A Handy Definition
Last updated: 29 Apr 2007 - 16:08
New Socks - Describes any pair of socks that are still their original colour, not significantly worn and with adequate elasticity to remain comfortable. By this definition New Socks may in fact be quite old, if they have not been worn much, for instance if they're particularly unpleasant socks.
Middle-aged Socks - Any sock that is still wearable and with no significant holes yet, however a Middle-aged Sock generally has some worn out patches in it, and has some relaxing of the elastic materials within it. Middle aged socks also often suffer from some de-colouration e.g. white socks now a murky grey.
Old Socks - Socks now generally so old that they ought to be thrown away but haven't due to sentimental attachment, often suffering from significant holes and sever de-colouration and no elasticity what so ever.
Palm Universal Wireless Keyboard
Last updated: 07 Feb 2007 - 18:37
Manufacturer: Palm
Web: http://eurostore.palm.com/ [Dead]
Price: £45.69
Rating: 4/5
I've had my palmtop for almost a year now, and the thing I miss most about the old Ericsson palm top I had is the lack of a keyboard. For media, games, web browsing the need for text input is limited and the hand writing recognition software on the Palm (Graffiti) is more than adequate. However when posting on forums, or writing reviews like this the large amount of text that needs to be input makes the hand writing recognition method uncomfortably slow. I've had the keyboard for some time now and have used it fairly frequently, it's small, not a lot larger than the palm top itself when folded up, but opens out to be a full size keyboard, there's nothing fiddly and small about the keys. It's nice and quiet, which means that it doesn't disturb people around you with annoying loud clicking as you work.
Microsoft Windows Vista Business
Last updated: 30 Jan 2007 - 20:51
Developer: Microsoft
Web: http://www.microsoft.com/
Price: £199.99
Rating: 2/5
As a student studying a course that involves programming I am entitled to MSDNAA access, this allows me to download selected pieces of Microsoft software for free. One of those pieces of software was Microsoft Windows Vista Business. I downloaded it on Sunday night and got around to installing on Monday. I was planning a rebuild of my Windows PC as there was a lot of stuff on there I wasn't using and the install needed a tidy up, so I decided I would try Vista and see how it worked. Installing was a relatively pleasant experience, for the first time Microsoft have provided an installer that is approaching the same user-friendly modern appearance as many Linux distributions I've used. There's no DOS nonsense any more, and the partitioning tool included uses full mouse control with a decent GUI making it easy to organise your hard disk. I would like to see the ability to make FAT32 partitions as well as NTFS here as I still use FAT32 for my documents partition, making it easy to share with other OSes and easier to retrieve data from say a live Linux distro.
Gaussian Cylinder
Last updated: 17 Jan 2007 - 00:08
As my electro-magnetics lecturer loves to point out a hypothetical cylinder used in Gauss' flux theorem calculations could be considered a beer can...
Opera Mini
Last updated: 02 Dec 2006 - 20:45
Developer: Opera Software
Web: http://www.operamini.com/
Price: Free
Rating 2/5
I use my palmtop quite extensively for web access these days, at Uni I have access to a very good coverage, free Wi-Fi network which means I can check my mail and browse forums etc. while sitting in a coffee shop on campus etc. The built in browser on my palmtop (Palm Tungsten E2) is Blazer. Although functional, this browser really doesn't seem to perform that well to say it has nearly a monopoly on the platform as far as I can see. However popularity doesn't necessarily mean much (look at IE!).
STAP and Battle Droid
Last updated: 10 Oct 2006 - 23:55
About two years ago now I was given the AMT/ERTL "Stap and Battle Droid" Kit. It's like an Airfix kit by a different manufacturer, so all little tubes of polycement and pots of model enamel. Anyway, after two years most of which time the model has spent sitting around with a base spray coat of paint but no detailing I have finally finished it. So here it is for you to see.
Firefox Portable
Last updated: 10 Oct 2006 - 20:31
Developer: PortableApps.com
Price: Free
Rating: 4/5
Firefox Portable is an awesome piece of software. Available in the same versions as the now World-famous Firefox Browser. This release has been adapted to run from a USB Pen-drive, leaving no files on the host system.
A brilliantly simple idea, but hugely useful. I am spending a lot of time using the public access PCs in the library at Uni this term, since I live off campus and have time to kill between lectures. For some reason, unknown to me, the IT management at the uni don't have Firefox installed on the library PCs. This means that I would be forced to use Internet Explorer 6 if it wasn't for Firefox Portable.
www.bathstudent.com
Last updated: 05 Oct 2006 - 22:00
In an astounding show of modernism, the Student Union at the University of Bath has collected pretty much all of the administration onto a website. "Brilliant" I hear you say, well you'd be right if the website actually worked. Apart from anything else, the homepage weighs in at upwards of 200KB according to my palmtop. Now compare this with my own home page, a mere 10-20KB. "What does homepage size matter in these days of broadband internet communication?" I hear you ask. Well, broadband may indeed be prolific these days, but I would stop short of saying it was the rule. Also I would like to point out that there are a large number of people such as myself who have portable devices such as palm-tops and smart-phones wanting to access the web, and having large websites that take a long time to download and process is not helpful.
The SUSE Saga
Last updated: 21 May 2006 - 22:02
Here we go, a rave about how excellent Linux is compared to everything else in the world you think. No, this is actually a rant about SUSE 10.1 which has thoroughly annoyed me.
I decided the other day that I was going to finally get rid of Windows from my laptop entirely, and do a nice clean install of my favourite Linux distro - SUSE. I did this with very little effort and was happy with my SUSE 10.0 install until someone on IRC told me SUSE 10.1 had come out a mere week ago. Setting my laptop to install the new operating system, thus stopping me fiddling for a bit which encouraged me to revise a bit (probably not long enough) I was content for an hour or so as it whirred away. On completion of the install, I discovered it was indeed prettier and nicer, and all was going well until I tried to install an RPM.
Ancient Font
Last updated: 25 Apr 2006 - 23:41
After watching a large part of Stargate Season 8 whilst at home over Easter, I was inspired to make a font based on the ancient writings I had seen. After a minimal amount of research on the subject of the ancient language, I have produced this font, which you are free to download. It agrees with the font displayed in the Wikipedia article on the subject, however the geometry is a little more precise I believe. I would love to tell you all how to make your own fonts, however I used a rather old copy of Corel Draw! which is an expensive proprietary application rather than a nice free one, so it's not a lot of use to people with only a vague interest (unless you can get a cheap copy from a clear-out like mine!).