Blog » childs.be

What's your Robot name?

11/23/2017 08:00:00 pm

I'm usually rubbish at amusing inventive word-play - ask me to come up with a pub quiz name and I'm utterly stumped.

This one was easy for me, though I wasn't asked to think of one, the thought just randomly came up in my head

R2-Brew2

genius!

My new scale for measuring oldness

04/23/2017 08:00:00 am

Well I suppose it was inevitable, when you suddenly realise you are getting older by the things you catch yourself doing/saying thinking getting more frequent.

The latest thing I've noticed is that my propensity to fart in public has increased exponentially! It used to be the case that I'd internalise the pain of holding in a ripper for hours on end rather than suffer the embarassment of being discovered as letting one go. Oh so I've changed, nowdays I'd quite freely let one rip on the basis it's much better for me that I've dealt it out.

Fair enough I hear you say, so long as you slip away unnoticed that fair enough, but these days I seem to be freely parping with little care who either smells or hears it. It was this which has led to the developement of a scale for measuring oldness based on a measurement of PPP - public parping propensity. I'm still working out the details but it is a relative scale, I'll have to do a survey though to clibrate it as I'm not in the advanced stages of life so I'm not sure at which point letting rip at formal social occasions and trumping in the office feature on the scale.

So stay tuned and I'll update you shortly.

Geocache Log Sheets download

01/17/2017 08:00:00 am

One of the highlights of my summer was the adoption of a supplementary passtime, having recently picked up a copy of the National Trust's 50 things to do before you are 11 3/4 to inspire fun activities to be enjoyed with my niece and nephew I proceeded to introduce them to it.

Unfortunately despite them falling very short of the cut-off turns out the active pair had already completed 47 of them. Oh well, suppose I can't complain however of the three remaining two were specifically Autumnal - catching a falling leaf and playing conkers. Was quite surprised and the conkers one to be honest - given that my father was world conker champion in 1977 you'd have thought that one had already been covered, but I suppose I'd better leave that to him.

The sole remainder item was geocaching, I'd vaguely heard about it but the topic still needed the requisite googling, concept looked great and on mentioning it to Ali I got instant full approval. Turns out our esteemed hero Jens Voigt is a big advocate so thumbs up all round. I'll leave it to you to look up if you haven't heard of it, and discover the pleasures for yourself but it is indeed a great pass time if you are the sort of person who finds themselves outside at random locations out and about.

Armed with app in hand the first attempt went beautifully with several caches spread around Draycote water all accessible via bicycle / scooter and we've been hooked ever since.

The next obvious step was to site my own geocache, I've not actually found anywhere to place one yet but I sure am ready with my home made log sheets you can also download and enjoy yourself.

5 Column

4 Column

Micro

Musing of the day 09-Jan-2017

01/09/2017 08:00:00 am

Had a right good chuckle to my self whilst on holiday in Cambodia, in the spirit of travelling light I'd left my electric toothbrush at home favoring the good ol' fashioned way of doing things.

I've never been a fan of the manual way - always found it a bit too awkward and unusually for me being ambidextrous I suddenly realized that I'd never actually tried it with the other hand.

Great, I immediately gave it a go, swapping from my usual left handed technique to the right hand. The results were pretty close in all respects apart from one - the previously most tricky cleaning spot was with the left outer teeth using my left hand (left-outer/left). Whilst my right-outer/left performance compared to left-outer/right was equal, there was a significant gain in ability to articulate my wrist in right-outer/right mode than left-outer/left. We were looking at about a 25% proficiency gain. Nice one I thought.

It was at this point my emotions changed, as I relayed my latest findings to Ali the onset of disappointment encroached me. For someone who seeks pleasure in proficiency of ambidextrousity and have a constant strive for efficiency gains - realisation I'd never thought of trying it was vexing!

Water fountain location at Heathrow Airport Terminal 3

12/29/2016 04:18:12 pm

Unlike at any of the Manchester Airport terminals where they are firmly intent on extracting the most money out of you as possible, Heathrow actually fare a little better - they advertise the locations on their airport plans.

Actually I'm coming to realise the whole Manchester experience is pretty rubbish - crap food outlets, broken water fountains

How to convert a text DDMMMYYY date in SQL

12/10/2016 08:00:00 am

As much as I love Excel there are some circumstances where it just doesn't cut it - more than a millions rows and computer says no; some rediculouse vlookup and you could be there for hours. So step in SQL, it can do those aforementioned tasks in a matter of seconds.

There are a couple of occasions though where SQL is not king, one of these is it's cleverness at recognising dates especially with the good old British notations.

Want to import a date in the format 'DDMMYYYY' and you might come up a bit short as annoyingly this date format isn't in the convert functions pre-defined list. You could use some Excel stylee of MID() or SUBSRTING(), but here's a quicker method - stick a few spaces in it and pass it off as 'DD MMMM YY' and you are quids in:

convert(date, stuff(stuff([txt_dte_1],6,0,' '),3,0,' '), 113)

You can check out Stuff() here.

