bbtmn

Change of Scenery, volume II

2008-03-01T02:08:00.003Z

So less than a year since moving over from MSN spaces, and I'm abandoning Blogger to relocate to here. I'll be writing new stuff on there from now on, so please update your links. Anything that's appeared here over the last few months (including all your wonderful comments) is over there too, so it's not too much of a culture shock.

Hopefully the new site will last a little longer...

An Urgent Request

2008-02-25T13:56:00.003Z

I've now finished reading all the books I got for Christmas, so I'm bookless and dunno what to read next.

So I throw it open to the floor. Recommend me some reading material!

That is all.

(Extremely) Irrational Desire

2008-02-23T00:49:00.002Z

A car website I read has a feature where they find a car for sale each week which is under £1000, but fairly interesting. This week's is one that you wouldn't touch with a bargepole (unless you're a talented spanner monkey), but reading the forums I came across a link to an episode of Old Top Gear where Clarkson tests it.

I want the V12 version. I reckon £4000-5000 would probably buy you a semi-decent one, and then £x on a classic insurance policy (limited mileage, blah blah blah). This is pretty harmless desire at the moment, as I don't have £7000+ lying around. But give it a few years and I may well do...

I shouldn't, but damn I know I'll be tempted. Anyway, all irrelevant at the moment. And frankly at the moment theres not many cars I wouldn't want...

On the topic of the Top Gear ep, its interesting to see how much it's changed. I prefer Clarkson's reviewing style in the old one to the way he is in the newer format. There's coverage of the British Rally Championship in there too, and that's always fun. Incidentally, it was back when Colin McRae was in the BRC, and watching him you see why he was so successful. With most of the other drivers, you watch it and think "pah, I could do that!". But with McRae, you watch and think the exact opposite. It reminded me of a video of Jean Ragnotti I saw a while back. When I watch those kind of videos (esp Ragnotti), I see the way the car gets out of shape coming up to a corner and think "oh crap, this isnt gonna be good, he's gonna crash", and then somehow they gather it all together and go through the corner. Sideways.

I saw Ragnotti drive at Donington last year (incidentally, one of my favourite circuits), and the way he threw the car through the Old Hairpin (pretty much a 90 degree right hander. At the bottom of a hill) was electrifying. In fact... This is the exact corner I'm on about. And the spin on the exit is deliberate by the way (christ, I actually remember that run. Is that sad?). Also, watch him parking.

Someone who I wish I could've seen drive is Gilles Villeneuve. He raced in the late 70s and early 80s, and for my money he was probably the most naturally talented driver ever to have raced. One of my favourite stories from motorsport concerns him and the 1979 US Grand Prix. On the first day of qualifying it was raining. A lot. Only a few drivers took to the track, and they pretty much all said it was too wet to drive. Then Villeneuve went out and recorded a lap time nine seconds faster than anyone else. To put that into perspective, at last year's US Grand Prix (albeit on a different track, the crappy Indeanapolis infield circuit), the gap in qualifying from the fastest car to the slowest car was about 2.3 seconds. 9 seconds is a lifetime in F1.

Another example from the same year. The French Grand Prix at Dijon. Villeneuve and Rene Arnoux had such an intense battle for second place in the last few laps of the race that, when people talk about that race, the fact that it marked Renault's first win in F1 racing is pretty much forgotten. If you don't like motorsport, watch this and tell me it's boring. Oh, and watch all the way through, cos the last couple of laps are brilliant.

Villeneuve died in 1982 though after crashing in qualifying for a race. He tripped over another car and went into the barrier. The impact ripped his seat, along with him, from the car, and threw him across the track. If you watch the video on YouTube, you kinda watch the car go off. You don't notice the white ragdoll being flung across the track... Horrible. Incidentally, I read Jackie Stewart's autobiography a short while back, and one stat that took me back is that between about April and July 1969, one major driver died each month. Stewart said that, at the time, if you were a professional racing driver in F1, you were more likely to be killed than to retire normally. And yet when people suggested it might be a good idea to improve safety by, for instance, putting fences at the sides of tracks to stop people crashing into trees and the like, other people (including some of the drivers, iirc) said it was a stupid idea. Just so you get an idea, this is a clip of Spa Francorchamps in Belgium from the 60s (taken from Grand Prix, the movie), and here is the same circuit in 2007. Spot the difference...

I make no apologies for the car & racing nature of this post. I can understand why some people don't like Motorsport, but to me it's just brilliant. I love the places the races are held, I love the cars, I love the skill of the drivers. When I went to Donington last year, the brother I went with said it was the most excited he's ever seen me (I don't usually do excitement). It's 3 weeks till the 2008 F1 season kicks off, and I know that I'll get excited when I hear the theme music for the first time at the start of qualifying. It's been far, far too long.

I could honestly write about this for a long time, so I'll stop now before you start losing interest (if you haven't already). I shall save the topic of Why Michael Schumacher is an Absolute Genius for another day (seriously, I could probably write a whole post)... By the way, the videos are kinda important to the points I'm making, so try to watch em all (apart from Top Gear, that's not so important. But watch the first couple of parts [Clarkson and the BRC] if you've got 20 mins free, cos it's entertaining).

I think the lack of motorsport may have something to do with my disdain for January-March. Is that bad?

A Spanner in the Works

2008-02-21T03:11:00.003Z

Good idea: Going to bed at midnight.
Bad idea: Starting to play games at midnight.

Good idea: Going to bed once finished playing games.
Bad idea: Browsing YouTube instead.

Good idea: Going to bed now.
Bad idea: Writing this...

I have a book sat by the side of my bed that's tempting me to read it instead of, like, y'know, sleeping. You know you're bad when you procrastinate about sleeping.

I fail at Life :-(

A Scattergun Approach to Blogging

2008-02-19T01:16:00.007Z

Usually when I write a post on here, I have some vague idea in my mind of where I'm gonna go with it, and what I'm gonna say. Tonight, I'm just bored and feel like writing something, so no "plan" as such, more stream of consciousness.

