New audio toy added to the household : A "BT Aviator 10M" Digital Radio. It's on the unit next to my PC where I can listen whilst I surf.
The only problem is, I am spending even more time on the PC now!
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
I am getting a real hatred for Internet Explorer!
One of the functions of my job is to maintain in intranet website, this site has grown over the two years it has been operational, and no is over 400 HTML pages and 11GBytes of downloads. Over that time it become completely unmaintainable.
When it was originally written, the company PC's were still using Netscape 4 as the primary browser, with IE5.0 installed for the few departments that needed it. Now, IE 5.5 is the main browser - NN 4 is still installed for backwards compatability - and I have been allocated some time to re-design the website, so a XHTML/CSS solution was in order.
I have created a template page, seleted a colour scheme that is easy on the high but still with high contrast, and completely based on 'em's. My own PC has Firefox and IE6 installed, and the pages displayed fine, the HTML and CSS both passed the W3C validation with flying colours.
I then asked another staff member to have a look at the new layout... None of the buttons appeared where they should. Seems IE6 is better at standards than IE5.5!! Eventaully after several hours of 'mucking about' I managed to get a combination of Margin, Padding, and width that all three browsers would load!! Even then, IE5.5 does not allow you to change the cursor over objects!
The difference in disk space taken is amazing, 18 pages from the new site (no downloads attached yet) came to 36KBytes, the old main menu page was 25KBytes ON IT'S OWN! Best of all, it's all written in Notepad... I do load it into Dreamweaver occasionally to check out some of the more obscure CSS synax, and to ease the 'Cut and Paste' of template code between pages, but there is absolutely NO BLOAT in this design. It's not just snobbery, many of the engineer's accessing this site do so over a 56K modem so every few K matters.
And finally, it's a perfectly usuable site on an 800*600 screen, the old site was OK with 1024*768 but liked bigger!
When it was originally written, the company PC's were still using Netscape 4 as the primary browser, with IE5.0 installed for the few departments that needed it. Now, IE 5.5 is the main browser - NN 4 is still installed for backwards compatability - and I have been allocated some time to re-design the website, so a XHTML/CSS solution was in order.
I have created a template page, seleted a colour scheme that is easy on the high but still with high contrast, and completely based on 'em's. My own PC has Firefox and IE6 installed, and the pages displayed fine, the HTML and CSS both passed the W3C validation with flying colours.
I then asked another staff member to have a look at the new layout... None of the buttons appeared where they should. Seems IE6 is better at standards than IE5.5!! Eventaully after several hours of 'mucking about' I managed to get a combination of Margin, Padding, and width that all three browsers would load!! Even then, IE5.5 does not allow you to change the cursor over objects!
The difference in disk space taken is amazing, 18 pages from the new site (no downloads attached yet) came to 36KBytes, the old main menu page was 25KBytes ON IT'S OWN! Best of all, it's all written in Notepad... I do load it into Dreamweaver occasionally to check out some of the more obscure CSS synax, and to ease the 'Cut and Paste' of template code between pages, but there is absolutely NO BLOAT in this design. It's not just snobbery, many of the engineer's accessing this site do so over a 56K modem so every few K matters.
And finally, it's a perfectly usuable site on an 800*600 screen, the old site was OK with 1024*768 but liked bigger!
Saturday, April 23, 2005
And the bridge is out...
This one is a little delayed, I had a checkup with the dentist on Thursday morning and at the end of that he re-fitted the temporary bridge (approx 09:15).
at 03:15 on Friday morning, I woke myself up... I had been clenching my teeth so tight (in my sleep) that I had sheared the cement holding the bridge in place... so 18 hours this time.
I don't think I'm going to bother getting it put back in... :(
at 03:15 on Friday morning, I woke myself up... I had been clenching my teeth so tight (in my sleep) that I had sheared the cement holding the bridge in place... so 18 hours this time.
I don't think I'm going to bother getting it put back in... :(
Thursday, April 21, 2005
I've got my bike back...
The clutch slave cylinder has been replaced FOC under the warranty, so I am a happy bunny.
It seems the problem was quite well know to the Suzuki techies, as this cylinder is in the left hand side of the engine casing, and the bike leans to the left when on the side stand, it collects any water running off the bike, and the seal is not good enough to keep it out. As a result, water gets into the cylinder and, when left to stand overnight, causes some corrosion. This causes the piston to stick and not release the clutch... However once the engine gets warm, so does the cylinder and the fluid within it, this warm fluid can work it's way past the corroded surfaces, and eventually frees it...
