Aren't we all

A totem to time

I just found this blog – kicking about on servers I’d long forgotten about – and thought I’d give it a little tidy up. Mainly for my own amusement during a period of convalescence to see what there might be here. Going through some of the posts was a real blast from the past; removing outdated Flash embed code, updating code not using https, reviewing calls to the Flickr API… yes – Flickr! And delicio.us, Last.fm and the rest.

It being New Years, I’ve been reflecting on times past and of things to come.

5 years since the first mentions of a new “viral pneumonia” in Wuhan. 20 years since we escaped the boxing day tsumani – that still baffles my guilty-to-have-survived mind.

And this blog has served as a useful reminder to me of the more mundane that passes in time too – and how that change imperceptibly creeps along. So here it remains as a totem. For now, at least.

a thought for the day

I do not consider myself a religious person and I certainly do not subscribe to the doctrines dished out by church establishments, but I heard something on Radio Four’s “Thought For The Day” this morning that really made me stop and reflect on the nature of existence, eternity and all that. It’s nice to be caught in your tracks once in a while, amongst the mundanity of everydayness, deadlines, traffic and such like.

The William Blake quote at the end is one of my favourites…

One of the great privileges of being a priest is that I often get the opportunity to be with people when they die. It frequently astonishes me that, despite the ubiquity of death, this is something a great many people have never actually seen. Little wonder we’re so frightened of death. It used to be something public, but now it’s pushed out of life. Whereas we used to die at home surrounded by friends and family, we now die in hospitals, often alone and hidden behind expensive technology.

It’s commonly assumed that Christians don’t really believe in death at all, that we subscribe to the view that when we die we go on living in some other realm, or in some disembodied form. Just to be clear: I believe nothing of the sort. I don’t like the euphemistic language of “passing on” or “having gone to sleep”. Nor do I subscribe to Platonic ideas about the immortality of the soul. When you die, you die. As the first letter of St. Paul to Timothy puts it: “God alone is immortal”

Today is Ash Wednesday. Like millions of Christians around the world, I will be marked with ash and told that I am dust and to dust I shall return. There is nothing depressing or morbid about any of this – in fact, quite the reverse. Personally speaking, it leaves me with a more intense sense of the preciousness of human life, something that’s intimately bound up with its intrinsic limit and fragility.

Indeed, the problem with the modern lack of experience of death is precisely that it robs us of this very intensification. Life without death is “just one damned thing after another.” For death gives life its urgency: now is the opportunity to love and respond to love, to be different, to make a difference, to change the world. There is no time to waste.

This is why I have little enthusiasm for the idea that science might be able to keep us alive indefinitely, that through cryogenic suspension or uploading our DNA onto computers we might be able to achieve immortality. I’m not saying these extraordinary things will never be possible ” who can say? ” but rather, that the best these technologies can ever offer is a life that goes on and on and on. And if I can put it like this: more and more of me, extended over time, doesn’t really solve the problem of being me.

When theologians like Boethius and Augustine speak of entering eternity they mean something altogether different from this: for eternity is outside of time, unrelated to temporal sequence. Which is why eternity can be as much as quality of our present experience, more an expansion of our imagination, a call to reach beyond claustrophobic self-absorption and to see the world anew. As William Blake so memorably suggested:

To see a world in a grain of sand And a heaven in a wild flower, Hold infinity in the palm of your hand And eternity in an hour.

The Rev. Dr Giles Fraser

Bike rental scheme coming to London

Over recent weeks, I have noticed docking stations for the London Transport Cycle Hire scheme popping up all over the place. Coverage in central London is impressive – there’s 400-odd such docking stations in total, ready to serve 6,000 bikes across the capital.

The pricing for the scheme is aimed at journeys less than 30 minutes so, once you’ve paid the daily access charge, the first half an hour’s rental is free and you can make as many 30-minute trips between docking stations as you like without paying any more (provided a bike is available, of course). If you want to make longer journeys between docking stations, the costs can mount up to £50 for the day but, given you could cycle from one end of the docking station zone to the other in less than 30 minutes, it really is an unlikely and easily avoided situation.

 

So the only snag is bike availability in peak times – I’ll be very interested to see how this scheme takes off.
I’m certainly signing up. If I’m ever caught out without my trusty Birdy folding bike, I know how I’ll be getting about!

Thanks to cyclehireapp.com for the map visualisations of bike docking locations data from TFL – the  bike rental map on the London transport site doesn’t (yet) work!

Augmented (hyper)Reality

Martin, a robotics researcher friend of mine, showed me this video at the weekend:

Augmented (hyper)Reality: Domestic Robocop from Keiichi Matsuda on Vimeo.

It certainly got us talking about where augmented reality may be headed, particularly for advertising. While the video is perhaps a little over exaggerated, the technology is rapidly getting there. Take, for example, the new augmented-reality mapping from Microsoft:

Installing symfony on a server running plesk

Plesk can be handy if you want to get a simple hosting situation up and running but is an absolute nightmare if you want to get into any nitty gritty on the server that might require some custom configuration. So how do you go about installing Symfony on a server running Plesk? As it is one of the common frameworks that we frequently need to be installing, I thought it worthwhile publishing my notes on the steps we need to take:

# change to your directory - under plesk, you will need to switch to root first
> su -
> cd /var/www/vhosts/domain-name.co.uk

# create a directory for symfony
> mkdir /var/www/vhosts/domain-name.co.uk/symfony

# remove old httpdocs
> rm /var/www/vhosts/domain-name.co.uk/httpdocs

# create symbolic link so that requests to httpdocs are routed to symfony/web
> ln -s /var/www/vhosts/domain-name.co.uk/symfony/web /var/www/vhosts/domain-name.co.uk/httpdocs

To allow deployment via rsync from Symfony – in Plesk, enable user to access via SSH by checking: “Shell access to server with FTP user’s credentials (/bin/sh)”

Sleepy Statistics

As you move differently in bed during the different phases of sleep, Sleep Cycle uses the accelerometer in your iPhone to monitor your movement to determine which sleep phase you are in. Come morning and it plots out a graph of your nocturnal activity. Here’s mine from the last couple of nights:

Sleep statistics for 30 – 31 Jan
Went to bed / woke up: 01:18 / 08:27 | Total time: 7h 08m

Sleep statistics for 31 – 01 Feb
Went to bed / woke up: 23:21 / 06:30 | Total time: 7h 08m

Can you guess when I woke to tend to our son? 🙂 Now I *know* when I woke at night…

The Magic Number, Psychology and Website User Experience

This is the first post I have managed to type out in months, besides the regular amalgamations of various Twitterspheric streaming that this site has become. It must be because I’ve just read something that pushes my psychology / computer science / internet geek buttons just enough to warrant a little more rambling than the usual delicious tag or tweet. Jakob Nielson has published an article that cites the classic seven plus or minus two of short-term memory capacity (i.e. executive function) in the context of Website User Experience. Ooooh.

A thing called Phing

Agile web app deployment with svn, rsynch, phing and more…

We are a small development team, at Harvest Digital, handling multiple tasks throughout the day, across different environments and projects. It makes for an exciting challenge. Our roles/ skills are clearly defined and our small size means we can react quickly to change, with little margin for communication errors and so on (see Getting Real and Less is more: Jumpstarting Productivity with Small Teams). But, when it comes to deploying to a staging or production server, I am ashamed to admit that we had often introduced a huge potential for human error by doing much of the work manually. Each project is different and so there is no consistent deployment process across the board.

Deployment is often the last step in the process to get any attention and it is one that can be unnecessarily tedious and prone to error. With more agile development projects, where deployments may be required several times a day, we obviously cannot afford the time nor the potential mistakes that may be made by manually deploying a project.

At its simplest level, deployment may just involve making sure that the target server (i.e. staging or production) has the latest revision of files from the project’s source control repository (we use SVN). But factor in tests and database migration and you can see how easily things can go wrong. Especially if you are deploying several times a day. You need to automate as many steps in the process as possible, thereby eliminating any manual tasks that introduce potential error and duplication.

