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The Bellinghman
Name: The Bellinghman
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Off in the distance
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To [info]crazyscot, born when I was working at Dundee University.

Eeek!
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I see that Ben Goldacre's Bad Science is currently linking to [info]reddragdiva's News of the News article
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There's a question on the front page of the BBC News site which asks 'Will you be watching Murray?'.

Coincidentally, for some reason, the site has slowed to a crawl.

(It's one set all, apparently, according to the page that eventually loaded.)
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Paging [info]autopope
BBC: Billions stolen in online robbery

Space trading game Eve Online has suffered a virtual version of the credit crunch.

One of the game's biggest financial institutions lost a significant chunk of its deposits as a huge theft started a run on the bank.
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Many happy returns to [info]marykaykare. Let's hope we see you next month.
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Many happy returns to [info]ephiriel.
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is that they aren't always obviously right or wrong.

Spokeswoman for campaign group Feminists Against Censorship Avedor Carol said ...

(From http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8089811.stm)

Avedon might have something to say here.
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Avoiding 'wheelies' slows animals: The acceleration of four-legged animals appears to be limited by their need to avoid tipping upward, thus losing traction as their legs miss the ground.

This is interesting. The first creatures we know of that had high 'warm-blooded' metabolisms were the dinosaurs. And the dinosaurs were the first group of creatures that started using bipedalism. (Not all, of course, not the slow browsers.) Perhaps they became two-legged because once you have so much muscle power that you start rearing up when you try to rush, you might as well go with it and put all the power into the legs that stay on the ground.

It'd also explain why cheetahs have non-retracting claws: those claws aren't primarily for attack, they're for extra grip.

(If I recall correctly, a good sprinter can beat a racehorse off the line - just not over the first furlong.)
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The current issue of Private Eye has an advert for Old Peculier in it, talking about a Latino lovely.

Now call me daft, but I managed to misread it to mean a lovely who was a Latino rather than a Latina. i.e. one who was specifically male. Given the picture shows a leggy brunette in a bikini, I started wondering about the millionaire also mentioned.
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Well, note to self: don't try doing tech support when late at night.

That ADSL modem router WiFi firewall box thingy that apparently wouldn't work anymore?

It does work.

It did come up on its default address of 192.168.1.1, but there was a reason I'd failed to be able to connect to it. Now, I'm perfectly aware that a /24 netmask on my PC would prevent my machine on 192.168.0.5 being able to see it, so I'd widened the netmask to a /16.

What I'd forgotten, at 01:00, is that the router would then receive the packets, but be unable to return them, because its netmask was still a /24.

Last night, I switched my IP address to 192.168.1.5, and suddenly the router was there after all. In a totally virgin state, admittedly, but that's why I have a backup of its configuration. Uploaded that, let it restart, reverted my IP address, and it was all hunky dorey again.

Oh well, it's nice to know that we have a spare working router if it does decide to die (and £25 is not a lot of money for that peace of mind). And that I know where all the password and logon details are.

In other news, the graphics card, the one that wants a minimum 450W PSU and that had been somewhat flaky when run with a 430W PSU, didn't get any more reliable when hooked up to a 700W PSU. So we also have a spare PSU for next time one dies.
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We're used to films producing egregious errors in matters historical and geographical, but there's a fine example in Transformers (slight spoilers) )
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First I fall off the bridge across to Spirit Rise in Thunderbluff.

And then I fall off the Internet while doing the corpse run.

The ADSL modem decided that that was the moment to fry its brain. It's still working as a switch, but it's gone away both on its configured port, and on its default port. (And I tried a hard reset.) So it's time to get a replacement. (It's not the first time I've seen one do this: its predecessor managed the same trick.)

Damn.
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Victoria Hesketh or Victoria Wood?

I've been listening to the track Hands off the current album of the same name, and I have to say that it sounds almost like something that the latter artist would have performed.

(Very sweet, though.)
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The big problem with pre-ordering stuff a long way ahead is that one can forget one's ever done so, and end up reordering it.

So I was chuffed today to receive a refund into my PayPal account from Subterranean Press for a duplicate order. The item in question being a limited edition (and I believe, sold out) book, it's probably sensible for them to have done the refund.

(Half of the refund has gone straight back out.)
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Because it may be about to be getting easier: GM agrees Saab sale to Koenigsegg.

(Koenigsegg currently make 18 cars a year. Saab make 90,000. That's a factor difference of 5,000.)

I can see this deal quite possibly falling through.
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Many happy returns to the [info]knell of Zurich.
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Today's update is nerfing Death Knight frost presence.

