whether he is pack lunch or school dinners. It used to be a set of cards in pockets on the wall, now he drags his named hot air balloon image on the smartboard from the ground into the cloud that equates to pack lunch or dinners. As someone who remembers the transition from chalk board to white board at school I can’t help but be impressed at the speed technology is moving on.\nIn my recent course at Canterbury Christchurch University, almost all the tutors used projectors and PowerPoint presentations. Smartboards haven’t quite reached them yet. Wednesday night was also the award ceremony where I and many of the others collected our certificates. More apple juice, more nibbles, some words from the Vice Chancellor and meeting people I haven’t seen in a while. More good fun! So here you have it, a photo of my “Certificate in Business”, a whole 40 credits at level 1. I confess, I’m vain enough to want a degree just to prove I could do it. In reality, I don’t need one (it wont help my career prospects!). That said, I love learning new things. The trouble is knowing what I need to learn. This course did nothing for my business knowledge but lots for my French. Perhaps I should do a course on how to operate a smart board…\n","date":"7 December 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/12/07/smart-new-train/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"\"Smart\" new training centre (I just couldn't resist the pun!) and other things\n","type":"posts"},{"content":"Wow! That went quick. It was just over 3 years ago I installed some blog software called “Movabletype” onto my web server to run my personal playspace. I guess blogging is a phase of life that’s still in me, though several things have been and gone. My running phase never quite restarted after “je suis tombe“. Speaking of which, The French lessons I began in January finished and I haven’t been able to get on the next ones (the teacher’s great, but the course is over subscribed again and I wasn’t quick enough to book in). I still get tears in my eyes when I read this post.\nOnto happier things, someone other than me visits these pages. The server log shows that in November 2007 there were 10,208 page views. That compares to 1,599 at the end of the first year and 6,024 a the end of the second year.\nMost people still look for this page on what the shortcut key is on Windows to show the desktop and minimise all the open programs (Windows key \u0026amp; D at the same time, at least for XP, I’ve not tried Vista enough to find out). That’s not so closely followed by people searching for “steve root”, I wonder who he is? After which, How much do books weigh? and how to know that shelf you are putting up is strong enough. I’m also not the only one to wonder “is damn a swear word?“.\n","date":"7 December 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/12/07/3-years-of-blog/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"3 Years of blogging","type":"posts"},{"content":" Quick answer in words (requested from the comments)\nMargin = The comparison between your selling price (100%) and your profit\nMarkup = The comparison between your cost price (100%) and your profit\nEvery time we get a new member of staff I have to teach them how to work out margins and mark ups. This page is here so I don’t have to explain it from scratch for the next new person.\nWhats a mark up \u0026amp; whats a margin? # They are terms given to the way a business works out how much money it will make or has made on a product. Its the difference between the buying price and the selling price as a percentage.\nMark ups and margins are all about percentages. Despite learning percentages at school everyone seems to have forgotten them by the time they get to work, so lets start at the beginning:\nWhat is a percentage? # Percentages are away of comparing different values using a ratio. I think it comes from the French phrase ”Per Cent” meaning “per hundred”\nExample time\nIt you have a 100ml jar that is full (100ml) it is at 100% capacity and 100% of its volume. If it is only half full (50ml) it is at 50% capacity and 50% of its volume. Easy so far.\nYou choose where your 100% begins and thats where many people start to get confused. Lets say I wanted to put a chemical in my jar and the safe maximum level was 50ml. It I fill the jar to 50ml it is now at 100% capacity. It l over fill it to 75ml it is now at 150% of its safe capacity yet at the same time only 75% of its volume.\nHow do we work that out? # throw away your Calculators % button. It is only there to confuse you! Start with 100 and divide it by your unit of measure that is 100%.In the above chemical jar example 100% safe capacity was 50ml So 100 / 50 = 2 Multiply by the actual unit of measure you have. In the example above, our overfilled jar held 75ml so 75 * 2 = 150, which is your answer as a percentage, the chemical jar was at 150% of its safe capacity. Now we know about percentages, let’s apply that to mark-ups and margins # To do this I first want to tell you percentages best kept secret!\n100% of 1 is 1.\n50% of 1 is 0.5.\nSo to turn a % into a decimal just move the point two places to the left\n75% becomes 0.75,\n62.5% becomes 0.625\n(or if you get very scared by not using the calculator, just divide by 100. 100 / 100 =1 , 50 / 100 = 0.5, 75 / 100 = 0.75)\nMark ups and margins are all based around percentages.\nLets start with a mark up calculation.\nYou are given a buying price (50) and told to mark up by 50%\n50 * 0.5 = 25 euros\nAdd them together 50 + 25 = 75\nLets try that with Britains most popular mark up, VAT (Value Added Tax for my friendly non British readers). VAT is (at the time of writing) 17.5% added to the selling price of many products and handed to the government to pay for part of running the country.\n17.5% as a decimal is 0.175\n50 * 0.175 = 8.75\nAdd them together 50 + 8.75 = 58.75\nIt gets better though, if you want to know only the total including vat you can take a shortcut. 100% = 1, 17.5% = 0.175, added together 1.175, so\n50 * 1.175 = 58.75\nIn other words, our total including the VAT mark up is 117.5% of our starting point. Our starting point is the price without the vat (100%).\nOne more example then, 66 + a 50% markup in one go:\n66 * 1.50 = 99.\nWhat about taking off a markup? Lets say you’ve been given a book of retail prices including VAT and you have to load them onto a computer without VAT. It’s simple when you remember the VAT total is 117.5% because division ( key: / )is the opposite of multiplication ( key: * ). Note, on your calculator it looks like .\n58.75/1.175 = 50\nRemove our 50% mark up\n99/1.5 = 66\nBe careful! This only works when you have more than 100% to begin with. Eg, you cannot do 99/.5 to find out what the 50% was, 99/.5 = 198!\nSo, with a mark up our starting figure (eg cost) is 100%. You can have a markup of any value, eg 300%\nNow for margins # With a margin our ENDING figure is 100%. You can never have a margin equal or greater than 100%\nSometimes you’ll be given a selling price (eg recommended retail price, RRP) if you have 33% margin, what price do you put on your purchase order? (in this case, margin is our profit).\n50×0.33= 16.50\nWhich is our profit, so 50 – 16.50 = 33.50 Our buyingprice\nAgain we can shortcut this to find our cost price. If we know that if 33% is our margin then 67% must be our buying price, so 50×0.67 = 33.50\nWhat about when we have a buying price. A margin of 33% and we need to knew the selling price?\nWe know that if our margin is 33%, our cost must be 67% (our selling price with a margin calculation must always be 100% so 100% – 33% profit margin = 67% for the cost).\nWe can divide our cost price by the cost percentage to return to 100% selling price, eg:\n33.50 is 67% of our 100% total, so\n33.50 / 0.67 = 50\nStill with me on this? # Lets try comparing some mark ups and margins and see what happens.\nA sales rep once said to me “You’ll make more selling my product because the price list I give you has a 50% profit; everyone else is using 40%.”\nThe trouble is he was talking about profit as a mark up calculation in his book and everyone else was talking in margins.\nA £75 product in his book had a profit of £25\n(Using mark up: selling price = 150% of cost price, cost price = 100%, so £75 / 1.50 = £50 cost, therefore £25 profit).\nA £75 product in everyone elses book had a margin of £30\n(Using margin: selling price = 100%, margin = 40%, therefore £75 * 0.4 = £30 profit)\nSo, a 40% margin is better than a 50% mark up.\nHeres one for people who arent in business. # Have you ever been tempted by the banners proclaiming “Sale prices – Well pay the 17.5% VAT”? Great! A 17.5% discount. right?\nThats what the marketing department want you to think, but as you now know, VAT is a markup calculation so to arrive at the excluding VAT price you DO NOT deduct 17.5%. Lets work out what the real discount is, assuming our 2 fictitious bargains are £100 for the Kanga and £117.50 for the Roo respectively, including VAT. Lets remove the VAT the right and wrong way.\nA VAT inclusive price is 117.5% of our original price, so:\nKanga: £100 / 1.175 = £85.11\nRoo: £117.50 / 1.175 = £100.00\nare the correct after VAT removed prices.\nLets assume the marketing department sent the wrong poster to be printed:\n“Save 17.5%, buy our Kanga and Roo today” it proclaimed.\n17.5% as a decimal is 0.175 (simply move the decimal two places like we said earlier)\nKanga: £100 * 0.175 = £17.50 discount = £82.50 left to pay\nRoo: £117.50 * 0.175 = £20.56 discount = £96.94 left to pay\nThats right, if the sign proclaims you save 17.5% – it’s wrong, you actually save\n(working this out using the same process as above so you see how it works again):\nthrow away your calculators % button. It is only there to confuse you! Start with 100 and divide it by your unit of measure that is 100%. In the above, 100% of the VAT inclusive price was 100 for Kanga So 100 / 100 = 1 Multiply by the actual unit of measure you have. In the example above, our after VAT price is 85.11 so 85.11 * 1 = 85.11 We know 85.11% is our before VAT price, so VAT content was 100% – 85.11% = 14.89%\nI guess Save 14.89%, buy our Kanga and Roo today just doesnt have the same ring on a poster.\nBy the way, if you’re wondering why i used $ instead of £, I wrote most of this entry on a Coach travelling through france and it was simply quicker to write on my PDA 🙂 _ Corrected!_\n","date":"6 December 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/12/06/margins-and-mar/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Margins and markups  What everyone in business needs to know.","type":"posts"},{"content":"So far my experiments with sipgate VoIP have been good. The next step has been to buy an adapter that will convert our home phone into a VoIP phone. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, the sipgate softphone is fine for me when I’m using my laptop but it doesn’t have the same convenience of picking up a phone and dialing. Secondly, we make quite a few calls between the family (my house, mums house and the office) and all those calls soon add up. If VoIP works, we should be able to call each other for free (or at least no more than the one off hardware costs).\nJust making and receiving VoIP calls isn’t the whole objective though, I need our home phone to continue to ring on our home phone number. We’re still keeping the line (it’s our broadband connection too) and many of our friends know to reach us on this number. So, I wanted to use VoIP when it works for us, and our traditional line if ever it doesn’t.\nThis is where choosing the right adapter comes in. I had to find an adapter that had an FXS port, and FXO port and an ethernet port. What do all these acronyms mean?\n**update – read Gareth’s comment below!** Your normal analog phone plugs into an FXO port (eg the BT Plug on the wall) You could think of the O meaning ‘office phone system’ if you like, or perhaps ‘O’h what a big phone company. The BT Plug on the wall can only be connected to FXS equipment, that is your regular phone. You could think of FX’S’ as ‘S’imply my desk phone or ‘S’ubscriber/customer to the networks plug on the wall I didn’t mention it earlier, VoIP = Voice over Internet Protocol if you didn’t already know and SIP = Session Interaction Protocol, which is one method for VoIP to work, much the same as you can send a letter in a white envelope or a brown envelope and it’s still a letter, you can SIP or you can Skype and it’s still a VoIP call I needed an adapter that had both an FXO port (so I could plug our regular phone into it) as well as an FXS port (so the adapter could be plugged into the wall like a normal phone).\nVia the Ethernet cable it gets plugged into our home network (and onto broadband internet via our home router). The adapter has to log into the SIP service (sipgate in my case) so that it can receive calls over VoIP. You’ll notice that from my earlier post I now appear to be online( ) all the time. That’s because our home phone is logged into sipgate ready for the next call.\nAnyway, onto which adapter I chose.\nI found a linksys SPA3102 which had all the required features. It’s the latest incarnation of devices from a company once called Sipura who specialise in Voice of IP products. Sipura were bought by Cisco (Cisco are big in business networks, Linksys is their lower end home/small office brand of networking equipment) and are now a part of Linksys. Most importantly I could find users with some experience of the linksys/sipura devices amongst various forums. Although lots were having problems and there seemed to be a fair few needing to do or waiting for firmware updates, many of the replies were giving solutions. I am always more worried when there is a a lack of forum/troubleshooting activity than I am to see it, I don’t like being at the leading edge of technology any more than I have to and forum activity shows a product is being well used. It was also within my budget (free wasn’t an option, but the 50 price tag was close enough for me to give it a whirl). Being part of the huge Cisco corporation probably isn’t a bad thing either, at least I can have an expectation that the device will be around and supported for a while.\nI consider myself a pretty network savvy person but this little grey box (photo at the top) had me confused for several hours.\nStep 1: open the box, gasp in awe at the simple instructions. Step 2: plug the provided wire from SPA3102 into phone, plug original phone wire from SPA3102 into BT wall outlet (well, actually, the broadband filter but let’s not get picky). Step 3: wonder why there is no dial tone and nothing happens. Step 4: decide it must need to be enabled from within the web interface. The next problem was entirely of my own making. I departed from the instructions. The device has TWO ethernet ports. one for “internet” one for “computer”. Now, if I had a cable modem that presented an ethernet port as it’s connection to the world I could probably follow this part, but I, along with many others have ADSL and a wireless router. I plugged the “internet” part into my router and didn’t bother moving my PC’s ethernet wire from the router to go via the SPA3102. I couldn’t connect to the web interface, I couldn’t hear any dial tone on the phone (the instruction said I could configure things through a voice menu). I could see the unit had collected it’s IP address from my router but I just couldn’t connect. Step 5: Decide to read the instructions and do it the strange way. Web configuration now working! Realisation now dawns, it’s not strange at all, the device has a firewall and can only be configured from it’s LAN side, not the Internet WAN side. It doesn’t know that it is already behind a firewall router so the creators took the sensible approach of making it be configured only from it’s own Ethernet side. It looks like Step 6: Lesson learnt, now how to configure it so i get a dial tone… Step 7: Realisation dawns that it is already configured to give the regular phone a dial tone. I don’t hear a dial tone…. “Houston, I have a problem”. Is the unit faulty? Not likely, electronics are pretty good in my experience, it’s normally something obvious… like the wire. Unplug everything and look very closely… yes, it’s the wire! The wire they provided is an RJ11 plug. It’s a small squareish plug with 4 wires, or at least 4 slots where wires can connect. Except telephones only use 2 wires. My old cordless dect phone (a couple of years old BT Freelance XD 500 as it happens) uses the outside two slots of the connector. The SPA3102 uses the inner two slots. Ho hum, off to the web to order 9 worth of wire adapters, most of the cost made up from carriage (BT to RJ11 so the phone can use it’s own wire to plug into the SPA3102, and an RJ11 to BT so I could plug the SPA3102’s supplied wire into phone line). Step 8: The instructions at this point became very vague. Well, actually, they didn’t exist (note to self, never again gasp in awe when technical instructions look simple). I had to log on to the Linksys web site to find answers of how to do things. As the device needs broadband to work, that’s not so big a deal but it would have been nice to have a PDF manual or at least where to go for a PDF manual. On the plus side, the device is cleverer than I thought. It let’s me:\nReceive a POTS (Plain old Telephone system) call – and ring my regular phone. Receive a VoIP call – and ring my regular phone Make a VoIP call – once configured Make a POTS call – once configured (I made it so we have to dial #9 to get the regular phone line for calling, VoIP is cheaper but POTS has tried and tested reliability) Receive a POTS call – forward it to another VoIP destination Receive a VoIP call – forward it to another POTS destination There are hundreds of settings on this thing, but very little documentation. Without the Linksys web site I would have never been able to guess how to configure the dial string (so we dial #9 then phone number for POTS call).\nSo, was it worth the 50 (+ wire adapters!)? Yes. I just wish they’d made the instructions more available.\nNext stage of my VoIP experiments, finish making our new Avaya IP Office 500 phone system work as a SIP endpoint\n","date":"30 November 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/11/30/voip-at-home-wi/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"VoIP at home with a Linksys SPA3102, trails, tribulations but it's working now","type":"posts"},{"content":"When sister sharon got married, the whole family flew out to celebrate with her and watch the big day. While around sister my fantastic parents paid for Rhonda and me to go in a helicopter flight around sydney. I’m not sure who took the photo (I think it was Rhonda) but we have a nice a photo of sydney harbour, opera house and city from the flight. I posted it in my Australia holiday postings and I just discovered it’s was posted as picture of the day on this persons blog. It’s a great feeling knowing things we do and share are appreciated.\n","date":"28 November 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/11/28/one-of-our-aust/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"One of our Australia photos was photo of the day on another web site","type":"posts"},{"content":"Was it 12 months ago already since last Christmas? Sure is, so Sunday was the day for the Roots Christmas party. As Root’s has grown our parties have gone from a small gathering at mum and dad’s house to international travel and superstars for the entertainment.\nLast year we hired a 70 seater coach and took everyone (at least, everyone who had a valid passport!) to Bruges for the day. Every year we like to do something a little special so this year we hired the upstairs restaurant of one of our favourite local pubs (The Red Lion, Hernhill) for Christmas dinner.\nMusical entertainment provided by the talented “Gez“… I have no idea what his surname is, but I do know he has a superb repertoire of music. He played at a big party we had this year to celebrate by Dad’s 60th (even his friends from Australia booked flights to join in) and he played a song I’d never heard before called “Roots” as well as one of my favourites “The JCB Song“. I was really pleased when Mum said she’d booked him for the Christmas party as well. I made sure I got a good view of how he plays. (I keep dreaming I can play guitar like he does one day… but I know I wont put the effort in to learn it!). Anyway, if you’re organising an event and are looking for a musician, Gez should be high on your list, just don’t book him for a day we want him please!\nWe often book two entertainers and a few years ago Mum managed to get a Party Magician named Etienne. As you may have guessed from the name, he’s French. He’s also talented, performed regularly to members of the Royal Family, won lots of awards for his magic across Europe and he’s booked a long way in advance. When Mum said she’d asked if he was available I didn’t think he’d be coming.\nA few years ago he did a trick which left a playing card on the ceiling of my parents oast house (the part inside the cowl, that’s an apex roof about two stories high) with my dad’s signature on it. I’ve no idea how he did it, but my dad signed the card, put it in a pack that was shuffled and at the end of the trick the whole pack was thrown into the air and the one card stuck to the ceiling (think 6 metre high ceiling!) was the one Dad signed. 51 other cards floated down. The card is still stuck to the ceiling.\n(In the picture, Etienne makes coins appear and disappear much to Nicola’s delight)\nHis magic is impressive, but so is his personality. He arrives and quietly starts mingling with people and showing his magic, captivating everyone around him. My judgement on his impressive personality was what happened when we started to get everyone upstairs to the restaurant. Bear in mind this was a Sunday night in a pub that doesn’t normally open on Sunday nights. Almost everyone there was there with us but there was one family who just happened to stop by and be having a drink. Their children were amazed by Etienne and while all the Rooties went upstairs, Etienne spent a few minutes with them showing them some more magic. He didn’t have to, he could have had a few minutes break (I’m pretty sure he came to us having been doing his magic somewhere else), but instead he took a few minutes to entertain the children. A superstar in every way.\n","date":"28 November 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/11/28/welcome-to-the/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Welcome to the Christmas Party Season","type":"posts"},{"content":"I haven’t posted about this for a while and thought I should just say what’s happening. The company in question ignored letters from the court, or at least, they chose not to reply. That’s right, no defence, no counter claim, nothing. So, the court have set a date to make a judgement on the case. I have no idea if they’ll turn up to the hearing (it’s a long drive – they’re based in Lancashire and the case has been set in Canterbury). Seeing as they didn’t contest the location of the hearing, I guess they’re not coming. I can give them the benefit of the doubt though and assume they will though.\nIt does bring another question up though. As a limited company (as well as individuals, they could never make up their mind who they were trading as so I brought the claim against all of them) what happens if it doesn’t respond? I have a feeling (I’m not certain) the directors are responsible for the company responding and if they don’t (or the company, as it’s own legal entity doesnt) respond, they may have to answer to a criminal court which can fine them personally (I’ll have to look though the detail of the companies act)\n","date":"16 November 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/11/16/spam-wars-court/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Spam wars – court date set","type":"posts"},{"content":"If a book has been serialised on TV I rarely choose to buy it. I don’t think it’s logical not to choose a book because it’s been on TV, especially when I never saw the series. The mere fact it has been turned into a TV Drama must be because it has a very good story. Still, I avoid them in the bookshop. This one was given to me with a pile of other books and has sat on the shelf for almost a year being unread. Still, when every other book has been read these less attractive titles have to have their turn.\nWhat a turn! Superb crime story with our fictional detective out to catch a killer. Initially there seems to be no link to the killings and eventually our hero detective works things out… almost. The really nice thing about this story is how human the detective is. He makes mistakes (quite a few) but gets there in the end. As a reader, I made them myself trying to figure out who did it.\nI’m not normally one to choose Crime Fiction so please understand that me giving this book a Rootie Rating of 4 out of 5 shows just how good a read I found it to be.\n","date":"16 November 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/11/16/messiah-boris-starling/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Messiah (Boris Starling)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Parts 3 and 4 of a series of 4 (why do I rarely get to read them in order?)\nPart 3, A distant colony grows following a revolution. Times are hard, technology they once took for granted is no longer available from mother earth. Isolation will not remain forever though, a new startship travels from Earth which will change their relationship. No longer isolated, we get to follow how the colonists react and the changes (for better and worst)\nPart 4, The colonists discover they are not alone in the universe, beings other than than human are not far away. How does first contact go? First contact isn’t at the new colony of Coyote though, it happened many years before Coyote was settled, it’s just the people who made first contact didn’t send a message home.\nA story worth reading? Yes, for both of them and I’ll be keeping my eye out for the first two. Rootie Rating 3 out of 5 and 3 out of 5.\n","date":"11 November 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/11/11/coyote-frontier/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Coyote Frontier (Allen Steele) \u0026 Spindrift (Allen Steele)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Imagine time travel was possible. Would changes in the past affect the present? Most books assume that is the case. However this book assumes that the controlers of time travel are not affected by changes to their history. They use this to constantly prevent the errors of history. What sort of errors? War, they can prevent that from happening. Famine, by studying the factors that affected the events of the time a small change as insignificant as moving the position of a jar of beans would prevent a famine. Side effects? There were a few, millions would live, but billions would never get the chance to live. What would happen, in the past, and the future?\nYet another fascinating set of ideas presented by Isaac Asimov, well worth the time of reading, Rootie Rating 4 out of 5\n","date":"11 November 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/11/11/the-end-of-eter/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"The End of Eternity (Isaac Asimov)","type":"posts"},{"content":"I’ve been playing with VoIP for a while now. VoIP = “Voice over Internet Protocol” and it’s essentially using computer networks as your phone network. Skype is a form of VoIP. The one thing I have against Skype is it’s closed protocol that means only Skype things will work with Skype. The more open standard is called SIP, and lots of companies make software and devices that will work with each other through SIP. Our new office telephone system can connect to SIP in the same way it connects to our BT phone lines (actually, there’s no physical connection as the SIP calls would come in via our internet connection rather than a physical BT line plug).\nOne of the downsides with learning anything new is the time it takes to learn. The downside with any communication network is that it’s only as good as the number of people that are already using it (I have only a half dozen contacts on my Skype account and my MSN Messenger account).\nMy recent VoIP experiments brought me to the www.sipgate.co.uk website. They’ve really made the set up easy. I signed up for an account in less than 3 minutes. I downloaded their version of the X-Ten softphone. They’ve made it so that it downloads including your account settings. All I had to do was install, no settings to change, it worked immediately! Superb! Anyway, less than 5 minutes after discovering sipgate, I called myself from the office to my new sipgate phone. I picked up one of their free local numbers, so you can call me too on 01227 808060 from your real phone(s). If you already use a SIP service, you can call that number free by using whatever prefix you need to connect from your service to sipgate.\nThat means you can call me on one local number wherever I happen to have my laptop set up. At the office, at home, In a hotel while visiting suppliers around the UK or even if I’m working abroad. Therein lies the one problem, I need to have the laptop turned on for the phone to be working and available. The good thing is that SIP doesn’t require a specific computer, there are devices that will connect SIP to your normal house telephone (and even let you use both networks together), as I said our office phone system already works with SIP (or will when I figure out how), my mobile phone has software that allows it be used as a SIP phone, our ADSL router will also let us connect a regular phone to the SIP services. You can also buy dedicated SIP phones from around 50 (and DECT cordless SIP phones are around 100).\nI’ve still lots to learn about SIP and making it work. One little gadget I just found on the sipgate site is a snippet of code that may* tell you if I’ve got my SIP device connected to the internet….. may, or may not.\n","date":"4 November 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/11/04/voip-testing-si/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"VoIP – testing sipgate","type":"posts"},{"content":"I’m updated the server software to movable type 4 from movable type 3. I’ll be using their default templates for a while but will eventually return a few of the nice things back (well, things I think are are nice, like the rotating photo banner).\n","date":"31 October 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/10/31/movable-type-4/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Movable Type 4 upgrade","type":"posts"},{"content":" With the far more effective ICEQBE parser not working at the moment, I ran the frame 1 results through my own code concoction so you can all see how well you did… or in my case, didn’t!\nBig to -ung– for being CM this month!\nFollow the “read more” link to see all of the results.\nTop 10\u0026lt;table border=/\u0026ldquo;1/\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\nResult Table showing all players # ","date":"16 October 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/10/16/emc-82-frame-1/","section":"Posts","summary":" With the far more effective ICEQBE parser not working at the moment, I ran the frame 1 results through my own code concoction so you can all see how well you did… or in my case, didn’t!\nBig to -ung– for being CM this month!\nFollow the “read more” link to see all of the results.\nTop 10\u003ctable border=/“1/\"\u003e\n","title":"EMC 82 Frame 1 results","type":"posts"},{"content":"Nicola enjoys cooking with Nanny Kathy. She asked if she could have her own show called “Cooking with Nanny” so I got to hold the camera while Nicola and Nanny cooked lamb and vegetables. To put it online for everyone to see (hello Auntie Sharon and Uncle Todd in Australia!) I converted it to DivX format and uploaded it to their video website “stage6“. I did look at uploading it to YouTube but they have a 10 minute limit.\n","date":"10 October 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/10/10/cooking-with-na/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Cooking with Nanny","type":"posts"},{"content":"The company I’ve taken to the small claims court for sending spam haven’t responded to the court. The court told me that I can now make a “Request for Judgement”. The documents they sent say they will now notify both me and the defendants “…of any steps you should take to prepare for the hearing at which the court will decide what amount you are entitled to”.\nI’m not sure how this will work, because I wanted the company to state they will comply with the PECR regulations, not just pay compensation for the time of mine they’ve taken by sending spam. I wonder what will happen if they wont agree to that?\n","date":"4 October 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/10/04/spam-wars-they/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Spam wars – they didn't reply to the court…","type":"posts"},{"content":"I picked this book up for two reasons; 1) It is Book 1 of “The Sentients of Orion” and I decided if there is more than one volume it can’t be too bad or the 2nd wouldn’t have been published. 2) The publisher is Orbit, they’ve published a lot of the other books I’ve read and I’ve always been happy with them.\nThe story takes several different strands of life and weaves them together as a planet goes from quiet backwater to invaded warzone. By the end I started to get into the story but that was far too late for me to rate this as a book I’d read again. I think the the problem was the Italian theme. The whole society uses Italianesque words frequently and I found it hard work to understand and get into the story. At one point I considered leaving the book unfinished but I’m glad I did get to the end of it. Will I get book 2? I wont go hunting for it, but I’d read it if I had nothing else. Rootie Rating 1 out of 5 – it wasn’t for me.\n","date":"4 October 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/10/04/dark-space-mari/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Dark Space (Marianne de pierres)","type":"posts"},{"content":" The last 3 sunday nights I have run an online gaming event (it\u0026#8217;s called [warbirds][1]). If you played you can see how well you did by following the \u0026#8220;read more\u0026#8221; link, before then here are the top 10 player scores and the overall game statistics. Player/th\u003e\n\u0026lt;th\u0026gt; EMCs Flown \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; Died By Count \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; kill count \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; Assist Count \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; damage total \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; Launches \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; vlist \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; gun-as \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 14322.51 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 8 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b,Ju88A-4,109E1A0,40MMAAA,Bf-109G6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; olepup \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 300 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b,HurricaneI,HurricaneIIC \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; biffas \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 9 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A,SpitM03F,SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; oldgit \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 9351.13 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; FW-190A4,109E1A0,Bristol-F.2b,Ju88A-4,He-111H3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -broz- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1201.85 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 10 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 109E1A0,Bf110C-4,Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; deeday \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitM03F,SE5A,SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; lakman \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 12 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A,SpitVb,SpitM03F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -dada- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 20252.25 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Ju87D,Bf110C-4,109E1A0,Bristol-F.2b,Ju88A-4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -egor- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 8 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb,SE5A,SpitM03F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; chough \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitM03F,SE5A,HurricaneIIC,HurricaneI,SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt;\u0026lt;/table\u0026gt; \u0026lt;h3\u0026gt; Players per Frame \u0026lt;/h3\u0026gt; \u0026lt;table border=\u0026quot;1\u0026quot;\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; logid \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; COUNT(DISTINCT player) \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 67 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 71 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 80 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt;\u0026lt;/table\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;!--End debug from SQL query--\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;h3\u0026gt; Count of players in EMC (over all frames analysed) \u0026lt;/h3\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;!--Debugging output for SQL query--\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;table border=\u0026quot;1\u0026quot;\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; COUNT(DISTINCT player) \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 131 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt;\u0026lt;/table\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;h3\u0026gt; Result Table showing all players \u0026lt;/h3\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;!--Debugging output for SQL query--\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;table border=\u0026quot;1\u0026quot;\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; Player \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; EMCs Flown \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; Died By Count \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; kill count \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; Assist Count \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; damage total \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; Launches \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; vlist \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; gun-as \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 14322.51 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 8 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b, Ju88A-4, 109E1A0, 40MMAAA, Bf-109G6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; olepup \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 300 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b, HurricaneI, HurricaneIIC \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; biffas \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 9 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A, SpitM03F, SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; oldgit \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 9351.13 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; FW-190A4, 109E1A0, Bristol-F.2b, Ju88A-4, He-111H3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -broz- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1201.85 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 10 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 109E1A0, Bf110C-4, Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; deeday \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitM03F, SE5A, SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; lakman \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 12 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A, SpitVb, SpitM03F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -dada- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 20252.25 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Ju87D, Bf110C-4, 109E1A0, Bristol-F.2b, Ju88A-4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -egor- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 8 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb, SE5A, SpitM03F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; chough \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitM03F, SE5A, HurricaneIIC, HurricaneI, SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; kes\u0026amp;#8212; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 14066.57 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Ju88A-4, Bf-109G6, Bristol-F.2b, 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; huwaec \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitM03F, SpitVb, SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; julle- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 24861.79 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 12 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b, Ju88A-4, Ju87D, 109E1A0, Bf110C-4, 40MMAAA \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; domina \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 23183.27 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 9 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Ju88A-4, Bf110C-4, Bristol-F.2b, 109E1A0, Ju87D \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; borgo- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 19687.24 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 9 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b, Ju88A-4, Bf-109G6, 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; giggis \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2209.65 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 109E1A0, Bf-109G6, Ju88A-4, SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; gallie \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 17483.32 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 9 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bf-109G6, Bristol-F.2b, Ju88A-4, 109E1A0, He-111H3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; pathos \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 12 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb, SpitM03F, SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; kanga- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6834.24 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 13 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bf-109G6, Bristol-F.2b, Ju88A-4, 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; frebur \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 14261.73 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Ju87D, Bristol-F.2b, Bf110C-4, Ju88A-4, 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; andttr \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A, SpitVb, SpitM03F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; krohn- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 35.35 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Ju88A-4, Bristol-F.2b, Bf-109G6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -fiff- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A, SpitM03F, SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; bommel \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3948.71 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 9 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b, He-111H3, Bf-109G6, Ju88A-4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -ung\u0026amp;#8211; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7123.15 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 8 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b, Bf-109G6, Ju88A-4, 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -kazek \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5841.86 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 8 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b, Bf-109G6, Ju88A-4, 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -daffy \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 9 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 601.29 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 10 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 109E1A0, Bristol-F.2b, Bf-109G6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; rstuck \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 14 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb, SpitM03F, SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -drem- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb, SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; mmbeer \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb, HurricaneIIC, HurricaneI, 40MMAAA \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -m-a-x \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 17115.24 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Ju88A-4, Bf-109G6, 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; ryanca \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 40MMAAA, SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; phritz \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneIIC, He-111H3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026amp;#8211;sun- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 8 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb, HurricaneIIC, SpitM03F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; onisan \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitM03F, SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; esmond \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb, SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; easyed \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4185.13 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bf110C-4, 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; redgar \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4576.9 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b, Bf-109G6, Ju88A-4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; glcpit \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb, SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; =kuis= \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4943.12 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Ju88A-4, FW-190A4, 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; term\u0026amp;#8211; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 10402.49 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 8 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Ju88A-4, 109E1A0, FW-190A4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026amp;#8211;jas- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7380.16 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb, Ju88A-4, 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; vonwil \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitM03F, SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; dieter \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7719.39 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 8 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Ju88A-4, Bf110C-4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; pistol \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneIIC, 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; truce- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb, SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; hitnrn \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b, Ju88A-4, SpitM03F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; nuwace \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitM03F, HurricaneIIC, 40MMAAA \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; postme \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 15663.05 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Ju88A-4, HurricaneI, SpitM03F, Bf-109G6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; thorwb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4206.78 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 9 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bf110C-4, 109E1A0, Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -ragge \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1200 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b, Bf-109G6, Ju88A-4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; pappyb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 57.23 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bf110C-4, Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; tiiaha \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A, SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; dinuba \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 8 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A, SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; charco \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitM03F, HurricaneIIC, HurricaneI, SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -vip\u0026amp;#8211; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 11035.99 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 109E1A0, He-111H3, Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -ricky \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 900 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b, 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; topler \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 600 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitM03F, SE5A, Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; killmj \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 9 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneI, Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; defndr \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; badair \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneI \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; =vslp= \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; caruso \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; okdoc- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bf-109F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; gflyer \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneIIC \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; saute- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; xlarge \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneIIC \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; cucoso \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 9611.52 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 109E1A0, He-111H3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -bozo- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7000 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; He-111H3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; xucrut \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 612.95 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bf-109F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; dkt\u0026amp;#8212; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 571.86 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; baddey \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneIIC, SpitVb, 40MMAAA \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -jwm\u0026amp;#8211; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; chicdg \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneIIC \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; sim-ba \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; spanky \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitM03F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; bazzat \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; gholme \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitM03F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; granma \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bf-109F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; otis\u0026amp;#8211; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; shykng \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneIIC \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; gamcok \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -cade- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneI \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; bangat \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; flubbi \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; TBD, Ju88A-4, 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -koko- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6930 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Ju88A-4, 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; =dhy== \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1509.46 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 109E1A0, Ju88A-4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -halb- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7759.44 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bf-109G6, Ju88A-4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; rallou \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneIIC \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; fuzzx- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -bijl- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1200 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; schu-h \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 600 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; spiez- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitM03F, MGAAA \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; hogjaw \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneI, SpitM03F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -ezft- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneI, SpitM03F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -simp- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneIIC \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; sycodn \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitM03F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; airbub \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; kculon \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; =olli= \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 11934.38 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; FW-190A4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; shotzz \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 8226.96 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; He-111H3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -wiley \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5564.89 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; He-111H3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; ojhdgt \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1469.12 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bf110C-4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; =flu== \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 607.57 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; bdufrr \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; danand \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; FW-190A4, 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; denber \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; nashal \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; ohshix \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneIIC \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; rock\u0026amp;#8211; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneIIC \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; tu\u0026amp;#8211;rk \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; aitbal \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitM03F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; bfast- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; choppr \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; donors \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; iron-h \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; rockit \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; scrblr \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; =cat== \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; stangu \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneIIC \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; andiii \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 300 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -tern- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 9803.99 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Ju87D, Bf110C-4, Bf-109F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; jcamp- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 9079.95 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; He-111H3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; yabbie \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3311.4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneIIC \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; badgun \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; lenscr \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; orelle \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt;\u0026lt;/table\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;!