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NOVEMBER 2002 |
29th November 2002
I upgraded my laptop to unstable yesterday, and fixed up all my fonts real good today. Everything is exceptionally slick, things are fast, its all pretty stable now, and its all good. Browsing now has a PDF-like quality to it, and its just oh so nice compared to when everything was all broken. I also installed PHP on lump and kitty to get sysinfo working here and here for no reason. So. Now my laptop is easy on the eye and I can check the status of my routers from a browser, I guess I'd better get on with Dissertation, Coursework and finding a Job. I'm so screwed.
Track of the day: Moby - In This World
28th November 2002
Had a great time yesterday at the Jaguar Engineering facility. They really do have some great technology there, digital 3D printing using ultra-violet reactive liquid (what this great technology is called, I forget), echo-proof sound chambers, four wheel drive dynos that can handle 400+ BHP. Large rigs acurately measuring chemical analysis of emissions on a huge drivetrain testbed. 3D Modelling of crash scenarios showing potential deformations... It was really amazing. In just a few hours, it showed how cutting edge their engineering really is. They had a huge facility, and it was as if we had just visited a small corner of what was really there. I'm sure a lot of it must be heavily under wraps, there were lots and lots of masked up camoflaged test cars about the place, and also a ridiculous number of new Aluminium-Bonded 6-Speed Auto XJ's (uncovered in September, but not available until Spring 2003 - see pic) darting about, probably undergoing last-minute testing.
I also spotted a shell of a recent BMW 5-Series which was in a heap (minus all parts, badges and paint), which means they have recently been doing some competitive analysis... hmm, maybe some revisions to the X-Type soon? Anyway, after that Dan, Jcm and I went out for a nice dinner at Wagamama to top it all off. Today, I did nothing interesting.
Track of the day: Hussein - Lord, won't you buy me a XKR coupe?
27th November 2002
Today was a great day. Yesterday at midday I went down to London to go to Mosque with my family. I was there for the night, but I managed to keep myself amused for a hell of a long time playing silly games on my cousins T68 mobile phone, and eating lots of chocolate. I also had hours and hours of fun with Bluetooth. Its quite suprising how many Bluetooth devices were available to play with, most of them being random Nokia 7650 mobile phones. I know that they come with Bluetooth enabled as default, but it just shows how many people just do not bother to turn the damn thing off when they are just idling. I found about 11 different devices through the night, and was able to send random shit to about 5 of them. I distributed numbers for many great Nottingham Takeaways, Talking Pages, and Kelvedon Hatch Nuclear Bunker (G2002 is going 2 r0x0r ppl), as well as a whole load of random pictures using my cousins phone. Looking around, I spotted an extremely confused looking man staring at the screen of his 7650, probably wondering why and how he has the number for Mr B's Takeaway. Anyway, I left there early, got back home, had something to eat, got changed and was off to Nottingham at a silly hour of the morning. I'm just on the final half hour of the journey right now, and I have not before realised how totally beautiful sunrise really is. I wish I had a go go gadget camera attatchment, cos that sky was incredible. Still, I feel vaguely awake, which is good, since I will be off to Coventry later for a tour of the Jaguar engineering facility.
Track of the day: Feeder - High
26th November 2002
Its 5:33am. The birds are singing, and I'm only just getting a little sleepy. My sleeping patterns and routines are oh so corrupted. Why did I make this page? Who knows.