(Armour bonus down from 80% to 60%)

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The BBC is reporting that Hazel Blears has gone from the cabinet.
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To 2 wonderful women: [info]mizkit (who looks incredibly good for someone apparently born in 1933) and [info]mrscosmopilite who allegedly dates back to the year 0.

I think you two are fibbing about your ages, 'mkay?
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We'd flown into Japan, and were actually on a tram into the city when I realised that everything was still on the plane. Wallet, passport, money, luggage, everything except the clothes we were wearing.

And we'd passed the first junction in the tram lines, so I wasn't sure that just catching a tram back in the opposite direction would even take us back to the airport.

At this point, I realised we were in a real mess.

And then, logic came to my rescue. If the passport was still back on the plane, then there was no way I could have cleared immigration. And if I couldn't have cleared immigration, then ipso facto, I couldn't be where I was. Therefore, this was a dream, and I could wake up, please?

So I did.
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I find it interesting that a new impetus seems to be developing of having Eastercon guests who aren't immediately obvious SF&F connected.

In 2008, it was Mitch Benn.

Next year, it appears that not only we be getting Mitch again (and he's someone we'll go over to Norwich to pay to see), but also Ben Goldacre. Hooray.

It's not that people from outside both SF and fandom haven't been invited before, but I think we're beginning to see a new impetus to look outward more than has been common in the recent era.

(It'd be lovely to see Dara O'Briain coming along one day. Ah, I can dream.)

ETA: I should point out that the convention is at Heathrow - we drove over to Norwich just to go to one of Mitch's gigs, about three hours round trip driving.
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Schoolgirl charged over £750k drug farm.

A quick bit of cursory research indicates that that may be about 2-300 plants.
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A quick public service announcement: Membership has opened for the Discworld Convention 2010.

(And yes, we're joined. And the membership list is live, so from starting to join through to appearing on the list is a matter of moments.)
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There's a BBC story here which turns out alright in the end.

"The [999 emergency service] operator raised the alarm when she heard heavy breathing and shouting.

"Come out or else, I'm warning you", were the last words she heard before the call ended and she alerted police."
[...]
A spokesman for West Mercia Police said: "Staff thought they had a violent domestic or even a potential murder on their hands.

"For a few moments, they wondered what sort of incident they were dealing with.

"An operator phoned the number back hesitantly, only to be greeted by a very apologetic woman who confirmed that all was well and that the culprit was not her husband- but the dog. You just couldn't think this stuff up, could you."

A puppy chewing the phone ...
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Somewhat belatedly to [info]clanwilliam.

(But I've been away from my PC since yesterday morning.)
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To [info]dduane and [info]krabbe, both of whom have immigrated to the Emerald Isle.
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This is the current state of the recipe. Makes enough for 2 large loaves, with an overall start to yumyumyum time of about 3 hours 30 minutes.

procedure, with pictures )

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For [info]desperance and any other foodies
Last night's recipe, serves two

350g bison, diced
500g potato, diced
2 medium onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely sliced (I have a small mandolin which is excellent for this)
Handful of frozen sweetcorn kernels
Half handful of frozen broad beans
2 tbsp mushroom ketchup
1 dash of balsamic vinegar
Handful of dried sliced mushrooms
2 glasses red wine
1 bouquet garni
Olive oil as required
Water as required

Sweat the onions and garlic in a little olive oil in a casserole pan. When soft, put to one side.
Brown the diced bison chunks in a little olive oil.
Return the onion and garlic, and add the remainder of the ingredients.
Add sufficient water to just cover the food.
Bring to the boil, cover, and then simmer over a low heat for 90 minutes.
Remove the bouquet garni, and serve the rest

Works nicely with a Cote du Rhone Villages red. Ver', ver' nice

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I notice that today is [info]rillaith's birthday. Many happy returns, lass!
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A question for those of you who play World of Warcraft (and those who don't may stop reading right now).

Marcia Chase in Dalaran doesn't seem to be interested in telling my character Mardia about the daily fishing quests. Anyone know what I might be missing?

Level - 80.
Fishing - 440.
Kirin Tor - friendly.
Have done three different Shattrath daily fishing quests.
Done all the fountain coin achievements.

No sign of any quest giving though. She's perfectly willing to trade, and she even trained Mardia to Grand Mastership in fishing.

ETA: Well, duh! I seem to have picked up Monsterbelly Appetite at some point. And since that's the quest which doesn't involve her as the end point, she didn't have the question mark over her head that would have been a clue.

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On looking at the orbital diagram on this BBC report (from this BBC article), I got confused.

Do they really think the moon follows a polar orbit?

(I'm having real intuition problems with an orbit round L2, but that's possibly me. I also have problems with 3753 Cruithne.)