--End debug from SQL query--\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;hr /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;h3\u0026gt; Result Table showing all players by event log \u0026lt;/h3\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt; Therefore a player will be listed once for each EMC they are in \u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;!--Debugging output for SQL query--\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;table border=\u0026quot;1\u0026quot;\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; Player \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; LogID \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; DiedByCount \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; killcount \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; AssistCount \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; damagetotal \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; Launches \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; vlist \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; lakman \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 12 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; gun-as \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 8 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 40MMAAA, Bf-109G6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; julle- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 16720.46 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 12 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Ju87D, Bf110C-4, 40MMAAA \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; kanga- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6832.83 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 13 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bf-109G6, Ju88A-4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; truce- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; borgo- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 14892.1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 9 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bf-109G6, Ju88A-4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; domina \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 11698.07 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 9 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bf110C-4, Ju87D \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -kazek \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5241.86 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 8 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bf-109G6, Ju88A-4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; oldgit \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3129.33 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; FW-190A4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -m-a-x \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2621.73 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Ju88A-4, Bf-109G6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -drem- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; mmbeer \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb, HurricaneIIC \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; onisan \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; olepup \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneIIC \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; caruso \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; okdoc- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bf-109F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; =kuis= \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4943.12 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; FW-190A4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; term\u0026amp;#8211; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7365.97 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 8 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; FW-190A4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026amp;#8211;jas- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; glcpit \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; gflyer \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneIIC \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; xlarge \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneIIC \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -dada- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 9056.38 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Ju87D, Bf110C-4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; easyed \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4185.13 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bf110C-4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; thorwb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4180 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 9 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bf110C-4, 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; frebur \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3819.76 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Ju87D, Bf110C-4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; xucrut \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 612.95 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bf-109F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -broz- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 10 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 109E1A0, Bf110C-4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; biffas \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 9 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -fiff- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; deeday \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; huwaec \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; baddey \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneIIC, SpitVb, 40MMAAA \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; chicdg \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneIIC \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; phritz \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneIIC \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; sim-ba \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; granma \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bf-109F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; otis\u0026amp;#8211; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; shykng \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneIIC \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026amp;#8211;sun- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 8 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb, HurricaneIIC \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; charco \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneIIC, SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; dinuba \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 8 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -halb- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7759.44 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bf-109G6, Ju88A-4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -daffy \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 10 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bf-109G6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; rallou \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneIIC \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; fuzzx- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; chough \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneIIC, SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; kes\u0026amp;#8212; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 14066.57 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Ju88A-4, Bf-109G6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; rstuck \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 14 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; esmond \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -simp- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneIIC \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; postme \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 15663.05 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Ju88A-4, Bf-109G6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; =olli= \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 11934.38 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; FW-190A4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; redgar \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4576.9 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bf-109G6, Ju88A-4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; dieter \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4419.39 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 8 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bf110C-4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; bommel \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1682.76 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 9 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bf-109G6, Ju88A-4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; ojhdgt \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1469.12 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bf110C-4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; krohn- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 35.35 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Ju88A-4, Bf-109G6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; pathos \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 12 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -egor- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 8 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; pistol \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneIIC \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -ragge \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bf-109G6, Ju88A-4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; pappyb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bf110C-4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; nuwace \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneIIC, 40MMAAA \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; bdufrr \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; tiiaha \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; danand \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; FW-190A4, 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; denber \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; nashal \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; ohshix \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneIIC \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; rock\u0026amp;#8211; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneIIC \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; tu\u0026amp;#8211;rk \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; stangu \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneIIC \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; giggis \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2209.65 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bf-109G6, Ju88A-4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -ung\u0026amp;#8211; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6520.89 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 8 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bf-109G6, Ju88A-4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -tern- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 9803.99 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Ju87D, Bf110C-4, Bf-109F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; gallie \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7380.39 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 9 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bf-109G6, Ju88A-4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; yabbie \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3311.4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneIIC \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; andttr \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitVb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; julle- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7823.48 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 12 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Ju88A-4, 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; domina \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 9680 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 9 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Ju88A-4, 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; badair \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneI \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -dada- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 9680 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 109E1A0, Ju88A-4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; biffas \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 9 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitM03F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; mmbeer \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneI, 40MMAAA \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; gallie \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 8874.12 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 9 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 109E1A0, He-111H3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -egor- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 8 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitM03F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -broz- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 10 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -m-a-x \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 14493.51 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 109E1A0, Ju88A-4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; vonwil \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitM03F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; cucoso \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 9611.52 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 109E1A0, He-111H3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -bozo- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7000 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; He-111H3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; dieter \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3300 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 8 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Ju88A-4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; bommel \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1325.32 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 9 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; He-111H3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; dkt\u0026amp;#8212; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 571.86 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026amp;#8211;sun- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 8 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitM03F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -ung\u0026amp;#8211; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 8 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; pistol \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; hitnrn \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Ju88A-4, SpitM03F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; kes\u0026amp;#8212; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -jwm\u0026amp;#8211; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; phritz \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; He-111H3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; ryanca \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 40MMAAA \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; spanky \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitM03F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; gholme \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitM03F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -cade- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneI \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; onisan \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitM03F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; olepup \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneI \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; flubbi \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; TBD, Ju88A-4, 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -koko- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6930 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Ju88A-4, 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; =dhy== \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1509.46 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 109E1A0, Ju88A-4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; easyed \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; gun-as \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 13722.51 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 8 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Ju88A-4, 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; oldgit \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5619.16 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 109E1A0, Ju88A-4, He-111H3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; pathos \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 12 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitM03F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; nuwace \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitM03F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; borgo- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4180 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 9 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Ju88A-4, 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; andttr \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitM03F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; postme \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneI, SpitM03F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; deeday \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitM03F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; spiez- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitM03F, MGAAA \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; hogjaw \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneI, SpitM03F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -ezft- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneI, SpitM03F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; sycodn \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitM03F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; kculon \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -vip\u0026amp;#8211; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 10425.2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 109E1A0, He-111H3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; shotzz \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 8226.96 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; He-111H3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026amp;#8211;jas- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7380.16 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Ju88A-4, 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -wiley \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5564.89 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; He-111H3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; term\u0026amp;#8211; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3036.52 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 8 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Ju88A-4, 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; killmj \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 9 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; HurricaneI \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; chough \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitM03F, HurricaneI \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; giggis \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; huwaec \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitM03F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; topler \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitM03F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -ricky \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; =kuis= \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Ju88A-4, 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; krohn- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; aitbal \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitM03F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; bfast- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -daffy \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 10 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; lakman \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 12 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitM03F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; charco \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitM03F, HurricaneI \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -fiff- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitM03F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; frebur \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 9840.71 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Ju88A-4, 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; jcamp- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 9079.95 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; He-111H3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; kanga- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 13 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -kazek \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 8 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Ju88A-4, 109E1A0 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; rstuck \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 14 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SpitM03F \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -drem- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; defndr \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; giggis \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; =vslp= \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; esmond \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; redgar \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; ryanca \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; deeday \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; gun-as \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 600 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 8 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; chough \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; saute- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; oldgit \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 602.64 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; olepup \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 300 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; lakman \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 12 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; andttr \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; bazzat \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; gamcok \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; bangat \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -egor- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 8 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; gallie \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1228.81 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 9 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; pathos \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 12 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; glcpit \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; biffas \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 9 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -broz- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1201.85 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 10 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -ragge \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1200 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -bijl- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1200 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; frebur \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 601.26 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; schu-h \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 600 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; huwaec \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; airbub \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; =flu== \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 607.57 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; pappyb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 57.23 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; kanga- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1.41 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 13 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; kes\u0026amp;#8212; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; krohn- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; tiiaha \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; vonwil \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; choppr \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; donors \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; iron-h \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; rockit \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; scrblr \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; dinuba \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 8 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; =cat== \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; borgo- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 615.14 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 9 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; hitnrn \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -dada- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1515.87 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -fiff- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 7 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; truce- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -vip\u0026amp;#8211; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 610.79 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -ung\u0026amp;#8211; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 602.26 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 8 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; andiii \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 300 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; thorwb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 26.78 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 9 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -ricky \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 900 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; topler \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 600 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A, Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; rstuck \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 14 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; badgun \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; lenscr \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 4 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; SE5A \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -daffy \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 601.29 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 10 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; julle- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 317.85 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 12 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; bommel \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 940.63 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 9 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -kazek \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 600 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 8 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; killmj \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 9 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; domina \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 1805.2 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 9 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; orelle \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Bristol-F.2b \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt;\u0026lt;/table\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;!--End debug from SQL query--\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;hr /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;h3\u0026gt; Count of players in EMC by log file \u0026lt;/h3\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt; work in progress! \u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;!--Debugging output for SQL query--\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;table border=\u0026quot;1\u0026quot;\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; logid \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; COUNT(DISTINCT player) \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-1.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 67 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-2.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 71 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EMC81-3.log \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 80 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt;\u0026lt;/table\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;!--End debug from SQL query--\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;hr /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;h3\u0026gt; Count of players in EMC (over all frames analysed) \u0026lt;/h3\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt; work in progress! \u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;!--Debugging output for SQL query--\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;table border=\u0026quot;1\u0026quot;\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; COUNT(DISTINCT player) \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 131 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt;\u0026lt;/table\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;!--End debug from SQL query--\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;hr /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;h3\u0026gt; How did Each player die? \u0026lt;/h3\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt; work in progress! \u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;!--Debugging output for SQL query--\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/p\u0026gt;\u0026lt;table border=/\u0026quot;1/\u0026quot;\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; Player \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; Diedby \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026amp;#8211;jas- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026amp;#8211;sun- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -bijl- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EXPLODED \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -broz- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -cade- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BADBAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -dada- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; DITCH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -dada- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; DITCH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -daffy \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -daffy \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -daffy \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -daffy \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -daffy \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -daffy \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; PKILL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -egor- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; PKILL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -egor- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -ezft- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -fiff- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -fiff- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -fiff- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; PKILL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -fiff- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; PKILL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -halb- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EXPLODED \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -kazek \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -kazek \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EXPLODED \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -kazek \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; PKILL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -kazek \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -kazek \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -koko- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -ragge \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; DITCH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -ragge \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -ricky \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -ricky \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -ricky \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BADBAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -simp- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BADBAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -tern- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EXPLODED \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -tern- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -ung\u0026amp;#8211; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; DITCH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -ung\u0026amp;#8211; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -ung\u0026amp;#8211; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EXPLODED \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -ung\u0026amp;#8211; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -vip\u0026amp;#8211; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BADBAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -vip\u0026amp;#8211; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EXPLODED \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -vip\u0026amp;#8211; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; PKILL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; -wiley \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; =cat== \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; PKILL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; =cat== \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; =dhy== \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; PKILL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; =flu== \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; =kuis= \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; PKILL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; =olli= \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; airbub \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EXPLODED \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; aitbal \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; andiii \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; andiii \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; andttr \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; andttr \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; andttr \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; badgun \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BADBAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; badgun \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; bangat \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; PKILL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; bdufrr \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; bfast- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; biffas \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BADBAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; bommel \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; DITCH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; bommel \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; bommel \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; PKILL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; bommel \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; DITCH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; borgo- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; borgo- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; borgo- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EXPLODED \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; charco \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BADBAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; charco \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; PKILL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; charco \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; choppr \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; chough \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; chough \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BADBAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; danand \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; deeday \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; denber \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; dieter \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EXPLODED \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; dinuba \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; dinuba \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BADBAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; dinuba \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; PKILL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; domina \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; DITCH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; domina \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; DITCH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; domina \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; donors \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; PKILL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; easyed \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EXPLODED \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; esmond \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EXPLODED \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; flubbi \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; frebur \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; PKILL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; frebur \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; frebur \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; PKILL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; fuzzx- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EXPLODED \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; gallie \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; PKILL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; gallie \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; gallie \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; DITCH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; gamcok \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; giggis \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EXPLODED \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; giggis \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; giggis \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; glcpit \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BADBAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; gun-as \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; hitnrn \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; hitnrn \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; hogjaw \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; PKILL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; huwaec \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; huwaec \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BADBAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; iron-h \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EXPLODED \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; jcamp- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; jcamp- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; julle- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; julle- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; DITCH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; julle- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; kanga- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; kanga- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; kanga- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; kculon \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EXPLODED \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; kes\u0026amp;#8212; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; kes\u0026amp;#8212; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BADBAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; killmj \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EXPLODED \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; killmj \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; killmj \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; killmj \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; krohn- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; DITCH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; krohn- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; krohn- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; lakman \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; lakman \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; lenscr \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; lenscr \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; lenscr \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; nashal \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EXPLODED \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; nuwace \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; nuwace \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; ohshix \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; ojhdgt \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EXPLODED \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; oldgit \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; olepup \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; PKILL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; onisan \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; PKILL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; orelle \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; orelle \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; DITCH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; orelle \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; DITCH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; pappyb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; pappyb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; DITCH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; pathos \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EXPLODED \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; pathos \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; pathos \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; PKILL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; pistol \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; postme \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; postme \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; rallou \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; redgar \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EXPLODED \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; rock\u0026amp;#8211; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; rockit \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; PKILL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; rstuck \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; rstuck \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; PKILL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; rstuck \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; PKILL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; rstuck \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; rstuck \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BADBAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; rstuck \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BADBAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; schu-h \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; DITCH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; scrblr \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; shotzz \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; spiez- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; PKILL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; stangu \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; CRASH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; stangu \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; sycodn \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; term\u0026amp;#8211; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; PKILL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; thorwb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; DITCH \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; thorwb \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EXPLODED \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; tiiaha \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EXPLODED \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; tiiaha \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BADBAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; topler \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; topler \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; topler \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; PKILL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; truce- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; PKILL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; truce- \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; PKILL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; tu\u0026amp;#8211;rk \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; vonwil \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; PKILL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; yabbie \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; BAIL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; yabbie \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; EXPLODED \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt;\u0026lt;/table\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;!--End debug from SQL query--\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; ","date":"1 October 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/10/01/emc-81-logs/","section":"Posts","summary":" The last 3 sunday nights I have run an online gaming event (it’s called [warbirds][1]). If you played you can see how well you did by following the “read more” link, before then here are the top 10 player scores and the overall game statistics. Player/th\u003e\n\u003cth\u003e EMCs Flown \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth\u003e Died By Count \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth\u003e kill count \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth\u003e Assist Count \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth\u003e damage total \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth\u003e Launches \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth\u003e vlist \u003c/th\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd\u003e gun-as \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 3 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 1 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 3 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 3 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 14322.51 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 8 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e Bristol-F.2b,Ju88A-4,109E1A0,40MMAAA,Bf-109G6 \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd\u003e olepup \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 3 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 1 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 3 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 1 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 300 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 5 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e Bristol-F.2b,HurricaneI,HurricaneIIC \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd\u003e biffas \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 3 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 1 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 2 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 2 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 9 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e SE5A,SpitM03F,SpitVb \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd\u003e oldgit \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 3 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 1 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 2 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 9351.13 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 7 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e FW-190A4,109E1A0,Bristol-F.2b,Ju88A-4,He-111H3 \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd\u003e -broz- \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 3 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 1 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 3 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 1201.85 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 10 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 109E1A0,Bf110C-4,Bristol-F.2b \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd\u003e deeday \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 3 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 1 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 3 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 6 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e SpitM03F,SE5A,SpitVb \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd\u003e lakman \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 3 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 2 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 5 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 1 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 12 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e SE5A,SpitVb,SpitM03F \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd\u003e -dada- \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 3 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 2 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 3 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 4 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 20252.25 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 7 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e Ju87D,Bf110C-4,109E1A0,Bristol-F.2b,Ju88A-4 \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd\u003e -egor- \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 3 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 2 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 3 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 8 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e SpitVb,SE5A,SpitM03F \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd\u003e chough \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 3 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 2 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 4 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 7 \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e SpitM03F,SE5A,HurricaneIIC,HurricaneI,SpitVb \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/table\u003e \u003ch3\u003e Players per Frame \u003c/h3\u003e \u003ctable border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth\u003e logid \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth\u003e COUNT(DISTINCT player) \u003c/th\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd\u003e EMC81-1.log \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 67 \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd\u003e EMC81-2.log \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 71 \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd\u003e EMC81-3.log \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 80 \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/table\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c!