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claytonspaceis that clayton space or claytons pace..... November 29 A City fans visits the Mighty KopOne of the Lads who works for me is a Manchester City Supporter (aka Martyr).
The Mighty Reds played City at the weekend.
At the last minute I managed to get tickets for the game, which originally I was told were in the centenary stand.
This would have made the afternoon a mild-mannered affair.
However, when I collected the tickets of a mates, mate, (thanks by the way). I found them to be cherished Kop tickets.
So there I stood awaiting the arrival of the city supporter, hoping that he hadnt turned up in a City shirt.
Thankfully for his own sake he hadnt, so we proceeded to the famous stand, to find out seats.
Not that we were actually seated for much of the time, as the Kop used to be a Terrace (standing only) and many of the fans still like to stand as much as possible much to the annoyance of the crowd stewards.
Thankfully Liverpool won the game with another great goal from the best player in Europe (despite those fools recently voting for Cannavaro)
Stevie Gerrard.
Despite not being able to enjoy the result one thing the city support did do was enjoy the experience of the Kop.
When we are all singing that famous Anfield Anthem "You'll Never Walk Alone", it makes the hairs on the back of you neck stand-up.
Just writing this entry gives me goose-bumps thinking about it.
The city support like many other "tourists" decided to video the experience on his mobile.
I am not sure you will get the experience in full, but it might give you an insight.
I found this one a little disappointing as he missed us singing the Chorus.
So here a a couple of others:
Top 10 mobile design classics
Not sure all of these would be in my top ten design classics, and I am sure Smartphone/Windows Mobile lovers will be wondering why there is not entry from them. However, it does provide a nice trip down memory lane, I remember "The Brick" and the muppet who once brought one into a bar I worked in, only to get it covered in lager and never see it work again. Can anyone remember they used to sell raincovers for mobiles... I have very fond memories of my Nokia 7110. I used to know some guys @ Ericsson pre-merger who loved our Internet Recruitment website that had also been developed to work in WAP. To any of the guys who read this from my past, that was killer back then and was ORM, that later developed in .Net I also remember Sony-Ericsson sub-letting half of our office space before we went into liquidation, and then buying most of our infrastructure for peanuts...hopefully it pissed them off though that we ran Nokia firewalls. This little trip down memory lane, reminded me of a famous banner I have seen many a time at Anfield (home of Liverpool FC) that states: I like to look forward, but lets not forget our past! and at very least learn from our mistakes.
November 26 What will Vista's performance scale think of this....Just got an advert email from Microdirect, a local (to my work) computer shop...very good normally very cheap also, i bought my shuttle off them.
Anyway, the add was for an Intel QUAD Core processor.....just how fast (and how hot) will this thing be.
November 21 007I was invited to go see the latest installment of 007's adventures Casino Royale by APC last thursday. http://www.apc.com/
I would recommend the film to everyone. I feel it lacked a bit of flow to the film but everything else was excellent.
Loads of gorgeous women, although I seemed to notice some of the extras more than the main bond girls...keep your eyes peeled boys!
Nice Cars.....I really want an Aston DBS now...it is almost as gorgeous as the women.
Daniel Craig who just happens to be from my current 'Hood (The Wirral), was very good...much more gritty, a real arrogance, not the tongue in cheek arrogance.
Dont Ask for a Pay Rise.....ask for a 4 Day week.Whilst installing Vista and getting my laptop (which by the way Scored 4.5 on the performance scale, stick that in you Sony SZ and smoke it). Steve will think that is a pop at him, but it isnt. I know another brand whore who insisted on buying a Sony SZ rather than my recommended Acer 8200.
Anyway, back to the entry....Whilst installing Vista I came across some older Howies images, that of course feel I should share with you.
Vista Can or Cant Do the SAMBA ?Having installed Vista, I am going through the pains of trying to get it to do everything I used to do with XP.
Once such thing is accessing SAMBA file shares on a HP/UX (unix) system. (i know that is a four letter word to all of you MS Heads)
Anyway, if you have to do this you will know what this article is about, if you dont, then move on.
Anyway, there I was trying to access a SAMBA file share, and all the lovely Vista system would do was return the username/password dialogue box, again...and again.
