Personal

Undecided

We seem undecided in this country whether or not to go for Halloween. Once again I haven't seen a single trick-or-treater. The contrast with the canteen at work couldn't be greater; the lights were low and every surface was decked out with spiders, cobwebs and blood. Call me a killjoy but this isn't really what I want to see at lunch-time. Let's hope the nation makes up its mind not to follow America on this one.

Tech

Like clockwork

You could set your watch by it. Or maybe your calendar. Around this time every year news outlets run the same old story about summertime.

Historically the end of British Summer Time was set by an act of Parliament every three years or so. There was no requirement for a formula, a fact that in 1993 caught out Sun Microsystems who rushed out a patch to their operating system to avoid an early change. For the past few years though the UK's deferred to Europe to set the date.

But here's something I've just learnt: the dates set by Europe are driven by logic and not by some politicians' whim. Directive 2000/84/EC has the details: the last Sunday in March and the last Sunday in October.

No doubt Sun are happy.

Arts

Film: Corpse Bride

This is what happens when film-makers cut loose and have fun: I stay rooted to my seat right to the very end of the credits. Not because I expect any more, but because I want to savour what I've seen.

Corpse Bride is short. Corpse Bride funny. It's dramatic. It's a visual treat.

This should happen way more often.

Arts , Tech

Getting it

In a world where everyone seems to be moaning about how the music industry is a money-grabbing machine that refuses to face up to the changing world, it's so lovely to find a band that absolutely "gets it".

I first heard Finniston on Mark Hunter's Tartan Podcast. A couple of hours after ordering their CD I received an email thanking me and reassuring me it'd be dispatched once they returned from holiday. Today it hit my doormat, CD safely encased in newspaper with a hand-written note slipped inside the exterior wrapping paper. "Feel free to copy for your friends," it read.

From hi-tech introductions to low-tech touches. This reminds me of Over the Rhine's early days when they exported their CDs in cigar boxes.

The music? It shows promise. I'll listen to it more before coming to a full opinion. But when it comes to setting expectations, Finniston have done everything right.

Personal

Half-term

It's clearly half-term this week.

On the way to London the usually stern-faced commuter is chatting with the young girls who have invaded her usual reading time. She's never met them before but they delight in swapping stories.

Next to me a boy sits reading a gaming magazine. Every time he turns the page his elbow nudges me in the ribs. I don't complain; I'm too busy reading over his shoulder.

But the clearest indication it's half-term week comes from the tube driver as we approach Westminster. "Alight here for the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Westminster Bridge, the London Eye, County Hall, Whitehall and Downing Street. Ah... it's all here; have fun!"

(It's OK. We can be stuffy and boring again next week.)

Comment , Tech

Ships, clothes and IT

Today's lesson about the current off-shore trends in IT came from a neighbour.

"It's happening everywhere," he said as I trotted out my usual comment on the parallels between the textile industry and IT. "Just as it happened to the shipyards." This angle was new - but immediately I knew he was right.

"I could see it coming so I packed up and headed to London. We maybe wouldn't build ships anymore, but we'd still own them. I went to work for a ship owner."

Tech

Blue screen of death

Tonight I tried to help my neighbour get her Windows 98 computer connected to broadband. I'll be back tomorrow for another go.

The PC industry should be more honest when supplying computers. Right next to the "Designed for Windows" stickers that adorn the latest machines should be one that warns "useless after three years".

I don't mean this to be criticism of Microsoft. It's a complaint that can be levelled against the entire industry. We put out half-baked products, patching and fixing them in the field. After two or three years we ignore them. If you're still using them five years later you're on your own.

If you ask suppliers they'll tell you the expected lifetime of a tecnology. It's just a shame (or a sham?) this is never mentioned when you buy.

Personal

Baby-sitting a wall

Here's the reason I worked from home today.

I've been working, but also distracted by the variety of road-eating machines marching up and down Chapel Street. They belched menacingly at my garden wall, threatening it with destruction.

The workmen scraped back the road surface in the morning and pneumatic-drilled the drains. I breathed a sigh of relief at lunchtime, convinced the worst of the vibrations were out of the way. But for some reason I'd forgotten the new surface needed to be rolled flat. The past hour has been tense, with every building in the lane shuddering as the rollers pass.

Everything's quiet now; it's all over and my wall is still standing. I've never been so proud of an inanimate object.

The feeling lasted all of five minutes. Vicky and I are off to the pub to complete the planning application that will eventually see the wall disappear through our own scheme. (My loyalty to some old bricks and mortar clearly isn't a thing to be counted on.)