--End debug from SQL query--\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003ch3\u003e Count of players in EMC (over all frames analysed) \u003c/h3\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003c!--Debugging output for SQL query--\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003ctable border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth\u003e COUNT(DISTINCT player) \u003c/th\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd\u003e 131 \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e\u003c/table\u003e \u003cp\u003e ","title":"EMC 81 Logs","type":"posts"},{"content":"Spam wars are about to get interesting….\nYesterday, I started a small claims court action against a company to have them pay for the spam they’ve been sending to email addresses I run. I didn’t take this action lightly. I had asked them to stop by email, I had asked them to stop by phone, I had asked them to stop by Fax.\nIn the email, I said that if they send any more I will be charging them 50 per email. When two more arrived a month later I phoned them and they claimed not to have received my email, so I told them the content and I also faxed it. They promised on the phone not to send any more, but less than 24 hours later I got 4 more. All their emails claim not to be spam because they are sent manually… seeing as most of them come in the early hours of the morning, I can give them the benefit of the doubt by guessing they keep strange working hours.\nThe paperwork has gone, I’ll post information here as time allows.\n","date":"13 September 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/09/13/spam-wars-i-get/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Spam wars – I get ignored, but will they ignore the courts?","type":"posts"},{"content":"One of the books I’ve read that I thoroughly enjoyed was called “Tuesday’s War” by David Fiddimore. In my little write up for the blog, I said I’d like to call David a bastard because (for me at least) the story was so perfect I didn’t want it to end, I didn’t want the ending to be so unfinished and yet i loved the way it didn’t finish as I could live in hope it would continue.\nI’m sure he never reads here (does anyone) but fortunately for me he wrote a follow up! Charlie’s War continues the story with our narrator and central character Charlie being sent across Europe to find our heroine Grace.\nThe detail is this story is just a good as the first (quite an achievement in my opinion) and Charlie makes new friends very different from his bomber crew comrades. He just about catches up with Grace, but this sure could do with a third novel so I can find out what happens. I don’t want to tell you any more about the story for fear of spoiling it. Little things like the people he meets and the things they say that made me stay up to “wee small hours” and beyond just to find out what happened next.\nHow would I rate it? A close rootie rating of 5 out of 5. The first book was almost perfect, this book can simply be called Great!\n","date":"13 September 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/09/13/charlies-war-da/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Charlie's War (David Fiddimore)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Despite not posting to the blog for a while, I haven’t been reading as many books as I would have liked to. It’s a good job I enjoy my work! Still, I have found some time to raid the local second hand bookshop (Past Sentence, Faversham). One of the books I picked up was called The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross. Now, if you are mad enough to read here often, you’ll know I enjoyed a couple of other of his books (Glasshouse, Iron Sunrise, Singularity Sky) so seeing one of his books on the shelf made it a must buy. I confess, the title put me off. I read for enjoyment, the word atrocity doesn’t conjure up nice images for me. Still, I bought it, I did at least start it….\n.. in fact, it was so addictive I read it within a few days! Very different from the other Charles Stross books (it was set in present day, not far future), this Sci-Fi fiction referenced everyday things in a not so every day occult stroke multi-dimension stroke zombie sort of way, all the time staying within the bounds of a logic that kept it just believable enough…\nIs this book right for you? Well, if, like me, when shopping for something to read whilst passing a supermarket you go for “New Scientist” over “What Car“, then yes. You’ll get some of the techy humour that sprinkled through the book.\nAbout 2/3rds through I thought the story was coming to an end when all of a sudden a completely unexpected twist brought a whole new… erm, story. I’ll not tell you what or how or why, that would spoil the fun if you get to read it. If you have read it, allow me to help you reminisce by saying “CCTV” and “concrete cows”.\nDespite my initial reservations over the title, this book gets a rootie rating of 5 out of 5\n","date":"13 September 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/09/13/the-atrocity-ar/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"The Atrocity Archives (Charles Stross)","type":"posts"},{"content":"I knew I’d been busy, but wow, two months without getting round to posting here. Well, time to correct that….\n","date":"13 September 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/09/13/wow-two-months/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Wow! two months without a post","type":"posts"},{"content":"Bonjour mes copain et lectuers,\nJe trouve une neuvelle (pour moi) musiciene – elle s’appelle ViRGiNiE est elle francais. J’adore cette music, seullement une guitar et voix. Plusieurs de ses chansons sont en Anglais aussi.\nEcoute sur l’internet:\nhttp://www.virginie-music.com/\nOu peut etre youtube:\nhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjWJmc2te_w\n","date":"12 July 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/07/12/music-i-like-vi/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Music I like: ViRGiNiE","type":"posts"},{"content":"Another superb Sharpe novel, our officer hero is sent to escort another office to Copenhagen on a mission to bribe the king of Denmark. If successful the British will ‘look after’ the Dutch fleet and keep it safe from Napoleon’s grip. Unfortunately the officer Sharpe escorts runs away with the gold bribe to join forces with the Danish. This story also has more interaction with the Navy which I really enjoyed (one part especially, where the Captain of Sharpes transport makes a comment about a soldier not understanding the battle of Trafalgar, not realising Sharpe was there)\nFor me, this is one of the better Sharpe series with one, important missing point. The last words of a Sharpe book traditionally finish with the title… eg. “Loup was dead, and it was over at last: Sharpe’s Battle” but this one didn’t. Funny how you get to expect certain things and miss them when they are not there.\nNow I have a real struggle on my hands, figure out which Sharpe books I haven’t read then find them in the second hand bookshops!\n","date":"5 July 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/07/05/sharpes-prey/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Sharpe's Prey (Bernard Cornwell)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Erm, what to say about this book. Probably “Wow!”, but my head is a little overstuffed with new concepts to be sure. This book pretty much explains the progress from modern day along to post human spread amongst the universe. This could be read as a precursor to “glasshouse” although I’m glad I read glasshouse first. For some reason this book didn’t have a table in the front explaining the future system of measuring time. Part way through the book time is measured in seconds and kiloseconds instead of our current seconds, minutes and hours. By the end of the book, T Gates and A gates (that featured in glasshouse) seem logical outcomes of our society, along with a new definition of life and consciousness that lasts beyond centuries (not that they are measured the same way any more).\nIt’s a story that has many threads of sub story within it and an ending so open I’m left in anticipation of finding out what happens to the cat. A good read, if a little hard work in places.\n","date":"13 June 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/06/13/accelerando-cha/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Accelerando (Charles Stross)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Yesterday Nicola and James’ school had a teacher training day, so the four of us drove to Chatham to visit the newly opened Dickens World. My summary: One visit is enough.\nThe boat ride had audio that couldn’t be heard (I’m assuming there was some meaning to it), and involved getting very wet. So wet that as we got out two members of staff were drying seats for the next person. The saving grace was they were handing out cheap plastic poncho’s, although they ran out after us so people later that day would have been using our wet ones. My impression would be the ride was designed by committee, the splash not big enough for thrill seekers, the other 10 minutes of floating not good enough to be of any interest (for entertainment or education).\nFaggins Den is a children’s play area, I can imagine it was packed when the place was full but while we were there it was comfortably quiet. Unfortunately only half a dozen chairs for waiting adults (with what I would guess is a capacity of 50 chilldren) but good fun for the children for a half hour at least.\nThe haunted house was a projection system of Dickens ‘ghosts’, the characters in many of his stories. It did have some interesting commentary on how the characters had come about though. As our group moved from one screen to the next, we missed the cue to move on and missed half of one presentation.\nThe Olde Curiosity Shoppe, was the gift shop on the way out. The normal array of theme park souvenirs, more modern shop floor area with plenty of room to expand and not very much of curiosity value.\nDotheboys school was probably more fun if there was a member of staff on hand to control the room. We wandered in, played a game of snakes and ladders on the touch screen desks with the children (they had to answer questions about Dickens novels to go up the ladders or to prevent themselves going down the snakes). Nicola got bored after 5 minutes and went to look at the touch screen on the ‘teachers lectern’, little did we know that one controlled all the others and she stopped all the other players in mid game and restarted their screens – Sorry everyone!\nThe Britannia Theatre was probably the most informative bit. It’s a 3D glasses cinema screen and it gave a 10 minute run down of Dickens life and works. I didn’t know he’d travelled so far – travelling for months and years at a time across Europe and America. At bit different to travelling now, in the 1840’s the only way to travel to America was by steam ship – not a quick way of travel. Someone compared it to the 3D screens at Eurodisney and the like which have water, steam and vibrations. This is nothing compared to them, only the screen and no physical effects. I liked it, although I’d have liked it for it’s content without the 3D glasses which gave me a little eye strain (Yes, I know, I sound like an old man).\nSo, one trip with the children is enough for me. I’m glad I went but I (pun alert) won’t saying Please may I have some more (pun ends). Perhaps I had (another pun) too Great Expectations (how predictable was that pun!). The general decor, lighting, theme parkesque leaning buildings were all well done. There’s a large central plaza which I guess handles space for hour long queues, the odd fictitious shop front and creative themed sign – all well done. As for value for money, it cost us as a family of four 40. That’s OK I think, compared to Thorpe Park (88) it’s a shorter day so pretty comparable.\nThe children have asked to go back to the Canterbury Tales. It’s an attraction in a converted church in Canterbury. We haven’t been there for a few years so it will probably make an interesting contrast. Canterbury Tales is only 26 for a family, although that cost would have to be countered by running the gauntlet of shops with Rhonda. I guess the “Marks and Spencer” experience would double that ticket price….\nI jest. Seriously, I’m still reading Dickens “A Tale of Two Cities”. I first started it at the school library in “H” Block as a young teenager. Now, half a time later I have it on my PDA and am a good way into it. I find it a hard style to read (harder still on a PDA screen) but the story itself is …. satisfying. Not sure I can describe my feelings fully. Sometimes heart breaking, sometimes fascinating (the description of leaving Dover by horse drawn carriage), hard work to read but satisfying.\nSo is it worth visiting Dickens World? Yes, but if you’re travelling a long way plan to visit the Chatham Historic Dockyard too.\n","date":"5 June 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/06/05/family-trip-to/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Family trip to Dickens World.. hmmm","type":"posts"},{"content":"3001 – The Final Odyssey.\nIt may have helped if I read the previous 2 books. It may have helped more if I had seen more than snippets of the film (I only recall something about a computer called HAL that takes over). So, despite starting the series with the last book first, I loved it! 3001 is the year the book is set in. Arthur C Clarke manages to bring back a character from the first book (2001, set in 2001) in a truly believable way. The monoliths that (I guess) featured heavily in the first 2 books reveal an unexpected purpose to our thousand year old central character. The whole book is full of imagination of how our future could turn out, good things and bad. A high rootie-rating for this book, definitely worth reading (i really must get round to creating a rating system!)\n","date":"4 June 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/06/04/3001-arthur-c-c/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"3001 (Arthur C. Clarke)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Break out the champagne everyone, Paul O’Brien, from Intellimailer has told the Information Commissioner’s Office that they will be sending no more spam. The ICO is happy that intellimailer have been educated in the correct meaning and interpretation of the law and will send no more spam, ever.\nFantastic!\nIf you receive any spam from intellimailer, report them to the ICO (I have a contact there who has the case history, email me if you’d like the information) and please let me (and any readers) know how you get on.\nBy the way, the full list of domain names they used to send spam to me has grown a bit, so here it is in full:\nintrer11.co.uk\nintrer12.co.uk\nintrer14.co.uk\nintrer15.co.uk\n(and checking whois, they’re continuing to buy domains starting intrer for some reason. Note they haven’t registered intrer13 yet, guess they’re superstitious!)\nintellimailer.org.uk\nint-mailer.org.uk\nemaileronline.co.uk\nint-mailer-uk.co.uk\nukmailing-co.co.uk\nuk-mailing-co.co.uk\nemailer-online.co.uk\nthe-intelligentmailer.co.uk\nkt8.com\nmailing-software-uk.co.uk\n","date":"3 June 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/06/03/spam-wars-succe-1/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Spam Wars – Success!","type":"posts"},{"content":"I bet you’re all wondering what’s happening about the intellimailer spam? Well, having ignored my requests that they stop spamming me, they are now ignoring the requests of the Information Commissioner. They did at least respond to the ICO to say they would remove my from the database, except they didnt remove me and continue to send the spam.\nThe ICO has all the evidence, I’m waiting to hear from them what their next step will be – I’ll post here when I’ve heard and have time.\n","date":"22 May 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/05/22/spam-wars-updat/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Spam wars update","type":"posts"},{"content":"One day, I’m going to be writing my last review of a Sharpe book. Until then, I’ve got more great reading to look forward to! Sharpe begins the story being a very naughty boy (executing enemy prisoners) and spends the rest of it trying to prove himself worthy in battle. I’m not spoiling anything by saying he manages to do this (after all, we already know he survives post Waterloo) but as always he does this in a very innovative way despite being attacked on all sides by the enemy (French) and the enemy within (French agents behind the Allied lines). My favourite part is the end as always, because then I get to read Bernard Cornwell’s comments on how the story differed from history and the liberties he was able to take as an author of fiction. You can’t help but have both respect and sympathy for any solider when you realise the hell they all went through.\n","date":"22 May 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/05/22/sharpes-battle/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Sharpe's Battle (Bernard Cornwell)","type":"posts"},{"content":"I count my blessings when I find all the books of a series in one go in the second hand bookshop. Even more so because I had already looked for more Charles Stross books and decided there weren’t any in the shop. It was only another bookish customer remarking to the shopkeeper how unusual it is to see Charles Stross on the shelves that I realised I’d been looking in the wrong place!\nThe first book of the pair is Singularity Sky. We join an engineer and an Agent of the UN as they meet and try to save a planet in their own way. The planet is under attack, but quite how it is under attack is the weird Sci Fi bit. Very clever story although for some reason I found it quite hard to get into at first.\nScroll on one week to the second book, Iron Sunrise. This has our same two heroes and introduces a third unlikely teenage heroine. An tragedy (unrelated to the first book) has befallen her home world and another tragedy will follow it unless all the good guys figure out how to beat the bad guys. Bad guys aren’t so bad, just misguided in a brainwashed sort of way. Very Sci Fi technology but remaining believable, these books are worth a read though if pushed I’d put Glasshouse a peg above in your wish list.\n","date":"22 May 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/05/22/iron-sunrise-ch/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Iron Sunrise (Charles Stross) and Singularity Sky (Charles Stross)","type":"posts"},{"content":"I’ve come to the conclusion that Sci-Fi really means “any other genre but it just happens to be set in a different reality”. Robots of Dawn is a great detective story that just happens to be set in another world. The politics and technology are all relevant to our problem – a murder – that our Earthman detective has to solve on this distant world. Despite all the clues throughout the book I had no idea who the “murderer” of the machine was until it was revealed at the end. Well written and great reading just like all the other work of his that I have read.\n","date":"22 May 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/05/22/the-robots-of-d/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"The Robots of Dawn (Isaac Asmiov)","type":"posts"},{"content":"I have no opinion on the author as a person (I never followed the politics) but I’m certain he writes great stories. This book reminded me of reading his work when I was growing up. You think you know what’s going to happen but somehow there’s a twist at every stage. Personally I thought this book took a bold starting point, it starts with the destruction of the World Trade Centre within which several key characters were working. My first thought was this was going to be there purely to grab the headlines when the book was launched and it would have no real bearing or impact on the story. The event actually fitted very well within the story line.\n","date":"22 May 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/05/22/false-impressio/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"False Impression (Jeffrey Archer)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Wow, busy few weeks – time for a mega posting session. Lets start with all the reading:\n","date":"22 May 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/05/22/busy-me/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Busy Me!","type":"posts"},{"content":"If that was a small earthquake, I never want to be in a big one!\nFor just a few seconds this morning (maybe 4) the building shook in a way buildings shouldn’t shake accompanied by a low rumbling sound. It actually felt like the building lent way from me while I sat at my desk but I would guess that’s just perspective playing tricks. I did get up and check the back to see something hadn’t driven or fallen onto it (tree perhaps?) but all seemed normal so I got back to work wondering if that was an earthquake.\nTime to check the news services to find out about it:\nwww.bbc.co.uk/news/uk\nwww.guardian.co.uk\n","date":"28 April 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/04/28/if-that-was-a-s/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"If that was a small earthquake…","type":"posts"},{"content":"I love flying, I like sailing. Therefore a book involving sailing is probably going to hold my interest though I found this one hard going. I’m not sure it’s the books fault, more the fact I took a couple of weeks to go through the first few chapters before I had more reading time. It improved towards the end, but even so it’s not one I’d choose to read again or rave about to my friends.\n","date":"17 April 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/04/17/sword-of-honour/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Sword of Honour (Alexander Kent)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Another classic Sharpe, I’m amazed by just how many stories Bernard Cornwell has written about one man, in one historically accurate time-line of 20 of his characters years.\nSharpe is politically outmaneuvered early in the story by Major Pierre Ducos which results in Sharpe being hanged….. except we know he survives as he is in the next book. Exactly how he survives and how he proves his innocence of the accused crime is a masterpiece of creative thought and story telling. Another great read.\n","date":"12 April 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/04/12/sharpes-honour/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Sharpe's Honour (Bernard Cornwell)","type":"posts"},{"content":"I confess I’ve not been doing a lot on the spam wars front. There are far more interesting things to be doing in life than fighting spam, like earning a living (plug!). However, there are two companies that have been REALLY annoying me lately, so much so I had to do something about it.\nI complained about one of them to the Information Commissioners Office. They are responsible for ensuring people and companies comply with the telecommunications regulations. In my view, they are an INTELLIGENT government department, they don’t wade in taking everyone through the courts for the genuine oversight or misunderstanding of the regulations, they first ensure the company/people are educated to know the law. Only then, if the company persists in breaking the law will they take action. So I understand they haven’t taken action in court against anyone for sending spam. I’d like to think this is because the companies they have ‘educated’ have stopped sending spam.\nAnyway, I filed a complaint about kt8.com and their various trading names. I’ve just received the following response from the ICO:\n10th April 2007\nCase Reference Number ELE0154373 Dear Mr Root Unsolicited marketing email complaint Thank you for your correspondence regarding unsolicited direct marketing emails from \u0026#8216;Intelligent Mailer\u0026#8217;. The Information Commissioner advises on and enforces the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR). These regulations cover the way organisations market subscribers by electronic means (for example using telephone, fax, text and email). Marketing can include the promotion of goods, services, aims or ideals. Regulation 22 of the PECR requires that companies and organisations do not send unsolicited direct marketing by electronic mail (including email) to individual subscribers (which would include non- limited liability partnerships in England) without their prior consent. There is an exemption this rule which can apply in the case of a clearly defined customer relationship. However an organisation must satisfy all of the following criteria for this exemption to apply. They are:\n1. Your contact details are collected \u0026#8220;in the course of a sale or negotiations for a sale\u0026#8221;.\n2. Your details are only used to send marketing messages about similar products and services.\n3. You are given the opportunity to opt-out when your details are initially collected and you are given the opportunity to opt-out in every subsequent marketing communication. The prior consent requirement of this legislation does not apply to corporate subscribers (including limited companies and non limited liability partnerships). However in this case it appears from the information provided that although the email addresses you are receiving these communications on are business addresses, Roots Kitchens and Bedrooms are a non-limited liability partnership, so would come under the definition of \u0026#8216;Individual subscriber\u0026#8217; and should not be receiving unsolicited direct marketing emails without having given prior consent. Under the PECR the Commissioner has no powers to punish an organisation for a breach of the Regulations. His aim is rather to achieve compliance with them. In light of this we have written to Intelligent Mailer reminding them of their obligations under the PECR and explaining the action they must take to comply in future. We have also asked them to suppress all the email addresses at your domain from their marketing list. This should take no longer than 28 days. After this time you should not receive further emails from them. We will, however, keep this case on file. In the event that you receive further emails from Intelligent Mailer (or their associated sites such as KT8.com) to your email addresses please let us know in writing, quoting the reference number above. Where appropriate we will pass your complaint to our Regulatory Action Division for them to consider formal action. Where an organisation seems to be persistently breaching the PECR we can take further action to compel them to comply. More information about the factors we take into account when deciding if further action is appropriate can be found in our \u0026#8216;Strategy for Regulatory Action\u0026#8217; which is available from our website www.ico.gov.uk (follow the links for \u0026#8216;Tools and resources\u0026#8217;, \u0026#8216;Document library\u0026#8217;, Data protection\u0026#8217; then scroll down to \u0026#8216;Detailed specialist guides\u0026#8217;) or from our helpline on 01625 545745. Details of the formal action we take or are considering can be found on our website at: http://www.ico.gov.uk/what_we_cover/privacy_and_electronic_communications.aspx Thank you for bringing this to our attention. So there we have it. I am right to say that I should not be sent spam by these companies. What do you think the chances are they will stop now? I’ve asked the ICO by email what the response of kt8.com was when they were contacted. Particularly why kt8.com ignored my requests they stop sending me email yet will apparently stop now the ICO has asked (I’m not sure if this is a standard response letter and kt8.com haven’t actually responded).\nSo, if you have received spam from any of the following domains and they have ignored your unsubscribe request (not that you subscribed in the first place, they took my email addresses from a number of places) complain to the ICO as well and lets see what happens.\nintellimailer.org.uk\nint-mailer.org.uk\nemaileronline.co.uk\nint-mailer-uk.co.uk\nukmailing-co.co.uk\nuk-mailing-co.co.uk\nemailer-online.co.uk\nthe-intelligentmailer.co.uk\nkt8.com\nmailing-software-uk.co.uk\nYou may also like to know these domains are registered both as companies and as individuals.\nThe company mentioned on one is: “Domain Host Ltd”, who are the same address on the domain registration as “Domainhost Ltd”, companies house have them as company number 05632256 so (giving the benefit of the doubt) they made a typo on the domain registration. Perhaps it was “Paul O’Brien” who made the typo, he appears as the private individual that owns several of the domains as well as being the admin contact for kt8.com. KT8.com happens to haves the same PO Box address in Whitstable as Domainhost Ltd. As I said, benefit of the doubt, it could be a whole collection of typing errors when registering the domain names.\nOh, I almost forgot to tell you all what product they were trying to sell in their spam….. Server based software to send large amounts of marketing emails. As they say on their site:\n“With Intelligent Mailer your mailings are faster and more likely to get through spam filters”\nI couldn’t make it any more ironic if I tried.\n","date":"10 April 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/04/10/spam-wars-succe/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Spam Wars – Success?","type":"posts"},{"content":"Sometimes I feel I’m paying too much for a book. This was my thought as I handed over the 5 to the cashier in the high street bookstore (I know 5 isn’t a lot, but I usually get my books from a second hand bookshop where 2 is about the highest ticket price). One hour later, as I sat enjoying coffee in a comfy chair near Canterbury Cathedral (Rhonda went shopping, my broken foot gave me the ideal excuse to sit and wait), I knew this book was worth every penny of the 5. So much so, I’m adding Charles Stross to my mental list of authors who’s books are worth buying.\nIt’s a science fiction book based upon… well, it’s quite hard to explain without giving away some of the story. There is a political factor, an all action hero in a kind of not so all action way, some exceptionally clever twists made feasible by the future setting, a love story, oodles of death and just as much re-incarnation (which is an everyday occurrence in the future apparently). I enjoyed this just as much as I enjoyed Asimov’s Foundation Series.\nNow I’m left with just one problem, then next book I spend 5+ on has an even higher standard to live up to.\n","date":"10 April 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/04/10/glasshouse-char/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Glasshouse (Charles Stross)","type":"posts"},{"content":" I’ve been talking to a nice lady in America about a sink and her email was signed of “DBA…..”. I never knew that in America DBA is a common abbreviation for “Doing Business As…”, I guess the same as we use “T/A” for Trading As where the business is legally one name but uses a different trading name.\n","date":"5 April 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/04/05/another-busines/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Another Business Acronym","type":"posts"},{"content":" _Back row left to right: Irene, Lynda, Michle, Brigitte, Steve_ _Front row left to right: Rita, Mark, Jorge_ Michle:bonjour tout le monde!\nC’est un moment historique!\nC’est la premire fois que Michle utilise un blogue!\nJorge:Se sour je pri une fote de la classe\nMark:J’aime boucoup votre site\nBrigitte; je trouve cette classe trs sympa.\nRita.Je ne comprends rien encore.\nLyn: C’est la dernire classe et nous allons au pub\nIrene bon voyage, a bien tot…..!\nWelcome my first guest article writers for my blog.\nMy French teacher discovered my blog and made me talk about it in our French lesson – in French of course. OK, I didn’t need much persuading to talk about myself! The university rooms all have computers with internet connections and projectors. I decided to get them all to write something here themselves – easy when you know how.\n","date":"4 April 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/04/04/la-classe-de-fr/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"La classe de franais","type":"posts"},{"content":" So, here I am recovering from my broken foot. At the end of last week I had to go to hospital to have the cast removed, another x-ray and see another doctor to find out whether things were getting better or worse.\nWith all the bad things you hear about the NHS in the media, it would make sense to expect slow service and poor facilities. In all my trips to the hospitals to fix my foot, I’ve experienced only pleasant staff, excellent service and complete care. From the moment I arrived at casualty at Ashford hospital at 2am I was treated well. Both the doctors on duty were dealing with 2 serious accidents brought in by ambulances so the triage nurse arrange for me to get X-Rays rather than wait. After the X-Ray it was clear the doctors were not going to be available for a while so she managed to find a bone specialist on duty elsewhere in the hospital. All in all I was treated in 2 hours. I find that more than acceptable for an organisation that can’t accurately predict when members of the population will injure themselves.\nForward 1 week and I have a follow up appointment at Canterbury hospital. All my paperwork had been forwarded (actually, the X-Rays are electronic images and I guess they share the same computer system with Ashord) and I was sent for another X-Ray. The doctor decided a cast would now help the bone fix faster and leave me a little more comfortable (every light touch to the foot was painful). I had the cast fitted and went home within 2 hours.\nLast week, 4 weeks after the accident I returned to Canterbury for the cast to be removed and another X-Ray. The X-Ray was good, the foot felt a million times better (the doctor could touch it without me hitting the ceiling) the only problem I was left with was restricted movement due to the muscle wastage. I was immediately referred to the physio-therapists at the other end of the hospital, seen within half an hour and given an exercise plan to help me get back to running. I have another appointment in 2 weeks with the same physiotherapist and she mentioned that if the movement is good by then I may be able to join their weekly gym class. The whole process was complete with 3 hours of my arrival.\nEvery one of the staff I have dealt with has been pleasant and professional. Despite all these positive things I have to say about our local NHS hospitals, I still wouldn’t encourage anyone to break a bone to try them out.\n","date":"20 March 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/03/20/nhs-i-can-only/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"NHS – I can only say good things about it….","type":"posts"},{"content":"Have you ever wondered what our web server looks like? No? Just me then. Well, if ever you do wonder, it looks like this. Working 24 hours a day every day of the year alongside lots of similar friends doing the same job. Not visible in the picture is the Cisco firewall which stops nasty people trying to break into it.\nThis is “server2” which was in a datacentre near Heathrow. Since this picture was taken it has retired and we are now using “server3” which has the cute nickname of “chestnuts”. It was ‘born’ over Christmas this year when we moved to a new datacentre. Building a new server in the new datacentre meant the transfer was invisible to web visitors with no downtime. It also let us upgrade a some of the software.\n","date":"17 March 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/03/17/ever-wonderered/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Ever wonderered what the web server looks like?","type":"posts"},{"content":"I just this minute heard from an acquaintance that someone close to him died. I don’t know him that well, I’ve never met or spoken to him, just worked on some computer things with him. Yet the minute I read the message I was in mental turmoil.\nI never have felt comfortable hearing someone say that someone close them has died. I don’t think it’s the death itself I have the problem with, it’s what I should say to the living. I am genuinely sorry to hear of someones death whether I knew them or not. I just don’t feel that saying sorry or sending my condolences equate to much, especially when I don’t know the person who died.\nI do know how I’ve felt when members of my family died. When my granddad Root died, I felt a great loss that I will no longer be able to debate with him, that I never got to visit the places he spent the war to here his accounts surrounded by the scenery. I feel like crying just typing about it. Yet at the same time, I’m so happy he made his life a success. As he said to me once, “I’ve had my 3 score and 10 years…”, said with the contentment of a man who knows he is happy, he was a success.\nWhen my granddad Mitchell died I was only 10. I remember sitting in the limousine following the hearse with my mum. I was looking out of the corner of the window thinking “I wonder what my friends are doing in school”, then at someone on the path looking at our procession my thoughts veered into “I should be really sad now, but I’m not”. I felt guilty then, which is probably why it etched itself into my memory (even the street background of red brick terraced houses and large grey paving slabs for the path). At 10 years old I never developed the relation ship with Granddad Mitchell that I did with Granddad Root.\nWhen someone says to me that someone they know has recently died, I really don’t know what to say that will make them feel better. This time, after a few minutes of writing then deleting things I finally sent a single line reply, “Sorry to hear the news”. I hope it meant something positive.\n","date":"14 March 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/03/14/bereavement-and/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Bereavement, and why I don't know what to say","type":"posts"},{"content":"This is one of those gems you can only find in a second hand bookshop. The tatty cover of the edition I found of this relatively thin novel had been well worn in it’s 35 year life. For the life of me I don’t know how second hand book sellers know what is worth keeping and what needs to be thrown. This thin novel is the sort to be thrown away but I think it was saved by it’s authors name alone. He wrote the “Hornblower” series which I have yet to start reading but have only heard good things.\nThis story is a totally non nautical story of a very intelligent mathematician and physics teacher who discovers that a magnetic field can not only be cancelled out by his new invention, a permanent magnet can loose it’s magnetic effect completely. Through a set of circumstances he tries to use the device to force the world to disarm so there cannot be war again. It is easy to forget just how magnets are crucial to our modern lives, so 30 years after this book was printed the story is still just as valid and realistic. Except this book wasn’t the first edition, C S Forrester wrote this story over 70 years ago in the 1930’s.\nThe story of the Peacemaker is fabulously told and if you come across it, pick it up to read.\n","date":"4 March 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/03/04/the-peacemaker/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"The Peacemaker (C.S.Forrester)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Great! I had an offer from a personal fitness trainer to help me get over my broken foot and fitter than I ever was before! Unfortunately Todd (www.thefitnesselement.com.au) is on the wrong side of the planet from me. For those that don’t read all of this blog on their visit (which is all of you) I ought to explain that Todd is my brother in law. Aussie born and bred, it’s no surprise when he and my sister married they decided to live on the Sunshine coast rather than “rainy but mild Boughton under Blean”. Todd is a fitness trainer and has told me just 5 minutes a day in the sun will help my body process vitamin D. Vitamin D helps the body carry calcium around the body which in turn will help my foot heal and prevent osteoo….. something or other. Yeah, I’ll leave the technical bits to the expert and stick with elevating my foot in front of the double glazing.\nUnfortunately he’s only a personal fitness trainer. While my sister views him like a god (and I have to admit his body is far better toned than mine), the weather systems don’t view him as a god so he can’t help the rays of sunshine get through the UK’s overcast cloudy days.\nI have a feeling there will be a training plan in my email box as soon as this plaster cast comes off…. I wonder if will include any running? 😉\n","date":"27 February 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/02/27/i-had-an-offer/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"I had an offer from a personal trainer to help my fitness training…","type":"posts"},{"content":"This battle has a special meaning to me as it took place on my birthday. No, I’m not almost 200 years old – the day and month match that’s all. I only discovered that fact this year and simply for that reason I’ve been delaying reading this book until I’d read as many other Sharpe books as I could. It’s also the reason I would like to go and see the battlefield and learn more about what happened. War is vile, may it never be repeated now or in the future.\nSharpe arrives at Waterloo in the service of the Prince of Orange. He had retired from the last war with his wife into France and Napoleon’s return has put him into conflict with people he knew from his new home village. He is gallant as always, resourceful, take vengeance on his enemies (despite all you learn of Sharpe you learn never to become his enemy) and leaving the Prince of Oranges incompetence rescues his old regiment from definite destruction to turn the tide of the elite French troops about to end the redcoats time on earth.\nUtterly well researched (I do like the historical detail Bernard Cornwell includes at the end of all his novels to separate fact from fiction) it still remains a tragic story of a time when tens of thousands of men killed tens of thousands of men. Superbly told, another high rootie rating book.\n","date":"27 February 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/02/27/sharpes-waterlo/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Sharpes Waterloo (Bernard Cornwell)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Just as I thought my interest in the Sharpe series was waning, I read this magnificent story. How can an adventurous military action be made from a period in time where Sharpe is sent back to England to find and return to Spain with his regiments reinforcements?\nThe story is the reinforcements don’t exist according to the War office and a corrupt politician. Sharpe doesn’t know the politician is corrupt and doesn’t care, all he wants are the reinforcements without which his regiments will be dissolved into other fighting units. Finding them leads him from Spain to the places of his childhood in London and into the stinking marshes of foulness in the 1800’s. It also links into the first chronological Sharpe adventure in how he is reunited with his Eagle Superbly written, one of my favourite Sharpe books so far.\n","date":"27 February 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/02/27/sharpes-regimen/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Sharpe's Regiment (Bernard Cornwell)","type":"posts"},{"content":"I’ve been investigating ways of improving our business systems to keep up with our growth.\nOne system I’ve been investigating is the open source “Web ERP” which is a system using PHP and MySQL. It looks good and I’m now at the stage of deeply investigating how it works and how moving onto it would affect our processes. In order to do this I needed to install it on a server. I really don’t like installing things on our production server so VMWare comes to the rescue once more. VMWare is a piece of software that lets you have a virtual computer running on top of your regular operating system (Windows XP for my laptop). So, to test weberp I installed my favourite Trustix Linux operating system.\nAs Web ERP is open source, I’ve shared my Virtual Machine to save others the time of creating their own server to test on.\nIf you’re here to get the Virtual Machine, here is the current link:\nweberp.zip (84Mb)\nThe zip file includes some important instructions you should read before you virtually power on the server. Remember, you’ll need VMWare player or equivalent from http://www.vmware.com (about 30Mb) in order to run the machine.\nLet me know any feedback or questions. If demand is high I’ll set up the FTP server, otherwise I expect the http service will suffice.\nI should also warn you that the normal free software caveats apply (use at your own risk, no warranty etc).\n","date":"24 February 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/02/24/weberp-virtual/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"webERP Virtual Machine","type":"posts"},{"content":"It’s been a week since I broke my foot and today is the first day I feel I can concentrate enough to get some work done. It seems my broken foot addled my brain slightly. I went back to the hospital this morning so they could have another look. They decided to put the foot in a plaster cast and have told me that in the next few days I should be able to walk short distances on it.\nThey modern cast is fibreglass rather than plaster of paris. When the roll of fibreglass is made wet it starts an exothermic reaction. The heat drys the fibreglass in minutes so a short push on my foot by Paul the technician and my foot is set in the best angle.\nNow I’ve had both my wrists in plaster and one foot, I guess I can look forward to breaking the other foot one day in the future.\n","date":"22 February 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/02/22/best-foot-forwa/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Best foot forward","type":"posts"},{"content":"It’s taken me a month or so to add this to my recent reading list. I didn’t enjoy it as much as the other sharpe books. It is the last in the series, bringing Sharpe and his Sergeant out of retirement to search for a friend who is missing. En route they meet Napoleon, survive a sea battle, capture some fortresses adn beat a tyrant. All in a books work for our not so young sharpe, he deserves that retirement after this.\n","date":"22 February 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/02/22/sharpes-devil-b/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Sharpe's Devil (Bernard Cornwell)","type":"posts"},{"content":" Look at that, 12,345 emails in my gmail in-box. Had to screen shot it, 1-2-3-4-5 has a nice ring to it. 12,345 represents 60% of the near 3GB allowed in a googlemail box and the 5,909 spam messages are only those from the last 30 days. I guess i’ll have to start deleting the some old email soon.\n","date":"19 February 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/02/19/how-much-email/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"How much email?","type":"posts"},{"content":"One of the good things about starting the business studies/French course at the local university is that it’s only 5 miles from home. It’s easy to get someone to drop me off there so that I can run home at the end each lesson.\nI’ve been relatively good at running home since the course started (that is I’ve made the effort and run) and I’ve already noticed my times improving along with my French. However, for the rest of the course I’ll be being driven. Running home on Wednesday night ‘je suis tombe’, that’s french for “I fell”. I thought I’d sprained my ankle and decided it would be best to call Rhonda and get picked up. 6 hours later the pain hadn’t diminished so I went to hospital. A few x-rays and some prodding by the doctor confirmed I have broken a bone within my foot.\nI guess I won’t be running for a while…maybe using the crutches will improve my upper body strength though 🙂\n","date":"17 February 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/02/17/running-not-alw/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Running – not always good for your health","type":"posts"},{"content":"Rhonda bought this for me because it was cheap at the supermarket. Cheaper than some of the second hand books I’ve been buying at just 1.\nIt’s a James Bond type thriller, secret agent (Paul Chavasse) has to find out who was behind the death of a man washed up on the shores of England. He sets off to catch and kill the culprits through the channel islands to the most southern parts of France. Some vivid descriptions made the scenery come alive even if the eventual outcome was a little predictable. Worth reading, and I may pick up another of his books should I see them on bookstore shelf.\n","date":"5 February 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/02/05/a-fine-night-fo/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"A Fine Night for Dying (Jack Higgins, a.k.a  \"Martin Fallon\")","type":"posts"},{"content":"I have a theory on how tasks are best approached. I can guess what you are thinking, there are a lot of theories out there and this may also be one of them. I can’t recall having read it anywhere even thought this approach always seems like common sense to me. However, I was talking with someone about it the other day and they’d never heard of it or considered it this way. Maybe it is unique. Either way, it’s free to share. One thing though, I’m not saying this is the solution to world hunger or that following it will make you a millionaire, it’s just a tool I find useful.\nRoot Objective Theory – a method for deciding which action to take in order to achieve your goals\nIn order to achieve your goals, you have to have a clear and unambiguous goal.\nWith that goal defined, you can work out methods to achieve that goal. Those methods in themselves may be objectives, requiring further methods \u0026amp; objectives to achieve them. If you find a way of scoring each method/objective then you have a way of choosing the most effective method to achieve your primary goal. The cost could be measured in money, time, use of a particular set of limited resources or any other cost definition that works for you.\nExample:\nBusiness X would like to make 100 profit over a defined period of time this is OBJECTIVE 1\nBusiness X already makes 50 profit with it’s current sales of 500. This is information to help decisions\nBusiness X has a number of methods at its disposal to increase it’s profit by 50.\nSell more This is METHOD 11\nMake the product for less**This is METHOD 12**\n“Sell more” (METHOD 11) is really a new objective, so we call it OBJECTIVE 12. We can “sell more” by using other methods like:\nReduce the selling price This is METHOD 111\nIncrease the advertising to put the product in front of more customers This is METHOD 112. As you probably have guessed, 111 and 112 are also just new objectives, so we further refine them.\nLet’s take OBJECTIVE 112 and say that we can advertise in paper Z for 25 and expect an increase in sales to 100 at a reduced profit margin, let’s say the new profit will be 55. This is METHOD 1121. It remains a method as we have now reached a point where we know how much an action will cost and what it’s benefit will be. We can then compare all methods in our table to decide the best route of action. This makes more sense when you use a spreadsheet to make notes.\nID Objective Method Cost Benefit 1 (this is our ROOT OBJECTIVE) Increase profit \u0026pound;100 per month 11 Sell more 111 Reduce price \u0026pound;0.00 20% increase in sales but reduction in contribution per sale, overall no increase in profit. 