Clipboard + ring-binder + mouse = memory error!

I was working on an update to a client's website when my computer started to show unusual signs of misbehaviour. When I opened a file to edit, it jiggled around on the screen. Is it a virus?  (doubtful with my multi-layer security), is it hardware fault? Mouse? Computer? There's never a good time but in the middle of a client website update, I don't need this!

At first, I thought it was my mouse because as I clicked to open a file for editing, it appeared on the screen then jiggled around - a lot! So I closed the application (Dreamweaver CS3) and opened it again. It all seemed normal, clicked on the file to open it, it appeard in the workspace, then started jiggling around. Hmmm... Looks like a problem mouse. Checked in other applications but there was no obvious problem. OK, maybe it's not the mouse, perhaps the computer. Do a restart (breaking my own Gold Rules - never restart, always shut down and start from cold). 

After the restart I went through the process again and the problem was still with me. OK, it looks like it is the mouse - my fairly old but much loved Microsoft Intellimouse. Swapped mice and the problem was still there. Oh good, it's not my favourite mouse. Oh dear, it's probably the computer.

Shut down fully. Start from cold. Oops, the computer flags a possible memory error by giving me the choice of starting in Windows Vista, or the Memory Diagnostics. I choose Vista. Go through the test again and the problem has gone. Phew, the memory has fixed itself. Really? Actually, no.

During the mouse swap, I had to close the drawer that my keyboard stands on. I had been working with a clipboard resting along the top of my keyboard, on top of which was lying an open ring-binder with the source for the website updates - quite weighty, and resting on the top row of F-keys. There must be some combination of F-key and mousing that triggers this odd jiggling thing. It's the type of combination of keys that usually only cats know about. 

Since I re-sited my clipboard and ring-binder, the problem has not returned. So I conclude that a strategically (but poorly) placed clipboard, in combination with a ring-binder and a mouse, can cause a memory error!

PLEASE don't forward hoax virus warnings

Before you succumb to the temptation to "forward this email to everyone you know" as requested, please read the comments below.

There are websites that can be used to check the veracity of emails that might seem to be chain letters, or virus hoaxes, or other hoaxes, or those that offer good fortune with the suggestion that if you forward the email  "you will receive... [insert benefit of choice]"

A good indication that the email content is utter nonsense is the very fact that you are asked to "forward this to everyone you know" or "forward this to all your contacts."

It is best not to forward emails labelled "important" "useful" "live-saving" "fascinating" "awesome" "unbelievable" "must see" "pass this on" or similar, without checking with these websites first:

To find out if an email is genuine or a hoax:
Sophos Hoax listing
Truth-or-Fiction
About Urban Legends
Snopes Urban Legends Reference

How to handle chain letters and virus warnings
Break Chain Emails
McAfee
Symantec Hoaxes

And, if you cannot resist it, and decide that you simply must forward an email, joke, pretty picture, live-saving advice, etc. at the very least please, please, please use "Blind Copies" and remove any previous 'forwarded' email addresses. That way, you won't share and publicise all the correspondents' email addresses with a huge list of people they don't know. Ultimately that's one way email addresses get into the hands of spammers. With a Blind Copy, each recipient only sees their own email address.

Also, while you're editing the forwarded email, please remove all those ridiculous corporate disclaimer notices that are attached in sequence at the end, and remove any spurious ISP-added advertising junk, too, like those Incredimail graphics, and the extra 'smiley' offers.

One problem in overcoming this problem is that it's so easy to just forward the email, but it takes a bit of effort to investigate. But if you think this advice is worthwhile, even if you don't investigate the email, it might at least dissuade you from bothering to forward junk "just in case it's real;" so that's a good result!

This advice is is meant to be helpful, not patronising - despite what people think when I send this sort of advice in an email. All I am doing is trying to help people reduce the amount of junk email that floods our inboxes.

Only believe virus warnings from trusted sources.
When it comes to accurate, informed advice about viruses, your friends and relatives are probably not a "trusted source." And they are definitely not to be trusted on the subject if they have just sent you one of these junk emails without checking it with any of the resources shown above.

Yes, I know people send this stuff on in good faith - "I was only trying to help" - and they even say things like "it's better to receive 25 of these warning emails than to receive a virus." No it isn't. You should make other arrangements to protect yourself against viruses and not rely on spurious advice that arrives "out of the blue."

The point of this rant is that you should not forward "useful" or "lucky" or "compassionate" or "life-saving" or "virus warnings" without checking it's true.

You check.

Personally.

Yourself.

Do not rely on the fact that the message contains the exaltation that it was "checked with Snopes" or "Microsoft say this is the worst virus ever" because those claims are demonstrably not true.

Everyone should check these things out themselves, regardless of the source before they think of forwarding them. Or just delete them.

