Don't go or live here... The Idler

An answer for tab rollovers, involving just one image... read on... SimpleBits | Accessible Image-Tab Rollovers

Invaluable guidelines for all web designers and site producers using css/xhtml driven sites... Max Design - A webstandards checklist

Web design tips from asterisk... Search Engine Optimization -- Titles

Got some preview tickets to see The Terminal (Hanks/Spielberg flick) at the local flicks tomorrow, courtesy of my mum finding the details in the Heat rag. Thanks mum, lets see how Hanks pulls off an eastern European accent...

Learn css, week by week, for free, westciv has the answer... learning :: free courses - css type selectors

George Bush is so dumb, I mean can we seriously have a uUS President who says stuff like this... George Bush answers a question about sovereignty, badly

From beeb news, are you listening George??? :
"Last week, 10,000 homes in Florida, I watched it and thought thank God it's not me. Today my house has gone; a lifetime's work, wiped out in a few seconds. I'm staying with friends, they're being very kind. I'm not sure how I'm going to deal with this. Tomorrow it might be you. Surely now it is clear that weather patterns are changing. To Bush I say: It's too late for me, but for the sake of the world, forget profits, forget the black gold and sign Kyoto before its too late for you." M, Boscastle, Cornwall BBC News report on the Boscastle floods

Funny and not funny at the same time, things like this should be accepted as witty, and/or sick... Princess of Clocks > princessdiana | CafePress

So if you were to use a P2P file-sharing software apparatus and include your personal files as being ok to upload by others, either by foolishness or by choice, this is what would happen... Foundphotos Newest

Lest we northern hemisphereites take for granted having the top half of the maps of the world to ourselves... The Upsidedown Map Page

Mmm honey, this steak tastes just as good as the last one we had. That's because it pretty much is, but if you die, well, you trust me don't you honey? Wired News: Clone Steak Safe, Unless It Isn't

Reasons to convert to css #205 Stopdesign | Throwing Tables Out the Window "Many developers believe these claims because they start by developing for ? and checking in ? IE. Then they view it in another browser and become frustrated when they see all kinds of supposed ?bugs? they think they?ll have to fix.

IE interprets CSS more loosely than other browsers that have been iterating versions over the last couple years..."

So, a day off, and an enjoyable (I am sick) afternoon spent in the company of =Father Dowling Investigates, where fortunately at the end, Sister Stephanie's wayward brother was not murdered by the dodgy cops, phew. Then Carol Vorderman stunned us all by getting 663 with only numbers less than 10 on Countdown, when the bright chap contestant only made 664, smug bitch.

Worth a laugh, not very PC mind you! Viceland mag - Dos, July 2004: including - "Dude, you are the worst President ever. Even motherfucking George Burns clawed his way out of the grave to make fun of you."

Web Designer Jason Kottke has put together this html version of That report. I guess we should all have a quick flick through, just to see how bad it, and the Government are... The 9/11 Commission Report

Thinking of visiting NYC sometime on the near future with my girl Becx, this photographic trip around Manhatten certainly encourages me... Safety first :: NYC Helicopter Ride, 07/2004 (kottke.org)

"This survey compares 10 web sites through elements of their layout: styles, page construction and elements? The survey seeks similarities and differences between those well known web sites, built by famous, talented designers" Web Design Survey

The US site for the 2004 Ryder Cup, a good bit of design as well as being damned informative! Ryder Cup 2004 / Team USA

Say No to 72 dpi: "The 72 or 96 dpi numbers are NEVER used to show images on the monitor screen. There is no concept of inches or dpi in the video system. Those logical inch dpi numbers are only used as a crude approximation to size text fonts on the screen."

"When you hit a snag in CSS, strip down to the base ID and work up. Imagine this: The div containing your masthead image wraps improperly in IE, but displays perfectly in other browsers. While not all that difficult to imagine, it?s quite frustrating." Cameron Moll ~ 26 July 2004 ~ Eight things I wish I?d known when I started

Get stuck into this css tutorial, part 1... Veerle's blog - Designing a CSS based template - part I

For css lovers and learners everywhere... How To write Efficient CSS

I struggle with obvious words at the best of times, but this might explain a few forgetful moments at work... BBC NEWS | Health | A coffee can make you forgetful

"Seriously, do you need film reviews to tell you what you already know? That the new studio meatloaf I, Robot?"suggested by" Isaac Asimov's book, as if the 50-year-old anthology pitched itself to Fox execs?is 18 kinds of overprocessed sheep crap?" oh dear, poor willy smith ... http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0429/atkinson2.php"The Village Voice: Film: System Failure by Michael Atkinson

All companies with an online presence take note "...but most Web applications continue to be developed by engineers with little to no actual experience in user experience methodology, information design, brand application or usability. This is not just a trend?it is an oversight by many companies not willing to invest in improving the user experience." This article is American based, but still has relevance to the UK market. Digital Web Magazine - Brand Value and the User Experience

Here is a book all about accessibility on the web, Joe Clark, opens up his book, chapter by chapter for you to browse Building Accessible websites - joeclark.org

There is some messed up shit on the web, but this makes me laugh, "ass, titties, ass and titties" everyone... you need soap. and water. soap. and water. water. water. water. water. water. water. water. water. water.