I go through a sort of internal argument with myself every so often, where I try to work out what the hell to write here. I don't like doing writing down everyday minutae, diary-style, because I always think that other people (i.e. you!) would find that a bit boring. So usually I end up ranting. Most of the time I don't really care about that; I'm fairly opinionated, so having an outlet for that is fun for me, at least. But then sometimes I think "Does the Internet really need another idiot spouting his opinions on everything?", and kind of lose confidence in it. Like I said last time, I write a lot of things where I get half way through and decide not to carry on, cos I don't think its a decent post.

Why do we blog at all? I suppose I've partly answered that in the last paragraph, for myself at least. I enjoy writing it, and I guess as well I like that other people read it. It's great when people leave a comment on something you've written. I think I try to make people think about things which they might not think about ordinarily (reading that line back, thats not exactly what I mean, but I cant think of another way to put it which is more accurate and less arrogant). I don't know how well I do that, but meh.

In other news, the Eee is still great. I installed WinXP on it last week, and it handles it surprisingly well. It doesnt boot quite as quickly as Xandros (the default operating system) did, but i think its still <60 seconds to desktop, which is pretty good. And once its loaded it's just as responsive. Pretty good. I took it to the Uni IT people last Friday to get it registered on the Cardiff network (for wireless internet goodness at Uni). When I took it out of my bag to give to the lady for her to set it up, her reaction was "aww, I've seen these!". Amused me.

I love being able to use the net in more places than just at my desk. I've taken to using the Eee to check my emails/read the news/whatever in the mornings, because its small and quiet and because bed is nice. And tonight, I got bored of sitting in my room so I came downstairs to watch a DVD, with the net to accompany me. I watched Pink Floyd live first, and now somehow Heima seems to have worked its way into the DVD player... I've said it before, but damn I love this film.

Changing topic somewhat... I find it kinda weird that it's already half way through February. I say this a lot, I think, but the rapid passage of time always kinda shocks me. In my head it still feels like early Feb, not almost March. Not that I'm complaining. As much as it surprises me, I do kinda like time's winged chariot. The inevitability of time whooshing by is somewhat comforting to me, for some reason. The knowledge that the future will come, that now is but a fleeting moment... I'm not articulating myself nearly as well as I should be here.

Of course, as much as I like the passage of time, I also seem to get hung up on the past. And occasionally on the feeling that I'm wasting the "now" with daily monotony. But that's an unhealthy way to look at the world, and if I feel like that I just remind myself of the small pleasures in life which make "now" so exciting.

For me, one of those pleasures is music. I don't think I'd get through a day (and remain sane) if I couldnt listen to at least one song. I love the way that if you're feeling depressed and alone, music can take those feelings and make you feel elated and involved, but if you're feeling on top of the world it can amplify those feelings and make you feel fantastic (driving whilst listening to music always seems to help that process, which is one of the reasons why I miss driving so much...).

I think its because I find so much pleasure in music that it annoys me when people don't appreciate it fully. I know people don't have to, and I'm sure that someone who loves antique furniture could say the same about me because I happen to not appreciate antique furniture. But I don't say "antique furniture is crap"; everyone seems to have an opinion on music, even if that opinion isnt well thought out.

Anyway, I was talking about time and got sidetracked. Uhm... oh yeah, middle of February shocker. I think I've said before here that I don't much like the first 2 or 3 months of the year. Too dark and grim and miserable. So I'm kinda glad it's passing quickly, cos then its done.

Of course, getting through the first part of the year also means that various motorsport series start up again, which may have something to do with my not liking the winter... I'm not gonna write down my predictions now (other than Ferrari and Raikkonen look like they're going to walk the F1 championships, and I reckon Giovanardi could do the double in BTCC. As long it's not Matt Neal, I don't mind...), I shall save that for a later date. Which gives you all something to look forward to (he says, knowing that pretty much no motorsport fans read this...).

Anyway, I think I've gone on for long enough, so I shall go enjoy the rest of Heima. G'night!

==

Final thought: why is it that I never read back things I write for Uni before submitting them, but I always read back my blog posts before posting? I've only just noticed that I do that.

Money Matters

2008-02-11T22:58:00.000Z

Since buying my Eee last week, Ive been thinking back to other gadgety goodness I've indulged in over the years. And it got me thinking about money, and how my attitudes towards it have changed.

The reason I got from gadgets to money is that you generally need the latter to acquire the former (unless you steal them, i guess). I was thinking back to about 5 years ago, when I really wanted a PDA* (for pretty much no practical reason, I may add). These things can cost anywhere from £75 to £300, depending on how much you've got to throw away. And at the time the one I wanted was about £90 (it was a Handspring Visor, by the way, and as an aside How did Palm and Handspring throw away the PDA market? At the time their products were demonstrably better than any Windows-based effort, but now Handspring doesn't exist and Palm is just making a complete hash of things. I digress...). I remember that, at the time, £90 seemed like a huge amount of money to throw away on a gadget, mainly because I didn't have it. I did get some money together eventually, and got the PDA (which I played with for a few months before burying it at the bottom of a drawer...), but it still felt like a huge amount of money.

Somewhere along the way, my idea of "a vast amount of money" has changed somewhat. Obviously, I have access to more money now thanks to things like loans and overdrafts and a job, but even so, when I bought the Eee last week I spent over £200 almost on a whim, because the display model was ever so shiny...

I really notice the whole perception-change thing at work. I work in a bank, and the way you look at money there is somewhat skewed. When someone wants to withdraw, say, £100, I think "pah, only a hundred? Take out a thousand, you wimp". Never mind that its just over twice what I earn in a day... You can sit with £1500 sat in your till and think to yourself "good, thats not much, I'm fine". At the end of the day there can be tens of thousands of pounds on the floor waiting to be counted, and you don't really think of it as "a lot of money". Actually I kind of disconnect completely with the concept of money when I'm at work; I don't think "that's £5,000 there it can buy me a nice car and insurance and a year's running costs", I just think of it as, well, just a number, really. It's slightly odd, now I come to think of it, although probably good to stop temptation...

