tag:www.trioptimum.co.uk,2007-08-27://5 2007-11-27T10:04:08Z doing to blogs what time and seawater did to Rapture Movable Type Publishing Platform 4.01 tag:www.trioptimum.co.uk,2007://5.954 2007-11-27T10:03:16Z 2007-11-27T10:04:08Z

The union jack should be combined with the Welsh flag, according to an MP who wants the change to be made to reflect Wales's status within the UK. -- BBC News OK, have it your way:...

clc http://www.trioptimum.co.uk ]]> tag:www.trioptimum.co.uk,2007://5.953 2007-08-27T12:15:38Z 2007-08-27T12:18:01Z

I'm doing a little spring cleaning! By which I mean I upgraded to MT4 and completely broke the templates and rebuild process for my blog so I had to recreate it using the defaults. But I am seeing this as...

clc http://www.trioptimum.co.uk I'm doing a little spring cleaning! By which I mean I upgraded to MT4 and completely broke the templates and rebuild process for my blog so I had to recreate it using the defaults. But I am seeing this as a good thing. Oh yes. Somehow. tag:www.trioptimum.co.uk,2007://5.952 2007-06-03T21:30:47Z 2007-08-27T11:41:11Z

clc http://www.trioptimum.co.uk ]]> tag:www.trioptimum.co.uk,2007://5.951 2007-05-06T20:09:56Z 2007-08-27T11:41:11Z

with the intention that they will come in useful next time: Don't walk 17 miles and expect to be able to move tomorrow. The 77 Borrowdale bus exists for a reason. Don't be a hero. The sandwich shop in Keswick...

clc http://www.trioptimum.co.uk with the intention that they will come in useful next time: * Don't walk 17 miles and expect to be able to move tomorrow. * The 77 Borrowdale bus exists for a reason. Don't be a hero. * The sandwich shop in Keswick does a special filling of the day that is almost always interesting and delicious. * In a day's walking on a sunny day more water will be needed than can be comfortably carried, so refill where possible. * There is no better sight after walking many miles on a sunny day with a heavy rucksack than an ice cream shop or van. * Taking sunblock, even in April, was very sensible. * Doing the Castle Crag ascent from Grange 8 days after it's been on BBC2 will not result in a great amount of isolation or serenity. * A camera with a 28-135mm IS lens attached is heavy and awkward around the neck and will likely remain in the rucksack most of the time as a result. * A camera with a 50mm f/1.8 lens attached is light and unburdensome and results in the free and frequent shooting of many pictures. * Carting a tripod to Keswick and back without ever once using it is stupid. * I didn't need to take 3 camera batteries. One would have been okay this time, two to be safe. Wondered if I made the right decision leaving the charger behind, but there was clearly no way I would have ever needed it for this duration. * 4GB/day is not an excessive amount of CF to budget on days when the camera is pointed at lots of animals. * Should have taken my iPod charger. Even with the limited need for digital audio while I was there, the travel to and fro still drained my battery. * The DS charging cable was a good thing to take, to avoid being deprived of Nurikabe and Slither Link. * A 200 page book is not enough reading material. * Most useful thing I packed: brimmed hat * Least useful thing I packed: tripod Photos from the first day of my Lake District trip are ["already up on Flickr":http://www.flickr.com/photos/heliocentric/sets/72157600183889562/], with more to follow. tag:www.trioptimum.co.uk,2007://5.950 2007-04-19T08:42:58Z 2007-08-27T11:41:11Z

clc http://www.trioptimum.co.uk thunderbird 2 is out < rob> does it include thunderbird 4? (this rob)]]> tag:www.trioptimum.co.uk,2007://5.949 2007-03-19T14:57:30Z 2007-08-27T11:41:11Z

Q: Is hail edible? A: I don't know. I only wrote this FAQ because there are no Google results for "is hail edible"....

clc http://www.trioptimum.co.uk Q: Is hail edible? A: I don't know. I only wrote this FAQ because there are no Google results for "is hail edible".]]> tag:www.trioptimum.co.uk,2007://5.948 2007-03-08T17:44:46Z 2007-08-27T11:41:11Z

clc http://www.trioptimum.co.uk Anticipating criticism, co-founder Larry Page told the press conference that concern was unwarranted, as "Google will always triumph over Evigle". The new company will immediately take over control of such Google operations as data-mining emails, Scientology censorship requests, and information-sharing with government agencies, with future ventures announced today that include the removal of potentially life-saving emergency information from search results, and the placement of dozens of remotely-triggered, high-yield nuclear bombs on tectonic fault lines around the world. Construction is already underway on an exact copy of Google's Mountain View campus for the new company. The Evigleplex, just off the Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada, will be officially opened next month by Eric Schmidt's goatee-bearded twin.]]> tag:www.trioptimum.co.uk,2007://5.947 2007-03-03T21:27:31Z 2007-08-27T11:41:11Z