Mindless fun, ripped off from hold the button, you can't not do it... Don't Let Go

Thanks b3ta for making me laugh on a sunday morning, this image shows, apparently the Apollo space mission planning team were a little bit cheeky.. apollo_mission.gif (GIF Image, 1190x646 pixels)

I really should apply for this, and its the last day tomorrow...??? It is my ideal job, but in the big smoke?...Your chance to work at Wisden

Healthy eating? And I bet the supermarkets didn't realise they were selling all this stuff,pumped full of salt...yeh whateverBBC NEWS | Health | Popular foods 'loaded with salt'

Busy man paints stones, and they look kinda cool, he sells them and makes a living, a story for us all there, life doesn't always have to the sterotyped daily 9-5 job...if only One of a Kind Art gifts, Hand Painted Rocks by George Witham

Remember Digitizer on teletext? Then this might make you laugh...I don't but then I'm just give give give, selfless etc...Mr Biffo's FAQ - Do you love me, daddy?

Jills - Some crazy sh1t you can find out from b3ta: THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO AAHH
Baby ferrets

If you didn't think weasels could be cute, you
are very wrong, as this photo gallery clearly
demonstrates.

Fact 1: Female ferrets are called Jills.
Fact 2: The name Jill derives from the Greek
ioulos - 'downy-bearded'. Erm. We think you
can draw your own conclusions from that.
http://snipurl.com/7hfq"

Mindless russian dolls animation, 'too much time...' etc: The Russian Dolls Go on Holiday

What b3ta said this week, and what a lot of people aseem to be thinking, sorry Microsoft: ": GOOD AND BAD
Stuff this week which is er.. good or bad

>> GOOD: Firefox browser <<
Free from spyware, quicker than Internet
Explorer and complete with fantastic tabbed
browsing, Firefox has recently become our
browser of choice."

Nice to see George Dubya isn't pretending to be dumb and not in control things, as this journalist found out..Protein Feed - Bush Gets Asked Some Real Questions

Student debt
Long gone are the days when students are mocked for their 'easy life', as student debts become an ever-increasing millstone around their bank balances...EducationGuardian.co.uk | higher news | 'Students face �2,000 extra debt'

See this film
Went to the flicks last night with Becx, saw Eternal Sunshine, a brilliant film, well written, to make you think, well cast, with Winslet and Carey very believable and memorable characters, and beautifully put together by Michel Gondry, subtle camera and special effects give this film its edge. Essentially a love story, there should be something in it for most people to associate with...Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) @ imdb uk

For those of us who have to mediate between different groups of clients when designing websites. There are no defined rules, within the boundaries of web creation, anything is technically possible, its finding the balance between what the customer wants, and what you as the designer thinks is the best route to the ultimate site goal...This article discusses this in greater detail...Web Designers On A Fence

Bad news for music junkies with a physical music collection worth treasuring!...Wired News: CDs, DVDs: Human After All: "Part of the problem is that most people believe that it's the clear underside of the CD that is fragile, when in fact it's the side with the label."

Cricket: The Zimbabwe issue
It's a mess, whether England or anyone should be touring Zimbabwe.
It's time everyone stopped squabbling, and came to some sort of consensus, that basically, all the big guns in this saga are passing the buck.
The ECB are left with no choice but to agree to tour under threat of financial ruin, the ICC are at fault for doing nothing and for foolishly clinging to the false hope that sport will not be infiltrated by politics. Well, it's time to wake up and smell the coffee, because it is, and always has been. And now is the time to act.
The current situation in Zimbabwean cricket is dire, not as bad as it is for the people of the country, but that's another story.
The cricket board is blatantly obviously under the control of the ruling Zanu-PF political machine, whatever they claim, and it is affecting the team and the consciences of the players.
And the only decent cricketers they have left, (all the really good one's have been steadily lefleaving t over the past few years) have tried to open up the hidden world of political tyranny, but unfortunately the arcane toothless ICC don't have the courage for actually doing anything positive for the game.
All the political bluffing from British politicians is helping no one, will somebody make a decision?!
The politicians say its up to the cricket boards, the cricket boards say they will carry on unless ordered not to do so by the politicians.
Shame on the great game, pity Zimbabwe.

