Well - I’ve made it. 47 posts on 47 consecutive days. There were moments when I thought it would never end, or that I would give up halfway through, but now it is finished!

It’s been an interesting experience; probably the most curious thing is which posts attract comments. It’s surprisingly random! Sometimes observations about the world will recieve comment, but other times they get nothing. I had hoped to find a pattern of some sort, but no luck.

So - what were your favourites moments, and least favourite moments, of the last 47 posts?

mrBen

Went to see this last night, and was very impressed. I’ve never read the comic book, so it was probably hard to be let down in that way, but I was impressed that they managed to keep it ‘British’, and that they kept that slightly subversive feel to it. Natalie Portman’s accent wavered a little, but not so much to be distracting. The effects were good enough not to be noticable, and Hugo Weaving did a stunning job considering that he has such an expressive face, but had to wear a mask for the entirity of this film.

If it’s still on where you are, I would highly recommend a viewing.

mrBen

I don’t know about you, but, while I’m in some ways a massively habitual person, I also have a tendency to float between different things in life - ‘fads’ as it were. My parents vividly remember the period of time when I wanted a BMX, although I don’t remember it at all. I can, however, remember lots of things that did pass by - cub scouts, judo, skateboarding to name but a few. Which is why I think it’s interesting to think about the things that I have stuck to. Here are some:

• Playing the guitar - despite the fact that they spent huge amounts of money for piano lessons, my parents still let me borrow a guitar from a friend and teach myself. And, for some unknown reason, the guitar stuck, whereas the piano didn’t, although I still play every now and then.
• Linux - I’ve been into computers for years, and many things were on and off. To be honest, there is a part of me that is surprised that I kept coming back to Linux, but it’s certainly something that has stuck, and, beyond that, become a large part of my life, and hopefully my future.
• Christianity - although an underlying part of my life for 20 years now, I can’t say that it’s been all plain sailing, but it’s definitely something that has stuck.

mrBen

2 days to go….

This morning I went to buy my season ticket for my daily commuter train to IBM, only to discover that they had installed a new ticket system. Now - there are benefits to the new system, I’m sure, like Chip ‘n’ Pin, but that wasn’t what struck me.

I don’t know if you’ve ever bought a ticket in Glasgow - up until recently they used these big machines which had what seemed like a couple of hundred buttons on them. But the ticket guys hands used to fly across the keys, and out would pop your ticket. This morning, it took about 10 minutes for the same process. Why? Well - I can’t say for sure what the exact details of the issue were, but ultimately it must come down to 1 thing: bad design.

I’ve talked before about bad design, and the DoET book, and I think that this is a big problem in technology these days. This presents a number of issues:

• It makes people feel stupid - they can’t work the new system. It’s new, so it must be easier, but they can’t work it…..
• Conversely, it makes them feel like new technology is bad, because it is more complicated. This is a continual issue with design of technology, and makes the number of early adopters decrease
• It promotes the existence of ‘experts’ within an office, whereas a well designed system should be fully usable by alls its users

While I’m talking about the station - I get really annoyed that they are running a PC in the corner of the ticket booth to display passenger information - basically a big, fullscreen graphic. And it’s running Windows, which seems to me to be a pointless waste of money.

Looking at the design of ‘everyday things’ is a gradual spiral to madness, but fascinating…..

mrBen

…..until I get my 8MB broadband!

PlusNet are due to upgrade all 2MB customers to 8MB during April, on the day of their payments. I pay on the 15th, so by this time next week, I should have quadrupled my download speed. Shame the upload speed isn’t any good. But there you go - bask in the reflected glory

mrBen

Over the past couple of weeks I’ve been replaying the game ‘Driver’ on my laptop (AFAIK Driver won’t install/play under WINE, so I am running it on the works WinXP install, I confess). Driver bears a lot of similarities to the GTA series, although you never get out of your car. You play an undercover cop acting as a driver for the mob, carrying out various missions.

The graphics look dated, the sound leaves a bit to be desired in places. But this game is better than a lot of much more recent games I’ve played, because it has something special - gameplay. It’s brilliant fun to play. The physics are exaggerated so that your car acts like a car in a 70s cop show - even simple corners have you squealing round, hub caps flying. In San Francisco, your car will detach itself from terra firma at the slightest bump.

Alongside the main ‘mission’, there are a host of side games, or you can just ‘Take a Ride’ around the city - which in itself can be a great laugh. Even better - everything you do can be played back as a video, and even edited in the ‘Film Director’ mode, so you can make your own car chase sequence.

You can probably pick up Driver for a couple of quid from Ebay. The system requirements are minimal (it is 5 years old), and, according to the reviews I’ve read, it’s better than either Driver 2 or Driv3r. Go forth and do dougnuts!

mrBen

We all know that the world would be a darn sight better without all these other people doing things wrong. This is aggravated the more people you have the misfortune to interact with, and thus as a worker in a large company, and a commuter, I receive much aggravation. So I thought I would compile a list of wrongness just to keep you right.

