Since changing over to the latest WordPress I’ve started seeing a steady stream of spam being sent as comments! While spammers trying to spread their filth via comments on your posts isn’t unusual, the fact that the flood started as soon as I changed to the latest version does make me wonder if the two [...]

continue reading.....

Finally got round to upgrading my wordpress installation to the latest. It didn’t take long but now I need to try and fix all the stuff I broke along the way
Over the last few days I’ve managed to do some more work on the mail servers and have tehm logging all sorts of [...]

continue reading.....

I’m finally home! Feels like a long time since I was here, though in reality it’s only been 4 days. When I go away again tomorrow morning it will mark the end of yet another long run of trips - something that used to be a rare occurance but is now becoming the norm. The [...]

continue reading.....

Just got back from a fun weekend in Newcastle visiting J. We went walking yesterday in the Cheviots and it’s confirmed my thoughts that new boots are needed! My feet were pretty sore last night but seem to be healing well today. Not been a good period for my feet between sunburn and walking. The [...]

continue reading.....

I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with the sun. My skin is typical of my heritage - fair. When exposed to the sun it doesn’t turn the goldn brown that others do, it goes red and freckly! From an early age I’ve been aware of the pain that the sun can cause and so tend [...]

continue reading.....

I noticed that the folks at openbeos (now called Haiku) have made the move to SVN. This should have been good news as it means more people using SVN on BeOS.
Amazingly enough they felt a need to produce their own distribution though! Why I can’t guess. Let’s be brutally honest. There are few enough [...]

continue reading.....

Called IBM today about my missing WiFi. I was expecting the worst - sending the laptop away for them to fix it and then trying to arrange to be around for it to be delivered back.
However, I spoke with the man on the phone and he said it could well just just be a [...]

continue reading.....

Just upgraded to the latest SlimServer software. I’ve never installed it via the ports tree and usually just leave each version in it’s own directory under my home directory, so did the same this time.
Installing it onto FreeBSD 5.3 wasn’t as smooth as previously as I came across a mild annoyance. The binary mDNSResponderPosix that [...]

continue reading.....

While travelling I take good care of my laptop. It travels with me and doesn’t go in baggage compartments, or doesn’t normally anyway. The people I work (and therefore often travel) with are generally careful with other people’s belongings, but someone on my last trip wasn’t. His general attitude was to bang, crash and general [...]

continue reading.....

My server at home recently developed a nasty little problem - repeated panics after less than 12 hours of running due to memory problems. As this box was providing DHCP and DNS it tended to cause problems for anyone trying to use the network!
The quick solution was to change to using DHCP via another box [...]

continue reading.....

The BeOS community is certainly undergoing a change at the present time and I’m not really sure where it will lead or if it’s for the better or worse in the long term. What I am reasonably sure is that it’s going to lead to pain in the short term for a lot of people. [...]

continue reading.....

The last few nights have been nice and clear for a change so I’ve been outside with my telescope. Friday night was bitterly cold so I didn’t spend long, but tonight was much warmer. Jupiter is perfectly placed for observing from my back garden so it’s been an obvious target.
The tracking on Friday night was [...]

continue reading.....

Brave people!
http://www.hymn-project.org/

continue reading.....

The doorbell rang at 9:05 and there was my new IBM X40 - exactly as it should have been! Nice when things work as they should isn’t it?
So far so good. Windows XP comes pre-installed (my first ever XP installation) and setting up was a doddle while I watched TV from last night. So far [...]

continue reading.....

So, tried to order my dad’s birthday present from an online retailer and found yet another site that really hasn’t quite got their act together. It’s usual to have a billing and delivery address, but at no point was I asked for the delivery address! I don’t want it! I want it to be delivered [...]

continue reading.....

It’s finally arrived at the time to get a new laptop and retire my trusty old Vaio. It’s done sterling service, been dragged around all over the world for the last 5 years, gone through 2 batteries and has generally provided excellent service to me. It’s just that it’s getting old and it’s not [...]

continue reading.....

Here’s a question for people. If I stopped having an involvement with BeClan, is there someone out there who could give it a new home? I’ more than willing to transfer control of the domain and will give you all the code and support during the transition.
Offers?

continue reading.....

The annoyance that are robots has led to more and more sites using human verification schemes. You know the sort I mean (try posting a comment here and you’ll see one) that prompt the user for a random phrase. Until the web robots learn how to read these they’re a sensible precaution. The question is [...]

continue reading.....

Just gotten home after what feels like a long time away. Part of the problem was that I managed to misread my schedule and so booked the Eurostar too close to my return from Beijing - leading to a manic dash home and equally manic repacking and rushing off to Waterloo. The delay to the [...]

continue reading.....

A friend saw the birth of his second child earlier this week and so I thought it might be nice to send that traditional gift - a cigar! It may be very old fashioned but as the person involved smokes anyway and I know he’s a little partial to a nice cigar, this seemed like [...]

continue reading.....