What month is it? It is May?
2 Weeks Ago
Someone in the office just asked that questions.
Troublingly the answer was "Yes. It's your BIRTHDAY!"
Personally I tend to remember which month my birthday is in.
Scary Munter!
Mar 7, 2013
Benjamin has just come downstairs complaining of a scary munter.
We think he means monster, or at least, we hope he does.
Happy Christmas!
Dec 25, 2012
Happy Christmas to all the strange people I see on h2g2!
May your new year be as bizarre as ever.
Geggs
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I'm an Operator. I Operate.
Oct 17, 2012
I've just had a new badge bestowed upon me. It seems my work with QotD (the archiving, leaderboarding and congratulating) is worthy of recognition. And I've been recognised in the form of being made an Operator - U14994913.
It's all quite dizzying. I'm just being me, really. Evidently some men have official Volunteer status thrust upon them, as Shakespeare would have said if he had known of h2g2. It really was quite remiss of him not to look us up. Call himself 'The Bard', did he? Honestly, poets these days. Getting away without even the bare minimum of research.
Anyway, were was I? Oh yes, I am Operator. That is a shiny badge isn't it?
Lovely.
Snailmate
Jul 19, 2012
I thought I heard that correctly, though I started to doubt myself later.
Listen to tonight's PM, presented this evening by Caroline Quinn. At 19:48, in reference to discussions at the UN about Syria, she uses the word 'snailmate'.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01kt441/PM_19_07_2012/
It's obviously a play on stalemate, but I get the feeling that it's slightly more nuanced. Instead of the parties being completely deadlocked, there is at least the possibility of some movement, however slight, but that a large amount of discussion about precise details, which could drag on for hours, has to take place first. In order for any progress to be made it has to be at a snail's pace.
Interesting word.
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Falling over slowly
Jun 12, 2012
Well, that was silly.
My desk in the office is a quick chair ride away from the bin, and as I'd just finished my sandwiches I went to perform said scoot to dump my sandwich bag in the receptacle.
Unfortunately, my coat, which is hanging on the back of my chair, got snagged in one of the wheels, preventing the forward motion of the chair. Momentum, however, would not be abated. And so, with my arms spinning madly, I, and my chair, gently fell over sideways.
I tried to preserve what dignity I could by getting back up as quickly as possible. I'm fairly sure I failed. Most people around me heard the bump as I landed, but only one saw the whole thing. And she didn't stop laughing for the next five minutes. I'm sure she would have videoed it if she'd had the presence of mind to do so.
And I'm chuckling every few minutes as I consider how ludicrous I must have appeared.
I blame the chair.
Reading 'Recently Updated Convs'
Mar 9, 2012
Whenever I dip into the 'Twenty Most Recently Updated Conversations' on the <./>info</.> page, which I do when I bored, I'm amazed at how big this site is. When you see the usual suspects in <./>askh2g2</.> all the time, you start to think that there's no one else onsite. In truth, there's load of folks onsite who seem content to just write their own journals, and rarely step outside it to other parts of the site. Half the time these journals exist on their own, with no replies, no comments for other researchers, and just folks keep on writing.
This is the record of their lives. And, in some cases, their impending deaths. I've just discovered Tibley Bobley (U170471), for example. Go read her latest journal now. If you do nothing else onsite today, read her journal.
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37 birthdays
Feb 28, 2012
...and counting.
Reasonably enjoyable day so far, though I am in work.
Little man has come down with chicken pox now (his big brother had it last week), so I'm not quite sure what celebrations are in store for this evening. Hannah assures me that there will be something though.
QoTD Archive
Feb 25, 2012
Right, that's the Archive (A87720564) and the leaderboards (A87732822) up to date.
It looks like Mu Beta is establishing a bit of a lead, breaking away with 5 Quotes, ahead of a chasing pack of Ed, Gnomon, Hoo and Icy on 3 apiece.
Finally an answer!