• Stand on the left on the escalator - The sign says stand on the right, but you know better. Besides, that 20 seconds of inane conversation with your mate is much more important than whether I make my connecting journey. And the sign that say ‘Fold pushchairs’ is just a guideline that doesn’t apply to you. And your enormous bag isn’t a person, so it doesn’t matter if it stands on the left.
• Don’t worry about train etiquette. Even if you travel on a train every day, you shouldn’t have to know better. And besides, your right to legroom is much greater than my right to legroom, even though you’re a flipping dwarf!
• Sit in my seat on the train. OK - this is probably borderline, but the fact is I sit in the same seat on the train every day. If you’re a regular you’ve probably noticed this. You know who you are.
• Leave the toilet cubicle in a state roughly akin to a tornado hitting the Andrex factory. They obviously don’t pay me enough so I am working on my toilet cleaning abilities to gain a second job. Seriously, there is a guy in my work who decides that he need to protect the velvety skin of his buttocks by layering the rim of the toilet with enough paper to print The Herald. On Sunday. Now, I don’t have a problem with using the paper, but I do have a problem when said individual leaves the paper there, and doesn’t dispose of it. Manky sod.
• Converse with me on the phone if you didn’t ring to do so. If I were a woman, then I expect that a little bit of conversation when I answer the phone is a nice thing. However, being blessed with the other set of bits, if you phone and you want to talk to my other half, then feel free to be blunt and ask for her. This does not upset my delicate sensibilities, and allows me to get back to my important work/watching the football/playing ET/eating my pudding. (OK - this is probably a bit harsh, and I do like a conversation on the phone as much as the next person; but I have caller ID, and I know you really don’t want to talk to me anyway……)

mrBen

Disclaimer - OK, this was a bit ranty. It’s not aimed at particular people (apart from the toilet one) (and the seat stealer) nor is it aimed to offend - I’m not SGM or Noelinho…..

Well - almost there. True to form, a bit of a summary-type post:

• LUGRadio Season 3 Episode 13 is likely to be out today - I’m preparing the mirror as we speak
• This morning I managed to preach a half decent sermon that tied in fasting with Palm Sunday, via Matthew 6:16-18 and Isaiah 58. Some readers of the site were there - some of them may even remember it
• Serenity is back on the big screen in Glasgow this week - the UGC/Cineworld on Renfrew Street has 2 showings on Tuesday. Book your seats and dig out your browncoats

Lets hope the last week is as good as the first Or something.

mrBen

After the excitement of the stats from the other day, it would appear that something is now broken, and so you might get an error message when you post. I am looking into it

mrBen

I spent some of today reading the rather tragic story of Jason Mewes’ (aka Jay) drug addiction problems, through the eyes of Kevin Smith (aka Silent Bob) on My Boring Ass Life. It’s a wonderfully told story, but really heart breaking in places. It’s definitely worth a read.

/me makes mental note to watch Clerks and Mallrats before Clerks 2 hits the screens.

Oh - and Kevin Smith runs Wordpress \o/

mrBen

I’ve been a frequenter of SerenityStuff.com for a couple of months now - it’s a great (wordpress-based) site for finding out everything that is happening on the retails side of Firefly and Serenity. Plus they have great competitions each month, which is, in part, the reason for this post.

However, regardless of whether I win, I do wish them all good fortune, and recommend that you all head over to check out their reviews and links. Dong ma?

mrBen

“

What happened to the design?

To know more about why styles are disabled on this website visit the

Annual CSS Naked Day website for more information.

”

As per Simon Willison, I decided to stick the ‘Moose into ‘naked mode’ for today.

Yay for web standards!

mrBen

I can’t believe it’s this far through Lent before I’ve posted a personality test…..

You Are 22% Evil

A bit of evil lurks in your heart, but you hide it well. In some ways, you are the most dangerous kind of evil.

Via: Kat

mrBen

A great find by Noelinho now means that we can have some exciting statistics on the ‘Moose.

For the moment, I have just shoved them in a page on their own, but I may look to having some in the sidebar too, if I can fit them in

They currently look like this:

And for those of you who want it, grab the lightstats plugin

mrBen

OK - it was an April Fools Doesn’t look like it fooled that many of you, but it was worth a try

mrBen

Well - it’s coming up to 3 years since JediMoose started, and, what with the hosting bill having coming around again, Al and I have decided it’s time for a small change of tack to the site. This will take the form of 2 changes:

• Advertising on the site - I’m in the process of sorting out Google Ads for the sidebar, and one or two small banner ads (personally I like punch-the-monkey style), and, if the price is right, I may succomb to a subtle popup
• We’re going to have to start charging for subdomains - this will be a tier based service, with a flat fee for hosting, and then a staggered system based on the amount of space used, and the frequency of posting. All subdomain owners will receive an email from us within the next couple of days outlining the scheme, which will start on Monday (fresh with the new financial year).

