As has become a tradition on my blog I would today like to take the time out to celebrate what would have been Keavy's birthday. Keavy, at eight, was the eldest of the Greshlets to lose their lives that terrible day last September and the one I remember most fondly; but only because she always chatted so freely whilst I was with her. Quite delightfully she would plonk herself down next to me or sometimes on my lap and, with no shyness or pretensions, chat happily about a myriad of subjects... Read Full Story

As an early teenager with more than a passing interest in computers, there is one film that I was so influenced by that it has shaped me to the present day. WarGames, released in 1983, starred a young Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy. High school student David Lightman (Broderick) is a computer geek who likes to play computer games and impress a girl (Sheedy). So using the technology of the day he starts wardialling (a phrase that was actually coined as a result of this film) to find the... Read Full Story

Before I start this post proper, can I just say that I haven't forgotten about Billing, I just need to put it to one side for now. It must be me. I must be stupid. It certainly makes no sense to my tiny little brain. My good friend Nigel 'Gresh' Gresham lost four of his beautiful children in an accident last September. Note the word accident. Since then he has been through hell. Yet the CPS yesterday saw fit to advise the police to prosecute him for four counts of death by dangerous driving... Read Full Story

Well, by the time you're reading this I will have hopefully arrived at the LRM Show at Billing safely. More on that later, but as I will be in the middle of a field for the next week, my Internet access may well be limited. So rather than e-clecticism going through a post drought, I am going to test drive the mobile option of posting directly from my phone. I've not tried this properly before, but some initial tests have worked OK. Fingers crossed I'll be able to bring you updates directly... Read Full Story

The Google Earth Blog has announced that a large update has been made to the Google Earth imagery database. So far updates have been confirmed for Portugal Czech Republic Slovakia Hungary Australia New Mexico Mexico Italy Venezuela There has also been a large update to the images of Spain. I personally have noticed that Worcester has had an update that was taken in July 2007, so much more up to date than the previous images of 2004. Sadly the resolution is no better, but it might be worth... Read Full Story

This makes me cry every time I watch it, part sadness, part joy. I'm so glad it was originally posted. It gives the rest of the world a chance to see what wonderful children they were. This is The Greshlets dancing to Call On Me by Eryc Pridz. Stay strong my friend. Is túisce a éagann an óige mar aon leis an mhaith! Read Full Story

This is a strange piece of video but is fascinating at the same time in my opinion. I'm sure you are all familiar with the non-Newtonian properties of corn starch mixed with water. If not perhaps you'd better read this before continuing....Finished? Good. So somebody had the inspired idea to pour some on to a metal tray and hold it over a sub-woofer that was thumping out a meaty base line. The liquid behaves almost like it is alive. It's actually quite strange. Enjoy! Read Full Story

So I find myself in Dublin again. A different hotel offers much more of an opportunity to take some pictures than the last time I was here, and so after dinner this evening I went for a stroll. The light wasn’t great but I managed to get a couple of shots worth posting. I’m staying in an area of the city called Smithfield. This is an old area on the north side that used to house a massive set of farmer’s markets, but has now been rejuvenated into an area of trendy apartments and bars. The... Read Full Story

There are many websites that are designed purely for wasting time on. Sadly only a handful are worth going back to on a regular basis. The video variety such as YouTube or MetaCafe are always fun, but my preference is for the picture based sites. Ones that invite contributions from their users, usually on a particular theme. Once such site that I have mentioned before is Worth1000. They run regular Photoshop competitions whereby a task is set, and users vote for the best entries. But another... Read Full Story

I really must stop watching or reading the news, it just raises my blood pressure. I really think that we have reached the "lunatics have taken over the asylum" point that Fun Boy Three sang about in the 80's. I could of course be referring to many different aspects of modern society but let us focus for a moment on terrorism, or rather our pathetic reaction to it. Of course terrorism in any form is an appalling thing and we should resist those that attempt to manipulate by way of violence... Read Full Story