Author Archive
Photos taken with my new digital camera
Posted by: Simon Wood in Photos on July 1st, 2007
Over the years I have been pleased with the results I have got from my old digital camera, but recently I felt it is time to upgrade and get something better. After dropping some hints to Mum and Dad I got a nice new digital camera for my Birthday. As my new camera, a Fuji FinePix S9600, has lots more buttons that my old camera I though I better take it out for a play. Below is an example of the first few pictures I have managed to capture. I am sure I will be posting a lot more photos up here soon.
Site updated to use tags
Posted by: Simon Wood in Computing on June 22nd, 2007
I have just uploaded some new code to hpoom so that you can now filter blog posts by tag as well as category. This is all part of the changes I have started to work on to update the site and give it a new look. I will now move on to redesigning the site and hopefully upload the new look site soon. In the mean time enjoy the tags method of browsing the posts on the site and have a play with the tag cloud in the side bar. I implemented tags with the help of FreeTag, check it out here
Apple announce Safari for Windows and mix their words
Posted by: Simon Wood in Computing on June 11th, 2007
Today Apple has announced their Safari browser is now available for Microsoft Windows. Firstly I find this a joke as most people on windows use Microsoft IE as they don’t care about what browser they use, and those that do care about what browser they use will download Mozilla Firefox. I use a MacBook Pro for work. I like most other people I work with run Firefox on my Mac due to not liking Safari, so I can’t see how Apple think Windows users will embrace Safari.
My next grumble is one that annoyed me back when Apple first released their “I’m a Mac, and I’m a PC” videos. When you go to apple.com next to the Safari link is says “Free for Mac + PC”, but that is rubbish, I have PC at home and I can’t run Safari. The reason for this is that my PC is running Linux, which means that most things in those “I’m a Mac, and I’m a PC” videos is wrong too.
It doesn’t matter that I can’t download Safari for Linux because I don’t want it, I can run firefox on any platform I like, also I can have konqueror which is what Safari is based on. What annoys me is that Apple stuff is supposed to be user friendly, yet this misuse of terms for software and hardware platforms makes things harder to understand. It’s shouldn’t be “I’m a Mac, and I’m a PC”, it should be “I’m OS X, and I’m Windows”. Also the Safari download should say “Free for OS X + Windows”. It is after all the OS that determines what software I can run, if I am exposed to viruses, how secure my computer is and how easy it is to use my application windows and tools.
Apple please sort it out we want “I’m OS X, I’m Windows, and I’m Linux”
Mark Ronson: Interesting Music
Posted by: Simon Wood in Music on April 23rd, 2007
About 6 moths ago I posted on the site about an artist called Plan B. Plan B was not like the music I normally listen to and neither is the latest artist I want to tell you all about. Mark Ronson has been on the radio lots over recent weeks with his single “Stop Me” a cover of The Smiths “Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before”. But this is not what grabbed my attention, Ronson has also done a cover of Radiohead’s “Just” which features on “Exit Music: Songs with Radio Heads” a covers album of Radiohead songs. Anyway to get to the point hearing this Radiohead cover and Ronson’s version of “God Put a Smile upon Your Face” originally by Coldplay has made me go out and pick up a copy of his album “Version” which is very very good. Enjoy the videos and check out some of the great music Mark Ronson is putting out at the mo.
A review of Squidoo
Posted by: Simon Wood in Computing on April 6th, 2007
I have been using Squidoo for about a month now. For those that don’t know what Squidoo is, it is a website where you can write a single page on a topic of your choice. This page Squidoo refers to as a lens, and these lenses can be made up of various components like RSS Feeds, guestbooks, videos, ebay items etc. For more info on Squidoo check out the Wikipedia page about Squidoo, or the Squidoo Homepage.
I started using Squidoo to create a page that would help to promote a website I am working on “be more green”. My Squidoo page for “be more green” can be found here. This is not the best Squidoo page in the world, but now I have used it I quite like Squidoo and I can see how it would be a good site to create a lens about other subjects I am interested in. For example if you were a Dr Who fan then you could create a lens with links to Dr Who news via RSS feeds and links to videos and ebay items. You could write about episodes each week and let readers leave feed back. On top of all this Squidoo places ads on your page and the revenue from there adds is split 50:50 between Squidoo and yourself. So you can make money from these lenses, but this is more a little cash or a charity donation your not going to become a millionaire over night.
Overall I think Squidoo is very good at allowing normal people to write a web page about a subject they know about and then share this page with the rest of the world. Pop over to Squidoo now and check it out.
A Video Of Me Flying My Kite
Posted by: Simon Wood in Lifestyle on March 23rd, 2007
I thought I would post a video of me flying my PKD Buster 3m. I had good fun scudding about the beach as you can see in the video. This was filmed in Somerset by Sarah on 13/07/05.
I’m going out with my kites again tomorrow down at Greatstone. I am starting to get the hang of my HQ Crossfire 5m, did some little jumps a couple of weekends ago. I am hoping to get a go a kite boarding tomorrow, so more kite pictures and videos to follow soon. Enjoy
New Green Eco Website
Posted by: Simon Wood in Lifestyle on February 22nd, 2007
I though I would take some time to post about a new website I have been working on called “be more green“. The site came about after Faye my wife commented on that fact that she was finding it hard to find information all in on place on topics like Vegetable Box Schemes and Composting. With many companies and local councils offering products and schemes to allow us to all “be more green“, the idea is to collate all this information in one place.
I have to give Faye the credit for the idea, but I am pleased with the work I have done to make the site live. Anyway take a look and leave feedback on the forums and hopefully in time the site will become a rich resource for all things environmentally friendly.
My Site One Year On
Posted by: Simon Wood in Lifestyle on February 13th, 2007
In 2 days time this site would have been live in it’s current format for a year. In this year there has only been 23 posts, that approximately 2 a month. I love the site in its current format, but the reason I made it like this was to make it easier for me (and other people) to publish articles up here frequently. So I have decided one thing I am going to strive to do from now on is post more, and add more content to the site. I regularly search google and find no good results for the subject I am looking for. By posting on subjects I find little info on, I can use the site as a reference for the future and other people can benefit too. Look out for lots of posts coming soon.
I have my Nintendo Wii
Posted by: Simon Wood in Gaming on December 8th, 2006
I have now collected my Nintendo Wii. After visiting Gamestation at midnight last night I have now got my new toy and it is at home. Unfortunately it is a Christmas present from my wife so I can not play on until Christmas day. But I am still over the moon that I know I have one. Has anybody else out there managed to get their hands on a Wii on launch day?
Pictures now added as requested.
Wedding Photo’s
Posted by: Simon Wood in Photos on November 6th, 2006
On the 14th October 2006 Faye and I got married. I though I would put a small selection of our wedding photo’s on here so that family and friends can see them. It was a wonderful day for both of us, thanks to all those that helped to make it special. Photo’s were taken by Howling Basset. Please add any comments you may have.
