Year: 2006

Common Sense

Glad to see that a tribunal has ruled that there was no discrimination shown by a school in suspending a classroom assistant who insisted on wearing a veil. While I’m against any sort of veil ban as has been suggested elsewhere, the wearing of a veil in a classroom shouldn’t be tolerated. Not a racist view, or denying anyone their rights…just common sense in my book. I would be uncomfortable seeing any teacher wearing any sort of face cover while teaching kids no matter what religion or beliefs they had. it should also be remembered that it was the kids that complained that the assistant couldn’t be heard that brought the matter to the authorities attention.

The fact that the wearing of the veil (niqab) is debated by Muslim religious leaders makes the issue even more clear cut for me. Unfortunately the assistant at the centre of the controversy is appealing the decision, hence dragging this one issue on a little further. I am concerned about how polarized the debate has become, something touched upon by Roy but surely it’s more important to debate and discuss the issues than brush them under the carpet and hope they never rear their ugly head, no? The main political parties staying away from race and integration issues have only aided the lies spread by parties like the BNP.

Not so Mighty

Everything about the new iMac has been great except for one niggle that turned into a real annoyance which has been solved tonight. That niggle is the Apple Wireless Mighty Mouse. I should probably start by saying that I always thought the mice on Mac’s were a bit strange. One button? Hold a keyboard button to access right menu’s when you click! No scroll wheel’s? How odd when compared to the thoughtful design seen elsewhere with Mac’.

However I was determined to perceiver – I will use the Mighty Mouse and it will be good. Which at first it was.

Then it felt like some grit had got underneath as I was dragging the mouse about. I cleaned it thoroughly but it persisted. Then last night I noticed that underneath the front of the mouse on wither side, roughly were you click a mouse, the plastic had worn and was ‘rough’. That’s what was causing the gritty feel. So it’s gone. I’ve moved back to my Logitech MX-1000 and happiness has been found yet again. Proper right clicks, no gritty desk movement, multiple buttons that don’t need a king kong grip to activate and a scroll wheel that doesn’t clog.

It does make we ponder why Apple mice have always been…different. So has their other hardware but usually to their advantage, but not so with the Mighty Mouse. Never has a mouse been so unfortunately named. It’s almost designed to be different for the sake of it rather than for customer convenience or simplicity. So if you do switch don’t ditch the old mouse…and if it’s a really old mouse you should treat yourself to one of the new Logitech mice – highly recommended.

Gaming Thoughts

A few random thoughts not worthy of a single post…

  • Halo 2. Loved this online since it came out, one of the best multiplayer games on Live and that’s despite the cheating that’s has plagued it. One of the reasons is that the unranked playlists have been great – no one quits early, games are fair as the cheats are chasing rankings and the overall game is so much improved because of it. Imagine the disappointment last week when one of our favourite game modes moved to a ranked mode. Cheating, lagging, leaving – a game mode ruined.
  • Test Drive Unlimited – this is now one of my favourites of the year and surprisingly it’s the single player game that I’m liking the most. Multiplayer is awkward to get going with friends and full of cheats (spot the trend?) if you play with randoms. Despite this it’s easily the game I’ve played the most and got reward from it – still lot’s of challenges left too.
  • Rainbow Six Vegas – looking forward to it lots. One option that looks to lift it is the player customisation. Not only can you use the usual options in game but you can plug in the 360 camera and use it to build a character. This video says it all.
  • A couple of weeks away from the annual Pro Evo Soccer highs and lows. Highs this year – widescreen at last, better graphics, more moves. Lows – online lets it down again? I hope not.
  • PS3. With the delay in Europe and the stream of news coming out now it looks more appealing. Still not convinced of it’s online credentials although the fact that online gaming is free is nice (and makes me think that MS may make that move too). Some of the in game movies look superb though and a notch above current 360 titles. Considering they are a year into developing on the 360 it bodes well for future PS3 titles.
  • Wii sports looks great – again videos say it all. Can’t wait to play it. However there’s nothing else, not even Zelda, that sounds interesting. Ok – Zelda is a bit interesting but I can see me getting bored of using the remote for firing arrows etc. Is £179.99 too much for one game?

Madrid

Madrid - Plaza de ColonArrived back home from Madrid yesterday – what a great place. Unfortunately there’s not a direct flight from Glasgow to Madrid meaning we had a transfer at Schiphol in Amsterdam. On flying in you realise how flat Amsterdam and surrounding area really is. If you haven’t been before this airport is massive – we taxied over two motorways before getting off the plane. The driving around the airport is also manic – so much hussle and we had a couple of near misses in our bus to the terminal. Inside was great though – very modern and lots of shops – pity we had so little time there.

From the air the outskirts of Madrid are a total contrast to what I’m used to or expected – the area was so dry. The airport is nothing to write home about either. Our hotel and company we were visiting are based in Tres Cantos, about 20 minutes north of the centre of Madrid. There is nothing much there to see so we made our way via train back to Madrid after checking in (taxi driver did try to fleece for more money but I’ll put that down to our lack of Spanish).