Personal

Stocked

It's a cliché. It's borderline insulting. It's the truth.

Since Emma's been over again this weekend, my fridge is rather better stocked than it was on Friday.

Arts

Film: Pride & Prejudice

Yes it's another book adaptation. But the great thing about this one is that it's not obvious. Pride & Prejudice stands alone perfectly. Rather than being weighed down by dialogue this is a very visual experience. Subtle glances and touches abound.

I can't tell you whether or not it's a faithful adaptation of the book, but I can report it's a good film.

Walks

Teeth come to the eyes

Shingle Street is one of my favourite places. A good storm moves the whole beach around so the river mouth, the shingle banks and the saltwater lagoons are constantly changing.

This walk starts at Shingle Street but heads inland to the village of Alderton before returning to the coastguards' cottages. Walking away from the sea is something I almost never do here.

Distance: 4.27 miles
Ascent: 113 metres
Duration: 1 hour 57 minutes

Walk 6: Shingle Street and Alderton

The highlight of the walk was stumbling across this World War II pill box. Teeth come to the eyes is part of a local art project - "if ever you're in the area - that pulls together defence from invasion with the present threat of coastal erosion through site-specific installations and poems.

I heard about the works when they were first installed but hadn't come across any until today. Sadly it's now too late to visit the most compelling. Lines of defence is now completely lost to the sea.

Arts

Getting it

I'm a bit late for this party. You know the Lucozade advert - the animated one with the vaudeville music and the cuckoo clock? I never quite got it. The cuckoos are presumably spreading happiness after having a drink but I felt something was missing.

All becomes clear after watching the original animation.

Bathtime in Clerkenwell shows the darker side of the same cuckoo. The film tells of "The Great Revolution of the British Cuckoos, who bravely took over London, forcing all the people to move inside the cuckoo clocks".

There's a reason this animation kept winning awards.

Personal

In demand

Ordinarily it would be lovely to be in demand. I received two phone calls today from folk wanting me to work on their projects. Unfortunately this may not help my escape plan.

Arts

Film: Oliver Twist

I read Oliver Twist when I was thirteen. It was the compulsory item for a book project given by the worst teacher I ever had. (He was a bully with a reputation to uphold. He cared little for teaching English, preferring to rant on about whatever took his fancy each lesson. I imagine he'd have fitted in perfectly at a public school. But that's a topic for another time.) Consequently any opinion I have about Oliver has been informed by an incredibly negative experience.

I didn't much enjoy this adaptation. The whole cast played up the stereotypes to the point where I couldn't feel empathy for any of them. The film was well shot but really let down by the acting.

Or was it just let down by the baggage we all bring to it? I was amazed about how much of the plot I'd forgotten. Oliver's about wanting food and picking pockets. There I go again, influenced by the horribly twee musical version.

The reviews were bad, my previous experience with the material was low. Is it a coincidence that the photograph I took before the film started was of the floor?

Personal

Down the rabbit-hole?

I made a big decision today.

Given a choice of red or blue, I opted for the red pill. Or rather, I expressed a preference. I'll have to wait a while before I find out whether the company is prepared to give it to me.

(By the way, do you think in ten years time we'll be using the same tired metaphor?)

Comment

Let's hope not

Morris dancers opening the London 2012 Olympic games? Is this really the sort of thing the House of Lords should be discussing?

Lord Redesdale's question today shows there's work to be done yet reforming the Lords.

At least they only wasted five minutes on it.

Walks

Following the crowd

This afternoon I took control of my cold. I headed to the top end of the county to beat it to submission with a blast of air. At the car-park in Eye it seemed everyone else in Suffolk had the same idea. We were all clutching our book of walks, ready to head down the Dove valley.

Distance: 5.60 miles
Ascent: 77 metres
Duration: 1 hour 33 minutes

Walk 10: Eye and Braiseworth

I walked fairly briskly. Having left my camera at home meant I wasn't distracted taking photographs all the time. (The two above come courtesy of my phone.)

Halfway round the walk crosses the river and passes through a turkey farm. This wouldn't be a good place for a hypochondriac this weekend!

The walk did the trick though. I'm feeling a hundred percent better.

Comment

Beware the pentecostals

Have you noticed the Abbey National's new logo? Here it is in Ipswich town centre.

But wait. Haven't I seen that somewhere before? Yup, the rising flame motif is the factor that links the Abbey, Ashburnham Place and 30 St Mary Axe.

