Month: May 2006

It’s not a real spring if it has a faucet…

D'Arque Bishop

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006210059,00.html

A WATER leak that gushed through a hamlet for 16 YEARS was finally stemmed — when a farmer turned it off at a stopcock.

Water board officials had always insisted the stream pouring down a lane was a natural SPRING.

The leak created a constant river — and even a muddy pool at its “source”.

But farmer John Berry eventually spotted a rusted stopcock in a grass verge nearby, turned it — and the “leak” stopped.

John, 54, said: “It beggars belief that water officials could insist it was a natural stream when there was a tap so close. It just needed a turn. “I turned the tap off with my hand and half an hour later the water had disappeared, leaving just a mud hole.”

“As soon as I turned it back on, the pond filled up. If that is a natural spring then it must be the only one with a tap on it.”

A bit of a technical post…

D'Arque Bishop

Well, Scott Howell finally got me the image I had been wanting to use against those who hotlink against the site’s images. The image is actually quite neat; I won’t post it here, but it shows a smaller version of the site banner, except with the cathedral tower on the left side and the site logo on the right. In any event, I’ve already tested it, and it seems to be working well. Time will tell if I see any backlash for it (as opposed to people just thinking the links are broken)…

I went to Best Buy this afternoon to pick up some supplies for the E3 trip. I had gone there to pick up a 1 GB USB flash drive, a 1 GB MiniSD memory card (for my cell phone), and some more MiniDV tapes for my camcorder. I ended up picking up a 512 MB flash drive (I doubt I’d need a 1 GB one) for $20 after rebate, a pair of MiniDV tapes, and went without the MiniSD card. I can’t really justify the cost of the MiniSD card at this point, especially when I consider I’ll be taking photos with my Fuji digital camera instead. The Fuji camera has the same megapixel count as the phone’s camera, but for some reason I think the Fuji takes better photos. Check the site gallery and see for yourself; all of the albums save the OTC 2006 one were done with the Fuji, while the OTC 2006 one was done with the phone. The Fuji definitely has better flash options anyway. As for the flash drive, it’s currently sitting on my keychain until such time as I actually need it…

Oh, I did see the neatest keyboard on ThinkGeek earlier today. It’s a laser and sensor unit, and what it does is shine a virtual keyboard onto a surface. You can then use said virtual keyboard, and sensors in the unit will determine what keys you’re pressing and also make noises to simulate typing. If it wasn’t for the fact that it costs $180, I’d seriously consider picking one up. You can take a look at it yourself here.

Anyway, that’s enough from the geek trenches from now… probably will have more on that subject after I get back from E3.

One show down, one to go…

D'Arque Bishop

Well, the Offshore Technology Conference for this year is over with. It was quite interesting, though I am glad that next year we have much better plans in store regarding how we’re setting up the displays and all. I did do a bit more browsing around than I did last year; however, part of the problem there is the fact that seeing as most of the show deals with the oil and gas industry, especially as it relates to offshore drilling, there isn’t that much there for me to be interested in. I did get to see some stuff I found somewhat interesting and/or amusing. What pictures I did take (with my Cingular 8125’s built-in camera) are now posted in my Gallery; you can browse the pictures to your heart’s content here.

Next week will be the fun show, as that’s when I’ll be attending E3. We’ve got at least two games we’ll be covering for the show: Mortal Kombat: Armageddon and Mortal Kombat: Unchained. I still need to get a few extra MiniDV tapes and a MiniSD card for my digital camera so I can hold a good number of pictures. A USB keychain drive probably wouldn’t hurt, either…

In any event, it’s late, and I need sleep for tomorrow, as I catch up with work that had been put off while I’d been at OTC (and that I couldn’t take care of afterhours like I did twice this week). Fun fun…