My Ultimate Travel Games Compendium

11/24/2016 01:49:01 am

The most accurate watch in the world Casio F108W

06/01/2016 12:21:38 pm

Casio F-108WH-2AEF

Sharing the same accuracy specs of the infamous F91W, the F108W sporting a slightly larger workings and casing puts out a

It is a bold claim,

My test started on the 16th June 2014 and finished 19th July 2015. Each time I synchronised it with eBay time. The result - the watch gained 4mins 15secs in that time, that's 256 seconds in 398 days

Best case for Sony a5000 a5100 with 16-50mm lens

05/26/2016 08:00:00 am

After a serious amount of pestering from Ali over the last six months it seems I have caved and bought her the camera that she's been after for a while now to pursue her newly found hobby.

I'd been looking at Sony's offerings of their a5/6xxx cameras for a while and whilst I was confident the base a5000 model would more than suffice Ali's needs I just couldn't get over that it didn't have a physical dial to quickly select camera modes.

I was also getting majorly sucked into to the up-sell - each model up have more and more temping features. That is, all with one major drawback - the a6xxxs don't have a 180 degree flip screen. A deal breaker in out eyes as Ali's incessant need to take selfies everywhere soon gets tiring when we have multiple retakes cos I aint looking at the camera and all the shots are never quite perfectly framed in the background for my liking.

The clincher for me to buy the base model was the release of their newest and greatest a6300 - seemingly excellent, that is until you see the price tag: £1100, OMG! This is not the camera for me seeing as the a5000 is a quarter of the price - one quick trip to John Lewis and I'm sorted, throw in 3 years accident cover for £20 and I'm done.

This had been decided the weekend before our Berlin trip so there was not enough postage days for me to order a suitable case online. I had taken the case from my camcorder to test out but it didn't fit. So in an 11th hour I perused the bag section of John Lewis and happened upon this bad boy - the Lowepro Dashpoint 20 bag.

So perfect fitting you'd swear it was made for it. Nice snug fit, plenty of protection, removable strap and a tiny pocket to take a memory card. Best still, the blue one had 1/3rd off, done.

So off to Germany it is then. I'll report back any issues but all is looking good.

Pass the Pigs Ultimate Travel Edition with scorecard download

05/04/2016 08:00:00 am

We are great fans of travel games in our household, they literally travel the world with us.

I'm not saying that the original casing for pass the pigs is enormous but when you are only taking a messenger sized bag for a week away every inch counts.

The system we run with is to use my custom printed scorecards (see download link below) and simply carry the pigs around in an old camera battery case. There are many more scorecards than you'll need on one trip on just a couple of sheets, and as you can see from the picture, ours are plenty stained and dog-eared.

Download Scorecard

Be sure to check back regularly for my next must have travel game.

Cheapest and best 18650 battery charger

04/30/2016 09:05:03 pm

For those who know me even in the slightest, you'll know that I have a penchant for a decent torch. Those enlightened individuals will know that that the best bang per buck in terms of luminescence are the Cree led chips.

My fascination with flashlights started with a curiosity to see what night time off road cycling would be like. However the pre-requisite for this is having enough illumination to have enough fun and unfortunately the UK retail proposition runs into hundreds of pounds if you want a decent light output. So facing this problem I did what any rational person would - turn to Chinese ebay sellers. Sure enough they came through an a torch that is unbelievably bright together with a battery and charger for less than £10 posted!

Dodgy Chinese wares

Trouble is that you get supplied with doggily cheap batteries - you know the ones airlines are afraid of exploding or catching fire! Along with an equally looking dodgy charger with a non-UK plug which needs an adapter. I wouldn't have previously been bothered but after a spate of deaths some years back and the fact that two potentially suspect items will be used together I decided look for an alternative option.

My search didn't actually get far - I couldn't seem to distinguish what would be a reputable product or not. It was not until an unrelated search for a power bank I hit upon the solution.

The problem with power banks is the same with the Lithium Ion batteries which power the Cree flashlights - cheap Chinese batteries are just that cheap rubbish. Most over claim their capacities and you'll be looking to get a few uses out of them before their retained charge plummets and soon after that they stop working completely.

Uniross 18650

After my initial 18650 battery gave up the ghost I decided to invest in a reputable brand, this is actually harder than it sounds - the only one I could find is made by Uniross. After a bit of testing this little beauty is coming up trumps and is only a reasonable-ish £3.95

Hunt for a power bank

My hunt for a power bank started on Amazon, after a little bit of deliberation I decided to look elsewhere based on the mixed review. So next up was ebay. After endlessly trawling I came across this fella:

Bingo, this is what I needed - Specific details in the austion description were sparce though. were sparceA bargain at 99p.

My RaspberryPi2 lasted 4.5hrs running off the power bank.

Write letters that create impact - use a personal letterhead

11/27/2015 08:08:08 am

Like most people nowdays in the modern technology filled society I rarely feel the need to write a letter, but on the rare occasion I do I want it to look professional.

It came as a suprise to me that none of my peers shared the same passion as a quick poll showed that nobody had their own personal letterhead.

