Great quote from Gizmodo about marathon runners banned from using iPods stateside:
“In the US, the USA Track & Field governing body has banned the use of iPods, and any other music players, claiming that they are a distraction and a threat to runner safety. It’s a load of bollocks really but then this is the type of irony you can expect from a nation that bans iPods from marathon runners but where everyone watching can be armed.”
(via Gizmodo)
I’m now working on the final chapter of the PhD. Once that’s done, it’ll be time for major edits and reworking on sections that need it. I need to check that everything references to everything else correctly. I’m pleased with my progress at the moment, but there’s still a lot to do by April.
After a hiatus of some months pursuing a career in the Big Smoke (Londinium), it appears that I’ve found myself slap bang, finishing this PhD full time again. I have a time limit until April 2008 when the Ol’ Smokey will beckon once more…
Draft of chapter 4 due 23rd November. Eek.
Cycling past a couple of traffic cops yesterday armed with a radar gun, one shouted at me:
“13!”
If I’d known I was being clocked I would have at least tried to hit the speed limit.
I really am beginning to wonder about the current parliament in the UK. A story on the BBC reports on how MPs have voted to exclude themselves from the Freedom of Information act – an act that was widely seen as a positive step toward making public bodies more transparent and accountable. What with the recent law to prevent anybody protesting within a mile of the Houses of Parliament, it seems that MPs are increasingly building a legislative moat between themselves and the British public. In my opinion, a government that makes a habit of creating one rule for the nation, and another for themselves is not representing the best interests of that country, and is losing touch with the people. Are politicians really working for their public anymore? Or is the public becoming their enemy?
There’s a good post here about the use of gamma (a unit of luminance) and colour profiles as used by PCs and Macs. It’s really only important if you create graphics for use on the web – the effects can be seen here. The upshot is that if this applies to you, then it’s worth changing your mac gamma setting to 2.2, rather than the 1.8 that is default on macs. Even Apple suggest you do this. You can do it by going to System Preferences > Displays > Color and then selecting the sRGB IEC61966-2.1 colour profile.
So what’s been happening over the last few weeks?
What a great story about a guy who bet he’d make it to 100 at age 90. With odds at 250/1, he made himself a tidy £25,000. It appears the key to long life is being care-free, having a good sense of humour, and porridge.
I visited Orford over the weekend. It’s a really pretty town, but with a slightly sinister history. Orford Ness is perhaps best known for its part in military history. During both world wars it was used a weapons testing facility, and later as a development site for radar and Britain’s atomic weapons programme. From the shoreline, it’s possible to see the “pagodas” which were cells used to house the weapons during testing. The pagodas were ominous-looking concrete buildings designed to contain a blast (although originally they had aluminium roofs!).
We walked down to the quay and on the left is a great little tea room which serves up a mean ham and cheese baguette. The other great thing about Orford is Richardson’s Smokehouse were you can buy pretty much anything smoked: anything from Trout, to Eel, to garlic bulbs!
Plus, if castles are your thing, then it’s worth a visit to Orford Castle, built between 1165 and 1173 at a sky-high cost of £1413. Actually, even if they aren’t your thing then the views from the castle are great.
Weather in Ipswich today
jumpnut 
