Geoff Coupe's Blog

Reflections on life at “De Witte Wand”…

  • Network Crash

    Martin complained that his mobile phone wasn’t working today. It’s an old Nokia, which has proved flaky in the past, so I thought that we’d probably need to get it replaced. Still, I thought I’d take a look at it and see if it just needed cleaning. First thing I noticed was that it was not showing as being connected to a network. Funny, thought I, so I took a look at the settings. Try as I might, I couldn’t get it connected to the Dutch Vodafone network, while my mobile, which also uses Vodafone was OK.
     
    I thought that it might be a problem with the phone, so I swapped Martin’s SIM card into my phone. Still no network. Very odd, thought I. I then tried to look at the Dutch Vodafone web site – and that was also out of action. A news item on the Tweakers site revealed the cause – there’s a countrywide problem with Vodafone’s mobile network, and doubtless the web site has crashed through the actions of thousands of irate Dutch Vodafone subscribers trying to find out why their mobiles have stopped working. Having replaced Martin’s SIM card in his own phone, and restarted mine, I see that now my phone is also not working.
     
    The problem started at 13:15 today, and as of now, 16:45, it’s still not resolved. Vodafone personnel must be feeling very uncomfortable at the moment – as an old acquaintance would put it: they’re running around in brown trousers…
     
    Update: it’s now over 21 hours since the problem started, and the Vodafone network still isn’t back in the air. I suspect thousands of the 4.7 million Dutch subscribers are beginning to think about changing their mobile service provider…
     

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  • The Indian Clerk

    I’ve just finished reading David Leavitt’s The Indian Clerk (or The IND1AN CLƐRK as the book’s cover would have it). I found it very good indeed. It’s a novel based on real people and real events that happened mainly in Cambridge, England, between 1913 and 1920. The two central characters are G. H. Hardy and Srinivasa Ramanujan. Hardy was a prominent British mathematician, and was instrumental in bringing Ramanujan, a mathematical genius, from India to Cambridge.

    The novel imagines Hardy’s innermost feelings as it tells the story of the relationship between the two mathematicians, both personal and professional. There are many other real people and real events contained in the book, and Leavitt has done a wonderful job in bringing them and the society to life. In particular, the evocation of life at Cambridge, and the Cambridge Apostles is very well done. I did notice one small mistake, though. On page 374, he mentions the “scent of Dettol permeating the air” in a nursing hostel where Ramanujan has been taken. Unfortunately for Leavitt, Dettol wasn’t invented until after 1929 and marketed in 1933.

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  • Dark Skies

    I’m feeling a tad jealous of my brother at the moment. He lives in Southwest Scotland, not far from the Galloway Forest Park. And that park has just been designated as the first Dark Sky Park in the UK by the International Dark Sky Association. That means that the park is officially recognised as one of the best places in the UK for stargazing.

    Although I live in the Dutch countryside, the Netherlands as a whole is badly affected by light pollution, and even here in our neighbourhood it can be difficult to see the Milky Way on a dark night. As a result of some recent research, it appears that the best place for stargazing is Schiermonnikoog in the province of Friesland. I see from the report that one of the sites where observations were made is the Zwarte Veen in the province of Gelderland. That’s just 15 minutes walk from here. Alas, the Zwarte Veen was way down the league table of the darkest spots in the Netherlands at number 22 out of 41 sites measured.

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  • Test Your Awareness

    How observant are you? How many changes can you spot in this vignette?
     
     
     
    (hat tip: Richard Wiseman)

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  • Never A Dull Moment

    As I wrote here, we’ve got a new addition to the household: Watson, a Labrador puppy. He arrived in the house on the last day of September.

    Originally, I wanted to call the puppy Pi, since our other dog is called Kai. Martin wasn’t convinced that the names were different enough for canine ears. We tested it out with Kai, and he seemed to be able to distinguish between the two, but Martin still wasn’t having it.

