Ok so I've been back from San Francisco for about a week. Richard has a good write up on his blog, with some pictures.

I can recommend walking over flying United, planes so out of date you would be happier with a DC 3. 747s that looked new when I was flying to the UK in 83, now are cramped and lacking in any of what one would consider the basics, like in seat entertainment or say sound that works or a semi clear picture. Lets not mention the food or the service.

Javaone was good, a touch short of brilliant. A few of the key notes were disappointing, some of the sessions more than made up for them, as did catching up with friends from the UK, I'll attempt to get my head together enough to comment on the sessions / ideas I thought were interesting.

Oh and apart from a few clothing purchases I also got a new toy. It's a Nikon D50, it's nice to have a camera again. It's been bloody agese since I've had an SLR that I can play with whenever I want.

Closed Brighton and Swindon stations

If you in London could you drop me an email if I haven't heard from me today.

Someone has to go over the F1 cock up that occurred this morning ( my time), very glad I didn't wake up at 3:30 to watch.
What a fucking joke. The sport is dying, bring on 2008 and a new championship.
We can then watch Max, Bernie and Ferrari race themselves, as by then they will be the only one left in F1. To do something so monumentally stupid in the US of all places where people think as much of suing someone as saying hello to them, well done Bernie you were worried about the European banks taking all your money, well now it will be a bunch of lawyers.

Quick Book update, not because you're interested, but because I don't have anywhere else to put it yet. I finished The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time a couple of weeks ago, easy going in terms of reading, and relatively enjoyable.

I've just finished The Moon and Sixpence, which is wonderful, well worth a read as imagine all Maugham's books are.

The New York Times as a good biography of Maugham, some what bizarrely in the film section, but still good none, the less.

As a quick note, I've also read Collected Short Stories: Vol 3, which was brilliant, Don't ask me why I started with the 3rd Volume and not the first, I have some vague recollection it had something to do with Emmas suggestion.

Lastly on a geek note, I'm reading rather slowly through Alistair Cockburns Agile Software Development: Software Through People, so far it is easy to read and makes sense. I guess you buy this kind of book to help better understand the ideas
of software development you have bubbling round in your head, well I do anyway *cough*.

Hmmm well it has been a while, not a lot has changed. I've started going out on either a friday or a saturday and then feeling rather unless on a saturday / sunday.
Bloody good fun.

So someone stole my BBQ, I now miss Emma AND my BBQ. Miss the BBQ some what less than Emma, but still. Guess if you live in a country built on thieves what else can you expect.
Fuckers.

Ahhh, there is truly nothing like thinking you have read Penny Arcade for the week and finding a wondrous unread errr comic.
I don't game as much as I used to, I sleep and go to work now. I don't even keep up with gaming anymore, the closest I have gotten is waiting for GT4 & Doom 3. I own GT4 and play about once a week, Doom I've seen and may purchase for my Mac if it is fast enough. It's not that I don't love spending 6 hours of my evening killing things or racing it more that I know that I would wake up one day being forty and the Don at GT 8 but unable to drive a real car.
I digress, read Penny Arcade, not because it's about games, because it is funny as fuck, with a wonderful sense of humor - even if you don't know everyone they are talking about.

Brilliant, Boris is a bit of a dick for the family issue, but still wonderfully funny.

It is hailing here - yay. Just reading The Guardian and found guess the google - fun.

Today would have been four years.

Nasal hair, I'm not a camel, I don't live in the desert, I really don't need that much of it.
Design flaw? I think so.
Humans are adaptable, hair, it grows.
I'm thinking - If I move somewhere dusty let the hair grown, otherwise keep it short.
A much cooler idea, give us the control camels have of the nostrils.

Okay so I have owned a Mac for some indiscernible amount of time (purchased in the second half of 2004) and have just discovered the oblong button in the top right hand corner of most applications that removes all the annoying clutter.
Apart from my complete ignorance how amazing is this, to just have the information you are after and not 400 buttons that you will never use - wonderful.

Righto what started out as a rather pleasant waffle about beer is lost, so here is the short version Peroni is very yummy.
How hard is it to write a web browser that doesn't crash as soon as one encounters flash on multiple tabs ?

Could someone please write a web browser than doesn't suck arse.

Well it turns out that the last show isn't the one I was talking about,It was Just a Minute. Still BASTARDS, as it isn't online either.
God I miss good read.

Bastards ! I'm sorry I haven't a clue, isn't online, pah, it took me ages to find the page as well.
Now listening to quote unquote, on which I have heard "History is one bloody thing after another", which is meant to be a paraphrase of Alan Bennett, check
here, you will have to search on "Alan Bennett".
They are talking about teachers and how they should nurture and provide warmth, which I can understand, I had several teachers who were wonderful and positive, while it has been a while I still remember them. I also remember a few of the bastards who were only there I can only surmise to destroy hope before it has a chance to get a hold. Sixth form Physics teachers for instance.

On a more positive note, How amazing is Wikipedia. If you want to know anything, I'm begining to think - look there.
Yes I know it isn't 100%, but err you think the rest of the internet is - and at least at Wikipedia you can contribute. My only downside is that Cayne has said he has had a bad experience with updating errors. I guess as a starting point it is good and also free :D.
Oh my continuum all things British are wonderful, a Salman Rushdie article in the Guardian.

Will that be the race of the year ?
I would like to think that there will be more racing of that caliber, However I think that given the pace MS has shown through the second half of the race, we are almost due for normal transmission.
Jesus I have turned into a Martin parrot, oh well there goes me thinking I had original thought.
I wonder if MS would like the challenge, it has been a while since he has had anyone to threaten him.
Ha Ha the music going into the break on channel ten is Tool sober, go figure, coming out of the break it was US3 Cantaloop - quite different music.
Channel have figured out how to turn a formula 1 race into a 24 hour event, ad breaks - got to love Australia, especially when you cant leave it.
I would be interested to here why they have so many bloody adverts and why the races are not live. For the love of sweet Jesus we will miss and episode of NCIS or some other shite.
Fuckers - The Australian media do take the consumers for granted, treating them with distain, less respect than roaches.
Once again fuckers - give me online coverage of F1, the same as Motogp. Jesus I don't even have that much passion for F1.
Oh dear Aussie post race coverage, with !@#$%!@ #$!@#$! @#$^!@#$ %!@#$@#$ adverts, could I just say it is quart past one. Who the hell is watching apart from me, I mean really ?

The best use of your bandwidth is BBC Radio, at least 10 stations Content is er cached so you can listen to some shows up to a week later. Which means I have spent the last two days listening to Johnny Vegas, Jonathan Ross, some comedy and Vivaldis Four Seasons, an hour long session with variations by different artists - Brilliant.
Next to find a way to watch BBC 1 through 3, Channel 4 and ITV.