112 Advertise to new markets \u0026pound;50.00 10% increase in sales, increase in contribution of \u0026pound;100 for 1 month only 12 Reduce cost 121 Reduce direct cost 1211 Change to supplier X who offers similar raw material at cheaper price. Saving \u0026pound;10% direct cost, increasing overhead by \u0026pound;40 due to more faulty product returns \u0026pound;40 increase in overhead \u0026pound;80 at current sales level 1212 Change to supplier W who offers similar product at higher quality. Increasing direct raw material cost but reducing faulty product claims \u0026pound;50 at current sales level \u0026pound;40 reduction in overhead 122 Reduce overhead 1221 Update business software to speed up quoting to customers, saving X amount of time per quote, allowing X% increase in staff productivity \u0026pound;50.00 \u0026pound;10 per month for 12 months I’ll explain the table. Firstly the ID column is NOT a number, in your spreadsheet you force it to be CHARACTERS (in many spreadsheets put the ‘ character in front of the number, like ‘1111 or ‘242). This means that when you sort the spreadsheet, the sort will work in number order reading from the left. So 1111 will be above 242. The first objective is given number 1. If you have more than one core goal, give the second objective number 2. Methods (or sub objectives) for objective number 1 get an additional number, so 11 and 12 are sub objectives of objective 1. If you later add objective 13 at the end of your spreadsheet, it can be sorted easily to come below 12 and before objective 2.\nLet’s work through the example and see what the best decision is for this business. Row 1 is the objective, nice and specific. Row 11 gives as away of reaching that objective (sell more). How do we sell more, Row 111 and 112 give two ways we know we can increase sales. Row 111 says we will reduce the price. We then work our what implications that has. This itself may be quite an in depth study, but here we have summarised the result. Reducing price will increase sales but it will also reduce the amount of profit per item sold. In this case we discover reducing price will not earn any more profit for us. Good job we did the calculations on that one.\nRow 112 says we should spend some money on advertising. Spending 50 will increase our contribution by 100, a net gain of 50 (contribution is the business term given to the difference between your products direct costs and it’s selling price. That bit of money “Contributes” to your overhead and hopefully profit). Once again this line could be split out further, would different advertising methods lead to different sales performance? Would this advert work again for the same increase next month?.. Ah, hang on – our objective doesn’t include next month to think about next month we need to change our corps objective, or have a second corps objective. That’s the nice thing about working to specific objectives, you can avoid researching the wrong way (sometimes). Of course, nothing will help you if you have a bad Root Objective!\nEnough about selling more, Row 12 had the thought we could reduce our costs to make more profit. How? Row 121 looked at our direct costs and row 1211 said we could use a cheaper supplier and row 1212 said we could use a more expensive supplier. In fact, this covers in part our indirect costs of warranty. If a product fails we have to repair it and that cost is seen by our company as an overhead. Using better quality raw materials may increase our direct cost but reduce our overhead. Here we discover that row 1211 says we could make more money using a cheaper raw material even though we increase our costs of warranty. I wonder if this things of any loss of repeat business in month 2? Oh, hang on, this is a short term chart so I can think about that…. Sure about that primary objective still?\nRow 1212 shows buying a more expensive raw material just isn’t going to help us make more money.\nFinally we look at row 122 and 1221, reducing the overhead by improving our business systems. This has a very high cost of 50 for a return of just 10 this month. However, it also shows that once again if we plan for the long term it will earn us more money.\nThis table has shown us that we need to take the method on row 112 to best achieve our goals.\nIn an ideal world, we’d probably want to do row 1221 as well but you haven’t always got the time or the budget to do everything.\nThis example is also very simplistic, normally the decisions have to take a mixed approach to best use the resources available. For example doing row 122 this month to have the extra resource (cash) to do row 1221 next month for a longer term gain. There’s also an element of risk in all of these options, the advert may not work in the same way the new system may not work as planned. This choice of decisions is often called the “opportunity cost”, both decisions may lead to profit but which will lead to the most? Assuming profit is your goal of course, if you made it your Root Objective. Your Root Objective needn’t be profit of course, it could be market share, in the ATC squadron I help at our Root Objective is to deliver the “Aims of the Air Training Corps”, those 3 aims are also objectives. Another sub objective is to recruit more cadets (no cadets = no one to deliver the aims too!). So there you have it, “Root Objectives”, my little system on achieving goals.\n","date":"4 February 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/02/04/root-objective/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Root Objective Theory","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"4 February 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/root-theory/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Root Theory","type":"categories"},{"content":"I can read a lot, find little bits of interest in a story and have inspiration to carry on. This story, although cleverly written just isn’t one I’d want to re-read.\nThis short (150 or so pages) novel is a ficticious idea of how Amelia Earharts final flight may have ended. Ficticious is the key word, don’t expect a history lesson here. The fiction part is fine, the lack of historic detail is what I found tedious. The lack of detail is actually a part of the style. It’s written as if it’s Amelia herself writing notes in a journal. It flips from first person to third person, stunted short sentences throughout and detail frequently missed. It gave me the impression it wasn’t researched quite well enough but perhaps that was a side effect of the style. For example, Amelia and her navigator crash their twin engined aircraft onto an island. The island is described as having a coral reef flat around it, and it’s that on which they landed. In fact, the whole landing part was missed out and their plane appeared to have landed well enough to be able to take off again later in the story. For some reason, although they would wade out to the aeroplane it was never affected by the tide. The navigator made a device to convert salt water into drinkable water, but the device was never described. I guess an evaporator of some sorts but solar or above a fire? Perhaps the lack of detail was purely because of the writing style the author chose, in my own notes I take a lot of things for granted too.\nI’m not sad that I read the story but should I ever get Rootie Ratings going, this would get 1 out of 5 (thinking zero would mean I think it should never have been published, 1 would mean it did the job of filling some time).\nObservation: Maybe no-one else would notice but the back cover “this book is great” statement (they all have one after all) came from the Guardian’s cheif book review editor (or similar, i forget now and I don’t have the book with me) and inside the author review said she writes for a paper called the Guardian.\n","date":"24 January 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/01/24/i-was-amelia-ea/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"I was Amelia Earhart (Jane Mendelsohn)","type":"posts"},{"content":"I want to email this author and tell him he’s a bastard.\nWith my well known interest in all things aviation you could expect me to enjoy a book based around the times of a Lancaster bomber crew serving in World War 2. However, I would have loved this book if it had been set in a factory – it’s about the crew, their experiences, their relationships and the impact of one unusual woman on the crew. The detail of the lifestyle of the aircrew is complete down to an 8 berth hut with an inadequate coal burner for heat. The woman in question was called Grace, the name of the book comes from what the crew name their new bomber “Tuesdays Child” (from the poem with the lines “Tuesdays child is full of grace”). Grace does far more than influence the name of the bomber.\nThe book is superbly written, a joy to read and full of detail that makes the characters come to life. The ending itself was so well crafted if it were art it would be attributed to one of the great masters. Charlie Bassett, the radio operator who narrates us through the story, appears for one small chapter after at the end of the book many years after the war . Charlie says many things to close the story, though he never tells us what happens to Grace and although I think it’s hinted at, I really wanted it to be a clear and happy ending.\nYes, I want to tell this author he’s a bastard because I have a feeling other books will struggle to finish with the same standard of pleasure. I guess sometimes a vague ending is the best ending after all. Definately worth reading.\n","date":"23 January 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/01/23/tuesdays-war-da/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Tuesday's War (David Fiddimore)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Mercredi soir, j’attendais Canterbury Christchurch University pour apprends franais. Depuis douze ans depuis j’apprends franais a l’cole. A l’cole j’tudie le “A/S”, peut tre un ‘demi baccalaurat’.\nPour moi, la grammar est difficile en anglais et en plus difficile en franais! Masculine/feminine, “tu ton tes” (je pense?). Maintenant je connais en plus de nouveau mot franais aprs seulement une semaine.\nA l’cole, j’achte un livre “Jochim a des enuis” (peut tre “jochim es les enfant?”) – un livre pour les enfant je pense, mais pour moi c’tait trs difficile. Peut tre aprs mon tude (en douze semaine) je peux lire un autre livre franais.\nJ’espre cet est lisible pour tout person franais! Utilise la “comments” sil vous plat! (En franais aussi, pour aidez mon tudie).\n********\nAddition!\nJe trouve “Joachim a des ennuis” a amazon!\nAddition deux!\nMerci pour google “spellcheck”! Je voudrais le google “grammarcheck” aussi!\n","date":"19 January 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/01/19/japprends-franc/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"J'apprends Franais!","type":"posts"},{"content":"It is said that “Plagiarism is the greatest form of flattery”. So in some ways I feel quite honored that some of the things I have written for my company website have been copied by other companies to use verbatim.\nFor little sections of text, a particular way of saying things perhaps, I can understand. There’s only so many ways you can say something after all. I’d say something like copying:\nThis is by far the most common type of worktop in the UK and comes in a range of standard colours\nI would find not unreasonable.\nCopying something clearly unique like\nWorktops for your kitchen (bathroom, work shop and many other places too…) Worktop or countertop, whatever you call it it takes more punishment than many other parts of your kitchen. It also has to look good for a long time, no matter how many times the children cut their sandwiches without using a chopping board!\nis pushing your luck. I caught a company using that extract form our website around 2001.\nHowever, I have to take my hat off to an Italian company. The don’t just copy text, they copy with style: worktops:\nXXXX srl in XXXXXXXX Italy\nNumber one for worktops\nhigh quality for worktops\nA manufacturing firm of furniture components is situated in XXXXXXXX (LE), it has been working since 1974.\nIt is qualified in planning and manufacturing worktops with backsplash covered with HPL laminate.\n……(snip)………\nLaminate Worktops\nWhat makes a good laminate worktop?\nAll the worktops sold by Roots are high quality, kitchen grade worktops. Not the cheapest available but designed for long life and long term good looks. Finishing touches such as a “hot melt seal” or “drip seal” repel water to stop spillages running along the base of the worktop and into your kitchen units.\nThat last paragraph looks awfully familiar…. yeah, they even copied the bit with our company name in it. That reminds me of a trip abroad when I was a teenager. People were always trying to sell you a “Genuine fake Rolex”.\n","date":"18 January 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/01/18/plagiarism-is-t/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Plagiarism is the greatest form of flattery. I guess I've been flattered then?","type":"posts"},{"content":" I’ve given blood 10 times. I’m not exactly a record breaking donor. I started giving blood when I was around 18 when the National Blood Service used to collect blood in the canteen. When I started the business it was always hard making the time. The last few years have seen me going more consistently.\nThe blood service also have a really useful web site. It allows you to book appointments and find out how your blood is used. The thing I find most interesting is the “Blood Stocks” page, which gives you up to date information on how much blood is in stock by number of units and more usefully how many days they think that stock will last. As I write this, there are 39,854 units of blood available in the country but only 0.6% (258 units) are in my blood group. Before I go and wrap my self in bublewrap and cotton wool, this will last about 5 days. They don’t have to have your blood group, some groups can take blood from other groups and all of this is explained on their web site.\nI encourage you all to go and give blood at your local donor session. # Giving blood costs nothing and one day it may help someone you know. It may even help you. If you are nervous about giving blood feel free to give me a call and if I can I’ll go with you.\n","date":"9 January 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/01/09/ive-done-someth/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"I've done something amazing","type":"posts"},{"content":"Some 15 years ago I read a book which I thoroughly enjoyed. Last month I saw it for sale in a book shop (still in print!) and I had to buy it for some friends for Christmas. I also had to read it again before I gave it to them and surprised myself just how much I remembered.\nJonathon Livingston Seagull is a story about a seagull called Jonathon Livingston. Jonathon isn’t like other seagulls who worry only about fighting for food. Jonathon loves flying. He loves it so much he dedicates himself to improving. This relatively short story (I think you could read it in an hour, perhaps two) is beautifully written, beautifully told and in my mind as significant a read for young people as “Of Mice and Men” (which we had to read in English lessons in secondary school). The story is simply inspiring. Jonathon Livingston Seagull is one of those books that if you mention it to one person, someone else nearby will probably join in with “Jonathon Livingston Seagull, fantastic story”.\nThe next day I had a text message from my friend “Gorgeous story, had to stay till 1 as couldn’t stop. Fab!” If I ever get these Rootie Ratings(tm) sorted, Jonathon Seagull will get top marks.\n","date":"7 January 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/01/07/jonathon-living/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Jonathon Livingston Seagull (Richard Bach)","type":"posts"},{"content":"When we drove to the south of France in the summer I prepared for a long, long drive. My brother lent me a book on CD, so I could listen as I drove. I’ve never been able to listen to books in the car before as I find the distances too short, I’m rarely in the car for more than an hour and that’s not enough time to get into the story. More than 10 hours in the car on the way through France however was perfect. It also got me an hour into the journey north at the end of the week too.\nLife of Pi is a story of an Indian man, retelling a story of his youth (one of the nice things about the Audio CD was the accent of the narrator). His parents owned a zoo, they were moving to another country and the ship they were on sank. How interesting can a story be of a boy trapped on his own in a lifeboat? Ahh, I didn’t mention his friend “Richard Parker”. Richard happens to be a tiger, who also found himself on the lifeboat. It was a wonderful story, full of the unexpected and perhaps reason enough to travel to the south of France again (when else we I have that much time in the car). I find it hard writing about the books I’ve read as I don’t want to give away the story. This story is so unusual I can’t classify it as anything else other than a great read.\nInterestingly while looking up the CD on Amazon for the image, Amazon recommended “The Time Travellers Wife” to go along with it. It seems my reading habits are predictable, I wonder if Amazon have a name for the type of books I’ve enjoyed reading? Maybe there are hundreds of other people out there liking and disliking exactly the same books.\n","date":"7 January 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/01/07/life-of-pi-audi/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Life of Pi [Audio CD book] (Yann Martel)","type":"posts"},{"content":"I was given this amongst a pile of other books and it’s taken me a while to get around to reading it. I think I chose this over some of the others simply because of the name. “Gold Mine” sounds a little industrial as if technology is going to get mentioned. It does, a good dose of geology and the gold mining process with a few adventures thrown in. I say few adventures because the story covers several key characters. The hero, and his rise to running the company. The hero’s lover, who happens to be the wife of the villain. The villain, who gradually develops into the villain from being simply powerful but strange. The other hero who saves the day but loses his life, The greedy villain(s) who cause the suffering of many due to their greed. I haven’t mentioned a handful of other characters that set the scene and who are as good and bad as you find in every day life. Having chose this book, I’d be quite comfortably choosing to read another Wilbur Smith novel.\n","date":"7 January 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/01/07/gold-mine-wilbu/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Gold Mine (Wilbur Smith)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Boys all over the world dream of adventure. This story is the telling of an adventure for a boy who always wanted to go into space. Set in the future where there are space stations and colonies on other planets, young Roy wins a trip to a space station. Well written and entirely believable, this is a story that hasn’t aged a day since it was written (1954, a good read now as I’m sure it was then).\n","date":"7 January 2007","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2007/01/07/islands-in-the/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Islands in the Sky (Arthur C. Clarke)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Well, I said some time ago I’d write some more about that flying game “Warbirds” that I enjoy so much. Here we are at last. Warbirds is an online multiplayer game from a company called “iEntertainment Network” and can be downloaded for free (yes, FREE!) from http://www.totalsims.com/. You can play offline for free, but to play online against human players you have to pay a subscription fee (about 7 per month).\nThe aim of the game is very simple, “shoot the other players down before they shoot you down”. However, the game also allows you to drive ground vehicles and capture fields. It’s not all spitfires and ME109’s, over a hundred different vehicles are available from C47 Paratrooper transports to Panzer tanks. You can capture your opponents fields, take off and land from aircraft carriers, drive tanks, destroy buildings and more. The simple aims can become a big challenge and that’s where the fun is. Unlike real life, when you die you can take another airplane and try to get revenge. The game is played in different “arenas” that you can choose to log into. The key arenas are\n“Main” which has World War 2 Aircraft “Dawn of Aces” which has World War 1 Aircraft “Armoured Assault” which is all ground vehicles with targets much closer together for those who like tanks. “World War 2” which is also World War 2 Aircraft but with slightly more realistic, less arcade like settings (eg you can’t see other players on radar when you are flying, so you have to keep looking around). There are other special arenas, more on those later.\nThe game is being continually developed, in the last year I recall at least 3 updates that added aircraft into the game or other new features. Every aircraft has it’s advantages and disadvantages and becomes a challenge in it’s own right. How about some screenshots:\nClick on the images to see the full screen image, resolution is 1280×1024 so if your screen is smaller your browser may try to resize it to fit. If that happens, you can normally click the image again to see the full image but you will need to use the scroll bars to see everything.\nThis flight was a low level bombing raid using the famous RAF fighter, the Hurricane.\nAll of these images are actual screenshots from my PC, captured during the game. The detail is stunning!\nNow flying for the other side, our flight is taking ME109’s to defend against an RAF bombing raid.\nAll the players with “white” names are my members of the “parrots” squadron and they are the players I regularly fly with.\nThere are a lots of different aircraft you can fly, this picture was taken when we flew a low level B24 heavy bomber raid (low level to stay below radar). En route we flew over this carrier and it’s destroyer screen. This carrier is friendly, otherwise it’s anti-aircraft guns would have destroyed our bombers being this close. Some aircraft can take off and land from carriers\nSpeaking of destruction, this is what happens when your engines get hit. Daffy (a member of the “Greenwings” squadron) was shot by a fighter. Fortunately he has 3 spare engines in a B17. If your engine is on fire you can dive to put the fire out. Go too fast and your aircraft starts to break up, piece by piece. I can’t recall the full list of parts that can be lost in the aircraft, but Elevators, Ailerons, Flaps, Rudder, Landing Gear, Engines can all be destroyed. Engines can be destroyed completely, set on fire (worse than having it destroyed completely as the fire will damage other parts of the aircraft if left) or start leaking oil. You can also hit fuel tanks leaving a white cloud behind you as your fuel drains away.\nBommel has just been shot down. Fortunately, when you die you can jump in a new aircraft and carry on the fight.\nAs you play the game, you earn points for a number of different things. So many points for killing another player, so many for helping to kill another player, so many for destroying a building, so many for capturing a field, and so on. If you get enough points, you get a promotion. The ranks follow the American Air Force system, and getting promoted does nothing to affect the game play, but does mean that when you kill someone everyone get’s to see your Rank. Of course, the higher your rank,the more the other players enjoy shooting you down. Everyone dies in the game, some more frequently than others.\nThere is also a strong community spirit in the game. As well as a couple of active forums run by players, within the game you can create and join “squads”. I fly with squad called the Parrots. Squads can talk to each other on a special radio channel in text, although most also use a system called Teamspeak which allows you to speak to the other players. That’s very handy when you want to tell someone to “check 6” and you are busy trying to survive yourself.\nCheck 6 is the call you give to tell someone to “check their 6 o’clock position”, so they can (hopefully) take avoiding action before they get shot down. One of the German players called Bommel created a “sound pack”, replacing the standard “check 6” call sound effect (an American saying “check 6!” with versions suitable for each aircraft. In a Japanese aircraft your hear a Japanese Check 6 Call in Japanese, in a German aircraft you hear a German voice and in a British aircraft you hear, me! Using my best British RAF type accent to say “Sir! Enemy Inbound”. The sound pack is optional, so fear not you won’t need to listen to my voice in the game.\nThe Parrots squad is made up of people from many different countries, using Teamspeak to communicate. I’m the only Brit in the squad at the moment and I am continually amazed by the high standard of English that all the other players have. There are a lot of Germans, Dutch, a Spaniard, Argentinian, Americans and recently two Italians. We haven’t officially worked out the average age for the squad, but it varies from Late teen’s to past retirement, so probably 40. Thinking of a group of middle age men playing Internet computer games makes it sound very sad. It probably is, but I enjoy it. Our real life roles vary from student to retired. Not everyone has flown in real life, and some have thousands of flight hours (retired German Airforce pilot – I gather he was taught to fly by German WW2 Fighter Aces!)\nRecently I volunteered to help organise the EMC events. EMC is the player organised European Micro Campaign, where a group of players organise historic based events in a special arena. Other players volunteer to be the Commanding Officers, and we all meet up on a Sunday evening for 2 hours and fly a limited life event to achieve particular goals. The first event I organised was the retreat from Dunkirk and doing the research into the creating the event taught me a lot I never knew about Dunkirk. I also had to learn a lot more about the game settings and how to set up the special events arena and run the Event from start to finish (turning on computer controlled drones, giving lives to players that died, generally helping the event run smoothly). EMC has been as much fun as the game, and for the last month or so I’ve flown less while I work on a system to analyse the event logs so virtual medals can be issued to players who perform well. There’s also a lot of satisfaction knowing that 80 people around the world came online to fly an event I’d designed.\nThere are other ways players develop with the game. Several players have volunteered as “trainers”, giving their time to help new players learn how to fly and improve their technique. Others have got involved in the graphics side of the game, creating new aircraft ‘skins’, so you can make your standard issue hurricane look just like one from 602 Squadron RAF.\nIf you download the game and go for a fly, say hello to “Kanga-” – that’s my callsign in the game.\n","date":"12 December 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/12/12/warbirds/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Warbirds – Flight Sim that's free offline and lots of fun online","type":"posts"},{"content":"Just a thought I’d like some opinions on: Is damn a swear word?\nI’ve been thinking that over time different words develop different meanings to different generations. Words that were offensive many years ago have no meaning today. I remember some TV drama set in the past where the phrase “sweating” was offensive. “You don’t sweat” said the posh lady, “people perspire, only horses sweat”. I guess the phrase sweat like a horse meant something when a horse was the primary source of transport and mechanisation.\nAnyway, is damn still considered a swear word would you think?\n","date":"5 December 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/12/05/is-damn-a-swear/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Is damn a swear word?","type":"posts"},{"content":" I know, it’s a vain thing to do but I couldn’t resist. Microsoft have their new search engine out and the first thing I can think to search for is *me*! While the service isn’t that new, it’s new to me as I still have google as my default search engine.\nSo, over to http://www.live.com/ to find a pleasantly clear screen. Just the search box, just like google. I can’t fault the style or the speed of the page load, let’s search for that world favourite search topic [ Steve Root ].\nMy life is a sucess! live.com recognises me as the most relevant search result for ‘steve root’ giving me positions 1 and 2. That’s after the sponsored links, apparently people looking for me would also like to know there are “great deals on Steve”, at Ebay (where-else would you go if you wanted to buy me?).\nI’m not the only Steve Root out there. I now know that\n“Steve Root is managing director of Mace Plus Interiors” www.maceplus.co.uk\n“Steve Root has vast experience developed and gained through working for local Yorkshire dealerships such as Rover, Audi, Vauxhall, Volkswagen (VW) Ford, Fiat and Alfa Romeo.” www.root1.co.uk\n“Steve Root has responsibility for the Como team for the interiors and IT/Comms division to ensure that we continue to provide our clients with a first class delivery service.” http://www.comogroup.co.uk/\nand all on the first page. Actually, one of of these Steve Roots appears twice because maceplus appears to be a part of comogroup. I also ignored my own reappearance on the roots kitchens bedrooms bathrooms web site.\nAll of these results came from the UK but I hadn’t ticked the only from UK search box. Perhaps live.com decided that the results should be prioritised to show ‘local’ results first. For me that may not be good. Most of my searches relate to technical things like “mysql subquery just one record” (the word I needed was “distinct” but I didn’t know that at the time). I found the answer on an american web site, prioritising UK results may have meant I took longer to find the result. If I search for Steve Root on google I also find results for the actor “Stephen Root” on American web sites, alongside other american Steve Root’s.\nWe’re not all searching for text of course. Some of you may be looking for photos of me. Let’s try the live.com image search and see if I’m the best looking Steve Root in the world.\nBLIMEY!! That wasn’t the result I expected. You’ll noticed I’ve had to censor a certain part of the image results here. The photo isn’t a “Steve Root”, rather a photo called “root-42570017su-000.jpg” that is titled “Steve”. Makes sense I guess. The photo doesn’t really need to be censored, I’m just having fun while I write. The photo is of ‘steve’ having his body painted at an open art festival in the desert called ‘burningman‘, but he looks pretty cold to me.\nSo, how far before I found one of my pictures? The tenth picture was me from the roots web site, right next to a picture of a beer pump. Yes. Root Beer – it was “Steve’s favourite” 🙂\nAlas, I appear not to be the best looking Steve Root in the world. “Steve Root” also happens to be a model.\nSo, what do I think of live.com search? I prefer google for now. The image search interface at live.com is pretty clever but it’s results that count. Google found more results and prioritised them better.\n","date":"4 December 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/12/04/vanity-searchin/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Vanity searching on Microsofts new live.com portal","type":"posts"},{"content":"…the lovely 3M Snap Band I spoke about here.\nEntry is easy, first to comment gets the prize, just like I said:\n_\nRemember that comments don’t appear immediately, I have to moderate them all to stop all the spam from appearing. If you are having trouble posting a comment, send me an email instead. I’ll use the timestamp on the email to log your time of entry (that is, my server timestamp, so don’t try changing your computer clock!).\nA couple of simple rules. 1) I decide who wins, my decision is final. 2) I get to change the rules whenever I feel like it. 3) I’ll be posting the band to you if you live in the UK. If you don’t live in the UK then there’s no need to enter. 4) You can enter on behalf of someone else if you like (eg If you are in Australia but you want your prize posted to someone in the UK, that’s fine).\n","date":"28 November 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/11/28/enter-now-to-wi/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Enter Now to win!","type":"posts"},{"content":"Another enjoyable action book, taking the mild manered persona and giving it a hidden life. What I most enjoyed about this book was that so many story lines interacted to make the story complete. It travelled from a engineering soldier in Vietnam, A couple of RAF World War 2 fighter pilots, A lawyer in New York, A rich businessman in Canada, An arms dealer in Bosnia, a computer security programmer and consultant, and probably a few people I forgot in there too. It used those connections between people very to give our hero motives and to take our hero to the brink of death. Enemies from one war became friends to fight another. Our hero survives, some innocents die and ending in somewhat of a moral victory, the villains are captured to be tried by the authorities. Another book I couldn’t put down once I had started reading.\n","date":"27 November 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/11/27/avenger-frederi/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Avenger (Frederick Forsyth)","type":"posts"},{"content":"When I was growing up I was given a book of short stories written by Ray Bradbury (A Sound of Thunder and Other Stories). I remember loving it so much I read it several times over the next few years. The title Story (A sound of thunder) explored time travel and the effects a time traveller could have on the future.\nPerhaps I had expectations too high for this book because of my fond memories that I found myself disappointed at the end of almost every story. There was one story that I loved when I finished. Since then a couple more have grown on me and perhaps that’s the key to this book. The stories are so unrelated, so unexpected, so ‘short\u0026rsquo;(!) that before the idea has had enough time to settle on the mind the story is over. It’s probably a book that many people will find one story in they like but I found it a little bit of a chore to work all the way through to find them.\n","date":"26 November 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/11/26/driving-blind-s/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Driving Blind Stories (Ray Bradbury)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Just over 500 pages long, this book finishes with an exquisite twist. A story of how an aging diplomat averts world war 3, we read of his past during World War 2 and are lead slowly towards the answer. In so many ways a typical spy novel but having read the first few chapters I couldn’t put it down.\n","date":"26 November 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/11/26/the-tristan-bet/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"The Tristan Betrayal (Robert Ludlum)","type":"posts"},{"content":"What do you get if you cross a classic Bernard Cornwell Sharpe book, the American fight for independence and a love story?\nRedcoat! A pleasant book which I found to be as much a love story as a book of action. Our hero is British soldier serving in the ranks and he falls in love with a girl who happens to be helping the American Rebels. It’s as well written as all the Sharpe books and it reveals some of the subtleties of war, like how would the rebels find out about a planned attack? I wouldn’t go looking to read love stories but I found this a very enjoyable read.\n","date":"26 November 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/11/26/redcoat-bernard/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Redcoat (Bernard Cornwell)","type":"posts"},{"content":"I know what you’re all thinking, nothing has changed here lately. I’ve been working on things in the background but today marks the first of a whole bundle of waiting posts. This post includes my site’s first ever competition as well as it’s first ever video, created using the magic of my PDA’s video camera, Quicktime Pro, Macromedia Flash Video Encoder,Macromedia Dreamweaver, One not very willing actor (James) and a 3M Snap Band….\nI wanted the video to be here, but it needed some special code which won’t work through the movabletype software I use here (It’s a security thing, that’s good!). Follow this link to see the video\nI know what you’re going to say, “don’t give up your day job, and you won’t need to worry about being available for the Oscar ceremony…”. I know that too, but it’s been fun making it work and I’ve learnt some things too.\nCompetition Bit\nI bet most of you jumped straight here wondering what you can win? Well, I’m giving away a 3M Snap Band as modelled by James in the video. They are reflective bands that will wrap around things, like James arm, a leg or a bike handle bar and so on. You can roll them flat and they will hold that position. As well as the video, you can find out all about them at www.3MBeSeen.co.uk. Now the weathers getting darker it makes sense for the children to have something reflective on them. As James is showing, they happen to be fun as well as safe. Better still, they only cost 3.00.\nWining will be easy. During the next week a new post will appear on this site called “Enter Now to win!”. If you are the first person to comment, you win.\nRemember that comments don’t appear immediately, I have to moderate them all to stop all the spam from appearing. If you are having trouble posting a comment, send me an email instead. I’ll use the timestamp on the email to log your time of entry (that is, my server timestamp, so don’t try changing your computer clock!).\nA couple of simple rules. 1) I decide who wins, my decision is final. 2) I get to change the rules whenever I feel like it. 3) I’ll be posting the band to you if you live in the UK. If you don’t live in the UK then there’s no need to enter. 4) You can enter on behalf of someone else if you like (eg If you are in Australia but you want your prize posted to someone in the UK, that’s fine). 5)\nNow, if you’re interested in how this all came about, read on….\nThere was a lot of effort that went into getting this little video on the web. Most of the time was spent figuring out how to do each step. It all began with a bit of PR (public relations). Public Relations is all about product placement. For example, instead of paying for an advert in the local paper, we could give a kitchen to a charity in the hope that the paper would write about it. We’d get publicity in the paper without paying for it. A friend of mine is a PR Guru and has helped us with PR opportunities in the past. For example, when Dave ran the London Marathon he managed to get more coverage of him running than the rest of his entire running club put together. As with most skills, there’s an Art to PR that makes some people better at it than others. Our efforts to get coverage for Dave’s run hadn’t got very far until Clive helped.\nPR is about getting your product talked about in the media, and people are beginning to notice that humble blogs can carry as much weight as some of the traditional press. They are looking at ways of harnessing the PR power of blogs to promote their products. Step forward Andrew, who emailed me on behalf of 3M who make snap bands.\nThe have begun a campaign called “3M Be Seen“. One of the things Clive taught me about PR is that you get more coverage for a newsworthy event. You can, with some skill, create the event that gets the media attention. A few years ago I campaigned to get BT to enable our local phone exchange for broadband. There was a lot of media coverage of my efforts at the time. Once BT had said yes we organised a celebration party and that too made the news (Nicola even got her photo on the front page of the Faversham papers). 3M have begun their campaign along the same lines. I use campaign in the loosest terms here, as the campaign site is essentially an online information and ordering site for 3M products. This doesn’t detract from 3M’s key message of course, to paraphrase: “It’s winter, it’s gets dark early, so think about making yourself visible”. In the 3M Be Seen campaigns favour is the abundance of safety products 3M make. Everything for Walkers, Joggers, Cyclists, Horses and more. 3M also sponsor www.brake.org.uk a road safety charity (did you know it is “Road Safety Week” this week?).\nSo, how can 3M get their product mentioned on more web sites? They contact people who run blogs that suit their target market (parents in this case). Send a few freebies in the post for the bloggers children and another to give away. Altogether now “Thanks 3M!”. At this rate, I’ll earn more from PR gifts than from my google ads! (another site that recieved snap bands is this one)\nI could have just written about it, instead I spent a couple of months playing with yet another new idea. I wanted a video of these snap bands in use. Really, just an excuse to get video working on the site (all hosted here, I’m sure it’s easier to put it on youtube.com but I like a challenge). For a video camera all I had to hand was the camera part of my PDA Phone which isn’t exactly broadcast quality, but sufficient for a web site with a resolution of 320 x 240 pixels (UK TV is 720 x 576 pixels when digitised).\nIt took a month or so to get James at a suitable time to video him using the snap band. We needed to walk to the village shop for something so he came with me wearing the snap band. The trouble then was making him take it off for the video which he decided he didn’t like the idea of. Videoing with the camera phone also had another problem. I have no idea which way is up. Without realising I had rotated the phone though 90 degrees. When watching on the phone you just turn the phone, not so easy to do with a computer screen so I need to find a way of rotating the video back through 90 degrees to fix it. The editing software on Mum’s home PC couldn’t do it, in fact I had quite some trouble finding any software that could do it. Then, under my nose all along, Quicktime said it could, but only the “Pro” version, not the free one on my laptop. Dave wanted to get Quicktime Pro anyway in order to edit some videos from his phone, so he bought it and rotated it for me.\nPutting it on the web site was not so tough because I have a copy of Macromedia Studio, which includes Flash Pro, which also came with a video encoder, to convert a number of formats into a flash video format. Dreamweaver then handles the code (50 lines or so) to embed the video in a web page, along with play, pause, seek and volume buttons. Only trouble I’m left with is that I’ve not been able to embed the video object when creating content using MovableType (the software I use for this site). I’m sure it’s possible, I’ve just not had the time to figure it out.\nAlong with all this, I’ve been reading lots, work has been very busy with record sales as well as designing new displays and taking on new suppliers and new products. Now, it’s time for me to go to ATC. Keep checking back to enter that competition.\n","date":"10 November 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/11/10/first-ever-comp/","section":"Posts","summary":"I know what you’re all thinking, nothing has changed here lately. I’ve been working on things in the background but today marks the first of a whole bundle of waiting posts. This post includes my site’s first ever competition as well as it’s first ever video, created using the magic of my PDA’s video camera, Quicktime Pro, Macromedia Flash Video Encoder,Macromedia Dreamweaver, One not very willing actor (James) and a 3M Snap Band….\nI wanted the video to be here, but it needed some special code which won’t work through the movabletype software I use here (It’s a security thing, that’s good!). Follow this link to see the video\nI know what you’re going to say, “don’t give up your day job, and you won’t need to worry about being available for the Oscar ceremony…”. I know that too, but it’s been fun making it work and I’ve learnt some things too.\nCompetition Bit\nI bet most of you jumped straight here wondering what you can win? Well, I’m giving away a 3M Snap Band as modelled by James in the video. They are reflective bands that will wrap around things, like James arm, a leg or a bike handle bar and so on. You can roll them flat and they will hold that position. As well as the video, you can find out all about them at www.3MBeSeen.co.uk. Now the weathers getting darker it makes sense for the children to have something reflective on them. As James is showing, they happen to be fun as well as safe. Better still, they only cost 3.00.\nWining will be easy. During the next week a new post will appear on this site called “Enter Now to win!”. If you are the first person to comment, you win.\nRemember that comments don’t appear immediately, I have to moderate them all to stop all the spam from appearing. If you are having trouble posting a comment, send me an email instead. I’ll use the timestamp on the email to log your time of entry (that is, my server timestamp, so don’t try changing your computer clock!).\nA couple of simple rules. 1) I decide who wins, my decision is final. 2) I get to change the rules whenever I feel like it. 3) I’ll be posting the band to you if you live in the UK. If you don’t live in the UK then there’s no need to enter. 4) You can enter on behalf of someone else if you like (eg If you are in Australia but you want your prize posted to someone in the UK, that’s fine). 5)\nNow, if you’re interested in how this all came about, read on….\n","title":"First ever competition for this site (and first video too)","type":"posts"},{"content":"No need to go rushing out to buy this one, it’s not available any more. I found it in a second hand bookshop and bought it because I’ve enjoyed Asimov’s previous work.\nThis is a collection of 5 short stories (Nightfall, Green Patches, Hostess, Breeds There a Man…?, C-Chute) written in the 1940’/1950’s and originally published in Science Fiction journals of the time, re-published in a collection in 1970. Over 60 years later and these stories are still a joy to read. I want to tell you what the stories are about, but to do that would spoil them.\nIf ever I create Rootie Ratings(tm), this book will get top marks 5 times over (once for each story, they are all superb).\n","date":"10 October 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/10/10/nightfall-one-i/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Nightfall ONE (Isaac Asimov)","type":"posts"},{"content":"One of the many spams recieved today was titled:\neasily, enough I am HARI SELDON and his eyes all.\nHari Seldon was a character in Issac Assimov’s Foundation series. So, we now know that the spammer can read, perhaps his writing skills will improve with practice.\n","date":"9 October 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/10/09/spam-again-at-l/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Spam again – at least this one can read, if not write","type":"posts"},{"content":"How much do books weight?\nWhy would you want to know?\nWell, at work (www.rootskitchens.co.uk) we are frequently asked to supply book shelves. Remembering that every book is different, a typical selection of cookery books (at least, the selection I had to hand at the shop) weighed a total of 2.25Kg and occupied 100mm when standing on edge. Therefore, 1 metre of books would weigh 22.5Kg and our shelves and (when rounding) brackets would need to support a minimum of 25Kg/m.\nRemember though, that’s a minimum because:\ntheir books may weigh more they may stack books on top of books their books may be shallower than their shelf and all on the front edge suddenly find a new home and be replaced by heavier cast iron sausepans Shelf brackets (decent ones anyway) will state how much weight they have been tested to safely hold. This is normally given as an evenly placed load around the mid point of the bracket. For example, if a given bracket will support 20Kg and is 300mm long, the 20Kg is taken as acting from the middle – 150mm away from the wall. Therefore if you put all of your 20Kg weight at the far edge, 300mm away from the wall you can expect the bracket to fail.\nAlso be aware that some brackets give Safe Working Load when used as a pair, whilst others will be based on each individual bracket. Remember your shelf also has a weight and you may need to take this into account.\nAs a rule of thumb, if a customer says they would like to use a shelf for books I would look to find brackets that would support a minimum of 35Kg/m for a shelf 300mm deep. Therefore a 500mm long shelf would need to be able to hold 17.5Kg, and so on.\nThe other thing worth thinking about is bookends – some of those can be heavier than the books! Perhaps you can find some that can be permanently fixed to stop books falling off.\n","date":"7 October 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/10/07/how-much-do-boo/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"How much do books weigh?","type":"posts"},{"content":"Did you know it’s been almost two years since I created this site? Well, it has. About a year ago I revealed some of my top secret* page view statistics. Then the monthly page view totals looked like this:\nMonth: Pages Viewed\nNov 2005: 1599\nOct 2005: 1180\nSep 2005: 676\nCompare and contrast the following then:\nWeek: Pages Viewed\n17/Sep/06 1989\n10/Sep/06 2053\n3/Sep/06 1929\nYes, you read it correctly. There are now more visitors each week than in a whole month from last year. Another example from the logs is that 821 “Distinct Hosts Served” during the last week – say hello in the comments everyone! (see this entry for more detail about what web site stats mean).\nWhat are you all coming here for? Well, according to the search logs – most of you are still looking for this entry although flavour of the month is Steve Irwin – he got a mention in our holiday photos. For those who don’t know, Steve Irwin became famous from his TV programmes on wildlife (he became known as “The Crocodile Hunter”). He had a Zoo near Brisbane but was killed recently by a Sting Ray while filming a new series.\nThe question you’re probably all desperate to hear the answer too is “How much have you earn’t from the Google Ads?” (written about here). Well, it’s safe to say that I haven’t even reached two significant figures. That’s another way of saying less than US$10.\n*OK, they’re not that secret it’s just I don’t process the log file often.\n","date":"5 October 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/10/05/almost-two-year/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Almost two years! – Say hello everyone","type":"posts"},{"content":"More Sharpe! This is a big series (21 Novels not counting 2 extra short stories) and I seem to be working my way through it. The trouble will be when I can’t remember which books I’ve read when I see them in the second hand book shop. I guess I’ll have to keep a list on my PDA.\nAnyway, the story continues. In Sharpe’s Enemy Sharpe finally defeats his original enemy from the first books. Sergeant Hakeswill has deserted and joined a band of renegades formed from all opposing sides (the historical note actually says there really was a band of deserters at the time!). The deserters capture a village and the wife of a British nobleman and Sharpe is sent to rescue her. That would be far to simple a task for Sharpe so of course it gets a little more complicated. He makes the first successful battle use of rockets in this book and gives Napoleon’s forces a surprise or two.\nIn Sharpe’s Sword he begins by capturing a French officer who says he is a Captain but is really a much feared General. He escapes and Sharpe’s duty is to capture him once more. There are a few twists and turns, some clever camouflage, yet more romance and yet more misery. I have to wonder what rank Sharpe ends up as – I seem a good number of books away from Waterloo and I’m not sure how many ranks are left! I’ll let you know when I get there.\n","date":"4 October 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/10/04/sharpes-enemy-b/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Sharpe's Enemy (Bernard Cornwell) \u0026 Sharpe's Sword (Bernard Cornwell)","type":"posts"},{"content":"I enjoyed Uhtred in Bernard Cornwell’s Saxon Series, go forwards several hundred years and join Thomas of Hookton on his equally enjoyable adventures.\nThomas is an English Archer who’s father was a village priest. The story begins with the death of his father and the destruction of Thomas’s home village by European raiders and follows his journey first for vengeance but equally to discover the truth about his family’s origins. He discovers his family was said to be the keepers of the Holy Grail and circumstances conspire to make him search for it. There are plenty of twists along the way, a dash or two of romance, death (well, he is an archer in the middle of a war) and valour.\nUhtred from the Saxon series was a sometimes like-able, oftentimes detestably violent person. Thomas is much more like able as a character. Perhaps even more pleasant that Richard Sharpe in the Sharpe series. He is no less realistic though and I can’t help but look out for the third book in the series “Heretic” – Does Thomas find his Grail?\nAs I read more of Bernard Cornwell’s books I am impressed by the historical settings. The end of each book puts in place some divisions between fact and fiction making reading his books a little bit of education as well as a pleasure.\n","date":"4 October 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/10/04/harlequin-berna/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Harlequin (Bernard Cornwell) \u0026 Vagabond (Bernard Cornwell)","type":"posts"},{"content":"I’ve been really busy since my last post (a whole month without a post!). Work is exceptionally busy and work comes first. Even my reading has slowed down a bit. I have several things waiting to be posted when I get time to write about them – including the first ever competition for this blog! You’ll have to check back over the next week or two to find out what that’s all about, in the mean time this post is all about…\n“creating a new column in a MySQL select query” # So, here I am manipulating some data from a supplier to make it work with our internal business systems. Essentially I had to work out how much a kitchen cabinet would cost given an “assembly list”, “component list”, “decision list” and of course “cup of coffee”.\nAssembly list tells me that each unit needs a cabinet and a door. There are lots of door colours and lots of cabinet colours. These options are all in the component list which tells me the price of each door. The decision list is my own creation and says “build me a unit using a Maple door and a Maple cabinet”. “cup of coffee” feeds my habit while I code. So far, so good.