As I mentioned before my snail mail correspondence is hardly prolific - usually limited to posting a cheque to the bank a couple of times a year because I live so far away from my nearest branch it's laughable.

I must admit I can probably see why, its taken a fair bit of creativity and Word skills to knock it out along with a chunk of time to get it to where it is. It's pretty old now though and maybe showing its age, but it had an update a few years back where I added a text box where you can enter the recipients address which will handily line up with the window on a envelope should you have such paper stock.

Anyway, enough of my blathering, the purpose of this post was to share my letterhead template so we can all add a bit of punch to our correspondence. You can download the word version below and update for your own details.

Enjoy.

Download template

Musing of the day 20-Nov-2015

11/20/2015 08:00:00 pm

I'm currently in Ghent for the famous 6 day race at the velodrome. The atmosphere is awesome the best inner circle is packed with beer drinking spectators enjoying the spectacle and dancing to the music the DJ is pumping out in time to the racing. All this beer drinking has its downside though, every toilet in Belgium seems to be chargeable, even in the velodrome. So today’s tickling is the fact that a 500ml bottle of water will cost 27 euro cents to drink, but it’ll cost you 50cents to pee it out again!!

Musing of the day 15-Nov-2015

11/15/2015 11:30:00 pm

Another 'never thought I'd say it' musing of the day, it turns out I actually found a legitimate use for facebook!

It's not that I'm against faffing on the internet - hell I'm probably one of the worst proponents, it is just beyond me why you'd want to depress yourself by endlessly scrolling through facebook as the numerous studies have proven. You should follow my lead and stick to spending hours perusing ebay (mostly for torches) or anything generally cycling or Raspberry Pi related.

So it turns out I forgot to rate the last film I watched on my filmography: Ted 2. I'd mean't to do it the next day but obviously forgot. Having just remembered I'd yet to record it's rating I asked Ali when we'd seen it, it was then she reached for her phone, fired up Facebook and rewound her chat log back a couple of weeks to locate when she had told her niece we'd seen it.

I'm not sure this recall ability justifies the endless lost hours spent on the app or the privacy issues of surrounding it, but it did solve my dilemma and its a first for me being grateful to FB!

Musing of the Day

11/03/2015 01:16:49 pm

Pubs where the standard pracitce is to form an orderly queue:

Chris Boardman Bar, Manchester Velodrome

Mardis Gras, Whetherspoons at the Trafford Centre

Virgin Money Faster Payments Service payment limits (FPS)

10/29/2015 04:55:22 pm

Here's another banking industry con, artificial

Hi Marty

Thanks for getting in touch.

The maximum amount you can withdraw via the Faster Payment Service (FPS) is £100,000 per day.

Faster Payments can take up to 2 hours to hit the recipient bank but will arrive no later than the end of the next business day.

This is an industry wide timescale and unfortunately Virgin Money will not be able to specify an exact timescale for any individual payment. Recipient banks may have internal processes in place for incoming payments and this could also impact how long the payment takes to show in the receiving account.

For Clearing House Automated Payment System (CHAPS) withdrawals there is no maximum amount you can withdraw. There is however an administration fee of £30 for these types of withdrawals. If your request a CHAPS payment before 1pm on a bank working day, the funds are guaranteed to be with the recipient bank by close of business on the same working day. Requests made after 1pm will be released the following working day.

Could I kindly ask you to check your profile to ensure this shows your up to date mobile telephone number.

If you need us, please reply to this email or contact our Savings helpline on 0345 607 6991. Lines are open 8am to 8pm weekdays, 8am to 4pm Saturday and 10am to 3pm Sunday, excluding Bank Holidays. Calls to 03 numbers cost the same as calls to 01 or 02 numbers and they are included in inclusive minutes and discount schemes in the same way. Calls may be monitored and recorded.

Kind regards

Name Deleted

Savings Operations

The ultimate travel wine glass

10/26/2015 08:00:00 am

It was whilst perusing my local Quality Save where I happened upon an old skool jam jar for sale that my mind caught upon something but I couldn't quite figure it out....

The mason jar in question was a heavy old thing which had an integrated drinking handle, it was this that provoked my attention - I am regularly in the need of on-the-go drinking vessels and am always on the lookout for new ways to transport liquids.

This particular item whilst igniting my attention didn't quite gel as a proposition. With being bundled with a pair of socks and priced at £1.49 it was within my value for money parameter. The trouble was it was just a bit too heavy and cumbersome, the handle turns out to being largely superfluous as you wouldn't use it to carry any hot liquids as you'd use a proper travel mug or flask.

The main problem for me was that it just doesn't sit right paying money for a glass jar when I'm regularly amassing them through my regular course of eating at home. And with that my analysis of the idea was parked and I left the jar on the shelf whilst I could work on the idea further and would revisit when I'd fully formulated.

It didn't take long for further inspiration to arrive. It was whilst watching the new series of The Walking Dead a couple of days later there was a scene in a barn that had been made into a makeshift bar. The drinking vessels of choice for their ingestion of hooch was in fact jam jars, this demonstrated to me that such a use was more than just possible - it was somewhat preferable!

