Mon, 3 Jan 2005 15:17:16 +0000 http://www.oblician.com/ oblician.com en-ie http://www.oblician.com/images/logo.gif http://www.oblician.com/ webmaster@oblician.com http://www.oblician.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=31 So John, what were the top 4 albums of 2004? (I've been waiting all year to make that joke!) Mon, 3 Jan 2005 15:17:16 +0000 http://www.oblician.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=30 So, at the start of another year, it is time to look back and see what has been monumental in the world of music. Johnny Cash has died, which a few years ago would have meant nothing to me, but now, with some semblance of a broader music taste I recognise as a great loss. Rumours of a Pixies reunion run riot, with promises of an April 2004 and possibly a new album... Anyway, here is what I believe are the top 4 albums of 2004: David Bowie - Reality The White Stripes - Elephant The Darkness - Permission to Land Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Nocturama I had planned to do a top 5, or even top 10, but my purchasing was not as extravagant this year as previous years. I was also impressed by Marilyn Manson and Kylie (!!), however BRMC and Linkin Park were a little disappointing. Once I finally get around to buying Radiohead, The Stokes and A Perfect Circle I may be in a better situation to evaluate. What do you think was good new music this year? Mon, 5 Jan 2004 22:21:17 +0000 http://www.oblician.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=29 I emailed one of the recruitment agencies recently and asked them to remove me from their database. I was told that they could NOT remove me from the database but could only out a note on my file to say I was not interested in receiving any more calls or emails. I was a little bit miffed by this! My feeling is that if I want my details removed they should remove them... does anyone know what the story is with this? I have had a quick look at the Data Protection Act, but it's not that easy to figure this sort of stuff out! If only I knew a lawyer! ;-) Mon, 5 Jan 2004 22:21:01 +0000 http://www.oblician.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=28 You know "The Salon" is on in the background here and I am weeping for the future. "There were three wise men and three kings weren't there?" says the gay looking one that everyone fancies. "What?" says the one that nobody fancies but may actually be gay. "You've heard of the three wise men, like, they gave him the Frankenstein...?" I don't understand The Salon. What's it for? No matter how bad the other reality shows are at least they all seem to have some point, some excuse for their existence. But this Salon thing makes no sense. Seems like nobody has been voted out in years ... and they all pick on the blonde receptionist! "What's wrong?" says brassy beautician. "Oh nothing." says cute receptionist. "No, really." says the brassy one while checking her profile in a mirror and pretending that she doesn't know there is a camera directly behind the glass. "Well you'll find out one way or another." says thin receptionist, choking back tears and Pot Noodle. "What's that supposed to mean?" ask brassy blonde and bloke with strange accent. "What do you mean?" SHE MEANS YOU ARE ALL ON TV YOU STUPID IDIOTS! AND IF YOUR FRIENDS DON’T SEND YOU A TXT MESSAGE YOU CAN WATCH THE HIGHLIGHTS SHOW LATER. AND IF YOU CAN'T GET THE VIDEO TO WORK TRY ASKING DOCTOR FRANKENSTEIN, HE’S AN EXPERT ON ELECTRICS NOT TO MENTION CREATING MONSTERS! Well, feels good to get that off my chest. Tue, 16 Dec 2003 03:05:38 +0000 http://www.oblician.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=27 So, I logged onto Amazon for the first time in quite a while to look at possible presents for Christmas and they had the following recommendations for me. Firstly in electronics there was the Panasonic SV SD50 MP3 Player. Also in electronics they recommend the Panasonic SV SD85 MP3 Player. Then in Music there is Polythene, a long player by some popular beat combo. And finally in DVD they think that Wet and Bouncy would be just the thing to liven up my stocking this Christmas. Luckily there is a link beside each recommendation telling me why they think each product would suit me. In all cases the reason for the selection is that I previously bought an Intel Pocket MP3 player! So the mighty Amazon's sales and marketing software says that because I previously bought an MP3 player from them I should now: a) Buy a new MP3 player. b) Buy another new MP3 player. c) Buy a CD, which I won't be able to play on any of my MP3 players. d) Buy a DVD featuring soggily well endowed women to help take my mind off the money I have wasted on my burgeoning collection of personal digital audio equipment. Who wants to bet that a computer science graduate and not an engineer wrote that software then? Wed, 3 Dec 2003 03:09:50 +0000 http://www.oblician.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=26 A let down! At least that's what I felt after going to see the movie last night with a group of friends. Maybe I was expecting too much, but I expected the third episode in the Matrix 'tri-ology' to be an epic ending, rather than a poor Aliens rip-off. After Reloaded, there were debates about a matrix within a matrix which was being used to control the minds of those who thought they were in Zion... We discussed those that had come before... What is the Oracle? What part will the Merovingian play? All great stuff... And then we get a sci-fi war movie... I was disappointed! Had it been too much to hope for an intelligent script that didn't conclude in sell-out way? Evidently... But hey, that's just my opinion! ;-) Mon, 10 Nov 2003 12:23:05 +0000 http://www.oblician.