An interesting evening last night as we bid farewell to another project member. I bailed out after dinner and headed back to the hotel on a rescue mission - the smell coming from the boot of my car. I'd played golf after work on Monday and got soaked - I need my clubs this weekend and the bag was stinking. So I've left it to dry in the hotel, it should be fine.

Interesting move by Oracle I read about this morning. The have included an API in their E-Business Suite (which is a chargeable product) for support of Google Maps (which is free). It was bound to happen that someone would do it, it just surprises me that it's Oracle. Actually, it doesn't surprise me that much - Oracle have very little else to shout about and it's a straightforward thing to do, so why not make a song and dance - it'll get the share price up a bit anyway.

There are times in life when you wonder how much C02 is produced to get an end product. Cow's for example, are well known to be one of the highest polluters of C02 of any animals. Completely hypothetically and coincidentally, the mind wanders to the work place - and it's possible to see lot's of hot air and no end product.

At least with a cow you get milk and a decent steak out of it...

Got up yesterday and went for a pre-lunch wander round Richmond Park. It looks amazing at the moment, no doubt helped by the vast amount of rain we've had. It's very green and lush. Saw some of the resident deers as well including one who was enormous!

Back to the flat for some lunch and to watch the Grand Prix. We missed the start as we were in the car, but that meant we could listen to it on the radio - Murray Walker was commentating and was just brilliant. The race itself had everything you could want and it's incredible how much chaos a bit of water makes to an F1 car.

After an afternoon in the shops (bit of a smash and grab run to Kingston to look in John Lewis, buy a shirt, get dinner and look for inspiration for wedding stationary - all of which were successful!) legged it back to watch the end of the golf. Brilliant final day. I went to hot some golf balls at the range and it never ceases to amaze me the amount of Asians at that range - I've never seen any of them on the course, but the range is FULL. Both sexes too, there was one couple were the woman was a much better player than her husband, who I don't think liked that very much!

We're trying to sell our flat at the moment, and that has prompted me to consider the TV input in the new place. We used to have Telewest for a long time, but have lived with Freeview for the last two years and managed just fine, although I miss the football. I would also like to get a digital recorder. So the options are

1. Sky+
2. BT Vision
3. Telewest
4. Freeview PVR

So Sky would be ideal, but it's expensive and we wouldn't need all the channels. I'd also have a hard time convincing the missus to get a dish on the house. Telewest is an option, some good deals on the packages, so that's a contender. A Freeview PVR might work, especially as you can get Setanta on it next season with Premiership and SPL on it (SPL coverage will include probably 3 Aberdeen games, and even then it'll be against the forces of darkness and just luck that it was us they were playing). BT Vision is an interesting one as they have bought the rights for time delayed coverage of the live Saturday games. Might be the one to go for, as you can get that and Setanta for 12 quid - bargain. I'd still miss out on some of the Champions League matches as the only way to get them is Sky Sports, but I've not missed a game I've wanted to see for two seasons as I've been working away and just gone to the pub.

Decisions....

Oh, and this is genius - Remember - "It's not an iphone, it's a big ass table"

Glorious morning leading to a rainy looking afternoon.

What weather yesterday. We seemed to get off lightly, surrounding areas seem badly affected. We tried to get over to west London to visit the other halfs Mum who isn't so well at the moment, and abandoned after 20 minutes as we hadn't even got to the end of the road. Nothing was going anywhere fast.

So try again this afternoon, hopefully all will be well.

Compromised

I was reading last night about this in Evo, and it made me think of a few comparisons.

A journalist was testing the new Audi A5, and commented that it was too nose heavy to be a proper competitor to the BMW 3 series couple as it is not dynamic enough to drive (the BMW is awesome nice to drive - and not just because I own one, but that's one of the reasons I did, not for the badge - if you know my car history it's full of good handling cars. Apart from my first car, a MK3 Ford Escort - awful).

Anyway, here is a picture of the A5:


Now, it looks great, aggressive and purposeful, and moving the wheels forward helps weight distribution. However the end result is that the layout needs to change under the covers, so the diff is between the engine and clutch, which allows the wheels to move forward. The steering rack is then connected to the front wheels by shorter, less flexible steering arms, also helping weight loss and a lower centre of gravity.

