Archive for January, 2010

• Almost the new view from my desk RT @eyedoubleyou: http://twitpic.com/zokqc – My new view from my desk. #
• Anyone know a decent barbers in Liverpool city centre? #
• Rejoined Liverpool Libraries now I'm 10 minutes walk from Central Library #
• @DanDiplo Thanks I'll take a look – given the state of my hair at the moment anything would be better. in reply to DanDiplo #
• @ghostwoods Shouldn't that be American democracy was murdered, Again? in reply to ghostwoods #
• Test Please Ignore: Just to see if the tag is working for me #fb #
• Test Please Ignore: Just to see if selective tweet to facebook is working for me #fb #
• There are so many Sayers,Gregs,Prets and other purveyors of sandwiches near here that if you swung a stale roll the odds are you'd hit one #
• So the BBC employ lazy plagarists? RT @jearle: Blog Post – BBC Munchy Box infringement #
• @ehlanakovas Good Luck in reply to ehlanakovas #
• Working in the city centre is great but just been finding barbers. Prices £15, £14 and £45. £45 for a hair cut! 4th place wins with £8 #fb #
• @DanDiplo No I really don't care either lol in reply to DanDiplo #
• How long will it be before Sanitary Towel is a twitter trending topic thanks to the iPad launch? #
• @jonrog1 I'd say yes but since its on Bravo so I'm still not going to get to see it for a little while in reply to jonrog1 #
• Interesting new tactic from a spammer: "been some time since you left a comment on my blog" don't remember ever commenting on that blog #
• Looking for an Open Source, LAMP ticketing system. Any suggestions or recommendations? #
• @jearle Thanks. I'll take a look at RedMine. in reply to jearle #
• Murray celebrates with Edvard Munch's Scream homage? RT @qwghlm: Wow, Andy Murray's mouth is huge: http://is.gd/7dbKp #
• @Danacea Like the new background in reply to Danacea #
• @ehlanakovas Good luck in reply to ehlanakovas #
• . @KimKnox Cyberduck sounds like it should be from a modern sort of rhyming slang for use by Tech support #
• Who should I follow Friday? Looking for suggestions of writers, gamers or interesting people to follow – especially those that follow back #
• L2 5/10 #uksnow #
• L2 0/10 #uksnow – and as fast as it appeared we're back to dazzling sunlight #
• . @jearle @johnmcc uksnow seemed to get me more follows than follow Friday that's why I want suggestions for who I should follow #
• @ehlanakovas So a case of Swings (Cash) against Roundabouts (Commute) then. Better luck next time. in reply to ehlanakovas #
• Traces of light overnight snow in shade in Liverpool #uksnow #
• Big plus of working moving to city centre: all shopping done by 10AM. Saturdays are mine again. Saturday Kitchen and then a bit of writing. #
• listening to "Placebo – Running Up That Hill" ♫ http://blip.fm/~k1gew #
• Just watched The Good The Bad The Weird. Korean Pulp era Western. It's Good, It's Weird, it's not at all Bad and Funny too 9/10 #

My apologies to anyone who was trying to download anything directly from impworks.  I managed to knock out the download handling so all the links were broken.  It’s up and running again now.