First I thought it is early, maybe I am suffering from fat fingers and typing my password into the system incorrectly. But no, it wasnt that.
So I logged into one of my servers, and it all worked fine. So it had to be Vista!!!!! which meant a resounding Bollox.
I thought I would have a search around to see if anyone else had come across this issue.
I found several articles saying that SAMBA and Vista werent compatible, but maybe future versions of SAMBA would support it.
I, of course found the normal discussion groups where Unix & MS Bods locked horns blaming each other, but not finding a resolution, no wonder they all still work in rooms without windows.
However, I eventually found a light in the hope. It would appear that Vista is configured to use only NTLMv2 and this is incompatible with SAMBA. However, with a careful fiddle of the local security you can amend this: see below instructions.
Run secpol.msc
Go to: Local Policies > Security Options
Find, Network Security: LAN Manager authentication level
Change Setting from Send NTLMv2 response only
to Send LM & NTLM - use NTLMv2 session security if negotiated Vista defaults to only send the more secure NTLMv2 protocol, which these NAS devices / Samba do not support.
I am pleased to say this works, so we now have a resounding yippeee!!! and Vista is off my shitlist
Although it was populated very quickly by a rather annoying user......it is always the users fault!
Life is full of Vista'sCant believe it has been nearly a week since my last entry.
Well I am now running Vista Ultimate Edition.....and life looks very nice with it.
More updates to follow, as I find out if it really is just a lovely looking offering or if it actually has some worthwhile functions also.
In my position as IT director have had several IT saavy employees ask me if we will migrate to Vista.
My position on it currently is no, not yet and probably not until we refresh our installed desktop hardware, by which time Vista will come pre-installed.
My current position regarding upgrading to vista is based upon no real interaction with Vista.
However, it is upto IT leaders to understand the benefits versus the costs to find real cost benefits for our businesses.
So I better get across the benefits soon, so we can make a real decision.
As IT Director/CIO/IT Leaders, we have to understand more and more Business, and not just technology. We are the people who need to bridge the gap between technology and business...and more and more we need to be the people who help drive the benefits of technology into our business, as we are the ones with the knowledge of the technology and (hopefully) the understanding of what the business wants now and will require in the future. November 15 A personal favourite of mineFor anybody who doesnt already know Howies (http://www.howies.co.uk/) here is a brief overview:
They are a very cool clothing company, who have morals & beliefs as well as just wanting to make money.
They also produce some very cool adverts, I have several up in my office, and I thought it was about time to share some of them with you.
See Photos.....
They also seem to like blogs:
November 14 Pimp your 360No, I am not referring or suggesting that you should let xzibit or tim westwood anywhere near an Ferrari 360.
Anybody who dares to alter the hallowed curves and form of a Ferrari ought to he hung,drawn and quartered.
I am however back on about MS's XBox 360. Whilst I was reading the previous article on T3's website, I came across this article: http://www.t3.co.uk/news/247/games/xbox/pimp_your_xbox_360
Wireless steering wheel looks lovely...although a fan of driving/racing games, I have never been a fan of console steering wheels, love'm in the arcade..not fussed at home. Lets see if this one hits the mark A cracking little quizI was browsing another article on a favourite site of mine (www.silicon.com) when I came across an Intel advert.
Now I normally dont bother but this one offered tickets to a European Grand Prix (and I do like cars).
Anyway, the quiz asks you various questions of which you have to get 5 correct within 3 minutes to let you move on to the next stage.
See how you do, and maybe if we are lucky we will see each other at Monza next year...so long as uncle bernie doesnt ban the circuit for being to dangerous (fast and entertaining).
Tiny....Xbox 360 Hard Drive. A thing of the past!I have just had a colleague come to see me...telling me that he needs hard drive for his Xbox 360.
To be honest, I did have the joy of saying "I told you so".
He came to see me a few months back discussing the potential purchase of a 360.
I told him he couldnt go wrong as it was the mutts nutts. However, I did impatr one piece of advice, which was to get the premium system, not the core.
So what did he go do...He bought the core system, thinking that he wouldnt need the other items that are supplied with the premium. To be honest, I am not sure anybody would buy a core system, everybody I have spoken to has required at least the hard drive within the first day of open the box and playing their first game.