Want to know the real reason the wheels are there? Here's a quote:

Dr Horst Glaser, Audi’s dynamics chief, is clearly annoyed. ‘I agree with you,’(in reference to the nose heavy feel) he says, ‘but the marketing people insisted it was this way so the A5 would feel familiar to Audi buyers.’ What about those buyers Audi seeks to steal from BMW, then? ‘I hope we can change it gradually,’ Dr Glaser replies, ruefully.

My first reaction was one of why the marketing people were involved in the design?. But then my second reaction was that it's much like project managers removing key components of an architecture without understanding the implications of the actions. So a simple statement of "move the front wheels" actually means the whole design is compromised, and the Audi designers and engineers are left with a car that does the job, but fails to live up to expectations.

Which leads to my final thought - if you knew you were driving a car that the supplier knowingly made a botch of to make the car (let's say either for financial or ascetic reasons) would you buy another from them???

Driving hell

An uneventful drive yesterday, although it never ceases to amaze me that no matter what time you think you'll miss the traffic on the M25, you never do. It also never ceases to amaze me that one cause of the delays is the M3 junction. Last year (may even have been the year before - my life is a blur ;-) ) they widened the roads to be 4 lanes. At the M3 turn has 5 lanes, with two dedicated to the M3 (one into London, one southbound). It used to see terrible queues in the evening which caused delays to the M25 traffic, so you can understand why they would make it 2 lanes. However, now traffic flows so well down the slip, that people use it to undertake the queues on the M25 and cut back onto the M25 at the front of the two mile queue. The effect is that the people change lanes at the front, allowing people in (though most just pull in without indicating) and this in turn slows the traffic down. Cause and effect. Who'd have thought you can learn physics on the motorways....It's madness!

Slightly more seriously, I read that the driving age might be increased to 18. It can only be a good thing - the amount of young people who have no idea what the result of the actions they take behind the wheel is astonishing. They also suggested that if your 18 you would not be allowed to carry passengers at night. The quote I heard was from one teenager was "what's the point in driving then?" to which I found myself shouting at the radio - that's EXACTLY why the suggestion has been made you idiot.

Sharks

There are challenges on the project at the moment, some of which is aimed at us techys. Over dinner last night I discovered the meaning of the phrase "brave or stupid". One of the usual people we eat out with is part of management team and he joined us and was discussing some of the challenges and one of them was that a view was there were too many architects on the project. The rest of the diners on the table? 5 architects and the architects PM.

You can always tell someone thinking on their feet when the voice goes ;-)

Another weekday in Worcester, another game of squash. Decent game, we both played well but alas I lost. Not entirely sure how I managed to lose though as I was 2-1 games up.

Decent curry last night in my favourite local curry house. The food is always good, although the beer was a bit off last night. The staff recognise us now as well (or at least, pretend to - there are some of our number who are more memorable than others!)

Challenging days on the project, I seem to be jinxed when it comes to my projects here! Still, it was fun while it lasted! Looks as though I'm going to be working on supporting documentation which, while necessary and interesting in it's own right, is never as fun as solution design as it offers a different challenge. Not one to complain though - I continue to get to work with a great bunch of people on a really interesting project and continue to learn new skills - that is what it's all about for me.

Will it blend?

Ah, the joys of doing something stupid to sell a product. "Will it blend?" has to be a marketing genius idea. It works like this - company has a blender to sell. You Tube is full of people blending/chopping/generally doing things your not supposed to. Get a good presenter with a slight air of the scientific and off you go! Next, what to blend? Well, veg etc is all well and good, but why not up the ante with an iPhone?

Genius

It's right up there with the mentos domino rally for stupid things.

Actually, the stupisest thing on the net is the person counting to a million. What's worse is that he works in IT. It's people like him who give the rest of us a bad name! (he says, writing on a blog, on a mobile phone, via wifi...)

Madness

The world has gone PC mad.

A few years ago the DVLA changed the car registration plate format. The idea was that the first two letters would signify the location the car was bought, the next two the year.

The DVLA in Edinburgh have recently changed it so that instead of SN the Edinburgh office issues TN prefix. The reason? Some people may be offended at having SN07 in the car, which could be seen as "snot". Really? Who cares! I mean, it's a registration plate. It doesn't matter.

Link to the article

I say this in a slightly contratdictory manner as my car (finally) got it's personalised registraion plate fitted this morning :-) However, if I had bought a car and it had SN07, I wouldn't have cared a bit.

Apologies for lack of activity, work and social life is mad just now!