Whenever we reach a point in a project where the code can be considered stable, we should tag it in SVN as a release. This gives you the ability to deploy a particular release based on its tag, instead of just the latest revision in the repository. By convention you never create revisions in the tag folder – tags are simply named snapshots of the source repository. We typically use version numbers as tags with some scheme based on feature-set or milestone and release date that can be ordered alpha-numerically e.g. “rel_belfast_2.04”. This allows us to say with certainty what is deployed at any one time, without having to scan logs etc. Tags give context to a release name (you can easily associate the release with project milestones) that revision numbers and timestamps do not. Tags are usually kept in a ‘tags’ subfolder, in the top level of the repository.

For a while now at Harvest, we’ve been working with symfony – an excellent PHP framework – that includes a few tools to help simplify the deployment process (such as Pake). These tools allow for remote syncronisation of files with rsync (the benefits of synchronisation over standard FTP are much touted elsewhere) via SSH (with the shell command: e.g.

symfony sync staging

) and semi-automate the build process (including database schema changes, data dumps etc: e.g.

symfony propel-build-all myApp

) by using Pake on the target machine.

But there is still a lot of room for improvement, particularly when it comes to database migrations and SVN integration. Plus, symfony is not our only set-up. We need an automated deployment process that can be applied across all our projects. This is where I’ve previously seen shell scripts being used but Phing can do much of this heavy lifting work for us, as it has many standard deployment tasks built-in to it. According to the Phing blurb:

Features include file transformations (e.g. token replacement, XSLT transformation, Smarty template transformations), file system operations, interactive build support, SQL execution, CVS operations, tools for creating PEAR packages, and much more.

Phing (PHing Is Not GNU make) is a project build system based on Apache Ant and is available through the PEAR installer. If you use

--alldeps

on Phing, it’ll grab, funnily enough, all the dependencies. But most are good packages (e.g. PHPUnit, PHPdoc and VersionControl_SVN). It can be used in a multitude of ways, including unit testing, creating docs, running SQL – which allows us to keep database schema changes in version control. The beauty of Phing is everything can be configured easily through the build.xml file (and then further with properties files) – so that the project’s deployment configuration can be kept in version control too.

In short, we love this thing called Phing!

For more detail on advanced tasks such as database migration take a look at these posts from Federico Cargnelutti and Dave Marshall.

The return of the platform game: From Jet Set Willy to LittleBigPlanet

I’m not much of a “gamer”, although I have to admit I am able to reference my life by what computer game I was playing since I was about 10 years old (for the record – Jet Set Willy, on the trusty ZX Spectrum) – maybe before then, if you include the clunky Radio Shack games I played on my Dad’s computers.

Jet Set Willy (1984: ZX Spectrum), Sonic the Hedgehog (1991: Sega Megadrive), Monkey Island (1990: PC), Doom (1993: PC), Worms (1995: PC), Abe’s Oddysee (1997: PS1), Grand Theft Auto (1997: PC), Rainbow Six (1998: PC) and many more; they all chart a certain personal view of the evolution of console and computer gaming. And it’s incredible to think how things have changed.

I can mark eras of my life in the same way you might signpost your autobiographical memory with where you were living. Sad but true. It tends to be just the one game as I don’t devote masses of time to gaming – when I find a game that I like, I stick with it.

Recently, I persuaded my wife that a PS3 would be a great addition to our family because “a PS3 is so much more than just a games console – you can use it to view all those digital photos and videos of our son”. And I’m glad I did as I think I’ve found the game to mark the next era – LittleBigPlanet. This game is incredible. It has brought the traditional platform game into the future with a fun, creative and collaborative online world that is constantly changing and ever evolving. Irrespective of what it represents in terms of amazing media and technological innovation, it also represents a return to pure and simple platform based game-play, with a few twists. And, possibly most importantly, it is impossible not to feel happy playing this game. It looks like we’re going to have some fun with this one…

Google Chrome – first look

Last night Google “mistakenly” released a comic book presentation of a their new Chrome browser application. Well it certainly got the buzz going and has whetted my appetite to give it a whirl. Less than an hour ago, Google made the download available and I’ve just been in a live walk-through (that hung my Firefox – oh the irony!), looking at some of its major features. In a nutshell – it is quick. More later…
[UPDATE: The verdict – it is fast. Much more screen space. Ideal for web apps. Won’t replace Firefox/ IE / Safari. Yet.]

Open source: utopian-dreams, recession-proofing and socialism…

Those who know me will undoubtedly have at some point had the pleasure of listening to me ranting on about the power of the open source movement – or, more generally, social collaboration online. On the bus yesterday I read an editorial piece – “Collaboration is the new revolution” – in the Guardian newspaper that certainly struck a few chords. Here’s a few extracts, by way of a summary:

1) Open source paves the way for the odd utopian dream:

Sir Thomas More’s description of Utopia as a place where “nobody owns anything, but everyone is rich” is not a bad way to describe the open source movement in which people around the world collaborate with each other to produce services that anyone can use – or improve on – for nothing.

2) Open source is recession proof:

One of the interesting things about the collaborative movement is that it is probably recession-proof, though you won’t see it in economic statistics because it mostly does not involve cash transactions.

3) Open source is robust and well-trusted by large successful organisations:

Big corporations, such as IBM, Google and Amazon, are devourers of open source software because they find it cheap, efficient, low-maintenance and reliable. But UK government departments, including health and the foreign office, have proved risk-averse with hardly any open source in their infrastructure.

4) Open source is socialism (well, social collaboration at least):

…open source combines the cooperative spirit that was at the heart of the Labour party in the past with the entrepreneurial skills needed today.

And with nothing more to add to that summary, I’m off to join the revolution (well, okay, I’m off down the pub to carry on ranting to anyone who’s too polite to stop me).

No more mobile tweets?

Twitter has announced they will cut outbound SMS alerts for users in the UK because it was costing too much!

Whatever you say about Twitter, I was enjoying the ability it gave me to receive updates via SMS. In fact, it was this feature that won me over to using it and helped demonstrate what it was all about to mates. I figured that the initial free SMS alerts that appeared in my Twitter account would run out one day and then I’d have to pay for more credits – easy business model. I’d happily have paid too. So why pull it? Maybe its all part of some ploy by Twitter to gather a crowd reaction – so that when they announce payment plans for SMS alerts, they already have the crowds’ support. Yeah – okay, that may be a tad cynical but I do hope they listen to their UK users (and, in fact, anyone who used the UK based SMS alerts). The reaction is already gathering pace – with comments and tweets a plenty – and now a Facebook group. SMS is huge here and it seems to be a glaringly obvious way to actually turn Twitter into a revenue making business, in the UK at the very least.

iR2P Website launch: sign the pledge!

In my free time, I’ve lately been working with a talented and motivated bunch of people, to help build and launch a new site – www.ir2p.org.

iR2P is an initiative that aims to connect, support and motivate individuals to further the public understanding and political support for implementation of the United Nation’s “Responsibility To Protect” (R2P) doctrine, and to promote the importance of individual responsibility in this context.

The essential principle being that an individual can make a difference – no matter how small – to any issue. The issue that we draw your attention to is genocide and crimes against humanity. The United Nations and its member states undertook a ‘responsibility to protect’ the victims of these crimes yet Darfur continues, the Burmese government continue to block aid workers, and Mugabe remains in power and able to cause suffering at will. We fear that similar atrocities will continue into the future. We also fear that the international community will not live up to its obligations.

If you share our concern, but also our optimism that governments are accountable, that we can make a difference, that individual actions matter, then join our movement, sign our pledge, unite: www.ir2p.org/pledge

We will alert you to developments in the international arena, advise you on actions that you can take, and encourage you to get involved in a range of activities. We also want to hear from you with ideas, suggestions and critiques. We are building up our own capabilities at the moment but are excited by your interest and the possibility of what we can achieve together.

SWO: Semantic Web Optimisation?

It looks like the semantic web is about to gain traction with the Yahoo! Search open platform that was announced last month. In summary, Yahoo! is hoping to spread the use of semantic web standards by supporting microformats and RDF – promising enhanced search results for content adhering to such standards.