At this point I was still struggling with the idea, I'd not yet cemented the usage protocol so continued to hold off on any purchases.

Fast forward to the next weekend when I was eagerly packing for the second round of Revolution at the Manchester Velodrome that the final inspiration struck...

It is not that I am tight (well I am but not in this instance) but I do enjoy a drink whilst watching the track racing. The problem is that there is always a massive queue for the bar and there is just not convenient time to visit it without missing any of the cycling action. Combine this with the fact that the booze is actually a rip-off as none of the beer is actually on draught - they open a can from the fridge and pour it into a plastic glass!

If you start off with the concept that you are allowed to bring your own picnic into the Velodrome, you can quite quickly make the leap that you can also bring in your own booze.

Queue the final piece of the puzzle, it was my long overdue turn to be the designated driver for the evening so I was collating the appropriate beverages for Ali to consume. Turns out we didn't have much in which would tickle her fancy, I managed to rustle up a can of pear cider and a large glass of Rioja left over from the previous evening.

This was my eureka moment, grabbing a jam jar from the cupboard I poured the wine in and screwed on the lid -genius. The hardest part was actually convincing Ali that it was a perfectly sane and practical idea and it wasn't till I threw in the Walking Dead reference that she even started to take me seriously.

Turned out to be a great idea, not only did she enjoy the vino, we had a disposible recepticle that we wouldn't feel guilty that we were destroying the planet should we chuck it away on the go. Don't panic though, we didn't throw it away - it came back home with us and it has had a succession of re-uses including several picnic wine outings, home made chutney and several batches of kimchi.

A jamjar makes the ultimate travel wine glass.

My African safari adventure in Tanzania part 1

09/29/2015 04:59:04 pm

My next blog entry from a string of flight inspired posts is another flight GPX tracklog.

This time from my weekend city break in Amsterdam. I initially thought this info might be a bit unique and interesting, but in the search to find some of the other flight details I came across Flightaware.com. It has some great info there, including to my amazement a log of the flight! Oh well, guess this will be ending my run of this type of post then.

Simba Safari details

Day one: Kilimanjaro International Airport to Arusha

Day two: Arusha to Lake Manyara National Park

Day three: Lake Manyara to Serengeti National Park

Day four: Serengeti

Day five: Serengeti to Ngorongoro Crater

Day six: Ngorongoro to Tarangire National Park

Day seven: Tarangire to Kilimanjaro International Airport

If you want to compare my data to that of Flightaware's here is the link: EZY1836

Removing tissue residue on clothes from washing machine with asprin

09/17/2015 03:48:30 pm

We've all done it, left a tissue or some paper in a pocket of an item of clothing and then washed it only to find all of your favourite black clothes come out covered in white flecks.

Even after you've washed it again the problem persists. The timing is probably unfortunate as well - it annoyingly happened to my faithful Tour de France T-shirt just before the grand depart in Yorkshire in 2014.

On this occasion to try and resolve the issue I grabbed a roll of packing tape and tried to use its stickiness to get it off. Unravelling long lengths of tape and sticking them to the tshirt. It did have some effect, but the whiteness was still noticeable.

As my Tour de France T-Shirt (sadly) only gets an outing during one month of each year, I had forgotten about the problem until I retrieved it from the bottom of my T-shirt pile come next July - so had to suffer the indignity of the unsightly blemishes for another year!

Not to be caught out for next year, I'm getting ahead of the game and trying to get it fixed asap though, if you've ever googled this problem you'll see that the only real solution would seem to be soaking it in an aspirin solution. Though any significant amount of references to it actually working were sparse as the whole www seems to be just regurgitate the same urban myth.

Given a packet of dispersible aspirin costs less than 30p and the likelyhood of it damaging my clothing was low I though I'd give it a shot. It was just as I was doing my final wash in preperation for going on my recent safari holiday that I gave it a shot on a pair of black shorts which had suffered the same fate.

Method

Put a couple of disposible aspirins in a bowl of warm water, let them disolve and give it a bit of a mix. Then all you need to do is to let soak overnight and then I put them through the wash again.

Result

As you can see from the picture above, it did absolutely nothing, what a waste of time!

Aspirin does not removed washed in tissues from clothes!

Musing of the Day 9-Sep-2015

09/09/2015 12:47:10 pm

I think that my work colleagues have finally worked me out!

Yesterday I was quetly working away at my desk when I felt a sneeze coming on. Sure enough it arrived and was promptly followed by the usual exchange of excusses and blessing. After which I remarked about my satisfaction of the preceeding event - it was one of those sneezes that you enjoy, that strange enjoyable sensation with no bodily fluid issues.

It was at this point that somebody asked me the full analysis of the sneeze. Further remarking that in line with my usual attention to detail they required feedback of the rating, rank and category of the event .

This, I'm afraid stumped me, it turns out that sneezing is the one thing I haven't applied my usual full analysis to!

Best case for Canon Legria HF M506 camcorder

07/04/2015 08:00:00 am

So I got myself a new bit of tech a couple of months back, a new camcorder, primarily for our upcoming safari. This thing is genius, 50 times zoom, HD recording and a cracking optical image stabilisation.