Not sure I completely understand it, but I don't care - no bus for me tommorow, and I will be able to get home 40 minutes earlier......
It seems the problem was quite well know to the Suzuki techies, as this cylinder is in the left hand side of the engine casing, and the bike leans to the left when on the side stand, it collects any water running off the bike, and the seal is not good enough to keep it out. As a result, water gets into the cylinder and, when left to stand overnight, causes some corrosion. This causes the piston to stick and not release the clutch... However once the engine gets warm, so does the cylinder and the fluid within it, this warm fluid can work it's way past the corroded surfaces, and eventually frees it...
Not sure I completely understand it, but I don't care - no bus for me tommorow, and I will be able to get home 40 minutes earlier......
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
News about the SV1000 clutch
The SV was in the shop today to try and find out the cause of the problems I have been having with the clutch... Seems it's the clutch 'slave cylinder' that has failed, they have ordered a replacement and it will take a couple of days to arrive.
However it seems that it may be covered by the manufacturers warranty, so it may not actually cost me anything... here's hoping
However it seems that it may be covered by the manufacturers warranty, so it may not actually cost me anything... here's hoping
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
New UK services from Google :
Google Maps : http://maps.google.co.uk/maps
and
Google Local : http://local.google.co.uk/
As a for example, my local Motorcycle repair shop can be found here
and
Google Local : http://local.google.co.uk/
As a for example, my local Motorcycle repair shop can be found here
Saturday, April 16, 2005
A better 'Standards Based' Browser?
Following on from the question that I asked in an earlier post... there is a browser that manages a reasonable attempt at the ACID2 test (Should look like this) and that browser is Safari... Unfortunately this is a Mac only browser!
Safari developer Dave Hyatt has been 'blogging' his efforts at maximising support in this browser, seems the initial results were as poor as most of the others, but with only 3 days work, he has now managed to get much better results. It's now about 80% accurate...
Come on Firefox / Microsoft - lets see the same level of commitment (and an ongoing blog?)
Safari developer Dave Hyatt has been 'blogging' his efforts at maximising support in this browser, seems the initial results were as poor as most of the others, but with only 3 days work, he has now managed to get much better results. It's now about 80% accurate...
Come on Firefox / Microsoft - lets see the same level of commitment (and an ongoing blog?)
And the bridge is out...
It dropped off this morning at about 08:00 whilst eating 'Warm Weetabix' (again!!) - Ah well, it managed 40 hours this time, a new personal best. It will have to stay out now untill Thusday 09:30 when I have to go back for a check on how well the healing is going.
Friday, April 15, 2005
Mouth is getting better
I have managed to eat and drink a little today (Weetabix with warm for breakfast and lunch, Rice and Mince for dinner), and things are generally feeling a bit more comfortable.
The bridge has stayed in for just about 27 hours so far, so it looks like we will be setting a new record on that count!
The only obvious sign at the moment is the 'Trout Pout'... My entire top lip is a little swollen and uncomfortable. I am rinceing my mouth will salt water several times a day now, and haven't felt the need for the icepack but have still been taking the Ibuprofen tablets regularly
The bridge has stayed in for just about 27 hours so far, so it looks like we will be setting a new record on that count!
The only obvious sign at the moment is the 'Trout Pout'... My entire top lip is a little swollen and uncomfortable. I am rinceing my mouth will salt water several times a day now, and haven't felt the need for the icepack but have still been taking the Ibuprofen tablets regularly
Thursday, April 14, 2005
Been to the Bikeshop, got some figures
Popped into Streetbike this morning, seems that the SV is 'Top Book' at £3400, but agreed £3500 and 12 months rather than 6 months road tax. I now need to go back for a test ride on the 650 Bandit, but with my mouth/face so sore, (I don't think I'll be putting a helmet on for a few days), and the fact that it really needs to be a day off in the week... It looks like it will be two weeks before I can do that.
If I then decide to buy one, it will take about a week to get one delivered, and a few days to PDI it... So I may be able to get a new bike just before I go and do my Bike Safe weekend...
If I then decide to buy one, it will take about a week to get one delivered, and a few days to PDI it... So I may be able to get a new bike just before I go and do my Bike Safe weekend...
Been to the dentist, Got the implant
Got into the see the dentist at 14:30, left at 16:15 complete with a sore mouth, 9 stitches, a chunk of metal in my upper jaw bone and £800 pound lighter...