    So then I came up with Watson. The origin is that the mentally handicapped son of a friend of ours cannot pronounce my name. So he calls me "What". That, I have to say is because of my habit of saying “What?”, when something strikes me as bizarre. From there, it was just a small step to arrive at Watson (or, "son of Wat" in etymological terms). Martin has come to accept it, although he took some persuading. A further twist on the name is the reference to Alexander Graham Bell, and the very first words to his assistant over the first telephone were "Mr. Watson — Come here —I want to see you". I suspected I was going to be saying something very similar, very often, to Watson…

    The first couple of weeks with Watson were spent trying to stop a multitude of disasters from happening. Pissing and pooping in the house when our backs were turned, chewing through anything in sight, including live cables, pulling tablecloths on fully-laden tables with china and cutlery, the list went on and was added to as he increased in inventiveness. Nights were being woken up every couple of hours by Watson’s whining to be let out to piss or poop. Needless to say, I was the one who had to leave a nice warm bed to go outside in my dressing gown in the rain waiting for a very small bundle of joy to perform its business. It was at times like this when I noticed the resemblance of a puppy to a rat.

    Kai wasn’t too sure what to make of Watson at first. He spent a few days practising his hurt look, which he turned on us at any opportunity (particularly after his tail had just been chewed by Watson) as if to say: “What the fuck have you done? What did I do to deserve this?” Eventually he came round and started to let Watson play with him. Kai is very gentle with Watson, and takes care not to hurt him,  but I think that’s backfired on him. Watson is determined to be top dog, and plays very hard with poor Kai, who just wants to have a quiet life. Kai puts up with all the nips and barking very stoically. I would have bitten Watson’s head off by now. Our shoes and slippers (and my hands) are being chewed to pieces, and I noticed yesterday that he’s started to chew on the wooden surround of one of my loudspeakers. That is the last straw. We’ve smeared sambal on it in an attempt to stop that.

    My great nephew, on seeing photos of Watson emailed to say that he thought that Watson looked “really cute, but a bit crazy”. Today, I was replying to his email. I’d just got as far as writing:

    "…a bit crazy"? That’s an understatement – Watson is as mad as a box of frogs!

    At that point, I went to see what the dogs were doing. Watson was running pell-mell around the yard, ignoring Martin’s calls to come to him, and Kai ran out of the house to see what Watson was doing. Watson sees Kai, and rushes towards him; Kai’s momentum keeps him moving towards Watson, and they collide – heavily. Watson ends up on the ground, screaming. Kai immediately backs off, tail between his legs. Watson doesn’t seem to be able to move his right hind leg and carries on screaming.

    I pick him up very carefully and take him indoors while Martin rings the vet. Watson quietens down eventually, but still doesn’t want to use his leg. Off we all go to the vets, where he gets x-rayed. Yep, he’s broken his leg. The vet says that he’s going to operate on him immediately and pin his leg back together. Martin has an attack of the vapours and all but passes out at the news.

    So, as I write this, the vet is probably cutting open Watson’s leg and is preparing to drill holes for the pins. I’m expecting to be called at about 7pm tonight and will go and pick up Watson. No doubt the vet will give me copious instructions on all the extra care and attention Watson is going to need over the next weeks.

    As I say, never a dull moment…

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    2 responses to “Never A Dull Moment”

    1. RIP Kai | Geoff Coupe's Blog

      […] Watson arrived in September 2009, and Kai learned to tolerate a boisterous newcomer. […]

      Reply
    2. A New Arrival | Geoff Coupe's Blog

      […] decided against getting another puppy – Watson was enough of a handful to think about to avoid going through all that again – so we kept an eye on the central website […]

      Reply

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  • Unbuttoning Bennett

    A nicely-judged article in today’s Observer about Alan Bennett, whose new play The Habit of Art is currently on at the National Theatre. It’s a play that I’d like to see in person. Perhaps I’ll manage to catch it via the wonders of NT Live.

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  • Dutch Picture Books

    There’s now an online collection of children’s picture books in Dutch, ranging from the years between 1810 to 1950. There are 650 books in the collection, which has been set up by the Koninklijke Bibliotheek , the Openbare Bibliotheek Amsterdam , Bibliotheek Rotterdam , and the Stadsarchief en Athenaeumbibliotheek Deventer.  A fascinating slice of social history.
     
    (hat tip to peacay over at BibliOdyssey)

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  • Banner Advertising

    A new twist on fly-posting at the Frankfurt Book Fair – release 200 flies each with a small banner attached with your advertising message.
     
    I sincerely hope this doesn’t catch on.
     
     
     
    (hat tip: David Thompson)

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  • One Million Years

    Geoff Manaugh has a terrific interview over at BLDBLOG with Abraham van Luik, talking about how to keep hazardous nuclear waste safe for one million years.

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  • The Power of a Hug

    Alistair reports on his experience with Amma. I know I’m an old cynic, but there is something to be said for the power of a hug. It’s a basic human contact.

