buzz crackle

I was called this morning from Bangalore about my errant internet link.

As I was on the road, it wasn't very easy to explain the exact symptoms. I've been escalated now though and have another two phone numbers and a secret pin code for special access to the network specialists. I also discovered that the phone has now stopped working for outgoing calls. This requires a separate call to the phone specialists.

In the meantime, I'm using a mix of hotel, blackberry, iPhone and chocolate bourbons to get some sort of fragile access.

Pass the crocodile clips.

eleven for a secret never to be told

My entire digital communications infrastructure collapsed this afternoon. I was working and then my Thinkpad stopped in mid sentence and went into some sort of deep thought. The nearby Mac sent out a row of little exclamation in triangle icons and the nearby printer/fax lit up about twenty little lights.

Hmm.

Line failure. Reboot the router for the first time in months. No difference. It has to be a BT fault.

Call them. Oh, silly me. I needed a different number.
Call them again.

Hello, Pradeep in Bangalore. Very helpful as he explains how I need to uncable and move the ADSL router to a different part of the house and did I happen to have a spare microfilter and a BT431a to RJ45 adapter?

After 45 minutes, it was declared to be a line fault and I'm told that an engineer will be in contact in the next 4 to 48 hours. I'll be on the road throughout that time, so I hope its working again when I get back. Its taken out Sky and BT Vision as well.

I thought the two magpies I spotted yesterday were supposed to be 'for joy'? Maybe the ten in the same tree five minutes later has a different meaning?

santa sighting

My first 2008 Santa sighting today, outside rashbre central.

I'm guessing it was the naughty/nice reconnaissance run but it was hardly low profile - all the navigation lights were on.

I only managed to get one photo above because of the extreme speed.

I know its still early, but I suppose the countdown has begun and NORAD tracking is back online - more modestly, around our way there's a Christmas Fair on Friday.

wet musical interlude

An early start today, meeting (Yay!) christina for some musical exploits. Regular rashbre central readers will know this has been a long and somewhat intermittent project as fledgling tracks emerged from the nott/rashbre collaboration with various others helping along the way.

For arcane reasons we were in a small and vaguely proper looking studio instead of the usual home made arrangements with macs and lots of cables.

I'd got to the venue at the appointed time but it was all locked up. No sign of Christina so I headed around the corner towards Oxford Street to get some breakfast. Then I spotted Christina under an umbrella staring somewhat blankly at the statue of Freddie Mercury outside the Dominion.

Christina has been in Amsterdam and New York and regaled me with the various stories of both the music and some rather intriguing sub-plots. Best left over on her site though. Some of it wasn't quite so 'workplace friendly'. I'm sure there'll be more as we get closer to a CD full of tracks.

refuel

Late Thanksgiving evening, several of us in an American diner snacking on barbecue foods. Ancient American feelgood rocknroll playing and then later a strange feeling of a cold version of Florida as we left, before returning to a post apocalyptic car park on the South Bank.

Dylan Moran at Indigo

Yesterday's flaming penguins parachuting into a sea of crisps set the agenda for we Londoners.

Chocolate chewing Dylan explained that we needed to get out more. Turning up late for a gig used to get some sham cowering. In London people flaunted their texting as they took seats half way through the opening paragraphs. Not enough time for everything. Go to Stoke or Hull, he advises. Of course it was their loss.

The rapid-fire story-telling, the instantaneous sparks from the audience made what was probably a carefully prepared show look edgy and suitably chaotic.

I'll still sit and watch a whole DVD's worth of Black Books at a sitting and mourned the temporary loss under a cupboard of Volume 2, when I'd only got as far as the underfoot squishies that invaded the shop.

I think the tour tickets are all long gone. Ours were from May and entirely worth the wait. DM4DW.

What it is.

Thanksgiving Thursday Thirteen - a slight return

We don't have Thanksgiving here in the U.K., but best wishes for those who do celebrate today's neighbourly and family occasion. Here's a relevant Thursday Thirteen:

