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October 23, 2008

Here I go again. Once more, I'm going to try to sustain a blog... Let's see how it goes...

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Escapology

(J'ai réécrit cet article en Français ici ) We recently got a place in the countryside. So we're now splitting our time back and forth between the house out here and the flat back in Wapping. And so that means the guinea pigs come back and forth with us too. At first they weren't so keen on the idea; previously the cat basket had been associated with trips to the vet and the ensuing prodding and poking, so they didn't take too kindly to it. But now, after only a couple of months, they've settled into the routine of going back and forth between two cages. Given we moved into this house when it was still cold, their cage was in the sun room. I wouldn't call it so much as a conservatory; it's just a simple building attached to the back of the house with lots of windows, and heating and lighting - so ideal for the guinea pigs in winter when we wouldn't really be using the room anyway. Also in there are the gerbils. They don't always come bac

Loosing the shackles around my data

I've recently started a new job, and one of the things which comes along with a job in the mobile industry is a mobile phone. I've always felt uneasy about the need to install "special software" onto my laptop in order to share data between it and my mobile device. It's a symptom of the modern world, I believe, that my heart drops whenever I open a package containing any new piece of technology and find a CD with software which is vital in order for me to use the product fully. And I'm no different when I open the box of my shiny new mobile phone. But, of course, the world has changed and these days it’s not so much a question as having your data shared between computer and mobile device, but of having your data accessible wherever you are and from whatever device you happen to be using. The actual location of the data is largely unimportant these days. My contacts list and email archives live somewhere on the internet. I know the URLs to find t

Is 193 prime and does it matter?

Sometimes I worry about myself. Only sometimes. The other morning, it was just before 7am and I found myself in the changing room at a health club. It wasn't the fact that I was at there at such a stupid hour of the day which worried me, it was what happened next. I was standing in the third bay of lockers, with the higher numbers, and I happened to be standing in front of locker 193. And then it occurred to me that I am usually at the lockers with lower numbers, and instinctively I always use a locker which is a prime number. This is easy when you're standing near the first 20 lockers, but in that second, rational thought deserted me, and I realised that I could only use the locker if 193 was prime. So there I was, standing with a pound coin in my hand trying to work out at 6.50am whether 193 is prime. It didn't take me long to work out that it is prime, and I made it into my session on time for a 7am start. I knew you'd be pleased. Now - just to be clear

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