badlyDrawnToy

Once again the world is shocked by another gun massacre in Virginia State, USA. It was a tragedy, but sadly not a surprise, as gun licensing laws are so lax in the USA.

Simon Rumble points out that Australia’s response to the Port Arthur Massacre was to restrict gun control. Similarly, the UK introduced extremely tight gun controls after the Hungerford and Dunblane massacres. All firearms in the United Kingdom with the exception of low-powered airguns must be licensed. Compare this with Virginia State law.

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Categories: General | 1 Comment »

This week I discovered a cool piece of software that allows me to control two macs with one keyboard, and one mouse. Brilliant if you’re a geek!

Like any good developer, I’ve got mission control set up on my desk - my MacBook desktop is split across a dual screen, and I have another screen for my Mac mini (which acts as my development web server, my music server and my VOIP phone). Using two sets of keyboards and mice is a pain, and KVM switches are awkward, particularly as I remove my laptop frequently.

No fear, Synergy is here. This open-source solution allows you to arrange your monitors as one virtual desktop. Simply move the mouse cursor towards the other screen, and as it reaches the edge, it transfers control over to the other machine. You can even copy & paste between the two machines! The machines must be connected to a local network to work.

It’s a doddle to set up Synergy up on the Mac as there is an application called SynergyKM that includes a Preference Pane. Synergy works on Windows and Unix too, so I could use it to control Windows XP when testing web sites in Internet Explorer.. but now I have Parallels installed on my Mac, I don’t need another machine.

If you need to control more than two machines, that are all Macs, then there is also a similar freeware application called Teleport.

Geeky but brilliant

Categories: Apple | 4 Comments »

I rarely get excited by TV series. This is probably partly due to me spending 5 years in Australia where a) TV is rubbish and b) the weather is better, so people are less inclined to relax infront of the box.

However, this all changed when I started watching Life On Mars, of which the second series ended last night. And now my life seems somewhat incomplete. more »

Categories: General | 2 Comments »

Once again, Easter is upon us, and the shops are filled with chocolate eggs, because chocolate resembles the resurrection of Christ or something.

Aside from raking in squillions from easter egg sales, the confectionery companies have taken it upon themselves to inform our children that Easter is not only a festival, but also a shape.This years eggs (on display at our local video store), contain Easter shaped jellies!

So, exactly what shape is Easter?

And if you are still in doubt that Easter is a commercial rip-off:

• It is estimated that about 80m chocolate eggs are sold in the UK
• Revenues fro Easter egg sales in the UK exceed £336m
• According to this Guardian report, some Easter eggs are 50% packaging (most of it non-recyclable)!

Happy Easter! (and Pesach)

Categories: General | 1 Comment »

I’m not easily duped by scammers. Emails from someone claiming to need my help getting money out of Nigeria go straight into the spam bin. But today, I’ve been approached by someone interested in buying my guitar that is currently advertised on Gumtree, and it appears to be a scam.

My guitar is for sale for £100. Last night I received an email stating:

I’m really interested

That was all. I thought the reply a bit odd in it’s short message, but replied none-the-less with my phone number.

This morning came another reply:

please is the guitar in good condition,and what is the mode of payment because i am interested i don’t have a phone

Again, a bit odd. Everyone has access to a phone, surely? In hindsight, I should have been suspicious at this point. However, I replied, informing the other party that payment is cash only, and that they can come round if they don’t have a phone. Their response gave the game away:

i am really excited,well its unfortunate i am not around and it means i cant see it my self i am away on a trip,but i can direct my uncle to forward a check to you on my behalf he his owing me some funds and the funds would also cover money for shipping i am in talks with a shipping agent to help me pick up the guitar, i am really excited i also play i wishh we could meet someday to do a collaboration hehee…how nice hoping to hear from you

Unbelievable. I’m astounded that these scammers are trawling local ads for gullible punters.

The more I use the internet for communicating with other parties, the more I value meeting someone face-to-face. Whether it be selling a guitar, applying for a job or bidding to win some work, I’m finding that any interpersonal skills i possess are irrelevant. If I see a job or contract advertised, I now always phone up, and invariably engage well with the other party. If I just send my CV or portfolio, I rarely hear back.

Much as I love the internet and all it offers, it is a virtual world, and is no substitute for the real thing

Categories: General | 2 Comments »