And with this promise of an enhanced search presence will come the marketing need for publishers to create content that capitalises on this. Just as SEO emerged as an industry all of its own, I expect Semantic Web Optimisation to emerge as an industry all of its own in the very near future.

[Before submitting this post, I quickly searched on the topic (yes – I appreciate the irony of having used Google!) and came across this article – essentially saying the same thing as me above. But please can we not fall into the trap of applying version numbers after “Web” for every evolution in web technology that occurs!]

The rise and rise of websites

Another graph. This time showing how the number of websites has grown since 1990. Actually, things only really started to grow about ten years ago in 1998, a year or two after I first played about on the Internet at university. It took six years (1990-1996) for the number to reach 100,000. In 2008, it is now 162 million! While the numbers have risen and risen, what is also interesting to note is the dip in numbers during 2002. Post dot-com bubble slump? Anything to do with 9/11? Or was it simply that a lot of domain names, bought during the dot-com boom years – with little more than a holding page to show, expired at this time? This little blip aside – it seems the upwards curve is un-stoppable. Will it ever reach saturation point?

Websites (1990 - 2008)

Vote Ken?

Vote Ken

I thought there was something strange about these stencils I saw this morning.

Rumour has it they are part of a campaign against Banksy’s backing of Ken. Subtle. Most people will simply think Ken has gone all street and down with the kids.

[Edit: cycled past this morning and they’ve now been boarded over]

Muxxing it up

Back in the day, my friends and I used to share mix-tapes. Many of which I still have – kept in an old school trunk – unable to listen to them due to a backwards compatibility error (I don’t have a working tape player), this trunk holds many musical memories. But, I digress, the point being sharing music was a great thing to do. And now we can again, with muxtape.com. Today I’ve been listening to a selection of tracks put together by a friend who has just returned from Kinshasa and what a joy it has been to listen to music like this again. I’d previously browsed through a few other people’s Muxtapes but I didn’t know them – there’s something very nice about knowing who has put it together, so thank you Fred! Any more Muxtape suggestions?

Google App Engine

Google has just released “Google App Engine” – which will let you run your web applications on Google’s infrastructure. It sounds similar to Amazon’s offerings (S3, EC2 and SimpleDB) and the ill-fated Zimki:

  • Dynamic webserving
  • Persistent storage
  • Automatic scaling and load balancing
  • APIs for authenticating users and sending email
  • Fully featured local development environment

Python is the only language supported at the moment but they say more languages will be supported in the future. With the weight of Google behind it, this service looks set to provide an excellent all-in-one route to rapid web-app development. So long as you are happy using Python and all of Google’s Web services.

tsk tsk tiscali – my internet is still down

Bit of a random rant this one but I seem to be caught in a perpetual loop with Tiscali and BT support. Over the last couple of weeks, there has been no ADSL connection at home – which affects both our internet and TV, as we receive Homechoice (aka Tiscali TV). So we’ve called support, they’ve gone through the standard questions and then sent out an engineer. The engineer, when at our house, then blames the company that they are not from (i.e. Tiscali or BT). Rinse and repeat, ad infinitum. I’ve heard from a couple of other people that their ADSL connection with Tiscali is also down. Is this an issue with the ADSL line supplied by Tiscali TV then? Bring back Homechoice!

(day) streaming our lives away

I’ve just taken a quick look at friendfeed.com – it’s basically a lifestream service, where people can aggregate and publish their web-lives. It’s done rather nicely – enabling you to quickly create your own lifestream from various feeds (here’s mine) and not too different in look to the lifestream I quickly hacked together with pipes – but done way better and on a grand scale! You can also track friends’ feeds easily too, making it a much more two-way tool than others out there – say Tumblr, for example, which publishes your combined feeds. There’s definitely a need for this – with the whole micro-blogging/twitter/lifestream thing, it is useful to show this data in one place and provides an excellent way for potential stalkers to gather all their up-to-the-minute information on a particular target in one easily digestible feed 😉

37signals System Status

“Basecamp, Backpack, Highrise, Campfire, Writeboard, Ta-da List, and our blogs are all offline” – Ouch.

37signals System Status, originally uploaded by markrocky.

One reason why you shouldn’t rely on all this fancy web 2.0 stuff for your business…

Although I do get a certain reassurance from seeing that even people like 37signals can have bad days (sorry 37signals)!

Facebook fatigue

I’ll admit I’m quite a fan of Tom Hodgkinson’s work (being an avid reader of the Idler and having read both his recent books – “How To Be Free” and “How To Be Idle”), so I might be more inclined to understand where his rants and raves are coming from. But his latest outburst in the Guardian concerning Facebook certainly seems to have generated a bit of a maelstrom in the murky waters of the social media world (more than 500 del.icio.us bookmarks after one day and counting). While a little conspiratorial, there’s a certain weight to what he’s saying.

Lately there’s been a spate of negative blog entries and articles slating Facebook – and the furore surrounding Mr Scoble’s recent quarrel with Facebook pushed things even further. [Although some may argue that this simply served as an excellent PR pre-cursor to last week’s announcement that Facebook (along with Google) were to join the Data Portability initiative.]

Is this the beginning of Facebook fatigue? In 2008, will Facebook go the way that Second Life went in 2007? Or is this simply the natural media/ public reaction to “hype”, as described in Gartner’s Hype Cycle, and we’re now in the “Trough of Disillusionment“? I have to admit that the tedious slew of unanswered invites in my inbox from zombies, pirates and vampires has sent me sliding down my own trough of Facebook disillusionment. Although, rather lazily, I do find it handy to have friends’ details in one place on the web – I use Facebook to arrange meeting after work or even to message someone, for example, as it is easier than digging around for their contact details. Will I still be doing this in 12 months? I certainly wasn’t a year ago, so who knows? Maybe Gartner does.

zimki dies

Got a web app that relies on a 3rd party service? Well, I hope you selected that service well! A year or so ago I was evaluating Zimki and nearly selected it to provide a platform for some web app development at work. I’m rather glad I didn’t now…

Please note that this is your final notification of the withdrawal of the Zimki service, which will occur on the 24/12/2007.

All user applications and data remaining on the Zimki service will be deleted and the servers decommissioned shortly after this date.

It certainly highlights the importance of building your fancy-pants web 2.0 application on solid and reputable services.

Social Graphs and Portable Social Networks

The “social graph” is a global mapping of everybody and how they’re related. I had a play with a visualisation tool for Facebook relationships last night and it was great. Slightly scary but fun nonetheless. However, our weblives are not just about Facebook (although Facebook does provide a platform to bring them all together). Google’s OpenSocial is promising to provide another way to pull them together but, as Brad Fitzpatrick points out, a centralized “owner” of the social graph is a dangerous thing. Social networks need to be made open and portable. And they can be.

Tim Berners-Lee stated in a post yesterday that

…we have the technology — it is Semantic Web technology…

In other words, the connections and relationships made possible by the semantic web (or social graph – use interchangeably from hereon). He goes on:

Now, people are making another mental move. There is realization now, “It’s not the documents, it is the things they are about which are important”. Obvious, really.

and on opening up this data:

It is about getting excited about connections, rather than nervous.

So, yes – I am excited but how are we going to do this? Think data feeds, microformats and openID – things that would tend to be met with blank stares if I were to suggest them to clients. But show a client how you could remove barriers (such as log-in/ sign-up) to that all important “conversion” (with openID or microformats – here’s an excellent microformat implementation doing just that) and show how this person would be able to instantly tell all their friends about it (via their social graph) and then they’ll be interested.

LifeStream

With all the feeds available from the various apps that make up my weblife these days, there’s a wealth of data that can be brought together into a single data stream – or “lifestream“, if you will. Using Yahoo! Pipes to mash up these feeds, I’ve hacked together something that displays all this fantastic data on one page – with the idea of this eventually being displayed on a timeline. I don’t expect the hordes will be rushing to view my aggregated weblife in a single life stream but there are some rather nice applications for this in a wider micro-blogging context.
(more…)

our boy George

Our baby boy has arrived! And, if you want to see some pics, I’ve created a private photo set on Flickr for friends and family…

To gain access to these pictures, you need to be listed in my Flickr contacts. So if you’d like me to add you, let me know!