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  • The Automated Curse Generator

    A lovely little tale from the Daily WTF about when good ideas go horribly wrong.

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  • Windows 7: Some Thoughts

    As I mentioned last week, I’ve now got my new Windows 7 software, and am in the process of installing it on our computers. I’ve been running the beta version for a while, so I know what to expect; nevertheless, I’m pleased with it, at least for the most part. There are still some less than shiny bits on the final result, but on the whole it’s pretty good. The two areas that grate on me the most are these:

    1. Windows Media Player. Windows 7 comes with a new version of Windows Media Player (WMP12). With this, Microsoft has given with the left hand and taken away with the right. What’s new is that WMP12 has a “Play To” feature, which allows it to act as a digital media controller (see my Fun With Technology – Part IV post for more geeky information on this). This is a nice feature, and it’s far easier to use WMP12 running on my Tablet PC to stream music from my Windows Home Server to my Denon Hi-Fi system than it is to use the Denon’s limited interface to hunt through my music collection. Alas, while Microsoft has given us “Play To”, they’ve taken away the editor that the previous WMP version had for editing metadata. While that editor was far from perfect, what now remains is so limited and clumsy that it’s a disaster. I’ve resorted to using Media Monkey purely for its metadata editor, oh, and for Podcast support, which WMP still doesn’t have a clue about. Peter Bright’s extensive review of Windows 7 in Ars Technica deals with WMP12 in some detail, and points out just how poorly Microsoft has done with this latest, and not-the-greatest, incarnation of Windows Media Player.
    2. Remote Access. I’ve ranted on before about how Microsoft’s marketing of Windows Home Server is misleading; in particular that you can use it to access “any home computer” remotely via the internet. The fine print actually points out that if you are running Windows 7 Home Premium on your home computers, then you can’t do this. What really irks me is that I recently discovered that Microsoft’s Live Mesh (a free download) will give you this capability. As Peter Bright points out:

    “Home Premium users don’t get the ability to remotely view their PC’s desktop. Unless, that is, they install the (free) Live Mesh beta, which provides remote desktop support for all. One might suggest that perhaps the left hand is not so familiar with what the right hand is doing; if remote desktop support is a feature that we can have for a free download, on any supported version of Windows, why not let us use the (technically superior) built-in facility?”

    Yet another example of the phenomenon that I’ve remarked on before: Microsoft’s teams do not leverage each others’ work to the extent that they could. “Not Invented Here” could be the unofficial motto of many of them.

    If you’re a geek, it’s well worth reading Peter Bright’s review of Windows 7. I found myself nodding in fierce agreement with a lot of it. I note that some people have found his review too nit-picky, for example where he points out that the Windows 7 developers are not even following their own guidelines for Windows 7 look and feel. However, I side with Bright – it’s attention to detail where Microsoft often seems to fall down. And I had the same reaction as him when I saw the default wallpaper that now ships with the released version of Windows 7 – it is simply god-awful. Practically the first thing I did was to switch to another desktop theme…

    Even though Peter Bright’s review is fifteen pages of often dense detail, he has not managed to cover everything that is in Windows 7. For example, he makes no mention of the Homegroup feature, or of the many under-the-cover improvements that have been made over Windows Vista. Still, and despite the fact that he spends much of his review bemoaning the shortcomings, I agree with his conclusion:

    “But at the end of the day, that doesn’t really matter. Windows 7 is, overall, a fantastic OS. It builds on a solid platform, and just makes it even better.”

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  • By George, It Might Just Work!

    I’m feeling very low in spirit at the moment. This is because the media, both in the UK and the Netherlands, are buzzing with the news that Tony Blair may well become the President of the EU. Well, here in the Netherlands, there’s also the fact that some are pushing for Jan Peter Balkenende, but even here, there is strong support for Blair. As I’ve said before, the thought of Blair being President of the EU makes me hang my head in shame. The reasons why are very well summarised in the opening paragraph of an article by George Monbiot in today’s Guardian:

    Tony Blair’s bid to become president of the European Union has united the left in revulsion. His enemies argue that he divided Europe by launching an illegal war; he kept the UK out of the eurozone and the Schengen agreement; he is contemptuous of democracy (surely a qualification?); greases up to wealth and power and lets the poor go to hell; he is ruthless, mendacious, slippery and shameless.

    But then George made me do a double-take; he ends the paragraph with:

    But never mind all that. I’m backing Blair.