Thinking of redesigning a website? Working on a decent sized project now? Then here's a few tips. Whilst I'm at the brink of helping to renovate www.peterboroughnow.co.uk into becoming www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk, by Monday 10th May 2004 (fingers crossed) this sort of forward thinking attitude has made the workload a lot smoother...Digital Web Magazine - Features: This Old Website: Web Renovations

Anyone learning xhtml/css should get stuck into this handy primer, a free weekly course taking you through the basics of understanding how xhtml takes html into a new dawn! OK, maybe not that grand, but you can get a weekly update of the next section of the course, or stump up $30 and get the whole thing downloaded to study at your leisure...Westciv Self-paced Courses

"i have enough beer can to last me the rest of my life" that's what my friend Dan said to me, and we're talking dead pig here (imagine a Jamaican accent) Tesco were certainly being generous went Dan got to the frsh meat counter. I have a date for my practical test, and with Theory in hand, I prepare for a fifth stab and polluting the atmosphere in order to get places faster when i want...fingers crossed
Oh and I have a 4 figure pay rise from work, and I'm still underpad, its a crazy and unfair world...

Just a quirky little story about how clever the media can be, giving a magazine to subscribers that personalises the cover and advertising to their area, all 40,000 of them, pretty 'neat' huh?..Protein Feed - Personal Publishing

ZIMBABWE / CRICKET: Things are getting worse for cricket in Zimbabwe, as the political regime's control of the Zimbabwe Cricket Uion becomes all to clear, and their own racist attitudes are all but destroying the countries cricketing chances. Here an article by Simon Barnes in The Times delves into the depressing matters, for cricket and the people of Zimbabwe...Touring Zimbabwe a moral blow to all that is decent - timesonline.co.uk

CRICKET / ZIMBABWE:

How many more players have to leave the Test arena for Zimbabwe, suffering for the clearly biased selection policy and general attitude of the politically motivated controlling body. And how many more people in the country have to suffer at the hands of Mugabe.

The man is not right, for all his racial equal beliefs, he is as racist as they come, ousting all the whites from their land, and ruling the public with an iron fist, killing and leaving his people to suffer for his actions.

It is wrong that cricket and sport in general has to bring the focus of this inhumane man to the front pages of the media, but if in the end something is done, and this evil, selfish, tyrant stops ruining his country, then it will be worth it.

Cricinfo - Streak stands down as captain

WEB DESIGN:
A very worthy book, that couples design with the web and gives inspiration for web designers block sufferers. Different areas of design, eras and genres are explored and examples given, and on the US version of amazon, you can explore the whole book, well worth a browse...fresh styles for web designers

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - A crazy film with Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet. A bit Vanilla Sky, messing with our minds sort of thing, but with a few more laughs and a few less facial disfigurements! And ELO's Mr Blu Sky on the soundtrack, check out the trailer @ apple.com...Apple - Trailers - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

The game where the Yeti hits the penguin, you must have heard about it? This is the original version, and still the best! Plus there's a 2nd game involving a whale?!?� Erm, anyway, its not real...YETI SPORTS by chris hilgert ## powered by edelweiss medienwerkst.at

Jobs + India = communication + computing revolution
Its becoming more and more of an issue, as major UK and global companies move call centres and IT departments to India. Don't get me wrong, there are some talented, well-educated people out there well qualified to do their jobs. I'm not sure about the whole thing, as it's all based upon the parent companies saving pot loads of cash at the expense of thousands of jobs in areas of countries that may well be relying on the industry for a large proportion of the local employment. But globalisation creeps ever further into our lives, whether we want it or not. The internet, and digital technology is cutting away all boundaries for industry and communication. This Wired magazine article talks to some workers in India about their views on the subject.
The New Face of the Silicon Age - wired.com
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.02/india.html

"If two blades is good, and three blades is better, obviously five blades would make us the best fucking razor that ever existed. Comprende?" It's not for those who don't like swearing or fancy words, but i couldn't stop laughing. Every so often, these Onion fellas write the funniest material ever. It's stupid, but it's genius. Just let me work there, or on the script-writing team of The Simpsons...The Onion | Fuck Everything, We're Doing Five Blades

Bless Time magazine and its hazy, rose-coloured bespectacled view of the Iraq oil takeover by the US. All our happy soldiers blindly following crazy George and his clueless political cronies. Adbusters dishes the dirt on a sickening article from a big name in publishing...Adbusters: Relationships, God, and their universal language: commerce

Free books! Just discovered planetpdf, which obviously has fairly limited appeal outside those using pdf's, but they put free ebooks online, a new one each week, that's 60+ classic titles, I mean we're talking: The Time Machine - H. G. Wells, The Hound of the Baskervilles - Arthur Conan Doyle and Dracula - Bram Stoker. But still, free. Still can't quite understand, these generous souls! Free PDF eBooks - 1-10

Not quite like the film, but a very interesting idea, that we notice things, that we can't have seen, changes in the surroundings, call it instinct, esp, all very intriguing. Article for the open minded only!! Protein� Feed - Testing Your Sixth Sense

Of all people, apple, sucking up to Pepsie and the RIAA. When will the big corporations realise they have to join in the download music revolution and not ty to fight it. Give the customers what they want, and stop whingeing about declining sales and illegal copying, get over it and get positive, or your going to look like fools, oh wait you already do! This article tells of another chapter in the saga, but involving apple. I myself you the new iTunes for windows, its pretty damn good, but all these stories don't do its image any favours..The Register - iPod owner's open letter to Apple

re: The comfort zone. It's a freaky idea, that the job we have has a certain 'comfort area', outside which we rarely venture. A safe haven, where we do things we understand, and are never trifled with new and challenging tasks and ventures. But things can and do happen to change this, not always for the better, but we have to actually 'live' this life at some point, the safety net is a wonderful invention, but the sense of falling, not knowing exactly what's goingto happen, or where your day is going, can be a positive and highly motiviating force.