• For sale Endeavour one careful owner 166,003,247 km on the clock a snip at $28.8 million. http://bit.ly/7odtYa #
• Very nice pasta for lunch at Mango now to look at some Joomla. #
• Just found the notes for the social networking site I built for Liverpool Uni alumni in 2000. Not that we called it social networking in Y2K #
• Is every book seller doing a books of the decade list and did they come up with it on the afternoon before their Christmas party? #
• Mind bleach wont be enough for that RT @jearle , @jesusdiaz, @frucci: The future of video games is here!!!! http://bit.ly/SvvrA #
• 1753 banks withheld tax for 11 days over calendar change yet they think @billybragg withholding will cause anarchy http://bit.ly/5jUIpv #
• I'm far too tired to operate 3D software or heavy machinery. Or operate a web browser. And definitly shouldn't tweet either. Bed Time. #
• @KimKnox The Sherlock Holmes story? #
• Wonder if it was as easy finding red-heads as it was for @alyankovic to find dancers for fat @KimKnox #
• Well I went with Bernard Cribbins for a change the other day lol @KimKnox and here is something different for a change http://bit.ly/8egvLy #
• @KimKnox If you're going with horns and wings why not go the whole hog and include a tail too? in reply to KimKnox #
• Very cool lol RT @pookie_uk I need a new dressing gown: http://forbiddenplanet.com/49389-star-wars-jedi-bath-robe/ #
• @KimKnox "Anyone for Talons" sounds like a naughty, demon take on the romcon Wimbledon – you know you want to write it lol in reply to KimKnox #
• @pookie_uk Wasn't that a skit on the Mary White House Experience about WWII films? Might make for an intersting CoC or ToC comedy adventure. in reply to pookie_uk #
• That's the one "Spot the Stiff" RT: @pookie_uk @impworks Yes. http://bit.ly/4PZ3Xr #
• Sometimes you just know from a new followers username that the profile will read "suspended due to strange activity" #
• Looks like Technorati have sorted out (at least some) of the problems with their claim process… #
• RT @AndyBold: My money for the "What's Apple calling it's tablet?" bet is firmly on iClaudius. #
• Google Browser Size – see the proportion of visitors that can see each part of your web page http://bit.ly/6TEJR0 #
• RT @qwghlm: Over 400 self-professed experts in "gorilla marketing" on LinkedIn http://is.gd/6EF0K #
• Is a Gorilla Marketer someone who markets to the largest of the living primates or a Gorilla who works in marketing? #gorillamarketing #
• Added http://translateth.is/ button to http://www.impworks.co.uk/ in about five minutes including CSS tweaking #
• RT @newscientistTV Watch an 'intelligent' oil droplet find its way out a of maze http://bit.ly/68mjQJ #
• Reading Ragnarok #56 and wondering if I should enter the Fantasy Air Wargame Competition… #
• Gamers Help Haiti! Join together with other gamers and donate now: http://bit.ly/8DgkTC #
• Possibly the most pointless feature for a website – a talking head to greet/talk to but apparently there is now a new generation available. #
• @richeym I wasn't even here when it went off but now I've got it playing in my head. Thanks. lol. #
• 100 games as cakes http://bit.ly/5Yyn6T #
• @KimKnox Depending on the clothes you had delivered that may also good news for everyone else on the delivery route lol in reply to KimKnox #
• Only 400,000 pureHMV points for a pair of BAFTA ticket. Thats £2000 spent at HMV for each ticket. Interesting use of the word Only. #
• I really wouldn't care about followers dropping to 0 if I wasn't on 99 #
• Going offline now till after work tomorrow – office is offline tomorrow as we move to Liverpool city centre. #
• @jearle Lists was a 2009 fad? I could make a list of years it was a fad in if you want. Decade ends just give jurnos more excuses. in reply to jearle #
• Left the strangely empty office for the last time. Working in the city centre from Monday should be interesting. #
• If Tasseography is divination by tea leaves what is reading marks on the carpet left by years of sitting at the same desk called? #
• RT: @sizemore RT: @cgeds Bernard Cribbins Q&A video at the BFI http://bit.ly/6WH4vt #
• I should be writing a magic systems for the game I can't name but I'm working on a game for the SFSFW Flying wargames competition instead. #
• Curry bubbling away nicely on the stove and an improved version of last weeks 1860 stars render about to start bubbling away on my PC #
• The curry was eye watering but delicious and the render is now done but the colour got lost on the way to YouTube http://bit.ly/8ldJ8a #

Last week I posted a Rotating Star Field. I’ve enhanced the script that builds the Vue scene from the star data to approximate the colour of the stars from their spectra and to size them relative to each other too. Unfortunately the high quality, uncompressed render comes in at about 1.2GB and I’ve yet to manage to upload it onto YouTube without some loss of quality. The version embedded above looks pretty good full screen but the colours have unfortunately been lost somewhere in the compression and transmission of the video.

I’ve just added a Translate.This button in about 5 minutes to the left hand menu. Looks to be a nice little JavaScript implementation of the Google translation service. I know there are WordPress plug-ins to do this but I’ve had mixed experience with those in the past so I’m going to try this one out for a while.