Once again I'm not sure where I'm going with this, so I'll leave it here. After people saying the last entry was "damn good" and "interesting and worthwhile", it feels as if theres some sort of pressure to keep writing to a high standard... I don't generally think what I write is that good; I write loads of things only to get halfway through and think "what the hell are you on about? This is crap". I must've written the last entry at least a couple of times in the past and never posted it... Ho hum.

* If it wasnt clear before, that really marks me out as a geek...

Waxing Lyrical

2008-02-07T01:47:00.000Z

One of the things I got for Christmas this year is a DVD. Well, I got a few DVDs actually, but theres one in particular that I really enjoyed. It was the new Sigur Ros film, Heima. To be honest, I hadnt heard much Sigur Ros before I got the DVD. I'd downloaded a couple of albums, and thought they were good, but nothing more. Obviously, I thought they were good enough to point out the DVD to my Mum, but anyway... I watched it about a week after Xmas with one of my brothers, and we were both absolutely bowled over by how good it is.

For anyone not familiar with the concept of the film, this is basically it: in 2006 Sigur Ros returned to Iceland after playing a fairly large world tour and held a series of mostly unannounced gigs all over the island. The film is a record of that tour. They played in some pretty weird places, as well as more traditional ones, and it's pretty interesting to watch. Theres one where they just played an acoustic set on a hillside, and the thing was recorded with a single mic (iirc...). They played another gig at an old herring factory, and one of the songs they recorded there was played in an old vat or something - a really echoey place, and whenever the lead singer made a noise his voice echoed round really nicely.

One of the things I love most about the DVD though is the insight you get into the whole ethos of the band. Not only staging the concerts for free, but other things. During the songs, quite often the camera cuts away from the band and focuses on the audience. Not just a cursory wide shot either, proper shots of individuals, or groups, reacting to the songs being played in front of them. Its a small touch, but I think it displays a certain lack of arrogance on the band's part - the film isn't about them; it's about the music, and that includes the fans as much as it does the band.

What I'm getting at is that it shows that the band are obviously massive music lovers, and I think that's why my brother and I like it so much. We're both massive music fans too, so something like that really resonates.

Now, I don't like putting music down, and saying that X is better than Y; I know that its largely subjective, and what I hate others may love, and vice versa. But it got me thinking. Surely certain songs, albums or artists just are better than others? I'm not saying "Everything I like is categorically Good, and anyone who disagrees is Wrong", far from it. But surely anyone who appreciates music will find something to appreciate in Sigur Ros? Surely anyone will agree that Love Sick is a better song than Insania? Isn't it a Fact that The Earth is Not A Cold Dead Place is a much better album than, say, Vulture Culture*?

The thing I forget, of course, is that people want different things from music. Some people like music because its popular, and it helps them fit in or whatever. Others like things they hear in clubs because it reminds them of the experiences they've attached to the music. Or whatever. I like music on it's own though, music for the sake of it. I like lying in bed at night, closing my eyes and being enveloped by music. Whether it be scratchy blues recordings or well-produced epics (and part 2 - although this ver is poss better if you dont know the song) enveloping me, I enjoy well-made music. Those last 2 clips kinda sum it up actually: two pretty dissimilar songs, but both make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck.

That said about people wanting different things from music, it really annoys me when people write off music without listening to it properly. For instance, I once introduced someone to Explosions in the Sky, only for them to say that they "dont like it, no-one's singing"... Or when someone says they dont like a band cos theyre too old (or too new...). It's far too narrowminded, and those people are missing out on some fantastic music because of it. Annoying to the Extreme.

This post is probably far too long and incoherent by now, anyway, so I should probably stop writing...

* For the record, I do actually like that album. I don't like Insania...

Small, but (almost) perfectly formed...

2008-02-06T13:44:00.000Z

So I suck at self-control and patience, and splurged on an Asus Eee. So I've dared to leave the cosy confines of my bedroom, and relocate to the comfy reclining chair in the living room...

First thoughts are that this thing is small. Way small. I knew it would be tiny from the pics online, but you dont realise how small till you see it. Yes, that means that some webpages look poor (cos you have to scroll), and yes its kinda hard to type on the keyboard, cos i have chubby fingers. But you can scroll the pages (and tbh with firefox in fullscreen mode, its not too bad), and I think I'll get used to typing; it's certainly better than things like Graffiti used to be on PalmOS.

Other things are how easy to use it is. I was toying with the idea of putting Windows XP on here, but that kinda defeats the point. This has found my network shares on The Beast (my desktop) remarkably easy (and by the way the built-in speakers are better than most full-sized laptop speakers ive heard), and found the wireless flawlessly. It has everything I want to use (i.e. messenger, firefox, music and office stuff), and it runs really well. I'll probably swap from the "Easy" UI to a normal desktop, but I'm not even sure of that...

I say "almost" perfectly formed... Thats because the screen could be larger without pushing the form factor up, or affecting the price too much. And because I'm not getting on with the trackpad too well at the moment, but then I'm yet to meet a trackpad that I do get on with...

So far then, this thing is great. It's small enough to make carrying it to uni a practical idea, but big enough and well-featured enough to make it genuinely usable. I honestly can't see the point - for me - of spending more on a laptop. I use my desktop for gaming or stuff like that, and I'd never use a laptop for that. Actually, for a hell of a lot of people, I can imagine something like this is all the PC they'd need...

It's a slightly scary thought that this cheap little pc is significantly more powerful than the first PC I had as a kid. Huzzah for technology...

(btw, in the space of writing this post, my typing's got much better. I reckon in a day or so it'll be fine)

Madness

2008-01-31T16:11:00.000Z

Sometime last year, Microsoft bought 1.6% of Facebook. They paid $240 million, which puts the value of Facebook at about $15 billion.