The newly re-vamped Southbank Centre

South banks

Last night we stepped out of St Thomas’ Hospital into one of those perfectly beautiful summer evenings you sometimes get in London. The sort of evening where you have to slow down to an idle, almost continental, pace to soak it all up. This wasn’t particularly difficult given Claire’s current condition and so we slowly meandered alongside the River Thames towards the new Southbank Centre. We were there at the weekend to checkout Anthony Gormley’s “Blind Light” exhibition at the Hayward Gallery but didn’t stop to fully appreciate the amazing new developments to the Southbank Centre. At the time we were so taken by another of Gormley’s work – “Event Horizon” – that we took the locale for granted. Now, after last night’s stroll, I realise the surrounding buildings are integral to this work. The silhouetted figures, looking down on the Southbank scene, took on a serene and sentry-like quality as dusk descended – watching over the swarms below. The whole area has been opened up to encourage people to explore and enjoy the space. I love it.

joost beta

Some of you will have already heard about Joost (formerly known as The Venice Project) – an IPTV thingy from the folks who brought us Kazaa and Skype. There has been much speculation about its implications for the media, advertising and marketing industries – bringing together the wonders of the internet and TV in one glorious multimedia dream (well – that’s what the hype will have us believe anyway). Find out more over at Wired and MIT.

Anyway – I’ve have been having a bit of a play and it looks rather nice indeed. Not that I’ll be watching TV all day – it’s all purely in the name of research, of course!

I’ve also got a bunch of beta invites for anyone who wants to check it out for themselves – just let me know your email that you want to use for your Joost account…

Saturday’s lunar eclipse

From the busy streets of Brixton, the blood red dot in the sky was beautiful but rather washed out by the orange glow of the street lights. That said – it’s not every Saturday night at 11 o’clock (when most people are more concerned about what club to go to) that you see all the people on Brixton high street looking skyward! Anyway – people in less urban settings got a fantastic show by the looks of it.

MS Photosynth: 3D browsing and web2.0 photo data = web3pointD?

MS Photosynth is an app or a Firefox plugin (and yes – this is a Microsoft product!) that connects to geo-coded photo sites like Flickr and enables you to browse through similar pictures in 3D. The tech preview is visually very impressive but I’ve not yet seen a real-life demo so the verdict is still open. The video of the demo does look good though.

In my mind, this represents an interesting step forward in the cross-overs between web 2.0 apps and 3d browsing. It also raises interesting questions about where Microsoft might be headed in the 3d browsing space (aka “3pointD”). Particularly considering the rumours around Google’s developments in this field – where Google Earth and SketchUp could be brought together to create a “Google Planet” – a virtual-real-world Second Life, if you will. As has been suggested – maybe, in the not-to-distant future, “every Google Account [will] include a plot of land on Google Planet?”

Red Lion this afternoon

Amongst all this Second Life hype, I’d like to add a little prediction – on the back of trends in buzzwords in the media – that 2007 will see the rise of “web3.d” applications. Where the 3d web (i.e. apps like second life) and web2.0 (i.e. social apps like myspace and del.icio.us) collide in a mash-uptastic frenzy. Oh yes.

If anyone has any “web3.d” ideas, you can catch me down the Red Lion this afternoon to discuss further. That’s the Red Lion in Second Life, of course.

street scribbling


Budding taggers learn how it is done..

These young whipper snappers were watching keenly as an older kid scrawled his tag on a wall along London’s South Bank. It didn’t take long. Let’s hope the pupils of this nursery school of graffiti move on to a higher level of street art sooner rather than later. Am I getting old? These pesky kids. Grumble grumble… I’ll be complaining about uneven pavements next.

Anyway – while I am on the subject, when a particular piece turned up at the bottom of Bristol’s Park Street a few months ago (on the side of a sexual health clinic, I should add for the benefit of the picture), I heard Bristol City Council were debating whether it was public art and should be left. Funny that they start to see the potential tourism benefits of leaving this stuff after years spent cleaning it up. They certainly wouldn’t have even considered the fact a few years ago. Well – they eventually decided to let it stay and it promptly made the Visit Bristol tourist guide.

a glimpse inside battersea power station


hole in the wall.

The Serpentine Gallery are putting on an exhibition of Chinese art inside Battersea Power Station this month and we went along this afternoon to have a look. I’ll pass giving any judgement on the art for now – we (and, at a guess, the majority of the other few hundred visitors) were there for the chance to see this great building up close. I see the power station daily yet it remains distant and enigmatic, flanked by hordings on three sides and moated on the fourth by the Thames. We were guided through the dark, damp and derelict floors of the old turbine hall, looking beyond the bizarre art installations, and tried to understand the building’s past (and future). It’s an interesting place – with old signs warning of high voltage jostling for attention alongside newer signs warning of falling masonry.

Unfortunately photos inside the building were not allowed; the cynic in me wondered whether the developers were worried that people’s photos could affect the forthcoming coffee table book.

EDIT: A quick peruse through Flickr reveals some excellent covert shots of the sort that might well make it to said glossy coffee table book. And it looks like some discreet snapping was occuring during the art tours.

Using del.icio.us as a marketing channel

I’ve just spotted Adobe as a “user” on del.icio.us. It’s interesting to see that organisations like this are using del.icio.us as an online marketing channel to increase brand awareness, page rank and general online visibility.

I’m sure we’ll see many other organisations doing the same thing in the near future as people turn to bookmarking sites like del.icio.us as their first port of call for search – where “page rank” is effectively determined by the users themselves and you can be guaranteed better results. I can even see a niche emerging for optimisation services for these sites, just like SEO became a niche industry around Google page ranks.

Some thoughts about “convergence” and IPTV

I feel the need to air some thoughts after recent goings on in the “convergence” realm. It’s a term that has been bashed about for years now – with every new development being heralded as the harbinger of a new dawn of convergence in digital media and the like. And this last year has been no different. We have the other weekend’s Homechoice (aka Video Networks) and Tiscali merger. There’s that BSkyB and Easynet deal last October. There’s a peer to peer IPTV service about to surface. And finally, there’s something a sales guy said to me this afternoon. In fact, something that got me thinking about all this in the first place. Something about “convergence”, “entertainment hubs” and how we’ll all “obviously be browsing the internet on our TVs in the next couple of years”. Well, sorry, but I beg to differ. Will digital media delivery really converge on a single device as many people seem to think? Surely, as more electronic media devices become IP enabled, media delivery will start to diverge not converge? Okay – so I’m getting bogged down with semantics – I guess that the term “convergence” really refers to overlapping realms of different media with new technologies. But I’m not sure that this single device view is the right direction for IPTV. Particularly whe you consider the most successful interactive TV programmes I have worked on have been those that encourage interaction using a completely different device and media – such as mobile and SMS – rather than relying on a remote control or a keyboard.

The advent of broadband has made delivery of video and other digital media possible via the internet but viewing via your desktop or laptop computer screen is not always practical. Equally, browsing and searching the web from your sofa via the TV is not exactly an easy or sociable thing to do. Surely the best solution is one where you would search on your PC then sit back and view on your TV? I know this is exactly what many people are already doing but it often means situating the PC near the TV so that you can run a cable from the PC’s AV output into the TV. What I want to do, and I’m sure a solution must exist (please tell me if it does – otherwise I hereby patent this idea!), is utilise my Wi-Fi network to stream content to the TV. Maybe via a SCART device that doubles as a Wi-Fi antennae, receiving data streams via the local network? Surely such a simple single device must exist? It’s all I need – not some “media hub” or “home entertainment centre”. It seems to completely bridge that gap between the different tasks of searching/ interacting (i.e. “lean forward” tasks) and watching (i.e. “sit back” tasks). Please – somebody help!

be a McDonalds executive

On what is now officially the hottest July day since records began, here’s an interesting “subvertisement” that’s being passed about the office. It just shows how powerful word of mouth or “viral” campaigns can be these days. And not necessarily for the benefit of the brand supposedly behind the campaign. In this excellent game you get to play a McDonalds executive – in a Sim City style – complete with politician bribing, hormone enhanced beef patty production and employee motivation schemes. I can’t imagine this game being live for too long before the legal teams at McDonalds shut it down – by which time the damage will have already been done. Take a look now, while you still can.