Just a quick note to say I'm photoblogging the eclipse (for as long as I have an unobstructed view) over at flickr tonight....

clc http://www.trioptimum.co.uk Just a quick note to say I'm "photoblogging the eclipse":http://flickr.com/photos/heliocentric/sets/72157594567668773/ (for as long as I have an unobstructed view) over at flickr tonight. tag:www.trioptimum.co.uk,2007://5.946 2007-02-25T12:24:48Z 2007-08-27T11:41:11Z

By most definitions this blog would be considered dormant or dead, and though I shouldn't promise any lasting change in this situation, my feelings of guilt have finally overcome my feelings of sloth and artlessness and motivated me to post...

clc http://www.trioptimum.co.uk By most definitions this blog would be considered dormant or dead, and though I shouldn't promise any lasting change in this situation, my feelings of guilt have finally overcome my feelings of sloth and artlessness and motivated me to post this short update. Life is going on much as it always has, and I am still struggling with information overload in much the same way. I was able to bring myself to delete about 300 unheard podcasts yesterday, which induced complex sensations encompassing both guilt and liberation. I have 8 books from ["BookMooch":http://www.bookmooch.com/], 1500 unread RSS items, 3 DVDs from LoveFilm, and roughly 200GB of video to consume, and eliminating any of these things from the list of things I want to do is an act which produces a deep dread at the prospect of missing something good. I think I need to work on the acceptance that the amount (and production rate) of quality 'content' in the world vastly exceeds any person's capacity to enjoy it, but I'm not sure how I can reconcile that with my 'information packrat' nature. All together now: _clc is a headcase._ And then laugh at him. Though this blog (kept in mothballs as it is for when I find I have something interesting to say again) is poorly maintained, I am nevertheless "posting photos to flickr":http://flickr.com/photos/heliocentric/ on a fairly regular basis, and on Friday I signed up for ["Twitter":http://twitter.com/trioptimum], though I am still on the fence whether it is a useful distribution mechanism for interesting microcontent, or a pointless timesink good only for mundane ephemera. If you feel compelled for any reason to keep up with the digital slice of my life then these two hyperlinks are currently your best opportunities, though as always this may change at any moment. This last point is underlined by the rumour that "last.fm":http://last.fm/ is ["about to be bought by Viacom":http://www.dealbreaker.com/2007/02/the_rumor_mill_lastfm_being_pi.php], a development which would make me scramble for the nearest competitor, if there are any. tag:www.trioptimum.co.uk,2006://5.945 2006-12-08T22:31:19Z 2007-08-27T11:41:11Z

This weblog turned five years old 2 days ago, which explains why I'm maintaining it with the diligence and dependability of a five year old. On a different note, isn't it odd how the words 'practically' and 'virtually' are synonyms...

clc http://www.trioptimum.co.uk This weblog turned five years old 2 days ago, which explains why I'm maintaining it with the diligence and dependability of a five year old. On a different note, isn't it odd how the words 'practically' and 'virtually' are synonyms in one sense, and antonyms in another? Wonder if there are any other pairs of words with that property. Another thing I wondered about today was the maximum practical height that a (regularly shaped) jelly could be before it would collapse under its own weight (my guess: about 30cm). Worrying about entries turning out like this one is the reason I don't blog very often. tag:www.trioptimum.co.uk,2006://5.944 2006-11-18T23:21:33Z 2007-08-27T11:41:11Z

I spent my Saturday making a 'pilot' episode of the podcast I would make if I ever made a podcast. Whether this ever becomes a reality depends on you and your feedback. And me. Actually it pretty much entirely depends...

