Tom Fotherby
Xbox software update – Stream video from Linux (Dec/2007)
Microsoft released a software update that expands the number of video formats that the XBox will play. This is quite exciting for me because I usually have to watch anything I download on my unimpressive 15″ computer monitor but now I can stick it on a USB key and watch it on my TV from […]
My first Weightwatchers meeting (10/Nov/07)
There’s no reason whatsoever why I shouldn’t be able to lose weight by eating less, but I can’t, so I have had to resort to extreme measures. I’m going to go to Saturday morning weigh-ins. In my first meeting I was the only bloke so it’s more than a little daunting. Especially as how we […]
Frustrated with Cook book Preparation times
I like food recipes to estimate how long it takes to prepare and cook a meal but so far I found that I can never do it as quick as it says. I’m sure they exaggerate their cooking times? Guess I’m just slow!
Xbox 360 – Oct/2007 (Christmas present from Kix)
Our original Xbox (4 ½ years old now) has become too flaky, games crash and DVDs skip. We needed a DVD player and it’d be a shame to lose all our games so buying a new XBox makes sense. Halo 3 took any doubt out of the decision. I do feel suckered into the slick […]
Halo 3
XBox360, FPS,9/10 – September 2007 I waited for Edge Magazine to review Halo 3 and was surprised they gave it a 10/10 which only 5 other games have got since it was first published in 1993. An Edge 10/10 basically dictated I had to play it. so, we bought an XBox 360 (i.e. Basically Halo […]
Perl Pie
“How do I change “pelican” to “pecan” in all the files in a directory?”. “Dude, use Perl Pie”! I’m pretty familiar with Perl, having used it on and off whenever there’s a string manipulation related job to be done. I like Perl despite all it’s faults. I like writing Perl (not so keen on reading […]
Replacing our roof (Sep/07)
We’re having our roof tiles replaced. It was something that we were told we needed to have done in the survey when we were buying the house. Our neighbour was doing his roof and we thought we’d do it at the same time so as to get a seamless join between the two houses. Our […]
Starting the new bathroom (Sep/07)
After a summer break we’ve turned our attention back to the house. Our current project is the bathroom. So far, we have put in a fan, a bathroom regulations light, a frosted window and we have had the room plastered. Now we need to tile the floor, buy the bathroom suite and do the plumbing.
The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
Fiction, 7/10 – July/Aug/Sep 2007 This novel is about the relationship of two children growing up in Afghanistan just before the Russian invasion and the rise of the Taliban. The distressing event that occurs on the day of a bitter sweet victory in a local Kite fighting tournament haunts both of them and marks the […]
My Family Tree (Aug/07)
I’ve been using geni to compose my family tree. I haven’t done any of my own research so far – my first aim is to simply combined the records from my Dad’s side, my Mum’s side, and my wife’s family. I’ve already entered 185 names but only scratched the surface of the archive material that […]
Finding the Median in Linear time
Here are three C++ programs to find the median of a set of numbers. The first is short and simple. The last is fiddly and fast. Simple but not linear (n*log n time): Sort using STL sort (presumably quicksort), then find the middle value: #include #include int main() { int A[7] = {23, 1, 33, […]
Programming interviews Exposed (Aug 2007)
Programming, 9/10 – Aug 2007 This book should really be kept a secret because if everyone read it before a programming interview, all the good jobs would be taken. It’s an excellent refresher to put you back to fresh-out-of-uni programming knowledge level. It covers Programming Problems, Logic Puzzles and Knowledge based problems with a very […]
Programming Pearls (Jon Bentley)
Programming, 8/10 – Aug 2007 The chapters on algorithms and efficiency (performance, code tuning and space tuning) make this book brilliant. The explanation and benchmarking of the different sorting and searching technique’s (especially quicksort) are almost fundamental reading for anyone that has a programming interview with a top company. Beware, in amongst the pearls there […]
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (J. K. Rowling)
Fantasy, 8/10 – July 2007 I was dreading the possibility of a dark close to this series but I was delighted with the happy fairy tale ending (Harry Potter is a children’s book after all). I’m going to miss Harry, but I’ve decided if I ever have children, I’ll definitely read it to them. Harry […]
The Flood never happened
Thank goodness the flood never reached us. The only thing that happened was that we had a few inches of water in our cellar and the park got closed off due to a potentially toxic oil leak. So we moved all our things back downstairs and decided that when we buy our next house we […]