a strangely familiar barnet

As I cycled home, after a sweltering summer’s day in our Soho offices, there was a continental buzz in the air that is London after work – out on the pavements, enjoying one of England’s rare and blissfully perfect long evenings, cooled by a pleasant breeze and a beer. I turned into St James’ Park and who should drive past in a cavalcade? The Queen! I was genuinely monarch-struck – glowing with a patriotic pride I never knew I had. I’ve never understood all this flag waving, cheering and general whooping that our Queen seems to provoke but, I have to admit, she had a similar effect on me. As soon as I saw the outline of her familiar head I started to grin. I wonder, is it something to do with seeing that instantly recognisable hair-do? I am so accustomed to seeing her on casual everyday items like cash, stamps and so on that it is really quite amusing to see the real thing. A funny thing indeed.

an essential cargo in the Philippines

Wow – that felt longer than two weeks. We’ve just returned from a different world and a very beautiful one at that. A world full of idyllic islands straight out of James Bond, with incredible diving and friendly people. The Philippines has such a bad press here in the UK and I’m almost tempted not to dispell the myths so I can keep the place all for myself… but how could I do that? Island hopping around the remote islands to the north of Palawan by banka revealed some of the most breathtaking scenery I have ever seen. Thousands of deserted islands with sheer limestone cliffs, hidden lagoons, secret beaches and turquoise blue waters.

However, it seems tourism “eco-development” and land title disputes are endemic in this area and corruption, at all levels, is rife. It’s a fine balance between tourism alleviating poverty in a place perceived by Westerners as “paradise on earth” and maintaining a pristine environment for future generations. As tourism encroaches on these small islands in this fragile ecology, I really hope this balance can be met.


Some of the people we met along the way (like the folk at Kudugman) were trying to do things the right way- pushing forward low-scale, low-impact and sustainable developments of two or three huts on islands that draw minimal resources and offer a very basic yet completely serene break from it all. However, the terms “sustainable” and “eco-tourism” are used all too rashly and I hope that recent measures to develop these small islands do not lead to their destruction.


Anyway – here’s some more photos. Not that I need to convince you of the beauty of the place!


Yahoo! UI goodness

When coding websites, there are some problems I come across time and time again – where I generally tend to crtl-c ctrl-v a previous solution into my work. The same goes for user interface tricks – like pagination, breadcrumbs, validation, event handling and DOM manipulation. Now the optimal solutions for all these woes have been bundled together into tested, robust and cross-browser UI libraries and design patterns by the clever people at Yahoo! I’ve spent some time playing with them and I’m impressed. A very shrewd move indeed – get the support of the people building the web and the rest will follow. Or something like that. Yahoo! have been making some rather interesting moves lately, with all their buy outs and what-not. I’d watch them closely, if I were you.

BT TV pacing in the aisles

As BT prepares to step up onto the IPTV stage – to take on the likes of Homechoice, NTL and sky – it is starting to gather together content providers like Warner Music, Paramount, the Beeb and National Geographic. All the sort of content providers that are likely to produce decent TV that people will sign up to “BT TV” to watch but please tell me that there’ll be more than Big Brother re-runs coming from Endemol.

On a similar note, I wonder what BT will use to deliver their video streams? It would be quite fitting if they used BitTorrent (BT – geddit?) really. Although, it looks like NTL are one step ahead on that one.

future of web apps summit

The future of the Web?

why buck a trend at a geek fest?
everyone else is blogging here, so here’s my quick notes to self:

OAP party pics

Thank you to all of you who made it on Saturday evening. It was great to see our new flat so full of people and it now feels well and truly warmed. All went rather smoothly – with no broken hips or slipped discs reported from the oldies. So that’s nice. There’s even some photos.

I feel like I spent the whole night having half finished conversations with everyone, being pulled this way and that, waving my stick at all the youngsters, supping on my beer… I quite enjoyed being an old man. A dangerous sign of things to come perhaps?

sinner or winner?

For those of you who wondered where our evangelist friend with the loud speaker at Oxford Circus station had got to recently during these cold winter weeks – this photo was taken in Sydney last week. He certainly gets about. It looks like he flies south for winter to find warmer preaching grounds.

C4 ditches interactive TV service

Channel 4 have ditched their clunky red button interactive TV service that supports some broadcasts like Big Brother. Some might be shocked by this but, if the truth be told, it makes sense. It’s a bold move that apparently flies in the face of interactive TV “progress” but look at the underlying factors and you’ll see it’s actually a very wise decision. The red button service that Channel 4 offered was only ever delivered over the sky platform, where the initial data associated with the interactive TV service had to be transmitted as part of the broadcast stream via satellite. Over satellite, this broadcast stream bandwidth is very limited and, as you’ve probably seen, results in a very slow interactive experience. Once the base interactive TV application had been loaded, additional data could be retrieved via a sluggish 28k modem. All in all a rather painful user experience. And, believe me, unless you are following a “template” like the i-Ad format (the red button feature for interactive TV adverts, which C4 are keeping) developing for the platform was an even more tedious process! In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if the driving force behind Channel 4’s decision were their programme producers. When I left Endemol they were struggling to develop interactive TV applications – it simply did not fit into the way TV is produced. These applications require defining and rigorous testing, whereas TV production is a much more fluid process – with concepts potentially changing completely at the 11th hour. Besides, SMS voting is much easier to shoe-horn into a TV concept as a viable revenue stream.

So, step aside clunky satellite interactive TV and make room for TV delivered via a fast broadband connection. The real interactive TV experience is when you don’t even notice you are “interacting” – where viewing is no longer passive but your involvement (like choosing what to watch, whether live or achived) is very much part of the TV experience. Whether you call it internet TV, broadband TV, IPTV or Video On Demand, the underlying concepts are essentially the same. And Homechoice is already there.

As mentioned before I’m keen to see how the areas of TV content, broadband and search technologies eventually come together. I’m sure it won’t be a clean race.

ITV and BT rumours

Now then, I don’t like it when blogs just re-hash speculation but this one is just too big not to comment on. I’ve just heard on the grapevine that BT *might* be considering making a bid for ITV. Buying such an established UK content provider would certainly realign BT against competition from Homechoice, BSkyB and ntl in this emerging market.

With last week’s news that Sky will be using Microsoft’s Windows Media Center to deliver its forthcoming Sky By Broadband service and Google announcing a new video store, some interesting areas in technology and media are finally starting to come together. It looks like the big players are jostling for starting positions in the race to realise the much heralded interplay of TV content, broadband and search technologies in the UK.

So – who’s next?

Green leaves in mid-December

Under the oak tree at the end of my road

Under the big oak at the end of my road – one of my favourite trees in London.

There’s been plenty of things I’ve been meaning to blog about lately – Alabama 3 at Jamm in Brixton playing an amazing acoustic set (with our West country buddies J.E.V.E. rocking to a full house), Christmas madness on Oxford and Regent Street, how Apple makes geekery cool, the del.icio.us buyout by Yahoo! and our lovely new flat (got the keys last night, whoop!) – to name a few.

But the overriding concern on my mind at the moment is why are there still green leaves on the trees in mid-December?

I wasn’t here last year to see this change in seasons to remember when exactly things happen but I’m sure the leaves should have fallen by now. I haven’t even kicked through any large piles of unsuspecting leaves this year (not easy in London but there’s normally the odd heap, trapped by the wind in a street corner, just waiting to be kicked about).

What’s going on?

winter beckons

Going under the railway into Tooting Bec Common – a nice park for Winter walks in London.

Fireworks, fat scarves, tasty warm soup, seeing your breath in the air, crackling log fires – all these things make the approaching winter fun. Rain, colds and the complete lack of light after 4pm do not.
Although at the moment, I am enjoying the crisp, clean air – with its frosty mornings and blue skies. It’s quite a change from last year and all rather exciting really. Who knows – it might even snow in London this year…

Microsoft stumbles across Web 2.0

In the wake of Bill Gate’s media spin last week, Microsoft announces a “strategic shift”. The new services will be called Windows Live and Office Live, and Mr Gates said they were “a revolution in how we think about software”.