$15 billion. For a website.

So, any guesses what Ford, a massive international company with lots of physical assets and a large base of loyal customers, is worth (according to Wall Street)?

Less than $15 billion.

OK, Ford is in dire straits at the moment (name an American car company that isn't) but even so, thats complete madness.

New treatment discovered to improve efficacy of all medicines

2008-01-17T23:55:00.001Z

It was announced today that a new treatment has been discovered which, it is claimed, can help improve the effectiveness of any medicine. The treatment is an additive to be taken orally at the same time as the medicine, and in a recent field trial in London it was found that patients who took the supplement at the same time as their medicine recovered up to three times faster than those who did not.

"The supplement acts with the medicine to help it enter the body much better" said Dr Poppins, who led the project at the Dover Institute for Scientifically New and Exciting Yarns (DISNEY). "Literally a single spoonful helps any medicine go down" she added.

The additive, which has already been hailed a "miracle drug" by doctors, has been revealed to be nothing more than pure sugar. However in approving the treatment, the National Insititute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) warned against doctors overprescribing it. "This is an amazing find, and everyone at DISNEY is to be applauded" commented Dr. Banks, a member of the Institute, "however we are concerned at the risk of medicines becoming immune to the sugar, in a similar way to bacteria and antibiotics. The treatment should, we feel, be prescribed only in the worst cases".

The announcement has, however, prompted concerns from Weight Concern. "This idea is completely prepostorous!" Mr Kevin Burke, a spokesman for the charity said today. "This scheme is likely to increase obesity rates by 88%, especially amongst children. This is wholly unacceptable, and we suggest that members of the public should refrain from taking any medicine, just in case the excess sugar leads them to put on weight. We don't want Britain to turn into a nation of stupid ugly fatties, like America".

Dr Poppins responded that this is "poppycock of the highest order!" and added that "A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. The medicine go down. The medicine go down! In a most delightful way".

The NHS is reluctant to introduce the new treatment due to its expense.

Worried/amazed/confused

2008-01-14T00:59:00.000Z

I'm trying to work out why anyone could think this is anything other than a horrendously bad idea.

It's the sort of thing you'd expect to see on The Peter Serafinowicz Show...

Glumness

2008-01-08T02:04:00.000Z

Cold. Wet. Dark. Miserable. Damn I hate winter...

Honestly, it's so depressing. Especially January. I hate January. Nothing seems to happen, except exams. And they're right after Christmas, which was really good fun (and the only good thing to happen in winter), so obviously I'm nowhere near prepared for them. And obviously I'm nowhere near being in the mood to prepare for them, because its cold and dark and miserable everywhere. I just want to wrap myself up in bed with a selection of books, CDs, DVDs, chocolate and port, and gradually work my way through it all in time to emerge from my cocoon some time in March.

The thing is, from January to March seems to go reeeally slowly. And then March to October flash before your eyes, only for September to December to proceed at the correct pace. Honestly, last April seemed to go by in a week. I could swear that July lasted a day, not a month. Whereas February seemed to last about a year. Not fair! The crappy bit should go quickly, and the good bit should go slow! Not fair not fair not fair!

At least when I could drive, I could cheer myself up that way (driving in rain or snow or darkness is fun). Now I just have to wait for spring.

Hurry up please, spring...

Things I Probably Should Stop Doing

2007-12-04T03:36:00.000Z

1. Bad Sleeping patterns.
So, so messed up at the moment.

2. Scratching...
...my eczema.

3. Air drumming.
It doesnt look good.

4. Air drumming in the car.
And it's not safe, either.

5. Leaving my washing till the last minute.
I have a heap of stuff I need to wash now but I'm probably gonna have to do 2 loads, cos it probably won't fit in one. And I probably won't have space to dry it all. Crap, I just remembered meant to do that today, actually. Oh well.

Wow, I bet you REALLY wanted to know that...

6. Boring people by talking about racing.
Heh: I can see you're bored, but I still keep talking about it.

7. Making bad jokes.
Sometimes, I say things, and I can see people start to hate me - dodgy puns especially have this effect. It's a wonderful achievement.

As an aside, there's a slim subset of the population who find those sort of jokes amusing. These are the best type of people, I feel.

8. Speaking without thinking.
I sometimes swear too much without thinking. I tend to throw around (friendly!) insults a lot. I'm somewhat opinionated, and throw my opinion around a lot. This behaviour can offend some people. These people are the worst type of people, I feel.

9. Your Mom.
I'm joking...

...she pays too well for me to seriously consider stopping.

(This probably comes under No. 7)

10. Procrastination.
Speaking of which, I need to get back to a lab report...

(of these, 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8 dont need to change. Only 1,2,5 and 10 do.)

Mundane post, sorry.

As an aside, don't you hate it when someone says something to you, and a few hours later you come up with a brilliantly witty response? I did that the other day - I was lying in bed and this perfect one-liner just flashed into my mind. I was amused and annoyed by myself in equal quantities. Oh well.

Seeing Orange

2007-11-18T22:00:00.001Z

So I just had to top up my phone. I won't name the network, but lets call them Yellow. Usually when I top up, I just use their website and do it all online. Takes a couple of minutes, and saves me getting up off my lazy arse. Anyway, apparently the site is closed at the moment for maintenance(!), so I called up to do it that way.

Anyone who uses Ora-, I mean Yellow, PAYG knows that they've just redone all their phone menus with a different, friendlier-sounding person. And that's fine, but I think they've tried to re-do it all to make it sound like you're actually dealing with a real person. Some of the things she "says" are exactly the same things that ill-educated dolts say to try to sound polite. Like, after I enter my details, and how much to top up, "I'll just put that through for you...". Okay, fair enough, but do you have to then, 3 seconds later, say "I'm just putting that through for you", just to fill the silence? As if I'm sat with the phone to my ear, thinking "damn, what am I actually doing here?" and need reminding that something is happening? NONONO!