I've been putting it through it's paces in the mean time on bird watching trips with Ali and it has been a brilliant tool for post trip analysis and identification as theres a lot of birds which look pretty similar to my eye.

I've also used it to good effect to record and photo the recent eclipse.

After I got hold of it I was pretty eager to take it on it's first outing so I was hunting around the flat for something I could use as a makeshift case so I could just bung it in my messenger bag and not worry abouting bashing up against things whilst roving about in the countryside.

In a stroke of genuis I though I'd try the new saddle bag I'd bought myself for Christmas. I'd purchased it from Decathlon for use on my on my full-susser to be able to carry the tubes/levers/inflation bits and bobs I'd need when I was travelling 'light' without my hydration pack.

I hadn't put it to use yet as it was still super wet and muddy out on the natural trails and I simply didn't have enough room under my saddle with the mudguard and lights mounted so I was good to try it out as the camcorder case.

Great fitting or what! If I told you that it was a custom made case for the camcorder you'd have never have doubted me. Couple of details that some might think is missing but that I have no use for are a pouch for a spare memory card and a more secure way to attach it to belts and other stuff.

There is an official unit available: here, but the fella is so good I've already bought another so I can use it for its original purpose as a saddle bag.

Rating 5 out of 5.

Malaga to Manchester flight GPX tracklog - aborted landing

06/18/2015 08:00:00 am

This flight was a cracker, made extra special not only for the fact it was the first I was able to fully record on my GPX logger for later analysis - but for the added drama of the flight.

First off the skies that day were a bit congested so we had to do an extra loop over Warrington whist we were waiting, but next there was great excitement.

As we were just about to touch down the pilot had to make an emergency abort. Cool. It was like a roller coaster ride - we took in a nice hit of G. Our sharp ascent was then combined with a steep banking turn - it felt like I we were aboard a fighter jet.

The excitement didn't stop there, on our second approach I was eagerly watching out of the window trying to figure out what went wrong when I spotted that the whole of the Manchester Airport fire and rescue fleet had mustered and were rapidly chasing us down the landing strip - awesome!

After we had safely parked up the other side of the airfield the pilot came on the intercom to explain what had happened. Apparently there was an aircraft on the runway which had lost radio contact with the tower, under such a circumstance they shut the strip down until they can get back in touch. We just happened to be in the best place for that to happen - just about to touch down. Then standard protocol dictates that the emergency vehicles are then mobilised as a precaution if an aircraft aborts a landing.

Journey details

Flight Thomson Airways TOM2743

Cruising Altitude 11,950m | Speed 750 km/h

Departure 06-Oct-2013, 10:55 - Malaga

Arrival 06-Oct-2013, 12:55 - Manchester - Terminal 2

Perfect Pass the Pigs proposed new scoring system

05/27/2015 11:37:49 am

the pigy-niner

bacon stack

alison disapproves!

Amsterdam Schiphol to Manchester flight GPX tracklog

05/25/2015 08:00:00 pm

My next blog entry from a string of flight inspired posts is another flight GPX tracklog.

Journey details

Flight easyJet EZY1836

Cruising Altitude 9,150m | Speed 775 km/h

Departure 02-Dec-2014, 21:15 - Amsterdam Schiphol

Arrival 02-Dec-2014, 21:25 - Manchester - Terminal 1

Aircraft Airbus A319

If you want to compare my data to that of Flightaware's here is the link: EZY1836

Free water at Manchester Airport Terminal 3

05/09/2015 08:00:00 am

Another bug bear here, one of several about Manchester Airport! The biggest issue with them is pickups - the sheer cheek of charging for you to go and collect your friends and familys from the termial is bordering on criminal.

Not content with charging an arm and a leg for airlines to use the airport they impose additional pain of 'just' £2.90 for those 30 seconds you need to chuck the luggage in the boot and get seated. It's not even like they are taking the lead from other airports as at Stanstead parking is free for the first hour, and even Manchester Piccadilly train station is free for the first 20mins.

The next is the overzealous security measures, whilst I admit that it is a necessary evil, there are some times where I don't feel it is as proportionate response especially the policy concerning liquids. Whilst I accept there is some level of threat im even more annoyed of having to buy bottles of water at airports. I never pay for water except if i get stitched up at a posh restaurant preferring to take my own drinks whereever i go. Its not that i am tight (well i am actually!) Its bad for the environment bottling transporting and selling the stuff when we all pay for it to be directly piped to our doors, then there's the issue of all the waste it creates.

Even so, if they are making you throw away your water before security they should at least provide a tap the otherside to let you refill.

It was on the solitary occasion that we were departing Manchester from terminal 1 on our way to Amsterdam when i spotted a couple filling up their sports bottles from a water fountain immediately at the exit to security. This has set me off and my new mission for holidays now where I have to avail myself of free water from every airport.

So when our next trip was to Paris departing Manchester terminal 3, my initial thinking was they must have to supply free water some where so the hunt was on. Much to Alison's relief we managaed to locate it pretty quickly, it was by the toilets in the food area right next toTrattoria Milano. Mission complete!

