GUFF
Nov. 17th, 2009 @ 12:23 am
I think most people who read my journal have at least heard of fan funds.
For those that haven't the idea stems from the 1950s, when air travel was beyond the means of most fans, especially where travelling to another continent was concerned. So fans banded together to elect a delegate to represent them at a far away convention. This has been formalised into a number of fan funds such as TAFF (trans-atlantic fan fund) and GUFF (going under/get up-and-over fan fund, depending on which way it's going).
I have decided to run in the current GUFF race, and hope to attend next year's Worldcon, Aussiecon 4 in Melbourne if I win. My rival, Douglas Spencer, is one of the nicest people in fandom, so if I don't win, I couldn't think of a person I'd be happier to lose to.
But I would also really like to win. I've hosted Damien and Juliette on the Irish leg of their 2005 GUFF trip, and Sue Ann and Trevor when they stopped off during their 2009 trip, and I would love to meet up with more Australian fans. I would be very keen to help out in any way I can with the Australian worldcon. I would also love to stop off in New Zealand, especially as they are having their Natcon the week before Worldcon.
I hope some of you will vote for me. You do have to be active in science fiction fandom, but I know lots of you are. You can find out about voting here.
Or if you don't vote for me, vote for Doug (or if you can't decide, you can vote "no preference"). But if you're eligable to vote, please do so.
Novacon day one
Nov. 14th, 2009 @ 10:01 am
Very early start to Friday because my sister, who was giving me a lift to the airport, had some crazy idea that I ought to be early for my flight.
Got to Nottingham without a hitch, and the bus was foolish enough to leave me outside Games Workshop and Forbidden Planet, where I spent a plesent half hour browsing. Ended up in HMV, emerging £116 of Dr Who DVDs later. For some reason they don't discount them anything like as much (if at all) in their Irish stores. My credit card successfully crashed one of their tills, leaving a message "enter something code" on the screen that wouldn't go away no matter what they did. I left them (after paying at another till) with the manager and two other staff huddled over it wondering what was wrong with it. I expect it's only a matter of time before someone devises a computer virus that can be transmitted through chip-and-pin cards.
Ended up at the con hotel around lunchtime, where Steve was definitely not panicking over last minute details. Helped with bagging programme books and moving stuff around, but there didn't seem to be an awful lot that needed doing.
Around tea-time I popped up to my friend Mike who lives a few minutes away and kindly offered me a bed for the night. We munched pizza while poring over his LEGO collection. He builds large and impressive cranes.
Shortly after, I arrive back for the opening ceremony, which was followed by Room 101 where the guest of honour tried to put her five least favourate things in the room and remove them from society. She failed with social networking sites, but managed to get rid of several other things, which I'm sure were annoying, but can't remember what they are because they no longer exist in this universe (outside the room).
Ended up back in the bar, although I did take a short break to visit the book launch. Later on Mike joined us and we had a couple of pints (he's not a SF fan). My intention was not to stay out too late as I'd had an early start, and I didn't stay out too late, though I think I was nodding off towards the end.
A good start to the convention. I'm looking forward to day two.
Google Wave
Nov. 10th, 2009 @ 11:55 pm
I've been playing with Wave for a couple of weeks now, and I think it's a pretty good idea, but it's going to be a while before it's ready for serious use.
First, while the software is pretty good, there are clearly some gaps around the edges, a few features that say "not implemented yet", and a few nice-to-haves. Obviously it's a preview version, so this is to be expected, and I'm sure it will keep getting better and better.
Second, browsers need to develop. Wave can get quite sluggish at times, especially on big Waves (we've got one with 142 messages plus maps, photos and collaborative drawings (using a plug-in called Canvas). It can be a bit of a drag to navigate. Google Chrome has a pretty fast JavaScript engine, which definitely helps - it's noticably faster than Firefox. However, Wave is a protocol as well as a webapp, so I expect it won't be long before we see desktop Wave apps, just like we have desktop email apps, and these will remove Wave from the browser, and make things a bit easier.