There was no pain involved with the surgery, although there was a fair amount of 'rough treatment' with pushing, pulling and drilling. As the anesthetic started to wear off, my mouth felt very sore, but a 400mg Ibuprofen and an ice-pack soon put paid to that.
Not tried to eat anything yet... may may wait another few hours before I work up the nerve to try!
There was no pain involved with the surgery, although there was a fair amount of 'rough treatment' with pushing, pulling and drilling. As the anesthetic started to wear off, my mouth felt very sore, but a 400mg Ibuprofen and an ice-pack soon put paid to that.
Not tried to eat anything yet... may may wait another few hours before I work up the nerve to try!
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
Problems with the SV1000 clutch....
Uhmmmm, a couple of weeks ago as I was leaving work I encountered a problem with the clutch on my bike. Basically I put the bike into gear, released the clutch lever, and the bike didn't move! After going into Neutral and back a couple of times it finally worked, and off I went home, and by the time I got home it was all working fine again. As I had just finished for a weeks holiday, I put the bike in the garage and promptly forgot all about the problem.
On Tuesday of this week, as I left the drive to go to work there was an issue with getting the bike moving again, but again it cleared up quite quickly, coming home that night it took longer to clear, and this morning I almost had to leave the bike at home!!
It's booked in to Streetbike for Tuesday morning to try and sort it out (Hopefully not too expensive!), and as I am off work till Monday (Dentist tommorow!!), I will use public transport for two days.
I am starting to feel that the SV1000, lovely bike as it is, is just way too much bike for the sort of low speed commute it spends 80% of it's time doing... I am considering trading it in and possibly going for a Bandit 650S (here is a better picture of it)
The Bandit is £4500 brand new, the 12 month old SV may be worth £4000 as part ex (Almost £6000 New), the difference will probably be saved by not having to insure the SV!!
That's the theory, I will go and have a chat with them over the next few days and see what sort of deal we can come up with...
On Tuesday of this week, as I left the drive to go to work there was an issue with getting the bike moving again, but again it cleared up quite quickly, coming home that night it took longer to clear, and this morning I almost had to leave the bike at home!!
It's booked in to Streetbike for Tuesday morning to try and sort it out (Hopefully not too expensive!), and as I am off work till Monday (Dentist tommorow!!), I will use public transport for two days.
I am starting to feel that the SV1000, lovely bike as it is, is just way too much bike for the sort of low speed commute it spends 80% of it's time doing... I am considering trading it in and possibly going for a Bandit 650S (here is a better picture of it)
The Bandit is £4500 brand new, the 12 month old SV may be worth £4000 as part ex (Almost £6000 New), the difference will probably be saved by not having to insure the SV!!
That's the theory, I will go and have a chat with them over the next few days and see what sort of deal we can come up with...
Standards and Browser support....
Taken from http://webstandards.org/act/acid2/guide.html
Acid2 is a test page for web browsers published by The Web Standards Project (WaSP). It has been written to help browser vendors make sure their products correctly support features that web designers would like to use. These features are part of existing standards but haven't been interoperably supported by major browsers. Acid2 tries to change this by challenging browsers to render Acid2 correctly before shipping.
Acid2 is a complex web page. It uses features that are not in common use yet, because of lack of support, and it crams many tests into one page. The aim has been to make it simple for developers and users to check if a browser passes the test.
The link to the actual test is http://webstandards.org/act/acid2/test.html#top, and a picture of what you should see can be found at http://webstandards.org/act/acid2/reference.html.
I tried it in
Internet Explorer 6 - a shocking mess, you could not even guess what it was supposed to be... (0/10)
Firefox - Not impresive, but a reasonable effort, you could at least see what it was supposed to be... (7/10)
Opera 8 beta3 - Suprisingly poor, you could work out what it was supposed to be, but not as good as FF... (6/10)
Anyone know a browser that makes a better job of this test than Firefox?
Acid2 is a test page for web browsers published by The Web Standards Project (WaSP). It has been written to help browser vendors make sure their products correctly support features that web designers would like to use. These features are part of existing standards but haven't been interoperably supported by major browsers. Acid2 tries to change this by challenging browsers to render Acid2 correctly before shipping.
Acid2 is a complex web page. It uses features that are not in common use yet, because of lack of support, and it crams many tests into one page. The aim has been to make it simple for developers and users to check if a browser passes the test.