clc http://www.trioptimum.co.uk I spent my Saturday making a 'pilot' episode of the podcast I would make if I ever made a podcast. Whether this ever becomes a reality depends on you and your feedback. And me. Actually it pretty much entirely depends on me, but feedback would still be nice. It doesn't have a title and I'm not sure if feed enclosures are working either but you can download my epic masterwork through this link: "http://www.trioptimum.co.uk/audio/pod0.mp3":http://www.trioptimum.co.uk/audio/pod0.mp3 Show notes, of a kind, in the extended entry. Background music: _Muse of the Round Sky_ by Paul Avgerinos, available at ["magnatune.com":http://www.magnatune.com/]. I was supposed to attribute this in the podcast itself. I didn't. Please don't sue. A list of lies told in the podcast will soon be here. tag:www.trioptimum.co.uk,2006://5.943 2006-11-10T16:48:20Z 2007-08-27T11:41:11Z

Some things I could easily have blogged about in the last two months, but didn't: Work Family matters Holiday in Keswick US elections Hubble Space Telescope New iMac Battlestar Galactica Studio 60 Kojima Mayumi Sam and Max Librivox Sorry....

clc http://www.trioptimum.co.uk Some things I could easily have blogged about in the last two months, but didn't: * Work * Family matters * Holiday in Keswick * US elections * Hubble Space Telescope * New iMac * Battlestar Galactica * Studio 60 * Kojima Mayumi * Sam and Max * Librivox Sorry. tag:www.trioptimum.co.uk,2006://5.942 2006-09-07T18:57:40Z 2007-08-27T11:41:11Z

Today is the 70th anniversary of the death of the last thylacine in captivity and the likely date of extinction of the species. Thylacines were a carnivorous species of mammal native to Australia. In appearance they bore a lot of...

clc http://www.trioptimum.co.uk Today is the 70th anniversary of the death of the last thylacine in captivity and the likely date of extinction of the species. "Thylacines":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thylacine were a carnivorous species of mammal native to Australia. In appearance they bore a lot of similarity to wild dogs, but genetically they were distant -- it was not the canine family, but the marsupials, to which this creature owed its lineage, making the thylacine a closer relative of kangaroos than dogs. And this is something you can spot when you look at old film footage of thylacines: they look and move like dogs, but they also rear up into a kangaroo-like pose, and they have a tail that looks a lot like a kangaroo's. They also have zebra-like stripes on the rear halves of their backs and their mouths open so wide as to appear disconcertingly unnatural. They really look like something out of a Photoshop competition -- an amalgam of features from familiar but disparate animals -- but they're not lacking in cuteness either. But no amount of words describing the thylacine can give as concrete an impression as the film clips on ["this page":http://www.naturalworlds.org/thylacine/films/motion_film_footage.htm]. Even though some of them are very short, I think they really paint a vivid picture of what the animal was like, in terms of appearance, movement, and even behaviour to some extent -- probably more than a whole book could. They're MPEG files and have no sound. The best are clip 5, which shows the animal's impressive jaw span (which freaks me out a little), and clip 4, which shows a thylacine responding vigorously to the actions of a zookeeper in a way not unlike a dog to its owner. (These videos are from ["The Thylacine Museum":http://www.naturalworlds.org/thylacine/], a wonderful and detailed resource on all aspects of thylacines, which has material enough for hours of browsing.) Nothing remotely like a thylacine exists on the planet today -- it was the last species of its family Thylacinidae which included many related species through prehistory. Today its closest living relative is the Tasmanian devil. I think it's really sad that if the species had just lasted another 50 years then there would have certainly been a concerted effort to save it from extinction. The thylacine made it from prehistory to the 1930s but it fell at the last hurdle, just a few decades short of the era when people started to take wildlife conservation seriously. tag:www.trioptimum.co.uk,2006://5.941 2006-09-05T20:18:11Z 2007-08-27T11:41:11Z

Inspired by such wonderful creations as Love Pixel and Eboy I've been playing around with isometric pixel art with the impressive free pixel editor Pixen. My first attempt is a little less complex than their work....

clc http://www.trioptimum.co.uk Inspired by such wonderful creations as "Love Pixel":http://www.lovepixel.idv.tw/ and "Eboy":http://hello.eboy.com/eboy/?page_id=178 I've been playing around with isometric pixel art with the impressive free pixel editor ["Pixen":http://www.opensword.org/Pixen/]. My first attempt is a little less complex than their work.]]> tag:www.trioptimum.co.uk,2006://5.940 2006-08-30T22:03:36Z 2007-08-27T11:41:11Z

clc http://www.trioptimum.co.uk bc. leila: got another sky shot tonight leila: same place as last time leila: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lovemaus/229499800/ clc: isn't 'mersea' a slightly redundant name leila: yes leila: like "chapman" thwarted.