Monday March 03, 2008

Remember, remember the 27th November..

While on a walk in the Staffordshire countryside we came across the site of the biggest conventional explosion in WW2. At 11am on this fateful day seventy people died. Old mine shafts in the area were being used to store explosives and something went horribly wrong. The resulting crater is 1/4 mile across and one hundred yards deep. A farm was blown to bits and its buildings and livestock were lost. The area is still fenced off and nature is restoring the ravaged area quite nicely. There is also a large colony or rabbits who are protected by the fence enclosing the crater.

Nearby is the National Memorial Arboretum which is a one hundred and fifty acre parkland planted with trees. There are also a multitude of memorials including one to the event above and in years to come as the trees mature it will become a very impressive place. It is just off the A38 near Burton on Trent

Thursday February 28, 2008

Pictures I wish I'd taken

The BBC have a pictures of the week submitted by the general public that is worth a look at. The two Swan's one (no 7) is awsome.

Friday December 21, 2007

Happy xmas!

In my last Xmas post I suggested at Xmas time we think of the people on their own at home or working during Xmas. Well this time a recent event at work reminded me of people who have lost a loved one or close friend. These events are traumatic and I'd like to remember folks who at Xmas are missing those who have left this world. Trouble is little things happen that remind you they are not there; the yearly present of a pair of socks that does not arrive, the favourite drink that never gets made again or the chair that was always occupied but no longer is. So my thoughts are with you. Time is a great healer I can tell you that - but it is not much help in times of grief.

The other people I'd like to remember are the parents of Madeline McCann . Whatever caused her to become missing is irrelevant; the fact is her parents, siblings and friends are going to have a difficult Xmas. These people are also not alone many children and people go missing every year...

Friday February 16, 2007

Intermission

As before and ironically a year ago I did the same thing and that is hang up my weblog pen. Like last year work is very hectic at the moment and weekends are more precious than before to rest up. I know well the symptoms of stress and I am not naive to believe that just writing weblogs is causing this - I have lots of other changes to my work habits to bring the stress level down.

I think the other thing I have spotted is my items are not as interesting as they could be and I think a lot of my recent posts that I have almost done for the sake of it just to post an item every day. I also am finding as I see and do things I am constantly thinking of what I should be writing in my weblog about this - instead of enjoying the moment. So if and when I come back I am going to set myself up some pretty strong ground rules I think to avoid being boring and make this less of a burden... So until then an intermission. Thanks for your interest over the years...

From Pink Floyd's Time track:

The time is gone, the song is over,
Thought I'd something more to say.

Thursday February 08, 2007

Student interviews

So it is the time of the year we interview students. I am following our usual method I have described before and the current batch of students who write weblogs have been documenting how they got on helping out in the interview process. As usual I warned all of them not to judge themselves based upon this years performances. I chatted to Chris on how weblogs and the web in general affected both our perception on how students should perform in interviews and if these sources of information can help prospective candidates. The interesting thing is two of this years candidates mentioned they had Googled my name and found my weblog and then also read the student links off it. We have had less candidates apply but I think the Universities are doing a better job of filtering out candidates who are not a good match for us.

My interlude in the middle of the telephone interview when I ask some non technical questions has had varied results. Most candidates in my opinion have not spent long enough researching us by looking at Sun's web page . I cannot stress enough how important it is at every stage of the job application process, sending your CV off, telephone interview etc being clued up on the company you are seeking to work for and ensuring your communication with that company is slanted towards them - not in a cheesy way though.

One positive thing is we are getting a lot more questions for us which I do appreciate. A common theme this year has been Will I be able to travel in this job?. One has even asked us on why Sun's fortunes went downhill a few years ago - which was a very good question. The best one was Do I have to shave my beard off? . The answer given as I have a beard is a resolute no. The candidate had heard of someone who had been told he had to take it off. I said that until it was a health and safety hazard - the vision of a metre long beard being sucked into a machine by its fans is too painful to dwell on...