Finally, when it's all done, does it have to say "By the way, did you know you can also use our website to top your phone up?"...

AAARRRGGGHHH!

Actually, one of the less painful phone menu things that I've used. Some of the ones I've used at work are just.. urgh.

Anyway, I need to finish drawing a flow net. Joy!

A Question of Motorsport

2007-10-27T20:14:00.000+01:00

It was the last F1 race of the season last week (5 months until the next one, sob), so rather than ruing how Hamilton didnt win the championship, like most Brits seem to be at the moment (Raikkonen deserves it more anyway), I'm going to talk about engines. And air.

For the 2006 season, the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (or FIA to its friends) - the organisation which regulates all international motorsport (that matters), amongst other things - changed the engine formula. What that means is that the engines in F1 cars would have to be 2.4 litre V8s (they were 3.0 litre V10s before), and would have to last for two races. The idea behind doing this was to cut costs - the larger manufacturer teams (McLaren, Ferrari et al.) may be able to afford bigger and better, but the smaller independant teams (Super Aguri, Spyker/ForceIndia/whatever, Williams et al.) might struggle to keep up and so may become less and less competetive, and possible eventually leave the sport. If more teams are competetive, then there should also be better racing.

That's the theory, anyway. The actual result is that teams, obviously, try to conserve their engines. If an engine is on its first race then they try not to stress it too much because it has to do another race as well, and then if the engine is on its second race it can't be pushed too much because it's coming towards the end of its design life and so more likely to fail. Basically, having to conserve the engines means that, after a certain point in a race (usually the second round of pit stops), a team may tell the driver to stop pushing quite so much and turn the engine down. To most people, it's kind of obvious that this is detrimental to the racing - fans dont just want to see a procession of cars after 75% of the race is over; we want to see drivers pushing right to the limit, trying to go as quickly as possible for all of the race.

In order to further cut costs, for 2007 more rules were introduced. Since the end of the 2006 season, the teams haven't been able to do any significant development work on their engines - in previous years they'd be constantly trying to develop the engines to be more powerful and more reliable, but no longer.

Of course, none of this has actually cut costs at all. Now, instead of looking to the engine to make the cars go faster, the teams just spend more on the aerodynamics of the cars - the larger teams now run windtunnels and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) 24/7. This isnt cheap. And the increased reliance on aerodynamics for car performance has an adverse effect on racing, because it makes it harder for one car to follow another, making it much harder to overtake.

This week, the FIA have made an announcement that the engine freeze is to be prolonged. For another 10 years. This is a spectacularly bad idea. F1 is meant to be the pinnacle of motorsport, and as such the cars - all aspects of them - should be in a constant state of development, at the cutting edge of what is possible. In fact, it's especially stupid given the current climate for eco-friendliness, and the way road cars seem to be going at the moment. I don't think F1 has to be "road relevant" (we don't race people on the road...), but thats not to say that F1 wouldnt be a good place to try out new technologies.

Trying to cut costs in F1 is idiotic, because the larger teams will spend (or do) whatever it takes to get a competetive advantage. Whilst I'm on the subject of competetive advantages, I should say something about the spying scandal that's hung over the sport this year. For those who don't know what I'm on about, basically at the start of this year one of Ferrari's top tech guys gave one of the senior McLaren engineers a dossier which basically gave loads of details about how this year's Ferrari worked. He then used some of the information out of this document, it all got found out and consequently McLaren were disqualified from this years Constructors' championship and fined $100 million.

On the surface, this makes sense; McLaren cheated, so they should be punished, right? Well, no. F1 teams will do anything to get a competetive advantage - I've heard it said that every car on the grid in some way contravenes the rules - and that includes spying. They go as far as to hire photographers to take detailed photos of the other cars to figure out how they work. This has always happened, so for the FIA to punish one of the top teams for this is just madness.

What I'm trying to say, basically, is that the FIA is losing (or has lost) the plot. The president, Max Mosley (Oswald's son...), is a self-important, arrogant fool (evidence: this, this, this and this. The attack on Stewart is particularly mad), and should just resign now, before he ruins the sport completely.

Fans just want to see the fastest drivers in the world racing the fastest cars in the world, with particular emphasis on the word "racing". It seems, however, that the "powers that be" are more concerned with their own self-importance than with what is right for the sport.

Bloody Typical

2007-09-11T00:13:00.001+01:00

I've just come across a Facebook group called "Campaign Against 4.8% Student Loan Interest".

Ok, so the interest rate on student loans is set to track the retail price index (RPI) at the end of the previous tax year. In March 2006, the RPI was 2.4%, so the interest rate on student loans was set at 2.4% from September 2006. The RPI in March 2007 was 4.8%, so thats what the new interest rate for student loans is from September 2007.

Basically, the RPI is an average measure of changes in the prices of goods, and is basically a measure of inflation. Think of it in terms of ice creams; a few years ago, a Flake 99 cost about 99p in most places. Now, it costs about £1.40. Thats because the price of goods has risen, so £1 buys less now than it did a few years ago. So really the interest rate of student loans is set so that you pay back the "real world" cost of your initial debt - i.e. if you borrowed 99p a few years ago for your ice cream, what you'd pay back now is ~£1.40. So the lender hasn't actually made any money off you.

As an indicator, a typical rate of interest on a credit card is about 14% APR, about 7% APR for loans, about 8% for mortgages and about 18% AER for overdrafts. Student loans are effectively free debt. So we have absolutely no right to moan.

Bloody hell, students annoy me sometimes...

(N.b. I'm no economist, so most of this post could well be complete bollocks. Sorry if it is).

A Very Good Thing

2007-08-03T14:10:00.000+01:00

This strikes me as a very good thing, if it were to happen.

All of the Moffat-penned episodes have been brilliant - Blink this year was fabulous - and Russell T. Davies does seem to be losing the plot (Catherine Tate, for instance...). Moffat taking over the helm would be great.