I do follow my own advice on all such emails but, because so many people don't, these messages circulate for years. One I received in November 2008 first surfaced in 2002.

Can you begin to imagine how much time has been wasted by all the people re-forwarding just one message? If everyone sent to only 10 people (and many send to more) in 6 iterations, that junk has gone to 10 million people. If they all spend 5 minutes forwarding it, that's more than nine and a half man years wasted for one email!

And there are hundreds of these stupid emails.

So I'm just trying to reduce the massive time wastage.

And if you feel chastised or patronised along the way, so be it.

And if you expected that "some good luck will befall you if you pass it it on..." think on...

I did what you told me...
I sent the email to 10 people, like you said.
I'm still waiting for that miracle to happen...

Warbird Experience

If you've only ever flown in airliners, you may not have experienced the excitement, fun, wonder, and spectacle that flying can be in a smaller aircraft. When I was a teenager, in the early 60s, I was a member of 452 Squadron of the Air Training Corps (ATC) in Hornchurch, Essex.

Among the most exciting memories from the ATC (apart from the itchy uniform and drill - which I did enjoy) was during the Summer Camp at RAF Chivenor which, at the time, was flying Hawker Hunters - the aircraft flown by the world famous 111 (triple one) squadron aerobatics team. 

Only the senior ATC officer's son flew in a Hunter but the rest of us took a half hour flight in a De Havilland Chipmunk, which was then, I believe, the RAF's basic trainer. Kitted out with a parachute, we each took our turn. I was expecting to travel at the fastest I had ever travelled but with a top speed of 120 knots, I don't think we ever exceeded about 90mph! But it made me love flying.

For my 60th birthday in 2006 my family bought me a wonderful birthday present - a flight in a T-6 Harvard (a.k.a. Texan) from





based at Rochester Airport, Kent.

Yesterday, for my son's 40th birthday, close family clubbed together for a simlar flight. The team at Wardbird Experiences are all such a friendly bunch, it's like spending a couple of hours with old friends, who just happen to operate a flying school - the flights are introductory flying lessons, and you get to fly the Harvard! 

I think the smile, above, indicates how much fun it is. And he hadn't even got into the 'plane! I'm sure he'll agree, it's nothing like riding in an Airbus - it's real flying.

Chrome is the new black

Even BBC Radio four announced that Google (tm) had launched a new browser, called Chrome, so I thought it must be worth looking at.

Because I build websites, I have several browsers to test with: IE7, Firefox 3, Opera, and Safari. I have always been happy with Internet Explorer, particularly version 7. But several people keep telling me I should use Firefox and, since I installed Firefox 3 a few weeks ago, I have started using it more, and have even set it as my default browser for previewing and testing web pages.

One thing has been bugging me though - I suppose it must just be me but, although I really like working with tabbed browsing, with Firefox 3 I keep inadvertently closing the tab I'm reading. That's very irritating, and I don't think I did that with FF2... And FF3 has a tendency to be left running in the Applications list, so it won't re-launch without resorting to Task Manager and Ending the process.

I don't usually touch any software that is in beta (test) mode because it often causes unexpected(?) problems with other applications or even the operating system. But as I'm a bit of a fan of Google, products I thought I'd have a go with Chrome.

The download was seamless. Installation went as planned - quickly and trouble-free. Then I launched Chrome and wondered where everything was. There was a clue that I'd read somewhere that, when you want them, the tools are easy to find. I am amazed at how that could possibly work. But it does. The screen is very clean and tidy. The tabs are right at the top of the screen. There are no text menus but right-click (which seemed obvious) on an an icon here or there, and everything I've needed so far, is where I felt it should be.

Remember when you first used Google search? I remember thinking, and others saying "it's as though they know what you were thinking about when you started the search." Chrome has that same eerily "just right" feeling, to me.

Two things stand out (apart from the clean screen and the lack of menus and toolbars - nobody expects the Spanish inquisition) is that I have watched in amazement as many people "mis-use" the address bar in Internet Explorer, thinking that data entered there would be used to search for a website.

Well, apparently, for many people that's the intuitive thing to do (in the absence of any Browser Schools). And with Chrome, that's exactly what happens! Put "Fred Bloggs" into the address bar and, if it can't already find that among the websites you've already visited - like FF3 does, it uses your text for a Google search.

And it is noticeably faster than Firefox 3. Going back to IE7 shows it to be very slow by comparison, subjectively. And the screen is smoothly Opera-like. There are some good techie reasons why it's fast, apparently. But all I care about is - it works, I like the look and feel, I like the speed, I really like the 9-most-visited-sites feature showing on your own home page.

If you want to risk the beta, give it a go. If you don't want to risk the beta, keep your eye on the news, the real thing can't be far off. My opinion so far is that instead of thinking, "Yes, is OK," I was immediately really impressed with Chrome. I can see it will be my no.1 browser of choice very soon.