Third, Wave has a lot of potential for corporate use, potentially taking business from Microsoft Office Communicator. However, a lot of companies won't want their content on Google's servers. Fortunately, since Wave is a protocol, they'll be able to set up their own Wave server. I'm not sure when the server software to do this will be released.
Finally, as long as the number of users is restricted, it's going to be of limited use. I presume that this is just to facilitate the preview, and as it develops, it's going to be more generally accessible. For now, we seem to be left feeling, this would be great if only Dave was here...
So I think it has huge potential, but it's probably going to take a couple of years to reach it. For now, it's a lot of fun to play with, but playing is all that's really feasible.
Having said that, if you want to come join us and play with it, I have some spare invite codes. Reply here or drop me an email if you'd like one.
Lego Workshop
Oct. 11th, 2009 @ 09:59 am
I'm off to run a Lego workshop at Octocon. Hopefully somebody will actually turn up!
More about it, and about the con in general, later.
Ernie and Bert
Oct. 7th, 2009 @ 08:43 pm
Ernie and Bert
Originally uploaded by LostCarPark.
I built a Lego sculpture of my two favourite Sesame Street characters for STEAM last weekend, and I'm quite pleased how they worked out.
More about the weekend soon.
Other entries
» Bye Bye Pet Shop
Sep. 1st, 2009 @ 12:36 am
I spent the day helping my sister move out of the pet shop she's been running for the last couple of years. She had a quite successful first year there, but then a couple factors conspired against her in the last year. The first has been almost continual road works in the town where she was based, so lay a gas pipe line through the town. This has had a significant impact on her passing trade. The second was, unsurprisingly, the economic downturn. She's been negotiating with her landlord to reduce the rent, but he's only offered a 10% reduction, which was not enough to keep the shop viable.
However, it's not the end. While her sales through the brick-and-mortar shop have been steadily declining, sales through her website (which I set up for her) have been gradually rising. It's not yet at a level that would sustain the losses the shop was making, but it has certainly been a significant proportion of her business for the last while. So we hope we can continue to build up the online business despite not having a brick-and-mortar store.
So (and apologies for the blatant plug) come visit us at http://www.brendaspets.ie.
» Dreamwidth
Aug. 31st, 2009 @ 08:17 am
Can anyone tell me what Dreamwidth is actually for? Is it just a clone of LJ that isn't owned by Russians?
Anyway, if anyone's looking for a Dreamwidth invite code, I have several available.
» Seeing Chrome through the Windows...
Jul. 9th, 2009 @ 10:57 pm
Unless you're ignoring all IT related news (very wise) you'll have heard Google's announcement of their new Chrome OS (I'd post a link, but you might as well just Google for it). Initially aimed at Netbooks, Google hope to later take a slice of the Desktop OS pie later.
So what's in it for Google? After all they're not charging for Chrome OS (or for that matter, Chrome Browser)? Sure, they get money when we look at websites that almost certainly contain Google ads, but they get that anyway when we use a different OS and browser (except for those of us who have installed ad-blocking software).
However, when we look at the web through Google's browser and/or OS, we can potentially be giving Google so much more information about our browsing and general computing activities, and that information becomes incredibly powerful when it comes to delivering us tailored advertising. I'm sure Google won't collect or use that kind of information without asking our permission (with their famous "Please read this, it's not the usual yada-yada"), but I'm sure they'll be working on ever more ingenius carrots to tempt us to give them our consent. There are some wonderful things coming out of Google labs, so perhaps the juciest will be reserved for those complient users who tick the yes box (hmmm, perhaps our government could learn a thing or to about holding referenda from them).
If it takes off, is there a danger that we'll just replace Microsoft dominance with Google dominance?
But that's probably just me being paranoid. I'm actually looking forward to trying it out. It's Linux based, which is surely good. I expect Google will start giving higher priority to getting out Linux versions of it's applications for a start.