Secondly, James Nesbitt was very good in Jekyll, and if it were an 'audition' for Doctor Who, then he did very well. He'd probably be better than Tennant...

Thirdly, Michelle Ryan as the Doctor's assistant. Just YES! Damn, she'd be way better than Freema Agyeman or Catherine Tate.

Of course, none of this will happen. Sigh.

Ever feel as if you're being chased?

2007-07-17T22:49:00.001+01:00

So you spend your days working for a certain well-known high-street bank, doing what is really a pretty shitty job (I'm not listing my gripes now, that's for another day). You look forward to leaving, to getting home, to escaping.

You turn your P.C. on to slob out in front of the best the net has to offer, only to see... That certain well-known high-street bank's advertising coming at you from the bottom of the MSN window.

AAAARRRGGHH!

Blown Away

2007-06-22T23:59:00.000+01:00

F1 fans (none of which read this regularly, if at all) will probably know that most of the teams have been testing this week at Silverstone. I went yesterday - the picture above was taken by my Dad (and well done to him, he got shedloads of really good photos, which is by no means easy). It was my first time seeing F1 cars being driven in anger, "in the metal" so to speak.

And wow. When we arrived the cars were already running, and as we approached the circuit you could hear them going round, really clearly. From a distance, an F1 car sounds like a swarming nest of wasps; if the wasps were pissed off and on steroids. As you get closer though, it's something else. Hearing them on TV - or even from a distance - doesn't prepare you for the piercing wail of the engine, or the vicious thud of the gear changes. We stood on the exit of Luffield (pretty much the last corner before the pit straight) for a good portion of the day, and the sound as they booted it out of the corner was just amazing. Especially on the Ferrari - Massa seemed to be able to put his foot down right at the apex of the corner and literally launch himself out of it. Which probably goes some way to explaining why his front-right wheel was in the air...

The sheer pace of the cars is bloody cool too. When you watch on TV you know they're going quickly, but you don't quite get how quick they actually are. When you're there, you can't help but notice the speed they carry through the corners, how little time it takes them to build up more speed out of them, or how quickly they can shed it again for the next turn.

Makes you realise how good all of the drivers really are. I mean, it's one thing to see them correcting a slide on TV, but when you see them doing it right in front of you, it's different somehow. You end up thinking "I well never, ever be able to drive like that". I shall certainly bear that thought in mind in future, when a driver is doing badly.

Anyway, if you've never been before, I strongly recommend it if you're even the least bit interested in motorsport. Actually even if you're not, I'd recommend it - it's something that just has to be experienced. I certainly can't wait to go back - the Silverstone Classic next month looks particularly promising...

Trial and Retribution

2007-06-09T23:25:00.001+01:00

There was a story on the BBC a while ago about a 74-year-old man. He'd been in prison a few times, had an alcohol problem, and was basically in a bad state. So he decided to do something about it to sort himself out: he walked into a bank, demanded they hand over some money, and walked back out. He did this with the sole intention of being sent back to prison.

As a society, we seem to demand that criminals be punished, above all else. We feel that if someone wrongs us, we should get our own back or avenge the victims somehow. Whilst I can understand that perspective, I'm not sure that it's always the most worthwhile way of going about dealing with people who commit a crime.

I don't think that we should be looking to punish the vast number of criminals. For people who commit "serious" crimes (like rape, murder, voting for the Liberal Democrats), then we should definitely be looking to punish them, and to be honest prison is probably the best way of doing that. But what about other, less serious crimes, like theft? Is prison always the answer?

Well, what are prisons? Essentially, they're societies full of criminals; places where crime is accepted as "normal". So if we send someone there, we probably shouldn't be surprised if they reoffend once they leave. If a first time offender spends, say, six months locked away with other people who may have been in and out of prison all through their lives, then are they likely to start afresh when they leave, or are they just going to pick up tips and tricks off the more experienced criminals, so that they think there's less chance of them being caught again?

I think that instead of just seeking to "punish" people who commit crimes, we should try to do more. If we, for instance, look at why they commit them and try to remove the circumstances that cause people to commit a crime, then perhaps people will feel less inclined to reoffend (or possibly offend in the first place, in some cases). Like with the man in the story I linked to - if someone was around to help him sort his life out (either in prison or after he left), he possibly wouldn't have robbed the bank.

Of course, there is a certain question of limits as well. For instance how far do we go in "correcting" a criminal (I'm guessing something like the Ludovico technique would be off-limits), and for what level of severity of crime do we stop trying to help someone, and focus purely on punitive measures?

Given the level of overcrowding in British prisons at the moment, it would probably be worth there being a massive shakeup in the way we deal with criminals. But I suppose "helping" people is a harder option than just bunging them in prison, and possibly pretty unacceptable to the tabloid-reading portion of society...

When people don't know what they're talking about

2007-05-27T22:34:00.000+01:00

And for once I'm not on about the climate debate...

This article from the BBC caught my eye earlier. And, to be frank, it's just a joke.

I watched the race today, and anyone who says that McLaren stopped them from racing each other must have been watching a different race. Alonso and Hamilton were both on the absolute edge, especially for most of the first stint. The difference between the two is that Alonso was (marginally) faster, and a lot more experienced. That is why he won. Anyone who suggests that McLaren would favour one driver over another (without good reason, this early into the season), clearly doesnt know anything about the sport, or have very short memories; Prost and Senna were ferociously competetive against each other, and in fact so far this season we've blatently seen that the McLaren drivers are allowed to race each other. Like in Australia, where Hamilton led Alonso for a good part of the race, and the last two races where he's finished ahead of Alonso.

The only reason people have suggested an "anti-Hamilton" bias is because, for the first time this season, Alonso shaded Hamilton all weekend. And the British media don't like someone beating their golden boy...

Now I lay me down to sleep

2007-05-22T03:32:00.000+01:00

Or not. The irony that I'm listening to a song called Sleep as I write this is not lost on me.