The link to the actual test is http://webstandards.org/act/acid2/test.html#top, and a picture of what you should see can be found at http://webstandards.org/act/acid2/reference.html.
I tried it in
Internet Explorer 6 - a shocking mess, you could not even guess what it was supposed to be... (0/10)
Firefox - Not impresive, but a reasonable effort, you could at least see what it was supposed to be... (7/10)
Opera 8 beta3 - Suprisingly poor, you could work out what it was supposed to be, but not as good as FF... (6/10)
Anyone know a browser that makes a better job of this test than Firefox?
Monday, April 11, 2005
Dentist today...
I don't think I mentioned that I finally gave up on the plate on Friday, and have been walking around with a gap since... But today I visited the dentist for final prechecks, Q&A session, signing consent forms etc. and I have a clearer picture of timescales:
- Thursday 13th April - implant fitted and bone graft surgery to be performed, refit temp bridge (again!!)
- Two weeks later - remove stitches (implant is capped off and burried below the gum at this stage)
- End August - Assuming all has healed correctly, expose implant by slitting gume and replace endcap with one that protrudes
- Mid September - Take impressions for final crown
- End September - First fit of crown, this is not the final porcelain version, but one that can be worked and modified to give the best possible look and feel
- End October - Final fit of finished porcelain crown
Version 7 of MSN Messenger is now released
http://messenger.msn.com/ Don't stick to a stinky version 5.x or 6.x copy, get a nice shiny new version 7 one!!
New features (since the BETA) include viewing the other persons picture instead of an icon, displaying a personal message, which can be your current audio track in Windows Media Player... It doesn;t sound much, but it is pretty cool.
New features (since the BETA) include viewing the other persons picture instead of an icon, displaying a personal message, which can be your current audio track in Windows Media Player... It doesn;t sound much, but it is pretty cool.
Saturday, April 09, 2005
The Holiday itself was good too
The 3 hour Spa experience followed by a 50 minute full body swedish massage is to die for! That was the highligh for me & Pete
Matt and Amy really enjoyed the quadbiking and being allowed to go off on their own for hours on end.
Amanda enjoyed the facial, but did end up suffering from a Migrane later that cut the evening short.
The 'Back to School' show was pretty good (except the 'Queen' segment - drop it guys) and they scored very highly on the effort, entertainment and dancing scale, not too highly on the good singing scale tho' (the two girls really were not up to standard, the lads were pretty good - especially when covering 'The Darkness'!!)
Food and service was good, at Rock legends and Rajinda Pradesh. The food was good, but the service was a bit 'hit & miss' at the sports cafe, and finally at the Lakeside - if you ordered the right food it was good (Gammon, fish & Chips, Steak etc) but if you odered wrong!! I mean - what restaurant serves 'Smash' There was also an issue with the service (Warm white wine, problems with creditcard bills over £50 etc) - it took 30 minutes of standing at the counter just to place the order!!!
Matt and Amy really enjoyed the quadbiking and being allowed to go off on their own for hours on end.
Amanda enjoyed the facial, but did end up suffering from a Migrane later that cut the evening short.
The 'Back to School' show was pretty good (except the 'Queen' segment - drop it guys) and they scored very highly on the effort, entertainment and dancing scale, not too highly on the good singing scale tho' (the two girls really were not up to standard, the lads were pretty good - especially when covering 'The Darkness'!!)
Food and service was good, at Rock legends and Rajinda Pradesh. The food was good, but the service was a bit 'hit & miss' at the sports cafe, and finally at the Lakeside - if you ordered the right food it was good (Gammon, fish & Chips, Steak etc) but if you odered wrong!! I mean - what restaurant serves 'Smash' There was also an issue with the service (Warm white wine, problems with creditcard bills over £50 etc) - it took 30 minutes of standing at the counter just to place the order!!!
The car performed faultlessly
We have just returned from a week at Center Parcs - Oasis Winfell Forest with our friends Jackie, Pete and their son Matthew.
Getting everyone in the Scenic, complete with luggage, was a challenge: but one we successfully accomplished. There were four adults, two 11 year old and one six year old, not to mention 7 characters from the Bear Factory, Edward, Snowy, Lawrence and Ferdinand Bright, and Freddie, Rio and Bunny Johnson!! Add to that, three suitcases, two rucksacks, one large holdall, two handbags, seven raincoats, three towbags and a radio... roofbox or not it was a squeeze!