ETA: OK, it seems to be the introduction of perspective into the diagram, not something apparent from the rest of the diagram which gave me the impression of a plan (or rather side) view.
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According to the Inquirer, the EU assembly has voted overwhelmingly against an attempt by some individual governments to impose the ability for the MPAA and RIAA and IIPA and co. to cut off Internet users without due process.
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Amazon's new Kindle

Now that's getting to the point that it's starting to tick my boxes. (I'll accept that not everyone wants something that size, but horse for courses.)

Current Music: Hawkwind: Levitation

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Which is to say, I think this bread recipe is pretty much cracked.

The only problem is that half a loaf disappears pretty much immediately.
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Flora Thompson: Lark Rise to Candleford

Paperback: 528 pages
Publisher: Folio Socienty
ISBN-10: (The Folio Society doesn't do ISBNs)
Category(ies): Fiction, Social History

The review ) I will be rereading this. My sister Dorcas (not to be confused etc.) apparently does so every couple of years.

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Brown defeated over Gurkha rules (BBC)

Which is good. A couple of thousand years ago, Rome gave citizenship rights to those who'd served in its armed forces for a sufficient period. It's been shameful that this country hasn't done the same. If people are willing to fight and die for this country, then we should permit them to live here after their service is finished.
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OK, this is to note a variation in the recipé, so I know what I've done (and it's only just gone into the over):

500g potatoes, steamed then mashed
75 ml olive oil
1000g plain flour
3 tsp salt
75 g fresh yeast
250 ml water

Mixing the flour and mashed potato, and adding more flour and water as I go until I've got a stiffer dough.

The rising is nothing like as explosive (about 90 minutes to double in volume) and I'm baking for 40 minutes rather than 30.

ETA: Note that these are the changes: the loaf is still steam baked, as per previous post. See comments for picture of the result.

Also, I moistened the top and added poppy seed to the top.

Conclusion: a bit more water (this was half the previous amount) next time, and maybe a 35 minute bake.

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The trilogy Lark Rise to Candleford is set at the end of the nineteenth century on the Oxfordshire/Northamptonshire/Buckinghamshire borders. Although written in a memoir form, Flora Thompson fictionalised some names, most notably the title place-names and the young Laura. A few other places aren't named, though it's interesting to see which places she gives the proper names to.

out in the English countryside ) It's odd going back to a place that one effectively left three decades earlier. It's carried on its own way, oblivious to my life, and I to its. The old centre is much the same (with, happily, somewhat less traffic, since it's no longer a through road), and I felt a twinge of longing for it. But I've lived many other places since, and though when I left, I'd spent the then-majority of my life there, that period is now so long ago.

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I've been playing around with a recipe from my late godfather, which was published twice that I know of, firstly in a book on Bakery by his mother, and then in his own book on Cakes. The Florises were a family of bakers, based in Soho (on Brewer Street, you may still be able to find a door lintel with the name 'Floris' carved into it), having immigrated from Hungary in the 1930s. They liked this bread well enough to sell it under their family name, and my mother remembers it fondly from when she was young.

It's unusual in making use of potato, as well as plain (not bread) flour. The result is a soft, light bread that gets eaten before it has a chance to go stale, but stays fresh much longer than any other bread I've made.

This is the version of the recipe I used on Saturday. It's a little modified from the original, which actually uses twice as much salt, and a little more yeast.

the recipé )

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Current Music: Bat For Lashes: Good Love

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While reading the books, something finally trickled through my brain. Perhaps it's the description of the first trip to Candleford (early in book 2) wherein it is mentioned that Laura and Edmund have been to the market town often enough, and Candleford is not all that much further.

Market town? When the hamlet folk go shopping, they're going somewhere else?

Oh, of course. They're going to Brackley.

It does rather ruin the sense you get that the Lark Rise folk are always popping into Candleford: they probably almost never went there, having a perfectly good shopping town a couple of miles closer.

(And I realised another problem with the scenery the other evening - the corn fields aren't filled with poppies.)
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After 50 years, the M10 will stop being a motorway.

Which means that the road number will now be freed up, and eventually may be assigned to a totally different road (as per the A14, which used to terminate 400 metres behind me, and which is now 20 minutes drive away).

The rationale is to permit non-motorway traffic to be able to travel between St Albs and Hemel. But the M10 currently merges directly into the M1, so they're going to have to do something at that end.

(Given the recent roadworks in the area, I suspect they're going to run some separated lanes parallel to the M1 for a mile or two, until it reaches the next junction.)

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Looking at the photographic view of our house, I see that the picture has been updated.

It was taken last year: the yellow lines are fresh on the road, so it was no earlier than last year, yet the trees are in full leaf, the cherry not in bloom, so it's not this year.