Obviously this is a big change, but we really hope that it will help us maintain a high quality of service, and it should not affect the quality of content at all. Plus, with a bit of luck, it’ll help pay the bills too.

mrBen

Well - I’m now approximately 2/3 of the way through the lent postings, so time for a quick roundup-type post:

• LUGRadio Season 3 Episode 12 came out on Monday, and very good it was too. Well worth a listen.
• Jokosher continues to move along at a fast pace. I’m continuing to contribute as much as I can, and learning a lot through it. The guys working on it are a great bunch, and it’s really coming together, and looking like it’s going to be a really great app. The plan is to get version 0.1 out by LRL06 (July 22nd), with it able to record and playback multiple tracks (where supported by the hardware), and be able to mix properly. Additionally a lot of time is being put into ensuring that we make it as usable as possible - we are roughly adhering to the GNOME HIG (Human Interface Guidelines), which should hopefully make it an app that is both simple to use, but also powerful enough for more complicated usage.
• LUGRadio Live is now less than 4 months away, so the counter has returned to the sidebar over to the right. I am really excited about it this year - it looks like it’s going to be much bigger, and better than last year, and, let me tell you, last year was pretty damn good! Anybody who’s anybody in the Linux community should make an effort to be there. There is a reasonable contingent going down from ScotLUG, so space in cars may be available.
• Talking of ScotLUG, the March meeting was last night, with a really good talk/discussion about using Linux/Open Source Software in an Internet cafe context, with Infrared coming over from Edinburgh to share his first-hand knowledge. Plus there are some good events coming up - Paisley Beer Festival is at the end of April, and we’re going to have a BBQ in May
• My old Spectrum +2 - the pride and joy of my childhood - has now wended its way to a new home with Neuro, who I am sure will cherish it My old TRS-80 will be hitting ebay soon too It’s the end of an era…..

Anyway - that’s enough for now

mrBen

Well - it looks like the House of Commons have finally bullied the House of Lords into accepting the ID cards bill. This makes me sad. I had a big discussion at work with one of my friends from South Africa, and he was very positive about ID cards, but, in general, I see no reason or purpose for them, and certainly don’t think that any of the reasons stated (decreasing crime/terrorism, etc) are even vaguely realistic.

Ultimately I have a real issue about a government (which I do not trust to either use the information appropriately, or keep the information secure) having a load of information that it doesn’t need, and has no real purpose for. I’m not against ID cards per se, but the information in the National Identify Database is a bit scary. And, ultimately, I don’t believe it’s going to work to stop crime, or stop terrorists, in the same way that fingerprints and DNA haven’t.

I suppose the big question is - do I ever want to go abroad again? Because as soon as I need to renew my passport (which I will in 2009 IIRC) my details will be taken.

For more info, check out No2ID.

mrBen

Last night I decided that I had had enough of not being able to do work for Jokosher on my desktop, and so I took the plunge and upgraded from Ubuntu’s Breezy Badger (current stable release) to Dapper Drake (the next release, due on 1st June, but in beta-testing at the moment.

All my fears about everything breaking were for nothing - the upgrade was as smooth as I’ve come to expect from Debian-based distributions, and nothing was broken. What’s even better is that I got to have a play with Xgl, the next generation X server (graphics for the desktop) which allows for all sorts of fancy 3d effects - 3d scrolling cube virtual desktops, and the funky ‘wobbly windows’.

Even at this stage of development, Dapper feels polished, and the new icon/desktop theme looks great. I haven’t yet tried out any of the new GNOME 2.14 functionality, but it does look like Dapper is going to be a quality desktop distribution.

mrBen

Despite having never read The Design of Everyday Things (recently reviewed on LUGRadio) I have found myself thinking more about how things are designed, and how usable they are.

One thing that has always bugged me is ATMs. Firstly, that they run Windows, but that’s another story. However, they are annoyingly bad from a usability point of view, IMO. I hate the fact that now we all have ‘Chip n PIN’ there is a considerable gap between place the card in the machine, and getting the PIN screen. But there are other issues:

• Consistency - do you press ‘Enter’ after then PIN or not? It varies from machine to machine
• Wasted screens - when you get money, why not allow button entry and numeric entry on the same screen, rather than having to press ‘Other amount’ and then entering the amount?
• Poor screen/button lineup - ever stood at a machine and wondered which of the buttons the arrow is supposed to be lining up with. It probably varies a lot with height too, because the screens aren’t flat.
• Horrible buttons - some of them are just spongy and awful, with very little feedback, making it hard to tell if you’ve pressed a character
• Slow response - on at least one type of machine, it’s possible to enter 1 or 2 digits of your PIN, and then think that it’s not responding, so you start to enter again, and then all of a sudden the *s appear on the screen, by which point you have to cancel
• Starting over….. Again, on one of the machines I’ve encountered in the past, hitting ‘Cancel’ on the PIN screen returns your card, forcing you to start over completely, rather than just clearing the PIN entry box

Do ATMs annoy you too, or is it just me?

mrBen