Anyway, with the desperate colleague bleeting on that he needs a HDD now, I thought this may be an opportune time to upgrade mine. I consider the 20GB HDD that is supplied as tiny, so I had a quick search for a larger one, firstly on the official xbox website (www.xbox.com) and then in other sources. One of the first things I found when looking was a piece of kit that sits inbetween your 360 and the harddrive, this unit is then able to be connected to your pc enabling the use of your computers huge hard drive. @ £30 it seems like a bargain.
Another item for my brother to purchase to satisfy his compulsive buying disorder. More Mountain Biking StuffWhilst writing the last posting, I thought I should also spread the word about another area that I go Mountain Biking.
Although I dont manage to go as often as I should (according to the wife and my expanding waistline) or as much as I would like, dont let that put you off.
For those of you who know steve, he can vouch for the first place which is a privately owned forest in a place called Llandegla. I took steve there earlier this year, actually I think it was my first outing this year, as I remember I hadnt been on my bike for nearly 4 months.
So this weekend Steve was home and we decided it would be a good idea to go for a ride, so we headed off to this place I had recently read about in a magazine - Coed Llandegla. The article was regarding the world moutain bike jump record that had been set there by a bloke called Jason Rennie, who for some foolish reason thought it would be a good idea to get pulled along by a motorcycle whilst riding his mountain bike then jump of a huge ramp to jump a distance of 134 foot and 6 inches and in doing so set a world record. http://www.coedllandegla.com/news-and-events/big-jump.htm
So when we work, the day looked like a perfect day for riding, not raining, a little bit overcast, not too warm and not too cold. So we strapped the bikes to the back of the car and headed off to Wales.
It was only about a 40 minute journey from The Gin Palace (aka my home), no thanks to GPS, although it could have been the human interface that was at fault, but we would never admit that!
We unloaded the bikes, got suitably attired and remember most importantly to don the crash-lid.
Now I remember reading the website for the trail (http://www.coedllandegla.com) and it stating that there was a gentle incline for approx 3-4 Km. This could be a typo or I could be extremely unfit, but it seemed a little more like 3-4 Miles. There is this one "incline" that looks beautiful, all tree-lined with various fir trees but it just bends ways from you, so you think that you are nearly at the end...and it just keeps on going. In addition to this the day that had started as a perfect day, had now turned into a scorcher. it must have been nearly 30 degrees once we reached the top of the "gentle incline". Admittedly, it probably is as bad as I make it sound as everyone else seem to be wizzing past us. Everyone seemed to be really friendly; everyone saying hello and if you were stopped asking if all was ok or if they could help with anything.
Anyway, we finally reached the summit (I know I make it sound like Everest). Now the fun really began. The way back down the mountain.
We were only on the beginners trail so there wasnt supposed to be anything too difficult, but it is more of a case of all the obstacles are avoidable, or unaviodable if you wish....and it was the later that my & my brother as adrenalin junkies decided to choose. I think it probably also depends on just how much you want to use your brakes or just let gravity and momentum take over.
There were numerous switch-backs and big berms, lots of jumps (if you had the balls), one particular berm is worth of note....as you come in at breakneck speeds to find out that just after the exit there is a crossing and a gateway that you have to navigate.
Also of note is the fact that even on the homeward stretch there are still several short sharp inclines, just to keep you on your toes.
We eventually arrived back at the vistors centre, which is excellent. It uses a lot of green technology including captured rainwater for the cycle wash and toilets. The bike shop is fully stocked and the cafe serves great food & drink.
Definitely worth a visit even for those of you who are a bit more experienced and want a bit more of a challenge the newly extended black run is open, which is a loop extension on the intermediate red route.
The place is only 14 miles away from Chester. So you can leave the other half there shopping.
Whilst on the subject of wales, I cant help mention another couple of excellent web resources for welsh mountain biking. http://www.mbwales.com/ is one of the best trail websites I have ever come across, and has details of some of the best trails in the UK. Another website which details trails & rides a little more local to me is http://www.ridetheclwyds.com/rideclwyds/index.asp. This site again is excellent for the level of information and details it give with regards to the rides.
Another trail I have heard good things about but not tried yet is the one at Penmachno close to Betws-y-Coed.