If you're in the website making game, like I am, then there's plenty of 'handy hints' and 'trinkets' of advice. Who actually likes the word 'trinket' unless you're watching an old pirate-based or maybe Raiders of the Lost Ark, ok there's a few, but only movies?? To the point - Web design tips here..W3C QA - Quality Tips for Webmasters

Even I worry about opening emails, when I read this sort of stuff. Buts its just online experience and a bit of common sense that you need to manage an email account, run your bank accounts online etc. Phishing Alert

And another thing - Michael Moore calls George W Bush Jnr, a deserter, amongst other things! The Village Voice: Nation: Mondo Washington: Operation Desert Guard by James Ridgeway

MikeRoweSoft, that sounds a lot like, what's that company called, you know, the one run by the richest man in the known universe? Get it? Poor kid sold out to Bill Gates' Microsoft in the end, but fair play, he's only 17. The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Microsoft lightens up, ends fight against MikeRoweSoft

So now Nokia are bringing out shiny new media phones that play music, with added text and can receive tv signals, what next? I want one...visual radio, isn't that just tv?The Register: 'Nokia introduces visual radio'

You've read, laughed at, and quickly deleted the emails, now US companies are getting the phone calls from these pesky Nigerian's, the '419' team are branching out. Don't be fooled people its all damn lies. The Register: "419 scammers start working the phones"

OK in essence what cd-wow was doing (seling cheaper overseas produced versions of CD's you get quite easily pick up in your high street (for several quid more)) was bad for UK and EU sales, etc. But still the paranoia of the record companies is reaching new heights. Its a good battle between good and evil I suppose, with the consumer just trying to save an honest buck ro two, considering the record comapnies can't exactly be strapped. Read more, thoroughly researched journalism, as oppsed to my quick-draw ramblings...BPI down plays Amazon.com 'illegal importing' probe - from 'The Register'

Aren't trams brilliant, like buses only on tram lines...anyway, good to see a positive public transport story. Can't see them re-appearing in the 'boro, I'll have to get the train to Notts to enjoy a tram-treat!! (Yes I do need to get out more.)
BBC NEWS | UK | England | Nottinghamshire | Trams are ready to roll

So I thought, I should write more. I nearly wrote 'right' then, which would have been a bad start to any burgeoning idea of being a serious writer. althoug I'm not really serious, about anything much, apart from cricket, the Internet, my friend and Becx (not necessarily in that order). So it is probably about time I got serious about something, and stopped watching from the touchlines all the time. Threw my hat in a particular ring as the phrase goes. So we'll see how often I get my warped thoughts down on virtual paper...

From Monday (19/1/04) you can see thousands of archived aerial shots of WWII, digitised by Keele University in England. Evidence in Camera - Aerial Images of WWII

Morning people, a story on the Channel 4 news annoyed me tonight. Scares over cannabis causing mental illness. I'm sure it does have a bad effect on some people, it's a drug! They said it should have a health warning on it, ok, it's a drug, like cigarettes. What's the big fuss.

The governments of this world are quite happy for people to drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes (that kill thousands every year, fact, and rake in loads of money in tax, fact), so what valid reason is there for not making cannabis legal. I've never smoked the stuff, it doesn't really bother me, but the double-standards of this world do get on my nerves.

Goodnight.

A useful link here for web designers, a list of downloads for all the current browsers to test your work on from IE, NN, Mozilla, Opera and even OmniWeb?! Web Page Design for Designers � Editorial January 2004

Genius. Who buys music anymore anyway? Well I did today, and from a high street big name, but it was in the sale. But this site displays the current debate, clever kids get their music of t'internet, but how long will it be so easy? Merry Christmas and all that, but we'll either end up in a police state-style music world, or maybe it will one day be cool to pay for downlaoding from big names shops online?? But for now, look at this and laugh What a Crappy Present - CD Gift Advice, Parents and Kids

Mr. Picassohead Pablo would probably turn in his grave, but this is genius, make your own picasso, i mean its brilliant. People with too much time on their hands (and luckily a good idea or two!)

Wired News: Feel Free to Jack Into My IPod: "It is so common in Cambridge, someone has printed a T-shirt that says, 'Feel free to jack into my plug,'" Little old Cambridgeshire, UK! ipod's! People sharing music! Next stop world peace and harmony, although maybe a bridge too far. It's definitely a great thing though. So much music on one tiny machine, what micro-technology was invented for, and other more life-enhancing projects as well of course!