So tomorrow I have my last exam, and thus the end of my first year of University (as long as theres no resits...). Bloody hell, it's gone by rather quickly. I say that, but at the same time it feels as if I've already been here forever; it feels as if I've known the people I've met here for ages, and it feels as if I've been in the University routine for years.

But I havent. I realised the other day that it's just over a year since we stood down for study leave at School. It's my last exam tomorrow (ok, today, if we're being picky), and also 11 months since my last A level exam. Now that feels like it was a long time ago. It feels like it's been years since we whiled away lunch in the Hall, pratted about in maths lessons or ambled into Bartley over lunch. It feels like an age since I enjoyed my daily commute...

Isn't it funny when we look back that we generally only remember the positive things? I don't remember having to get up at half 7 every morning, or having to de-ice the car before I left. I don't think of those endless lunchtimes spent supervising insidious little twats in the IT room, or the endless politics. Hmm.

It's only been a year, but it feels as if so much has happened; as if everyone I've known since then (as well as me, probably) has changed so much. Not always for the better, sadly...

Talking about time, it's disturbing me slightly how warped my perception of it has become lately. I think of 1am as "an early night". It's half three at the moment, and I'm still not thinking "oh, I should go to bed soon". It'll start to get light in the next hour. I don't know that from looking it up, I know that because it's got light at about half 4 for the last few days, and I've been awake to watch it.

Anyway, I have an exam in little over 9 hours. I suppose I should go sleep, or at least do something productive.

Don't think twice, it's alright

2007-05-19T02:16:00.000+01:00

Now if it's time to recompense for what's done
Come, come sit down on the fence in the sun
And the clouds will roll by
And we'll never deny
It's really too hard for to fly.
So it's past 2am again. And once more I'm sat at my desk, not really doing much. For once, I am actually tired (and I've got a headache), but I've once again managed to distract myself. Most nights for the last week or so, I've been heading to bed really late. As in "shit, the sun's coming up. I need to go to bed soon". And then when I've gone to bed, i've found it hard to sleep.

Lately I've had all these thoughts and ideas floating round my head, and I've found it really hard to switch off from them. I've kinda been going over things to myself, let my mind wander, and sometimes I've slightly surprised myself with where I've ended up (and sometimes slightly annoyed myself).

To be honest, most of the reason i've been up has probably been because I've been listening to music. I've generally said "oh, one more track", but that track has inevitably led to one more, and then to an album. And the reason I've been so introspective is probably to do with the type of music i've been listening to at these sort of times. If you know your music (or are good with Google), you might have realised that the lyrics at the top of the post are from Fly, by Nick Drake. It is - and I can't over-state this - an absolutely astounding song. And most Nick Drake does seem to lend itself very well to that sort of introspective thinking. The title of this post is from a Dylan song, which I've fond out tonight that Drake covered. I've not heard it, but I reckon that if anyone were to sing that song with the right sort of bitter and semi-sarcastic manner which it so much deserves (and of which I am so approving, lets face it), it's Nick Drake. Listen to one of his albums, and you'll get what I mean.

I could talk about Nick Drake for a long, long time. At the risk of sounding like a grumpy old man (again...), you simply do not hear artists like him any more. Which is a shame.

Most of the posts on here are becoming slighty "diaryesque", aren't they? The sort of entry that I'd always sworn never to write... I don't know if it's because of the move, but that's just the sort of thing I've wanted to write lately. I been finding it very hard to get worked up enough about something to be able to write a meaningful batch of words about it. Or I've had a coherent thought or idea that I've wanted to write about, but I've not been able to put that thought down with the same amount of clarity that it had in my head - I could write about it, but when I read it back to myself it just sounded muddled and confused ("like this post, ho ho ho!").

Good example of the whole "not getting worked up" thing today. Was sat in the Taf (read: union bar, if you're not a Cardiffite) earlier with some people, and a discussion about religion (namely Christianity) cropped up. Two of us there were atheists, the others were Christian. And I just couldnt be bothered to discuss it with them - there was no point. The thing that really pisses me off about most religious people (that I've spoken to about this, anyway) is that they don't seem to appreciate where I'm coming from. For instance, someone today was saying that he's a Christian because it "gives meaning to life", or somesuch. And he simply couldnt comprehend that I don't need there to be meaning to life. I am perfectly happy with the realisation that we're born, we live, we die, and that within a few generations we're forgotten about. I can see things for what they are, and I'd argue that that viewpoint is a lot more refreshing, much more liberating, and a lot less dangerous, than the view that "God made the Earth for us. He made us in his own image, because He loves us blah blah blah". Oh, and Christians, when you're asked a question about something, the answer "well it's in the Bible" is not always acceptable:

Me: Why don't you believe in Evolution?
Them: Oh, well the Bible says...
Me: Yes, but the Bible is a book. "2001: A Space Odyssey" says that 6 years ago we'd be living on the Moon, and would be sending a spaceship to Jupiter, piloted by a sentient computer and two men, with a bunch of the world's leading scientists in the back of the ship snuggled in their hibernation chambers. I hate to break it to you, but books arent always true.
Them: Yes... But the Bible says...
Me: Yes, but the fossil record says...

Usually, I'm always up for a good theological discussion. But it bloody annoys me when people who are religious just dont understand your point of view, or don't try to understand it. This seems to be something I've only come across at Uni - I've had plenty of other conversations where people have addressed me by not just saying "oh well in the Bible it says..." (yeah, I talk to Jehovas Witnesses when they come to the door), and they've turned out to be bloody thought-provoking discussions, for them as well as me, I'd hope.

So, lesson learned from that: theological debate is not compatable with pubs.

I was watching the Panorama on Scientology the other day, and to be honest it was quite an eye-opener. The thought I came away with was, if Christianity - or any other religion - was founded 50 years ago, how would we perceive it? What makes Scientology any different to Catholicism, or Sikhism, or Islam? Except that it's more socially acceptable to mock Scientology...