1) We don't get any equivalent time off here in England, except at Christmas, with Christmas Day and Boxing Day.
2) The Macy's Parade is well known here, probably also because of its appearance in several films.
3) The whole Pilgrim celebration also probably originates back to the UK Harvest Festivals, but in England that is back in September
4) Washington seemed to get interested in making Thanksgiving a Holiday after trouncing the Brits at Saratoga.
5) How do they choose which of the three turkeys presented to the President will survive? Thats the one that gets all of the press.
6) Some people like to listen to Arlo Guthrie's Alice's Restaurant on Thanksgiving. I kinda know why. Oh okay, here's an interview with Arlo and the whole 18 minute song. Song from 14:30 in the realplayer stream.
7) The native Americans seemed to have a celebration already called Keepunumuk going back many many years.
8 ) Thanksgiving also seems nowadays to be major sporting occasion.
9) The day after Thanksgiving holiday (Black Friday) appears to be the largest shopping day in the American year
10) The original feast was crow. This later changed to turkey. When there wasn't enough turkey the saying was 'let them eat crow'.
11) The USDA say that America consumes around 260 million turkeys per year averaging around 14 lbs, of which a decent proportion is consumed during Thanksgiving. That's around one turkey for everyone in the United States.
12) Luckily the Puritans brought a drink to America in the Mayflower. Beer.
13) Every long standing successful American TV series has a Thanksgiving episode.

Tag: Thursday Thirteen, free link friday, 82ask, Alices Restaurant, thanksgiving

retro gadgeting

Supper this evening in a pleasant restaurant; three of us without any customary reschedules. And we all had the inexpensive market menu which still included Roquefort soufflés and sautéed pheasant.

Along with comparing notes on who we knew and what we'd heard, we turned momentarily to the subject of gadgets.

"Any new gadgets recently?" Guy asked.

I couldn't think of any, but described my recent modest eBay camera acquisition. Not exactly a new gadget. But it sort of won. "Retro gadgetry" - retro is the new new.

back to positive (in low budget mono)

Post Darling, recessionistas permeate mainstream rags and Conde Nast publishes thrifty hintsntips whilst speculating that runway designers will be supplying Costco.

Every retailer is mailing out their buster Friday offers. Wait for the internet to jam under the buying frenzy.

I simply remember that there is fun going forward. The future's so bright you gotta wear shades.
future - timbuk3

survivors

I watched the first episode of Survivors late night on TV Replay. It occurred to me that that much of the weekend schedule is made of modernised replays, with even this series scripted from a 1970s drama of the same name, updated for cellphones and the interweb.

Survivors is about an apocalyptic pandemic flu virus and the stories of a few with immunity. I'm guessing that the first episode has tracked the old storyline, albeit with modern numberplates. I also speculate the scale of deserted motorways and lensbabied citiscapes would have been difficult in the 70's version.

There is a BBC look to the production which also reminds me of some Doctor Who episodes. All the more interesting when the rumoured new Doctor Who turned up part way through, driving a Land Rover. And then at the end of the episode a secret location where the men in white coats look mysterious with lots of flashing lights.

It will be interesting to see if this can recreate some of the 'shared experience' viewing from the days of only four channels. I shall continue to view.

VAT cut latest

The lights have been on all night at the Treasury, where calculations for Chancellor Darling's next steps are being processed in large spreadsheets. The word is that VAT may be reduced along with some other measures.

A VAT reduction from 17.5% to 15% would remove the "temporary increase" made in 1991 to compensate for the Poll Tax debacle. Thats a reduction on a £9.99 VAT-ed item to an amazing £9.87, which I somehow think gets lost in the noise.

Such a reduction of some 2.13% in the price of an item requires spending of £469 a week on VAT-able items (eg not food) to save £10. It may chop cash from the Exchequer, but it doesn't make a lot of difference when even a £600 telly would still be £587.23 after the adjustment. The £13 is probably not the dealbreaker.

Let's try 12.5% VAT, a reduction of 5%. That's more of a 'UK Economy Winter Sale' level, but still requires the traders to pass on the savings, rather than have reasons to somehow round up ticket prices. That £9.99 becomes £8.50+1.05 = £9.55. When retailers are already knocking off 20% in pre Christmas sales, the 45p does not seem all that exciting.

How about a present? A Christmas Xbox would make an interesting example: A few weeks ago they were £169, then all the retailers passed on the manufacturer reduction which saw the price drop to £129 - forty quid less. A VAT reduction of 5% (ie to 12.5%) would take another circa £6 off of the price. Not enough to even change the second digit - £129 becomes £123. Hmm.

Having just flitted through Heathrow, the effect of pseudo 'No VAT' is more pronounced. The same item would become around £109 - see tourists buying up cheap items in the airside stores.

I suppose in the absence of a December VAT holiday, we will have to find other ways to amuse ourselves with the remaining banknotes.

why am I who?

"Aeon Flux Guy" as the next Doctor Who after the imposter doctor has been trounced?

I still prefer the "Dylan Moran for Doctor Who" campaign and notice rashbre central started to get a lot of hits about it again.