Me blogging again, after all this time, twice in one day, like the buses, would you adam and eve it?! But this ipod thing is taking off, they look cool, but more importantly they're mac based they they work cool as well. I mean I'm typing on a pc at the moment, but give me the choice, and I want a half eaten apple symbol on my computer everytime!

Protein� Feed - It's Official, Love *is* a Drug: "'Attraction and lust really is like a drug. It leaves you wanting more,'" thats what it says, some scietific geeky guy, what would he know! But seriously, maybe it is? i mean it must be different foir everyone, but its a pretty powerful thing in some people's lives, makes you give up, everything and anything, do something extraordinary. anyway, how y'all been? i've not blogged for a while, been an arse of a month at work, problems sent to try us, etc.

But hey, how can we appreciate good times, if we don't go through dome bad one's?

So ideally, it wouldn't just be global warming that messes the climate up, it would be good old mother nature. Don't mess with her, she got a whole bag full of tricks up her sleeve. 20 years from now, Torquay could be more like Toronto...we'll see how it goes BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Warming could bring colder UK winters

This article tells us why we can't get rubbish pop songs out of my head, but it doesn't make it alright or ok! BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | 'Brain itch' keeps songs in the head

Behind all the glitz and money of Saudi Arabia are all the average people, trying to get by. We in the west, get a misty eyed view of the middle east, whereas the majority of the population are as normal and balanced as we are. All the images of extremist, religious nutters is a world away from most Saudi's as BBC journo Roger Hardy found out one day. Read his report here: BBC NEWS | World | From Our Own Correspondent | Anger on Saudi Arabia's streets

Get a life, another one, the virtual reality world There.com has gone live. Of course its rife with advertising - you can actually buy things in theis other world, for real - and full of marketing opportunities, but its worth looking at. You can get a free 14 day trial if you sign up before 31st Dec. 03. Check out the article here: Protein� Feed - Virtual Brand Building

Been a while since i last posted, and then two in a day! Would you adam and eve it? Should do it more often, it's good to get things of your chest etc.

Although t'internet at work is going g about as well as trying to read War and Peace through a frosted glass door, so I'll keep this short! Life is ok, I have a shiny new bike courtesy of my wonderful girlfriend, so hopefully we'll be getting some frsh air at the weekends now, especially as she has a shiny new job.

But i am slightly jealous as it took her two weeks less after she graduated to get hers, than it did for me to get mine here, at the shiny Peterborough Evening Telegraph, the one with the new red steps, which I have no idea why they have been painted, as the paper's main colour is blue?

FOOD
Good news, as the Co-op have made a stand on the GM food issue, the public don't seem to keen on it, and they have decided - as the biggest farm owner in the country - not to use or sell it. Read the full story

We have a new email spam filter at work that cuts out emails with words like 'sexy' and 'offers'. So i got one today from my friend Paul with 'sexy' in it, utter fools. Maybe words like 'prescription viagra', 'burundi', 'w@nk3r', 'muffcam'...lets work together people, and use the common sense provided with our brains!

Well good afternoon world. So much has happened since my last blog, but I'm just too lazy to get around to getting down in digital print! But as I'm working on bank holiday (for the extra money of course) but not being able to actually do much constructive work due to IT problems (and of course there's no one in IT support to sort anything out!!) so I'm at a bit of a loose end.

CRICKET: Our rag tag of England cricketers threw away opportunities again, had South aFrica on the ropes and thanks to dogged, yet dull displays from Gary Kirsten they managed to turn the game around and ended up easily beating us! So can we stop picking all these old codger, worthy but not really Test class bowlers and stop making excuses for not picking Graham Thorpe, and get over the personal issues, then maybe we can start building a good squad and team spirit again. The makings of a good side is still there, but a complete lack of a single decent match-winning spinner in the whole country and injuries to some high class potential seamers doesn't help. We could still win the last Test and come out of the series with a good draw, but it'll mean more persistence required from the bowlers and a little more fortune and concentration from the batsmen, and of course Thorpe replacing Hussain. Let's not let Stewie end his career with a drab poor performance, he deserves better!

IRAQ: Well done George, you foolish, blood-thirsty, blind-to-the-truth, deceptive and downright evil man, when will the reign of this mad tyrant President end! He's ruining the environment and keeping his big business buddies who paid for him to get into office happy, whilst trying to rule the rest of the world by force until it becomes blatantly obvious that they never had a clue what to do with Iraq once Saddam was ousted and come running to the UN for help, and even then try to dictate terms. the attacks of 9/11 were one of the most horrid acts of violence the world has ever seen, but America's actions since have been simplistic and blinkered to the wider picture, they have no right to expect foreign cultures to just succumb to a western, captialst lifestyle just because Bush decided Saddam had to rightly go. Who the hell does he think he is, I just hope future generations will not look back on the work of the Bush jnr administration with sorrowful, guilty eyes.