There are no such worries at Charles de Gaulle airport, water fountains are everywhere. Only speculating here but probably due to the fact that a) water in Paris is safe to drink, b) there are public water fountains dotted around the city and c) unlike the Brits, Parisiens would probably revolt or blockade the airport at the mere whiff of any shenanigans!

A water fountain in Manchester Airport Terminal 3 can be found by the toilets in the food area just next to Trattoria Milano

How to add Google UK search to Firefox

05/03/2015 09:08:54 pm

since version 34 firefox has a

C:\\\\Program Files (x86)\\\\Mozilla Firefox\\\\browser\\\\searchplugins


Google UK
Google UK Search

Manchester to Paris Charles de Gaulle flight GPX tracklog

05/01/2015 08:00:00 am

I don't fly that often so it took me a while to perfect the technique of logging my aeroplane journeys, but I've now cracked it and am getting good results so long as I've got a window seat.

Back in the early days of my Windows mobile powered HTC phones I had GPS available to me but unfortunately this was so early on in the smartphone era that use of all electronic equipment was banned during take-off and landing and use of a mobile phone was prohibited at any stage. Whilst the phones did have flight modes this obviously switched off the GPS.

Fast forward in time five years and after a long search I acquired the perfect GPS logger which I could use to geotag my photos - a i-gotU BT120 Travel & Sports logger. Whilst my little box of magic had a very sensitive GPS chipset, it was still having problems picking up a signal from inside the fusalage of the plane which is effectively a metal box / faraday cage. One flight I had the idea of balancing it on the window ledge, I was little nervous at first of resting a flashing brightly coloured device so much on display during the flight but as time went on and as the accptance of the use of electronic devices grew I was much more comfortable.

I soon started hitting another snag, aeroplanes suddenly stopped being designed with window ledges and having to hold it up to the window which was pretty inconvienient on any length of flight and ended up being a show stopper.

I've recently solved this issue with a stroke of genius whilst on a flight to Amsterdam - on this occasion I was testing out my Aldi GPS watch as it has has the best GPS reception of all my devices - I'd been thinking how I could suspend the reciever at window height when I realised I had an inbuilt mount, my shoulder! Problem solved, I stuffed the watch inside my clothing on top of my shoulder - I was now getting great reception descreetly. I tried it with my i-gotU and we are ggod to go there as well which is what I recorded this flight on.

Journey details

Flight Air France 1068

Cruising Altitude 10,500m | Speed 850 km/h

Departure 22-Apr-2015, 13:05 - Paris CDG - Terminal 2E

Arrival 22-Apr-2015, 13:30 - Manchester - Terminal 3

Aircraft Airbus A320

I've another couple of flight traces to post; the pick of the bunch being a flight with an aborted landing due to another aircraft on the runway which had lost radio contact with the tower.

My photo processing workflow

04/28/2015 01:51:31 pm

How to add a copyright tag to your photos quickly

03/20/2015 08:00:00 am

One of the first things I do in my photography workflow is to add a copyright to it.

My favourite and easy way of doing this is with a simple self created drag and drop file. It uses Exiftool which if you haven't heard of before is a massively useful command line tool for working with the meta data of your photos.

In an upcoming post I'll be taking you through the way I geotag my photos with it but as an initial article I'm going start of really easy.

What we will be updating

The following tags will be added:

By-Line = "Marty Childs"
usageterms = "For consideration only, no reproduction without prior permission"

One if the useful things with this method is that it reads the year the photo was taken and adds this in automatically to the notice so no need to worry about updating/backdating the script.

I'm not actually using the © symbol here as although it is possible to add it in some programs/websites don't handle it well so its best to steer clear.

Exiftool

So before you commence be sure to download and install exiftool. The instructions here are based on you using windows and having installed the .exe into your windows folder.

Decide where you want the shortcut

We don't need anything other than notepad complete but first you'll have to think about the folder structure you use and where you want to place it. All my photos are stored on a secondary hard drive in a folder called Digicam. From there all of my individual photographic outings/sessions are saved in this root folder simply named NNN - Desritpion [YYMMDD].

Since all you have to do to add a copyright tag to a whole folders worth of photos is to drag the folder onto a file we'll created I save all my tools in this root folder. Choose where you want yours created intially and head over to it in windows explorer. Don't worry if you want to change your mind later or need it in multiple places as the position won't be fixed and you'll be able to move it/copy it anywhere you like when you've created the first one.

Create the tag link

When you've decided right-click in a bit a white space within the folder you want it then select New > Text Document. Then double-click the icon you've just created then paste in the following:

exiftool %1 -By-Line="Marty Childs" -d %%Y "-CopyrightNotice<(c)$createdate Marty Childs, all rights reserved" "-Copyright<(c)$createdate Marty Childs, all rights reserved" -usageterms="For consideration only, no reproduction without prior permission" -r -P -k

Next File | Save As... the call it Add-copyright.bat then in the dropdown box below the name (assuming you are using notepad) select All Files (*.*), then Save and you can go ahead and close Notepad. Then delete the New Text Document.txt file you created first.