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=25 I was surprised to read of RedHat choosing to no longer provide a free distribution. They have decided that they are the company that supports o­nly the RedHat Enterprise Linux edition and have changed the way they operate with regard to personal distributions.There is a new distribution called Fedora which they sponsor. There is no longer any support for this version.At some level I think it is a good thing as it means that RedHat focus o­n the business side but still assist the open source community with a personal version. It's a long time since I got my first RedHat and Slackware distributions and I think it would have been a real shame had they pulled out of this market. Mon, 10 Nov 2003 11:52:23 +0000 http://www.oblician.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=24 There is nothing like the Tao of Roger Hargreaves to cheer the soul at lunch time. In particular this site should get you smiling again in less time than it takes to say "You look great Mr. Ken!" Tue, 27 May 2003 15:11:02 +0100 http://www.oblician.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=23 I hadn't realised, but Season 7 is the last series of Buffy - that's a little disappointing... just when it was getting really good. Theres an article at CNN about it. Fri, 23 May 2003 09:49:33 +0100 http://www.oblician.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=22 On the aviation theme again ... don't ask me how this happened, but any suggestions entertained! Wed, 21 May 2003 09:39:46 +0100 http://www.oblician.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=21 I can't help thinking that there are other more important target industries that could benefit from this approach. NEWS.COM: Hold technology creators liable? Ken Thu, 15 May 2003 19:18:07 +0100 http://www.oblician.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=20 Ananova: Lecturer unlocks formula for hit movie. With The Matrix Reloaded about to boot up at a cinema near you a college lecturer has formulated the perfect movie recipe. Anyone want to comment on the fact that the Action percentage is 3 times the amount of the Plot element? Or the fact that the study only goes back over the last ten years? Go on, you know you want to, even if it’s just so you can annoy me…… Ken Wed, 14 May 2003 11:49:01 +0100 http://www.oblician.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=19 Guys, I can’t help thinking that the world of blog is meant to spin a little bit faster than this. I mean there hasn’t been a post here for nearly a week. What’s going on John? Anyway I just got an unsolicited txt message telling me that I and thirty of my mates could win a chance to meet Westlife by buying a certain newspaper and entering their competition. What are the chances of this? You would have a better chance in the lottery. Assuming that you liked Westlife in the first place, where are you going to find thirty like-minded people? (Answers on a postcard in crayon perhaps?) I mean not just ‘you and a friend’ or ‘four lucky people’ but ‘you and thirty of your mates’? Even my niece probably couldn’t manage that. Unless they are aiming for young school girls and the prize is for your whole class in which case they need to recheck the newspapers because it’s a long time since class sizes were that small. Are they having so much trouble selling concert tickets these days that they have to give half of them away? And I can imagine the competition question right now…. Question: What two words go together the make the name of boy band Westlife? Answer: a) East & Death. b) North & South c) West & Life. (Calls cost £3.50 per minute or part thereof, and should last no more than 121 seconds.) Isn’t winning a competition supposed to be much harder than making use of the prize? Ken Wed, 14 May 2003 11:48:48 +0100 http://www.oblician.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=18 Spam, or 'unsolicited bulk e-mail' to use its more descriptive moniker, really irks me. It is second o­nly to spyware in presumptuous sneakiness. So, anything I can do to foil the spammers makes me happy. I've picked up a few tips during the battle, and I'm posting them below to share the benefit of knowing how to avoid it (as far as possible). Wed, 14 May 2003 11:48:28 +0100 http://www.oblician.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=17 Here is a little site in keeping with the aviation theme. A collection of pictures and movies of aircraft in ... unusual situations. Unusual Aviation Pictures And here is the reason for the 'Playing with jet engines' title, a new project for Jojobong to get to grips with for the summer ... How to build PIC Multiengine Turbine Hours. (It's the 5MB movie at the end of the list!) Ken Wed, 7 May 2003 12:51:36 +0100 http://www.oblician.