GENERAL: Life is pretty good. I mean I've been a bit down lately, but really, I've got a job, a flat, food, friends, a girlfriend, something to fill my days. Cricket for a decent team on a weekend. But still it gets me down to think about my debts and all the stuff that needs attention, chilling out is definitely required. That is life's biggest test, whether to plow on through problems, well perceived problems, or to give up and feel sorry for yourself. I chose the latter for a while, but friends and Becx managed to pull me out pretty quick, it never lasts for too long.

And i got a good friends stag weekend in a week or so, then a trip to the Reading Festival to see Blur and the White stripes, and then my first wedding experience. Of course I can't afford any of this, and a holiday seems increasingly unlikely for the foreseeable future, but putting it in perspective, I could have nothing, no job, friends, loved ones, home, nothing to eat! Simple things must be considered when facing an alleged problem, and perspective is always a useful tool when trying to cheer yourself up!

CRICKET: So Nasser Hussain has quit. Maybe he's had enough, fair enough, but surely in the middle of back-to-back Tests isn't the ideal time?! Maybe Michael Vaughan is ready, and keen, and in pretty good nick with the bat, but Nasser has still done a pretty decent job of turning England into a competitive and more gutsy team than some of his predecessors.

But when South Africa blasted nearly 400 for 1 on the first day at Edgebaston, the press were as eager as ever to turn on a team that had just won a triangular one-day series. It annoys me that they feel its the right thing to say after a single bad day. Even when going into the final day, with only 20 required and still three wickets in hand to save th follow-on, the tone of news readers was one of nervous negativity. I know the media have a job to make stories sound more exciting, but please, could you add maybe a hint of national pride rather than assumptions that we will fail.

But it's far easier and safer to be negative and pick faults than it is to stick your neck out and back someone. Nasser has left the national team in a more solid state, able to show more grit, and we did avoid the follow-on and never looked like losing the match. Thanks Nasser, but no thanks to the press.

ENVIRONMENT: "Disappearance of Amazon rainforest brings pledge of emergency action " from the guardian article, Saturday 28th June 2003:

"Rainforests cover less than 2% of the Earth's surface, yet they are home to some 40 to 50% of all life forms - as many as 30 million species of plants, animals and insects. Up to 30% of the world's animal and plant species are found nowhere but in the Amazon, an area of 1.54 million sq miles (4.1 million sq km) - larger than western Europe. Scientists issue a warning that its rate of destruction poses serious threats, not just in respect of lost species but by reducing production of oxygen and unpredictable consequences for global weather patterns."

read the article in full

Well, here i am at work. Taking time out to mention that I despise my home internet connection with a passion. something must be done, as having approximately a minute everytime i dial up, leaves me a little short of time to actually do anything. My junk emails are building up, and my frustrations are boiliing nicely at gas mark 3, in a light casserole dish, with accompanying boiled potatoes.

Anyway life otherwise is good, Becx got her degree, we had fun at her graduation ball. And I'm not doing too bad with my local cricket team which is nice. Getting to bowl at former Test cricketer's (Rob Bailey) and then have them say 'well bowled' after the game is always a promising reward.

Musically, I'm impressed with the Thrills, have heard all the singles, very Neil Young/folky/70's stylee, but perfect summery stuff. The Badmeaningood collection by the Scratch Perverts is also a high quality selection of hip hop and soul/blues classics and inspirations, not quite as abrasive as some of the scratching and mixing, and scratching and mixing and scra...

am also impressed with www.proteinos.com. Very intruiging and well designed portal

Well blogger has changed since i last popped in. But for the better I'm sure. Been a busy time, what with my girlfriend's graduation ball in Manchester, we arrived by limo no less, after negotiating the tricky task of pouring a magnum of champagne in to glasses during the journey, it really isn't that easy. Aaah the high life.

But the night was good, entertainment was ok, dj, not brilliant, food, not too bad, and Becx looked fantastic in her dress, made for the occassion, and impressive hair, as styled by mr tony and mr guy. Unfortuantely the high drinks prices meant we weren;'t too blitzed by the end. But we did see the sun coming up next morning, so it wasn't a bad effort.

I've had contact from an old friend in Melbourne, Oz. Good bloke, who found my work email via my personal site, whilst looking for cricket scores, the power of the net. And another old friend from back home in Torquay has put 2 web site projects my way, and they're both willing to pay, which in my current financial state, is very good news...more soon people, hope you are well.

By the way, George Bush is a liar, its official, and Tony Blair is a fool for trusting and following him...harsh but fair i think

Well its been a while, have been off visiting family and friends, and my girlfriend Becx for her 3rd year production, performing arts piece, which I got a little too involved in for my liking! She did well, some very impressive movements to 'Edge Hill' by Groove Armada, supplied by me! Always glad to help and all that, but when I got dragged out to be a part of the opening scene of the piece, that was a little bonus! Had a long weekend at home, which was perfect, spending time with family and old friends, the weather was kind, even though my old cricket team got beat. But we made up for it in the pubs of Torquay, much to my body's regret the next day!