• John Lewis put hot water bottles with beauty products. Could you explain to me how I apply a hot water bottle to make me look nicer? #
• @richeym Not sure how I didn't go head over heals yesterday. Went for a full blown, arms windmilling slide. Could happen to anyone. in reply to richeym #
• Keep digging @aniakovas we could use the heat from the centre of the earth lol. So I should press a hot water bottle to my face @KimKnox ? #
• Warming Pancetta, Chorizo and Broad Bean Risotto http://bit.ly/6G2XP3 #recipe #
• Doesn't a Valentines Day hot water bottle sort of send the wrong message? #
• #uksnow L7 1/10 #
• Read this for the highly evocative line about Sue Barker gnawing through your forearm http://bit.ly/7j4cjY #
• #uksnow L7 2/10 #
• Last night's delicious risotto recipe http://bit.ly/6G2XP3 #food #
• Should the Daily Mail be getting hot under the collar about hot water bottle sniffing? http://bit.ly/4RIFmF #
• Most annoying person of 2009? Whoever decided to make it @ BBC in the 1st place. 2nd most annoying whoever decided to repeat it ad nauseum. #
• listening to "Weird Al Yankovic Amish Paradise" ♫ http://blip.fm/~j2ql3 #
• Ad for M&S sports bras on Critical Hits web site: either the ad algorithm is bad or was written by a lech http://bit.ly/7kYMmU #
• Time to do a little writing before bed. #
• #uksnow L7 3/10 Between 1 to 3 cm on the ground and rising while temperatures feel like they are falling. #
• @iancockayne Shouldn't that be last week. Unless you know something we don't. in reply to iancockayne #
• #uksnow L7 4/10 #
• For @iancockayne – remember what happens to the man in the hat ♫ http://blip.fm/~j3t4m #
• #uksnow L7 3/10 #
• If that's not work safe @iancockayne then this take on Mos Eisley Cantina is out too http://bit.ly/798MPt #
• @KimKnox Yes that one is very weird in reply to KimKnox #
• @KimKnox You have a tendency to say "Fire up the Quattro" ? in reply to KimKnox #
• @KimKnox Especially not the heroine unless you're writing a spin off,alt universe,gender reversal,70s retro,cop show about DCI Jennet Hunt #
• If the iPhone came out in the '80s would there have been an #appforthat so you could find the A-Team? http://bit.ly/8WObAj #
• @jearle Can we have a twibbon for the don't use twibbon's campaign? I vote for it being transparent on a transparent background. in reply to jearle #
• @jearle I'm just adding one now in reply to jearle #
• “If no-one out there understands, start your own revolution and cut out the middleman.” Billy Bragg: Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards #
• @richeym Why wait 18 months? Not like any club that stuck with a manager ever got anywhere did they? in reply to richeym #
• International SF Dance Competition '77 Finalists France: http://bit.ly/6SrleW UK: US: http://bit.ly/6oK6A5 #
• Do the plots on numb3rs just feel forced? And why are they obsessed with snipers (that could be my random sampling of episodes) #
• A little writing and then bed. #
• @jearle Have your say should be renamed have your nasty rant at the different people. Or dropped to save some cash. in reply to jearle #
• @aeonofdiscord This could be the start of the great haveyoursay Twitter war of 2010… in reply to aeonofdiscord #
• "Vent Your Pustulescent Spleen" #renamehaveyoursay #
• Oops. Hadopi, French Anti-Piracy organisation, uses pirated font in its logo and then tries to cover it up http://bit.ly/6gR0Ji #
• @KimKnox You forgot a Zombie god? Just a small time bit part then. in reply to KimKnox #
• Don't Click Here #renamehaveyoursay #
• Glad to be rid of the white stuff too & back to normal @pookie_uk @ehlanakovas. Hope your hangover won't last as long as the ice @DanDiplo. #
• Just got a little python script working to import position of 120,000 stars into Vue as an EcoSystem #
• @KimKnox Congratulations on Her Dark Soul release date in reply to KimKnox #
• @very_true_thing So Jurasic Park 4 will be set in your freezer then? in reply to very_true_thing #
• A quick test animation showing 1860 stars within 20 parsecs of the sun http://bit.ly/7C2g5k now off to work on a better version #vue #
• Yes BBC homepage advert I will listen online Super Bad, Super Cool except iPlayer say its not available to listen online #fail #

A tweet last night took me to a site that linked to another The Astronomy Nexus which had a handy csv file of astronomical data.  The CSV includes all stars in Hipparcos or closer than 50 parsecs to us. Thats almost 120,000 stars.  I knocked together a quick script to import the data into Vue and create an ecosystem of white billboard objects.  The static render of the whole Ecosystem looks like a lot of white dots on a black background and isn’t particularly intersting.  So I put together the little animation above of   all the stars in the dataset within 20 parsecs of the sun with the Sun at the centre rotating around which makes it a bit more intersting by showing the third dimension.