P.S. I created this entry via Chrome. I did have a bit of trouble uploading the image into Blogger, but I found a workaround. And I've signed up to have Google track what's going on, to help development, so we can hope that they're working on it right now!

LinkStar Media for the last time

LinkStar Media have updated their website and have asked the administrators of the Aardvark Business Forum to remove the thread that discussed LinkStar's operations.

LinkStar UK Limited's website has been greatly improved and now explains that they have a new way of link-building to improve their clients' SEO (search engine optimisation).

The website also now shows a registered address and their registered company number. So I am assuming that we can now expect that LinkStar's future emails will also include those details, as required by the Companies Act 2006. Had they done so in the first instance, perhaps the suspicions of website owners may not have been aroused.

So, if you are approached by LinkStar UK Limited, you can now make up your own mind based on a bit of research into websites, addresses, and Companies House. It's always worth spending a couple of quid (and that is all it costs) to find out just that little bit more about the company you're considering dealing with.

Copy and Paste in Blogger

Some people might want to use their previous post to create a new one - I have a client who wants to do just that.

I tried to copy and old post and paste into a new Create Post compose screen. The words were all there but the fancy formatting - emboldened text, bulleted text, font-size changes, etc. - were all lost.

I asked a fellow Blogger blogger who tried it and all the formatting was copied, in exactly the way my client wanted. What am I doing wrong? Nothing, really. The answer was, as is so often the case these days, my choice of browser.

I use Internet Explorer browser (like 73% of the world) but she is using Mozilla Firefox (about 20% market share*).

* Source: Market Share

Using Internet Explorer 7, copy and paste between Blogger screens loses all formatting, even new-line/paragraph. Using Firefox (I occasionally do, v 3.0), the formatting is retained. Yet another reason to make Firefox my primary browser, and IE7 my secondary.

And another way, of course, would be to copy/paste the HTML code, and not the text as seen in the Compose screen.

LinkStar Media again

Further discussions on the Aardvark Business forum might even be part of the reason that LinkStar Media do now have a website, albeit one that is bland in the extreme, and still has no "real world" address.

There was a lengthy contribution to the discussion by someone from LinkStar Media, who seemed to answer many of the specific questions that had been posted by other sceptical website owners.

See the Aardvark Business forum.
Update 3 September 2008: Sorry, no you can't see the Aardvark Business forum on the subject of LinkStar, because a LinkStar manager has requested the forum entries be removed.

However, most others viewed the responses from LinkStar as "unconvincing." Of course, you can make up your own mind, and hopefully the discussion on the Aardvark forum will help your decision-making.

Testing to get the bullet

I am having trouble with bullet lists, or unordered lists. They look OK in the Compose view, bullets show up in the Preview view, but when they are published, they indent is present but the bullet graphic has disappeared.

Like this

• Bullet one
• Bullet two
• Bullet three

What's happening?
Well the test didn't perform quite like I remembered it failing before. Looks like a good bullet list to me.

LinkStar Media

I received an intriguing offer for a text link from one of my very successful websites. And they offered me to suggest the price.

The company offering to buy the advertising link was LinkStar Media. I did some basic research into the company, based on the email sender's URL but could not find satisfactory answers to my enquiries.

Usually, I just delete this type of email even before doing that type of research but something made me want to investigate further. So I Googled the company name and found a blog discussing the subject.

You can see the resulting discussion, comments, and opinions of LinkStar Media here [there used to be a link here].

Note added 3 September 2008:
No, you can't see the resulting discussion because a LinkStar manager requested it to be removed.

70s revisited - will it last longer this time?

Ford has been getting pretty good on economy recently but their response to the 2008 fuel crisis is a huge leap, with the debut of the 2009 Fiesta EcoNetic at this week’s London Motor Show, held at the Excel exhibition halls.

The small hatch has an optimized diesel engine that places it at the very top of the UK’s list of economical five-seaters. Rated at a combined efficiency of 76.3mpg (63.6 mpg U.S.gallons, 3.7L/100km).

The primary modifications that achieve the economy include aerodynamics, lower suspension, lower rolling resistance tyres, low friction oil, shift indicator light (remember the Ford Escort "change up" light?), modified engine calibration, and a higher transmission final drive ratio from 3.37:1 to 3.05:1.

The 89hp (66kW) 1.6L TCDi diesel produces just 98g/km CO2, and with a starting price of just £11,845, available in three-door or five-door variations, both rated at identical efficiency values, the Fiesta EcoNetic is looking like a serious threat to relatively complex hybrids.

Other EcoNetic models will follow...

Source: Motor Authority
Further reading: Green Car Congress

Cars to run on fresh air?

Cars are being developed to run on compressed air instead of petrol/gasoline.