Hmm. Forgive me but haven’t we all been using applications “online and on demand” for a while now? To unashamedly use a meme that’s been bashed about for the last year or so – it’s all about this “Web 2.0” stuff, innit?

Web services like Flickr, Writely, inetWord and even MSExchange all offer feature rich applications as “online and on demand” software. And with broadband use becoming increasingly prolific, the thin-client model is now a feasible direction for certain applications. I can see that embedded advertising within these applications is a way to make money – particularly for the likes of Microsoft. But I guarantee the developer community will quickly find a way to outrun the displaying of these embedded adverts.

Either way – is this the beginning of the end for CD installed software? Maybe one day even our operating systems will be online…

Looking to the sky for the future of TV

Sky have apparently seen the light and are considering making a bid for Video Networks – the owners of Homechoice. They say they are not for sale and, of course, it is all rumours but I’d say it was inevitable that a big player such as Sky makes a move on these guys at some point. And what with Sky going on a bit of a spending spree right now, you know it makes sense. Sky certainly appear to be angling towards IPTV – having bought broadband provider EasyNet and a few specialist content providers in recent weeks. I’ve been ranting about Homechoice for a while now and think their technology is second to none. To me it’s true interactive TV – you don’t even notice it happening – the interactivity just happens as part of the viewing experience. Not like Sky’s slow and rather hotch-potch combo of a piddly modem and satellite data feed. Does this mean the technology might finally reach further than the 15,000 Londoners currently subscribing to Homechoice? At the moment the cost of installing digital exchanges required to provide the kind of IPTV you see with Homechoice is preventing its growth but perhaps Sky’s credibility and massive subscriber base will help prolificate the reach of this technology beyond the M25. And it might just keep BT’s move into IPTV at bay too. However, one of the reasons I like Homechoice (technology aside) is the simple fact it’s not Sky. I guess Homechoice is hardly a little guy either – with some heavyweight shareholders such as Microsoft’s Chris Larson, Time Warner, Sony and Disney – but it did feel as if Homechoice was one of the last great hopes in the fight against the Murdoch media empire.

84 book crossing road

Like Shirley Bassey sang, it’s all just little bits of history repeating. Ideas evolve and change. Memes develop and propagate. And books cross and travel… I just heard this programme on the radio. The producers had taken the concept of book crossing one step further and it made fascinating listening. They’d set 84 copies of a book free into the world, with an insert in the book asking people to call in and leave a recorded message describing how they’d found the book, where it was going and so on. The seemingly disparate stories, from all over the world, connected random events and circumstances in people’s everyday lives. It was fascinating hearing how all these people were connected – by a simple book being passed on and on. A bit similar to when, at school, I was asked to write a story I’m sure plenty of school kids are asked to write about – “A Day in the Life of a Penny”. The point being, of course, there is a story to every detail in life – if only we stop to ask.
And, you know, that reminds me about another pastime I need to make sure I pursue soon. Like book crossing, it involves a smidge of randomness, a bit of travel and a dash of hope – geo-caching. Now I just need that GPS…

trainspotting

I took the sleeper train to the Edinburgh fringe festival last weekend. It really is the best way to travel to Scotland. A few beers in central London before the train leaves at quarter to midnight certainly help settle you in to the cosy cabin. The train then rolls into Edinburgh first thing the next morning. Couldn’t be easier. Trains are the way forward, you know. If only they were cheaper! This photo was actually taken on the way back from a weekend in the Lake District a couple of weeks ago. On one of those fancy new Virgin trains, no less. I think I might be turning into something of a train fan. There’s no better way to escape London than by train (when they run on time, that is).

preaching to the converted

Walking round the corner during my lunch break today I stumbled into a kind of flash mob going on inside the Starbucks on Oxford Street, led by the infamous Reverend Billy . Bizarre – one moment the coffee shop was packed full of “worshippers” and then they instantly diluted into the crowd of shoppers and passers by. This was followed by a theatrical rant against consumerism/iraq/bad coffee by the reverend himself. It’s good to see some humour injected into protests. I can’t help but think the messages are a bit confused though – it’s a very tongue in cheek approach to some potentially serious issues. I mean – good coffee is important.

whistle while you work

These last few days, as I squeeze onto the tube, I reckon I’ve been even less aware of those around me – with my head buried deep into a good book in a vague attempt to block out anxious glances and the blatant headlines. Not exactly vigilant, I know, but there’s so much anxiety beneath our streets at the moment. It’s understandable but we must be careful not to over react. A slight tan invites more attention than usual but carry a rucksack and you are asking for it. Apparently. So I was pleased to see a friend at work growing a beard in an act of defiance. Particularly considering he has dark skin and carries a rucksack to work. Maybe a nice weekend in the country would make him see sense. According to the press, John Prescott has been rafting in Wales recently too. I just hope he isn’t late for work one morning and has to run to catch his train. Especially at Notting Hill Gate.

Nervous tension

Driving through the east end and financial centre of London, on our way back from a beautiful weekend in Cambridge, was a little edgey last night. Road closures forced traffic down narrow back streets as police stood impassively at every corner, while locals and meandering sunday night revellers picked their way through the congestion. An unsaid thought evident in the expressions of drivers and pedestrians alike – “had there been another?”. Everyone is getting on with their lives, as you do, but the reality of the ever present threat in London has been brought home and people certainly seem more aware now, what ever the headlines say about it being “business as usual”.
Anyway – I’d like to take you This Way Please for a far more eloquent take on things.

solar death to all crap

How can I possibly have so much crap? I’m clearing out the last of the boxes that have been sat gathering dust in storage for months now and there’s a few things that the charity shops just won’t take and even the most resourceful hoarders at car boot sales won’t look at. What’s most ridiculous is the 3 large and cumbersome, yet otherwise perfectly functioning, computer monitors that I know would be valuable to someone in this world. But here – nobody wants them. And to recycle them costs £55! Perhaps I should have some fun.

Wellcome to the future

Considering where I am working right now, I haven’t seen enough of the local area during lunch breaks and so on. But when I do, I’m happy to have dragged myself away from the usual half hour of joy – slowly dribbling bits of sandwich between the keys. Walking in from a bright Spring afternoon, this place – with its perspex tables, neon lights, beeps, whirls and blips – was all a bit disorientating but then this is the future after all (and maybe that’s how I’ll feel at eighty years old). And what a future it is. I am going there more often. The Wellcome Wing at the Science Museum that is – not the future. Although you never know…

experience

As my password collecting got closer to being complete, the closer I felt to getting collared by the guy at the South Ken news stand. Rifling through the broad sheets of this cumbersome paper, I could hardly be particularly furtive. The brazen approach was working but my conscience had started to get the the better of me. Anyway, we are done! The last password is EXPERIENCE.

www.whoshouldyouvotefor.com

Apparently I fit the canvassers’ ideal “swing-voter” target profile – being a middle class urbanite with liberal tendancies. I have a fair idea of which way to go but what do the computers say?

You should vote: Liberal Democrat

The LibDems take a strong stand against tax cuts and a strong one in favour of public services: they would make long-term residential care for the elderly free across the UK, and scrap university tuition fees. They are in favour of a ban on smoking in public places, but would relax laws on cannabis. They propose to change vehicle taxation to be based on usage rather than ownership.

Take the test at Who Should You Vote For

“The vast majority who were expecting Labour as a result end up as LibDems – this isn’t due to any bias on the site, but rather an indication of the clear ownership of the left-wing agenda by the LibDems as the Labour party has moved more to the centre” – interesting…

ohh we’re moving too fast

Just like time seems to move faster as we get older, technology moves faster every day. Considering our fresh start back in London, I thought I’d treat ourselves to faster internet and gamefully had Homechoice installed. I had no idea what was possible these days. I am completely awestruck by the new potential to choose my own TV and films – as and when I want it! Last Sunday afternoon was a wet and miserable one – what better way could there be to spend such an afternoon than to watch the entire first episode of Peep Show? Fantastic. And all this through a standard telephone line.
No cable installations, nothing. The internet connection ain’t half fast too! This is the future.