My inner conspiracy theorist would like to believe it's evidence that pentecostals are slowly taking over the world. The truth appears to be more pedestrian: it's the logo of the Abbey National's parent company, The Santander Group.

Arts

Maps remixed

Anyone who's seen Bill Drummond perform How to be an Artist will know the artistic value in maps. He praises the colours, the curves and the contours. It's a compelling passionate argument.

For those who need more evidence, look no further than the work of Layla Curtis. Her latest work, NewcastleGateshead is said to be causing confusion on Tyneside. It's an image of the area, made from maps of identically named places across the world. A subversive remix if you like. I'm sure Drummond would be amused.

Comment

Celebrity

No-one on the train to London yesterday could fail to notice the Geordie with curly blonde hair. She sat at the end of the carriage and spent the entire journey babbling loudly into her mobile.

Between fragments of the usual chatter ("so are the girls all there?") she dropped names of television shows - Casualty, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks - implying insider knowledge of each. We learnt about the precise brand of hair curlers she required and the parts her agent wouldn't let her take.

One by one my co-travellers exchanged glances, eyebrows quizzing each other, "Do you recognise her?"

We were all on the look-out for celebrity. Partly to be proud of sitting in the same second-class carriage but also so we could tut loudly and shake our heads at the vanity of it all.

Tech

What do you know?

So BBC 6 Music News was right on the ball. Apple have launched a new iPod that does video. Now if they could only persuade the BBC to launch a video podcast of their news stories.

There's a new iMac too. The best feature is only mentioned in the small-print. It's great news everyone who sleeps in the same room as a Mac has been waiting for: the computer now turns down the brightness of its sleep light when it's dark.

Good night.

Angels

Listen to the Angels

See on a car in Aberdovey in August:

Presumably if you drive too fast you can't hear what the Angels are saying.

Tech

Chip and Pin

On the way home yesterday I finally made my first Chip and PIN transaction.

Generally speaking I like the system. However I'm disappointed that the only people who really win are the banks. The technology is just one piece of the Chip and PIN story. The more important element is the shift in liability. In the past liability for fraudulent card use lay pretty much with all parties (card holder, merchant and bank). As I understand it the liability now sits pretty firmly with the merchant and the card holder. The bank gets away free.

The technology (the Chip and the PIN) exists just to support this shift. It gives merchants a stronger way of validating the cardholder. But there's nothing to protect customer from unscrupulous 'merchants'.

There's no longer any need to practise forging signatures. If they know my PIN, anyone can use my card without my permission and without question.

Think about this: if today criminal 'merchants' are savvy enough to skim a card and clone it (perhaps you're paying for a bill at a restaurant), then surely they're clever enough to knock up a fake PIN pad that just records what you type. It's then just a matter of obtaining your card as you walk out the door.

Perhaps I'm being paranoid. Perhaps I'll chill out with time. But for now I'm very careful about where I use my PIN - I need to know that the device I'm using is valid. (It's a shame there's nothing to help me do this.)

Chip and PIN will eliminate card signature crime but it won't eliminate the criminals. Like the cards they'll just get smarter.

Walks

Nant yr Arian

A short walk curtailed by the coming drizzle was nonetheless a great way to clear the head this morning. The Forestry Commission's site at Nant yr Arian provided the ideal setting.

There's no denying it: autumn's well on its way now.

Personal

Changing by standing still

Today's trip to Conwy was my first since the early 1980s. It was Emma's first time visit so I was keen to show her the things I remembered, especially the castle and the bridges. Telford's graceful suspension bridge blends brilliantly in with the castle and while the later railway bridge tries the same trick it fails miserably.

I'd not known that the town itself is walled. It's also rather beautiful. Of course this change is more to do with my shift in perception than any serious construction work in the past twenty years.

We were in the town to see an exhibition of paintings of Conwy by my aunt. The works feature in her new book, Conwy Through the Seasons. It's a beautiful record of the town and surrounding area. If I don't return before another twenty years have passed (and let's face it that seems unlikely since the town is on the coast), I'll at least have something to refer to then, some way of looking back to the Conwy of today.

Personal

The slow highway

Between Newtown and Welshpool the A483 twists back and forth around the Shropshire Union canal. It's a part of the drive to Aberystwyth that I always look forward to. It makes me think of the Grand Union near Chorleywood where I first lived, and of walks across the fields behind our next house in Chelmsford to the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation.

I remember summer evening walks to Eldridge Lock in Tonbridge with the youth group. And as a student our flat was linked to Sainsbury's one way along the Paddington Canal and the tube the other way. It's really only here in Suffolk that canals aren't a dominant part of my life.