Jan 14, 2012
This week I got an Android phone, and have been merrily playing with it for a few days. This morning I was searching through the Android market for a QR barcode reader, when I stumbled upon Google Goggles, I remembered why I originally wanted an Android.
Google Goggles is a program that allows you to search using a picture that you have taken with your phone, which when I first heard of it did strike me as the great missing piece of internet search, and it has enabled me to finally answer a question that has been following me around for most of my adult life.
I was given this poster 15 years ago, because someone I knew at Uni thought I looked like the person in the in the picture, but for all this time I haven't known who the artist is, or the subject. The person that gave it to me could never remember, and the poster contains no name.
So, this afternoon, after a brief search for it in the loft, I took a picture of the poster with my phone and googled it.
I now have my answer. It's a self portrait by Egon Schiele, who was a protégé of Klimt. He was born in 1890 and died in 1918 of Spanish flu.
The portrait from the poster is top right on the wiki page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egon_Schiele
I must say, that finally having an answer to this is a great relief. Technology has provided a solution that I wouldn't been able to find out on my own.
The most Quoted researcher of 2011
Dec 31, 2011
It's been an interesting year for the Quote of the Day. It exists, for one thing, and isn't just a slow moving Quote of the Week anymore. Actually, it seemed to be Quote of the Quarter at the start of the week, but we've speeded up a lot since.
Since QotD re-started I've been keeping an archive (A87720564) and a leaderboard (A87723723), and have backdated both to the start of the year.
The first Quote of the year was "You have to make things happen yourself, really." from Trillian's Child. A quote which does rather epitomise the events of the year, which has seen us pass from the BBC into the ownership of Not Panicking Ltd - and the site is now run by the community. We really are making things happen ourselves.
The last Quote of the year, from Bluebottle, more displays the sense of humour on our beloved site, "I think that a smiley should have a rail replacement bus service every Sunday instead." It also reminds us of the many new smileys that have been added since the changeover, and that the community's thirst for more will probably never be satiated.
But the real question: that of the most Quoted researcher of the year, does not have a clear answer. If you were looking at the most time spent on the <./>FrontPage</.> than it would be Trillian's Child, with that first Quote of the year, which remained on the FP for about 4 and half months. But if, on the other hand, you were looking at the most number of distinct Quotes, then it's a three-way tie between Baron Grim (formally known as Count Zero), Malabarista and Mr603.
So there you have it. Next year should be a more interesting contest, as we will have 366 days' worth of Quotes to consider. So, be interesting, be funny, and be Quoted. I'll be watching.
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Happy Christmas from Geggs
Dec 25, 2011
Happy Christmas to all the internet weirdos that are spending their day online, rather than spending their time in the real world with their families.
And anyone else that knows me. 
I'm on the Front Page
Nov 21, 2011
And so are Samuel's hands! He held Makka Pakka for picture to go with my '...in the Night Garden' entry - A87209599.
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I'm here too
Oct 16, 2011
...and so now I will resume the arduous task of lurking all around the place. Honestly, some days I spend so long lurking that I barely have time to post anything at all!
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Samuel bit someone at school today.
Sep 26, 2011
It was another child in the same yeargroup, but not in the same class. In the bathroom apparently, and he bit them on the cheek. He says it was because he was scared, but we don't know how to take that.
He will definitely be on the naughty step (though we've never called it that, it's just the bottom step) for the rest of the week.
His parents, on the other hand, feel like they've failed completely. We don't know what to do now. The shame, the embarassment, the sheer horror that our son has done this. Where do we go from here?
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Up and down, down, down
Sep 8, 2011
Up:
Samuel had a good half-day at school today.
My 'Night Garden' entry got picked from PR.
Down:
Arrived at work to find that 4 days work was removed off one computer during my day off.
The morning at work was quite stressful, with the senior member of the team being an absolute faeces.
The church where Dad is an elder was broken into last night.