Using the tagger

All we have to do it just drag your a file or folder onto the bat file we just created and hey presto. I'd wait for the process to finish before doing any other interatons to those files but that is essentially it. To check it all we have to do is select a photo and right-click it, select properties and go to the details tab (in Windows 7) and you should see the tags.

Removal

If you want to remove the tags, create a file with the following instead:

exiftool %1 -By-Line= -CopyrightNotice= -Copyright= -usageterms= -r -P -k

Ali goes viral

02/12/2015 08:26:34 pm

Well almost.... After Ali's niece has been addicted to watching unwrapping videos on YouTube, she decided to blog her birthday presents opening. Turns out she's quite a good blogger, admittedly I'all have to up my camera skills but you can judge for yourself on Youtube...

Bluetooth Selfie Remote button mapping (AB Shutter 3)

02/09/2015 08:00:00 pm

So I've got myself a one of those bluetooth selfie buttons, but before you start slating me for being one of those plonkers - I am using it for other remote control purposes...

The off road satnav loaded with OS Maps which I use for navigation on my MTB sits in a waterproof case attached to my stem. The whole setup is great, I don't have to faff about with maps and it lets me spend the maximum amount of time riding as fast as I can. Plus it is much cheaper than a Garmin 800/810 and I can get far better real time stats during my ride.

The only drawback is that the screen drains the battery too much to have it on all the time, no problem really as you can just flick it on when you need to see the map. But phones these days have their power buttons on the top edge of the phone and are quite tricky to press, so I've been using old & cheap smartphones with hardware home/back/menu buttons on the front like the ZTE Blade and previously T-Mobile Pulse. Sadly reasonably priced phones with these buttons that don't have a rubbish screen resolution are no longer available and I'm looking for an alternative solution.

So I've been looking for some sort of remote I can use. I initially experimented with a cheap bluetooth headset I was hoping to remap a button on it to wake the phone only however it appears the cheap ones only allow you to redial the last number you've dialled and won't accept remapping.

Given the latest craze of the selfie button I thought I'd give it a bash, having found no details of how they exactly work from the internet I took the plunge and bought one from ebay for a very cheap £1.99 and thought I'd post my findings.

How it works

It work quite simply really, the Android button simulates a Return and the iOS/Camera 360 button sends a Volume Up command. Additionally the Android button has the ability to handily wake the phone up.

Key mapping:

Android button  ENTER      Keycode 28
iOS button      VOLUME_UP  Keycode 115

Key layout:

hid-keyboard

Hope this will be of use, I'll post up my findings in relation to controlling Oruxmaps with it at some point.

How to run a command to switch the audio between your HDMI and monitor

02/02/2015 01:13:28 am

Best place to sledge in Manchester

02/01/2015 01:00:00 pm

The only real source of places to sledge I've found is this article from the Manchester Evening News. There's a couple of good spots there but there appears to be a glaring omission - there's nothing in the Peak District, but you are probably not going to find a great hill without a bit of local knowledge!

Lyme Park comes close to it obviously but what we need to consider is somewhere high enough up that if there's even a sniff of snow in the forecast anywhere in the North West you are guaranteed to get some good powder.

Well, Tegg's Nose Country Park fits the bill. Location is perfect, just off Snake Pass - this road is always closed when there is even a hint of snow - that's what we are after: snow! Although not too far up it that we are trying to drive through the snow drifts.

Facilities are also good: cafe, toilets & a car park (£1.70 for three hours). For directions from the car park just follow the other people or use the Strava map below.

When you get to the slope you'll be presented with two fields seperated by a dry stone wall. You can string a good 200m run at an average gradient of 15% if you can combine them both via a gap in the wall, nice. When we were there there had been a number of jumps built for added fun, the car park was full but there's plenty of room for everyone.

Reprogram the buttons on a bluetooth selfie remote (AB Shutter 3)

01/31/2015 11:16:02 am

B&M Travel Mug review

01/16/2015 08:00:00 am

B&M Travel Mug

Reviewed by Martin Childs

B&M, £1.99

Much better tasting than your generic travel mug.

This is definately one product that bucks the old saying of "Light, strong and cheap: choose two" although we'd probably have to modify it slightly for travel mugs:

Easy drinking, taste free and cheap: choose two

The standard travel mug

To consider what makes a good travel mug what you should really do is to consider what is wrong with your conventional generic travel mug:

Lid The regular design travel mug is has a recessed well containing a sliding flap to cover the little little slot you drink through. There are a a couple of things wrong with this:

After a short time the flap becomes loose and as you go to drink it slides back over the hole - theres not flap on the B&M model, problem solved;
The next problem is that a bubble can form over the slot blocking the tea coming out again B&M has the answer in that your mouth breaks any bubbles forming automatically as you drink as the slot is on the lip of the lid;

Taste The regular design travel mug is made of the that black plastic, sure it looks good but it only takes a couple of months for it to start tasting bad, it really does spoil your brew and you find yourself buying new ones quite quickly.

If you are lucky you can sometimes pick yourself one up where the mug is all metal, kinda solves the problem but the lid is always that black plastic and although it is longer before the taste arrives but it does eventually come!

