Category Archives: Links

My new financial advisor

I have a new financial advisor.  He’s two, has four fluffy feet and a trunk.

His current financial tips (at the bottom of the post):

  • Try to spend just a little bit less and save just a little bit more – every penny in a savings account is just that little bit more liquidity for the banking system and we’ll be that little bit closer to getting through this.
  • Now might be the time to see how much money you can save by taking some Green economy measures around the house – check out your insulation and your low energy light bulbs.
  • And if you think your finances are in trouble, try to get some help – the fewer people there are in difficulty the sounder the economy will be.

I guess the idea borne out of Tuesday night’s pub discussions of using what little savings I have to buy a canalboat are Not a Good Idea Right Now.  Turns out proper narrowboats are rather more expensive than I thought, but I could afford to buy something called a “cruiser,” some of which are more than capable of being used for short canal based holidays.  And Nottingham has ready access to some good canals and one of the most navigable rivers in the country.

Of course, leaping into canal boat ownership on a whim without ever having actually been on a canal boat holiday is almost certainly unwise.

Cruiser boats are about the same cost as a couple of other things I’ve been considering buying lately.  Caravans at Butlins in Skegness (I thought it might be an interesting non-standard investment, but I think it would be a lot more hassle than the very small return you might get). And hot air balloons (which would be very interesting, but has more upkeep costs than either a caravan or a boat, in that you would need to get and maintain a special private pilot’s licence).

Interestingly, all three would probably have the side-effect of needing a much bigger car with a tow bar.

Nine Lords a-blogging

All over the internet, people are welcoming a new initiative to bring peers of the realm closer to the rest of us.

Lordsoftheblog.net is a group blog by a cross-party bunch of peers who want to demystify the upper chamber.  And judging by the first few posts, it’ll be an interesting one to follow.

And loudmouth that I am, I have already found the need to weigh in with my opinion.

I came over to write a note about the sentence “we don’t know yet what really interests the wider blogging public,” and I find someone has already responded to precisely that.

Don’t write about what you think we will find interesting. Write about what you find interesting. Your enthusiasm and passion for the subject will carry you forward. You’d be astonished at what takes off and what doesn’t. And don’t censor your language. If bicameral is a word you use, then use it. If people don’t know what that means, they can look it up without your help, or they can choose to maintain their ignorance.

And, speaking as a modern languages graduate, I think Brits should do much more to get along with our nearest neighbours. We’re amongst the few people on this planet who think it’s normal to only speak one language fluently. My fear is that our school system forces us to specialise much too soon. A person who does well in all their GCSEs is a polymath at 16 and a specialist at 18. If you pass a foreign language at GCSE your options are little more than specialise in it – at the expense of something else – or drop it entirely. Our A level system does not help our young people maintain broad interests, and all too often foreign languages are squeezed out.

My new camera

I got a new camera last summer – an Olympus E500, my first digital SLR.

I found these photos languishing on the memory card from the first few weeks I had it. I was trying out how good the 40-150mm zoom lens was by taking some snaps from my bedroom window.

This is a reasonable close up of the flowers in the garden from the first floor window

Cam trials

Here are a series of shots of my neighbour’s pear tree at the bottom of their garden, 20m or so away.

Cam trials

Cam trials

Cam trials

And finally, the main reason for going SLR is the huge amount of extra control you get. EG this shot, where you can get the camera to focus on the near tree and leave the tower block artily fuzzy.

Cam trials

Who knew the view was so interesting?

Garfield minus Garfield

Sorry if this is old hat for you, but a link from that nice Joel Derfner points me at Garfield Minus Garfield, which is hilarious and disturbing all at the same time.

Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolor disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life?
Friends, meet Jon Arbuckle. Let’s laugh and learn with him on a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against lonliness and methamphetamine addiction in a quiet American suburb.

Exciting new internet thingy

Sandy - your free personal email assistantFor the last few days I have been playing with a new productivity tool that excites me almost as much as Wildfire used to. Sandy is a sort of PA who you can talk to via email and Twitter in almost-human language. She takes notes, makes appointments, builds to-do lists and keeps track of your diary. She sends a note every day (irritatingly formatted in Comic Sans) and special reminders for individual things if you ask her to. Because you can talk to her by twitter, you can send her a message whenever you need to by text. The thing looks like it works quite well. You can even use it to work with other people. It’s not finished, and the developer team are still adding features. I think what I like best is the idea of having Samantha from Bewitched helping me remember what I’m supposed to be doing.

LGBT history month

A link on the City Council’s intranet site reminds me that it is LGBT History Month, and points out some useful information about what’s happening in Nottingham.

The Rainbow Flag will be flying from the Council House from tomorrow until the 18th Feb (must remember to bring camera in with me to committee).

There are exhibitions – one in Waterstones from 12 – 17 Feb and one in the Angel Row library from 18 – 29 Feb.

But much more interestingly, there was a link to a website I previously hadn’t found, which says that a Nottingham LGBT history group has been awarded over £40,000 to do some research and create an archive about gay history here in the city.  To that end, there are some fascinating pages on their site for every decade since 1967. Lots of interesting information about historical venues in the city, the wider campaign for gay rights, and some nasty spats with the City and County Councils.  The link to the pages is from the “themes” page.