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=16 Straight from the temporary existential confusion of figuring out if I am in fact over 13 years of age and if I do indeed have my mommy's permission to use this site, I have finally registered to join, with more than a little excitment about what adult-flavoured tidbits I might find inside.Upon browsing through the topics, I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. I can see I'm going to have to help with the beefing up of the content o­n this site.Of course, now that I'm here I don't actually have anything to add, but hey - when has that ever stopped us?You'll be hearing more for me, oh yes!(BTW John - I presume we all get a cut of the royalties when all of this goes into print in a few years? Hey, don't knock the idea; if it worked for the o­nion, we can do it too) Mon, 5 May 2003 14:33:20 +0100 http://www.oblician.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=15 This article speaks for itself really. I'm torn between being extremely happy at having a new version of the best album ever and thinking that some of the atmosphere may be lost from that original old 4 track recording. 30th Anniversary Tubular Bells Release Ken Wed, 30 Apr 2003 16:21:20 +0100 http://www.oblician.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=14 JetMagic's inaugral flight was held yesterday. I hope everything went well for Jock and co! From an inside source, I have found that the new plane(s) are being delivered this week. See the picture of the livery. Tue, 29 Apr 2003 08:47:40 +0100 http://www.oblician.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=13 I've just found young Mark's long lost brother. He's an Asian guy who just graduated from MIT. Have a look at his home page. This guy funks tech like a pound of bacon. And I think Ken knows what I'm saying. Tue, 29 Apr 2003 08:40:33 +0100 http://www.oblician.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=12 The world as a blog is an interesting concept. When someone somewhere posts something, their text appears on a dot on the map. How do we get ourselves hooked up?! Geocode me, baby... Meanwhile, another bunch of fruitloops are trying to get people to turn off their TVs.... by putting ads on the TV. Seriously, it's hard to know what motivates them. And call me twisted, but I like the Onion's New Fox Reality Show to Determine Ruler of Iraq. Fri, 25 Apr 2003 09:17:01 +0100 http://www.oblician.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=11 I'm driving home from work yesterday evening. And I come cruising up to the toll bridge, coins in hand all ready to go. I join a cue at one particular barrier where there are only two cars in front of me - an old white Renault something or other and a silver MX-5. The guy in the Renault is happily tapping his fingers on the steering wheel obviously enjoying some music on his drive home. Then he seems to realise that the big red and white striped barrier in front of him is there for a reason so he starts looking around for some cash. You can clearly see him checking both door pockets and glove box and for all I know fishing down the back of the seats looking for coins. A queue starts to build up behind me. One or too impatient beeps can be heard, not me though. Eventually he finds the coins, throws them in the basket and moves on. So, having waited for all this to happen finally the MX-5 moves forward. The top is up even on such a sunny day but I swear I can hear "Super Trooper" coming from somewhere. It stops beside the basket and guess what the driver does? That's right, leans over to the passenger seat and lifts up a hand bag, looks around inside to find a purse, takes that out and searches it for coins. What does any of this have to do with SARS and an Irish national response plan? Well think about it, even when the doctors and experts finally sit down to create a plan you are going to be relying on the general public to listen to the health warnings and travel advisories and take the precautions they hear about on the news bulletins and read in the papers. With the level of stupidity and ignorance around in our lovely city ... what are the chances of that happening? Wed, 23 Apr 2003 18:40:16 +0100 http://www.oblician.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=10 The gossip columns have a story today about Avril Lavigne having some secret crush on someone really cool. So if you guys can confirm that it's me you'd really be helping me out. Ken Wed, 23 Apr 2003 18:39:58 +0100 http://www.oblician.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=9 There is an article at the Register about Madonna's website being hacked at the weekend. Supposedly, Madonna / record company, had distributed lots of fake MP3's of songs from her new album American Life around the Internet, including P2P sites such as Kazaa. These MP3's allegedly had a loop of Madonna saying "What the f**k do you think you are doing" for the 4-5 minutes that would have been the length of the song. The hacker put up MP3's of each song of her album along with the text "This is what the f**k I think I am doing" on her homepage. Wed, 23 Apr 2003 13:32:22 +0100 http://www.oblician.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=8 Nina Simone has died. More information on the BBC News Website. Also see http://ninasimone.com for more information. Tue, 22 Apr 2003 09:59:16 +0100 http://www.oblician.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=7 So this picture would seem to be of me and yet I can't find it anywhere in the gallery. Has our moderator downloaded a lot of photos from this years ski trip and failed to update everyone?? What's going on? Thu, 17 Apr 2003 17:23:10 +0100