Journal Entries
"My Other Computer is a Macintosh"
Posted Apr 27, 2004
Well. Almost.
A) Windows and 'Mac' are on the same machine.
B) It's not strictly speaking /actually/ Mac.
C) It's just a themed extra shell.
D) It looks and acts like a Mac though.
E) It has schweet extras that the normal Windows shell can't handle by itself.
See my Photohost account (look in Aston Screenshots) or check out my blog for screenshots and a more in-depth explanation. 
Photohost: http://chris.photohost.vze.com/
Blog: http://www.aka-blog.vze.com/
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Latest reply: Apr 27, 2004
Birthday
Posted Apr 19, 2004
w00t. So yesterday was my Birthday.
I woke up and to my surprise had only a few hours to my first driving lesson, which was a nice surprise - to begin with, I kept stalling a few times but toward the end of the lesson I think my clutch control improved greatly - we'll have to see how I control it next Sunday, which is my next lesson.
I had a few pseudo-official lessons with BSM before, and /then/ it seemed that the instructors took it as read that I'd familiarised myself with all the controls, knew how everything worked, et al, but my official instructor is brilliant in comparison to both a) the instructors at those few unofficial lessons and b) the glitchy driving simulator software I have which always screams at me for not doing something right, but doesn't tell me where I went wrong. Thanks to the first lesson I had yesterday, I know now where to position the car in the road depending on where you plan to go, and I'm checking my mirrors *at least* every seven seconds.
I also learnt that the little button-thing on the gear lever is only pulled up when you want to go into reverse - not all the time as the instructors from the unofficial lessons said - thus why I used to be completely incapable of selecting first gear, and moving straight across to reverse instead. (But I think that may've been carried over from starting off in an Automatic - you have to pull a button up on the 'gear' lever, if you can call it that, to release the lever in an Automatic - an Automatic Vauxhall Corsa, at least.)
I can change gears quickly and swiftly too - and with a bit of practise of clutch control, the car won't even stutter coming back off the clutch with the new gear. It's just brilliant when you watch someone drive and marvel at how much of a skill it is, and don't believe them when they say it's really easy - and when you now know how it's done and meet it with ease.
I was also congratulated for going no faster than, tops, 15mph on my first lesson, since apparently usually people drive really fast when they start off, with a false sense of confidence at being behind the wheel in a dual-controlled car - I lost count of the amount of times my instructor said 'Just give a little more gas..' - but then there were speed bumps around the quaint little estate I was driving round; And whoever thought driving round a circuit at roughly 10mph for 2 hours wouldn't get old and boring? 
So every Sunday at 12:30 now I have a lesson - I don't think it'll be too long until I'm confident enough (and can drive on main roads) to drive myself home. 
So after my driving lesson, we all went out to a restaurant, and I had a steak and ale pie in onion gravy - unspeakably the greatest meal on the menu. 
- Followed by a rich toffee and chocolate cheesecake, and a few drinks back at the local pub. 
A great day in that it was just a quiet day with little fuss made.
*impatient for next driving lesson*
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Latest reply: Apr 19, 2004
The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Posted Apr 8, 2004
http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/0563477024.02.MZZZZZZZ.jpg
Despite with the news of the now-recorded Tertiary Phase of the Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy rendering my copy of The Collector's Edition of the Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy Radio Series somewhat less 'complete', I'm listening to it again, but right now I'm listening to the documentary that comes on one of the CDs - which aired on Radio 4 in 1998; Douglas Adams' Guide to the Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and the differences 20 years or so make to a person's voice is evident. Peter Jones sounds - a little strange in this recording. 
Geoffrey McGivern's voice sounds different too - it was a bit higher in the episodes.
Hmm.
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Latest reply: Apr 8, 2004
"What's Your Other Name?" - The Web-App
Posted Apr 6, 2004
As inspired by F19585?thread=401937, I've decided to take a break from coding difficult stuff (that will revolutionise the standards for Blogging services to meet, by the way) and code something basic.
I'll post again here when it's done. Visit the Thread, and if you have any ideas for better name-substitutes to put into it, let me know and I'll change 'em.
Discuss this Journal entry [12]
Latest reply: Apr 6, 2004
Friends list Health
Posted Apr 4, 2004
For someone who tends to take long breaks from h2g2 every month or so, I think I'm doing quite well, as far as my Friends list is concerned.
1. Number of Researchers on my Friends list: 28
2. Number of Researchers who have me on their Friends list: 19.
3. Number of Researchers who have me on their Friends list but are merely using the Friends list as a stalking tool: 6.
4. Number of Researchers who have me on their Friends list (overall) minus the number of Researchers who have me on their Friends list but are merely using the Friends list as a stalking tool: 13.
5. Number of Researchers who have me on their Friends list (overall) minus the number of Researchers who have me on their Friends list but are merely using the Friends list as a stalking tool, doubled: 26.
6. Difference between the Number of Researchers on my Friends list and the number of Researchers who have me on their Friends list (overall) minus the number of Researchers who have me on their Friends list but are merely using the Friends list as a stalking tool: 2.
7. Percentage of unwillingness to come up with a significant meaning for the number 2 and thus make my Friends list network special in some way: 100%
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It could of course, be much more than 28/26(13).
Discuss this Journal entry [48]
Latest reply: Apr 4, 2004
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"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a wholly remarkable book. It has been compiled and recompiled many times and under many different editorships. It contains contributions from countless numbers of travellers and researchers."