cha0tic stuff

After todays news from Parliment I think I'll be re-newing my passport, which expires in 2011, some time in December 2009. I'm not sure I'll be leaving the country after 2019.

I think I'll also be buying stocks of bath taps, old style ones, without a thermostat, for adults with common sense. Then I'll make a fortune selling contraband taps.

Only for the early part of the evening I have an assistant. Cool.

On with the internet radio experimentation. A bit of Azerbajanian pop earlier today. An even greater discovery though. Streaming over wireless to the pocket PC.

A little piece of (free) software called GSPlayer, which was very easy to set up. will cause tunes from Shoutcast (I'll test it on others) radio stations on the interweb thingy to beam through the ether into the iPaq & out the head phones whilst I lie in bed. Hopefully this technology should work out into the garden as well.

So why all the foreign Radio? I'm less likely to hear any of the usual Indie twaddle or Metal noise I have to suffer every Saturday night. I won't understand the Announcers, the announcers being the most irritating things about most music radio stations. Excellent as Radio 4 is, sometimes it's just too excellent & I have to pay attention to it, rather than letting it burble away in the background whilst I get on with things.

At the moment Soma fm stations are favourite. espescially the Drone Zone & Cliqhop.

Got a lot done vide infra. Chatted with Lil' sis' on the phone. Then Bro' popped round for a few hours, as SIL had gone into town with a pal for a girlie evening & he was buggered if he was going to stop in by himself & do house work :)

To a quiet back ground of Turkish Rap music, yes such a thing does exist, we chatted & geeked. Amongst other things sorting out chatware & video chat stuff which we'll need when they move out of town later this year(look out for a new name popping up on your MSN Angel_Monkey).

Bro' had to head off. So I popped to the pub for last orders with Iain M Banks for company, 'The Algebraist' if you're interested. I'm about half way through & even if the rest of the book is rubbish, it's been well worth the first half, something I'll have to write about. My reading was interrupted in a welcome manner by a bit of quiet discussion with other smoke room regulars.

Finally home to the portable pal & this entry. Off to bed shortly to continue my adventures in the worlds of 'The Algebraist'.

Reasons to Be cheerful:

 
• Coffee: I'm not in the office often enough to keep a mug or coffee there. At home I just make a pot of the stuff & work my way through it.
 
• Music: I don't have to suffer bosses musical choice, or wear headphones so he gets the hint & turns his right down. With the new broad band I'm exploring streaming internet radio. Arab pop at the moment.
 
• The Archers: At 14:00 I can turn the internet radio off & put The Archers on.
 
• Smoking: I can smoke. I'm not meant to in the office, but can get away with it after 17:30 when the bulk of the office staff have left & the venue is open.
 
• Dress: I don't have to get dressed properly. When it gets warmer I will be able to sit in my pants.
 
• Food: I don't have to pop to Greggs, just pop to the kitchen & rustle something up.
 
• Time keeping: I didn't start 'til 11:00 this morning, but don't have to finish until I finish.
 
• I get more done: I'm not constantly being asked to sort out a 'puter problem for boss, or teach him 'how-do-I...?' tips & tricks on 'Word' & 'Excel'.
 
• Schlepping: I don't have to schlep the portable pal up town & then back again.
 
• Blogging: Reading, Commenting & Writing Hehehehehe. ;)

I'm wondering. I seem to remember something about Bananas, you're not meant to store them with other fruit as they cause the other fruit to ripen (& over ripen) quicker.

Do you think this'd work with tomatoes?

Looks like it's time for a bit of empirical investigation then.

I suppose you've come to expect it now? :)

OK you're probably getting bored with me going on & on about the broad band & wi-Fi. But.

I've not tried reception down the garden yet. It works fine to the loo & the bed room. I was doing a bit of research for cheap ways to extend the range & came across this flat pack wireless aerial for £6.99 (plus some postage & packing). All well & good if you want to spend that sort of big money on stuff. If you fancy a touch of the Blue Peters though try this. I don't know if I'll need it yet. I'm waiting for warmer weather to get into the garden with the laptop & the Ipaq.

I'm preparing my rant for this evening.

"You are not Irish. You don't normally drink Guiness. So take the daft hat off & fuck off out of the pub"

It's worse than bloody Christmas when the amateur drinkers come out, at least it's only one day though & doesn't go on for weeks.