It strikes me that there is a lot of money in certain football clubs. Some are buying well, some less so. United have bought an incredible display of talent, and if they get Tevez then up front they'll have the incredible hulk and shrek - quite a combination! Arsenal are doing the usual of buying young players nobody has heard of, but I feel the top 4 finish they enjoy is under threat - it's not enough. Chelsea are fattening the squad (and I'm not just talking about Lampard) so they will be there or thereabouts. Liverpool are dark horses - Torres will make a huge difference to them, and they have a good squad with depth in positions. Still missing a 2nd keeper though. Spurs are an option for the 4th champions league spot though.

The drop - West Ham have a load of cash and an odd chairman, but they are not buying players that I think will help them stay up. Sunderland have bought few players but need to spend a load more or they will be going down again. I also fear for Derby.

So there we go, a mid-close season shopping list viewpoint. Roll on the new season, but if you want to see some class, check out this gem from Messi in the Copa America. Just wish he played in the Premiership...
Messi Goal!

Van Gogh

received this vai email - usual caveats to the author.

Van Gogh family tree -

His dizzy aunt-----------------------Verti Gogh

The brother who ate prunes-----------Gotta Gogh

The brother who worked at a convenience store----Stop an Gogh

The grandfather from Yugoslavia-------U Gogh

The cousin from Illinois------------- Chica Gogh

His magician uncle--------------Where-diddy Gogh

His Mexican cousin------------------- A mee Gogh

The Mexican cousin's American half-brother----Ring Gogh

The nephew who drove a stage coach - Wells-far Gogh

The constipated uncle----------------- Cant Gogh

The ballroom dancing aunt------------- Tang Gogh

The bird lover uncle----------------Flaming Gogh

His nephew psychoanalyst---------------- E Gogh

The fruit loving cousin-----------------Man Gogh

An aunt who taught positive thinking----- Way-to Gogh

The little bouncy nephew--------------- Poe Gogh

A sister who loved disco--------------- Go Gogh

And his niece who traveled the country in a van - Winnie Bay Gogh

iPhone

There has been a lot of positive and negative press about the Apple iPhone. From the evidence in the US, there is a market with 500,000 sold in the first weekend. So people want it, but why?

Functionally, it doesn't break any moulds. There are phones which make calls, take photos, can play music and sync your diary too. There are also touch screen phones, although these have not exactly set the world alight as they are typically difficult to use or are on basic phones so they phone has a reasonable purchase price.

Design wise, it's stunning, as you would expect from Apple. Other maunfacturers have made decent looking phones (the Motorolla Pebl springs to mind) but no mainstream company has made anything like this before. You get the high end stuff that sells in low numbers but with high sale prices (over £1000), but Apple are marketing the phone as a high end design phone with ipod looks and functionality, for about £300. Nothing comes close to that - not many people really buy phones anymore as it's all in the contracts, and most people have an ipod (or a few!).

So why and who? Well, the why is that Apple can use the mobile network to have a mobile edition of iTunes, which is a massive revenue generator for Apple. The people who buy the iPhone will likely be heavy iTunes users, so it's a new market for them. The mobile companies are happy as they get the carrier revenue while the tracks download, and again a new market that Sony have tried to tap into but hasn't really succeded. Who? Well existing heavy iPod users will lap it up.

Then there is how it works. Simply, it's an amazingly good piece of software. It does everything a Windows Smartphone does, but simpler, better, and faster. Apple got it right, they didn't try and break any moulds, they just had to do it with the right design and the right level of functionality that users were going to go for.

Do I want one? Yes. Will I buy one? Not at 300 quid plus a heavy contract price. Do I need one? No - I have a phone and an iPod. So I'll stick with that thank you very much :-)

Hectic weekend, but very enjoyable. Catching up with mates and family is always good fun.

So some people drove a jeep into the airport in Glasgow. It got me thinking - had these people never done a reccy before? Surely you'd realise the only thing that will fit through airport doors is a Smart car? I can't get through it with my luggage, so a big jeep has no chance!

I dropped my other half at the airport this morning (on her way to Glasgow!) and there is a huge police prescence. But the rest of the airport was deserted - hardly any traffic on the drive to and around the airport. Riot vans, police dogs, armed police, all looking menacing but not actually searching anyone.

If a large police prescence is all that it takes to sort out the traffic at Heathrow, long may the police stay there!

I think the phrase is f***ing fuming.