    Eh? Monbiot then goes on to explain that with Blair as EU President, it may in fact be our best chance of finally getting him brought to justice. It’s a crazy plan, but if it works, it will be brilliant. If it doesn’t, then we’re stuck with bloody Blair.

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  • I Doff My Hat

    An interesting story in today’s Observer about gay men who have adopted children. It’s great to see the many forms that a loving family can take. Here’s the article and here’s the video that lets some of the fathers speak for themselves. I have to say that I doff my hat to them. I think it’s wonderful that they willingly take on the enormous responsibility of raising a child. It’s not something that I think I could do.

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  • Disingenuousness Defined

    It seems to me that the "apology" from Jan Moir merely underlines the fact that she is probably not someone that I would point to as a good example of a moral human being.

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  • 32 or 64 Bits?

    Now that Windows 7 has been released, I shall shortly be in the position to replace the beta versions of Windows 7 on our home systems with the real thing. One of the fundamental questions that I need to address is: do I go with the 32 or 64 bit version of Windows 7?

    In an ideal world, of course, I would be leaping on to the magic carpet of technology that is ready and waiting to whisk me away to the land of 64-bit computing. And if you don’t understand the difference between 32 and 64 bit computing, here’s Microsoft’s take on the question.

    Needless to say, it’s an utterly Panglossian take on the topic:

    There’s no need to worry: Simply put, a computer running a 64-bit version of Windows 7 needs 64-bit drivers for all your hardware and devices.

    Ah, but , yes, what’s that “needs” word?

    What that says to me is that if all you have is a 32-bit driver for your hardware, then you’re fucked.

    And so it is, my droogs. I have a Steinberg Midex 8 ; it is my MIDI interface with my synthesiser modules. And is there a 64-bit driver? Why, no, of course not. Steinberg don’t even allow the possibility of an open source driver to be developed for their obsolete hardware, So, no sensawunda 64-bit glory-filled computing dreamland for me… Welcome to yesteryear – it’s where I clearly belong. Sigh. And, thank you Steinberg, for showing me what customer support does not mean. Bastards.

    Update: Mind you, Microsoft’s Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor program doesn’t help matters either. According to it, the Steinberg Midex 8 is compatible with the 64bit version of Windows 7. Er, no, it isn’t, you stupid program.

    Steinberg Midex 8

    One response to “32 or 64 Bits?”

    1. Windows 7: Some Thoughts | Geoff Coupe's Blog

      […] As I mentioned last week, I’ve now got my new Windows 7 software, and am in the process of installing it on our computers. I’ve been running the beta version for a while, so I know what to expect; nevertheless, I’m pleased with it, at least for the most part. There are still some less than shiny bits on the final result, but on the whole it’s pretty good. The two areas that grate on me the most are these: […]

      Reply

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  • Machinarium

    About four years ago, I mentioned a quirky little game called Samorost. The creative forces behind that have been hard at work and have now come up with Machinarium. It’s been getting rave reviews. I’m downloading it as we speak.

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  • An Answer To Jan Moir

    I’ve just realised that, of course, Lily Allen, with the help of assorted French people, has the perfect answer to Jan Moir’s homophobic scribbles:
     
     
     
    Take it away, Lily and GayClic!

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  • Who Is Jan Moir?

    I lead a sheltered life. I had not come across this Jan Moir person until today. Apparently, she is what passes for a journalist on the Daily Mail. Here’s what she wrote today about the death of Stephen Gately. Her writing seems rather like the sort of thing one sees when one turns over a stone to expose the insect life scurrying through what was, moments before, fetid darkness. I think Charlie Brooker sums up her piece rather well:
    It’s like gazing through a horrid little window into an awesome universe of pure blockheaded spite. Spiralling galaxies of ignorance roll majestically against a backdrop of what looks like dark prejudice, dotted hither and thither with winking stars of snide innuendo.
    But then again, isn’t that the Daily Mail all over?

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  • Meteor Over The Netherlands

    I happened to be outside yesterday at around 7 pm and caught a sight of a very bright meteor passing across the sky in a Northerly direction. Apparently, it was visible from over all of the Netherlands, because many people reported it to the Dutch weather service.
     
    Needless to say, I didn’t have my camera handy, and my mobile is an old-fashioned one that, shock, horror, only makes and receives telephone calls. So I don’t have a photograph of it. I’ve also only been able to find just one on the web, thus far. A pity, because it certainly was very spectacular.

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