On a project using Linux (SUSE 10.1) with C at work just now. Really good fun after being in the Windows world for so long.
Reminds of the time I spent doing C/Unix dev at Ascada a few years ago. Nostalgia (and rose tinted sunglasses) is a wonderful thing.
Apart from all the other bad things about ID cards, Richard makes a point about how well other government projects have come out. Are there any that have actually been finished?
think we can rest easy...
:-)
Well, I haven't been swamping the site with posts the last while, so when this blog comes up for renewal I'll have to think about whether its worth keeping it going. Guess it depends about the blogging between now and then.
Here however are the things that have happened so far this year (and a wee bit of last year):
There are pictures on flickr but here's one of Elsa and her grandpa having some fun on the snow racer.
via Dave, I really recommend watching some of these videos. especially the one by Larry Brilliant. some pretty eye opening thinking.
Now we have been back in sweden a couple of weeks and I am only just getting around to talking about it. Heres my list of the good stuff :-
See some pictures of the trip here (now in the correct chronological order)
All in all it was a great holiday.
I will be over in Scotland the first weekend in September. This is mainly to pickup up Elsa who is spending a couple of weeks with her Granny and Grandpa. Not that I dont already miss hre but, woohoooo! Time to do all those things you can't do with a kid e.g. go to cinema, go to pub, other things which involve going out together...
So time will be limited, but I still have hopes of meeting up with some friends when I'm over, so leave a comment or get in touch if you fancy a pint. Hmmmm, Cale 80...
According to the BBC, the swedish state broadcaster SVT made a "huge blunder" by accidentally showing some porn on a background monitor during a news broadcast.
Now I have to say that I dont think I would have heard about this if i didnt look at the BBC website. No one else I know has mentioned it at all. Appart from the fact that it was 12pm on a Sunday night so probably no one saw it any way, the swedes are just not that uptight aboutthings like this. Its not that uncommon to see films with with full nudity, not porn, at tea time here. This of course would have the "Whitehouse" brigade up in arms in Britain, "will nobody think of the children", but no one really cares here, so it doesn't become a big deal.
Wonder how many hits I'll get for writing "swedish" and "porn" in the same post...
Ok since Denmark we have done lots so this is just a quick update...
Drove down to Marburg in Germany where we spent a few days with Ulrika's brother and family. Really nice university town with some cool buildings and lots of real good German beer, hmmm.
Then drove down to Interlaken in Switzerland, pausing in Baden Baden on the way (lots of rich old peaple). Switzerland was great too. Camped in a valley that was all towering cliffs and waterfalls. Did some walking.
Drove down to Italy going over a couple of extremely high steep passes. Think 1-in-10 for 15 kilometres and you'll get the idea. Managed to make a hole in the exhaust. Lots of hairpin turns...
Capmed at the really nice Lago di Iseo and then Lago di Garda. Really hot, 38 degreed but nice to swim in the lake. Met up with Pat and Jen. Lots of good food and drink.
Finally travel up, yay, to the Dolomites where its cool, and that about where we are.
At last we have started our holiday, it felt like we were never getting away. Now however we have made it as far south as Koge, south of Copenhagen, in Denmark. That is about 800km drive from Uppsala. The first night, wednesday, we stopped in Jönköping to stay with Malin, Håkan, Alma and Hilda. Then on thursday it was another long drive down to Helsingborg where took the ferry over to Denmark.
The weather has been really hot, about 30 degreess, which makes me wonder why we are driving all the way down to Italy when there is so much to see and do here. The Danish countryside is really nice. We are staying with Per and Eva who Ulrika know through work. They have a great wee house, with a guesthouse, so we haven't even slept in the van yet.
Tomorrow we head off for the ferry to Germany and then further south...
Sweden Information from the Translation Site
To celebrate this historic event when demons and devils will roam the earth, Sweden has decided to have a public holiday. Oh they try to cover it up by calling it Swedens national day, but we all know whats really going on, yeah, so there.
Happy national day Sweden!
I was forced to say that... you know, by the voices
Dan Simmons: Ilium (Gollancz S.F.)
A pretty good science fiction take on Homer's Iliad. Definitely worth a read. (****)
John Meaney: Paradox
This was my first book by John Meaney and for most of the book I was pretty happy. It had a lot of interesting ideas about the structure of society and new types of technology. The biggest problem for me was that some of these could have used a lot more fleshing out. I had the feeling that somehow all these things would become clearer as the plot progressed but unfortunately that didnt happen. Still an enjoyable read by a new (to me) author. (***)
Iain M. Banks: Feersum Endjinn
I am a big fan of Iain M Banks and this was the first of his books that I read. Its a pretty unique story and the scale of the environment is a good new slant. When you start reading it takes a bit of time to get used to the parts that are written phonetically. But its worth sticking with it and after a while you almost dont notice :-) (*****)
Neal Stephenson: Cryptonomicon
This is a great book, especially if your even the smallest bit a geek. A good mix of face and fiction that is also humorous. Its not very often you get a blend of those that are as good as this. Big thumbs up. (*****)