The future is good. The future is Chrome. The only price is your soul.
» Samual Beckett Bridge (again)
Jun. 24th, 2009 @ 09:30 am
Samual Beckett Bridge (again)
Originally uploaded by LostCarPark.
Someone left a gate open, providing an unobstructed view of the new bridge. I think it looks fantastic, especially on such a nice day.
» Pleasent discovery
Jun. 20th, 2009 @ 07:09 pm
Got back from the dentist (got the main root work done, so while not exactly fun, at least the worst is over), to find a dead cat lying on my drive. At first it was a bit of a mystery as to how it got there, but it was exactly where my car had been parked all week, so I suspect it was sick and crawled under the car to die, and I drove off earlier without noticing it. I don't really have anywhere suitable to bury it in my garden, so I wrapped it in a couple of black plastic sacks and put it in my bin. I decided to spare you photographic evidence (I don't think it would go down too well on LOLCats).
» Libertad
Jun. 18th, 2009 @ 01:58 pm
Libertad
Originally uploaded by LostCarPark.
Argentinian frigate Libertad, visiting Dublin this week.
» Samual Beckett Bridge
Jun. 18th, 2009 @ 01:54 pm
Samual Beckett Bridge
Originally uploaded by LostCarPark.
The new bridge over the Liffey in it's closed position for the first time. It will be a few months before anyone gets to cross it though.
» Liffey Ferry
Jun. 18th, 2009 @ 01:47 pm
Liffey Ferry
Originally uploaded by LostCarPark.
The Liffey Flyer Ferry that carries passengers between the two halves of the Docklands area on either side of the river.
» Spirit of Docklands
Jun. 18th, 2009 @ 01:40 pm
Spirit of Docklands
Originally uploaded by LostCarPark.
Cruise boat that runs tours along the Liffey in Dublin.
» Dreamwidth
Jun. 17th, 2009 @ 11:26 pm
If anyone wants a Dreamwidth invite code, I have two available. Leave a comment or email me.
Oh and while I'm at it, if anyone is on Dreamwidth already, leave your ID in a comment and I'll friend you.
» Anyone in Newcastle?
May. 24th, 2009 @ 03:53 pm
I've been taking part in a project for Lego called "My Way". The project entails building Lego models of famous UK landmarks, then taking them to a school for the schoolchildren to dismantle and to build something else out of the pieces. For my bit of it I built a 1m tall model of the Angel of the North. A few people have already seen the photos, but I can't show them publicly until Lego have got their publicity out of the project.
I'll be in Newcastle visiting a school on the 1st June (Monday week), but my flight home isn't till Tuesday morning. Anyone in Newcastle want to meet up for a beer or two on Monday eventing?
Second, I don't mind paying £43 for a Travelodge, but if anyone in the area has a sofa I could borrow, I feel it's money that could be better spent on beer. Don't you?
» Samuel Beckett Bridge Arrived
May. 13th, 2009 @ 05:26 pm
Samuel Beckett Bridge Arrived
Originally uploaded by LostCarPark.
There's a great big bridge parked just outside my office. Unfortunately we don't have any windows facing out that way, so I had pop outside to have a look. It's going to be moored there for a few weeks until it's ready to be popped on its pivot in the middle of the river.
» Dead Seal
May. 10th, 2009 @ 05:37 pm
Dead Seal
Originally uploaded by LostCarPark.
Came across this poor dead seal washed up on the beach. Probably got caught in a fishing net.
» Anyone in Sheffield?
Apr. 9th, 2009 @ 03:59 pm
Is anyone from Sheffield area going to Eastercon and not left yet? If so, could you text me on +353868595554 please? Pretty please? I'll buy you a pint!
» Anyone need a bed for Eastercon LX?
Feb. 23rd, 2009 @ 12:18 am
Okay, I probably should have sorted this about ten months ago, but you know me...
Is anyone looking for a room-share for Eastercon? I'm booked into a twin room at the Midland hotel, staying Friday to Monday.