Recently Viewed

If you have strong religious beliefs, then you don't want to watch this! I had a smile on my face as I watched this, and even had a few chuckles. I got a bit confused by some of positions the different characters had, such as "Scion" and a "Muse". As I am not very religious, they probably have some significance to more religious minded people.

The only thing I found spoilt the humour for me, was the amount of swearing used. Although, in a way, it was deliberately used as part of the humour of the film, it was not used effectively. There was almost a "Monty Pythonesque" feel to the film.

I am glad I picked this film up from the budget DVD collection at Tesco's. It was my daughter Anastasia who pointed it out to me and suggested I should buy it!

British Justice... What British Justice??

Whilst walking home form the bus stop in the next village with our dog Bonnie, I came across some damage to a building caused by some mindless vandals. This made me consider the state of the British Justice system.

There is seldom a day goes by when there is an article in the daily press highlighting the inconsistencies of British Justice. It all depends on how convincing the defence or prosecution Lawyers are in twisting the evidence in their favour.

I would love to see a change in the way some crimes are treated. For instance theft and vandalism. In most cases, the criminals are given a fine, or community service orders. Only the most prolific offenders are given a custodial sentence. Even then, they may be given a few years, possibly 3 or 4, but the sentence is invariably reduced, for a variety of reasons. In reality they will only serve less than half the original length allocated by the Judge.

I know this would never be accepted by Human Rights brigade, but why not have a simple system of Justice for thieves and vandals. Any thief or vandal must pay back the cost, of what they stole or damaged. The court costs should be included in the total amount to be repaid.

Now most of the criminals, would be unable to pay back that sort of money. So then they are sent to prison, and must work at some trade within the prison. Their labour is given a value that is consistent with the value payed to law abiding citizens who get paid with board and lodgings included in their pay. The criminals will then have to stay in prison until the debt is paid. It is entirely up to them how quickly they want to get out of prison. The harder they work, the quicker they get out of prison. More importantly, the criminals will know exactly how long they will be incarcerated for. It will be entirely up to them how long they stay in prison for, and not a decision for some parole board that the British Tax payer has to pay their salaries, so that they can make the decision to let the criminal out prison early, to allow the criminal to continue his/her life of crime.

This system would have many advantages. It would discourage repeat offending, as most criminals steal because they don't want to work and buy the items they covet. Vandals have no idea of the cost of the damage they cause. I think they would certainly think twice about causing more damage knowing the consequences of their actions.

The only problem I can see with this idea, is that there is simply not enough prison space, to implement this kind if Justice. Also, probably the Prison service is not geared up to provide this form of punishment. I am also sure the thieves and vandals would not want this sort of Justice!

Utility Man goes International... Well, sort of?!

My colleague WarrenJoffre had added a link to another blog called "Along the Central Line". Out of curiosity, I took a look at the sight, and I was immediately struck with the language translator gadget available. Between WarrenJoffre and myself, we tried to install our own translators to our sites, with out any success.

Every time I installed a translator, either it would not show the little flag icons, or it simply wouldn't translate at all! At first I thought it might be because of the computer at work, which has severe Internet restrictions, but I had the same problem when I got home.

I then spent a couple of hours searching the Internet for the html code that would actually do what I wanted it to do. Eventually I found the code, and now I have the translation facility placed on my Blog! The original code only had 9 languages available. I needed it to have one extra language - Russian, so that my wife's family could read it if they wanted to.

Another hour of Internet searching, and I finally found the code for the Russian translator. Now if anyone knows how to find the code for any other languages, then I would be glad to hear from you. For some reason, when I try and add the code on this page, it changes when it is posted. So I don't know yet how to get the HTML code to stay as it is when posted and not get partially executed, as it seems to be at present.

It's Fathers Day!

This morning before I went to work, I received this fridge magnet from my step-daughter! I am absolutely thrilled to bits that I have received such a gift. This is the first time anything like this has ever happened!

On a more interesting note. Is Father's Day always set to happen 9 months before Mother's Day?

Currently Reading

This is a very short book, so it will probably only take me a day or two to read it.

Synopsis: Few of us can resist the lure and fascination of a genuine mystery - the unsolved crime, the inexplicable disappearance, strange gifts and powers, the enigmas of past and present.

Who or what killed nurse Helen Smith? Who was the real Jack the Ripper? Can people have out-of-the-body experiences? What is really behind hypnosis, miracle healing, acupuncture? How did the Dogon learn the secrets of Sirius?...

This intriguing book examines some of the most celebrated and puzzling mysteries that have baffled the scientists, medical experts, historians and criminologists of the world.

Update: I have just discovered in one of the chapters about Amnesia, is an article about my father!!! It is about his battle with Alzheimer's disease, and how he volunteered to be a human Guinea Pig for the new drugs being tested. I am not sure if it was such a good idea though. The drugs couldn't reverse the the disease, only slow it down. So instead of taking the average 7 years to die from the disease, it actually took him nearly 20 years to die!!! Not a very pleasant experience for the rest of the family to go through though.

Modern Electronics Guru Required!!!

I have just spent the last 5 days trying to sort out a couple of problems at home. More specifically, my computer and my TV.