Track of the day: Rootjoose - Virtually Fat Free
23rd November 2002
I got a new CD Writer the other day, I sold my old LiteOn LTR-32123S 32x12x40 and bought a Sony CRX210A-E1 48x12x48 OEM one for slightly more because I was bored. Anyway, I overclocked my new drive today ;) I uploaded it with the latest firware from the LiteOn LTR-52246S 52x24x52 Drive using a cool little program called mtkflash (its a DOS program). The Sony drive is based on the latest LiteOn design ('6S', 6th Generation), and it accepted the new firmware just fine. Its now all speeded up to 52 speed (though I don't have any 52x CDs yet, though reading CDs works pretty well), the LED on the front is more intuitive and it now supports the new Mt. Rainier CDRW format too. Seeing as I bought this drive for about 44 quid from dabs.com, it was one hell of an awesome bargain for a nice quality 52x24x52 Sony writer. Its a shame that they don't stock it anymore, as they only have the 55 quid 48x24x48 model. If anyone out there manages to get hold of a cheap CRX210A and wants to give it a go, download this zipfile which has mtkflash v1.55, some instructions, the LiteOn magic firmware, and a backup copy of the Sony CRX210 firmware, just in case. NOTE: Do NOT try this firmware on anything apart from a Sony CRX210, CRX215, or any LiteOn drive/LiteOn-based drive with a model number ending in '6S'. Always back-up your firmware using mtkflash before even thinking about doing anything (if a firmware completely bodges your drive, mtkflash can normally fix the damage from your backup binary). Test the drive afterwards in every way to make sure it works fine. Once you have done all this, download the latest 52246S firmware from the LiteOn homepage to get better media support (the flashing is done in Windows), all the latest ones should work fine, your Sony drive is now a LiteOn one (er, not that it wasn't one in the first place!). Oh yeah, and when it completely breaks your computer and sets fire to your house... it wasn't me who told you to do this.
Track of the day: Incubus - You Will Be A Hot Dancer
22nd November 2002
w000t!
hj@kitty:~$ uptime 02:29:22 up 101 days, 14:02, 1 user, load average: 0.00, 0.00, 0.00Track of the day: The Cardigans - Paralyzed
18th November 2002
Browser War! This is such a cool idea! I put through a winning game for wget, links and dillo. Must... do... dissertation... now...
Track of the day: Alanis Morisette - Not the Doctor
13th November 2002
Went Go-Karting again today with Tom, Ben, Jon, Matt & Matt's dad. Ben and Matt's dad were really fast and consistant. Tom took the second fastest lap (behind Matt), but he was completely insane and drove like a maniac. It was great fun, and I think next time we can put together a really good team to win. We definately have the speed, we just got to be more consistant, have better driver changes and keep out of the pit for bumping, dangerous driving and speeding in the pit lane! I can't wait to go again.
Track of the day: Bloodhound Gang - Hell Yeah
12th November 2002
Another wasted day. I'm in a bad mood. Anyone want a fight?
Track of the day: Skunk Anansie - We Don't Need Who You Are
10th November 2002
Sunday. Damn. Well, I resurrected my cousins front page for his website. Apart from that, I'm working away frantically learning little bits of Java so I can start my damn UID coursework. Matt came over, its good to see him, and we're all going karting again on Wednesday. Thats going to be cool.
Track of the day: Red Hot Chili Peppers - Walkabout
9th November 2002
Its almost 4am. What am I doing awake?
Track of the day: Skunk Anansie - Infidelity
8th November 2002
Today, I messed around as usual. Played with falling teddy bears and generally faffing about. At the moment, I feel like this, though probably with less nose hair. I love this webpage, it just seems to know. One day, I want a node-based page like that, though it would never be as cool.
Track of the day: A Tribe Called Quest - Award Tour
7th November 2002
Track of the day: Blackalicious - Alphabet Aerobics
6th November 2002
Went to this months NLUG meeting. It was cool, we had pizza, I met some new people (as always), we flew a slice of cucumber into the sky powered by balloons and Paul (Dude, you rock) got me a new toy! I am the extremely prowd owner of a state of the art (in 1990) 25MHz Sparcstation IPC. It rocks! But first, Jon, can you pass the soldering iron?
Track of the day: Hacking is Not Allowed (Schwarzgast Remix)
4th November 2002
Another productive day. Not. Well, we had a great dinner out at the Dunkirk Tandoori with friends which was loads of fun.
Track of the day: Cat Stevens - Wild World
3rd November 2002
Sunday Morning. What the hell happened to my weekend? Well, absolutely nothing interesting has been going on apart from being incredibly lazy. I'm all set for G2002 which should be really good. I missed out on a pair of Sun IPCs (here) by 50p on eBay which sucked. Oh well, its not such a big deal, there was no point paying more for them anyway. I took a new screenshot today.
Track of the day: Tenacious D - Tribute
2nd November 2002
Some turd stole Toby's pumpkin. Now that is just not on.
Track of the day: Skunk Anansie - Selling Jesus