Dad has had a heart attack.
So, some good, but a lot bad.
Samuel's First Day at School
Sep 7, 2011
Could well be an interesting day today. Our firstborn goes to school for the first time. Will he enjoy it? Will he hate it? Will there be tears or smiles at hometime?
He's definately excited at the moment, but will it last? We shall see.
I love this site
Sep 1, 2011
... and you know why? Well, here's the top 12 threads on my postings page:
Why do women work?
Rim up or rim down?
Guess the creationist...
Is it ever okay to lie to a spouse or partner?
Girls Vs Boys
E-Book readers (or when can I buy a 'Guide'?)
Can you divide people into two types?
What's inside a camel?
Is islam compatible with western society?
Nice brainteaser
Wednesday 31 August, 2011: H2G2 Leaving The BBC - Contract Has Been Signed!
I mean, how random is that?! And there, down at number 12 is possibly the biggest, most momentous news that has happened to the site in the last 10 years, and we are arguing about how people store glasses in their cupboards, or considering the dissection of a camel, or playing strange little games, or talking about the state of the society in which we live through the prism of who goes out to work in a household, or any number of bizarre subjects.
Man, I love this site. Long may it continue.
Cleaning house and other jobs
Aug 27, 2011
Hannah and the boys come back today. They've been on holiday with her family while I've been at home.
So, I'll have to tidy the place up today. And get a haircut, I think. I'll buy her some flowers too.
And yet here I am, on hootoo while sitting in Sainsburys' cafe waiting for my Full English to arrive.
Which it just has. Prompt service here.
Beware low flying fruit
Aug 21, 2011
I was lying quietly in my bed this Sunday morning when I hear something bump and clatter it's way along the roof, jump the guttering and fall onto the patio. I looked out the window and all I could see was a pear.
Yep, a single solitary pear.
What I'm now trying to work out is how this pear got on our roof in the first place. I'm not even sure if there's any pear trees nearby. There's an apple tree two doors down, but no pear, I think.
Any ideas?
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Front Page Author
Jul 25, 2011
My entry on Arthur Dent and 'The Plain Man's Pathway to Heaven' is on the <./>FrontPage</.> today - A83867719
I like this one. Ultimately it's a circular argument that arrives nowhere, but at least there's a reason for a lack of conclusion. 
Moving to Australia
Jun 9, 2011
No, not me. It's my sister that is moving. Her fella has got a job with Sega in Brisbane, which is cool.
So, they'll be off to Aussie at the start of August, along with my 5 year old niece.
I'm okay with this, though I may feel differently later. It's a fantastic opportunity which they will always regret if they don't go for it.
Mom is devastated though. Floods of tears. Convinced that she'll never see her daughter again and won't see her granddaughter grow up either.
Hard to know how to calm her down really. And if we do manage to do so, it will only be a matter of time before she breaks down again. Mom and Dad definitely need to got Skype now though.
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Cool SQL
May 27, 2011
I discovered a really cool SQL thing today. It's possible to use SQL in one database to pull a table from another database and dump it into a third database without the table actually coming anywhere near the original database. That is seriously cool.
OR it that quite sad? I seem to have trouble differentiating the two.
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Top of the QI Scoreboard!
May 6, 2011
Wow. I'm at the top of the QI scoreboard at A79171798. How did that happen?
I didn't think I was that clever. It probably more dogged persistence and continuing to plug away at the questions once everyone else has lost interest. That and keeping my mouth shut until I can make a reasonable guess. And reversing the whole thing by trying to extract more information from the questioners before I say anything specific.
But hey, top of the table is a nice place to be.
Things I intend to write entries about
Feb 4, 2011
The Octonauts - children's TV series
The real Arthur Dent - Puritan writer
Blink - possibly the best episode of Doctor Who ever
Brief introductions to both Farscape and Babylon 5
Whether I ever will write these things is another matter, but I thought I'd state my intention.
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