There doesnt seem to be too much web info about this trail yet, but I am sure there will be soon enough. It has recently featured in several moutain biking magazines, so I am sure demand for information will necessitate a website soon. For now: http://www.mbwales.com/scripts/viewnews.asp?NewsID=215
next time I ride, I will remember to take a camera and get a few photos. So what is all the fuss about the lake districtAs a few of you may know, I work for a company founded in Australia, Perth to be exact.
Our Development team is based there, and one of the developers Chris (the bloke who does all of the work for the UK business) recently asked me to take some photos whilst I was in The Lake District.
I suggested to him that it would be a better idea that I picked up some postcards or similar art and scan them.
Even though I have recently invested in a Digital SLR, I dont feel my photography skills would do the area justice.
Having got back from The Lakes on sunday, I came to work and scanned the images and sent them to my australian colleague. He was very impressed with the beauty and know understood why everyone talked about the Lake District.
It got me into thinking what is all the fuss about The Lake District......
I have been going there for several years now since my wife decided to buy a holiday home there. I wasnt convinced by the idea to start with but I am now glad she went ahead with it anyway.
It is only 1.5 hour journey from the wirral (where we live) to Penrith (North Lakes).
Now I am not your normal lakeland walker which is why most people (and tourists...they are a different bread) travel to this area.
When I first started going to the lakes, I thought "you've seen one lake and one mountain and you've seen them all".
But the more I visit the area the more I realise how beautiful the area actually is, and I become to appreciate it more with every visit.
As I said I am not your normal lakeland walker, but the variety of activites that can be done is impressive especially when you also get to see the stunning scenary. In the past year, I have mountain biked (it hasbeen named as the best mountain biking area in the UK), sailed, travelled by steam train and steam-yacht, and also driven one of the most challenging driving roads in the UK (as stated by the caterham owners club). I have also visited stunning historical buildings and gardens, several home-made ice-cream palours (a particular favourite of my son). I even got to drive a narrow gauge diesel train.
For anyone who hasnt visited the area, get you're arse in gear and find our what all the fuss it about.
I am sure you will have you own distinct lakeland experience.
For those of you who read this and lead what seems to be the de-reguer busy life these days, go there and discover; tranquility and peace that few other places can deliver, as well as air that lacks polutents.
For those who have been, go discover something new and pass this new found experience onto someone else; with the hope that they will discover what all the fuss is about also.
a favourite MTB place of mine - http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/infd-69hbp2 (Grizedales - North Face Trail)
November 13 WorriedI notice that serial blogger (Steve Clayton) aka R-Kid has posted an entry on his own blog about this blog.
He should be worried, but thanks for the publicity.
November 07 Pictures on WallsRecently, it was my little brothers birthday. So in time honoured tradition I sent him a card...which apparently still hasnt turned up, no thanks to Royal Mail.
Personally, I think the Royale Family (http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/guide/articles/r/roylefamilythe_66602940.shtml) would do a better job, nice to see them back on the box and I am awaiting Jim's latest saying that will grip the nation.
it is early in my blog life but if you carry on reading you will get used to me go off at tangents.
Anyway, back on track...Pictures on walls.
I was looking for that ever elusive perfect gift, for someone who has more money than sense and should see a physciatrist about his compulsive buying disorder.
He has recently shown an interest in Banksy (www.banksy.co.uk) so I tralled in the internet, using those useless search engines that find 3 million results but not the right one, to find some work by the graffiti terrorist.
It turns out that his work is now appreciated by hollywood stars including the not so ugly Angelina Jolie and is selling for more money than is sensible for a painter and decorator from Bristol.
However, my useless searching did lead me to something useful: www.picturesonwalls.com
I found lots of interesting art, I would say it is all good, but that depends on your taste.
I eventually bought him something by Modern Toss that suits his humour and another courier comany did deliver promptly.
I am pleased to say he likes it...or he is a liar and thinks it is as bad as the jumper his grandmother gave him for xmas two years ago.
PS: I forgot to mention he is 34 now...but we are all still kids at heart. Quote of the DayPlease understand my friend, that where you find yourself tomorrow is a function of the positive decisions and actions you take today.
Akin A. Awolaja |
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