Anyway, I've gone staggeringly off-piste, and have now forgotten what I was talking about, or where I was going with it. So I should probably leave this here.

Revision

2007-05-11T17:25:00.000+01:00

My exams start on Monday. So by rights, I should be revising quite solidly at the moment. Well... It is sort of happening - I've managed to do a bit every day, just probably not as much as I would've liked. I really find it hard to revise - I'm not sure why, but I've never been very good at it.

I kind of started to appreciate why the other day. For some bizarre reason computing coursework was set just after easter, due in before the exams started (today, in fact). Awful timing, because it meant I've essentially lost a day of revision in having to go down to the computer room (in the rain!) to piss about with Matlab for a couple of hours. The weird thing is that, doing work like that is something that I actually really enjoy.

I find this with most "projects". Whether it's Matlab, drawing a section through a building, designing a bridge or even just designing this site, once I start concentrating on a task like that I find that I can really get my head down and just do it, and I find that I really enjoy it. I love that feeling of satisfaction at the end, where you've worked for a few hours to produce something tangible, something you can hold up and say "look, this is what I've done". Revision isn't like that - you don't really get the fruits of your labour until you get the exam results back.

Another thing is that I can never decide quite how to revise. Going back to proper work, with my Matlab coursework the first thing that I did was grab a piece of paper and just plan a logical way of doing what needed to be done, and then work through that plan. I find it hard to do something similar with revision. If I sit down and say "right, today I'm going to revise Geology", I don't know where to go from there. Do I read through notes? Find some questions to do? How do I know when I've done enough revision? Inevitably, you dont, so I always go into an exam feeling slightly unprepared until I turn the paper over and find out if I can do the questions or not.

It's all rather annoying, and easily avoided by watching TV, MSN or playing games. Ah, good old procrastination...

Sheer Pornography

2007-05-07T00:29:00.000+01:00

This is a video clip of an advert from Shell. It cost about £2 million apparently, making it one of the most expensive adverts ever. Worth every penny, if you ask me.

The best thing is the sound - theres a reason I like Ferrari more than almost any other car manufacturer or racing team, and part of that reason is that their cars always sound exactly right. The bit of the film where it switches to the modern car (F310, I think?) is the best bit, I think - no matter how foul a mood I'm in, that part of the film always makes me smile for some reason. Sends shivers down yer spine.

One sad thing though - apparently, the filmmakers wanted to film part of it in London. The reason why they didn't? "Health and Safety" concerns. Sigh.

Where's Wally?

2007-04-28T15:15:00.000+01:00

Last week, someone invited me to a talk given by the Christian Union (this is not such a rare event). The talk was entitled "Where is God in a messed-up world?".

It's OK - I looked on Google Maps before the talk, and it turns out that God is in Hungary.

I didn't go to the talk.

(As an aside, I find it particularly fitting that Satan is in Texas.)

What Is and What Should Never Be

2007-04-26T17:53:00.000+01:00

What I've done so far:

Got the place looking somewhat half-respectable on the design front. There's still things that need tweaking and beautifying, but at the moment I'm generally pleased with how it looks - I was going for a simple, sleek look, and hopefully I'm sort of there. Possibly.
All is well with the tags. I think. I may well revise them at some point though, but the general stuff (like putting the words on the page, and archives/permalinks/comments) are all as they should be, I think.

What needs doing:

Like I've said, I will tweak the design somewhat - I think some graphics might help to liven it up a bit, but I just dont know where to put them, or what to use. So that's been left for now.
I like some of the stuff you can do with XML on the "upgraded" templates, but I dont know if you can use them on templates you've made yourself. That needs to be investigated.
I might put some "about me" crap on the sidebar. Possibly.

For now, though, it's getting there. It might even be ready to "launch" properly (i.e. to tell people this one exists, and to start writing here properly).

When that happens, these first few posts are going to look a bit weird - 'cos I've been writing about the changes I've been making as I've been going along, so what I wrote made absolute sense when I wrote it but won't make much sense now. Ho hum...

So far...

2007-04-26T00:30:00.000+01:00

...so good. Ok it's not amazingly pretty yet, but it's half 12, and I'm not carrying on any more tonight.

Besides, I've not been focussing on the aesthetics at the moment - purely on getting it working somewhere approaching the way i want it to. It seems to be mostly ok at the moment (a few niggles here and there, but meh). Now it's all tagged and ready, it is just a matter of properly designing something. Which shouldnt be too bad. He says...

Blah blah BLAH!

2007-04-25T20:13:00.000+01:00

First thoughts: putting all the tags in to my taste is going to be fiddly. And I'd forgotten how engrossed I get in webpages - I'm kinda having to force myself to go and eat *rolls eyes*...

Also, this doesnt do Stats like MSN spaced :-(

And I just needed a second post, to test the tags I'm putting in. Hah.

Opening Shots

2007-04-25T18:36:00.000+01:00

So I've basically kept my blog over on MSN spaces for the last couple of years (although there was a year of inactivity in that time as well, so don't look too impressed), and I've decided to have a go elsewhere. Why?

Well, no particular reason, really. There's nothing wrong with MSN spaces, per se, I just feel like changing (anything in the name of procrastination, eh?). I do suppose that MSN spaces (or "Windows Live Spaces", as I suppose it's correctly referred to) is pitched at a certain "adolescent" age bracket, which blogspot or blogger or whatever you want to call it, isnt. Although that's not really a factor - I'll still write the same old dross here as I did there, so...

Actually the biggest plus point about this is that they let you design the look and feel of the thing yourself. With HTML! Thats probably the only realy plus point actually, although I've only just started playing with it...

So yeah, this wont look like this (with one of the themes they supply) for long - I've purposely chosen a theme I don't like the look of, to provide an incentive to myself to change it. In theory...

Basically, what I'm trying to say is that this is very much a work in progress for now. So be gentle with me :-)