\nOnce I’ve created a list of units using maple doors and maple cabinets, I then want to create another list of oak doors and oak cabinets. Join them all together and I have a complete list of cabinets that customers can buy. I needed a way of identifying which cabinet was built with which options and for the life of me I couldn’t remember how to do it. I needed to create an additional column in my query that would record what “decision list” row had been used for this build.\nThe answer is of course obvious once you know it:\nSelect “StevesDecision” as StevesColumnName, FirstBuildUpStaticTable.Material, SUM(`Gross weight`) As GWeight, and so on.\n“StevesDecision” becomes the content of each row and “StevesColumnName” becomes the column name. All the rest of the select… line remains the same.\n","date":"4 October 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/10/04/creating-a-new/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"creating a new column in a MySQL select query","type":"posts"},{"content":"I have been busy reading. Just before we left for our holiday I scoured the local second hand bookshop and picked up 3 more Sharpe books. I’ve been aiming for the beginning of the series and I did quite well.\nFirstly I started with Sharpe’s Tiger which (being chronologically first in the series) tells the story of private Sharpe and his first adventure – rescuing a senior officer held in a citadel. Sharpe is uncannily lucky, for not only does he rescue the officer and therefore get his promotion to sergeant, he manages to kill the Tippoo (Tippoo is like the King) and get some of his jewels.\nThen I moved onto Sharpe’s Eagle (being the first written in the series) and it tells the story of how Lieutenant Sharpe becomes Captain Sharpe at the battle of Talavera. Once again he survives against all odds as well as against enemies from within his own army. He also loses yet another women he has fallen in love with. It seems poor Sharpe is as unlucky in love as he is lucky in battle.\nFinally, Sharpe’s Havoc, which is set just before Sharpe’s Eagle as he fights through northern Portugal.\nI have loved all of these books, as much for the historical note at the end of the book as for the fiction itself. Bernard Cornwell highlights all the changes he has made to the real events and describes a little of the places as they are today.\nI also think it amazing that a series can be written in such apparent disorder yet knit together so neatly. Sharpe’s Eagle was first published in 1981, yet it almost perfectly cross references with events in Sharpe’s Havoc of 2003.\n","date":"1 September 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/09/01/sharpes-havoc-b/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Sharpe's Havoc (Bernard Cornwell), Sharpe's Tiger (Bernard Cornwell) \u0026 Sharpe's Eagle (Bernard Cornwell)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Another Dale Brown novel, but this time not part of the “Dreamland” series of novels. At least it doesn’t say ‘Dreamland’ on the front cover but it does have all the hi tech gadets and gizmos and the ‘dreamland’ base is used too. In these books, people can jump out of airplanes without parachutes and survive. They (the American armed forces, mostly airforce) spend their time chasing after a new stealth aircraft built by a rich Russion oil/drugs magnate. Guess who wins? You were going to say the US Air Force right? You better read it then, you see there’s this group of rebels from…. oh, better not say!\nI think I’ve prefered some of his other books over this one, but it still made for a good read.\n","date":"1 September 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/09/01/warrier-class-d/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Warrier Class (Dale Brown)","type":"posts"},{"content":"I write this post in EuroDisney’s Seqoia Lodge, Laptop on lap, beer on table. Ahh, Bliss!\nIt’s been a good holiday so far and I’ve begun writing this on the first night of our stay in EuroDisney. WiFi is slowly covering the world, so I have been able to write this from the bar on my laptop. 10 for 2 hours is not unreasonable I think, though the man in the shop said “C’est trop cher!” (It’s very expensive, though I probably spelt the French words wrong) when I asked how much it cost. The best news – no frightening emails in my in box, no server security alerts, no RAID hard disks failed. It looks like the computers at work are behaving themselves.\nI already knew there was nothing major to worry about at work (I had to call in after a week to check my phone was working as no one had called with any questions) so it looks like the business plan is being accomplished (“Aim 1. The business should be able to run day to day without me being there”). Yes, I’m still a key person as the computer set up still isn’t perfect, but perfection (think Homer Simpson is to Donuts as Steve is to 5,000+ Uber Server) would cost lots of money and still need someone to handle our suppliers data and manipulate it into our system. For the moment, it is far better for me to run the computer system than outsource/employ someone else to do it.\nSo, observations on France;\nWe started in the south of France at a place called Vias Plage, booked with Homair Vacance at a campsite called “Les Flots Bleu“. The cost was great, my old French A level was sufficient to handle the fact the site manager spoke only French. Wwe were the only English people there (at least with Homair). Fortunately, there were still the camp site’s staff who spoke good English. We had looked at other companies, but Homair were by far the cheapest and I think it is because they handle mainly more local French customers. The site itself had a nice swimming pool and a small private beech but lacked any water sports provision. I had thought that we would be able to walk further along the beech to find windsurfer hire and so on, but the campsite was bordered by a river on one side and a rocky shore to the other. Still, we had fun.\nWe visited Montpellier and had a wonder round the old town. Also Cap D’Agde. I always remember Cap D’Agde from a wallet some Welsh friends of our bought as a present when I was growing up. They used to go there every year. I didn’t realize it was such a new ‘resort’, built up mainly since 1970 and a mixture of large sandy beaches, mid rise (up to 4 storey) hotels, a large port and an area of private holiday homes. Just 25,000 live there in winter, 200,000 in summer! (amazing the useless facts that stick in my mind). Rhonda took the opportunity to go diving at Cap D’Agde too (just realised, I don’t think I told the world that my wife Recently passed her PADI open water divers qualification). If we ever go back I think I’d like to hire a boat for day or too, but alas we ran out of time and had to drive North to EuroDisney.\nThe first part of the holiday can also be summarised by two observations:\nThe French society have a serious smoking problem. Even teenagers were frequently smoking. It made me realise just how far Britain has come in it’s anti smoking campaigns. Even at school I never saw as many teenagers smoking as I did around the camp sites and bars of France. My French isn’t so bad, but it’s not so good. I can ask for many things automatically, ask for a table at a restaurant, order a WiFi Card even, but if the response is not quite the words I am expecting I am quickly lost. I don’t think my accent is that good either (being that a 7 year old girl corrected my pronunciation of “Anglais” from ‘onglay’ to ‘onglaze’). Coming to EuroDisney also changed that 2nd experience. They almost all speak very good English, so although they seem to appreciate my trying to speak in French as soon as their computer shows my name and nationality the immediately revert to a very clear English, allowing my french to get completely mixed up into a type of Franglais in replies of “Oui, yes” and so on.\nWe almost got caught out on the way down by a lack of petrol stations. For most of the journey there were petrol stations every 50Km or so and as the Modeo says how many Km worth of fuel you have it was easy to know when to stop. Except for one section in the mountains where there were no petrol stations for 120Km or so. When we finally reached the next petrol station the dashboard told us just how close we had been.\nThe holiday was a lot of fun.\n","date":"26 August 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/08/26/holiday-time-fo/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Holiday time, Foray en France","type":"posts"},{"content":"My friend Clare has been telling me for quite a time about a fantastic book she has read. Last Monday she remembered to lend me the book. The book is addictive. I started it Wednesday and I finished all of the 500+ pages in the early hours of this morning (Sunday).\nThis is a book about a man named Henry and his wife Clare. Henry has a genetic difference to the rest of us which means that he will travel back and forward through time. He has no control over when and where he goes, he has no control over when and where he will return. Clare meets him when she is a little girl and he is a middle aged man. He meets Clare for the first time when he is in his twenties.\nIf that sounds confusing now, it gets more complicated. The book jumps from time and place, back and forward, loosely in the order that Clare would see it, but frequently in no apparent order whatsoever. That is, until later when the future or past happens and things start then start to make sense. In this book, time is not a linear concept.\nFor me, the book is definitely an adult book. It travels through a whole life which I think younger minds would struggle to relate too. I’m not just referring to the sexual experiences and detail that feature frequently. Henry and Clare’s life includes the death of their parents, marriage, trying for a baby, raising a child, arguments, accidents, all of life’s pains and pleasures. Time travelling for Henry is as much an advantage as it is his cross to bear. He knows the good things that will happen, yet he also knows the bad.\nClare (my friend, not the character in the book) said that many of her friends haven’t enjoyed it as much as she did. I think that’s because the concept of time in the book is so warped from what we naturally expect. If a book is too hard to read then it loses it’s enjoyment (at which point I remember being 13 and attempting “A Tale of Two Cities” and getting no further than the first few pages). I’d recommend this book to anyone, but I also know this book isn’t going to be an enjoyable read for everyone.\n","date":"30 July 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/07/30/the-time-travel/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"The Time Traveller's Wife (Audrey Niffenegger)","type":"posts"},{"content":" While looking for Sharpe books, I found another book by Bernard Cornwell called \u0026#8220;Gallows Thief\u0026#8221;. Having enjoyed his other books I had to buy it. Bernard Cornwell must enjoy writing historical novels. This was set around the 1800’s when hanging was commonplace and justice was, despite best intentions, flawed. Thus a retired army Captain and disgraced gentleman (following his fathers bankruptcy) is given the task of investigating the crime of an already condemned man. Following a trial, the legal system believes the man guilty of murder. Captain Rider Sandman is asked to investigate and confirm this because the man’s mother appeals to the queen that he is innocent. We follow Sandman for 7 days as he, despite his original expectation of the mans guilt, discovers his innocence and attempts to report this to the home secretary so a pardon may be issued before the hanging.\nOnce again I was captured by the detail painted of the time. The way the prison worked and how people were kept, the language and slang (known as ‘flash’) used in the pubs and between the lower classes. The gentleman’s game of cricket, the rules slowly changing (noticing the difference between cricket in the countryside and cricket in the city), the gambling and corruption and so many other things that made the story come to life.\n","date":"30 July 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/07/30/gallows-thief-b/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Gallows Thief (Bernard Cornwell)","type":"posts"},{"content":"The second Sharpe book I have read, this was set just before Sharpe’s Trafalgar. I love the character of Richard Sharpe. He may be the hero in the book, but he has his flaws and that causes him trouble. The battles fought are described well enough that you can feel the horror that the soldiers must have felt and picture in your mind the wide battlefield as it changes through the day.\nI’ve also noticed that there aren’t that many Sharpe books in the second hand book shops which surprises me a little because the series is relatively new (began 1980’s). I think I’ll soon start buying second hand books from Amazon to fill the gaps.\n","date":"30 July 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/07/30/sharpes-triumph/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Sharpe's Triumph (Bernard Cornwell)","type":"posts"},{"content":"I’ve got four books to write about today. I finished the first and went straight into the next two. Then a friend lent me another book that I just couldn’t put down.\nThe first book was another of Dale Brown’s Dreamland series. It’s a typical military action thriller based around a research and covert operations group. Once again, trouble in some part of the world requires them to work with new and not properly tested technology to ensure everything turns out well in the end. “Turns out well” applies only to the key characters and the ‘good guys’ side of course. In fact several of the Dreamland team get killed but hey, it’s war! The key characters all survive to have another adventure of course.\nWhile I generally enjoy this type of book I found this one a little tedious, perhaps almost predictable. Some of the technology ideas were interesting concepts and it certainly was good enough to read to the end.\n","date":"30 July 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/07/30/piranha-dale-br/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Piranha (Dale Brown)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Hooray! Course over. I think I’ve found a new way of learning, instructor led over the Internet seems to be the way for me to go with many of the strange things I want to learn more about.\nBen Ramsey the tutor really knows his stuff. Between us (the class) we really threw some awkward questions at him and while we did our exercises he’d look up the answers and test things to find out. He’d give us the answers beyond the obvious, pointing out some real world issues and highlighting good practice methods over acceptable solutions.\nI feel a lot more confident in coding using PHP now. The next pages I need to code from scratch will use PHP instead of Coldfusion though I don’t think I’ll be recoding all my Coldfusion stuff any time soon. “If it works, don’t fix it” as my old Physics teacher used to say. I’ve also got to look at upgrading the server PHP version from PHP4 to PHP5 as there are some neat little features worth using.\nJust to remind you, the course was booked though ZEND and run by a company/magazine called PHP|ARCH\n","date":"20 July 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/07/20/course-complete/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Course Complete!","type":"posts"},{"content":"During my recent programming course on PHP, we had to use variables to store data. The content or use of those variables wasn’t significant to the thing we had to learn, so as is common in coding circles we used variables $foo and $var. I wonder who first used the variables $foo $bar?\nIn terms of the word “fubar” or “foobar”, I first heard it mentioned in the film “Saving Private Ryan”, and a quick google search lead me to this page that has some interesting notes/theories/ideas? on the origin of the term.\n","date":"17 July 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/07/17/who-created-foo/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Who created $foo $bar?","type":"posts"},{"content":"It seems just a few weeks ago that I posted about making regular backups of your computer. That’s because it was just a few weeks ago! Which makes me wonder whether the server at my office read the post too, and decided to test me.\nAs well as regular backups the server has two hard disks. They mirror each other in what’s known as a RAID array (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks). If one drive should ever fail, the other drive will keep going and users wont notice a thing. Just as well I took the time to set it up as I had an alert email from my server saying:\n\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; The following warning/error was logged by the smartd daemon:\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Device: /dev/hda, 1 Currently unreadable (pending) sectors\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Hmmm, not good. Checking the server over the network revealed the following horrible image:\nOK, that may not look like a horror story to you, but believe me when I say that’s worse than any movie company could create on a multi-million pound budget. The key is the MD2… line, which has a (F) in it = Failed disk, and the next line to really push the dagger home [2/1] means only 1 of the two disks is working and the _U is there to make sure you see it. each U represents a disk (one for each disk in my server). the _ (underscore) means that disk isn’t working. It’s a little more complicated than that (the 2 disks are setup as 3 RAID arrays and each array uses two physical partitions, and only one of the partitions on one of the disks has got an error) but we’ll skip the detail here and do this instead:\nArghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!\nDon’t panic Mr Manwaring! All is not lost because Steve did his homework on this stuff.\nFirstly, the server is quite happy to run on one disk. The users wouldn’t even know there was a problem\nSecondly, this gives me time to order a new hard disk and plan an evening to install it without interrupting any ones work.\nIt would be nice for that swap over to be a small job, taking just 30 minutes. However, last time the server disk failed it took 6 hours. This time it has taken me 4 hours – although that includes a few breaks to drink more coffee and have a sandwich. I started at 9pm just after my PHP course finished and I’m sitting here,with my laptop in the server cupboard watching an image from heaven:\nOne part of the disk is back to normal, another part is rebuilding while I type, and in a few hours the rebuild process will be complete and once again the business will be protected from a hard disk failure. What a lovely way to start a morning. I think I’ll go to bed now.\n","date":"13 July 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/07/13/you-did-do-that-backup-didnt-you/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"You did do that backup…. didn't you?","type":"posts"},{"content":"I have to tell you all about a really cool PDF creation program I discovered called YAFPC. YAFPC stands for “Yet Another Free PDF Creator” and it can be free as the core parts are all available as open source software.\nHowever, the author has also created an ‘Appliance’ version. Which means you can run the server from a CD, Memory Stick, or even a VMWare* appliance and turn an old server into a PDF creator – used simply by users connecting to it’s virtual printers and printing documents in the normal way.\nOn you own PC you can use a piece of software called Ghostscript to do that. What the YAFPC appliance does though is act as a print server on your network so you only need to set it up once for all of your users to use. When you print to it, you have options to make it Email the PDF to you and/or put it in a folder you can see on your Windows network. What’s really clever is that it needs no configuration to know who to email, it works out your email address from your Windows Log-in name. Even the folder visible on the windows network is visible as the users name! It took me all of 10 minutes to turn an old PC into a working PDF creation server on our network. The total cost of this software is just $50 (USD) – about 30. Note, you are not paying for the open source parts of the software, just the bit that joins them all together on an operation system that will run from a CD all configured and ready to run.\nThere’s more though. You can set up as many virtual PDF printers as you like, so as well as a plain white A4 PDF printer I set up a Letterhead Printer – you can create a quote and it uses a PDF version of our letterhead as the background. Therefore when we email quotes to customers it still has the professional looking formatting and brand image we spent so long working on. This PDF Quote was created using the YAFPC Network appliance. (PDF File – 730Kb). This is an amazing piece of software – well worth investigating if you want to create PDF’s in an office.\nOne thing to say about PDF’s in general. The format of PDF was created by Adobe but they published it as an open format which is why you don’t need Adobe software to read or create PDF’s. The PDF format is now more than just a way of creating a fixed document. Current Adobe PDF software will let you allow people to make comments on your document and send them back to you so you can combine comments in one view (without them changing your document of course). However, most people create a single fixed document\n*VMWare is a program that lets you run other operation systems on top of your current operation system. Therefore you can have a server running Windows XP, and VMWare will let you host “Virtual Machines” that could be running Linux, Solaris, Windows XP, Windows 3.1, DOS – anything! You can also run as many Virtual Machines as you want, configuring them to use Virtual networks within the machine or have their own IP address on your network (all sharing the hosts network card). This is clever as it lets you use one piece of hardware to run multiple servers, saving buying more hardware and also letting you separate different server roles across virtual machines. EG you can have an Email Virtual Server and a Web Proxy Virtual server, so any problems with the web proxy server wont affect the Email Virtual server. Cool eh! Better still, VMWare are trialling a FREE version of their VMWare Server program which will let you use hundreds of ready built appliances for FREE! So YAFPC can run on the server you already have without you having to alter any configuration settings. You can also create your own Virtual Servers if you buy VMWare workstation (which I already have as it means I can test software without having to re-install windows every 3 months). One day, I’ll write more about how I use VMWare, it’s on that ever growing list of things to post about\n","date":"10 July 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/07/10/pdf-creation-a/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"PDF Creation, a cheap way for network users","type":"posts"},{"content":"The third part of the Saxon series and it cost me a whopping 10 to buy a hardback version (the paperback hasn’t been released yet)! I’m still glad I bought it, equal to the previous 2 books (The Last Kingdom and The Pale Horseman) I was so engrossed I read it with the week. I’m not very good at getting to sleep and this book made it harder, I just had to keep turning the page to find out what was happening.\nUhtred, the main character, travels North to his home county on a mission for King Alfred, kills lots of people and is near death several times. The King he is serving sells him into slavery and I had to wonder just how he’d get out of that!\nOnce again I was spoilt by Bernard Cornwell’s detailed writing. In one chapter he writes of a “red ship”, and later it is explained that the red colouring is a result of the ship being made from pine rather than the normal ship building timbers. The research into the period must have been unbelievably detailed to pick up that observation. I guess today’s comparison would be speaking of hailing a black cab in London. Every now and then one’s a different colour but how often would you comment on it?\nUhtreds goal is still not complete though, so I can’t wait for the next book to be available.\n","date":"10 July 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/07/10/the-lords-of-th/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"The Lords of the North (Bernard Cornwell)","type":"posts"},{"content":"First lesson over! That was fun. Just like starting sixth form in so many ways. Meeting all the new people but with easier opening lines like “so, where are you from?”. Thinking of which, I should put this in the Root Memory category as I remember starting my Business Studies A levels and meeting my friend Wendy…\nNice group, good sense of humour. There were 8 of us tonight, should be 10 next week. This was just a familiarisation night to check the software worked for all of us. We came from all over the world, or to be precise USA, Canada, Holland, Romania and me from the UK. The instructor is a chap called Ben Ramsey. We can hear him but we can only speak when he ‘passes the mic’ – students that can’t answer back? It must be teacher heaven! He speaks clearly and I’m sure he knows his stuff.\nI’m guessing, but I think he’s the Ben Ramsey at http://benramsey.com/, in which case, he really does know his stuff!\nI think I’m going to enjoy this course.\n","date":"5 July 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/07/05/first-lessons/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"First Lessons","type":"posts"},{"content":"My return to education begins in just 2 hours. I say return but of course I’ve never stopped learning. However, I’ve signed up to a formal training course and paid a fair amount of money for the privilege.\nThe course is “Zend PHP Essentials“. PHP is a programming language commonly used on web servers. It’s core functionality is about generating web pages. It allows a programmer to generate those pages from a database, as well as many other things like create PDF files. As with many languages, you can use it to start other programs that aren’t really related to PHP or web pages. It’s one of the most popular programming languages for web site because\na) It’s free (well, it ‘open source’ which means you can use the software for free but there are other obligations – like you can’t alter it and then sell it)\nb) It’s now very popular (which means its on almost every server set up going and if you get stuck the chances are someone you know can help you fix it).\nI have dabbled in PHP from time to time but I am a self taught programmer. I had a problem, I knew a computer could help me solve it, so I learnt what I needed to solve it and moved on. I have a big project coming up at work as I continue to improve our business systems to meet our growing needs. One of those is to move our MS Access based system that runs our invoicing onto a web based system. MS Access is fine in small groups, but we are pushing it’s capacity to it’s limit. I had considered Adobe/Macromedia Coldfusion but in order to use that in our office I would have to buy another licence (we already have one for our web server, the www.rootskitchens.co.uk site uses coldfusion). The licence isn’t too expensive at around 900 but if ever I want to have a second server running (second site for Roots perhaps, or I create a website for another interest and need to host it on another server) then I would have to spend another 900. Instead, I chose to spend that money on a proper Instructor led course on PHP.\nWhat did I mean by “…in a distant sort of way”? Well, I really wanted an instructor led course. I tried the local colleges and universities. I emailed some people mentioned on their web sites too, but there are no PHP specific courses they are running or plan to run. To be taught by an instructor I would have to go to London for a week. I thought fine, I’ll find someone and pay them directly to teach me. Alas, I still didn’t find anyone. Then I found the Zend course. It’s instructor led but the instructor is California. Now that’s what I call distant learning!\nThey have a web based (of course!) interface which I will be logging into to talk with the instructor and other students. I can see what he writes, the slides he shows, hear what he says, put my virtual hand up to ask a question, type a message and even interrupt him (using a microphone he can hear me too).\nThe downside? Well, I can’t throw pen lids at my friends in class (sorry Fiona!).\nThe time zones worked well for me too. The lessons start at 6pm BST so it’s just like Adult Education would have been. This type of online instructor led training could be a good thing – I’ll let you know how it goes.\n","date":"5 July 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/07/05/my-return-to-ed/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"My return to education begins…. in a distant sort of way","type":"posts"},{"content":"I said a few weeks ago that since reading Bernard Cornwell’s ‘Saxon’ series I was going to buy some of his Sharpe books to read. Having always avoided the “Sharpe’s…” books I’m now going to be searching them out. They’re great! It seems the only downside of seeing Sharpe on TV is that I now picture Sean Bean speaking when ever I read a line spoken by Sharpe! It’s funny how when you read characters develop in your mind and in some ways I missed that not happening as I read my first Sharpe book.\nI’m noticing that all the books I’m enjoying are filled with detail. This book is no exception and Bernard Cornwell has clearly done a lot of research in order to have his soldier Sharpe appear and fight in the battle of Trafalgar. I guess the question you may be asking is how did a soldier end up on a ship with Nelson? The answer – is very logical but I’m not going to tell you as it would spoil part of the story. hehe. The battle of Trafalgar is really only the last part of the story anyway, before that he has quite a few other adventures and close shaves with death. I enjoyed the action and I enjoyed reading the detail of the ships. One other thing that I like about Bernard Cornwells characters (both Richard Sharpe and Uhtred from the Saxon stories) is that all though the main character is like-able, they’re far from perfect and in some situations, very nasty. Sharpe killed a man who was trying to blackmail him in this story and got away with it. I think that personality adds to the realism of the stories though, implying life was cheap in centuries past.\n","date":"5 July 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/07/05/sharpes-trafalg/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Sharpe's Trafalgar (Bernard Cornwell)","type":"posts"},{"content":"While I am glad to have read this book, it’s not one I’d have missed reading. I’m not sure quite why I feel that way about it. It had a great deal of astonishing and logical detail of technology of the future (from ‘mining’ hydrogen gas from the atmosphere of Titan to sensor arrays to search for extraterrestrial life) and I do like exploring those ideas and theories, and yes, the sci-fi dreams of the author. I guess it was something to do with the story line that didn’t enthrall me, I just didn’t feel empathetic with the characters to make my interest in them any more than to make them comments in passing between the technology. One thing I did like was the ending. I wont say what I liked about the ending as that would spoil the story if ever you get to read it, but it came with an unexpected twist and a flurry of ‘new’ technology ideas.\n","date":"5 July 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/07/05/imperial-earth/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Imperial Earth (Arthur C Clarke)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Quote of the day: “The failure rate of hard drives is 100% so it’s not if your hard drive will fail, but when.”\nfrom www.logmein.com encouraging people to use their backup service.\nIf that fact doesn’t scare you into making regular backups I don’t know what will. Of course, ‘when’ your hard drive fails could be many many many years away but all mechanical things have a limited life and will wear out. MTBF is often given on hard disks and that acronym is “Mean Time Between Failure”. I’m sure you all know that “Mean” is a mathematical term for a type of average. You can see more how it’s calculated courtesy of Samsung. So, how long is the typical hard drive expected to last? One of samsung’s models give 500,000 hours which is equal to 57 years of continuous use. Some will last less time than that, some will last longer. Somehow, I think the ‘mean’ drive will be obsolete even to a hoarder and computer recycler like myself.\nJust for interest, I’ve had 4 hard disks fail since my first PC in 1994. One was brand new (first PC, just my luck!), one was a laptop drive and two were from different servers (both part of a RAID array which meant no data was lost – phew!). In the distant past I used to backup all our computers to tape drives. Today I send backups automatically every night to an off site server full of hard disks. Occasionally I restore some files and check they are still working. If you haven’t backed up for a while – how confident are you your disk will last another 50something years…\nPS – I chose Samsung as the example MTBF simply because their site came up first on a Google search, here at work we have a number of different manufacturers hard disks in our machines and I have no preference between any of the disk manufacturers.\n","date":"26 June 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/06/26/quote-of-the-da/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Quote of the day: \"The failure rate of hard drives is 100%…\"","type":"posts"},{"content":"Two books this time. I bought them as a pair for 3.73 in a supermarket just before we went on holiday. Other than the price and the fear of having nothing to read whilst away, I chose these because I recognised the authors name. He wrote the Sharpe series of novels which have been turned into Television shows staring Sean Bean. I’ve seen lots of the sharpe books in the second hand shops but had always avoided buying them. However, since reading these two books I’ve already bought one sharpe book and expect to be getting more.\nThe “Saxon” Series is currently only 3 books (more being written) that begin in “The Last Kingdom” with man called Uhtred speaking of his life. He’s not yet an old man, he still has the goal of recovering his rightful lands. The style of writing is beautiful, you can imagine a Saxon man speaking that way. I think it’s the detail that makes it so effective. An enormous amount of research must have been done before the series came into being. The author has discovered old town names, fortifications, even life styles – at one point Uhtred bemoans the war as it is allowing foxes to survive when they would normally be culled, which will lead to more lambs being lost and less food for people. The story is accurately placed in history to match up with real events and battles of the time (Uhtred was a Lord and Warrior).\nIn a strange way, I also love the way Uhtred is not quite like able. Yes, he is the hero of the story but it is not an easy role. In the “Pale Horseman” he returns to his hall and discovers one of his servants stealing a tree. His reaction is to cut off the mans head with his sword! He is a warrior and one you wouldn’t want to be on the wrong side of.\nBernard Cornwell has finished each book with some historical notes that help differentiate between fiction and fact. In the Pale Horseman King Alfred burns some oatcakes which is a story we all know from school. Yet from his research he says this was not likely a real event as the sources for the story are very late in our history and not from that period of time.\nThese stories are simply wonderful to read.\n","date":"22 June 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/06/22/the-last-kingdo/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"The Last Kingdom (Bernard Cornwell) and The Pale Horseman (Bernard Cornwell)","type":"posts"},{"content":"A book has a beginning and and end. A story is infinite. When a book begins certain things are accepted as happening before the part you read and as you close the last page of a book you know that as time is ever lasting the story could continue had the author so wished.\nSo it is with Prelude to Foundation. I thought the Foundation series was a series of three books whose prehistory and future would never be known. It is in fact a series of many. With Prelude to Foundation I got to read about what happened before Foundation and how circumstances conspired for Hari Seldon to develop his theory and start to make it practical. A thoroughly good read.\nThere was another surprise but first, these are all the books in the Foundation Series (according to the authors introduction to Prelude to Foundation).\nPrelude to Foundation\nFoundation\nFoundation and Empire\nSecond Foundation\nFoundations Edge\nFoundation and Earth\nHooray! now I get to read two more foundation books. I said a “series of many” books, rather than the six listed here. That’s because many of Issac Asimov’s books are set in the same universe and actually tie together, so rather than be limited to 6 books of the foundation series, the prehistory of Foundation is covered in the “Empire” series of novels and before that the “Robot” series of novels. Indeed, one of the characters from “The Naked Sun” which I read a month or so ago appears in “Prelude to Foundation”! The books before the foundation series are:\nThe Complete Robot (collection of robot short stories, including the original “I, Robot” short stories from 1950)\nThe Caves of Steel\nThe Naked Sun\nThe Robots of Dawn\nRobots and Empire (Last of the Robots Series)\nThe Currents of Space (First of the Empire Series)\nThe Stars, Like Dust\nPebble in the Sky (last of the Empire Series)\n(foundation series starts)\nI can’t wait to find the other novels in the second hand bookshops – I think I have an Asimov addiction!\n","date":"22 June 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/06/22/prelude-to-foun/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Prelude to Foundation (Isaac Asimov)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Happy birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday dear me, happy birthday to me [claping, cheering, blowing out an inferno of 30 candles].\nWow, I’m so lucky. I’m 30 and have already achieved so many of my goals that there’s little left to make me happier. Perhaps that’s because I have realistic goals and don’t mind a little hardship every now and then though.\nDo you want to know what the biggest difference of my 30th birthday was compared to previous birthdays? It was looking for a particular type of handwriting on an envelope, even though I knew this year it wouldn’t be there. My Nan died recently and I have always taken for granted seeing a birthday card from her in the morning post. Nan’s birthday was also the 18th June, so this is the first year we didn’t get to wish each other happy birthday.\nThe photo is Nan in 2002 with Nicola and James. She was on holiday in Eastbourne then so we drove down to meet her.\n","date":"18 June 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/06/18/happy-birthday/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Happy Birthday to me! (30 today)","type":"posts"},{"content":"I just noticed my laptop was turned on 5 days and 4 hours ago (yes, it’s Friday today, and yes, I do work Sundays). Now, if only I could work for that long without a rest….\nWhy so long? I’ve been doing a little work from home in the evenings. Leaving my laptop plugged in at work means I can connect to it over the Internet and use my home PC to control my laptop in the office (broadband isn’t quite quick enough for some of the database work I’ve been doing. Controlling a computer uses far less bandwidth so leaving my laptop in the office means I can use all it’s software from home. “Remote Desktop Connection” is a standard windows XP feature).\n","date":"9 June 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/06/09/woohoo-a-new-up/","section":"Posts","summary":"I just noticed my laptop was turned on 5 days and 4 hours ago (yes, it’s Friday today, and yes, I do work Sundays). Now, if only I could work for that long without a rest….\n","title":"Woohoo! a new uptime record for my Win XP laptop","type":"posts"},{"content":"It was OK. I normally enjoy this sort of book a lot more (I’m sure I’ve read other stories of his) but I just didn’t get into it well enough to enjoy it. The story line is good though. It has some clever links to World War 2 history and I found myself frequently visualising the surroundings the characters were in. Definitely worth the 2 I paid at the second hand bookshop.\n","date":"8 June 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/06/08/the-sigma-proto/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"The Sigma Protocol (Robert Ludlum)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Partly to solve that spam problem, partly to save me some work in the future, the village website now has a sparkly new CMS. CMS = Content Management System and it will meant that I have to spend less time updating the site (as it will enable others to add things as well as me). It also adds a whole host of gadgets I’ve been meaning to add for a while, like a forum. There have been a lot of emails relating to peoples ancestors that used to live in the village, now they have somewhere to post information or ask questions. http://www.boughton-under-blean.org.ukk if you are interested.\n","date":"4 June 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/06/04/new-village-web/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"New village website","type":"posts"},{"content":"Some people try and spam anything. I run the village website and have a little, simple suggestions form that visitors can leave requests on. The messages go only to me. Being a form, someone is now spamming it with links to websites trying to improve their page rank and visitor numbers no doubt. Only I see the messages so it’s a waste of their time and effort.\n","date":"28 May 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/05/28/some-people-try/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Some people try and spam anything","type":"posts"},{"content":"I like to carry a book with me just in case I have some spare time between jobs. Unfortunately I forgot to take a book with me recently so was forced to buy one as I passed a supermarket. I mean, a whole 5.00 for a book, that’s like three times more than I normally pay! Still, the book I found was called “The Last Templar”. This book reminded me of “The Da Vinci Code” and was equally enjoyable. Instead of the blood line of Jesus Christ that the Da Vinci Code is based around, this was based around an order of knights and their treasure. Not treasure in the financial sense, treasure more as a political controlling factor over the Vatican and Catholic Church. I wont say much more, it may spoil the story if you read it. The story is pure fiction but uses a sprinkling of historical fact to make it seem believable. As much as anything, this was a detective story, some action scenes and a love story for the two main characters.\n","date":"26 May 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/05/26/the-last-templa/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"The Last Templar (Raymond Khoury)","type":"posts"},{"content":"I just read some interesting statistics on the eurid web site about the .eu domain registrations. .eu is a new Top Level Domain (TLD) and basically allows more people to have short and specific domain names. If your “companyname” is already taken in .com, .co.uk, .net and so on, you may be able to register it as “companyname.eu”.\nSince Launch on the 7th April, almost 1.8 million names have been registered. There was also a breakdown of how many domains were registered by country of registration. Here’s a small extract:\nCountry \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; Number of Domains Registered \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; Percentage of Total Domains registered \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt;\u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; DE \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 580,700\u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 32 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt;\u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; GB \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 339,234 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 19 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; NL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 212,944 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 12 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; IT \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 106,010 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; FR \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 89,903 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt;\u0026lt;/table\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt; There are around 60 million people in the UK, roughly the same as France and Italy, yet we bought notably more of the new domains than they have. In Germany there are roughly 85 million people and they seem more taken with the new domains than we have been. The thing I find particularly interesting is that the Netherlands has only 16 million people, so they\u0026amp;#8217;ve been buying the new domains at quite a rate! \u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt; Let\u0026amp;#8217;s look at this another way. How many people in each country are there for each .eu domain: \u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;table title=\u0026quot;Domains per country per person\u0026quot;\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; Country \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; Number of Domains Registered \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; Percentage of Total Domains registered \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; People per .eu Domain \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; DE \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 580,700 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 32 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 146 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; GB \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 339,234 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 19 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 176 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; NL \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 212,944 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 12 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 75 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; IT \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 106,010 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 6 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 565 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; FR \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 89,903 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 5 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 667 \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/table\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt; The table shows that there is one new .eu domain for every 75 people in the Netherlands, wheras in France you\u0026amp;#8217;d have to find 667 people to find one with a .eu domain. I wonder what the reason is behind this big difference in buying domain names. \u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt; (note: Population numbers checked on \u0026lt;a href=\u0026quot;http://epp.eurostat.cec.eu.int/\u0026quot;\u0026gt;eurostat web site\u0026lt;/a\u0026gt;) \u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; ","date":"21 May 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/05/21/interesting-sta/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Interesting Statistics for the new .eu domain","type":"posts"},{"content":"I think I’m going to have to start a new category for these spam wars posts – there are getting to be so many!\nToday I would like to report to you all a small success. Remember that domain mail-2204vf49.co.uk that had it’s address details hidden as it was registered to a non-trading individual who had opted out of displaying details in the registry? I spoke to nominet about that and they said if I could send them evidence that the domain was actually registered for a trading reason then they could ‘correct’ the opt out declaration and show the details (only non-trading individuals can opt out of the registry). I sent them a fax explaining the history of spam from this domain and extracts from my server log files and they agreed that the domain is really being used commercially. So here it\nis, the owner of the spam sending domain is: [begin fanfare]\nDomain name:\nmail-2204vf49.co.uk\nRegistrant:\nTony Slater\nRegistrant type:\nUK Individual\nRegistrant’s address:\ndu-pont house\nCranbrook\nGH56 9JH\nGB\nWAIT!!! STOP THE FANFARE!!! … there’s something fishy about that address. Like no street name… and I don’t live far from Cranbrook and I happen to know that Cranbrook is in the TN postcodes, not GH. The Royal Mail website doesn’t even recognise the GH postcode.\nWhat next? Well, I’ve sent Nominet an email asking what to do when an address is false in the registry. I think I’ll give company “T” another phone call as well. The man there admited sending us the spam though this domain, so perhaps he’ll tell me who owns it (perhaps I’m giving the benefit of doubt to often, but hey, perhaps they could have accidentally registered the name with completely incorrect details……)\n.\n","date":"19 May 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/05/19/spam-wars-on-th/","section":"Posts","summary":"I think I’m going to have to start a new category for these spam wars posts – there are getting to be so many!\nToday I would like to report to you all a small success. Remember that domain mail-2204vf49.co.uk that had it’s address details hidden as it was registered to a non-trading individual who had opted out of displaying details in the registry? I spoke to nominet about that and they said if I could send them evidence that the domain was actually registered for a trading reason then they could ‘correct’ the opt out declaration and show the details (only non-trading individuals can opt out of the registry). I sent them a fax explaining the history of spam from this domain and extracts from my server log files and they agreed that the domain is really being used commercially. So here it\nis, the owner of the spam sending domain is: [begin fanfare]\nDomain name:\nmail-2204vf49.co.uk\nRegistrant:\nTony Slater\nRegistrant type:\nUK Individual\nRegistrant’s address:\ndu-pont house\nCranbrook\nGH56 9JH\nGB\nWAIT!!! STOP THE FANFARE!!! … there’s something fishy about that address. Like no street name… and I don’t live far from Cranbrook and I happen to know that Cranbrook is in the TN postcodes, not GH. The Royal Mail website doesn’t even recognise the GH postcode.\nWhat next? Well, I’ve sent Nominet an email asking what to do when an address is false in the registry. I think I’ll give company “T” another phone call as well. The man there admited sending us the spam though this domain, so perhaps he’ll tell me who owns it (perhaps I’m giving the benefit of doubt to often, but hey, perhaps they could have accidentally registered the name with completely incorrect details……)\n","title":"Spam Wars – on the trail of a serious spammer","type":"posts"},{"content":"Wow, so much progress in one day. Company “W” came back with the story that they didn’t actually buy the list. It was given to them by one of the owners friends. I think we can all guess how he’s feeling (the owner and the friend!).\nThe friend had used some software called “Atomic” or similar to scan web sites and extract the email addresses. A quick google brings us\nAtomic Email Hunter, an email extractor, is designed to harvest e-mail addresses and user names from web sites using the HTTP protocol.\n.\n(I’m not linking to the web site on principle by the way). I’m hoping to speak to “friend” to find out more about how this software works, how many addresses it found, how he chose (or if the software chose) the domain names to scan for email addresses. I also want to know how it describes itself to the hunted web server (I expect it calls itself “internet explorer” or similar).\nOnto company “D”, who came back with the correct name and phone number of the company they bought an address of mine from. They also included a request that I don’t make contact with them again and said they would involve solicitors if I say anything slanderous against them. I thought that it couldn’t be slander if it was true (and I have the spam email to prove it) – perhaps I better check….\nQuick google search returns: Basic Libel for Idiots\nnormal caveat applies here – don’t trust everything you read on the internet as it could be wrong!\nIt says:\nBasic Libel for Idiots\nBy Adam Porter, editor Year Zero, Dec 2002.\nLibel is the written word. Slander is spoken.\nThere are two versions of defamation, libel and slander. Libel is when the defamation is written down (including email, bulletin boards and websites), and slander is when the incident relates to words spoken.\nIn the UK, if someone thinks that what you wrote about them is either defamatory or damaging, the onus will be entirely on you to prove that your comments are true in court. In other words, if you make the claim, you’ve got to prove it!\nOK, I stand corrected, I would be libeling company D if I lied about how they sent me spam, not slandering them! I wont correct the man at company D on this point though, he’d rather not hear from me and if he really has given me the details of the list he bought then I will leave him in peace.\n","date":"18 May 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/05/18/spam-wars-a-bus/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Spam Wars – A busy day!","type":"posts"},{"content":"I’ve had some progress with Eden communications. They still insist they can keep sending the spam (so later I shall discuss this with the information commissioner, watch this space for the results), but they did provide the contact details of the company they bought the list from. The company that sold this list also tried to call me as well. Always wanting to give people the benefit of the doubt, we shall call the sending company “T”. “T” insist they bought the addresses in good faith, so I will be emailing them to ask for the details of the company they bought them from. By the way, the reason for that strange domain name used in sending spam (mail-2204vf49.co.uk) is because they use it to track campaigns. Sounds resonable but I still have many unanswered questions. Still, lets give them the benefit of the doubt and a chance to answer before jumping to conclusions.