Tweets on 2011-07-31

  • Three course Sunday tea entirely out of leftovers 🙂 Thai pork patties, chicken pie, cupcakes and tart. #
  • RT @alixmortimer: '"Find someone just like me, only with tits" is not actually a diversity strategy.' *snork* Good post. http://t.co/LQ8zrjl #
  • @tom_geraghty could they be some sort of variable opening vent? My first thought was home vid ciné reel, but they're too small for that, no? in reply to tom_geraghty #
  • The weather in the US right now is apparently too hot for ice-cream vans. http://chzb.gr/pbRRKs #
  • Somehow managed to get sidetracked from reading Flylady's book, Sidetracked Home Executives, http://amzn.to/nOU6BK #
  • RT @dan_lepard: Cheese torpedoes, from start to finish: RT @lucmartin: http://t.co/bVnkzeJ << ooh. I wanna make these now. #
  • RT @tom_geraghty: This is a barbecue cake, made by @Pe27ach . http://lockerz.com/s/123370050 #
  • Got halfway through making a cup of tea before remembering we're out of milk. Beer it is, then. #
  • @mithomas20 ooh, where are you looking? have you found this one? http://bit.ly/qjtnp3 in reply to mithomas20 #
  • Reading self-improvement / better organisation books at gone 2am again. #fail #
  • @dr_nick at one point we were watching Alias and 24 from middle-of-ep to middle so as to avoid cliffhangres in reply to dr_nick #
  • Time for Steve jabs. (@ Arnwood Vets) http://4sq.com/qdbUH2 #

  • The full horror of my untidy desk http://flic.kr/p/a6Rm7K #

  • Battlescars. http://flic.kr/p/a6RzAP #
  • Found on desk – Eng Lib Dems Resource CDs from 2006, '07, '08 and '09. #
  • They were discontinued after that when they realised the people not on the internet were the people trying to play the CDs in stereos. #
  • Energiser packet full of Duracell batteries. Safe to assume they can be recyled, I think. #
  • Two copies of Civilisation IV… #
  • Aha – the oldest thing so far! a 2005 business card from the Balti House (don't think we've been since then) #

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REVIEW: Kindle reading lamp

The other day, out of the blue, I got an email asking me if I would like to review a Kindle case, lamp or cover, along with a handy link to a site called GearZap.com

I’ve been blogging on and off for seven years, now, and I don’t recall this ever happening before, so actually, I jumped at the chance.

Very quickly, they put my chosen Kindle light into the post and I got it the following day.

I needed one because when I first got the Kindle, I eschewed the basic Amazon cover with light in favour of a funkier sort of thing, like this one. When the Kindle arrived, I understood what the light was for. Like traditional books, you can’t read a Kindle in the dark. (The sleeve is indeed funky, has a very soft protective lining, is much more interesting than a boring leather one, and I like it a lot.)

Most of the time this isn’t a problem, but when I took the Kindle camping, it was much more so. I turned at first to a book light I had once won in a Christmas cracker years ago, but this suffered four problems: its rough metal clip scratched my precious kindle; the cheap reflector cast irritating shadows all over the page; it was powered by weird unusual batteries; and worst, despite being originally designed for books it was useless for them as you had to keep repositioning it when you switched from recto to verso.

GearZap sent me an XtraFlex2 Kindle Reading Light – and it’s really good. It instantly fixes all the problems I had before. It has a padded clip that will not harm the finish on the gadget. The high-quality lights and reflectors cast a very strong light in exactly the right place, and the gooseneck allows fine tuning to position it properly. The light is almost as bright as my mains powered bedside light, and it will be very good indeed in a tent. Used with actual books, the twin LEDs in the light head are angled to cover both pages of a book without having to move it. And it takes normal AAA batteries that won’t be at all difficult to secure next time I find myself in a tent, getting carried away, and reading all night.

I’ve never yet seen a review of this type of light with an actual picture of the light attached to the Kindle, so to put that right, here we go:

Kindle light

And this highlights the one slight problem using this light with a Kindle – the deep clip isn’t quite designed to fit the device (unlike, say, this one, which is clearly intended for exactly this product). It is not an insurmountable problem: you can clip the light enough to work at the top, or you can use the full extent of the clip halfway down as pictured.

Kindle light

So, fast delivery, quality product – what more could you want from a supplier of Kindle covers with lights?

One final point: this type of device, a personal book light, is often sold as a way of letting one of two people who share a bed continuing to read after the other has fallen asleep. This might work for some people, but it doesn’t work for us. I’m the late reader, but P is a light sleeper. Attempting to read in bed wakes him up. I could sleep through earthquakes, so if ever he wanted to read after I fell asleep, I’m sure it would be fine.