A map of the country shows just why I seem to have always lived near waterways: the UK's canal network was incredibly extensive. Strange to see it in so empty now.

It's not all in decline though. Those who've driven up the M6 Toll may have noticed a curious 'bridge to nowhere' crossing the motorway just south of junction T6. This will eventually carry the reconstructed Lichfield Canal across the road. When it's complete, the pace of the boats should send a beautifully clear message to the cars below: slow down.

Tech

Recycling rumours

As a strong brand Apple is subject to an incredible amount of speculation as to what it is up to in its labs. Easy online communication fuels these rumours as fans gather round websites dedicated to second-guessing the company.

Even the BBC's been caught up in the frenzy in the past, filing news reports on the rumour mill. But yesterday it went a step further, apparently pre-announcing a new Apple product in its five-thirty news bulletin on BBC 6 Music. (You can hear it for yourself via the BBC's "Listen Again" service.)

The big question is whether this was an accidental leak, a deliberate publicity stunt or incorrect copying of an Internet rumour.

We'll find out in a week.

Comment

Sharing the burden, sharing the blessing

Suffolk's first wind farm received planning permission today. I've been following this story closely. Personally I think it's great news, although I understand others feel it's cause for concern.

(I've often wondered whether the signs objectors erect in front of their houses are a self-fufilling prophesy. They complain that they are unable to sell their houses now - little wonder when it's hard to see the building for all the "Offshore not Onshore" placards.)

Last month I found out about a clever way of routing round such objections: invite local people to invest in the farm themselves. Suddenly would-be protesters begin to see what a farm might bring to their community (and in some cases their pockets).

Bro Dyfi Community Renewables is one successful project that's been running for a couple of years in mid-Wales. Further south Awel Aman Tawe have just had their planning application rejected - proof that community support doesn't guarantee the outcome.

It's now two years since the Parham proposal was first announced. It'll be some while yet before the blades begin to turn. Any proposed wind farm will kick off a similar debate. It'd be interesting to see how differently the discussions play out if the community were involved from the start.

Arts

Bruce Cockburn: Speechless

Hurray for the iTunes Music Store. No more will labels get away with their favourite compilation trick of adding two or three new tracks to a long list of songs I already own. Instead of forking out for the full CD I'll just grab the music I don't have at 79 pence a pop.

So it is with Bruce Cockburn's new instrumental compilation, Speechless. Buying it this way trims the 70-mintes down to just twenty.

The new tracks are sublime but don't quite match the drive of Train in the Rain or the dexterity of Sunrise on the Mississippi. So I find myself plundering previous CDs to reconstruct the rest of the compilation. Perhaps forking out for the whole thing wouldn't have been so bad.

Comment

Vandals

I've owned two cars in my life. Both of them have been vandalised while parked outside my house. One had the door kicked in; the other suffered from a knife stuck through the roof. Today I reported to the Police the damage done to Emma's car while she visited last weekend. Having the windscreen wiper bent back and the aerial snapped off isn't exactly high crime, but when added to the damage done to my cars it seemed worth reporting.

What's puzzling is the motivation. Back in 2003 when I was interviewed by MORI it became clear they were probing public opinion on advertising alcopops. One question sought the causes of drunken behaviour. My suggestion of "boredom" raised an eyebrow. The option wasn't on the multi-choice list but the canvasser said it was a repeating theme.

This is hardly a detailed analysis of why my sleepy Suffolk town has a problem with vandalism, but it's all I can come up with.

Personal

The Red Sea

After years of neglect "Re-waterproof my walking jacket" finally made its way off my mental to-do list today. There are unexpected consequences though. My hands are covered with a fine sheen of the proofing wax so washing the dishes tonight was more like a re-enactment of the parting of the Red Sea.

Arts

Help: A Day in the Life

There's the concept, and then there's the music.

So here it is, ten years after the original War Child / Help album, a chance to try and do it again. The War Child charity believe children should never be the victims of armed conflict; the musicians believe this too, but also believe they can out-do their predecessors.

Trouble is, the only metric by which they win is the amount of recorded misery. It takes Emmanual Jal's rather remarkable track to lift it from kicking its boots in the gutter. (I wish I'd seen him at Greenbelt now.) The original Help was patchy too, but at least there was variety in there. Maybe with a few more listens I'll grow fond of this collection but right now about all I can say is I'm glad to have contributed part of my £9.99 to the charity.