In Uncategorized on January 16, 2003
ohhhh. palm are ditching graffiti and going with the jot handwriting recognition system in future. admittedly i don’t have a clue what jot is like but i suspect that “an alphabet more natural and easy-to-learn” means one more like regular letters than the elegantly pared down versions of letters that i love and that i’ve even adopted for writing notes on paper a lot these days.
although i do use tealscript anyway to change graffiti’s standard letter recognition so i guess i’ll be able to use tools like this to use whatever letter forms i like in future.
[found via a site for sore eyes]
In Uncategorized on January 16, 2003
geo url are indexing websites by location. a lovely idea especially as it’s not based on your server location or something else gleaned via whois lookups on the domain name but by information you supply yourself. see my neighbours. something needs sorting out on this page though, it claims I’m “about 157 miles SE of London” which would probably put me somewhere in France. I’m definitely north west of London, I presume it means to say London is 157 miles SE of me. that’s fixed.
In books read on January 15, 2003
i've got really behind with updating around these parts. i remember enjoying this book, which is the first in a series featuring drew slocombe, the new boy at a funeral directors. obviously he's going to end up poking into the deaths he comes across in the business. i wasn't really convinced there was a series in this after this book but i did spend half the book saying "no drew, leave it alone, you'll only get yourself sacked, stop sticking your nose into things!" which is probably a sign of good writing really. i'll certainly try another in the series to see how drew gets on.
Borrowed.
In Uncategorized on January 14, 2003
oh well, i’ve found the answer to a question that’s been bugging me for years. but it wasn’t the one i wanted. cremola foam is no more. i’m surprised to see it was withdrawn as late as 1998, i haven’t seen it for much longer than that though i’ve heard reports of it’s existence from time to time. now i have to go and do some experiments with something like american kool-aid powder and bicarbonate of soda to see if it can be made. especially as i’ve also found cocktail recipes using it as an ingredient.
In Uncategorized on January 13, 2003
caterina is hatching up a plan to remove the $550 entry barrier to use the online version of the OED by setting up a consortium to act as an “institution” and share the cost. sign up at eatmorewords.org if you’re interested in joining in. i hope this idea gets off the ground and gets extended to many other databases that i’ve missed having at my finger tips since i was last a member of a university.
In books read on January 12, 2003
Christmas holiday reading.... minimal comments.
The second of three books about Eva Wylie that I've read out of order. The first book, Bucket Nut, is definitely the best and I think this is the one that least belongs on a mystery shelf. I'm sorry that I don't have any more of Eva's adventures to read about now though.
Borrowed.
In Uncategorized on January 10, 2003
i’m currently breaking the speed limit on the information super highway 
great stuff, finally.
also, the house move to snow bound west yorkshire went off ok even if the snow is vanishing on me now. i can still see white hills from my new office window which is very nice indeed.
finally, i’m completely backlogged from three weeks of near enforced near abstinence from the internet. it’s such a relief to be back online. something in me says that feeling this way is probably a bad thing but right now i’m just enjoying it.
In books read on January 8, 2003
Christmas holiday reading.... minimal comments.
I've skipped the whole middle of this series in order to join in with a group discussion that I ended up not having time to join in with. I hope knowing this part of Charlie's life doesn't ruin the books in between as I plan to read them. I like the construction of the plots and the longish time span covered by the books and I like Charlie himself in general. Mostly I'm trying to deduce the real location of the fictional Heckley in West Yorkshire but I think Pawson has fiddled about with geography such that it's not locatable.
Borrowed.
In Uncategorized on January 6, 2003
hopefully i’ll be back here just as soon as swizzy fast broadband internet connections replace tedious slow disconnecty type dial up ones in rural yorkshire…. maybe tomorrow, maybe not.
In books read on January 4, 2003
Christmas holiday reading.... minimal comments.
I love Munch Mancini and I'm glad to see another update on how she's getting her life together. It's good to see that there are less of her old drinking and drug taking friends in this one. Even though I want to see more of her old friends and what they are getting up to I think it's significant for Munch that Seranella decided to do without that angle in this book. I am finding that the series is getting a bit amateur sleuth like as Munch finds she has a connection to yet another murder but that's the sort of thing you have to go along with and at least Munch isn't falling over bodies herself. I'm looking forward to more of these books.
Purchased on 6th December 2002.
nocto