Tweets on 2011-07-23

  • @willhowells my cyclist violence fantasy is usually limited to an umbrella in the spokes. in reply to willhowells #
  • @willhowells however, I'm totes down with using a bazooka on people who drive with the radio too loud. #zerotolerance #
  • RT @journodave: An incredible picture of Oslo city centre. Huge amount of damage done. http://bit.ly/pzlnnq #
  • Yet again, @journodave is first in with the news, which is why I have recommended him as #ff in the past. What day is it today, again? #
  • Does anyone have any recommendations for French and German language tweeters who are fun to follow? #
  • Best serious language learning tip I was ever given was "read what you normally read, but in the target language." #
  • @dbelbin hope you have backups! in reply to dbelbin #
  • RT @centre_alt_tech: We're also on google+ if you prefer your social networking google style. Add us here: http://ow.ly/5KTQx #
  • I'm at Starbucks (Sainsbury's, Castle Bridge Rd, Nottingham) http://4sq.com/oPDrXp #
  • Don't worry quite dare check twitter or #bbcr4 news for fear of worsening atrocities from Oslo and/or Kay Burley. #
  • On the first day of the school summer holidays, frost is forecast. #
  • Have installed SwiftKey X. Which has its own version of unpredictable text. Sorry for any strange phrases as I acclimatisationalatify. #
  • @austinrathe hear Paddick talking about how much actual marriage meant to him during the equal marriage conf debate: http://ldv.org.uk/21259 in reply to austinrathe #
  • Hums… no, you can't hurry bread, no you just have to wait. #
  • This bear really needs to be more careful with his lightsabre. http://bit.ly/q7tS2g #

  • Ooh, that's good-looking dough. http://flic.kr/p/a6aT77 #
  • Wait, what? Second proof is an hour and a half? How did I miss that the first time I read recipe? Is there any hope for sleep tonight? #

  • These are already swelling quite convincingly. Trick is to get them in oven before they spread sideways. http://flic.kr/p/a6b5VE #

  • Burger baps looking good too. Nearly time to put oven on. Will I ruin everything at final hurdle? http://flic.kr/p/a6bneJ #
  • Most of the bottles on the kitchen counter really oughta go back to the drinks cabinet. It's not like we use them every day. #
  • Micro nuggets of dough inseparably sticking to my arm and hand hair. #

  • They look pretty awesome. Done 10 mins early. But are they raw in the middle? http://flic.kr/p/a6bFt9 #
  • @journodave holy crap, that's awful. in reply to journodave #

  • And that's the onion / celery seed hotdog buns out of the oven too. And so to bed. http://flic.kr/p/a68W5F #
  • OK, maybe a tiny sip of sherry before bed. #
  • Ooh, missed my 13000th tweet. And I have exactly 700 twitter followers. I love you all. (well, apart from you, obviously) #

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80 dead in Norway shootings

I’ve been keeping late hours baking but as I was getting ready to turn in, the news began breaking about the extent of the awfulness in Norway. As I write, 80 are confirmed dead at a summer camp for youth members of Norway’s ruling Labour party.

It’s terrible, terrible news, all the more vivid for me for the thought that this meeting must have been a similar sort of thing to the dozens run by our own party over the years. None of us would ever have considered Activate, or a Liberal Youth meeting a target for such an atrocity. A swathe cut through an entire generation of young political activists.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those who have lost children today.

Tweets on 2011-07-22

  • @ianvisits similar to amazeballs. HTH. in reply to ianvisits #
  • Lib Dem exec. Standing room only to discuss 5 year fundraising plan. (@ Lenton Methodist Church) http://4sq.com/oT1GxK #
  • We're going not going to discuss boundary changes tonight as we're running out of time #halleluia #
  • I have two custards in the fridge that need turning into icecream! #
  • Oh god nooooo! We're talking about boundaries! #stopitatonce #
  • RT @jamesmcgraw: How many relieved people does it take to change a light bulb? Phew. #
  • RT @Psythor: RT @danjordan: Happy Ï€ approximation day: 22/7 #
  • RT @timprater: It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than to register for Lib Dem conference online. #
  • @NGHodder B&Q do indoor stuff too, like paint. in reply to NGHodder #
  • @Psythor I totes chickened out of going back to university to talk about "what I have done since graduating" to postgrads. in reply to Psythor #
  • @Psythor or "What I did with my MA in Film Studies – sweet FA" #
  • @Psythor aren't students the worst people to bullshit to? Stick to the safe ground of disintermediation. in reply to Psythor #
  • Must shortly step away from the computer, but before I do, today's Dilbert is a corker. http://bit.ly/qkkE2x #

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Tweets on 2011-07-21

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Tweets on 2011-07-19

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