\n","date":"18 May 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/05/18/spam-wars-a-lit/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Spam Wars – a little progress.","type":"posts"},{"content":"I recieved the following in a news summary from my local chamber of commerce,\nBattery recycling mandatory in two years – Battery recycling schemes for businesses and consumers must be implemented across Europe by 2008, the European Union (EU) has ruled. Public collection points where local residents and firms can deposit used batteries will be established as part of EU efforts to recycle 25% of all batteries within four years of the scheme being set up. Firms manufacturing devices that run on batteries will have to make their products in such a way that users can easily remove used batteries – at their own cost.\nSo, what’s going to happen to my new Ipod Shuffle? The battery is not removable and although rechargeable once it dies it cannot be replaced. I guess Apple will need to have it redesigned…\n","date":"18 May 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/05/18/batteries-will/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Batteries will *require* recycling – so what happens to ipods?","type":"posts"},{"content":"OK, so I still haven’t heard from Eden, but I have received spam from 2 different companies to an address never used for spam before (a role based address of webmaster@….). That address is also only listed on one website that I run. The website also has email addresses for some friends who have businesses so I was able to ask them if they had received any spam. They had, and some sent me copies for my records.\nBoth companies that sent the spam gave full details of who they were so I’ve followed them up.\nCompany “W” sent email under the name of two different companies they run. One a web design company, one a hosting company. I phoned and spoke to their MD who was upset that the list he bought was not legitimate and that therefore his company was implicated in spam. I suggested that if I send an email explaining the situation and asking for the name of the company he bought the list from he could reply and provide their details. He agreed so now I’m waiting to know the details of the company they bought the list from.\nCompany “D” sent me the spam on Friday afternoon so I sent an email to their office explaining how they had broken the regulations and so on. Very prompt reply from the operations director apologising and saying he will remove my name from the list. He also named the company that he bought the list from but hasn’t yet given me their contact details. I did have a quick look for the company he named, but there are several companies of that name and I wouldn’t want anyone to mix them up. Once I have them identified I shall let you all know.\nI have a feeling both of these companies bought their list from the same source.\nIf you are wondering why I haven’t named the companies that sent the spam above it is because I currently believe they were mislead as to where the lists had come from. Yes, they should have checked but I know in running my own business that you have to place a lot of trust in suppliers. If ever you decide to buy a list PLEASE check the addresses. If you see an address webmaster@… or postmaster@…. the list is most likely rubbish. These addresses are role based addresses, used for receiving messages specifically related to their name. Often they are receive only addresses and hardly likely to acknowledge an opt-in email acknowledgement. These companies shall remain nameless as it is possible for us all to make mistakes. Eden are a special case, on the phone they declared to me they would continue to send spam, so they deserve a mention.\nI also had an interesting phone call with someone at the Information Commissioners office. I was wondering how many companies they have taken to court for sending spam. The answer: none. Before you all start jumping up and down bemoaning the government bureaucracy, there’s a good reason. Firstly, most spam reported to them is unactionable as it originates from outside of the UK (and therefore outside of their jurisdiction). Secondly most companies that send spam stop after a phone call. There’s no need to take them to court if they stop sending spam. Generally companies wouldn’t like to be seen as sending spam as it wouldn’t do their reputation any good, so I think Information Commissioners Office is right in not automatically taking people to court. So, government offices can be sensible and efficient.\nNow, what to do about Eden Communications….\n","date":"15 May 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/05/15/spam-wars-conti/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Spam wars continue…","type":"posts"},{"content":"Another new category – Warbirds\nWhat is it? It’s a game I play on the internet, I mentioned it before in another post. It’s a multiplayer online game, where people fly lots of different aircraft and try and shoot each other down. People from all over the world take part – the group I mostly fly with come from Germany, America, Argentina and New Zealand. Hmmm, lots of players from countries the UK has a history of fighting with, a little ironic don’t you think?\n","date":"8 May 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/05/08/a-new-category-1/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"A new category – Warbirds","type":"posts"},{"content":"I hate spam. I don’t mind companies making genuine attempts to sell us things, researching us using our website and contacting us by email, phone or fax (I even have a page on our web site just for that reason). However, I get really annoyed when they make up email address and bounce them off the server to see if they work or not. If they do they then send email by the bucket load that is completely irrelevant to the email address in question.\nToday, I received yet more spam from a company called Eden Communications (25 High Street, Edenbridge, Kent, TN8 5AB Tel: 01732 865 313 sales@edencomms.co.uk although they didn’t include their real email address in the spam). Being a localish company I decided to call them and ask them why they are sending so much spam to me (and my wife, and an employee that no longer works for me, and an email address that related to a specific product on our website.. you get the picture). Their answer was that “they send them through another company and are told the list is only people who have provided their email address and want to receive them”. I asked if they ever saw the list of email address they were sending things too and the answer was “no”. I suggested they ask to see it so they would see it’s obvious the list is not genuine, then stop using that company. Their answer was “no” [pause in stunned silence] “We get a lot of business from it and very few complaints” he said.\nWell, there you go. Eden Communications feel it is perfectly acceptable to send spam to because they get lots of business from it. I originally thought they had made a mistake (we are all human after all) and hadn’t meant to pay a company to send spam on their behalf. Many companies have made that mistake (even the big ones from time to time) and I would say it’s not unreasonable for the non technical internet user to believe the claims of a company that all the addresses in the list they are paying for have agreed to receive email advertisements.\nI’ve just looked up the regulations on the internet:\nStatutory Instrument 2003 No. 2426 -The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003\nUse of electronic mail for direct marketing purposes\n– (1) This regulation applies to the transmission of unsolicited communications by means of electronic mail to individual subscribers. (2) Except in the circumstances referred to in paragraph (3), a person shall neither transmit, nor instigate the transmission of, unsolicited communications for the purposes of direct marketing by means of electronic mail unless the recipient of the electronic mail has previously notified the sender that he consents for the time being to such communications being sent by, or at the instigation of, the sender.\n(3) A person may send or instigate the sending of electronic mail for the purposes of direct marketing where –\n(a) that person has obtained the contact details of the recipient of that electronic mail in the course of the sale or negotiations for the sale of a product or service to that recipient;\n(b) the direct marketing is in respect of that person’s similar products and services only; and\n(c) the recipient has been given a simple means of refusing (free of charge except for the costs of the transmission of the refusal) the use of his contact details for the purposes of such direct marketing, at the time that the details were initially collected, and, where he did not initially refuse the use of the details, at the time of each subsequent communication.\n(4) A subscriber shall not permit his line to be used in contravention of paragraph (2).\n[and skipping a bit…]\nProceedings for compensation for failure to comply with requirements of the Regulations\n30. – (1) A person who suffers damage by reason of any contravention of any of the requirements of these Regulations by any other person shall be entitled to bring proceedings for compensation from that other person for that damage.\n(2) In proceedings brought against a person by virtue of this regulation it shall be a defence to prove that he had taken such care as in all the circumstances was reasonably required to comply with the relevant requirement.\n(3) The provisions of this regulation are without prejudice to those of regulation 31.\n[and skipping another bit…]\nRequest that the Commissioner exercise his enforcement functions\n32. Where it is alleged that there has been a contravention of any of the requirements of these Regulations either OFCOM or a person aggrieved by the alleged contravention may request the Commissioner to exercise his enforcement functions in respect of that contravention, but those functions shall be exercisable by the Commissioner whether or not he has been so requested.\nNow I have the regulations in front of me, I’m going to phone them and ask for their comment again….\nOK, the person I spoke to (possibly Tony?) is busy at the moment. I left my name and number and made it clear to the receptionist why I was phoning. I hope he phones back. If he does I’ll let you know anything else he says.\nWhile we’re waiting and I’m still eating my lunch, let’s see what else we can find out about this spam. It claims to be from a domain “mail-2204vf49.co.uk” – doesn’t exactly slip off the tongue. I wonder who owns it? Fortunately the registry is published at http://www.nic.uk which reports:\nDomain name:\nmail-2204vf49.co.uk\nRegistrant:\nTony Slater\nRegistrant type:\nUK Individual\nRegistrant’s address:\nThe registrant is a non-trading individual who has opted to have their address omitted from the WHOIS service.\nRegistrant’s agent:\nPIPEX Communications Hosting Ltd t/a 123-Reg.co.uk [Tag = 123-REG]\nURL: http://www.123-reg.co.uk\nRelevant dates:\nRegistered on: 10-Apr-2006\nRenewal date: 10-Apr-2008\nThat’s interesting. The name is registered as an individual (not a company), my guess is it’s not the same Tony as at Eden Comms though (I’ll see if I can find out later). It was registered very recently. That bit doesn’t surprise me. Domain names are cheap and if you are sending spam it will soon get blocked by all the spam filters. The strange name is simply used for this campaign then thrown away. They haven’t even changed the 123-reg holding page. Although the individual has withheld their address, there are ways of getting it if you need to.\nNow to look for this Tony. Eden Communications doesn’t say if it’s a limited company on it’s web site and the domain is registered simply to “Eden Communications” with no registrant type supplied (Individual, Partnership, Company etc). There are no terms and conditions of sale on it’s web site either (they often mention whether the company is a partnership and who they are). Companies House lists an “Eden Communications Limited” as a company in London (just a co-incidence in name I think, not the same company). Looking though the Eden Comms web site for terms I found their ‘products’ page which says they provide “web design services” and under “email / Internet”\nEmail \u0026amp; Internet Access\nWe supply mail server software to provide E-Mail access for all users requiring their own Company E-Mail address.\nInternet access can also be provided for designated users.\nOther features include virus scanning, firewall security and ‘anti-spam’ to prevent unwanted E-Mails reaching the Inbox, together with reports providing detailed information on Internet usage.\nHaha! That’s so funny, they offer anti-spam services and have been sending spam! I like the irony.\nJust tried calling them again, ‘Tony’ is still not available. Perhaps he’ll call later.\n11th May 2006 – Called again as Tony still had replied. He’s not in the office so I left my number once more and the URL of this web site.\n","date":"4 May 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/05/04/spam-warning-il/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Spam (warning – I'll be ranting again!)","type":"posts"},{"content":"You’re probably noticing a trend of my recent reading… lot’s of Issac Asimov. While it’s true to say that these are all science fiction, they’re not just science fiction. This one is as much a crime thriller, it just happens to be set on another planet. It has some very clever extrapolations of how social society could develop on new planets and this ties neatly into solving a murder. Yet another Asimov book I’ve enjoyed reading.\n","date":"3 May 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/05/03/the-naked-sun-i/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"The Naked Sun (Issac Asimov)","type":"posts"},{"content":"A wonderful novel, it tells the story of a star ship that leaves a dieing earth behind to continue human life on a new planet around a different sun. On the way they stop at a planet to make repairs and discover that human life is already there. There is a lovely part about how the ‘president’ of the planet is chosen not by volunteering and asking for votes, but by random choice. The theory being that anyone who wants to be president would automatically be a bad choice. There are other interesting ideas and theories set out in the book, all plausible if not actually (yet) possible. I love also the way Arthur C Clarke uses and creates language, once you’ve read this book you’ll understand why I can use “Kumar’s Kayak” as a metaphor for this web site 😉\n","date":"26 April 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/04/26/the-songs-of-di/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"The Songs of Distant Earth (Arthur C.Clarke)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Just heard from an old friend called Adam. We met some 15 years ago at Chatham Ski Centre. A group of blind skiiers were looking for guides so I volunteered (and ended up managing the log book of available guides for when someone wanted to go skiing). We’ve booked a ski session for a few weeks time. Adam is totally blind so my job as a guide is to shout “left” and “Right” at the appropriate time so he stays on the slope and doesn’t bump into anyone.\n","date":"23 April 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/04/23/blast-from-the/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Blast from the past!","type":"posts"},{"content":"I saw this in the second hand bookshop and it brought back memories of when I was growing up. Douglas Reeman has writen a lot of fiction about the Navy in World War 2 and I remember reading abridged versions of them in Readers Digests compendiums (the consolidated 4 books in to one slightly larger volume).\nI actually found this one quite hard to read. Perhaps it was because I’ve got two books on the go at the moment but I often lost track of which character was which. The story line was good and I found myself picturing with ease the circumstances and surroundings the characters were living through. I don’t think this is a book that will leave you feeling happy at the end, but then I don’t think any book with a wartime theme will – in war, heros and villains die alike.\n","date":"23 April 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/04/23/a-dawn-like-thu/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"A Dawn Like Thunder (Douglas Reeman)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Consuming many hours of my time lately has been a science fiction series written by Issac Assimov. I picked the books up for a few pounds in second hand bookshop and the thing that convinced me to buy was a preface in one written by Arthur C Clarke. I’d been reading and enjoying a lot of his work and the preface was complimentary of Assimov.\nThey’re fantastic! I’ve bought some more of his books now (also from the second hand bookshop) and have my eye on a couple of others. Amazon have a system where people can sell second hand books too and I think I may well buy the ones I can’t find in the local second hand bookshop.\nThe Foundation stories cover several centuries from the Fall of an empire that spanned the Galaxy to the rise of it’s replacement. All based around a theory that one man in the start of the story had that the actions of groups of people can be accurately predicted (whereas the actions of an individual are more unpredictable). He forecast the fall of the empire, and then put in place things to replace the fallen empire with a new empire as soon as possible, hopefully preventing the loss of knowledge and technology and turning the possible 30,000 year galactic dark ages into a period of just 1,000 years. The story is addictive and quite unpredictable. I’ve found many stories seem to come to a conclusion to soon and I want them to continue, I think this is one of the first series I’ve read where that hasn’t been an issue. By the way, read them in the order “Foundation”, “Foundation and Empire”, “Second Foundation”.\n","date":"22 April 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/04/22/issac-assimovs-1/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Issac Assimov's Foundation, Foundation and Empire, Second Foundation","type":"posts"},{"content":"I’ve been trying to install Fedora from DVD but couldn’t get the machine to read the DVD when it booted. I kept thinking it was a BIOS setting I had wrong (I could only choose ‘CD’ as a boot option). Eventually, I tried a bootable CD and that wouldn’t work either. The problem all along was that I had the DVD set as ‘cable select’ (and it selected itself as slave which may not have helped). When I changed the jumper to ‘Master’ I could boot from CD’s and DVD’s. I never found the answer when googling so I post this here in case it helps someone else.\n","date":"2 April 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/04/02/boot-from-dvd-b/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Boot from DVD (bios setting)","type":"posts"},{"content":"I love reading. In fact, the only think I dislike about reading is getting to the end of a good book. You want the story to continue even though you know it’s reached it’s conclusion. How many books I read varies depends on two interlinked variables. 1) Having a book and 2) Having the time.\nI hate carrying a book around with me for just in case I get the time, although invariably I’ll leave a half read book in the car. When staying in hotels (seemingly more frequent as I visit more or our suppliers) is also one of the few times I’ll deliberately pack a book or two.\nMost of my books come from second hand bookshops and although I’ve never really though about there being a theme to the books I choose I’m noticing a lot of military/action/’good guys always win’ thrillers and just recently a lot of science fiction. The next posts in this category wil be my brief reviews of books as I read them. Not being one to miss an opportunity, you can even buy a copy yourself using the convieniently placed Amazon links (and yes, if you do I may well earn a few pennies!). Although, I expect a lot of what I’m reading is out of print. hey ho!\n","date":"27 March 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/03/27/a-new-category/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"A new category!","type":"posts"},{"content":"I’m standing in a hotel bar in Maastricht using my PDA on the hotels free wireless network to write this post. Fantastic! This is the way all hotels should be. If you are interested the hotel is the Bastion www.bastionhotel.nl (and there’s a new problem – this keyboard doesn’t have all the keys I need!)\n","date":"23 March 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/03/23/international-p/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"International post","type":"posts"},{"content":"For many many years I’ve had a Nokia 8310. Like the one in the picture here. It worked fine, fitted the car kit and did all that was expected of it. I also had a Palm IIIc (like the picture here) which meant that I could take my diary with me. It would automatically update the office diary so everyone would know where I was, and everyone could add/update appointments as needed. It was a great setup, but unfortunately there was a fatal flaw in this arrangement. I almost always didn’t have the Palm with me when I wanted it. Not because it was too big, the size was fine. It was just that whereas I could remember to take the phone with me, I didn’t use the Palm enough to make sure I would always have that with me.\nThere’s another problem I’ve had too. Everywhere I go on business I need to take my laptop with me. It means should something happen on one of the servers I can log in and fix it remotely. It doesn’t happen often, but it sure makes me feel better knowing that if it does I can probably do something about it. It’s no fun carrying a laptop around all day just in case and I’d been thinking it would be great if I got a PDA that could browse the internet, be my diary and be my phone all in one go. Well, these type of devices have slowly become more common but it’s only now that I’ve finally decided it’s worth spending some money in an effort to make life a little easier.\nSo here it is, my new phone is an O2 XDA Exec. (Actually, the picture is the silver coloured HTC Universal, the 02 model is black and branded for 02 but the only decent image I could find was from the original equipment manufacturer) This is probably going to be another very long and boring post for most of you, so if you’re really interested follow the link to see all I’ve got to say on the big change over.\nStill here? Cool!\nRight, so, what’s an O2 XDA Exec, What does it do, why did I choose it, is it working and should you get one too? One at a time now.\nWhat is an O2 XDA Exec?\nIt’s a rebadged “HTC Universal” phone – see the manufacturers page here. It’s rebadged into most brands. I just found a really good review of it branded as the I-Mate JasJar at http://www.pdagold.com/articles/detail.asp?a=257\nIt’s a smartphone based on Windows Mobile 2005.\nIt takes a regular phone company sim card which allows it to make and recieve mobile phone calls (in my case O2, but it could be any network). It also works with 3G networks as a video phone (I’m not using that bit though).\nIt has built in WiFi for accessing wireless networks. It has BlueTooth. It has InfraRed transmitter/reciever for things that still use it (I used to have a laptop with infrared to sync the palm). It has USB too.\nIt is a computer that can run many programs, eg Internet Explorer (pocket version though), Email Clients, mini word, excel, powerpoint programs, Adobe PDF Viewer, Ebook readers, games and many other things. Including SSH Terminal emulators which I need to control servers.\nIt has a keyboard, OK a small keyboard, but a keyboard never the less.\nIt has software to recognise characters written on the screen (like my old palm, and a few improved versions of it too).\nIt has a SD Slot to take a memory card (and I think 128mb built in to run the programs built into the device)\nIt has a 1.3 megapixel camera on one side, and a smaller video camera for when it’s used as a video phone too.\nIt has a LED Light (used as a flash for the camera but it can also be used as a small, not very bright but still useful wide angle torch too).\nIt is a clamshell type phone (so you don’t dial someone in your pocket by pressing buttons without realising).\nIt still fits in a pocket.\nWhy Did I choose it?\nI wanted a device that would work as my phone, my PDA (diary), and in a more limited sense my laptop (accessing the internet from wherever to check email and remote control the occasional server). It was advertised as doing all of these things and appeared to me to be more flexible that the nearest Nokia equivalent (a 9300, which if I remember didn’t have wi-fi built in).\nIt it working?\nYes! It’s taken a little getting used to (I really should read the manual more!) but it does all it said it would thanks to some extra software I found on the internet (a SSH Terminal program). It has a few bonus functions too, it can apparenetly be hooked up to GPS and work as a navigation system (not tried yet though) and it keeps the family occupied with the games on it. I’ve had to have my car kit updated – I now have a bluetooth ‘Parrot CK3100’ car kit.\nIt updated my office diary perfectly (to our share360 web based shared diary system, via outlook on my laptop)\nShould you get one?\nWe’ve also been experimenting and managed to get Dave’s Nokia phone syncing with our Office diary system, so if it’s just a phone and diary you need it’s probably not worth getting one. For me, it’s been very useful.\nAnything it doesn’t have?\nI wish there was a decent Java Virtual Machine for it (I’m sure one will be available soon from Sun or similar though) – that would increase the range of software programs available. Also, the outlook email interface relies on a connected computer to send and recieve email/update diary (I would prefer to be able to use it as a standalone email platform seperate to my laptop. I expect I’ll find a standalone email client soon though).\nAny problems?\nYes, it’s a jack of all trades, master of none. To answer a call you don’t have to open the cover but that means you can’t see who’s calling. If you open the cover the processesor doesn’t seem to be able to redraw the screen quick enough and let you answer at the same time (press the button and there is a multi-second delay – you sound rather silly saying hello .. hello,… hello!). It’s fine if you answer without opening the cover (there is a speaker in the lid and a microphone on the edge so you don’t have to open it).\nIt’s windows, so perhaps that’s why it requires being reset about once every 2 weeks. If you open too many programs the screen becomes unresponsive (it doesn’t crash, it just takes 5 minutes thinking about things, stops updating the clock, and so on).\nIt doesn’t automatically update the Parrot bluetooth car kit with the phone numbers in it’s memory (Dave’s nokia phone does, I have to send EACH NUMBER individually which is a slow process. Therefore I haven’t got all the numbers on my car kit, only the ones I call regularly).\nI haven’t been able to get it to connect to the internet using the modem function (it will probably work on GPRS, but I want to connect by old style modem to my office number, not the internet in general. I did get it working once as a dial up modem when connected to my laptop, just not a dial up modem for it’s own use). VPN doesn’t seem to play ball either. Fortunately, in most places there is a wifi connection nearby and that connects to the internet pefectly. Not the smoothest, fastest loading broadband web browser experience but more than adequate for checking my web based email without having to pull out the laptop. We have to be conscious that faster performace would require more battery power. As it is I’ve had it going about 2 days without re-charging for my normal (low) amount of phone calls and checking my diary. I can live with these problems for now though.\n","date":"4 March 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/03/04/my-new-phone-1/","section":"Posts","summary":"For many many years I’ve had a Nokia 8310. Like the one in the picture here. It worked fine, fitted the car kit and did all that was expected of it. I also had a Palm IIIc (like the picture here) which meant that I could take my diary with me. It would automatically update the office diary so everyone would know where I was, and everyone could add/update appointments as needed. It was a great setup, but unfortunately there was a fatal flaw in this arrangement. I almost always didn’t have the Palm with me when I wanted it. Not because it was too big, the size was fine. It was just that whereas I could remember to take the phone with me, I didn’t use the Palm enough to make sure I would always have that with me.\nThere’s another problem I’ve had too. Everywhere I go on business I need to take my laptop with me. It means should something happen on one of the servers I can log in and fix it remotely. It doesn’t happen often, but it sure makes me feel better knowing that if it does I can probably do something about it. It’s no fun carrying a laptop around all day just in case and I’d been thinking it would be great if I got a PDA that could browse the internet, be my diary and be my phone all in one go. Well, these type of devices have slowly become more common but it’s only now that I’ve finally decided it’s worth spending some money in an effort to make life a little easier.\nSo here it is, my new phone is an O2 XDA Exec. (Actually, the picture is the silver coloured HTC Universal, the 02 model is black and branded for 02 but the only decent image I could find was from the original equipment manufacturer) This is probably going to be another very long and boring post for most of you, so if you’re really interested follow the link to see all I’ve got to say on the big change over.\n","title":"My New Phone","type":"posts"},{"content":"It must be a lucky year for me. I’ve just one an iPod Shuffle 1Gb courtesy of a Ford survey I completed (we’ve been looking at cars for Rhonda).\nA few months ago I won a 15 Amazon voucher from another survey. Only trouble is I don’t know what to buy with it. Any ideas?\n","date":"25 February 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/02/25/i-won-an-ipod/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"I won an iPod!","type":"posts"},{"content":"Well, traffic levels here are increasing regularly. Guess either a) I have a lot of friends b) Theres actually some content here people want to read c) Lots of people are getting lost and ending up here.\nI’ve decided to try hosting some googleads here. The theory is if you are reading one of my pages, google will put some relevent adverts alongside the page. If you happen to be interested in that companies product (it’s almost always going to be a product) then you can follow the link. The company pay google a few pennies for every person that follows the link, and google pay a (no doubt) miniscule percentage to me. Be interesting to see if it provides any holiday spending money.\nBefore you ask:\nno, it doesn’t work if I click on the links to earn money for myself. It also recognises the same person following the link, so don’t bother clicking on an advert 30 times – computers can be clever things and will simply not count you. Yes, if i do actually ever recieve a cheque from google for this, I have to pay tax on it 🙁 For me, that will simply be a case of raising a corresponding invoice to cover the reciept and it will be part of my business accounts. I guess other people have to register with the tax office and start doing a tax return. ","date":"25 January 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/01/25/new-experiment/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"New experiment – googleads now on the site","type":"posts"},{"content":"“D’arghhh!” said the man as he’d once again forgotten to take his favourite DVD out of his computer before turning the machine off. Now, he’d have to turn the power on to get the DVD out. Being a good man, he couldn’t possibly turn the power off until windows had fully started, the disk had ejected and he could use the windows software shutdown button, lest he damage his data. It looked as though he’d be leaving late again… unless he just goes without the DVD… hmm, he pondered momentarily.\n“But Wait!” said his friend, “you can still leave in a hurry AND take the DVD with you by using one of my magic paperclips”\n“Magic paperclips! Don’t make me laugh, I can’t get my DVD out of my computer unless I turn the power on” said the man dismissively.\n“Then watch, dear friend…”said the mans friend, as he bent the magic paper clip out of shape. He pushed one end of the part straightened paper clip into a little round hole on the front of the man’s CD/DVD drive,\n“I’ve never noticed that hole before” said the man, at the same moment as the drive magically popped open revealing the much desired DVD. “Wow!” said the man.\n“You’re welcome”, said the friend, returning his quite ordinary but now mishappen paperclip back into his desk drawer.\n","date":"22 January 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/01/22/the-cddvddrive-1/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"The CD/DVD-Drive and the Paperclip (a.k.a. how to get your DVD out of your computer when the power is off)","type":"posts"},{"content":"I half mentioned before (my post about secret lives) how I’m finding that life goes in phases. For example, at the moment I am (once again) in my book reading phase. I’ve been devouring hundreds of pages a night in an effort to sleep (I’m also in my not sleeping phase, which, I remember having both phases in my teens).\nLast summer I had a running phase which stopped almost completely over Christmas but for which I felt the urge to start again last week (a 20 minute run was a killer!). I’m also back in an ATC Phase (I was an Air Cadet, now I’m at the local Air Cadet squadron as an instructor), I’m missing my Cycling phase (in my late teens I used to cycle miles, especially at weekends). My guitar phase is ongoing though without lessons and without having written any new songs.\nThere’s another phase which I’ve been in for many years which I feel is about to end, at the same time I’m finding others are trying to start (hey, one day I will learn how to program in Java and write that game I’ve always wanted too).\nI’ve only noticed these phases as I’ve got older. When younger I guess I didn’t know any different. “Plus a Change, Plus C’est La Mme Chose” – remembering my French phase.\nNote to self: I’m sure this post isn’t very good English – even though the google spell check was happy. Perhaps I’m finally getting sleepy.\n","date":"18 January 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/01/18/phases-of-life/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Phases of Life","type":"posts"},{"content":"Phew! What a Christmas. While many spent the time enjoying Christmas TV, I spent the time migrating from one web server to a new web server.\nEasy? I was hoping so. Way before the move, I installed RedHat on my laptop to test the setup to ensure it went smoothly. It worked fine so my 3 days (24 hours) of set aside time [to set up new server, copy across all the web sites (approx 10Gb of data), transfer IP addresses from old server to new server] seemed an over estimate.\nUnfortunately, a simple mistake in the file /etc/hosts stopped ColdFusion MX (the software used to run the business web site) from installing properly. It was slow, it wouldn’t initialise Java. It gave me many many hours of grief. It worked perfectly when I installed on the laptop. The problem was simple the wrong IP address in /etc/hosts. That tells the server what it’s address on the internet is (you can find out your address current internet address by going to http://whatismyip.com). Now, the server was set up BEFORE the firewall was put in place. So when set up it’s ip address was something like 212.100.224.135. When the server has a firewall, the firewall takes the public IP address and forwards things on a private network to the server. So the address in /etc/hosts should have been change to 192.168.1.135.\nI often find that things as simple as one line or dot out of place can create a computer nightmare. If only I knew what the problem was before I spent the 12 hours looking for it!\nAfter that, most things went OK, although it took a few hours to get the server encryption working properly (I had to rewrite several parts of the ColdFusion code as RedHat ES4 has some different user names than RedHat ES2 did – which is what our previous server ran on) and some of the default PHP settings had changed which took me a few more hours to locate. The simple job of transferring IP’s from old server to new server to far longer than expected.\nFinally, it’s all up and running. Though there are a few things I want to spend a little more time on.\nThe server upgrade was due to ColdFusion playing up. The new server has a faster processor (64bit AMD!) and 512Mb Ram. The old server had 256mb (the minimum recommended for ColdFusion). 512mb may not sound like a lot, but servers don’t have monitors and don’t need to display graphics. All they do is crunch data and deliver the results over a network connection. At the moment, all of the programs are running in Memory with no swap space being used. Therefore visitors should get to see pages slightly quicker.\nNow that’s all done, I can move onto my next project…\n","date":"10 January 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/01/10/the-big-server/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"The Big Server Move","type":"posts"},{"content":"When sister Sharon got married, we made a holiday out of it. When I returened I created a quick web site to hold all the photos. I think I should do it when we next go on holiday as I quite enjoyed re-reading the comments I made against all the photos. As I was moving all of my sites onto a new server, I had a little tidy up at the same time. The Australia photos have moved onto this site.\nEnjoy!\nPS – The photo was taken by Rhonda when we took a helicopter ride over Sydney. Sharon got married by the Sydney Harbour Bridge.\n","date":"10 January 2006","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2006/01/10/the-holiday-pho/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"The holiday photos","type":"posts"},{"content":"Majestic-12 is a distributed search engine that I came across on Christmas Eve. Perhaps I should rephrase that. It came across me [my web server] on christmas eve with such a force the server overloaded and stopped.\nHo Hum. The joys of running a web server is that at 5am on any given day you can recieve a text message saying “Server Down”. Within the laws of science (Murphy’s Law), there is a rule that the probablily of this text message arriving is increased whenever I am a) Asleep b) on holiday and if both a) and b) apply then the chances are quadrupled.\nSo, what’s a “distributed search engine”? Sort of like Google. Many people may think google is one or two super big computers. In fact, it’s lots (and lots) of simple standard computers connected together. Rather than wait for one computer to answer your search query, lots of computers look for you, each taking charge or a little piece of the database google has built up. Likewise, to fill the google database with information about all the pages on the internet, lots of computers go off and visit all the web sites. In summary, the work is “distributed” between many computers.\nNow, all those computers belong to google, but for many years teams/projects have been working on sharing the unused resources of other peoples computers in order to achieve their goal. So, you could sign up for SETI – and while you are not at your computer it will try and find alien signals in data recorded by radio telescopes. Other projects like Rosetta use your computers idle time to find cures for diseases and the ClimatePrediction.net project uses your idle computer time to crunch numbers to help accurately forecast weather.\nNow enter Majestic12, a distributed computer solution to searching the internet. It’s in it’s infancy at the moment but it uses peoples idle computers and internet bandwidth to capture information on web pages and use that information to respond to peoples search requests.\nNow you know what it is, what happened to my web server?\nWell, when software like Google or Majestic12 visit a web site, they are called a “robot” and they should follow the instructions on my web server in a file called “robots.txt. This file basically tells the robot where it can and cannot go. Why should they follow it? Well, if they follow links into the shopping basket they wont find any useful information. Going there wastes their bandwidth and mine, not to mention costing me money. Majestic12’s robot had a problem that no-one knew about. If the robots.txt had a particular value in it, it would ignore the whole robots.txt file. That’s a bug. It ignored my robots.txt and proceeded into the shopping basket where it promptly got stuck in a loop. When in that loop, it made my web server very busy trying to answer it’s requests (to add another item into the basket) and after a short while the server stopped answering requests from anyone.\nThe simple fix is a restart the server, but I also had a look to find out what had caused the server to stop and saw the log file entry for Majestic-12 I visited their website, saw a user forum and posted a message in ‘bugs’ to say that the robot had stopped my server working. To be honest, I didn’t expect a reply that day, or even until the new year. But the main person of the project replied in 4 hours. Then he traced the problem, created a fix, issued a new version within 2 hours. He appologised for the slow response, he’d be Christmas shopping! 10 out of 10 for effort on the part of “AlexC” – most impressive bug fix time for a small project. The search results are a work in progress, but I think as the Majestic-12 project grows it could become a serious contender to the big boys of the search engine game.\n","date":"25 December 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/12/25/majestic12-a-di/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Majestic12 –  a distributed search engine","type":"posts"},{"content":"The evening of Christmas day. Despite having eaten more today than I normally would in two working days, I’ve still found room for another turkey sandwich. Sharon called from Australia a short while ago. It’s boxing day there now. We were going to call her this morning but got confused with the time zones so decided to leave it. Nicola and James were telling her all they got for Christmas. The corporate machine of “Thomas the Tank Engine” succeded this year as over half of all his presents had Thomas on them in one way or another. From the Thomas DVD, a large thomas train set, a book which folded open to have a large track that a wind up Thomas engine will follow round in circles, a matt where you can ‘paint’ with water your own train tracks which a Thomas engine will follow, a set of Thomas story books and a Thomas Annual which he was reading in bed when I said goodnight earlier. Corporate Machine? Yes. Happy James? Very much so.\nAll those branded items got me thinking to how we can improve the Roots brand.\nThinking of work, this week will be a busy week for me. Asside from two fitters packs I need to put together, I have to migrate from one web server to another new web server. What does that mean? Well, this web site, the rootskitchens web site and all the things that I’ve made the web server do over the last few years have to happen on the new web server. I’d like the switch to be seamless, but I know that it can’t be. Downtime should be limited to only a few hours though, if I do it properly. I’ve got about 3 days (24 hours) of time allocated to set the new server up before I flick the virtual switch. By this time next week I’ll know if it worked or not.\n","date":"25 December 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/12/25/the-evening-of/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"The evening of Christmas day","type":"posts"},{"content":"Just had a very funny phone call. A young man called Alex from “Space Designs” called me to say that I’d been selected by their computer based on my postcode. They are looking to have photos taken for a magazine and that I’d be able to have luxury home improvements to my kitchen and bathroom….\nAt that point I burst out laughing. He’d called my business phone number, and the business name on all listings is “Roots Kitchens Bedrooms Bathrooms”. Once I’d finished laughing, I let him in on the joke.\n","date":"17 December 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/12/17/telesales/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Telesales","type":"posts"},{"content":"For those who didn’t know, Sharon came home from Australia with baby niece Lily. Being an Aussie chick, this was Lily’s first long distance international flight and apparently she was a perfect baby throughout. Todd (Sharons husband) stayed in Aus this time, Earning money and sending photos like “this”. Guess he may not be just at work after all.\nAnyway, It’s been great seeing Lily and Sharon. Whilst mum and dad have been to Australia to see Lily, Rhonda and me haven’t been able to. As you can tell from this photo Sharon has already got her figure back (she’s the brown stick like thing near the back of the car). Despite the cold, Lily was happy right up until the time she met me.. Oh well, it got better from this point on. Lily is a very well behaved baby but she had been on a plane for the previous 20+ hours.\nSo, what do you do on your first visit to the UK when you are just a few months old. Well, the official story is things like go swimming with Granddad Graham. The real story is to find out about the great british pub culture, as Nanny takes Mummy to all the good local pubs to meet all of mummies friends in the UK. Lilly even went to the Red Lion at Hernhill, the pub where Mummy Sharon and Daddy Todd met a few years ago (Todds Aussie friend was working in Canterbury at the time).\nSharon and Lilly returned to Australia last weekend, so now it’s time for us all to do some work and catch up. Been a good few weeks though.\n","date":"12 December 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/12/12/sharon-came-hom/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Sharon came home! (and now she's gone again)","type":"posts"},{"content":"It’s been a whole year since I started this blog. I’ve managed to write at least one post each month, although somtimes the gaps between entries have been quite large.\nVisitor numbers have been quite impressive – more interested than I would have guessed:\nMonth: Pages Viewed\nNov 2005: 1599\nOct 2005: 1180\nSep 2005: 676\nAug 2005: 434\n(I accidentally deleted the log files from before July)\nanyway, I’m out of time again – more to write later!\n","date":"26 November 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/11/26/one-whole-year/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"One whole year!","type":"posts"},{"content":"Have you ever noticed how some times people don’t operate an appliance/machine properly because they don’t understand how it works? Often, it’s because they’ve never been told or seen an instruction book. There are probably a lot of things I think I know how to use, but don’t.\nOne of the most annoying things I find that people don’t know how to work are thermostats. You know, the device that turns your heating on in your house or office. Thermostats have a scale of temperatures, the one in the photo goes from about 4 degrees centigrade to 32 degrees centigrade. 4 degrees means that it will turn on to prevent frost, 32 degrees is probably too hot for comfort.\nWhat do you do when you feel cold? Most people turn the thermostat up, but in reality that probably isn’t a solution. A thermostat will turn the heating on when the temperature falls below the temperature it is set too, and it will turn off when it goes over that temperature.\nSo, you get into work in the morning and it feels cold. The temperature on the termostat is set to 22 Degrees. It seems most people will then turn it up to 30 degrees. When I ask why they say “because its cold and it will warm the room up quicker”. This is the point – it wont warm the room up any quicker. The heating system output is unchanged by the thermostat – a thermostat sets the heating on or off. All that will happen is that eventually the room will heat up to 30 degrees at which point someone will walk over to the thermostat and turn it down. Typically they turn it down to 16 degrees, no doubt thinking it will cool the room down quicker. When the temperature eventually reaches 16 degrees people will be cold and turning it back to 30 degress…. and on it goes.\nIf you feel cold when you get into work in the morning (or home at night for that matter) the problem isn’t the thermostat not turning on the heating when the temperature falls below it’s setting (22 degrees in this case) – it’s probably that the heating system has an overideing on/off switch on a timer, so the office isn’t heated overnight and the house isn’t heated during the day when it’s empty. The solution is to change the timer to turn the heating on before people get into work/get home. Once the room is at 22 degrees the thermostat will turn the heating off by itself. Perhaps these graphs will explain it better:\nSo why are we able to set the temperature then?\nAs humans we prefer different temperatures for different activities, doing the house work will probably warm our bodies up and therefore we will prefer a cooler ambient temperature (say 18degrees). Sitting down at night to watch a movie and we may prefer it slightly warmer (say 24 degrees). Working in an office with little movement we may prefer 22 degrees, whereas working on a trade counter which involves a lot of movement we will probably prefer 20 degrees. Every day we prefer something slightly different, and that’s why we have the control of a thermostat through a range of temperatures. Including a “Frost Protection” setting of around 4 degrees, for when the office is closed over christmas and we wouldn’t want pipes to freeze in our absence.\nSo, the next time you feel cold at home or the office, don’t jump up and put the thermostat on it’s maximum setting, move it up by a couple of degrees then go and check to see the heating timer is set correctly.\n","date":"30 October 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/10/30/things-people-d/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Things people don't understand – Thermostats","type":"posts"},{"content":"I mentioned a while ago I was playing with subdomain redirects for some ATC related domain names I registered. Well, I’ve got them working to the point I’ve started telling people they can be used. The domains in question are:\nhttp://www.airtrainingcorps.info\nhttp://www.atc-sqn.org.uk\nhttp://www.atc-squadron.org.uk\nand if you go them you can see more about how it works.\nBasically, the www is a commonly used subdomain of internet domain names. Normally it points to a web server that replies with a web page but I made my web server read the the subdomain name and look up another location in a database. If there is another location, the server will tell a visitors web browser to go somewhere else.\nTherefore other cadet units can turn addresses like http://www.freehostsite.net/~user879744x1/ into a more readable and logical address like http://1242.airtrainingcorps.info. When the server gets the request for 1242, it will redirect the user to the free hosting web site. The advantages are:\nIf a squadron moves to another free host the rest of the ATC don’t have to update their links to point to the new location (I update my redirect list and visitors automatically get redirected to the new location) It means ATC squadrons get a relevant domain name for their publicity for free (as opposed to buying a domain name for their use and having to manage it). It was programmed using PHP and MySQL, with a neat DNS trick called Wildcard DNS.\n","date":"29 October 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/10/29/subdomain-redir/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Subdomain Redirects","type":"posts"},{"content":"Made a few changes to the site stylesheet, made a screenshot of before and after too (I normally forget).\nChanges were:\n-Added back the rotating banner (random rootie pic appears at the top of the page)\n-Played with the colours, moved some of the standard text around (no longer have a data above each day of posts, but do now have a date at the footer of each post).\nBefore, it looked like this:\nAfter, it looked like this:\n","date":"27 October 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/10/27/changes-to-the/","section":"Posts","summary":"Made a few changes to the site stylesheet, made a screenshot of before and after too (I normally forget).\n","title":"Changes to the Site Stylesheet","type":"posts"},{"content":"When I think of my Granddad, one thing has always sprung to mind. It’s a song with the lyrics “you won’t get me I’m a part of the union, you won’t get me I’m a part of the Union…”. (Text really doesn’t mean much when you think of songs, so If I ever get round to it I’ll see if I can put an extract here too.)\nMy Granddad was a Union Man. I remember growing up and him talking about political things and I’m sure he must have mentioned the unions several times. I can’t remember anything specific that he said about the unions, but I have always associated that song with him. The song “PART OF THE UNION” was released by The Strawbs in 1973 – 3 years before I was born.\nFast forward a couple and a half decades. In 2003 I finally got round to having some guitar lessons. The teacher, Dave Lambert, used to teach my dad many years ago. Dave is an exceptionally good teacher. I also knew he’d had some songs in the charts many years before, including one called “Lay Down”. Now, I’ve never been very good remembering names, so I didn’t know that the band that recorded “Lay Down” were “The Strawbs”. Dave Lambert was (and is) a Strawb.\nFor several months I had no idea that I was being taught to play guitar by one of the musicians who recorded the song I associate with my Granddad.