A cold yet pleasingly steady England.

A cold yet pleasingly steady England. To be up and out of the Tsunami zone and into a hot bath within 2 days is strangely disarming. I feel as if I am betraying the local people left behind in this tragedy. Now, more than ever, people in these regions need the income from tourism to help them get back on their feet. The areas most hit obviously need the most help. But, in the badly affected places, the infrastructure is simply too strained to be able to support any further drain on water and food resources that visitors would bring. We actually left the Andamans following our intended schedule. There were enough supplies on Havelock to support the people there and many fellow travellers were choosing to stick to their original plans. Of course, news of the wider reach of the waves and the associated images that have been in the media all around the world hasn’t quite filtered round the islands yet. Believe me – I was choked by what the news showed on the plane coming home. We were blissfully unaware just how close we were.

So, now that we are home and safe with friends and family, what can anyone do to help? GIVE MONEY. Either donate to a specific organisation, such as the Red Cross and Oxfam, that are already based in some of the affected regions and doing excellent work. Or the Disasters Emergency Committee is running an appeal where you can also donate online. How much can you afford? Double it. Incredibly, even these sites are starting to buckle under the sheer enormity of things but please keep trying.

If you are looking for information about the situation in the Andaman Islands, an Andaman-Tsunami website has been created for those seeking to post or find out news.

Chennai, India.

Chennai, India. We have just arrived from the Andaman Islands and the extent of the Tsunami’s devastation is only just starting to hit home. Sleeping in a simple hut on the beach, we were woken by a serious rumble in the morning and we certainly got a bit wet but, as there are no communications on Havelock Island, we did not know what was happening in the outside world. The lack of information and rumours just caused more panic. When we left yesterday, people were still camped out in the hills for fear of another quake. Water and food supplies were low but not desperate. When a lady from the British High Commission met us at the airport, we realised people must have been worried. I didn’t quite expect us to make the news though! Anyway – we and all the other people who were on Havelock Island (the same should go for Neil Island too) are safe; there were no casualties. As we head home, my heart goes out to all those touched by this tragedy.

Chennai, India.

Chennai, India. Catching a lift with an Indian family and their kitchen sink, my nose is pressed close to the window. Sacred bulls stand dazed in the heavy traffic – either mesmerised by headlights or bewildered by the neon and noise of the night market. I catch my partner’s eye and we smile. Yep – we are back in India.

Ella, Sri Lanka.

Ella, Sri Lanka. We woke at 3am this morning, after only getting to bed at 1am (beers under the full moon on a beautiful beach – just too enticing!) and arrived at Uda Welawe National Park to catch the dawn troop of elephants. As the mist cleared, we stalked the odd beasties in our jeep – all that was missing was a voiceover from David Attenborough. I like elephant footprints.

Mirissa, Sri Lanka.

Mirissa, Sri Lanka. We’ve been doing a fair bit of diving lately and, a couple of days ago, we saw a turtle. I’ve never seen one so close. He effortlessly banked round right in between us, as we made our ascent from the deep. You could even see his smile – chuckling at how clumsy we looked trying to be fish.

Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Colombo, Sri Lanka. A busy city, yes. But a world away from the busy we’ve left behind in India. The traffic goes in the same direction, on the correct side of the road. And on tarmac roads too! With pavements and everything.

After a month of curry for breakfast, lunch and dinner it has been a welcome treat to find a place serving culinary delights such as sushi and a cool beer. This really is a little cosmopolitan heaven. Although, seeing Christmas decorated plastic palm trees in a shopping mall is perhaps stretching even my ideas of consumer utopia a little too far. And, I have to admit, I found it a little disconcerting riding the elevator up the west tower of the World Trade Centre – Colombo’s very own twin towers.

diwali in madurai

madurai, tamil nadu. i don’t believe it – we have just spent the last four days surrounded by complete mayhem and i get to an internet cafe to upload our photos and it says the data is corrupt! technology schmechnology.

last night we wandered around the spell binding temple again, taking it all in, and were duly blessed by the holy painted elephant. then, as we stepped out into the heavy evening, the sky and streets were suddenly alive with a non-stop assault of bangs, squeals and cascading colours from a second wave of diwali attack. mothers in saris lit mischievous firecrackers and dads dueled with fireworks of ever increasing size. we escaped to a rooftop and watched the beautiful battle unfold around us. the thick air becoming even thicker with gunpowder smoke and the smell of incense.

and, of course, this morning the sacred cows were out in force – happily munching on all the spent munitions littering the streets.

madurai, tamil nadu.

madurai, tamil nadu. i have sought a brief air-conditioned solace from the war zone of deepavali firecrackers out in the streets. it seems nothing is spared by kids letting off bangers – bottles, fruit, bikes, cows – all are no match for the fireworks that they are armed with.

the temple this morning was equally crazy, in a very different way; sacred painted elephants wandering about between the butter throwing, prostrating and chanting devotees. we explored the temple, through the labyrinth of corridors, shrines and ceilings – decorated with elaborate stories of various deities in fantastical detail. the noise and buzz of holy activity created a truly magical atmosphere. it felt like wandering round an indiana jones movie.

madurai, tamil nadu.

madurai, tamil nadu. we have a room on the roof of a hotel that has amazing views of the city and sunrise this morning was rather special. the huge temple towers, thought to be decorated with 3.3 million brilliantly painted sculptures, dominate the vista. while the chants, wails, toots and beeps rise from the chaotic streets of the bustling holy city below. you can feel the excited anticipation as everyone prepares for deepavali. this is a very different india to goa and kerala – and i think i’m going to enjoy it.

munnar tea stations, high in the hills.

munnar tea stations, high in the hills. this might have been a bit of a mistake as it has rained constantly for days. apparently the view from our hotel across the tea plantations is amazing – if only we could see through the mist. very atmospheric but very wet. considering the torrential rain and looming misty cloud, i was obviously quite happy to hear that the town in which we are staying is host to a famous old gentleman’s club where apparently one can while away the afternoon playing snooker, sipping a gin and tonic, surrounded by hunting trophies. i’m an english gentleman – i thought. so with a hop, skip and a rickshaw ride, we were there – the high range club. i confidently approached the golf sweater wearing manager and, with my best public school english, enquired as to whether we may avail of his facilities. he took a cursory glance at me and said no. i wasn’t wearing shoes. “but… but i’m english”, i thought, looking down at my flip flops. then turned around and left muttering to myself about golf clubs and jeans.

somewhere in south india.

somewhere in south india. my first impressions of india were mainly the stark contrasts. old ways and new ideas sit quite happily next to each other. take this broadband internet cafe i am in – looking all swish and air conditioned – while oxen lead wooden carts in the mud roads outside. it is constantly hectic yet surprisingly easy going. though it doesn’t seem as different as i thought it might – mainly i think due to the cultural barriers that can be crossed by sharing a common language. whereas south america was constantly a battle to be understood or to understand, here it is much easier. even though the place is completely crazy at times. a particular ruse that i am becoming aware of is something we have taken to dub “the elaborate faff”. it goes something like this: 1) identify a problem that everyone knows the solution to but won’t admit; 2) create a particularly elaborate diversion – ideally involving lots of running around and people getting busy; 3) faff plenty; 4) solve original simple problem behind the elaborate smoke-screen diversion. all this is done most knowingly – with lots of smiles and yes sirs and no sirs and dippings of the head. talking of head movements – one thing that has caused a few confusions is the sideways rocking of the head that indicates agreement when it looks like a negative shake at first glance from a westerner’s perception. i think we’ve gotten used to that one though – after only a few minor mis-interpretations.

anyway – i have a few photos to share with you from the last few days.

benaulim, south goa.

benaulim, south goa. well we made it. rather than bore with a long winded poetic description of this place, i thought i’d let the sounds do that talking – recorded sat on a shaded terrace, in a small fishing village, just watching life.

indian preludes

what with all this thinking about india, i’ve been spending a little longer than i sanely should checking out various indian websites. there’s a site for everything! the indian rail site seems far more efficient than our offering and i’ve learnt a thing or too about indian cooking. it’s a little worrying that when googling for a site about british food to show an indian friend – this came up second! i just love the line “After lunch the father will smoke his pipe and read the newspaper sitting on his favourite armchair while his wife washes the dishes” – under a picture of the typical family having sunday lunch. it doesn’t mention anything about trolley teas though.