I’m working on an enhanced version of the script using spheres instead of an EcoSystem so I can add make the points more distinct.

A warming risotto for the cold snap.  Feeds 4.

Ingredients

• 2 Onion Chopped
• 2 cloves Garlic finely Chopped
• 1tbsp Olive Oil
• 225g Frozen Broad Beans
• 150g Chorizo Sausage – Cooked and chopped into chunks
• 150g Smoked Pancetta – Diced
• 350g Risotto Rice
• 1.2l Chicken Stock
• 1tbsp or fresh Dried Thyme
• 1tbsp Dried or fresh Oregano
• Salt and Black Pepper
• Parmesan Cheese

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a large pan or flameproof casserole.
2. Add the onion garlic and diced pancetta to the oil and cook gently for 5 minutes stirring occassionaly.
3. Add the rice to the pan and cook for 1 minute stirring.
4. Add 300ml of the stock to the pan and simmer stirring frequently till all the liquid is adsorbed.
5. Cook the broad beans in slightly salted water in a pan for three minutes while carrying out step 6.  Drain and set asside.
6. Over 30-35 minutes add the stock 1 ladelful at a time stirring constantly until the rice is just tender and creamy.  Almost all the liquid should have been adsorbed.  You may not need all of the stock.
7. Stir in the Herbs, Chorinzo and Beans.  Heat gently.
8. Serve sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.