\n","date":"26 October 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/10/26/memories-music-and-coincidence/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Memories, Music and co-incidence","type":"posts"},{"content":"I’ve been thinking lately how little we know about each other. I got thinking about this when someone described me as a “gamer”. They were surprised to discover that I play a game called “Warbirds” with some other people over the internet.\nWarbirds probably deserves it’s own blog entry, but for now it’s basically a flight simulator where multiple players get to shoot each other out of the sky. It’s not encouraging war or violence, it’s fun and it’s a challenge. Seeing as I don’t watch much TV (the occasional documentary, just never been interested in the soaps) it’s a bit of me time too.\nI always thought it was quite logical for me to find that sort of program. People who know me are quite likely to know that:\na) I have always loved flying\nb) I find computers easy to work with\nc) I like to keep my mind occupied (I have always liked stragey games, from Risk when I was growing up to SimCity and the like as I got older).\nA Flight Sim, on a computer, where you have to achieve some very specific goals against other people – many who are highly skilled, covers all of those things nicely.\nSo, back to “Secret Lives”. They are not really secret things that we keep from each other but when we meet someone, what do they do with themselves in life?\nWhere do they like to go on holiday?\nWhat was their earliest memory?\nWhat thing are they most proud of?\nWho do they count among their friends?\nWhat do they want to achieve in their remaining life?\nWhat are they doing to achive it?\nWhat have they done in the past?\nWhat sports do they enjoy?\nDid they represent the country at the Olympics?\nThey’re not things that people deliberately hide, but things they just don’t mention.\nI guess it’s my curious side that’s asking all these questions. For all I know their is someone I know, perhaps I’ve been seeing them for years as they supply my business or perhaps I know them from a technical newsgroup and have only typed messages to them, has an interest very similar to one of mine but that we’ve never mentioned to each other. Perhaps, just perhaps, I know the same person twice, if you see what I mean. I noticed that once I started running (during this summer, although I’ve done very little for the last month) I met quite a few other people that either were or had been keen runners.\nI guess, all of this is made harder by not knowing ourselves that well. I believe we are always changing as we grow, and for a while we may be interested in one thing and then over time that interest will fade to be replaced by something else. I’m sure that eventually my interest in Warbirds will fade and I will move onto something else. In fact, I’m also keen to know what the next new thing in my life will be. As we all go through so many phases of life I guess it becomes less likely that we speak about them.\nSo, if you are reading this, you know me, and you also have a Blog then let me know where yours is. Then we have one less secret between us. My thoughts are now wondering onto “I wonder how long this blogging phase of mine will last”.\n","date":"26 October 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/10/26/secret-lives/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Secret Lives","type":"posts"},{"content":"Decided to add a new category for the bundle of posts half written that I haven’t published yet. This section covers:\nMy Theories (on life, the universe, and anything else).\nMy Memories (We are the sum of our experience, and these are things from my past that pop into my mind from time to time).\nMy Observations (Those little things that I notice during my everyday life – now I’ve got somewhere to note them down)\n","date":"26 October 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/10/26/a-new-category-root-theoryroot/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"A new category – Root Theory/Root Memory/Roots Observations","type":"posts"},{"content":"There’s a useful windows shortcut key that I’d almost forgotten existed. I was speaking to a friend who uses a Mac and he proudly showed how by pressing one key (or combination) he could hide all of the open programs and display the OS X desktop. There’s an equivalent key in Windows XP too, it’s a combination of the “Windows Key” + D. Couldn’t remember it at the time as it’s been so long since I’ve used it.\nThere are hundreds of shortcut keys, I bet someone out there has an email service sending ‘shortcut key of the day’ too. If I find it, I think I’ll have to subscribe.\nOK, pop quiz: Name the shortcut Keys for the following commands (answers in the Extended Entry):\nShow Windows Desktop : (c’mon, I’ve just told you that one).\nCopy :\nPaste :\nSwitch to another application :\nAnd the answers are:\nShow Windows Desktop : “Windows Key” + D\nCopy : Ctrl + C\nPaste : Ctrl + V\nSwitch to another application : Alt + Tab\n..and i didn’t even start on the application specific shortcut keys…\n","date":"26 October 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/10/26/useful-windows/","section":"Posts","summary":"There’s a useful windows shortcut key that I’d almost forgotten existed. I was speaking to a friend who uses a Mac and he proudly showed how by pressing one key (or combination) he could hide all of the open programs and display the OS X desktop. There’s an equivalent key in Windows XP too, it’s a combination of the “Windows Key” + D. Couldn’t remember it at the time as it’s been so long since I’ve used it.\nThere are hundreds of shortcut keys, I bet someone out there has an email service sending ‘shortcut key of the day’ too. If I find it, I think I’ll have to subscribe.\nOK, pop quiz: Name the shortcut Keys for the following commands (answers in the Extended Entry):\nShow Windows Desktop : (c’mon, I’ve just told you that one).\nCopy :\nPaste :\nSwitch to another application :\n","title":"Useful Windows Shortcut Key (show desktop)","type":"posts"},{"content":"Growing up, I used to hate being sick. I know, that’s quite normal. I also remember Mum and Dad never seemed to be sick (or at least be as upset by it) as I was. Well, whilst growing up I had one experience that taught me being sick wasn’t so bad after all.\nIn 1995 I was fortunate to go trekking in Nepal (courtesy of some hard work and help from the Boys Clubs). One evening, up a remote hillside in Nepal the Sherpa’s made us soup for dinner. I remember seeing the oily surface reflecting in the half light of dusk. I remember forcing it down because although I didn’t feel to good, I decided I needed the energy having been walking for a few days.\nWithin a couple of hours I was sick. I then began thinking, “oh well, I’m being sick. Not a lot I can do about i,t just let it happen then get some sleep”.\nThat trip to Nepal was the first time I realised that being sick isn’t always so bad, just something to put up with for a while until you’re better. I think part of it was resigning myself to the fact that no-one else could help. It was apparent to me then that the nearest hospital was a long way away (a 2 day walk followed by a 1 day drive), so if being sick was all I had to worry about, then I really had nothing worry about.\n","date":"26 October 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/10/26/being-sick-is-not-so-bad/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"When I realised being sick wasn't so bad after all","type":"posts"},{"content":"Just recieved a very funny spam email from a company called ..second thoughts, not going to give them the benefit of more publicity. Anyway, It appears they are trying to sell some sort of software firewall/anti-virus/proxy server. Being particularly well written for spam, I took at look at the email headers. Email headers aren’t normally displayed by your email client but they contain all the important things about the email, like which email servers it had travelled through on it’s way to you. They can also contain custom headers, and for an email proclaiming such wonderful anti-virus protection services, I thought the following X-headers were hillarious…\nX-4SureHosting-Scanner-Information: Please visit www.4surehosting.co.uk for more info on Virus Scanning services\nX-4SureHosting-Scanner: Not scanned: please login to your domain name level control panel and upgrade your package to include Anti-Virus scanning for your entire domains email\n4surehosting.co.uk sent me an email this week asking for more information on the spam email. They also asked for me to make it clear on my blog that the spam email DID NOT come from them. As they pointed out to me, my blog entry could easily be mis-read to imply that the spam came from 4sure (it did NOT come from them). So why did it mention them (and for my non technical friends what\u0026#8217;s an X-Header)? When you send an email, it goes from your computer via your Internet Service Provider\u0026#8217;s server and on to it\u0026#8217;s destination. 4surehosting are an internet service provider, just like BT, AOL but much smaller. Every computer that handles an email messages adds information to the X-Headers that record the path the email has taken and other relevant informaion. Although 4surehosting are small compared to the big ISP\u0026#8217;s*, 1) They are sharp enough to offer their customers virus scanning on email sent though them (and the x-header gets updated to say whether or not the email was checked) 2) They care enough to spot spam and actually want to stop it being sent through their servers. 3)They actually took the time to email me and find out more details about this particular spam message (I don\u0026#8217;t think companies the size of BT or AOL would) .You may think it\u0026#8217;s every ISP\u0026#8217;s job to prevent spam being sent by their customers but it\u0026#8217;s not. There\u0026#8217;s no real way BT/AOL/4sure could check every email being sent by someone to check for it being spam or not. How would they know it\u0026#8217;s not a genuine mailshot that\u0026#8217;s part of normal business? So, what happened to this particular spammer. I found it so funny, I actually looked up the domain technical contact and sent them an email about it. It turned out the emails had been sent via an over eager new sales agent they had. Full marks for effort, no marks for approach. They were going to educate the sales agent on why not to buy email address lists off the internet. *I used ISP as a fairly generic term. 4surehosting host web pages but also carry email for the domains. So, even though you use BT for your internet connection, 4surehosting could be carring your businesses email and not BT. At Roots, we use BT for our broadband connection but all of our email is routed through our own dedicated web server. Therefore our email never touches a BT mail server and if ever we move broadband supplier we won\u0026#8217;t need to change our email settings. May be it’s just my warped mind, but I find it funny seeing spam promoting virus scanning that is processed by a third party declaring virus scanning is a service not included their hosting package.\n","date":"24 October 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/10/24/promotional-spa/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"promotional spam that made me laugh","type":"posts"},{"content":"Nan died this afternoon.\n🙁\n","date":"17 October 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/10/17/nan-died/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Nan","type":"posts"},{"content":"Speaking of music, one really great song I found on the internet a while ago is the JCB Song by Nizlopi. I found it though a freelance animators website (www.monkeehub.com). Monkeehub also did an animation of the Radiohead song “Creep”. You can watch the JCB Song video (and hear the music) at the JCB Song website.\nPS – I already bought the album, so no need to buy it for me for christmas 🙂\n","date":"13 October 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/10/13/jcb-song/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"JCB Song","type":"posts"},{"content":"I remember being told things always come in three’s, and here’s the second – another website with music found by following a link in a Faversham Chamber email:\nhttp://www.acquarestaurant.co.uk/\nA new restaurant (guess it’s new, though I don’t pay much attention to restaurants as I rarely get out much) in Faversham. The music here is a little more subtle and I guess adds to the ‘ambience’. I wonder if they play that repetitively in the restaurant? At least the trend is for improving music. Personally, I wish there was an ‘sound off’ button. Guess I’ll just have to start surfing with my sound off. Or maybe someones created a Firefox Plugin that automatically turns of sound tracks that repeat or play for more than 2 seconds (so you don’t lose the useful audio cues like clicking a button).\n","date":"10 October 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/10/10/ha-there-must-be-a-third/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Ha! – there must be a third….","type":"posts"},{"content":"The award for the most annoying website of the week goes to….\n[pause for suspense]\nhttp://www.mediforce.org/…\nWho’s home page plays out loud rock music on your arrival. Great. Just what is called for when you are working in an office with other people and looking to update the office first aid kit contents. I wouldn’t mind if it added anything constructive. All it really did was make close the window and ignore them as a potential supplier. I guess the only good thing is that as I’m the boss I’m not worried about what the others in the office thought. Now if I wasn’t the boss, I’d be worried the boss would start thinking the site wasn’t work related.\n","date":"10 October 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/10/10/the-award-for-most-annoying-we/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"The award for most annoying website of the week goes to…","type":"posts"},{"content":" The best photo from the Boughton 10K?\nI think so, but I am a little biased. This is Nicola (if you hadn’t guessed). One of the perks of doing the administration was that I got to allocate the numbers.\n","date":"9 October 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/10/09/running-devil/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Running Devil","type":"posts"},{"content":"Another thing I’d like to do but probably won’t get much time to sort out.\nI’d like to make sure I put a little relevant image with every post. Something relevant, like a photo of someone if I’m writing about them, or a small map if I’m talking about a place. May be I’ll go back over some of the old postings and add some images into them.\n","date":"9 October 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/10/09/images-in-the-text/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"images in the text","type":"posts"},{"content":"Mum and Dad left for Australia this morning. That’s partly why I’m in so early on a Sunday. The other part is that Dave is driving them to the airport and he had some tilers starting in the shop early. All part of Dave’s big re-organisation of the upstairs showroom.\nAnyway, in typical Root fashion they left at about 8.15am. They were meant to leave around 7am (at least, that’s the time Mum said they were leaving last night). Almost everything was done before they left, though I’ve picked up a few jobs to do for mum that she didn’t get time to do.\nIt doesn’t seem that long ago Mum was last back from Australia. This time they’re off to see our friend Karen get married. Karen is just a few months older than me and is the daughter of Mum and Dad’s friends Dave and Lydia. The met Dave and Lydia in Australia when they lived out there (around 1975). They’ve all managed to keep in touch despite the passing of time and the way life changes (Dave’s work takes him all over the world. He takes really good photos of the places he goes to. Many get uploaded to his own website, and I’ve seen them featured on other sites like this one.\nHopefully, it won’t be too long before I get to go to Australia and see Sharon, Todd and Lily.\n","date":"9 October 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/10/09/mum-and-dad-fly-to-oz/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Mum and Dad fly to Oz","type":"posts"},{"content":"The Boughton 10K went very well. We had 355 people enter (312 turned up and completed) the 10K and 142 in the Fun Run.\n2 Years before, there were around 215 runners in the 10K, and last year there were over 400. The big leap came from the run being selected as a “Kent Championship” race. This year were weren’t, so as a new organising team would have settled for 215 entrants, with hopes to grow it to 250 thanks to the advertising we did. I most optomistic target was for 300 runners.\nI’ve written a report that will go out with the finalised results about how the day went. Like how Mid Kent Water saved the day when at 6pm the night before we realised we had far more runners than we expected and not enough drinking water for them all. The provisional results were posted at http://www.rootskitchens.co.uk/10k.\n","date":"9 October 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/10/09/the-boughton-10k-went-well/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"The Boughton 10k went well","type":"posts"},{"content":"Have you ever noticed how when you have the inclination to do something you can’t and when you are able to do that thing, you can’t remember exactly what you were going to do?\nThere are lots of things I’ve been meaning to write about and just haven’t made any time to, but it’s around half past 9 on Sunday morning, I’m at work early (more on why later) and I’ve got a spare few minutes. Actually, they’re not really spare – but I decided to treat myself and do some typing instead of work.\nSo, what’s been going on?\nI think, I’ll create a new entry for all the different things like: Mum and Dad going to Australia this morning, How the Boughton 10K went, and more.\n","date":"9 October 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/10/09/have-you-ever-noticed/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Have you ever noticed…","type":"posts"},{"content":" I spent the weekend with the ATC at St Martins Plain in Folkestone on a first aid course. The good news is I passed! The course was organised by the ATC as it\u0026#8217;s a good thiing for adult staff looking after young people to have good first aid knowledge. I\u0026#8217;d been meaning to get myself on a course for a couple years as it had been so long time since my last course. The course was also good for meeting other adult staff from around Kent Wing. Although I’d never met any of the staff from the other squadrons they were all very nice people. It’s amazing how easy it is to make friends in the ATC.\n","date":"5 October 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/10/05/first-aid/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"First Aid","type":"posts"},{"content":"I know i’ve been rather quiet here lately. There’s lots I want to write about, just not getting the time at the moment. Last month (August) we set a new sales record in the shop (an amazingly large amount of sales that I won’t say because our competitors might get jealous – no point upsetting them).\nThe Boughton 10K is fast approaching and I’m busy entering entries into the computer.\nHopefully, I’ll get time to write about some things soon (like all those old memories and life observations). Until then, I better concentrate on getting all my work done.\n","date":"10 September 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/09/10/busy-me-quiet-blog/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Busy me = Quiet Blog","type":"posts"},{"content":"I’ve been approached by two companies this week wanting to advertise on my blog. Hmmm, confused I am. Can’t really tell if it is random spam they are sending or if there really is something on this site that’s attracting millions of potential customers for someone. (Well, I doubt it’s millions because I have logs of server load and visitors).\nShould I sell some space? Should just say no and keep this ad free ? Ah decisions decisions.\n","date":"10 September 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/09/10/to-ad-or-not-to-ad-that-is-the/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"To Ad, or not to Ad, that is the question","type":"posts"},{"content":" Those nice people at Movable Type have not only finished testing the new version of Movable Type, they made a nice little badge for the people who helped look for bugs. In all I found 1 bug that no one else had reported (fixed in less than 24 hours) and 1 that had already been reported and fixed (the beta was being fixed and re-released daily and I was one release behind the current!).\nNow the new version is complete I’m running out of excuses to delay starting my first MT plugin…\n","date":"27 August 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/08/27/nice-little-badge-for-my-blog/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Nice little badge for my blog","type":"posts"},{"content":"Another busy month. Lots of news I guess.\n-Mum is in Australia (well, in a plane to Australia as I write this) to see Sharon, Todd \u0026amp; Lily.\n-I’ve given myself more work by deciding to create a web site to promote the local ATC squadron, then even more by deciding to give subdomains away on the domain name I bought for it (when you’ve got as many domains as I have, they get very cheap).\n-I’ve created Todd’s website based on some artwork they had a designer do. It’s at www.toddbowdensystems.com. I made a template so Sharon can put the content on herself.\n-and then there’s all those normal work things of surveys, computers to fix \u0026amp; troubleshoot, improvements to the internal office system, getting more suppliers to provide electronic data that makes us more efficient.\n-I’ve started entering the Boughton 10K runners into the software too, had 50 so far, another 30 that I’m waiting for more details on (they entered online and I only got a cheque from the runnersworld web site – James the race director got the names and addresses). Some interesting statistics which I’ll post here when I get time. Like the oldest runner will be 72 years old, and how well the mailshots worked amongst other interesting things.\n","date":"21 August 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/08/21/another-busy-month/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"another busy month","type":"posts"},{"content":"The beta test is going really well (at least, I haven’t found any major data damaging bugs, or been able to break it in any way). Therefore, I’m going to reset the site templates to the new defaults.\nThe site templates control how these pages look. I’d done a little customisation of the templates (adding things like the rotating banner at the top of the page with all the family photos) but I never quite made it look the way i wanted. The new templates have a few new features too, so be prepared for some strange looking pages while I experiment.\n","date":"1 August 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/08/01/back-to-basics/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Back to basics","type":"posts"},{"content":" Things may look much the same to the casual viewer, but behind the seens there\u0026#8217;s been an update. The site is now run using MovableType 3.2(beta). Beta means that it\u0026#8217;s still being tested and it\u0026#8217;s not guaranteed to work without problems. As this site isn\u0026#8217;t critical (it\u0026#8217;s just me playing around) I\u0026#8217;ve decided to try the beta and report any feedback. I\u0026#8217;m glad I did, my version of RedHat Enterprise Server is getting a little long in the tooth (waiting for the latest version to be tested by my managed server provider before moving to a brand new server) and some of the software was a little too out of date for things to run smoothly. SixApart (and especially Shirley) are doing a wonderful job responding to Bugs. First point of note – they work Sundays just like me! So when I posted my bug on Sunday evening I got a reply within an hour. The reply identified the problem, so I could go and research my particular set up to find out if that was the cause. It was, so not only is my server now updated an running 3.2Beta happily, future users of the software will benefit from an improved version that will hightlight the problem (the install routine should spot things like old software, but this particular one got though).\nSo, everyone wins from Beta software being tested on sites like this – before it hits production sites like …erm.. can’t think of any other than SixAparts own sites. Now I’ve re-enabled comments may be you can suggest some.\n","date":"18 July 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/07/18/movable-type-be/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Movable Type Beta","type":"posts"},{"content":"I’ve written this for my sister Sharon, who’s trying to send photos of Lily to everyone she knows but isn’t quite sure how to resize a photo/image to send in an email. At the moment, she does it using Windows built in image program “Paint”. But there’s a much much quicker way.\nFind the photos on your computer, the image below has them on my desktop. Right Click the image (or images – you can do them all in one go if you are emailing several), on the context menu go to “send to” and then “mail recipient” A dialog box pops up asking you to choose whether or not to modify the images. The basic options are keep them the same or make them smaller. You can view the extended options and choose just how small you’d like to make the pictures too. Click OK when you’re happy. Voila! Job done. Windows automatically resizes the images and attaches them to a new email for you. ","date":"11 July 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/07/11/how-to-resize-a/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"How to resize a photo (jpg) to send in an email – (the quick way for Win XP)","type":"posts"},{"content":"I’ve finally got it working! Linux running of a USB Key.\nIt wasn’t so hard to set up once I’d found Puppy Linux.\nAs this is going to get more technical, you’ll have to follow the link to the extended entry about this (otherwise I’ll bore most of you reading this).\nStill with me? OK, just in case you’ve got no idea what I’m talking about I’ll start from the very very begining:\nLinux is an operating system, Windows is to Linux as Ford is to Toyota\nUp until now I’ve only used linux on servers (computers that generally don’t do fancy graphics or games, but do things at my business like let us send and recieve email, share data files and other things). For a long time I’ve wanted to be able to try Linux on the desktop (a.k.a replace Windows with Linux). There are a number of reasons for wanting to do this (challenge, cost, experience) but I’ve wanted to do it in a way that doesn’t affect any of my computers (because they are already in use doing important things, I try not to break things that are working OK).\nSo, the solution was to get hold of a USB Memory Key, install Linux on that, and use the Linux operating system on any computer I happen to be working at (be it home or at work). Most people use USB Memory Keys to carry around important files or as a backup, this is sort of the same thing but I happen to want to carry a whole operating system with me.\nIt’s been very hard (I’ve been considering this for about 6 months) to get it working, but as with all things computer it was just a case of understanding the problem then seraching for a solution. Puppy Linux is the first solution to work for me.\nPuppy linux is a small linux distribution. Remember that car analogy, now think of “Operating System is to Car as Windows is to Car as Linux Distribution is to Car”. You get all flavours of linux distribution in the same way you get flavours of Windows (XP, ME, 98, 95, 3.1). However, Puppy linux worked for me because the person/people who created it set out with a goal of making it small enough to fit onto a USB Key and simple enough to install without having to get too technical.\nThe process was really simple.\n==\u0026gt; Download a 60mb .iso image from the internet (.iso is raw data that can be written to a bland CD – when you reboot your computer it will read from that CD as a fully functional Linux Operating System – and it won’t even touch your hard disk so Windows remains safe and sound).\n==\u0026gt; Write a CD, then Boot the CD\n==\u0026gt; Put the memory key into a spare USB slot, run a program that installs the Linux operating system to the USB Key.\n==\u0026gt; Reboot, remove the CD and leave the USB Key in the PC and voila! – Puppy Linux boots from the USB Key into a fully fledged operating system, complete with operating system, word processor, internet browser, and even some games.\nOK, I missed a few steps in there, but I’m sure you get the idea. IF you are wondering how complete it is, I’m writting this Blog using it now – and I only booted it for the first time 10 minutes ago.\nWhy?\nWell, as I said I like a challenge. But also Linux is free so I can use it on any PC – even the old PC gathering dust in my office because it is too slow to use for our work programs. That means it may get a new lease of life as a PC for the children and to save buying another Windows XP licence I can use Linux.\nOne final point, Free means you don’t have to pay to use it, but you do have to learn to use it (just like you first had to learn how to use windows). It is Free because people have given their time and knowledge to create something and allow others to develop that something further. Providing people continue to do that, it will remain free. However, for some things Free isn’t good enough. That’s why Linux distributions like Redhat can charge for a licence. Rather, it’s not the licence they are charging for, but the support and guaranteed response to fix problems. Our business web server uses Red Hat for that reason – if any bugs or security holes are found it is better for me to pay for access to their solutions than wait for a fix to arrive on the ‘free’ distributions of linux. Of course, often the free distributions perform just as well as Red Hat, but you need certain guarantees in business that free just doesn’t provide.\n","date":"10 July 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/07/10/linux-on-a-usb/","section":"Posts","summary":"I’ve finally got it working! Linux running of a USB Key.\nIt wasn’t so hard to set up once I’d found Puppy Linux.\nAs this is going to get more technical, you’ll have to follow the link to the extended entry about this (otherwise I’ll bore most of you reading this).\n","title":"Linux on a USB Memory Stick","type":"posts"},{"content":"Sharon Bowden (my sister) gave birth to her first child on the 6th of July in Australia. She has been named Lily. The only upseting thing (from my point of view) is that it will be a long time before I get to see them (Todd, Sharon \u0026amp;amp Lily) in the flesh. I’ve got a lot of saving to do in order to fly out to Australia and I’m quite sure all their earnings will be spent on things other than plane tickets.\nThe good news is both Mummy and Baby are healthy and in the modern world we can keep in touch over the internet.\n_Daddy Todd \u0026amp Lily_ _Mummy Sharon \u0026amp Lily_","date":"10 July 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/07/10/sharon-todd-hav/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Sharon \u0026 Todd have a daughter","type":"posts"},{"content":"Yes, Last Sunday I ran the 5km run around Herne Bay. It’s the first time I’ve run a flat course (being the area around my house is pretty hilly, heights between 14m – 114m with 1.5km of my house!) and I guess with all the other people running that combined to give me fastest ever time.\nI started at the back, paced myself, and finished in 29 minutes having overtaken a fair number of people who rushed off at the start. Thanks for the pace tip Dave!\nUnfortunately I haven’t been able to run at all this week as I appear to have notably hurt my leg (a particular pain on my right shin) but hopefully I’ll be back running in the next few days. Then I’ll have to go find another 5km run!\nI’ve been keeping a running log by emailing myself after every run. If I get time (not likely!) then I may well write a little running log to appear somewhere on these pages. Then you can all email me and tell me to run faster!\n","date":"2 July 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/07/02/i-did-it/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"I did it!","type":"posts"},{"content":"Well, it’s been over a month since I last posted. I guess I’ve been really busy. So here’s a quick summary of what’s been going on:\nI turned 29 years old (on the 18th June for anyone that wants to send a card next year) I fixed a bug on the layout of this site that hid the summary text in firefox but not in internet explorer I’ve been going to Air Cadets every Friday and several Tuesdays I’ve managed to write some code that processes some supplier data into a useful format for our business system (eventually that will make us more efficient) I’ve done some templates for Todd’s business web site I’ve been running (Dave bought me entry into a 5Km run for my birthday, and I’ve been out at least once if not twice a week running at least 12km a week, and this week around 15km so far. The race is on Sunday). I read a book (A Douglas Reeman seafaring novel I picked up in a second hand bookshop in Faversham). Of course, there are still a few things on my to do list like:\nGet some more photos of James and Nicola and organise them a bit better on my laptop. Print a few and put them up round the house. Find some more stories on project guttenburg to read on my Palm organiser Do some more on Todd’s templates Update some of the supplier price data at work Remember to post here occasionally 🙂 Write another song or two, book more guitar lessons Still, life is good. Wonder how fast I’ll run the 5km on sunday?\n","date":"25 June 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/06/25/a-month-with-no/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"A month with no posts","type":"posts"},{"content":"Thanks to brother Dave, I seem to have caught the running bug. Now, whether I get up to Dave’s level remains to be seen (probably not likely now he’s an accomplished marathron runner!), but with the warmer weather I’ve quite enjoyed running up and down Boughton Hill. Keeping the running kit in the car has meant I’ve been able to stop at one new place this week – I ran across the top of the North Downs (those are a range of hills that run across Kent for distant readers) over Folkstone the other evening. My longest running record so far! 17 minutes may not sound like much to many of you, but it’s and improvement on my 12 minute maximum the previous week.\n","date":"23 May 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/05/23/running-rooties-1/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Running Rooties","type":"posts"},{"content":"If it seems rather quiet on these pages lately it’s simply because I’ve been busy doing other things. Things like getting electronic data from suppliers and working out the code to reformat their data into something my systems will read. Things like the boughton 10 run which not only have “Roots” agreed to sponsor, we sort of ended up helping with the administration and processing of the ‘somewhere near’ 600 expected entries.\nI am still here, and will eventually finish off the half done posts currently hidden from your view. I may even get round to fixing some of the CSS display bugs I’ve noticed.\nOh well, back to work.\n","date":"18 May 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/05/18/if-its-quiet-he/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"If it's quiet here – I'm busy!","type":"posts"},{"content":"It happens to the best of organisations, so please don’t think I’m being unfair by writing this. No matter how big or organised your business gets some thing will go wrong. This month (year?) it’s the turn of Dell.\nOur story begins back in July of last year. I took my new Dell laptop travelling with me and within 3 weeks all the little rubber feet had fallen off. OK, not the end of the world. I used their online system to report the fault as a warranty issue and asked that 5 replacements be posted for me to glue back on myself.\nNothing happened.\nI chased by email several times, the request seemed to get lost so was transferred to a different call centre but this time I could see an order on their system. Still nothing. I’d given up hope.\nSo imagine my surprise to see these four boxes arrive almost 9 months later.\nA very big and unexpected delivery (Dell didn’t even reply to my last email a month or so before). What could it be that they’d send in such big boxes?\nPerhaps they should win an award for protective packaging, can you see it, in the middle in a small plastic bag, the small black rubber foot for my Dell Inspiron?\nIn case you can’t, here’s a close up. They aren’t very big but at least they got here safely.\nEven funnier, Dell phoned last week to sell me an extended warranty. Hmmm, may be not this time. Having said all that, the laptop is by far the best laptop I’ve ever had, powerful enough, battery seems to last forever (I’ve been going over 5 hours on one charge before whilst doing normal office work of email and web site development) and the keyboard is comfortable for typing too.\n","date":"8 April 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/04/08/when-business-s/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"When business systems go bad…","type":"posts"},{"content":"That’s strange, I just started downloading the Office XP service pack 3 from the microsoft website but was only getting 5kb/s. Being two version of the patch (full and a smaller one if you have the original CD handy) I thought I’d try the other and that also got just 5kb/s. So then, I logged into my web server (which is in a London datacenter) and got the over 600kb/s (whilst still getting 5kb/s over the broadband). So then I downloaded the copy from my web server and I’m getting 52kb/s (a normal broadband speed). I wonder why it’s so much slower from from MS \u0026gt; Office compared to MS \u0026gt; WebServer \u0026gt; Office? Oh well, I’ll probably never know…\n","date":"4 April 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/04/04/strange-downloa/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Strange download behaviour?","type":"posts"},{"content":"It worked! I managed to move our whole office network within the day.\nMove where you ask? from one IP range to another IP range. OK, that’s only a software thing so I didn’t use a single screwdriver, but the significance of a move is quite huge from my perspective.\nComputers on a network each have an IP address, so that they all know where each other are. There are a whole bundle of addresses that can be used in private networks and originally i set our network up on the 192.168.1.??? range (where ??? was the number for each computer). Unfortunately I discovered that this is now a range commonly used for free wireless network access at hotels. If i was using that range in a hotel I wouldn’t be able to VPN (virtual private network – a way of connecting to my office over the internet securely from anywhere else on the internet) into my office as the two ranges were identical.\nThe solution? Move the office network into a new range 10.x.x.??? – where the x’s are two numbers i chose at random and would remember, and the ??? the number of each machine.\nThe how?\nTo begin with, all of our machines had an IP address that i set by hand when I first install them. To save having to do this on every machine in the future I decided to use DHCP (Dynamic Host Control Protocol if i remember correctly) which is common and often on routers (3 of our routers can be DHCP controllers, but you only need one on a network). I set this up to give out addresses in the old network space and went round every computer, printer and server to make it get it’s IP address from the DHCP server. That took a couple of hours but at the end I could see that the router knew about every machine on our network.\nThen, I changed the router to give out addresses in the new network and restarted every computer, printer and server. Checking the router again I could see that all the machines were known about on the new network.\nNow the boring bit, I never gave our printers fully qualified host/domain names. If I had chosen to call them things like “laser.rkbb.co.uk” (i tend to use that domain for things inside the office because it is short) then all the PC’s would have been able to print to them at their new address. As I hadn’t done that, I had to go to every machine and manually change the printer settings to point at their new address. From this point on I might start giving every machine on our network a fully qualified domain name.\nThe bottom line: I moved the whole network in a day, and it worked. I do like it when computers work the way I expect them too 🙂\n","date":"22 March 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/03/22/moving-a-whole/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Moving a whole network (bit by bit)","type":"posts"},{"content":"I thought I’d make a note here about a great bit of software we wouldn’t like to be without. It’s called share360 and it’s a server based diary that everyone in the office can use. Actually it’s a bit more than a diary, it’s a “groupware” program which can handle email, form processing (like holiday forms, or any other business form you have that one person writes and another has to approve), project management, and several other things that help people work together in an office. We only use it as a diary system though.\nThe clever thing is that it runs on a web server (read web server as any old computer set up to server web pages – an old Pentium 2 within the office network would be fine) so that there is no software to install on each PC. The interface allows any user to add/amend/edit any other users diary (assuming they have the correct permissions). It’s one of the few programs I could find that allowed such simple group diary editing (Outlook only works for a single user unless you get expensive things like MS Exchange Server). We couldn’t live without this as any one of us in the office can book an appointment for anyone else.\nWe’ve had it for a couple of years and it has worked flawlessly in all that time. Better still, the makers are improving it all the time and minor feature updates and improvements are free. We paid a one-off licence fee some years ago for up to 10 active users, but it can handle hundreds on suitable hardware.\n","date":"13 March 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/03/13/computeried-dia/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Computeried Diary for the whole office","type":"posts"},{"content":"When I was young, I was an Air Cadet. It was great being an Air Cadet. I learnt a lot about flying related things (eventually getting my own pilot’s license), first went camping and learnt how to become a little self sufficient and met a lot of nice people.\nTimes moved on, children and work meant that I left as a cadet and lost contact with a lot of people. As the business has developed and there are less demands on my time (hey, I now only work a 6 Day Week!) I thought I’d like to get involved again but hadn’t got round to doing anything about it. On Thursday there was a small article in the local paper asking for help at the local ATC Squadron. I decided to turn up and see what I can do. The article mentioned a name that was familiar and after 12 or so years I met my friend Clare who I first met on Annual Camp at RAF Coltishall. She’s now the Flying Officer on the squadron. It was great to see her again, and Nick (Flt Lt and Commanding Officer) also made me feel really welcome. It turns out several of my old friends are Officers, NCO’s and CI’s around Kent.\nSo, it looks like I’m back in the ATC again but this time as a Civilian Instructor. “Plus ca change, plus la meme chose” (If I remember my French lessons after all that time, now there’s some more memories…).\n","date":"26 February 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/02/26/atc-venture-adv/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"ATC – Venture Adventure!","type":"posts"},{"content":" Is it me, or are DVD\u0026#8217;s getting really annoying? In the olden days of video cassette you’d put it in the machine and fast forward until the film started, ignoring all the trailers. With DVD’s it seems that the producers can force you to sit through all the trailers. May be I’m just getting old 😉\n","date":"20 February 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/02/20/annoying-dvds/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Annoying DVD's","type":"posts"},{"content":"","date":"3 February 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/categories/posts-waiting-to-happen/","section":"Categories","summary":"","title":"Posts Waiting to Happen","type":"categories"},{"content":"Here, I’m going to moan about how the media mis-interpret and then mis-present business information. Like Shell declaring a large figure for it’s annual profit. 1) It’s meant to make a profit 2) If you want, you can set up in competition to them and try and make more profit than they do. A more detailed essay will follow when i get (make?) time.\n9.3bn profit\n9,300,000,000 Profit\nCaptial needed to make that profit = 14,900,000,000\nIt can also be said that;\n= 78,000 per employee\n= 0.62p profit for every 1 invested in the company\nWhat’s typical for a company?\ncaptial employed\nFrom Shell Websites:\nWith approximately 119,000 employees in more than 145 countries\nand territories around the world, the companies that comprise the\nRoyal Dutch/Shell Group are engaged in Exploration and Production,\nGas \u0026amp; Power, Oil Products, Chemicals, and Other industry segments\nincluding Renewables, Shell Consumer and Shell Hydrogen.\nExcerpt from BBC News\n_The size of Shell’s profits has prompted renewed calls for a ‘windfall tax’ on the earnings of multinational energy companies.\nMartin O’Neill, Labour chair of the Commons trade and industry select committee, said a windfall tax should be considered as a way of helping the thousands of people who struggle to pay their fuel bills.\n“It is not unreasonable to assume that the profits that come from these companies should be directed, at least in part – either voluntarily or fiscally – to the UK’s disadvantaged energy consumers,” he told the BBC. ","date":"3 February 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/02/03/shell-profits/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Shell Profits","type":"posts"},{"content":"Matt Bowden, one of my sisters old friends got in touch today. He’s still a designer and still in South Africa (I say still as if you knew that, but then you probably didn’t!)\nHis web site has a really cool style and some excellent photography. Hmmm, makes me think about tinkering with this site again….\nPixel Juice :: Digitally Refreshing :: Photography\n","date":"28 January 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/01/28/old-friends-pop/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Old Friends pop up","type":"posts"},{"content":"Excert From “The Water Supply (Water Fittings) Regulations 1999”\n“Plumbing materials and fittings must be of a suitable standard. It is not illegal to sell unsuitable fittings and appliances but to install one would be illegal, so check suitability before purchase.”\nHmmmm, may be I should campaign to get the regulations translated into common sence.\n","date":"17 January 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/01/17/run-that-by-me/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Run that by me one more time…","type":"posts"},{"content":"Some time ago now, I made a note of when I first submitted this site to google. The big question was how long would it take Google to come and find this new site and then how long before the first visitors would find it?\nThe results are in!\nLooking at the log files just now shows that “Googlebot/2.1 (+http://www.google.com/bot.html)” (which is the Google spider that visits sites and gets information about them) visited for the first time on 10/Jan/2005 at 07:42 (and 54 seconds) GMT.\nGoogle is a well behaved search engine because the first file it tried to get was the robots.txt file. This file essentially tells a search engine what it can and cannot do on a web site. So, for example, I could tell it to index everything on the web site it can find except for things in a particular folder called /temp and /private. There’s no guarantee a search engine will follow the robots.txt instructions, but all the good ones do.\nHaving read and understood the robots.txt file, it was another hour before it came looking at all the pages. It read a page every five minutes or so, which is standard practice for a search engine spidering a site so that it doesn’t overload the site with requests (and then stop the site working).\nThe first visitor came to this site by searching for scheema definition (and if you follow that link you’ll perform the same search on Google, though the result may be different by the time you do that). Amazingly (I think), they came on 11/Jan/2005 19:27:02 GMT – barely 36 hours after Google first found this site!\nNow that I’ve got a search engine to feed, I better write some more fodder…erm text for it to consume.\n","date":"17 January 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/01/17/the-google-expe/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"The Google Experiment Results","type":"posts"},{"content":"I’ve always enjoyed making computers do what I want them to – especially where it saves me doing the same work more than once. That’s why I first learnt to program a computer.\nIt was actually an Excel Macro (which entailed pressing ‘record’ and excel created a visual basic script by itself) that I first used to save having to do by hand the same thing on 50 odd spreadsheets every month, setting them up for the next months data entry. Most of the visual basic that was recorded seemed pretty simple and the bits that didn’t I found out what they did in the help file. I then started to find that I couldnt always record what I was doing, for example, if a value was more than 100 I wanted the colour to change to red. By reading some more of the help file I found ways of being able to do things based on other things.\nThis section will be somewhere to record all things I’m working on, and for the first time I’m going to make some notes on how long I’ve spent programming certain things. I know that sometimes it takes longer to program a computer to do something than to do something by hand and at the beginning there’s many times when it isn’t clear the best way to approach something.\nOne of the other tough decisions (for me anyway) is whether to find some existing software or write my own. OK, some things are quite obvious (I wouldn’t want to write the equivalent of MS Word by myself!) but other things are tougher. A bit like the database that runs the kitchen shop. While it is possible now to buy software that does similar things (and in many cases a lot more), none of it does things exactly the way our business wants it done. For example, Sage (the accounting software we use) can also do order processing. Unfortunately to process an order you need to have an item in the ‘stock control’ module. As we frequently sell a product just once it is not practical to enter it into the stock control module just to create an order. However, it is useful to be able to call some frequently used products from a stock list and hand enter the ones that are not common. What sage doesn’t allow, our own database does. Most important to ALL the systems I’ve ever looked at is the ability for them to import and export data. Mostly this is done in a ‘report’ format, and for many programs this stops at just a printed report. To make them really useful they need to export data that another computer system can read, as well as import data from other systems. When you are buying some software it may not always hold the data in the format you need, or even hold the data at all. One of the things Sage did not record that most annoyed me was the ‘customer source’ when an invoice was raised. How did that customer find us? Sage doesn’t record it, our database does. Better still because I wrote our database as our needs have changed the database has changed with us. We noticed suppliers were delivering too soon because they didn’t read the delivery date, so it was a simple thing to change the format of the purchase order to make it more obvious to them.\nAnyway, enough of the reasoning between when and when to not write my own software… Off to start writing some new stuff!\n","date":"1 January 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/01/01/new-category-we/","section":"Posts","summary":"I’ve always enjoyed making computers do what I want them to – especially where it saves me doing the same work more than once. That’s why I first learnt to program a computer.\n","title":"New Category – WebDev \u0026 Code","type":"posts"},{"content":"Happy New Year!\n","date":"1 January 2005","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2005/01/01/happy-new-year/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Happy New Year","type":"posts"},{"content":"Mum and Dad have a lot of friends.\nHow do I know? This year they’re spending Christmas in Thailand with some friends. Fortunately they weren’t by the coast when the Earthquake and tidal waves struck so they’re fine.\nFor the last week the shop has had calls from many many people (some even managed to find my home phone number) all calling to find out if everything was OK with my parents. It’s nice to know so many people care for them.\n","date":"29 December 2004","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2004/12/29/lots-of-friends/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Lots of friends","type":"posts"},{"content":"Another thing I learn’t when growing up which now means a lot more to me:\nYou don’t always need to know the answer, just how to find out the answer.\nI learnt that at ATC, during staff cadet training we didn’t need to know all the rules, but we were expected to know where to go and find the answer among the many books the ATC had.\n","date":"23 December 2004","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2004/12/23/learnings/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Learnings","type":"posts"},{"content":"Thanks to those who’ve pointed out the bugs on the site so far. The current list reads:\nComments Don’t work Font size too small Site is different in Internet Explorer to Mozilla Firefox I’ll get to looking at the comments as soon as I get time.