anyway – here’s some indian sounds to tease the ears. sometimes, simple everyday sounds can be the most evocative things.

india bound

well it’s time to get out there again. our flight is booked for mumbai – we leave in a few weeks for 3 months. time to get planning. whoop!

tube strike

with the tube strike in mind tomorrow, here’s a quick quiz to decide whether it’s really worth going in to work…

looks like i’m going to have to stay at home 😉

chomsky – knowledge is power

i went to see noam chomsky talk on “Simple Truths, Hard Choices: Some Thoughts on Terror, Justice and Self-Defence” the other evening. hmm. not sure what i was expecting to hear. these sorts of issues seem to be at the forefront of peoples minds these days – with everybody bringing the subject up, whether over a beer in the pub or a picnic in the park. it’s all good and well to rant about how imbalanced power and wealth is in the world but it strikes me that a point is being missed when it becomes a “philosophical topic”. especially when that philosophising is held in the lecture halls of western universities, predominantly in the english language.

noam chomsky wouldn’t be there talking to the masses if it wasn’t for this power imbalance. we wouldn’t have been able to visit the lecture in such comfort if it wasn’t for this power imbalance. knowledge is power – and universities do well to share it with those who will recipricate the power favour by choosing english to communicate. oh look – i’m doing it myself 🙂

anyway – i left the lecture thinking that we can talk all we like saying “something must be done” but surely the consequences of such action would have to mean the west loses its grip on power and wealth in the world? maybe that would be a good thing but it would mean a very different daily reality for the people that are currently going about telling others how bad it all is.

freedom!

i’m free! i was chuckling out aloud to myself like some deranged maniac, as i rode my bike across clapham common this morning. it had finally dawned on me that i had left my job and no longer have anyone else to answer to. so i stopped, had a cup of tea and bacon sarnie from honest tom’s tea wagon and watched the ducks. because i could. lovely.

wedding avalanche

when it rains, it pours. nine weddings in the next twelve months and counting. every which way i turn, it seems somebody else is closing the deal. congratulations to you all – you know who you are… 🙂

mobile photos

now we’re talking. mobile photos straight to this page right here… project in progress. watch this space.

oh – and my new usb pen drive rocks. i really am turning into a geek now.

dodging it

a blog on a friday night? Yeah, well, we’re in the depths of winter, it’s pissing down outside and i’m saving myself for a bike ride tomorrow. Anyway – i just stumbled across this amazingly simple idea for a site » dodgeit.com – a great way to avoid having to reveal your email address when required for registrations that inevitably gets passed on to spam lists. i imagine the traffic to this site will shoot up beyond affordability but for now it’s a url worth remembering. plus it’s fun reading other people’s emails.

pnoid

in the true community spirit of the blogging world, i introduce to you the one and only pnoid. some of you may know of our illustrious protector of french world wealth from his blagger.com reviews. i can only say – the world would be a dark place without this man to protect us and other potential blagees.

Olafur Eliasson’s Weather Project at the Tate Modern

i’m not sure if it was the artist’s intention but people do the strangest things beneath a huge mirror, half-lit by a massive artificial sun – spookily suspended by mist – in the tate modern’s turbine hall, on a saturday night. it felt like a festival, with everyone sitting or lying down in circles on the floor. except here they were giggling at the shapes everyone was making in the reflection above. there was a definite feeling of awe-inspired fun in the air and i’m not surprised to read what the staff are reporting!

Kill Bill verdict

just been to see kill bill and i have to say i liked it! with all the anticipation there has been surrounding the fruits of tarantino’s six year absence, it’s difficult to not become caught up in the preamble. i’ve being i’ve been hearing mixed reports and didn’t know what to expect – apart from lots of violence. yes – there’s violence – but it doesn’t quite hit you in the same way as that mr orange scene does in reservoir dogs. i was expecting to be scared and, to be honest, i’m not very good with scary movies – especially on a delicate sunday evening. but i was laughing all the way through! don’t expect any ground-breaking cinematics – just classic kung-fu hilarity, with ott blood and not a scary moment in sight (apart from the first scene, maybe). i loved the mixing of film styles – with live action blending into anime. the music went well with the mood of the scenes (was that ironside?), though i can’t see the soundtrack becoming a pulp fiction-esque classic. all in all – a stylish, bloody and trashy yet entertaining tribute to bruce lee/samurai movies and spaghetti westerns.

Northern lights coming South?

i’ve been keeping my eyes peeled for the northen lights that apparently you can see as far south as kent due to some serious sun storms. still no luck but then again i wouldn’t really expect to see anything through the glow of london. i live in hope.

cross-platform delivery, the microsoft way

i went to the .net roadshow on wednesday and was suitably sold to by microsoft geeks. the new .net framework actually looks like a great development platform and visual studio is a rather nice coding environment. i just couldn’t get my head around microsoft’s claim to enable “cross-platform delivery”. yeah right – as long as it’s a microsoft platform.

and the code it spits out – ergh! it is such a shame – server side controls and the idea of coding behind pages are the best ideas to come out of .net and are on the path of enlightenment to separating logic from presentation (in much the same way as jakarta’s mvc framework that i’ve gotten so used to in struts). but the html code that things like asp:form tags spew out is ridiculous. microsoft sits on the w3c standards board and built .net from scratch but still can’t develop these controls to output valid html (let alone xhtml)! i guess this same company can’t build a compliant web page on their own site either so at least they’re consistent.

it looks like i’m going to have to spend a lot of unnecessary time overriding all server side controls using customized Render() methods to output what i want. not ideal. with any luck microsoft will listen to the development community and change this annoying “feature”.

Back in London town

It seems the only time I have had lately to casually browse or blog has been very brief – usually during a lunch break in between mouthfuls, slobbering over my keyboard. I paint a pretty picture for you, I’m sure. We have not had decent Internet access at home either, due to our recent move (from Brighton back to London). But all that has changed – I’ve got a new wireless network up and running at home and I’ve just finished my latest project at work.

So – I can finally upload those photos from the states. Some classics from the tubing… but I doubt Cab and Phil will think so!

London bound

Back from the States after a hectic couple of weeks with Claire, Felix, Phil and Cab blundering about New York and its environ. Ashley is now married. Phil is now thirty. And our livers are all slightly more damaged than before we left. Some classic photos – especially from the tubing.

And now we are moving house – tomorrow! Nothing is packed. London here I come.

I’ll be back

All change… We’re moving back to London. Change is good, I keep telling myself. Oh yes – no looking back, keep on trucking. And it’s a lovely flat we’re moving to. And that daily commute I loathed so much (how can network south east trains be so crap?) will be a thing of the past. But I can’t help feeling sad for leaving Brighton. It’s a lovely place, especially in the Summer. I’ll be back.

cast those sticks aside

Had my first physio session today. For the first time in six weeks – I can walk! I’ve cast those sticks aside and walked. Yeay… Felt good to walk unhindered on this fine Summer morning. Okay – so I might be getting a little excited but it’s been a while. And the sun is shining, my tomatoes are growing nicely and the beans are ready to be picked. What could be better?

Belize pics

While I’m recovering from my ACL reconscruction operation, I might as well put some time into this site. So here’s the new design, using XHTML and CSS. A lot is still under construction and probably always will be…

Anyway – feel free to check out the different sections. I try to keep the photos up-to-date but you know how it is – there’s new photos from Belize just up.

Oh and why don’t you see what happened at the latest G8 summit in Evian, France …

wintery photos

not sure if this deserves a blog but seeing as it has been a good 9 months since my last entry it seems as good a reason as any… had a break between projects at work today and was able to make my first fledging steps towards creating myself a fully xhtml/css playlab site. oh yes. it doesn’t get much more exciting than that.
winter is here – which means plenty of time to play with the site. check out the recent wintery photos in the album
i still haven’t scanned in all those snaps from south america. i must do that soon – before it all becomes a distant memory. *sigh* – winter hey.