Let's start with the computer. Recently, I noticed that every time I used Windows Explorer it would take up to 30 seconds to execute a command, such as move, rename, copy, paste or delete. Basically anything that required a right-click of the mouse.

I had checked on various forums, and the general consensus of this problem was caused by the DNS or DHCP settings on the internet connection. After trying to discover exactly whereabouts on the computer these settings were stored and finding how difficult it would be to change, I decided to leave well alone and just live with this problem.

My brother sent me an e-mail last week and when I replied to him, my e-mail was bounced back with the cryptic message that an IP address had been blacklisted because the computer was being used remotely to send spam e-mails! I phoned my brother and told him of the message as I thought the IP address belonged to his computer. He checked his computer and found the IP address wasn't his, it was mine!

After spending a day running every anti-virus, spy ware, and firewall program I had, without finding the Trojan implanted on my computer, I decided there was only one option left. Format the Hard Drive!

It took me 2 days to get the Operating system and essential programs and settings set up once again. I am pleased to say that the computer is now working properly again, and I did not lose any of my data files in the process either, as I have done on previous occasions!

While the problem with the computer was unfolding, I discovered I also now have a problem with my TV. Every time I try to watch anything through the Co-Axial cable (RF cable) the sound and picture keeps appearing and disappearing every few seconds. At first I thought it might be a fault with the TV. Then I discovered that I had no problems if all the equipment was connected using scart leads.

As I do not have enough scart connections on my TV for all the equipment I have (digital tuner, satellite receiver, VCR, and DVD player), I visited my local electronics store to see what I could do about it. While at the shop, I learned that the probable cause of the fluctuation is that "the RF signal is looping back on itself".

The state of play now is that I have managed to connect everything back together but I now have to leave the VCR on permanently if I am to get anything to show on the TV! It is by no means a perfect solution, and I know I will not be happy until I have got everything working the way it was before!

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Teenagers! Who needs them?

Although I recently got married, and I now have a teenage stepdaughter, I have also had another teenager living here for just over a year. I have discovered the dubious distinction of what it is like to have someone who thinks they can do as little as possible within the house, and treat us as if we were a free hotel!

Basically, I was railroaded into providing accommodation for the grandson of my ex partner. Last year he was in the middle of his GCSE exams when his mother decided to move out of our village and relocate to Chesterfield (about 100 miles away, or 2 hours driving). As it was too far to commute to and from his school, I was asked if I could allow him to stay at my house for 2 months while he completed his exams. I discussed this with my wife and daughter, and we all agreed to let him stay until he finished his exams.

Once we had made this agreement, one month later we were dropped another bombshell. The boy had just been accepted into the Motor sport College at Silverstone Race Circuit, to train as a Race Mechanic. This College course was for one year! As we live only 10 miles away from Silverstone, the boys mother basically told us that if he could stay with us he could go to college. If we refused, then he would lose the opportunity for a career in motor sport.

Now, for the month that he had been with us, he had been very helpful, cooking the odd meal, cleaning the house, cutting the lawn. He was also very polite to all of us. After discussing the situation with my wife and daughter, we all agreed to let him stay for one year to give him a chance at a lucrative career.

When we asked his mother to provide some payment towards the cost of supporting her son, she told us that she would transfer the child benefit over to us, and that her son would have to provide the difference himself!!! So far, in the 60 weeks he has been with us, he has only paid us the difference for one week!!! We deliberately set the amount that he should pay very low, so that he could easily pay the amount if he wanted to. Now he seems to think he can help himself to anything in the house, without asking first!

Within a few weeks of him starting College, his character started to change. He became very moody, and stopped being helpful around the house. My wife and daughter used to prepare sandwiches for him to take to his part time work, or College. At first he used to say "thank you" to them. Then he wouldn't say anything. The final straw came when the girls had prepared some sandwiches for him, he took them with him, but returned home without eating them and promptly threw them into the bin! Since that day, the girls no longer make any sandwiches for him anymore!

Another thing that has me extremely puzzled, is how items within the house strangely disappear. I have no proof of any individual person taking them, and when I have asked all members of the household, no one admits to being responsible. The most expensive item to disappear has been the webcam from my computer room. I still harbour a faint hope that perhaps it will miraculously reappear one day.

As the year progressed, he started missing lessons at college, because he stayed out well into the night with his friends. Many weekends, he was too lazy to go to his part time work, and consequently, when his employer was looking to reduce the number of staff, he was dismissed because of his poor timekeeping. Even now, with his present part time work, he thinks nothing of turning up for work at 10 O'clock when he should be there at 9!

The only light at the end of the tunnel for us is that the boy has been offered a trial as a race mechanic in Brighton. He tells us that the trial is for 2 weeks, and is supposed to be happening immanently. He has been telling us this for the past month now!! If he does go for this trial period, I hope that it proves successful, then he will have to find somewhere of his own to live.

One thing is absolutely certain though. His college course finishes in July. He will then have two choices to make. Either he moves to Brighton and commences his career as a Race Mechanic, or he goes home to his mother. He will NOT be staying with us any longer!