Recently things at home have been going great guns on the refurbishment front.
Well. We have been talking about it alot and looking through alot of catalogues to help us redesign the garden and bathroom. Thats about as far as we have got!
Our garden is long and thin (like me) with a shed at one end standing on a patch of concrete laid down as a hard-standing by a previous owner. There is some grass too which impressively measures about 16 by 30 feet, leading off a broken down patio which is as wobbly as my old skateboarding impacted knees.
We had a design in mind which I put down on graph paper and showed to a potential “work man” today for technical approval and then decided to put my geek spin on the project and laid it out using Google SketchUp for the full 3d walkthrough effect.
I have never used SketchUP before and was quite impressed at how quick it was to get something done. I have used CAD and 3d programs in the past, but SketchUp seemed pretty intuitive to use. One of the best parts was when I came to put the Pergola on. There is access to an online repository of pre-created and user submitted models that you can download and insert direct into your sketch called 3D Warehouse. So off I went and typed in pergola, selected the one I wanted and dropped it into the sketch, resized it and plonked it in the right place. Easy! I then did the same for a set of table and chairs too.
The sketch is not finished yet (notice the gaping hole just before the pergola where more patio should be) and is not quite to scale - but it is pretty close to the idea we are after. My “work man” was also kind enough to point us in the direction of a local merchant who stocks over 2000 different types of bricks, so we are off there next weekend to have a look and probably get more confused.
I had to sit through 3 hours of corporate drivel today regarding KPIs, SLAs and future growth in IPOs.
After putting up with this for over 13 years with my previous employer and having every inspirational and motivational process forced on me one after another - it was rather a walk in the park.
Even my wife who works for a well known upper-class retail store has also recently undergone a similar presentation and has been asked to design a card or poster of Key Business Goals to keep with the staff at their designated tills to remind them why they are there. Ummm… sell? Even the retail workplace is not safe from this rubbish.
In my next job I am going to go small. A small company that is. Some place where crap like this is despised and downloading torrents and listening to the radio whilst you work is encouraged!
Alot of these KPI, SLA, QOS type presentations are all about common sense.
Do your job. Do it well. Keep your head down and get on with it!
Those were 3 hours I would rather have back, but then again I got paid for it so who am I to complain!
After revealing the link to the NIN Garageband format track the other day, DriverChris has emailled me over a little composition of his own complete with his own banjo noodlings!
When I get time off from tweaking my webpages and surfing xTube, I will try to add to it and then email it back.
My idea was that with a little effort, you should be able to bounce a track back and forth for other people to collaborate on, add tracks and share ideas.
Turns out, that there is already a website that provides this function: Kompoz
I have’nt looked into the full how-and-why it works stuff, but it looks like you can upload partial tracks and people and add extra stuff and post it back for acceptance. The tracks can be in which ever format you see fit. But that does’nt explain how someone using a different OS could update it and pass it back.
Got the ROM this morning and my Son has been playing this for a little while today.
This version of the game seems really good with a new slight-3D effect to the graphics and a healthy amount of “touchscreen” input included - but most could be done with your finger instead of the stylus.
At first imression, it looks excellent!
He will be playing Pokemon Diamond, and I will be playing Pokemon Pearl.
You get to see all the characters! Iggle Piggle, the blue potato headed retard, the 3 alien babies, Ragga Upsie-Daisy, The MakaPakka stone monster and the Ninky-nonk train thing too!
It’s a shame that some local government departments are too short sighted and are anal enough to remove some things that people enjoy, respect and love in our community. BBC News reports that the infamous Banksy stencil painting from Pulp Fiction has been painted over.
Gits! Banksy is cool. Arm yourselves and get out there people!
At the moment I am currently watching 2 TV series. LOST and Heroes. The two series are quite similar in some ways with lots of different stories coming together and weaving in and out of each other.
I am only up to episode 5 in the series, so have a long way to go to catch up for when it starts airing again in the US next week, but I am trying to watch an episode on my laptop during my lunch hour each day. Only about 13 episodes to go! It’s one of those series where you could quite easily sit and watch several episodes back-to-back.
Flying Congressmen, people who paint the future, Japanese Time Benders, indestructible cheer-leaders and killer Internet Porn actresses.
Its been several years since I was into Industrial music such as Nocturnal Emissions but when I read that Nine Inch Nails had released one of their tracks, Survivalism as a 101mb download for remixing in Garageband, I had to jump at the chance to download it and have a play!
I think this is an excellent idea. ACID Music also ran competitions featuring free samples from other artists like Black Eyed Peas, Tatu and William Shatner! Most of the competition entries and winners tracks are still available to listen to online too.
Well, it's not a giant lizard slaying robot and its not a new religion.
It's just a place for me to hang out, store my thoughts and technical musings and stay in contact with my friends. It's purpose may change in the future - who knows!
Got the ROM this morning and my Son has been playing this for a little while today.
It’s a shame that some local government departments are too short sighted and are anal enough to remove some things that people enjoy, respect and love in our community. BBC News reports that the infamous 
Its been several years since I was into Industrial music such as Nocturnal Emissions but when I read that Nine Inch Nails had released one of their tracks, Survivalism as a 
Well, it's not a giant lizard slaying robot and its not a new religion.