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JUNE 2004 |
24th June 2004
I was writing a couple of log entries while in the car with iStumbler running on the laptop (purely for curiosity), and by the time I got home, I had a screen that looked like this:
- I found 60 Wireless Nodes, so thats about one a minute!
- 26 of these had a default ESSID
- 27 did not have any WEP (45%)
20th June 2004
In the afternoon I headed off from Harrow with my bike on the tube to Baker St. By the time I got there, it was raining like crazy, there was a little wind and all I was just wearing one layer, a micro fleece. Things were not looking good. Once I got there I raced over to Regents Park and sat under a huge tree for a little while and got on to the phone to Jon who said he'd be there in a few minutes. While I was waiting, I talked to a few others on the phone (damn, I love having loads of free minutes).
After a while the rain slowed to spitting and I found Jon. I had a word with Paul earlier and we planned to meet him at Kings Cross, so Jon and I cycled over to see whether he made it there. Once we got there he found us in a couple of minutes and we were off on a mission to Brick Lane for fresh bagels.
I love Brick Lane and we found a great bagel place at the end of the road. I don't think I've had bagels since I was in Canada, gotta have them more often. They are so nice when fresh and hot. Jon phoned his friend Trevor who joined us on his lovely recumbant bike.
The four of us cycled over via a few back roads to Primrose Hill. It was a relaxing ride, and fun to see Jon on his new standard bike, Paul on his Brompton folding bike and Trevor on his mental recumbant. The view from Primrose Hill was lovely. We chilled out for a while at the top on benches and ate some more bagels before heading off to Baker Street station so I could get back for work tomorrow.
Just as we were leaving we saw a very friendly guy with his amazing petrol powered remote control car. He was cleaning it after a run around the hill and was very happy to tell us about his car and answer our questions. Such a nice guy.
I didn't think it would be much fun cycling about in central London, and things were not looking good when I arrived on my own in the heavy rain. But I was so wrong. There was not too much traffic, being a Sunday afternoon and with friends I had a really great time. Next time I'll take my camera.
Track of the day: Lamb - Til the Clouds Clear
18th June 2004
Borrowed a portable compressor so I could finally get my tyres on my bike. Pumped up to ~70psi. I would like a few more but the compressor was vibrating like mad and sounded like it was going to explode. Anyway there is only one word to explain what these are like compared to my old Schwalbe Black Jacks... smoooth. Those were real junk. While I had the wheels off I tweaked the brakes a little, got some oil about and now everything runs like a dream. My bike is an extra limb of my body.
Track of the day: Limp Bizkit - Faith
17th June 2004
I ordered a pair of Specialized Nimbus EX tyres for my bike yesterday from Wiggle, and even though I chose free delivery they still arrived today. Good stuff! They look really sweet. I think I made a good choice. They're not going to be as fast as 1.25 or 1.3 slicks (eg Fat Boys, S-Licks) but they should have quite a bit of grip. Whenever I get anything fun, I've got to try them out as soon as I can, but sometimes, like today, things just get in the way. I got home early and whipped the wheels off my bike. Deflated the tyres, off they came, rolled up the inner tubes, got my new tyres and tubes out... dammit, I can't find my pump. I have 2 pumps, a foot pump and a hand one. The hand pump has gone walkies and I think I may have lent my foot pump to my aunt. Ah well. I'm itching to give my tyres a go so I go to the extreme and put the inner tubes in my pockets. Tyre levers in the back pocket. One bike wheel in each hand and off I go to my local BP to get this sorted out once and for all. But no. The tyre inflation machine is b0rkticated. There is no hose, someone has broken it, so I have to walk back. I guess it just wasn't to be.
Track of the day: Lamb - Angelica
12th June 2004
Cycled over to my cousins house today. We headed off to Wembley Market, where I haven't been for at least 8 years. Even though I didn't buy anything it was pretty good fun, it was busy and reminded me of bangsar. I was amazed at one enormous stall that had every kind of tool you could imagine. There were fairly good quality mini steel g-clamps for £1. After some kebab and ice cream we headed back to the flat where we swapped some warez and played Warcraft 3 for a little while. It was loads of fun, I've got a battle.net account now: hussein.j if anyone wants an easy target.
Track of the day: Massive Attack - What Your Soul Sings
9th June 2004
Track of the day: Spooks - Swindley's Maracas
6th June 2004
Got to bed at about 2am or so, and woke at 5:45am... why? Who Knows, its a Sunday morning, and it seems that everyone in Nottingham is asleep. I give it 3hrs of watching lame music videos on cable TV and playing an obscene amount of Quake II on my laptop (using the trackpad) before I simply have to get off my ass. I phone all my friends in Nottingham that I am going to try and visit today, but they are all asleep like normal humans at that time on a Sunday. Still, I manage to wake Jo a little later, nab the keys to Sids bike and cycle off to his house.
We had loads of fun, I marvelled at his massive Manga collection (very soon, he could almost open his own comic book store) and we played a few retro (Hi-Octane) and not so retro (Alice) computer games. The greatest thing though is he has introduced me to Invader Zim, a cartoon on Nickelodeon that we've now got on DivX. I am so totally hooked, it rules. We're meeting some others for lunch and after an hour and a bit we leave and walk down to Derby Road.
Met Sid, Raveen, Rex, Mel and Rhianon for lunch. We were sitting outside, the sun was shining, the food was awesome and I had remembered to take my antihistamines. What more could you possibly ask for?
The only thing we're missing is some dessert. The plan is to head over to main campus, relax there for a while and get ourselves some icecream. It was quite packed, and the queue for the rowing boats was mega-long. Still, we got our 99 Flakes from the Ice Cream van and found a bench in the shade by the lake to talk a while. Perfect way to end a lovely weekend.
Track of the day: Nancy Sinatra - Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)
5th June 2004
Straight after work I made my way down to Nottingham. Got a bus right away, then onto a tube at Seven Sisters, ran to St Pancras to just get on my train which was extremely fast and perfectly on time. I bet I got from the shop in Tottenham to Sids house in Nottingham in just over two hours. Very nicely done. Had a really good journey, sat at the very back of the train, the carriage was relatively empty. I had some quality time enjoying the view and writing last weeks log entries on the laptop while listening to some sweet Tribe Called Quest on headphones. Its all quite exciting, can't wait to see Sid, Jo, Mel and Ruth. Its going to be a busy weekend.
Had a very pleasant and relaxing start to the weekend. Sid & I walked around in Nottingham without a plan, making it up as we go along works well sometimes. We picked up some chips from the Chip Box in Lenton (oh so perfect Chip from there) and headed into town. We found a lovely quiet little cafe/bar with outdoor seating where we chilled out for quite some time. It was a great spot. Its now our secret location to bring friends to and relax.
Track of the day: Tribe Called Quest - Electric Relaxation