Cleaning, back to the lid - the flap is a magnet for residue build up in the inside and edges, being recessed it is really hard to clean properly and really does add to the bad taste in no time at all. Also you do come into some hassle when cleaning some regular mugs - you can get water ingress in the lid and the body when you wash it. It doesn't really affect the performance but you can hear it sloshing and it really freaks me out.

The B&M travel mug

I've been using it for a year now and I can safely say that the plastic has stayed tase free the whole time. I've had no issues with build up of gunk, theres no issue with worn out flaps - all in an all round solid performer.

One thing I'd like a bit more of in the winter months is a little more insulation, it seems to get cold a tad quicker than I'd like sat in a freezing cold car though it shouldn't affect most people it's just that I enjoy my tea boiling hot.

I have to admit though I'm now on to my second mug as after I've left it on the roof of my car three times now, forgotten about it, seen it go flying over my head and watched it come crashing to the tarmac. All this abuse has left it more than useable but it has developed a small crack in the lid. A perfect excuse to buy a second unit - I have a spare for when Alison has knicked mine or I've forgotten to wash it and need a mug in a rush.

Rating: 5 out of 5

How to check the calibration of your kitchen scales

07/14/2014 08:00:00 am

Want to quickly and easily check if your scales are accurate it's easy, read on....

Across the whole of the cycling world everybody is obsessed with weight, it is pretty rediculous really that people stress about grams and spend a disproportionate of money trying to save it on the things.

There is even a certain group of people who have it so bad they have a special name: weight weenies, it is not a slur on their character really as these people tend to have their head screwed on. Whilst they definately have a problem at least they go about it scientifically, they calculate the cost per gram saved then go for the cheapest gains first.

Weight Weenies also acknowledge that the first thing you should look is yourself and the stuff you carry - shaving 1kg from your bike is probably going to cost you £1,000; loosing 1kg from your belly will probably save you £100 in beer!

I'm not a weight weenie but if I need to replace a part on my bike I do take it into consideration, the other half used to rip me for it. She's getting over it now since I keep pointing to her that she is a scientist and her whole profession is based around measurement.

There has always been some talk in the various circles about using an accurate calibrated scale but I' not dropping £30 on a fancy Park Tools number when I can get a funky colour cheap one from Argos. From my testing this thing is spot on - check out how I know below.

Anyways getting to the point of the blog post - how to test its calibration - easy just use coins. The Royal Mint website lists their weight, simply zero your scales and bung on some coins, if they weigh what they are supposed to you are good to go! If you want to get super technical weigh your item then get enough coins so that you have approx the same weight then check the calibration for that amount, simples.

Heres a list of coin weights per the Royal Mint:

Royal Mint Coins

Denomination	Weight
1p	3.56g
2p	7.12g
5p	3.25g
10p	6.5g
20p	5.0g
50p	8.0g
£1	9.5g
£2	12.0g
£5	28.28g

Top tip for accurate weighing

The geeks amoung you will note that my scales are over-reading in the picture by 1g this is because the surface of the desk I was using to take the photo isn't even - it has a very slight bow in it. This can have a dramatic effect on accuracy - you should always choose the most level and flattest surface you can and make sure to clean it and the feet of your scales.

You should also note that you can get different readings depending on where on the scales you place the object so you should always try to use the centre of the pad.

Musing of the day 23-June-2014

06/23/2014 05:51:15 pm

Well I'd never thought I'd say it but today I was greatly tickled by an anagram - surely a sign of getting older!

The amusement came as I was looking through the expenses of an operating unit at work, there was a bunch of costs to repair some damages to hire cars, each narrative had the reg. number of the car in question - one of them being:

FX13 UED

lol!

If you didn't get it straight away:

FIXE3D U

jumped into my head even before I'd seen it was a repair bill.

My first run ever!

06/09/2014 08:09:50 pm

After a couple of years of pestering (or as Ali would have it encouragement) I've taken up running. Having never been on a run voluntarily in my life (not sure you could class my activities during my school years as 'running') I decided to ease myself in steadily.

It's when I was perusing the running asile at Decathlon when the pace started to pick up.

I'm a big fan of Decathlon - they are firmly in the low margin/high volume market but their goods are quality. Another bonus is that their merchandise is all on the shelves so I was able to try as many different varieties and sizes as Iliked without the supervision of an assistant and the waiting time to get your size.

Starting at the bottom of the price range the first couple I tried on were not a good fit and were definately for pronators, moving up the range I landed on these fellas: adidas Furano Quest, perfect in a size 44. They duly made it to my Amazon wishlist, and ended up on my present pile come my birthday.

So fast forward a few weeks later and I've been thinking about going for a run for a few days, the weather was nice so I thought I'd bash out a couple of laps of the park. Not that bad really, 1.8km and 6:30/km with not that much effort. Suffice to say - it may take a while to build up my run specific muscles.

Here's my strava upload, not much to see really as its all in my privacy zone. All I have to work out now is how many kms I have to run in my new shoes to have got enough use out of them before I can retire!