Tuesday February 06, 2007

In the round

This was one of my Xmas presents. It is quite a small puzzle with only five hundred bits but it was quite challenging as it had some odd shaped pieces as you can see in the picture. It was quite enjoyable except the board was quite thin and therefore the bits did lock together as well as thicker board puzzles do.

Friday January 26, 2007

Happy Birthday!

To me. Forty Seven today. For an environmentally friendly firework display to celebrate this fact click here .

Thursday January 25, 2007

Word processing

I was thinking about how Word Processing has changed over the years I have been in the computer industry. My first job in computing had me work for a company that wrote CAD/CAM software. Part of the package was of course documentation. When I joined they printed this off using Diablo printers that used ink tape and golfball print heads I think. Any graphics they had was cut and pasted onto the printout and then I guess photographed and printed. It was very time consuming. I think they used a word processing language on the Prime Computers a bit like Nroff I imagine.

I suppose the next development was the company using Laser printers. These were huge and expensive. I can't remember the company name and I know the company at this point experimented with Tex written by Donald Knuth. The first wysiwyg - what you see is what you get processsor we saw was Interleaf on a Sun 3/50. But for whatever reason we went for a propriety Xerox system which was also wysiwyg and the secretaries also ended up using it. Eventually the system was replaced after I left and I think they might have ended up with Interleaf.

At my second Computer job we had an Apple Laserwriter which was much more compact and of course introduced me to Postscript. Not that I could ever write Postscript but I know Chris can . We had filters on the print server which was running SunOs 4.x which could take ascii and other formats and print them out. As demand grew we went for larger and faster printers at this time I had gone back a step and was using nroff/troff - which I used to like. The company had then standardised on Xios software running on PC's running their own OS. Persistant compatibility document transfer problems between the engineers who by then were using PC's running DOS and using Word Perfect meant the company moved everyone over to Word Perfect including Sun Workstation users who used a version written for Unix.

So to get us up to date I guess Microsoft seem to be dominating things but at Sun we use Staroffice/Openoffice. The great thing about this is its available for many platforms and won't lock you in as Word tries to. The world of WP has certainly come a long way..

Tuesday January 16, 2007

Five things you did not know about me yesterday.

Having been tagged by Geoff I thought I should do my duty and list five things folks do not know about me... Trouble is I have let a lot of the interesting/printable stuff out on this weblog over the years and not much I'd like to share is left...

One. I am left handed. But I eat right handed.

Two. My favourite tipple is Chilean Merlot or their Carmenere . I started my alcohol consumption with bitter beer, also Guiness - mixing it with cider now and then. I then developed a liking for Single Malt Whiskey's and then onto French Red's. However I later found the Chilean offerings much better and at more or less the same price.

Three. At home when I eat a meal like Pasta I eat the pasta first then the sauce ingredients. If its Sunday Roast I leave the best bit potatoes till last. Basically I eat my favourite bit of a meal last.

Four. My nickname as a boy was humph. I got it as there were two Paul's in my group of friends and I got the nickname - he kept his forename.

Five. Like Geoff I did go to Church as a child/young boy. I never believed and I think it was a way my parents had the house to themselves on Sunday morning.

Well that is is I am done - I won't be tagging anyone else. Time to hide behind a rock...

Friday January 12, 2007

Hotels - the best

For our fortieth birthdays we went to two special hotels in the UK as well as other treats. For my wife's birthday we went to Cliveden which as well as being a National Trust property is also a running hotel. It has two restaurants one that looks over the Thames Valley. I had a VW Passat at the time and I remember parking it in front of the hotel with other cars. As soon as our luggage was removed the car was moved to the back car park out of sight of everyone. Posh cars like Ferraris' were left in front of the hotel however.. The rooms were ok but if you want something special with a view over the Thames Valley you are going to have to spend a lot of money. When we went we ate in its second restaurant the first night and it was very informal and great. The second night we ate in the Posh restaurant with the excellent view and it was very formal - which I did not mind but what irked me was it was hot and I took my jacket off. I was asked soon afterwards to put the jacket back on.

