Google Chrome

8°C, Sun then really stormy rain


Google Chrome is another Mozilla web browser. It’s fabulous, quick easy to use and unsullied by frivolous nonsense (no themes- wooo…). Some "web2.0" features don’t work properly, but it’s just so fast … so what?

However, Live Space edits only in html mode, which is alright for some (you Arnaud).
Each tab in Chrome is listed separately in Task manager, also the same page open in Chrome consumes 1/2 the memory that Firefox uses. So run Chrome while you are using the computer for other things. Actually, there are some cosmetics- the start page shows a picture of pages you opened last session. Keyboard shortcuts are the same as Firefox. You don’t stand a chance IE7.

Slumdog Millionaire (yesterday)

7°C, Westerly, back to normal January weather.


Yesterday’s film: A "feel-good" film that is not too sickly. It wasn’t sickly at all unlike the rest of that genre. Add it to your recommended list.


Howling Tree: it’s lived there for decades, gazing out at passing travellers like me. Or did it, on this well travelled route- I haven’t noticed this entity before. Do you put on a more cheerful face for other visitors? The wind blew hard as I shot this one, it made un-earthly noises in the wires above my head.
:

Comic Strip

 5°C, changing for the wetter.


No interruption: to my internet connection – surprise.
A cartoon strip comes with an Ikea flat-pack stool. Excellent finale!

The comic-strip above has all the essential elements of a story, characters introduced, scene setting, the bizarre central action of a man using stools as clogs, then the dramatic finale of him doing a head-plant into a fridge-freezer. Conflict is there in the scene where we are forbidden from painting pictures of the central hero character- the foot-stool.
While in Yantar:

The cat is sleeping.

Baader-Meinhof Complex

8°C, heavy rain.


Baader Meinhof complex: Film |Guardian review: was unrelentingly grim last night at the new cinema in Derby. However, the cinema was very nice, comfortable seats ( for a long film) and the sound-quality was very nice. The film was obviously not digital, with scratches and holes- old stock it seemed. My impression is that it makes a good companion to Munich, which was set near the end of this story. Munich seemed a  warmer film. Meinhof had to loose her daughters in the story, but not enough was made of this thread for me. I’m not giving this an unreserved recommendation.

Cup of tea:
The removal firm have arrived.
Firstly park the lorry, open the back and sit down for a cup of tea. British workmen.
I realised yesterday, I haven’t got any fireworks yet.

UK Censored

5°C, rain.


Some UK ISPs have censored a Wikpedia article about the German rock band "The Scorpions", one album cover has caused the problem, 32 years after it was released. That’s what I call slow reactions. My very own Claranet have joined in the blockage. See if yours does too: Blocked
I’d guess that this band were the inspiration for Spinal Tap’s "Smell the Glove" parody. the album cover is pretty easy to find on other sites though, it’s only Wikipedia that is barred.
Funnily enough, the page is not blocked in school.

Bootup failure

9°C, light showers.


Dual Boot: my computer runs both Windows 2000 & XP. Recently the Win 2000 (2K) was fatally damaged by a virus. But running the repair ultility also broke WinXP- it just wouldn’t boot. So I gave up and installed a fresh copy of Win2K. Installing an older OS renders the newer one inaccessible. Today I am hugely relieved that there was a simple fix found on the web.

Problem: running the repair feature, (rather like installing a new OS in the wrong order) places two files in the root drive (normally C: )
NTDETECT.COM and NTDR
the Win2K version of these files is different to WinXP’s version and not forwards compatible.
Solution: Copy & paste the files from the Win XP installation disc and replace the ones in your boot drive.
After: it’s likely that you may need to edit the boot.ini file also.

Why be so bothered: my XP installation is not to hard to replace, nor is installing the various applications and games there. The big problem that would have takes all week is setting everything up, all those config files, plugins and the rest that make programmes work together properly.
Now, I’m off to test some of it.
This is where I got it from.

Snow coming?

4°C, rain showers, but wintry showers are approaching.


Winter wasteland: what an unecessary day- MS Windows is broken on this computer and it’s taking all day to fix it. It has been snowing outside, slushy dull grey day.

The Wackness

17°C, rain has finished for today


Electric Cinema, Birmingham: what a superb cinema- cosy, small, with a bar next to the ticket office, we took our drinks in to see the film- "The Wackness" by Jonathan Levine (2008). the film was superb too. Ben Kingsley put on a captivating performance as s shrink who develops a relationship beyond his profession with a male client. The result was full of charm and wit- he clearly thoroughly enjoyed acting that role, the character was often funny, vulnerable and absurd. The cinematography was good, control of lighting, the very wide-screen format (and the compositions that allows)- assisted by the fact that were were watching 35mm stock. No doubt I missed worthwhile asides, images or other subtleties, so this is high on my list of films- To See Again.