The next weekend it was Becx's 21st, and she did pretty well. We visited Sankey's Soap in Manchester, James Lavelle and Unklesounds were djing, not sure if we heard them as it went on until 6am and we left at 1.30, frankly there were some hardcore clubbers in the downstairs section, that dance floor must have been a swimming pool by morning. Still well worth the trip.

Work is going ok, despite the lack of money, plenty of valuable experience, when I can get my lazy arse out of bed!

INSOMNIA: It�s gone midnight, and I can�t get no sleep. Insomnia. (It�s not that bad, I just thought it was a cheap way to get a song reference in). Got some relaxing tunes playing via my RealOne Player, and lots of ideas about things I�d like to do to enhance my web skills. But when I get down to it, it never seems to go as I expect, all these tutorial magazines I have, with all these step by step tutorials, but something doesn�t work, a file from the accompanying disk, or there�s just one action that it doesn�t explain in excruciating detail, and now I�ve messed up an important part of the process. It doesn�t always work out this way, but am in a frustrated mood. My BT connection is still woefully pathetically crap. In a nutshell. But after discussing it with the helpline man and my own examinations of my computer, it seems it�s the modem or the phone wiring in my flat, so I�ll need to sort that little issue out sooner rather than later. �16 a month for an internet connection that doesn�t stay connected for more than 5 minutes ain�t a lot of use. So that�s where I�m at right now.

MONEY: Minimal pay rise at work, not gonna cover all my increased outgoings, so that�s not good news for a heavily in debt graduate, I�d be lying if I said it doesn�t get me down. But I am most definitely not the only one. Having lots of money is not a big issue in my life, not having to worry about paying bills is. I just ask for enough to enjoy and make the most of my days, have some new and interesting experiences once in a while, that�s not too greedy is it?

The US sugar industry is kicking up a fuss because the World Health Organisation says in a report that only 10% of American's diets should be sugar, attacking the report the sugar industry says: "Taxpayers' dollars should not be used to support misguided, non-science-based reports which do not add to the health and well-being of Americans, much less the rest of the world," considering the problem of increasing numbers of over-weight Americans, and the growing tidal wave of taste-less convenience foods taking over our daily routines, this leaves a rather sour taste in my mouth. The sugar industry are blackmailing the US geovernment saying they want funding dropped for the WHO. Read the full story here
World Health Organisation

back2work :: jesus, did i enjoy my maccy d's allstar big breakfast (wretch) erm not really, i regret it as soon as i sit down and take the first morsel they have to offer. Anyway, had 1 hello how are you from the nice Irish journo, Rachel, who's friends with my boss Emma, and the rest of em can fark off. Ignorant toerags. I've given up trying to look for meet and greet opportunities, they have their safe, dark world where no light gets in, and I have my own corner, lit by real sunlight. Never mind, life does go on.

Wonder what stunning stories they have to offer the web audience today? A few rehashes, a few tenuous local stories from national stories, all good stuff...do I want to keep my job, well yes? Then stop slaggin off your employer, oh, yeh, good point, sorry. Later people. See today's paper online : Peterborough Evening Telegraph

Well the end of the week was far better than the beginning. I don't recommend having a tooth pulled. It's bloody horrible. And I thought I looked after my teeth?! Anyway, birthday was good on friday. My wonderful girlfriend made me a cake, and I got a damn impressive assortment of cool pressies from family and friends. Had a pleasant day in Stamford. Although we had a pizza in Ask, and frankly it wasn't the best, but we survived.

So this is Easter Sunday, just saw the Pope on BBC1 doing an address to all his fans at the Vatican, that guy speaks a whole load of languages, but he doesn't look at his peak I have to say, the guy is officially on his last legs. Not much else on the goggle box, (where does that saying come from? And who really cares?) Listening to Jacues Le Cont' and Slam's Fabric cd's, and bloody good it is too, cheers Dan for the bday copies.

humorously btopenworld have sent me a letter telling me about their great email filtering system, and 'hoping you're enjoying your time with us' well not as such no. But a friend of Becx's family works for bt and I might be able to pick his brains as to what's up with my horribly lame connection. OOO sun's out, better get outside and make the most of it, back to work tomorrow, althoug it is time and a half and I can go pretty much when I want. so it can't be too bad.

PILFER ::I have to say, I've had more fun in the last few days than possibly anyone ever in the history of the known universe. I discovered last week that my door lock doesn't work properly, and one big shove and it pops open, so I'm locking the deadlock aswell now! Then Saturday during a rather gruelling 7 and a half hours cricket practice day, some kindly passing thieving toerag decided my wallet looked ripe and did a runner with it. they only got �3 and a debit card which hopefully I blocked before they did anything too exciting with.