My car is there, [info]bellinghwoman's is not (and my manager's one is in his parking space at work - he normally uses the space next to mine in the overflow carpark, and yes, this is probably the same scan).

So it's a weekday, approximately 9:00, give or take 45 minutes.

It's not Monday: the bins aren't out.

The trees are casting shadows, so the weather is good.

Aha: the harvest has been done, with the last of the bales still in the fields. So probably September last year.

All the people parked down our street, only light traffic on the roads: the rush hour period is definitely over, it's probably closer to 9:30, give or take 15 minutes. So, there's only 2 hours a week in which it is likely to have been, and probably only a half-dozen or so weeks that it could have been. That's a total of twelve hours, admittedly spread out, during which it is probable that the aerial view was taken.

With full weather records, plus my manager's time sheets, I could probably narrow it down further if I really wanted to.
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I think I'm beginning to get the hang of this SQL thing.

I've just written an INNER JOIN of a table to itself.

(It also does a LEFT JOIN to another table.)

And it does what I wanted.
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to Georgina May, daughter of [info]perdita_fysh.
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I screen anonymous posts to this journal.

Almost all anonymous posts to date are junk. I just removed two, from the same IP, the first of which was in Japanese (most are), and the second which, in English, asked me to contact the poster.

(No links in either)

Now, what is the point of the latter? With no ID, I can hardly friend them, email, them, go to a web site, or anything except just ignore it.
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I have two more issues

1 When displaying the text in the status bar for an opponent, the text appears to be double printed.
2 It's forgotten some places I've been to. The most egregious example was being told I'd discovered the Forlorn Cavern in Ironforge, the same Forlorn Cavern in which I'd spent many a happy hour fishing. (Unless this might be a case where they've created a new subzone ...)

Before I end up sounding like a broken record, I should say that there are definite improvements. The graphics seem to have been sharpened up, several icons are nicer, and the voice chat stuff appears to work better than previously (though that could just be me). If the bugs found (and with tens of millions of users, they will be found) are quickly fixed, I'd say it's generally positive (even if they have, as expected, nerfed Death Knights somewhat).

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Or MFUs, as Steve McConnell of Microsoft so aptly christened them. (For Major Fuck Ups)

No, I'm not talking about the Amazon case, which seems to have come together in a perfect storm of awful timing and disastrous applicability.

I'm talking about World of Warcraft. So far, I've seen two particular bugs. The first is that, if you pay your GP1000 and dual spec your talent tree, your talent trees get terribly confused (though the underlying data seems correct - I can still do a Corpse Explosion, even though the Talent Tree for my DK shows it greyed out).

The second it that, having put my screen into windowed mode, I can't get it out again. Oh, it selects non-windowed in the UI. But it isn't non-windowed, and the moment you go back in, the 'Windowed Mode' tickbox is ticked again.

Oops.

I expect a bugfix next update day.

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Outside, the daffodils are wilting in the heat. That is just so wrong: they should have come earlier (but the snow didn't go till late) and have had time to flower and seed before the heat arrives.

(It's 22C out there. If it weren't for the lack of any leaves on many of the trees visible, I'd be able to say it is summer.)
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As we were about to join the A1 on the way up to Bradford for Eastercon, [info]bellinghwoman commented that although the A1 is probably a less saturated transport link than the M1, it does have a number of roundabouts on it.

We then proceeded to encounter a grand total of one roundabout between there and the southern outskirts of Bradford, and that one was being swarmed by traffic cones. In two places, our SmartNav asked us to negotiate now-non-existent roundabouts, and there were two other places that roundabouts had disappeared since I last drove that way about two years ago. That's an 80% reduction in the 110 miles that we covered.

However, you should not take that as indicating an imminent death of the species. Oh no, far from it, for as roundabouts have been disappearing from some places, they've been appearing in others. On the A1198, we crossed 15 roundabouts on our way home, 75% of the count for the entire journey in a mere 20 or so miles. The bypasses for Papworth and Caxton each add three previously non-existent rotary interchanges.

I suspect that although roundabouts are being taken off the longer, faster routes, they're being added in large numbers elsewhere with the creation of village bypasses. Since such a bypass usually has a roundabout at each end, and with many villages being effectively based on crossroads, I would guess that the modal number of roundabouts per such bypass is three. (Towns tend to have more roads meeting, so for a town bypass, I'd guess four.)

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... and congratulations.

To [info]la_marquise_de_, who won this year's Doc Weir award, a wonderful thing that marks British Fandom's appreciation of an otherwise under-appreciated person. We agree that the candidate you wanted would be a worthy winner. Just not enough not to vote for you.

(Perhaps next time for her.)