Anyway, we got loaded, filled up with diesel and at 09:30 off we went.. We stopped twice at the services for toilet and refreshment breaks, and arrived at 14:00.
Repacking it on Friday was even more of a challenge: the muddy floor around the car made getting heavy bags from the lodge to the car a nightmare and the interior is currently a very muddy disgrace!! We left at 09:30 (again!!), but headed north to Gretna. A visit to the Gretna Gateway Outlet Village, was followed by a tour of the famous Blacksmiths where Snowy and Rio got married!!
Travelling south again, we reached Manchester just as the Friday rush hour traffic was starting to build up, so we headed to The Trafford Center where we eat and shopped a little more.
At about 19:00 we headed off on the final leg of our journey, and arrived back home at 20:50, having covered some 450 miles at an average of 47 MPG. The car has now done over 1100 miles and at no time did it feel underpowered, even tho' it's only a 1.6 diesel engine.
Getting everyone in the Scenic, complete with luggage, was a challenge: but one we successfully accomplished. There were four adults, two 11 year old and one six year old, not to mention 7 characters from the Bear Factory, Edward, Snowy, Lawrence and Ferdinand Bright, and Freddie, Rio and Bunny Johnson!! Add to that, three suitcases, two rucksacks, one large holdall, two handbags, seven raincoats, three towbags and a radio... roofbox or not it was a squeeze!
Anyway, we got loaded, filled up with diesel and at 09:30 off we went.. We stopped twice at the services for toilet and refreshment breaks, and arrived at 14:00.
Repacking it on Friday was even more of a challenge: the muddy floor around the car made getting heavy bags from the lodge to the car a nightmare and the interior is currently a very muddy disgrace!! We left at 09:30 (again!!), but headed north to Gretna. A visit to the Gretna Gateway Outlet Village, was followed by a tour of the famous Blacksmiths where Snowy and Rio got married!!
Travelling south again, we reached Manchester just as the Friday rush hour traffic was starting to build up, so we headed to The Trafford Center where we eat and shopped a little more.
At about 19:00 we headed off on the final leg of our journey, and arrived back home at 20:50, having covered some 450 miles at an average of 47 MPG. The car has now done over 1100 miles and at no time did it feel underpowered, even tho' it's only a 1.6 diesel engine.
Sunday, April 03, 2005
Bobby Approval
I have just been to the Bobby Website to see if my new 'Standards Compliant' site www.redbreva.com meets accessibility standards...
It seems I could apply a AA aproval logo, but there are still some areas that need work for full Bobby approval. Given that the site is almost empty at present, I won't bother for now, but will hopefully re-visit and attempt to get full approval, once I actually have some content!!
Ironically, one of the areas that failed, was the code to add W3C compliance logo's to the site - the code being supplied by the W3C!!
It seems I could apply a AA aproval logo, but there are still some areas that need work for full Bobby approval. Given that the site is almost empty at present, I won't bother for now, but will hopefully re-visit and attempt to get full approval, once I actually have some content!!
Ironically, one of the areas that failed, was the code to add W3C compliance logo's to the site - the code being supplied by the W3C!!
Got the roof box
I went to the Renault dealers yesterday morning, and tried to put the roofbox in the back of the car to bring it home.... NO CHANCE! the box it is in is MASSIVE. Fortunately the dealers were very understanding and helpfull, and followed me back home with their van and delivered the box for me.
The box itself is a THULE EVOLUTION 500, 320L design, very long and narrow, but quite tall. It took about 30 minutes to fit...
The box itself is a THULE EVOLUTION 500, 320L design, very long and narrow, but quite tall. It took about 30 minutes to fit...
Saturday, April 02, 2005
Given up on the bridge..
On Thursday morning I went back to the dentist and had the bridge refitted. This time it left much better - in line with the other teeth, no sharp edge on the back etc., on Friday morning I woke up with it still in place... Brill
At 2:00 on Friday afternoon, it came out again!! I just felt it starting to move and flex as I was talking, and out it came.
Fortunately, I was still carring the plate, and had to put that back in. As we are on out hols next week, I won't get chance to go back to the dentist for over a week, and a few days after that I am due to get the implant fitted.
At 2:00 on Friday afternoon, it came out again!! I just felt it starting to move and flex as I was talking, and out it came.
Fortunately, I was still carring the plate, and had to put that back in. As we are on out hols next week, I won't get chance to go back to the dentist for over a week, and a few days after that I am due to get the implant fitted.
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