I've been waiting 4 weeks now for the paperwork for the transfer of my registration plate onto my new car. This has enabled me to get a nice little (though expanding) snagging list going. However, as the paperwork had not turned up, I phoned the DVLA - they've not recieved the paperwork. This is (amazingly) not a DVLA fault - it's the dealer.

Now, this means that I can't put my plate onto my car. It also means my car parking permit is in the old plate. I can't update my permit, and they are now refusing to extend my temp cover note, which in turn means very soon I'll be using my visitor permits to park my own bloody car outside my own house.

The dealer is going to get a roasting. I'm not in a good mood.

Bangle

BMW have released a lot of new cars in the last few years, all of which the design has been Chris Bangle influenced. For those who don't know who he is, he's a car designer who was responsible for the Fiat Coupe, a slashy masterpiece in it's day.

Now, some people hate what he has done to BMW, some love it. I think he's made some initially very challenging cars to love at first, however as time passes they seem to grow into what are very "of it's time" design. The best example would the 5 series - when it came out nobody liked it. But now, it looks right. Same with the 7 series as when it came out it was pigging ugly (it was also the first Bangle BMW) with it's huge rear end platform - a design that has continued now with the latest 3 series, although it's not so pronounced.

The 1 series BMW has always been challenged in the looks department. It's too small to do a full Bangle on it, the front end works, the back end is too abrupt, the middle looks ungainly. BMW have released a 3 door version of the 1 series, which is the most pointless thing in the world as it's got no rear seats anyway and has just made it more impractical. However, they have gone one better (or worse?) with this - the new 1 series coupe:



Seriously - how ugly is that!!! I've no idea who the terget market is for this either. They've upped the power, so there are (finally) some seriously hot versions but they will sell in low numbers as for the same money as a hot 1 coupe, you can get a low end 3 series coupe, which actually looks much nicer. The 1 looks too high, too long, and the boot looks like an afterthought, which it is as the car was never designed to be a coupe.

Pig ugly.

Bangle - must do better.

Two games of squash in two days and I feel much better about this daft sport. I'm really enjoying it just now, mainly as I'm playing ok, apart from the serve!.

Off to Wimbledon tonight for the first time in 10 days, can't wait to get into my own bed. WIth the impending bad weather, I'd rather get off sooner rather than later, but with a conference call in the afternoon it may not happen.

Petaflop

So the new IBM BlueGene/P has been proved to run at 3 Petaflops, or 3 Quadrillion operations a second (although in real life situations, it's designed to run at 1 petaflop). Now that is a lot. Some of the numbers are mind blowing.

4 - the number of PowerPC cores in each chip running at 850MHz each.
32 - a 2x2 foot circuit board can contain this number of chips
435 billion - the number of operations a single board can handle a second
32 (again) - the number of these boards that fit into a 6 foot rack
72 - the number of these racks required to hit a single petaflop
216 - the number of racks to hit 3 petaflops (which is 884,736 processors)

Big numbers. However, the image in my head of how large it is this:

If you stacked up a pile of Thinkpads to give you same power, you'd end up with a pile of 1.5 miles high.

Like I said - big numbers.

A long, but fairly uneventful drive down from Glasgow to Worcester last night. I expected the roads to be horrible however, bar a lot of spray, they were fine. It helped I left it a bit later so there was less traffic.

The date has now been set for my stag do, early March next year which means March and April will be as mad as May and June has been this year. Ah well, at least I can get some chill out when I'm on honeymoon :-)

Dublin

2 nights of Dublin life with some very good friends has left me with a warm glow. And also very tired!

One of the problems I have at times with my job is that to actually have a home life I've moved to the south (as well as my others half family being there, but regardless if she had been there or not I would have moved down) so the chance to catch up with friends is not one I can turn down. We had a riot, lots of fun, lots of Guiness, lots of laughes. Had dinner on Saturday in a place called FXB in Pembroke Street - I had one of the best steaks I've ever eaten in there on Saturday and it comes recommended.

I certainly enjoyed Dublin again, it's the 3rd time I've been and every time I've had a good time. I'd certainly recommend it!

So we arrive in Edinburgh and have a quick look about yesterday, went to see the new Parliament building as I've not been there yet. I also went past my old flat and had a nose from 4 floors down - the same curtains are up in the flat when I had it! And they were there when I bought it (albeit just newly put in) - that was 1999!!! A quick drive over the Glasgow were my other is working and we are staying in a stunning hotel, wonderful dinner last night and I slept like a log last night. Much needed snooze!