For my birthday we went a little further afield and stayed at Raymond Blanc's place called Manoir . This was a very special place - even a modestly priced room was full of lovely furniture and a bottle of sherry for a pre dinner drink. We only stayed one night but the meal was great. Everyone there was celebrating something as we were unlike Cliveden where a lot of people were going there because they could afford to go somewhere wereas ordinary folks could not visit on a regular basis... The highlight for my wife was meeting and saying hello to the man himself and it was a really nice stay.

Over the years we have stayed at other hotels we have thought were good and one was Fairy Hill . It was a lovely hotel formal but very friendly. I remember the grounds were also great to walk around in. There were all sorts of personal touches to the rooms that made you feel like you were staying in a very special place.

Another hotel we enjoyed was Percy's Hotel. A small establishment and in a nice quiet spot. The people who run it moved out of a city and clearly enjoy the stress free environment where they are. I think they also breed horses. The owners wife cooked the food and she was an excellent cook. He was a very good friendly host and it was a nice place to stay.

These hotels have some real competition nowadays from Pubs. There are two that come to mind as being good places to stay. The first is the Howard Arms which has been a no smoking pub for a while now, has mega friendly staff and of course excellent food. It only has a few rooms so you have to book in early. The second pub is the Inn at Whitewell which in the Good pub guide has a star rating for everything rooms, wine, beer etc... But the rooms are a dream, the bathrooms spectacular. The only problem is there are not many walks in the area but perhaps with the new right to roam law this has changed. Many other pubs we have visited also deserve a mention but these ones are special.

Thursday January 11, 2007

Product of the week a new Raffles T Shirt

So on my recent visit to Singapore I went to the Raffles hotel shop to buy some replacement T shirts like the one I have mentioned before . Sadly they no longer do that exact one and it has changed a bit. The only complaint I have is it is a bit long and covers up my trouser pockets.

Tuesday January 09, 2007

A mammoth puzzle

The excellent series of puzzles have a monster puzzle you can purchase incrementally. Each section is a 1,000 piece puzzle in its own right but they can all be butted together in four by two matrix to make a mamoth puzzle. The one shown is really good as there are lots of creatures and very little 'boring' bits. I usually start by putting together the animals then the birds at the top of the picture then filling in the gaps. As I have said before these pictures would never happen i nthe wild the animals shown would tear each other to pieces very quickly. For xmas I asked Father Christmas and got another one of these and over time collect all eight puzzles. Apologies for the flash effect in the centre of the puzzle... I cannot retake the photo - the puzzle is now in a 1,000 bits! If you want to know more about these puzzles their website is here

Monday January 08, 2007

David Bowie is sixty- the Sky at night fifty..

David Bowie is sixty today. Five more years and he can claim his pension but I don't think he will be needing it..

Also celebrating - but annoyed as the anniversary program is going out at 2am is Patrick Moore who has been leading this show for fifty years. Congratulations to them both.

Friday December 29, 2006

Xmas quiz the answer...

So the answer to this week's Xmas quiz question is a pencil.

Why ? Well in Doctor Who used a pencil in a mug to explain to Catherine Tate how she ended up being Kidnapped by the Tardis. At the end of the Vicar of Dibley Xmas show where a joke is usually told, the vicar asked her friend How do accountants recover from a bad bout of constipation?. The answer is they work it out with a pencil. Her friend had been playing with a pencil on the table while this joke was being told and had put it in her mouth. The vicar told her friend that the pencil was Harry's her fiancee's who happens to be a accountant. Her friend instantly put the pencil down in disgust. It was much funnier on TV than the way I have told it here.

Meanwhile a Happy New Year to everyone!

Wednesday December 27, 2006

A one question Christmas quiz..

So here it is. What was seen in both the Christmas specials of Dr Who and Vicar of Dibley ?

Answer on Friday. BTW both shows were excellent and Catherine Tate was an fiesty partner for Dr Who. It is a pity they can't persuade her to do more shows with him.. The Vicar of Dibley has its last show on New years day.