TOERAG ::Of course in my mind I can't fully remember what I did with the damn wallet, after i had it at lunch. Started to doubt my self, and think maybe i just dropped it somewhere foolishly or left it lying around with a flashing sign above saying, come and get me? But I'm fairly sure I didn't. Ironic that my first day of cricket at Peterborough Town's Brettin Gate ground had an unhappy ending. After 10 years playing in the Devon League for Barton and Abbotskerswell and not losing a penny to thieves, it frankly is almost funny. And on another bright note, the wallet was a bit past it speak, and I was planning to get another one, so it's just hurried that chore on a bit.

MORE GOOD NEWS ::Then today, at the ET, a web page I thought had been finished had some mysteriously missing elements, which I had to carefully re-insert. And then my old chum Mike phones to say his work is ridiculously busy, and they have offered him triple-pay and little choice in working over Easter, Which kind of buggers up his planned visit to another friends, where we were all gonna catch up. all in all, I've not really enjoyed much of today, and tomorrow it's the dentists for half an hour of numbness and filling and random dental torture, I really can't wait to spend the evening dribbliing uncontrollably, practice for old age, which as I turn 29 on Friday is fast approaching. At least I get to spend it with my lovely girlfriend Becx :-)

MUSIC :: On a brighter note, everyone must get the White Stripes album, Elepehant, it really does rock. I can also recommend the Junior Senior album too, it's a real party album, lively, bouncy, indie/dance with some fruity lyrics thrown in for good measure!

Sony have patented the term 'Shock and Awe' for use in a forthcoming computer game. Congratulations, may you sleep well tonight and try not to think about all the Iraqis that died during the real-life events of Shock and Awe, this avenue of marketiing frankly sickens me, but unfortunately people are gonna buy it. Read the Guardian Online report

So its goodnight from Saddam then, unless he's sitting in a cave somewhere in the middle-east playing snap with Osama Bin Laden! Nice that they pulled that staue down right in front of the journalists hotel, make sure they get good shots for the telly. Yes I am cynical, but as long as the Iraqi people get to have a say in the running of their country now and it doesn't just turn into New Texas, with a big oil line pumping black gold straight to the US of A then at least some good has come out of Crazy George's go-it-alone who-needs-the-UN-anyway plan.

Channel 4 reported last night about all the Texan based companies that have won tenders to work in Iraq when it's free from Saddam's rule. Not suspicious at all. I'm glad the whole thing seems to have been over quickly, with minimum loss of life, althought the amount of friendly fire and media kills was unbelievable. How do these American's get trained, on Playstation 2?!

Have just had training on the new admin (content management system) at work. Seems better than the previous version (which it should be) and hopefully will work better...? But it adheres more to the .NET system set up by Microsoft, which is fine, except if you work on a mac, which we at our paper do. It seems strange that any microsoft solutions wouldn't work so well on a mac, well actually it's no surprise, why would they want anyonhe to use a mac, when pc's are much better and Bill is trying to rule the IT world with Microsoft. He kinda got away with it afte that big court case in America, but no one's fooled, they make everything as pc/microsoft friendly as they can, and force their products and services on the rest of us, via their network and operating systems. Competition is a dirty word, so frankly I like using my mac, its a lot more pleasnat to look at for a start, and just has a nicer atmosphere about the environment, I'm not sure if I'm explaining it right, but if you've used both, you might understand more.

Just a quick one before work. The Government are proposing to make big shops close on Xmas Day, quite bloody right too. The commercial world we live in breeds the idea that we need every shop open all the time, convenience. Frankly I reckon we can all survive without shopping on Xmas Day. The only people who need to open are greedy bosses who are only concerned with profits and not too bothered about generosity and the needs of their staff. Unfortunately, in the retail industry, that sort of attitude is rife, its all about competing and getting on over on the other shops, to make that extra pound, well frankly it makes me sick after 12 years in retail, I would rather be a dirty hobo on the streets than devote my life to one faceless corporate retail whore company, and that's what you have to do, devote your time and all your energy for frankly not much in return, because it isn't exactly fulfilling, because every member of staff is expected to do so many tasks simultaneaously that actually feeling like your meeting people is a thing of the past...enough, later people

Another template, well the last one that changes colour, very cool, but very mental after a while. Bed soon for me, didn't England do well, especially that Mickey Rooney, 17, makes me feel a bit inadequate at 28, knockin on 29.

Well here we are, Wednesday already, and after a few days of excruciating dental pain, i am now feeling better thanks. Whilst at work, I've just completed my webguide for april hope you have time to take a look, there's a few interesting titbits from around the web, and some comment and links on the war, from some different points of view.

Much looking forward (is that English?) to my girlfriend coming home from Uni on Friday, it gets a bit lonely in the flat (blub) but you got to appreciate time on your own, and make the most of things in life. As a couple of people I know from back home have died recently, frnkly before their time, but everyone's gotta go sometime, and you never know when, so everyday shoould be seen as an opportunity rather than a series of chores. I'll leave you with that. Anyway back to the Peterborian grindstone now...