In February 2007 Tata Motors signed an agreement with MDI (Moteur Developpment International). Early in June 2008 Tata announced that they were developing a car for 2008 production that will run on compressed air. It doesn’t sound like it could work, does it?

MDI has developed two types of piston engine powered by the expansion of compressed air: one runs on compressed air alone, the other uses liquid fuel to supplement the compressed air. Under 50kph (31mph) it uses air only. Over that speed the on-board compressor refills the compressed air tanks.

The existing MiniCat vehicle has a horizontally-opposed 800cc four cylinder engine.

The above details were extracted from various on-line sources, mainly Green Car contress.


To find out more, put >> tata air car << into Google and you will find many reports and articles on this interesting subject.

Century

Yesterday I added two new properties to my JustSuffolk.com website, bringing the total of individual properties to ONE HUNDRED.

Property number 100 was The Old Postmill, Thorndon, pictured on the left.

I have to thank Penny Moon for the initial suggestion and encouragement that led to me build the JustSuffolk website. It was Penny who thought that I could do “something different than the big accommodation sites.” The strategy that came from that idea was the “single county, targetted, accommodation website.” The first website to follow that plan was JustSuffolk.com, which benefits greatly from the popularity of WoodbridgeSuffolk.info. Both sites do well in Google searches.

JustSuffolk.com has subsequently been joined by other Just… websites, including the recently launched but not quite fnished JustEnglishCottages.com. As the name suggests, this is not a single-county site. Because it is a national website (like “the enemy”) with a much wider spread, I devised a different USP; brevity - I exclude marketing waffle. I have pruned the verbiage down so that busy accommodation hunters can find a suitable property much more easily.

For example, instead of describing a cottage as “ideally situated in the heart of [village] among the beautiful rolling hills, dales, and rivers of the world-famous Yorkshire Dales, ” I have described it simply as “in [village]” - the rest of the words frequently found in accommodation websites (including my own) are over-blown marketing waffle - yes, it might make it sound more attractive but I believe it can detract from actually finding the facts about a cottage, campt site, hotel or B&B. All such flowery rhetoric is similarly pared down.
More details...


During the research to add the ’seed’ properties, I was struck how often the terms “ideally situated” and “in the heart of” appeared in so many websites. So many that it did not add to the website experience at all - it just became tedious. We’ll see how well that goes down with the property-seeking audience.

Wotta Regatta!

Belated news - the Woodbridge Regatta has returned.

There wasn’t a Woodbridge regatta in 2007 and the one in 2006 was preceded by miserable weather but the day itself, in August 2006 was lovely and warm, brining out the crowds.

The 2008 Woodbridge Regatta was held on 8th June. And again, the organisers must have been wondering if they’d picked a wrong date as again, most of the week preceding the regatta was rainy and miserable. Even Saturday the 7th was pretty grim but “they” (the weather men) had forecast fine weather for Sunday. And they were right. It was a gloriously warm, even hot day, bringing was seemed to be the biggest crowds I’d ever seen on Tidemill Quay, Ferry Quay and along the river walk to the Yacht Club.

Several more photos on WoodbridgeSuffolk.info

The other kind of stag

There are plenty of deer in Suffolk and in June, there are stags of another kind.


While starting out on a walk, we came across this poor thing, covered in dust and with a damaged front left leg. It wasn’t the biggest stag beetle we’ve seen in this area but, sadly, the great majority have either apparently been squashed in the road by cars or on the pavement by humans. This one was a good 2″ (50mm) long, and was still alive.

If you see a stag beetle, please help the study into these creatures’ numbers, habitat, behaviour, etc. by submitting a report to this website.

Fox on the run

I have recently been trying to take a photograph of an adder, because two friends have had such good results.

One has taken several with a camera phone. Another has taken a striking photo with a proper camera. This morning’s early walk in the woods was another of my adder-hunting escapades. We didn’t see any adders but had a pretty good view (but not such a good photograph) of a Reeves’s Muntjac deer. Muntjacs are lone and very shy creatures but are quite common in the woods and forests of Suffolk.

However, the “safari” was not in vain. After only a couple of minutes walking, I spotted a fox lying in a sunny spot in the undergrowth. My lack of experience with my Nikon had me fumbling with focus, and exposure pre-set type, and taking the lens cap off (again!). He was looking right at us, because we were “in the sun” from his viewpoint, but I just managed to get a reasonable photograph before he stood up and walked away.

The result is not as sharp as it might look in this reduced image - this is a small crop out of a 3872×2092 pixel image - but I was quite pleased with it, as my first ever fox photo.

As green as green can be

My wife and I went for a relatively early walk this morning, to see if the bluebells that were so abundant and richly coloured a couple of weeks ago, were still there.

The bluebells were mostly “going over” but the early sun through the now thickening spring green beech trees bathed everything in a light that was as green as green can be. The photo has had nothing done to it except re-sizing.