Getting out the train station it took a bit of time to get our bearings – Madrid is very big and very busy and it took a half hour to work our where we were. Only now do we realise that we were 5 minutes form the Bernabeu and in time for a stadium tour – something we missed by five minutes the following night. Never mind – next time.

We walked around for a few hours then ate at Hard Rock cafe. Hardly your traditional Spanish meal but we were pooped by that time having walked down Paseo de a Castellana – one of the busiest and widest streets in Madrid. Next night we were treated to a meal by our hosts at Restaurante Gaztelupe, one of the best Basque restaurants in Madrid. What a feast. I had the monk fish and it was to die for – the restaurant is highly recommended if you ever visit Madrid although it was pretty busy so you have to book in advance. We also had a few beers in a small cafe/bar in the same area. It’s odd as the beers come in smaller sized glasses and in most paces you are served with Tapa each round – small selections of food to share. We later went to the Irish Rover – yep – an Irish themed pub. I guess it wouldn’t be a capital city without there being an Irish themed pub but unlike seemingly everywhere else it was busy for a Wednesday night at 1AM.

The train and metro system in Madrid is excellent with most services frequent and on time. We found it pretty easy to get around. Not so good was our use of the Spanish language. Terrible. Robert at least made an effort but next time I visit I will prepare beforehand and at least learn some basics.

There is so much to see and do and the people in general are pretty friendly. Weather is also good with temps of 20-24C although it was dropping to Glasgow temp’s overnight. We didn’t get anywhere near visiting the old part of Madrid or any of the museums but I have put up some photo’s of the trip. Hopefully next time will get us into the Bernabeu and other parts we haven’t yet seen.

Madrid Bound

Be a bit quiet round here for the next few days as I’m off to Madrid. Now this isn’t a holiday and is definetly a business trip with long hours and no time for play when I’m there. Honest.

Anyway – it’s a good chance to test the new iPod out. Video podcasts here I come. Still loving the mac by the way. Still amazed by the ease of use of it all.

Moo

MooFree Moo cards came though on Friday. If the images are right then this is a nice option for handing out small cards to folk – gift after party or wedding perhaps? The crops worked OK (some a bit inaccurate) and a couple of the images were soft but these were some of the scans of American snaps from 10 years so probably expecting too much. Would certainly use the service again.

I’ve Moved

It took a long time to deliver but I’m finally there – I’ve moved to Mac. They say a picture is worth a thousand words…

iMac up and running

I’ve posted a full Flickr set of the unboxing of the iMac and iPod – not too many pics as it’s been done already. It’s too early to feel settled with OS X although I’ve so far managed to do everything I’ve wanted to, including an almighty struggle to get my iTunes library over to the mac from the pc. I ended up hacking the library xml file to get it to work. However the iMac hardware is stunning. Quiet, fast and bright – in fact too bright much like when you view a TV in a store and it’s set to 100%. I ended up reducing the brightness to just over half to make it easy on the eyes. Even then it was brighter than my last LCD. Still can’t get used to using the Apple key for cut, copy, paste and there are obviously lots of oddities that will take time to understand. Expose is stunning though and makes managing multiple windows a painless task – windows could learn a lot and that still hasn’t been addressed in Vista which is an issue as more people move to larger and larger desktops.

The iPod is as impressive as ever. Screen is bright, video’s look sharp although I still think it’s too small to watch TV episodes and movies on. Most noticeable are the new earbuds – comfy and sound good. Gapless playback is also welcome…at last.

Downsides. Only one at the moment – the Mighty Mouse. It is OK but not a patch on my old Logitech which will be pressed back into service. The virtual right mouse button is awkward and the side buttons require a lot of pressure to activate. Not for me and it defies logic as to why Apple couldn’t design something better.

Seeing as I’ve spent only a day with the iMac I’m surprised how easy it is to perform basic tasks although I do feel vulnerable due to my lack of knowledge. If something went wrong I would probably struggle badly. With Windows I felt comfortable that no matter what I did I could rectify the situation – it will take a while to get that feeling with the Mac. Hardware has also worked like a dream, both new and old. Joy of joys – I don’t have any dead pixels (well none that are obvious and although I’ve scanned a few times and can’t see any I ain’t going hunting). Thoroughly delighted that I finally made the move. It will be interesting to see how the next few weeks go as I scratch beneath the surface. To be honest I can’t wait.

Europe triumph again

The Ryder Cup has made for some great viewing over the past three days. I couldn’t believe the amount of putts that the Europeans sank, especially today – the Americans had no answer. Clarke’s emotion on winning and the respect that his fellow golfers had for him was good to see although I think the BBC saying that ‘Sweden’s Henrik Stenson robbed Darren Clarke of a fairytale ending’ was a bit strong. Highlights were Casey’s hole in one and Clarke’s chip in on the 16th yesterday.

High fives to Sky also – their HD coverage of the tournament was superb. Overall a tremendous tournament made better by us winning…and in some style too.