\nDid you know you can change the font size for this site (and any other standards compliant site) in your browser? It’s simple, just select\n“View” from the menu bar, then “Text Size” from the list, then choose to make it larger or smaller. The font size you see on your screen is affected by many things including the size of your screen and some Windows settings.\nThe differences between Firefox and Internet Explorer are down to the way they implement the web’s CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) standards (or more likely the way I’ve written my style sheet). Eventually I’ll figure out why they are different and fix them to be the same. ","date":"20 December 2004","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2004/12/20/site-bugs-to-fi/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Site Bugs to fix","type":"posts"},{"content":"So the last posting date for Christmas was today. Once again, I’ve missed it. Merry Christmas to all my friends and relatives reading this and wondering where your card is.\nOf course, normally I don’t write any cards (and this year has been no exception) because Rhonda sorts that out every year. This year she’s been delayed by me not sorting out the list. Normally that involves me copying Mums address list, then adding our friends but this year Mums list on the computer appears to be missing almost everyone.\nI really would like to be more organised when it comes to friends addresses and contact details. Written on bits of paper here and there, never to hand when I need it (or Rhonda needs it). The solution? I think I’m going to find an online address book. If any of you know of any please let me know.\nI had a look at a couple of the ones I’ve known of. Most seem to suffer with not holding the data the way I want. For example, our friends Darren and Rebecca live at the same address but each have their own mobile number (not uncommon that), but I don’t really want to enter their address twice because that will make next years Christmas card list complicated. I think the best solution is for me to write a system myself.\nCons: It will take me some time I’m probably doing what another website is already doing for free Pros: The practice will be good can use it from anywhere, got full control of the layout already have a login system that I wrote for another site that I can re-use .\nThe Pros seem to be winning. I guess it will all depend on how boring the TV is over Christmas, and how complicated I make the database scheema (scheema = plan of how the database works).\nOf course, I’m also back to thinking of whether we should really be sending cards at all. I’m not bothered whether I recieve a card, I’m happy to get nothing or may be even a hello by email for the people I haven’t seen for most of the year. Maybe I should go and send some “Merry Christmas” emails instead, now, where did I put that list of email addresses….\n","date":"20 December 2004","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2004/12/20/last-posting-da/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Last posting date was today?","type":"posts"},{"content":"Uncle Dave’s been teaching Nicola to snowboard – aren’t uncles great 🙂\nHe’s taken a video of her on his new phone. Follow the video link and hopefully you’ll be able to see it too.\n","date":"18 December 2004","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2004/12/18/snowboarding-ni/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Snowboarding Nicola","type":"posts"},{"content":"Dave is running the London Marathon this year. His chosen charity is the Meningitis Trust and if you are feeling generous you can sponsor him online at Justgiving – Dave’s London Marathon Page. Dave’s been doing a lot of running lately and is really enjoying it.\n","date":"15 December 2004","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2004/12/15/running-rooties/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Running Rooties – Dave's in the London Marathon","type":"posts"},{"content":"Coldfusion seems to be better lately. I haven’t set the cron job up to restart the server every night but I have changed some of the coldfusion settings. It appears that a software update may have changed some of the memory variables for the ‘JRun server’. Jrun was trying to take all 256mb of memory on the server and not let anything else use it. I reset it first to 128mb which helped, and now 64mb and the server’s been fine since. The website seem to be performing fine but I think I’ll keep watching it closely just in case.\nAs always, newsgroups were handy for research and I’ve got a few optimisation tips from them too.\n","date":"13 December 2004","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2004/12/13/coldfusion-is-b/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Coldfusion is better","type":"posts"},{"content":"Granddads Life story is currently hosted on the business website http://www.rootskitchens.co.uk/family/les_root_story.php. There’s also a guestbook for people to leave a message and say hello. Despite it’s relatively low traffic there’s always been a level of spam that gets sent to it. When it happens I remove them. I was surprised today to be spammed by another furniture company. Their website looks pretty good too, I guess they are just trying to hard to be noticed. What defines spam for me? Well, it’s not relevant for a furniture company to be listing:\nOak furniture,tables,chairs.Bespoke furniture,tables,chairs\nalong with the website URL in a guestbook for a life story.\nI guess they thought the guestbook was related to the business site in some way.\n","date":"10 December 2004","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2004/12/10/they-spoil-thei/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"They spoil their site by sending spam","type":"posts"},{"content":"I remembered today that one year I took all of my Easter Eggs to the local childrens ward and gave them away. The year before I’d fallen over when skiing and broken my arm. I spent the whole of Easter (well, it may have only been a day or two because memories aren’t always accurate) in the Childrens ward. What on earth must Mum have thought? Was that so unusual a thing to do? I remember the nurses being perplexed by my arrival. I wonder if Nicola and James will do unexpected things like that and can only assume they will.\n","date":"7 December 2004","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2004/12/07/memories-mums/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Memories \u0026 Mums","type":"posts"},{"content":"I’ve begun a new category today called “Posts waiting to happen”. If you see anything here its because it may be relevant for some to ready, but I’m not happy to list it as a complete entry. This will also be a category for me to place ‘draft’ and ‘future’ status posts. These types of post doesn’t show on the website but placing them here will let me see easily the things I’ve started and not finished. All told, this is like a scrap book of ideas section, some things you’ll be able to see and some you wont.\n","date":"7 December 2004","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2004/12/07/net-category-po/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"New Category – Posts Waiting to happen","type":"posts"},{"content":"It’s official – my web server occupies 0.00099% of the entire London datacentre floor space. Calculated courtesy of an email from Rackspace Managed Hosting who gave the total floor area of London datacentres as 303,030 Sq Feet.\nNow you know that, you can carry on with your day with a knowing smile 🙂\n","date":"7 December 2004","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2004/12/07/its-official-my/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"My mark on the web server scene","type":"posts"},{"content":"If you want to buy an Australian Domain name, you can only buy it through one company, www.melbourneit.com. Look closely at their domain name price structure and you’ll notice they rates are in US Dollars and not Australian Dollars! Prices for hosting are in AUD though, but I can’t think why they’d charge in USD for the names.\n","date":"6 December 2004","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2004/12/06/the-australian/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"The Australian company that wishes it was American?","type":"posts"},{"content":"Well, it’s up an running. This site is live. Well, if you count a count a grand total of three visitors (Hello Sister Sharon, Friend Alex and Friend Clive – that is if you ever come back to read this).\nI keep a log file for all the sites I run and for this site it gives the not very impressive visitor statistics of:\nGeneral Web Traffic Statistics \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; (Figures in parentheses refer to the 7-day period ending 02-Dec-2004 21:23). \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; \u0026lt;th\u0026gt; Notes on their meaning \u0026lt;/th\u0026gt; Successful requests: \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 519 (368) \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; number of files the server delivered. A file is each page and each image. So a single page request will often be 10 or so requests. Commonly called Hits. \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; Average successful requests per day: \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 46 (52) \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; Successful requests for pages: \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 211 (159) \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; a.k.a it all worked from the servers point of view and a page was sent to the computer that requested it. \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; Average successful requests for pages per day: \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 18 (22) \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; Failed requests: \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 91 (75) \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Uh oh, this means it didn\u0026amp;#8217;t all work correctly. EG I didn\u0026amp;#8217;t put the correct image name in a file. Also gets counted here if you go to a page that doesn\u0026amp;#8217;t exist. I study the log files on sites to find the causes of these problems so I can fix them and hopefully keep this number at zero. \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; Distinct files requested: \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 70 (61) \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; We know how many files had been requested by visitors, but this tells us how many files we have actually used on the server. In this case there were only 61 files on the server that were used, although several must have been sent more than once because 368 file requests were made by visitors. \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; Distinct hosts served: \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 20 (20) \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; Distinct hosts means number of computers, but thats not the same as number of people. Actually, it isn\u0026amp;#8217;t really number of computers, its number of internet addresses that connected to the server and asked for a page. At the shop we only have one internet address but several computers, a clever box called a router sorts out where traffic is going to and from. Even though I used two computers at the shop the server would only see one host. 20 sounds like a lot right? Well the shop IP address stays the same, but at home (where I\u0026amp;#8217;ve created several pages) it changes every half day or so. That\u0026amp;#8217;s probably up to about 6 then. Add Sharon, Clive \u0026amp; Alex (I told them the site was here but they may not have come) then its about 9 hosts. Add the groups of servers that get told automatically when I update a page (built into the \u0026lt;a href=\u0026quot;http://www.movabletype.org\u0026quot;\u0026gt;movabletype\u0026lt;/a\u0026gt; software so that people with weblogs can let each other know when a blog has been updated) and before you know it you\u0026amp;#8217;ve got 20 host visits but only 4 real people. \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; Data transferred: \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 3.02 megabytes (1.99 megabytes) \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; If you think that an old floppy disk held 1.4megabytes, then this week the server sent out one and a bit. I pay for the amount of bandwidth the sites on my server use so I watch these numbers for all the sites on the server to make sure none of them are using too much. Too much? Well, the server currently sends around 3,500 old style floppy disks full of data every month to visitors, but has a basic capacity of sending about 22,000 disks per month. If you\u0026amp;#8217;re wondering what the real values are: 5GB usage, 30GB per month before I\u0026amp;#8217;m charged more. \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; Average data transferred per day: \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; 279.44 kilobytes (291.57 kilobytes) \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; (I use a program called analog to analyse the log files in case you were interested)\nHo-hum, now theres some content worth looking at it must be time to submit to the search engines (say in a loud deep voice).\nSo tonight I’ve submited to:\nDMOZ – a directory site that needs a real person to verify the entry Yahoo Directory – a bit like DMOZ but it will probably take longer. Out of nostalgia I thought I’d list here first because it was the first site on the internet I ever went to… more on that another time. When I started the business it was easy to get listed although today business generally have to pay and the free submission have no guarantees of being listed. Still, nowdays most people use a search engine rather than a directory site (di’t’ave those when i were a boy on t’net). Google – a proper search engine that’s ever so popular. I’ll let you know how long before the first google spider comes visiting the site. Oh well, that’s it for tonight, more ramblings later\n","date":"2 December 2004","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2004/12/02/now-the-search/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Now the search engines know I'm here","type":"posts"},{"content":"Today, OFWAT (the government body that ensures the water companies in the UK are acting responsibly) announced that water bills will be rising across the UK. The news media all started saying how bad it was and that the water companies made 1.4 billion (or some such figure) and therefore didn’t need to raise the prices anyway. As is typical with the media when they report this type of story, they fail to mention half the relevant facts. So, lets go find them on the internet and come to our own conclusion (or at least, you’ll get to read my opinion).\nSo first of all, what are the price rises?\nThe following table comes from the BBC news site, and originally from OFWAT.\nAVERAGE ANNUAL HOUSEHOLD WATER BILLS\nWater and sewerage\nCompany\n\u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;b\u0026gt;2004/05\u0026lt;b\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;b\u0026gt;2009/10\u0026lt;b\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;b\u0026gt;Rise\u0026lt;b\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr bgcolor=\u0026quot;#EEEEDD\u0026quot;\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Anglia\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; 294 \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; 313\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; 7%\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr bgcolor=\u0026quot;#EEEEDD\u0026quot;\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Northumbrian\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; 232\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; 260\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; 12%\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr bgcolor=\u0026quot;#EEEEDD\u0026quot;\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Severn Trent\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; 221\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; 265\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; 20%\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr bgcolor=\u0026quot;#EEEEDD\u0026quot;\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; South West\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; 357\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; 444\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; 25%\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr bgcolor=\u0026quot;#EEEEDD\u0026quot;\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Southern\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; 259\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; 324\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; 25%\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr bgcolor=\u0026quot;#EEEEDD\u0026quot;\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Thames\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; 210\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; 261\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; 24%\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr bgcolor=\u0026quot;#EEEEDD\u0026quot;\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; United Utilities\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; 269\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; 322\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; 20%\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr bgcolor=\u0026quot;#EEEEDD\u0026quot;\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Welsh Water\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; 286\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; 352\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; 23%\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr bgcolor=\u0026quot;#EEEEDD\u0026quot;\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Wessex\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; 276\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; 347\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; 25%\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr bgcolor=\u0026quot;#EEEEDD\u0026quot;\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Yorkshire\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; 243\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; 288\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; 18%\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt; \u0026lt;tr bgcolor=\u0026quot;#EEEEDD\u0026quot;\u0026gt; \u0026lt;td colspan=\u0026quot;4\u0026quot;\u0026gt; \u0026lt;font color=\u0026quot;#000000\u0026quot;\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;b\u0026gt;Source: Ofwat\u0026lt;/b\u0026gt;\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/font\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/td\u0026gt; \u0026lt;/tr\u0026gt;\u0026lt;/table\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt; That table tells a lot. To begin with, look at the column titles. 2004/5 compared to 2009/10. That\u0026amp;#8217;s a five year period of time. The Rate column shows the difference as a percentage. When I first read the table I assumed they were comparing current prices with the new prices for next month \u0026amp;#8211; not prices as they will be in 5 years time. \u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt; So, what are we going to be paying this time next year?\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; (I\u0026amp;#8217;ll take just Southern Water from now on as they supply me. It\u0026amp;#8217;s also one of the highest rises).\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; 324 \u0026amp;#8211; 259 = 65 rise over 5 years = 65/5 = 13 a year. \u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt; 13 a year is a 5% rise. Yes, just 5% for the most dramatic rise across the water industry. Lots of things increase in price by 5% during a year and if my memory serves me inflation is about 3% (and a quick internet search gave me one result of 2.6%) \u0026amp;#8211; so Southern Water prices are increasing faster than inflation. I also know that the world price of Steel is increasing a lot faster than UK inflation too but perhaps the media don\u0026amp;#8217;t research it or publicise it because people on the street don\u0026amp;#8217;t go and buy Steel (they buy finished products which use steel some of which I know have increased in price around 8%). \u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt; The thing to remember is that inflation is calculated by looking at all the things a country buys, and what happens to the prices over time. Lots of things affect it. Raw material prices, Labour costs (If you get a pay rise you are increasing the national inflation rate, take a pay cut and you are decreasing the rate) as well as market forces (competition between business can drive prices down and inflation goes down with it. Technology like the internet has made many business processes cheaper which in turn can lead to cheaper market prices and therefore lowers the inflation rate). Pitty the poor people who live in the Anglian water area, having to suffer a less than 1% price rise. \u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt; One more thing I\u0026amp;#8217;ve just discovered. The price rises through the year are in addition to inflation. In other words the cost of supply water is expected to be increasing relative to the supply of other products in society. So the 13 a year may well increase by another 3% if inflation stays the same, which is a stagering total 13.39 pence a year. (appologies for the irony \u0026amp;#8211; I just can\u0026amp;#8217;t resist!) \u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt; OK, so we know the increase is not a lot. It\u0026amp;#8217;s still going up and essentially the water companies operate a monopoly. Are they just raking in the cash? Will the 1.4 Billion of profit be given to the shareholders and the poor customer made to pay more? \u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt; Lets find out.\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; 1) Financial Reports for Southern Water. Should be able to find those on the internet\u0026amp;#8230; \u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt; Didn\u0026amp;#8217;t take long to find. (\u0026lt;a href=\u0026quot;http://www.southernwater.co.uk/pdfs/corporate/regAccounts/SW_Accounts03_04.pdf\u0026quot;\u0026gt;Statutory Accounts 2003/2004\u0026lt;/a\u0026gt;) \u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt; What does it tell me?\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; Last year they lost 8.1 million. That in itself doesn\u0026amp;#8217;t mean a lot, just that what they did make was paid out to shareholders as Dividends. Dividends were 66.5 million from a turnover of 455 million. A margin of around 14% which would be very low for a small business but for bigger businesses sounds fairly reasonable to me. \u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt; What else?\u0026lt;br /\u0026gt; In order to run that company, they use assets worth 3,500 million pounds. Here\u0026amp;#8217;s a question for you. Would you put a 100 pound in the bank as an investment if you were only going to get 102 pounds back at the end of the year? Probably not, especially as the earnings aren\u0026amp;#8217;t guranteed. That\u0026amp;#8217;s what the Official accounts of Southern Water are saying. Remember also that 66 million pounds probably doesn\u0026amp;#8217;t go very far if you need to build a new sewage works. \u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt; Of course, it\u0026amp;#8217;s not quite as bleak as that. Some of the business is funded by its owners (the share holders) but other funding comes from finance companies and suppliers. Leased equipment (so the Water Company don\u0026amp;#8217;t own the equipment but they pay a rental each month for its use) doesn\u0026amp;#8217;t appear in the books as an asset, it\u0026amp;#8217;s an expense. EG The company probably doesn\u0026amp;#8217;t own the Managing Directors company car \u0026amp;#8211; they hire it. \u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt; The share holders provide about 1,000 million pounds in order to run the company. Using the 100 pound in the bank analogy its getting a return of 6.6% which is a bit more healthy. On those figures, more people would probably risk their money in the company. Now to buy a piece of that company so you can get your 6% may cost more than value of the assets you\u0026amp;#8217;re buying. That\u0026amp;#8217;s why the share price of a company is not neccessarily related to the value of a company, its related to how much you\u0026amp;#8217;re willing to risk to get a return. If you had to pay 300 pounds to get a 100 pounds of the company (and therefore a 6.60 dividend for your 300) it becomes less attractive. Now I\u0026amp;#8217;m moving off topic, so back to the main question \u0026amp;#8211; \u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt; Are the water companies earning too much money? I think the 14% margin says no, especially as the directors have to maintain a margin or lose their jobs (the share holders expect to get something for risking their money) and if they can\u0026amp;#8217;t charge enough to do that, the first thing that stops is long term investment (that will be another share holders problem, the current group of share holders would take the profits and sell their shares before the value dropped). \u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt; As for the price rise above the rate of inflation, I also think that\u0026amp;#8217;s OK because the company needs to spend more than the current rate of inflation in order to provide a service into the future. \u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; \u0026lt;p\u0026gt; Just my 10cl though \u0026amp;#8211; let me know what you think\u0026amp;#8230;. \u0026lt;/p\u0026gt; ","date":"2 December 2004","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2004/12/02/water-bills-ris-1/","section":"Posts","summary":"Today, OFWAT (the government body that ensures the water companies in the UK are acting responsibly) announced that water bills will be rising across the UK. The news media all started saying how bad it was and that the water companies made 1.4 billion (or some such figure) and therefore didn’t need to raise the prices anyway. As is typical with the media when they report this type of story, they fail to mention half the relevant facts. So, lets go find them on the internet and come to our own conclusion (or at least, you’ll get to read my opinion).\n","title":"Water Bills rise in price – I still think its cheap","type":"posts"},{"content":"As some of you know, my webserver runs coldfusion which keeps the business site ticking over nicely. Well, normally it does, but just recently it seems to be playing up and the only way I discover this is when the web pages no longer work.\nToday was another bad day for the Coldfusion server. I was speaking to one customer who was clearly looking at things on the web site. Five minutes later a customer phones in who has been on one page of the site but can’t get to the price page.\nI was still able to log in to the server and it appeared to be very lightly loaded. Restarted Apache but that made no difference, not one web page on the site seemed to work, whether it was a Colfusion page or a simple static web page. Fortunately when things get this bad I’m able to phone the data centre (rackspace – who are there 24 hours a day to help fix these sort of problems) and get some help. James to the rescue, it appeared that Coldfusion had taken up all the ‘handles’. Once coldfusion was restarted, everything else was fine.\nHe also commented that it shouldn’t be taking as long as it does to restart (about 5 minutes on our server) so there must be something else not quite right. In the mean time I think I’ll restart it every other day in the hope that 5 minutes down time when I know its happening is better than perhaps a day of downtime when I’m not able to know about it or fix it.\n","date":"1 December 2004","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2004/12/01/coldfusion-mx-i/","section":"Posts","summary":"As some of you know, my webserver runs coldfusion which keeps the business site ticking over nicely. Well, normally it does, but just recently it seems to be playing up and the only way I discover this is when the web pages no longer work.\n","title":"Coldfusion MX is no fun today :(","type":"posts"},{"content":"I’ve just discovered how easy it is to add images to entries on this blog! The first image is nothing more interesting than the logo of Movable Type (the software I’m using to run this blog). One really neat touch is that once you’ve selected and uploaded a file (you chose from a windows style popup that lets you look though the files on your computer) it then gives you the code you need to copy and paste into your entry. Very smart.\n","date":"29 November 2004","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2004/11/29/image-discovery/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Image Discovery","type":"posts"},{"content":"The site is slowly taking shape. The two great leap forwards I’ve had today are the rotating baners and my attempt at a logo.\nRotating Banners first, I’ve used a simple PHP script I found at a list apart. I created the images in Macromedia Fireworks (because I have a copy, otherwise the same thing could have been done with any number of free graphics software available on the internet).\nThe “logo” is a play on my name Root and its use in Linux (an operating system used mostly for servers). Tasks such as installing software can only be done when you are logged in as the ‘root’ user. The command to log in as the root user is “su -“.\n","date":"27 November 2004","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2004/11/27/rotating-banner/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Rotating Banners and \"SU -\"","type":"posts"},{"content":"I’ve just found a neat little summary of words that don’t make sense when used on a web page. Dangerous words is a simple page listing the word or phrase and the reason why not to use it and what to use in its place. If you’re wondering why I haven’t said click here to follow that link, you need to read the page 🙂\n","date":"26 November 2004","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2004/11/26/dangerous-words/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"Dangerous Words","type":"posts"},{"content":"Welcome, this site is just somewhere for me to call home on the web. OK, many of you may already know that I have other homes on the web but this one is just for me, unlike\nRoots Kitchens Bedrooms Bathrooms (my work website) Rooties.net (a site i use for general family stuff, my sisters web pages) www.life-story.org (A site I started for anyone to share their life story – still a work in progress) Some other ones too that are more about something specific When I was deciding how to go about a site for me, I wanted something fairly easy to add to (otherwise I wouldn’t bother writing). Therefore I needed a ‘content management system’ or CMS – thats a computer geek way of saying ‘a real easy way of adding stuff to a website and making it display nicely. I could have written it myself (I’ve created similar for www.life-story.org and www.bni-faversham.co.uk) but for this site I used an already available system called “Movable Type“. Movable type is free for personal use, and as this is for me and not the business, that qualifies 🙂 It’s not open source though, which is what I would normally go for if I’m not writing it all myself. If i need to, I’ll be able to alter some of its templates to make it behave exactly the way I want it to (although it seems to have everything I can think of built in). Anyway, if you are family or a friend and you want to do something similar, drop me an email and I’ll probably have time to help you set it up (and probably even give you some space on the web server for free). If you’re not family/friend you can say hello anyway and I’ll help if I can. ","date":"21 November 2004","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2004/11/21/about-this-site/","section":"Posts","summary":"","title":"About this site","type":"posts"},{"content":"After a long time of thinking about doing it, I’ve finally done it. This is my blog, this is the first entry, and you should never follow a comma with the word and. It also looks strange to finish a sentence with the word and too.\nIf you’re reading this, do drop me an email and tell me why. Hopfully the email address is fairly obvious on the page you’re looking at, at the time of writing I haven’t decided what to do with the layout. I haven’t even decided everything that I’m going to write about here either. I hope the future paragraphs make more sence than the first one (it all started well, then slowly fell apart as my English grammar lessons came back to haunt me).\nAnyway, time to go play with how the site looks for a while, then maybe add some photos.\ntemporary while I build the wordpress site in hugo, these were the original front matter:\ntitle: And so it begins… author: sroot\ndate: 2004-11-21T16:38:04+00:00 url: /2004/11/21/and-so-it-begin/ categories:\n\u0026lsquo;zzz - None of the Above\u0026rsquo; ","date":"21 November 2004","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/2004/11/21/and-so-it-begin/","section":"Posts","summary":"After a long time of thinking about doing it, I’ve finally done it. This is my blog, this is the first entry, and you should never follow a comma with the word and. It also looks strange to finish a sentence with the word and too.\n","title":"And so it begins…","type":"posts"},{"content":" 2026 Testing Svelte 1 Nov Image test 31 Oct Xero CIS – correcting a submitted return (it is possible) 13 Jan 2025 Quickly convert a Xero batch payment CSV to a format that works on Metro Bank 12 Aug Clothing for your first marathon 4 Jun Marathon training, turning planned run times into distances 26 Feb Sharing a plane cut out for use in videos (a banner tow plane) 27 Jan 2024 Alternatives to ordering from Amazon 29 Mar Building a low power server 1 Mar 2023 Santa-pi, a music player for a charity fundraising float 19 Dec Solution sharing: My small business phone system, 4 lines, 6 extensions, and costs less than £10 per month 28 Sep Batch qr code generator in python 8 Sep FreePBX adding additional network card 9 Jun Google workspace – printing the collaborative inbox / printing google groups 2 May Testing galleries – nothing here to see 10 Feb 2022 Automatic Letterheads from a printer 3 Nov Setting up Google Workspace for a small business – part 9 17 Jan 2021 Printers, running costs and life expectancy 18 Dec Setting up Google Workspace for a small business – part 8 25 Sep Setting up Google Workspace for a small business – part 7 6 Sep Setting up Google Workspace for a small business – part 6 6 Sep Setting up Google Workspace for a small business – part 5 3 Sep Setting up Google Workspace for a small business – part 4 2 Sep Setting up Google Workspace for a small business – part 3 2 Sep Setting up Google Workspace for a small business – part 2 2 Sep Setting up Google Workspace for a small business – part 1 2 Sep Moving my small business [cloud email, file sharing, calendars] to a new provider 28 Aug Moving Back to wordpress 28 Aug 2020 Moving from wordpress to a static site generator 21 Jun 2019 Magic letterhead tray – making preprinted stationary automatically on plain white paper 19 Nov A Small Business Payroll Solution – how and why I moved our payroll process from an accounting firm to do it ourselves using ‘Software as a Service’ 14 Jun 2017 How many 1st class stamps to use on heavy letters? 20 Oct Google Chrome ” Failed – Network Error.” on downloading files greater than 5MB (ish) – solution for me = Disable QUIC 24 Apr 2016 Margins and Markups: how to handle multiple discounts/rebates 2 Dec Blog traffic 30 Sep Upgrading my server to PHP7 broke wordpress admin interface (cloudflare) 30 Sep Spam from Scottish Power, their response: we’ll carry on spamming (just not to you). 27 Jun Hot topic – our backup server (overheating!) 24 Jun Why it’s time to move our business away from 2020 Fusion design software 22 Mar Solicitors who spam? That would be Edwards Duthie Solicitors 22 Feb Royalty free music and a time lapse video for work 5 Jan 2015 Migrating from phpBB to Google Groups 3 Nov Birthday Calculator – in case you don\u0026#39;t want to wait a whole year to celebrate being alive 8 Jan 2014 Virtual PDF Printer for our small office network – a step by step how to 22 Nov sunspot solr slow in production (fixed by using IP address instead of domain name) 2 Oct BT Wifi hotspots intercept and redirect google SSL searches 5 May How to change a folder icon to a picture in Mac OS X 22 Apr VMware consolidated backup missing a catalogue file – fixed! 13 Apr A quick note on my first steps using stripe.com 14 Mar A new form of Comment spam? – url shorteners and redirection? 21 Jan 2013 BitDefender v Nod32 18 Nov Parallels virtual disk much larger on mac than windows is actually using 12 Nov Network PDF printing from Windows 8 24 Oct After Win 8.1 update display has shrunk 24 Oct Caught in my spam trap – randrnews.co.uk 1 Oct Mac OS X Screenshot save to folder (instead of desktop) 23 Aug Rails Sunspot/Solr returning result for single character searches 17 Jul Backup! (Bye bye TimeMachine, hello Carbon Copy Cloner) 7 Jul IBM need help with statistics 4 Jul Gandi said thanks :-) 23 May Extracting images from PDF (free, using command line) 22 May Building an automatic infrared remote control for the shop 6 May A quick review of WordPress comment and trackback spam 28 Apr How to get noticed on LinkedIn (before LinkedIn existed) 27 Mar Email from a new business that want\u0026#39;s to supply my business 15 Mar Caught in my spam trap – cloud-mailer.co.uk / brainycat.co.uk 14 Mar Caught in my spam trap – paramountbathrooms.com / .co.uk 14 Mar Caught in my spam trap – buildingmergers.co.uk 14 Mar BT Openzone, Mac OS X connection problems 5 Mar Grey text on a web page not visible when printing, how to fix it 11 Feb Mac Timemachine backups are NOT complete 11 Jan 2012 Calc (Openoffice / Libreoffice) If statements using \u0026#39;between\u0026#39; or \u0026#39;and\u0026#39; 15 Dec Gitolite won\u0026#39;t let server read repo 6 Dec Installing a new hard disk in a Mac = not fun 3 Dec WordPress redirects 30 Nov Results are in, WordPress gets as much spam as movabletype 28 Nov Technical notes on migrating from MovableType to WordPress 27 Nov Goodbye MovableType, hello WordPress 27 Nov Mail merge onto a PDF background 16 Nov What happens when you break down in France (10 things I learnt) 18 Sep The joy of being a forum/newsgroup moderator 3 Aug Peer to Peer downloading (Torrents) and network problems 26 Jul Screen recording on a mac 17 Jul Useful bash command for ruby programming (find a string within a file including sub directory files) 11 Jul SPF with google site verification 27 Jun My SSL certificate was not working in Safari, but it did in Chrome and Firefox 20 Jun Dear archant.co.uk, please stop spamming me 31 May Outlook Web Access – missing options 26 May Block web spammers by their IP address 31 Mar 2011 Installing Sphinx on Mac OS X Lion 10 Dec Windows to Mac continued 19 Nov Useful Mac Shortcut Key (show desktop) 18 Oct Notes from moving from Windows to Mac 17 Oct My name (root) – most dangerous word in computing? 21 Jul Good Sailing opportunity! 11 May 2010 Amazing Stories of Polio – in a shop window 11 Sep Backups for Google Calendar – a ruby application 29 Aug CRON – multiple cron jobs on one line (running consecutively, not concurrently) 5 Jul cciss-vol-status on Ubuntu didn\u0026#39;t work, it was cciss_vol_status 22 May Bad Bot go away! 6 Apr blogging without using a keyboard (using windows built in speech recognition) 20 Mar Memories of Nan Root 24 Feb ruby on rails sql_type – A reminder for me 4 Feb View a Multi page tiff file in windows 28 Jan Kent Challenge Team (1994 promotional video – have I aged much?) 14 Jan Our Sydney holiday photo (after a little CGI…) 9 Jan 5 and a bit years of blogging… just 2 Jan Happy new year! 2 Jan 2009 Brother Dave goes on a cycling holiday, we track his position live by GPS 15 Sep Gmail default contact for a friend with more than one email address 10 Sep Migrating Coldfusion to Open Bluedragon – form.FIELDNAMES 4 Sep Googlemail down :( 1 Sep Moving the blog to a new server 31 Aug Are you in Medway on Friday? 13 Jul Rotary International Convention 2009 – Volunteering 21 Jun Rotary Internation Convention 2009 – First timer notes 20 Jun Goodbye Alicia 27 May Moving to a new web server 15 May Fresh Ubuntu install could not resolve domains names – and how I fixed it… maybe 4 May Eurocon 2009 – the final day 19 Apr Eurocon 2009 – The Duel 19 Apr Eurocon 2009 – Visit to Fort Eben-Emael 18 Apr Eurocon 2009 – Memories of day 1 18 Apr Eurocon 2009 – More than just simulation 17 Apr Rotary – Club Visit 9 to Lige Rive-Droite 16 Apr Eurocon 2009 – Let Battle Commence 15 Apr Marley and Me (Rooty Film Review) 26 Feb Rotary – Club visit 8 to Chestfield 12 Feb Learn french in 10 days…. assuming you don\u0026#39;t need sleep? 14 Jan 2008 Perelandra (C.S. Lewis) and That Hideous Strength (C.S.Lewis) 26 Dec 15% VAT – How to work it out from 17.5% inc prices 16 Dec Steve meets the president (yes, the nice one, from America) 14 Dec 4 Years of blogging 4 Dec Laughing Horse? It\u0026#39;s a comedy club a friend was performing at… 4 Dec VAT Rate changes – more work for the printing industry, more non revenue generating office work for me 25 Nov Staying Alive (Alexander Fullerton) 20 Nov 2001 A Space Odyssey (Arthur C Clarke) 20 Nov The Malacia Tapestry (Brian Aldiss) 20 Nov Rotary – Club visit 7 to Faversham 16 Nov Rotary – 1120 District Conference – Other things 7 Nov Rotary – 1120 District Conference – Rotarian Dr Geoff McKay presentation 7 Nov Rotary – 1120 District Conference – Yellowmen of Kadongdong presentation 7 Nov Rotary – 1120 District Conference – Orpheus Centre \u0026amp; Richard Stilgoe presentation 7 Nov Rotary – 1120 District Conference – Graham Clarke presentation 7 Nov Rotary – 1120 District Conference – Leonard Cheshire School 4 All presentation 7 Nov Rotary – 1120 District Conference – Help for Heroes presentation 7 Nov Rotary – 1120 District Conference 7 Nov Pure highway in car DAB radio – time to play with my prize! 21 Oct I\u0026#39;m still scared of speaking in public 20 Oct Root Nicknames 20 Oct Choosing a web browser – why can\u0026#39;t I just put up with the default 20 Oct Rotary – club visit 6 to Strood 16 Oct Rotary – The next level of administration 15 Oct Rotary – Club visit 5 to Chestfield 13 Oct Red Mushroom, White Spots, found on my walk through the woods 6 Oct A very lucky week for Steve! 3 Oct GPS Logging from my PDA…needs a little work I think 2 Oct The Island (Victoria Hislop) 2 Oct Life and times of a Keyboard 2 Oct Earth is Room Enough (Issac Asimov) 2 Oct Space, Time and Nathaniel (Brian Aldiss) 2 Oct The Dark Light Years (Brian Aldiss) 2 Oct Sunday European Campaign – on target so far… 28 Sep Rotary – Charter Night 25 Sep Rotary – Club Visit 4 to Medway 8 Sep Rotary and it\u0026#39;s impact on our holiday (Part 2) 6 Sep Robert Robertson, talented young singer 6 Sep Aces High 2 – Sunday European Campaign series begins! 4 Sep Rotary and it\u0026#39;s impact on our family holiday (part 1) 2 Sep Rotary – First visit to another club 29 Aug Rotary – Club Assembly 29 Aug Rotary – Meeting Steve (at Pilgrims Hospice) 20 Aug Rotary – Meeting Craig (at Playing for Success Kent) 20 Aug Rotary – Planning for Club Assembly 20 Aug Rotary – the Fun Day 20 Aug Rotary – Meeting Lucy 20 Aug Rotary – Getting to work 13 Aug Rotary – Inauguration of a new club 13 Aug Rotary – new member, new club 13 Aug Rotary and Rootary 13 Aug Halting State (Charles Stross) 29 Jun Out of the Silent Planet (C S Lewis) 29 Jun The Torch Bearers (Alexander Fullerton) 29 Jun Air Bridge (Hammond Innes) 29 Jun The Last Voyage (Hammond Innes) 29 Jun Sea Change (Robert Goddard) 29 Jun Eurocon – Extended Play 19 May Eurocon – they tell me to shut my computer down 18 May Eurocon – The Duel Championship 17 May Eurocon – yesterday, or today, or i forget already 17 May Eurocon – great times with more to come 16 May Eurocon – international culture at it\u0026#39;s best… 16 May EuroCon – Dead Parrots? 16 May Eurocon – The arrival 16 May EuroCon I\u0026#39;m going I\u0026#39;m going! 16 May Hero lost, hero found 10 May Ruby woes: NameError and uninitialized constant 31 Mar Spam filter that blocks the spam senders from RECEIVING email! 26 Mar We featured on ITN National news 25 Mar BBC iPlayer – it might reach your iPhone but not my PDA (…yet) 9 Mar Coining phrases: \u0026#34;Messenger Lag\u0026#34; 5 Mar 3 Mar Steve the podcast star? 29 Feb Stumble upon – first stumbles 23 Feb My best PDA/phone ever! (it\u0026#39;s a HTC Touch Cruise) 21 Feb Spam Wars – The spammer lost in court, but will they pay? 19 Feb The Stainless Steel Rat Saves the World (Harry Harrison) and The Stainless Steel Rat for President (Harry Harrison) 13 Feb Spammer comments on my blog pretending to be someone else! 4 Feb Mr Roots and his lovely old boots (or 14 years of heaven courtesy of Mr Brasher) 2 Feb Space Mercenaries (A. Bertram Chandler) 28 Jan Brave New World (Aldous Huxley) 28 Jan The Stainless Steel Rat (Harry Harrison) 28 Jan Automatic backups of my windows laptop 21 Jan The Floating Madhouse (Alexander Fullerton) 21 Jan Spam wars – \u0026#34;determination of damages\u0026#34; hearing date set 10 Jan BBC iPlayer – still not worth installing but worth watching online 9 Jan Jennifer Morgue (Charles Stross) 8 Jan 2007 Tales from the White Hart (Arthur C Clarke) 31 Dec Star Risk – The Scoundrel worlds (Chris Bunch), Star Risk – The Doublecross Program (Chris Bunch) and Star Risk – The Dog From Hell (Chris Bunch) 28 Dec Star Risk (Chris Bunch) 11 Dec \u0026#34;Smart\u0026#34; new training centre (I just couldn\u0026#39;t resist the pun!) and other things 7 Dec 3 Years of blogging 7 Dec Margins and markups What everyone in business needs to know. 6 Dec VoIP at home with a Linksys SPA3102, trails, tribulations but it\u0026#39;s working now 30 Nov One of our Australia photos was photo of the day on another web site 28 Nov Welcome to the Christmas Party Season 28 Nov Spam wars – court date set 16 Nov Messiah (Boris Starling) 16 Nov Coyote Frontier (Allen Steele) \u0026amp; Spindrift (Allen Steele) 11 Nov The End of Eternity (Isaac Asimov) 11 Nov VoIP – testing sipgate 4 Nov Movable Type 4 upgrade 31 Oct EMC 82 Frame 1 results 16 Oct Cooking with Nanny 10 Oct Spam wars – they didn\u0026#39;t reply to the court… 4 Oct Dark Space (Marianne de pierres) 4 Oct EMC 81 Logs 1 Oct Spam wars – I get ignored, but will they ignore the courts? 13 Sep Charlie\u0026#39;s War (David Fiddimore) 13 Sep The Atrocity Archives (Charles Stross) 13 Sep Wow! two months without a post 13 Sep Music I like: ViRGiNiE 12 Jul Sharpe\u0026#39;s Prey (Bernard Cornwell) 5 Jul Accelerando (Charles Stross) 13 Jun Family trip to Dickens World.. hmmm 5 Jun 3001 (Arthur C. Clarke) 4 Jun Spam Wars – Success! 3 Jun Spam wars update 22 May Sharpe\u0026#39;s Battle (Bernard Cornwell) 22 May Iron Sunrise (Charles Stross) and Singularity Sky (Charles Stross) 22 May The Robots of Dawn (Isaac Asmiov) 22 May False Impression (Jeffrey Archer) 22 May Busy Me! 22 May If that was a small earthquake… 28 Apr Sword of Honour (Alexander Kent) 17 Apr Sharpe\u0026#39;s Honour (Bernard Cornwell) 12 Apr Spam Wars – Success? 10 Apr Glasshouse (Charles Stross) 10 Apr Another Business Acronym 5 Apr La classe de franais 4 Apr NHS – I can only say good things about it…. 20 Mar Ever wonderered what the web server looks like? 17 Mar Bereavement, and why I don\u0026#39;t know what to say 14 Mar The Peacemaker (C.S.Forrester) 4 Mar I had an offer from a personal trainer to help my fitness training… 27 Feb Sharpes Waterloo (Bernard Cornwell) 27 Feb Sharpe\u0026#39;s Regiment (Bernard Cornwell) 27 Feb webERP Virtual Machine 24 Feb Best foot forward 22 Feb Sharpe\u0026#39;s Devil (Bernard Cornwell) 22 Feb How much email? 19 Feb Running – not always good for your health 17 Feb A Fine Night for Dying (Jack Higgins, a.k.a \u0026#34;Martin Fallon\u0026#34;) 5 Feb Root Objective Theory 4 Feb I was Amelia Earhart (Jane Mendelsohn) 24 Jan Tuesday\u0026#39;s War (David Fiddimore) 23 Jan J\u0026#39;apprends Franais! 19 Jan Plagiarism is the greatest form of flattery. I guess I\u0026#39;ve been flattered then? 18 Jan I\u0026#39;ve done something amazing 9 Jan Jonathon Livingston Seagull (Richard Bach) 7 Jan Life of Pi [Audio CD book] (Yann Martel) 7 Jan Gold Mine (Wilbur Smith) 7 Jan Islands in the Sky (Arthur C. Clarke) 7 Jan 2006 Warbirds – Flight Sim that\u0026#39;s free offline and lots of fun online 12 Dec Is damn a swear word? 5 Dec Vanity searching on Microsofts new live.com portal 4 Dec Enter Now to win! 28 Nov Avenger (Frederick Forsyth) 27 Nov Driving Blind Stories (Ray Bradbury) 26 Nov The Tristan Betrayal (Robert Ludlum) 26 Nov Redcoat (Bernard Cornwell) 26 Nov First ever competition for this site (and first video too) 10 Nov Nightfall ONE (Isaac Asimov) 10 Oct Spam again – at least this one can read, if not write 9 Oct How much do books weigh? 7 Oct Almost two years! – Say hello everyone 5 Oct Sharpe\u0026#39;s Enemy (Bernard Cornwell) \u0026amp; Sharpe\u0026#39;s Sword (Bernard Cornwell) 4 Oct Harlequin (Bernard Cornwell) \u0026amp; Vagabond (Bernard Cornwell) 4 Oct creating a new column in a MySQL select query 4 Oct Sharpe\u0026#39;s Havoc (Bernard Cornwell), Sharpe\u0026#39;s Tiger (Bernard Cornwell) \u0026amp; Sharpe\u0026#39;s Eagle (Bernard Cornwell) 1 Sep Warrier Class (Dale Brown) 1 Sep Holiday time, Foray en France 26 Aug The Time Traveller\u0026#39;s Wife (Audrey Niffenegger) 30 Jul Gallows Thief (Bernard Cornwell) 30 Jul Sharpe\u0026#39;s Triumph (Bernard Cornwell) 30 Jul Piranha (Dale Brown) 30 Jul Course Complete! 20 Jul Who created $foo $bar? 17 Jul You did do that backup…. didn\u0026#39;t you? 13 Jul PDF Creation, a cheap way for network users 10 Jul The Lords of the North (Bernard Cornwell) 10 Jul First Lessons 5 Jul My return to education begins…. in a distant sort of way 5 Jul Sharpe\u0026#39;s Trafalgar (Bernard Cornwell) 5 Jul Imperial Earth (Arthur C Clarke) 5 Jul Quote of the day: \u0026#34;The failure rate of hard drives is 100%…\u0026#34; 26 Jun The Last Kingdom (Bernard Cornwell) and The Pale Horseman (Bernard Cornwell) 22 Jun Prelude to Foundation (Isaac Asimov) 22 Jun Happy Birthday to me! (30 today) 18 Jun Woohoo! a new uptime record for my Win XP laptop 9 Jun The Sigma Protocol (Robert Ludlum) 8 Jun New village website 4 Jun Some people try and spam anything 28 May The Last Templar (Raymond Khoury) 26 May Interesting Statistics for the new .eu domain 21 May Spam Wars – on the trail of a serious spammer 19 May Spam Wars – A busy day! 18 May Spam Wars – a little progress. 18 May Batteries will *require* recycling – so what happens to ipods? 18 May Spam wars continue… 15 May A new category – Warbirds 8 May Spam (warning – I\u0026#39;ll be ranting again!) 4 May The Naked Sun (Issac Asimov) 3 May The Songs of Distant Earth (Arthur C.Clarke) 26 Apr Blast from the past! 23 Apr A Dawn Like Thunder (Douglas Reeman) 23 Apr Issac Assimov\u0026#39;s Foundation, Foundation and Empire, Second Foundation 22 Apr Boot from DVD (bios setting) 2 Apr A new category! 27 Mar International post 23 Mar My New Phone 4 Mar I won an iPod! 25 Feb New experiment – googleads now on the site 25 Jan The CD/DVD-Drive and the Paperclip (a.k.a. how to get your DVD out of your computer when the power is off) 22 Jan Phases of Life 18 Jan The Big Server Move 10 Jan The holiday photos 10 Jan 2005 Majestic12 – a distributed search engine 25 Dec The evening of Christmas day 25 Dec Telesales 17 Dec Sharon came home! (and now she\u0026#39;s gone again) 12 Dec One whole year! 26 Nov Things people don\u0026#39;t understand – Thermostats 30 Oct Subdomain Redirects 29 Oct Changes to the Site Stylesheet 27 Oct Memories, Music and co-incidence 26 Oct Secret Lives 26 Oct A new category – Root Theory/Root Memory/Roots Observations 26 Oct Useful Windows Shortcut Key (show desktop) 26 Oct When I realised being sick wasn\u0026#39;t so bad after all 26 Oct promotional spam that made me laugh 24 Oct Nan 17 Oct JCB Song 13 Oct Ha! – there must be a third…. 10 Oct The award for most annoying website of the week goes to… 10 Oct Running Devil 9 Oct images in the text 9 Oct Mum and Dad fly to Oz 9 Oct The Boughton 10k went well 9 Oct Have you ever noticed… 9 Oct First Aid 5 Oct Busy me = Quiet Blog 10 Sep To Ad, or not to Ad, that is the question 10 Sep Nice little badge for my blog 27 Aug another busy month 21 Aug Back to basics 1 Aug Movable Type Beta 18 Jul How to resize a photo (jpg) to send in an email – (the quick way for Win XP) 11 Jul Linux on a USB Memory Stick 10 Jul Sharon \u0026amp; Todd have a daughter 10 Jul I did it! 2 Jul A month with no posts 25 Jun Running Rooties 23 May If it\u0026#39;s quiet here – I\u0026#39;m busy! 18 May When business systems go bad… 8 Apr Strange download behaviour? 4 Apr Moving a whole network (bit by bit) 22 Mar Computeried Diary for the whole office 13 Mar ATC – Venture Adventure! 26 Feb Annoying DVD\u0026#39;s 20 Feb Shell Profits 3 Feb Old Friends pop up 28 Jan Run that by me one more time… 17 Jan The Google Experiment Results 17 Jan New Category – WebDev \u0026amp; Code 1 Jan Happy New Year 1 Jan 2004 Lots of friends 29 Dec Learnings 23 Dec Site Bugs to fix 20 Dec Last posting date was today? 20 Dec Snowboarding Nicola 18 Dec Running Rooties – Dave\u0026#39;s in the London Marathon 15 Dec Coldfusion is better 13 Dec They spoil their site by sending spam 10 Dec Memories \u0026amp; Mums 7 Dec New Category – Posts Waiting to happen 7 Dec My mark on the web server scene 7 Dec The Australian company that wishes it was American? 6 Dec Now the search engines know I\u0026#39;m here 2 Dec Water Bills rise in price – I still think its cheap 2 Dec Coldfusion MX is no fun today :( 1 Dec Image Discovery 29 Nov Rotating Banners and \u0026#34;SU -\u0026#34; 27 Nov Dangerous Words 26 Nov About this site 21 Nov And so it begins… 21 Nov ","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/archive/","section":"Welcome to Blowfish!","summary":"","title":"Archive","type":"page"},{"content":"","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/authors/","section":"Authors","summary":"","title":"Authors","type":"authors"},{"content":"","externalUrl":null,"permalink":"/series/","section":"Series","summary":"","title":"Series","type":"series"}]