Apologies for the 50-in-1 update, but I've got loads of equally important (or, if you're a normal human being, equally boring) things to ramble on about...

 

Gamel - Pugwash mag editor and graphic designer extraordinaire - has finished the image which will adorn the back of the Pugwash hoodies this year:

I particularly love the dig at my Mac "obsession" - the monkey is typing away on a Banana laptop. In my defence, and as far as I'm concerned, I spend a lot of time on my laptop because I'm doing work - everyone else, however, has christened my laptop "Alex's girlfriend" (much to my better half's amusement) because of the amount of time I spend on it... Cheers... Gits the lot of you! ;o)

 

It's been a bit cold lately, and I grabbed a shot of the sunset over Biggin Hill while I was home visiting the 'rents. Apologies for the quality of the shot - I blame the camera - but the sky was like cut glass and I could see clearly right across London (about 40 miles) from the back window of the house...

 

Talking of photos, on my way back to Portsmouth, my carriage stopped next to this frankly ridiculous waste of a sign yesterday:

 

On the subject of bitching, I don't think I'll ever understand why some people feel the need to rip other people's work apart in a public forum just because they don't understand its purpose; it's like me accusing Aston Martin of selling overpriced rubbish just because their cars cost more than a Ford Fiesta... Meh... Sorry for the oblique rant, but it's frustrating when you pretty much live and breathe your media presence and sometimes the only feedback you receive is complaints!! Still, it could be worse... ;o)

 

In webgeekery, I've been tweaking our "news wizard" - a (very) basic wizard-style web tool we use to create news articles:

Where we used to be quite limited in terms of what we could do with the images in news articles - you got a 200x150 pixel image in your news article, with or without a caption, and that was it - you had to know a bit of HTML if you wanted to tweak it - now our online news editors have the ability to create news articles which have a widescreen image right across the article:

The main application for this will, I hope, be when we start putting more of Pugwash magazine's features online, as it will allow us to make a bigger feature of the article image, since the magazine is very much a visually-led medium. Unfortunately, with only two more issues of the mag left this year, I can't help feeling time's running out very quickly already!

 

A quick stop press: Digitially Imported 'net radio - I've been listening to...

Right, it's that time of month again where I'm broke, so I'm having a bit of an eBay clearout of some of my goodies. Up for sale from tomorrow evening (starting at 99p each) are...

• A Sony DAB Walkman,
• An 80GB 2.5" Apple Macbook Pro SATA hard disk,
• A 120GB 2.5" Seagate SATA hard disk,
• 512MB Macbook Pro RAM,
• ... aaaand a Freeview USB stick.

Buy my stuff so I can afford to MOT my car!! :o)

/al - broke (again) ;o)

Update: sold the camera - wehay! :o) 

It's about half nine on Saturday 5th May. Portsmouth Guildhall is packed full of scrubbed, polished and groomed sports bods. Sports Sabb Jodie Austin is in charge of the mic, and up on stage, a little bald Spanish chap by the name of Fraggy is looking like he's about to have a heart attack as he prays - and prays, and prays, and prays - that the AU Dinner video, the result of two weeks' solid work* from him and Mike Cooter, works first time when he hits "play"...

This year's event was a first for many reasons: it was held in the (very plush) Portsmouth Guildhall, it sold out faster than ever before (and I think more people attended than ever before), I was there for the first time (ok ok, nobody cares about that), and instead of having a guest speaker we were treated to a video of the Union's sporting achievements this year, seasoned with a sprinkling of words by a few sporting bods.

For many people attending, the video was definitely the highlight of the evening's entertainment. As they appeared on the big screen, each club raised a deafening cheer, and the round of applause at the end of the video was testimony to the video's popularity.

I think this could be a really good sign of things to come - bigging-up the efforts put in by clubs and societies doesn't just have to happen through awards - everyone likes a bit of publicity, and if we can improve clubs' and societies' numbers and confidence by getting (good) videos of them played all over the place, and put online, then I'm all for it.

Of course, everyone at the dinner looked Fabulous, Darling, with only a couple of people getting blatantly wrecked (lightweights ;o), and the occasional evil glare between girls who'd worn the same dress. I don't understand that mentality, I'll be honest, but I'm sure someone will explain - with diagrams - why it's such a Bad Thing (TM).

A big well done to Fraggy and Mike for their efforts over the last couple of weeks (and a well done to everyone else who helped organise and run the night so well), and also a thankyou to Fraggy and Mike for opening up a new area of UPSU Media for me to play with/break/push forward. Apparently, I'll have to learn to do this next year: oh dear...

Randomly, during the evening I was once again asked - this time by Sam Wilson (one of my opposition candidates in the elections) - whether I was going to cancel Purple Wednesdays. In hindsight, I think I was lucky to escape with my legs intact when I thought it would be a good idea to wind him up for a bit, saying it was definitely being cancelled (it's not!) - the look on his face was, err, priceless. Sorry Sam!

p.s. The video was great. The Apple Mac it was playing on worked fine, and everyone lived happily ever after. Or something like that, anyway... :o)

* Yes, apparently, Fraggy actually does work. Shocking, but true... ;o)

(Boring geeky ramblings below...)

Up until recently, I was a Windows user, and made a lot of use of Google's desktop search toy. Secretly though, I wanted a Mac so I could use the wonderful Spotlight search system.

Fast-forward a year or so and I barely ever use Spotlight because it's horribly, painfully slow. Quicksilver has deserted me - it crashes within a few minutes of opening it - and I miss my trusty Google desktop search.

Now Google have released a Mac desktop search toy, and I'm about to give it a go. You can find out more and download it from their free Mac software page, and read more about it on the Hawk Wings blog. If you haven't already installed this free wonder of technology, you really should give it a go :o)

Google might be trying to take over the world, but until I figure out what's so evil about their great free software, I'm happy to keep telling everyone I know how good I think it is. Sad but true... /al

While wandering around Digg dot com, I noticed this story about the guy who (used to) play the part of the Mac user in the Mac vs. Windows adverts Apple have been running (although they were more likely to be found on US rather than UK TV sets).

What makes me laugh is the description of the Mac guy - Justin Long - as a "smug little twit" by a reviewer, and - even better - how he's "just the sort of unshaven, hoodie-wearing, hands-in-pockets hipster ["hipster" - their word, not mine] we've always imagined when picturing a Mac enthusiast".

As I read that, a quick glance down confirmed my status: Macbook Pro on lap - check. Hoodie worn? Check (and a rather nice Gul one too, I might add...). Hands in pockets? Check. Smug little twit? A subjective response to this one, granted, but "Check" anyway...

I guess I've begun to turn into the stereotypical arty-type of person I've always felt a bit scared of. Mind you, I lack the associated talent and cashflow, so I'm sure I'll be ok for the time being... ;o)