• A little messing around with WordPress to get page thumbnails into a nice little in page navigation grid #
• listening to "Vic Reeves and the Wonderstuff – Dizzy" ♫ http://blip.fm/~inpsp #
• I've typed the date 8 times today and put 2010 and not 2009 every time. Bet I'll still get it wrong when I write 1st check of the year… #
• @jearle If I were them I'd go with the James Ernest's Totally Renamed Spy Game angle. Change the name and ride the publicity. in reply to jearle #
• Memo to self – don't let the half baked CoC scenario brew up till @pookie_uk has been sufficiently bribed. #
• Sites Upgraded to WordPress 2.9.1 #
• 2cm of snow on the ground in Liverpool #
• @ehlanakovas Thankfully its stopped snowing here. The police are controlling HGVs going towards the city centre because of ice on the slopes in reply to ehlanakovas #
• #uksnow L7 9NJ 3/10 #
• #uksnow L7 9NJ 0/10 #
• #uksnow L7 2/10 #
• #uksnow L7 4/10 #
• Reverse image search – find where a picture is used on the web: http://bit.ly/8BWHHw #
• #uksnow L7 5/10 #
• .@aniakovas To decode the #uksnow 'codes' take a look at http://bit.ly/8fG1Ki #
• @aniakovas It was there a minute a go. Probably taking quite a hammering at the moment. in reply to aniakovas #
• #uksnow L7 6/10 #
• @richeym Looks like we'll be fighting our way out of here tonight. in reply to richeym #
• #uksnow L13 4/10 #
• @pookie_uk Are Moogie and Miw cats? in reply to pookie_uk #
• Snowfall 2 – The Return of the White Stuff http://bit.ly/786lDu #
• @pookie_uk With those names I thought so but these days it can be hard to tell sometimes lol in reply to pookie_uk #
• @pookie_uk Glad to hear it. What is the San check for a kid whose called Moogie? in reply to pookie_uk #
• #uksnow L13 0/10 but 10-15cm deep underfoot #
• @jearle Hope your luggage escaped the UK before the snow hit. Otherwise its traditional Con practice of buying a fresh T-shirt each day. in reply to jearle #
• Just checking but 4x4s are supposed to go along a road straight and not an angle of 45 degrees like the one that just went by? #
• 6500 files to FTP – this may take some time… #
• RT @mericson: Beautiful victorian infographics including some lovely hand-drawn maps. Via @kottke http://bit.ly/4H9JTa #
• @very_true_thing I wish I could wait but I really needed a hair cut. The local barber I trusted shut up shop a couple of weeks into December in reply to very_true_thing #
• @Danacea I often wonder that myself and then go back to reading or writing instead in reply to Danacea #
• Snow looks so much prettier when seen through glass from a warm room. #
• @DanDiplo Don't swap it for one on a flood plain. in reply to DanDiplo #
• Leon (whoever and wherever you are) she still loves you and could you take her 3 litres of milk #wrongnumber #
• .@DanDiplo Mondeo: Latin for "To Moon" #
• When you read the line "It's cold outside" do you think of Tom Jones or Red Dwarf? #
• @pookie_uk The original version or the remake? The original is (a slightly dated) treat. Haven't seen the remake. in reply to pookie_uk #
• When you read the line "It's cold outside" do you think of Tom Jones or Red Dwarf? – Red Dwarf winning 3 to none so far… #
• @Danacea Might be a call centre using an autodialler to make spam calls but not enough staff to deal with all the calls picked up. in reply to Danacea #
• Hairiest moment walking home: Renault van driven by an idiot at silly speed on sheet ice ended up going sideways at a T-Junction #uksnow #
• @aniakovas Thanks. I just stayed out of his way and watched to see where he'd end up. Looks like you're getting hit by the snow there again. in reply to aniakovas #
• When you read the line "It's cold outside" do you think of Tom Jones or Red Dwarf? – Red Dwarf currently 4 nill up. #
• I love it when a plan comes together… http://bit.ly/8WObAj #
• Corollary to Sod's Law: The ball of string will be in the last place you look for it. #
• 2nd Corollory to Sod's Law: How long is a piece of string? Not quite long enough. #
• When you read the line "It's cold outside" do you think of Tom Jones or Red Dwarf? – Red Dwarf 4 Tom Jones 1 Neither 4 #
• @McMonkeyBoy Table top games – Role playing games and wargames mostly but board games and card games too. in reply to McMonkeyBoy #
• @McMonkeyBoy I've nothing against GW but I tend to be a bit more niche Trash Tokyo, Slag! and games from Wessex Games amongst others. in reply to McMonkeyBoy #
• "It's cold outside" late breaking new entry Dean Martin. Red Dwarf 4 Tom Jones 1 Neither 4 Dean Martin 1 #
• @KadrinaLage Absolutely no purpose. It started as a random thought but since it got replies I thought I'd keep score… in reply to KadrinaLage #
• @aniakovas The only string theory I know involves the clangers and a dragon if that helps… in reply to aniakovas #
• Just finished watching A Town Called Eureka Season 2 http://bit.ly/6EszEC #

I finished watching Season 2 of A Town Called Eureka tonight. I like TV shows about quirky communities. A Town Called Eureka is an excellent addition to the likes of Twin Peaks, Northern Exposure, the first season of The League of Gentlemen and Trumpton. Each uses an outsider as a way into the strange place: Special Agent Dale Cooper, Joel Fleischman, Benjamin Denton and Brian Cant. Eureka has Jack Carter a U.S. Marshal who arrives in the town by accident. Twin peaks has its murder, Northern Exposure has oddness, The League of Gentlemen has its dark goings on and Trumpton has its musical box. It’s not a huge spoiler to reveal that Eureka has the largest collection of geniuses anywhere on the planet with budgets for all sorts of things to go horribly wrong.

By season two he is settled into town and the main characters have been established. The actors or possibly it’s the writers who are more comfortable with the characters. The inclusion of Joe Morton (Terminator 2) and Matt Frewer (Max Headroom) gives the show a certain ambiance without resorting to some of the more often used guest actors who might be brought in to add geek appeal. The large number of recurring characters gives the town the feel of a real place with real lives at risk when things threaten to go horribly wrong.

Season 2 has more of a story line connecting the episodes. It sticks to a style of story telling I like as there is no recourse to endings that come out of nowhere supported by a bit of technobable. Stories tend to misdirect both the characters and the audience before revealing how pieces already revealed fit together. Personally I find that a lot more satisfying than, say, some Doctor Who episodes. Not that Eureka is above technobable or extrapolated science but its a comedy not a documentary.

I’m not going to risk spoilling a series which relies on the viewer being a visitor to a strange place by going into anymore detail.   Highly recommended for anyone who like comedy science fiction but if you’ve not seen Season 1 watch that first.