I've returned to exploring Google Earth. If you want to catch up with me after about 10 this evening just head on over to Lat 52°35'37.90"N Lon 2° 9'0.11"W & you can buy me a pint. Ta.

Spent Monday evening playing with my Birthday present to myself. Broad band & a wireless router. I was setting it up when Bro' popped round & he helped out. Later on I had a video chat with a pal in Chicago via MSN, which involved me stepping out the front door of the flat cradling my laptop, wearing a head set & pointing the cam, clipped to the laptop, up & down the street whilst chatting & explaining the view. Cool as Fuck in my book. Plus a normal tippy type tippy chat with cub reporter & citizen journalist Ms Bling that made me think about Bacardi in a different light. "Havana Club & coke please" for me, from now on. (ask her, it's her article) Though if I'm going to be drinking white Rum I prefer 'Wray & Nephew' (You're online reading this. Do the Google thing for yourself)

Thanks to Bro' I think I've got the Ipaq sorted via the wireless. Which means I can MSN whilst sitting on the bog, or laid out in my bed. Cool. I just have to see if it reaches to the blasted, weed ridden wasteland at the back of the house Backgarden.

This brings me on to this evenings shennanigans.

Skype. Yeah OK so you've probably all got it already, been using it for years. I've been aware of it for a while, but how many different chatware do you need? Loads as it turns out. Some people I know prefer "blah blah blah" chatware, whilst others prefer "blah" chatware. Some people are on MAC, others on PC. Skype worked nicely for a chat this evening with a a pal who is a MAC user. OK no video chat, as apparently that bit isn't enabled yet in the MAC version, ah well, we both know what each others ugly mugs look like. So no loss there then, but a nice couple of hours catching up on good & bad news. (The Bastard opened a bottle of good whisky down the mic' at me. The sort of good whisky that has a cork, rather than a screw top. A sound I recognise.)

About the only bummer was finding out that my version of PPC doesn't support Skype. There is a potential coolness if I can upgrade though.

"Thanks Mum"

*Drains glass*

In the Launderette the other day I saw a bus go past with an advert for this film. I must admit I'm getting rather excited about seeing it. Espescially since I've watched the trailers on the films'website.

The Imax version isn't playing in Birmingham though. Bastards. I'll have to look out for it somewhere else I can get to.

My SD cards are named. There's a theme to the naming scheme, you may guess what it is: Zora, Pris, Roy & Leon.

Zora & Pris have just been filled with choons. I'll be popping one or the other into the iPaq & heading off to the launderette when I've posted this. The sun is out & the sky is blue, I'm actually looking forward to performing a dull chore.

Pris:

 
1. Pink Floyd:Atom Heart Mother
 
2. Pink Floyd:One of These Days
 
3. Pink Floyd:If
 
4. Pink Floyd:Summer '68
 
5. Pink Floyd:Fat Old SUn
 
6. Pink Floyd:Alan's Psychedelic Breakfast
 
7. Pink Floyd:Echoes

Zora:

 
1. The Chemical Brothers: Come with us
 
2. Queens of the Stone Age: Feel Good Hit of the Summer
 
 
4. Queens of the Stone Age: Lost Art of Keeping a Secret
 
5. Foo Fighters: Monkey Wrench
 
6. Apollo 440: Altamont Super-Highway Revisited
 
7. Beck: Fuckin' With My Head
 
8. SFA: Golden retriever
 
9. Laurent Garnier: Sound of the Big Babou
 
10. The Small Faces: Song Of A Baker
 
11. Rush: Something For Nothing
 
12. Violent Femmes: Country Death Song
 
13. Primal Scream: Keep Your Dreams
 
14. Laurent Garnier: The Man With The Red Face
 
15. Laurent Garnier: Dangerous Drive
 
16. Steve Hillage: The Glorious Om Riff
 
17. The Small Faces: Mad John
 
18. Foo Fighters: New Way Home
 
19. Frank Zappa: City of Tiny Lites
 
20. Violent Femmes: Dance, Motherfucker, Dance

If you're around my end of town. I'll be the one in the Laundrette with the head phones on, a stupid grin & glazed eyes. I might even be singing along tunelessly, maybe doing an occasional dance & a bit of air guitar. This behaviour should ensure me a seat with loads of space either side.