Crazy Purple Rubber Squeaky Octopus

Thursday, June 27, 2002

The new blog is now completed, and ahead of schedule too.
The tagboard is gone from here, as it's being used on the new page... some of you may have noticed it change colour last night, just to give a hint of the new look.
No further posts will be made on this page so...

Check out the new look Benway Weblog HERE

:: Steve Benway 5:29 PM [+] ::
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Wednesday, June 26, 2002

The phrase "God, I'm knackered" comes to mind right now.
I started work designing a new blog last night, and was up till, well... I didn't actually go to sleep till after seeing my mum in town for coffee this afternoon. Slept for 3 hours before being woken by noisy neighbours, but such is life.
So anyway, the weblog design. It's probably not going to be ready till the weekend, but the template, something started from scratch as opposed to a modified standard template, is looking seriously cool. When it's done, I'll be moving over to tripod, and yeah I know the popups are a pain in the arse, but the benefits with regard to flexibility make it worth it.
I'm not sure whether to make this blog automatically redirect to the new url, or whether to just add a bold link in the final post here. Redirecting is easier for the end user, and to save people from updating links (assuming they'd be inclined to) but it would mean that people aren't able to come back here and read old posts, archives etc. Any thoughts on this?
:: Steve Benway 9:17 PM [+] ::
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Tuesday, June 25, 2002

Come 3:30am this morning, the world had pretty much gone to bed and I was bored. So... what to do? I hopped onto the newly fixed mountain bike, packed my camera, and went for a ride.
Milton Keynes at sunrise is a wonderful place, especially if you know the best spots, and after living here for all of my adult life, I think I know most of them.
These two pics were taken at one of my favourite fishing spots, and many's the time I've sat exactly where these shots were taken, watching the sun come up as the mist rolls across the lake, carp rolling on the surface as the water starts to warm.





The smell too is a wonderful thing at that hour. A mixture of morning dew, mist, algae in the lake, and rushes on the banks. There's nothing quite like it, and best of all, at 4am, there's not a soul around.
:: Steve Benway 5:17 AM [+] ::
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Monday, June 24, 2002

Busy day. Well... once I got up it was.
After leaving the poor thing sitting in a corner of the hallway for the best part of a year, I finally decided it was time to fix the mountain bike. New tyres, inner tubes, brake blocks, brake cables, cleaned (first time in 5 years...oops) and oiled... it goes like new again. The tyres are gonna take a bit of getting used to though, as it used to have slicks, and now has semi-knobblies, so leaning it over hard into corners tends to make them break away unpredictably. Still, it makes for an interesting ride.
The whole job took about 4 hours... only 2 of which were spent working. My neighbour decided she wanted to natter, and when she starts, she doesn't stop. A pleasant enough person, but when I'm up to my elbows in oil and greese, I don't really wanna be going next door for a cup of coffee.
Anyways, the job got done, and I don't have to walk or catch buses everywhere now. With the weather being as it is just lately, cycling round this town is a real pleasure... especially since there are cycle paths everywhere.
Now it's time to put my feet up :)
:: Steve Benway 9:11 PM [+] ::
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Sunday, June 23, 2002

Today was another day spent mostly asleep, having managed to get (mostly) back into my nocturnal routine. I did though manage to wake up for the F1 Grand Prix. However, as soon as the Ferrari's did their usual thing and romped off into the distance, I turned over and went back to sleep. Yeah, I do love Ferrari cars, but their current dominance in the world of F1 doesn't make for very exciting racing.
Anyway... that's not what I want to talk about, as such. What was interesting was how the sound of the race filtered into my dream. Have you ever done that? Gone to sleep with the tv, music, radio or whatever playing, and have the sound become an integral part of your dreams? It was pretty freaky. I found myself at the local town centre, just outside the shops, and the grand prix was a street race, rather like Monaco, but with traffic lights. There was a great debate about whether Barricello would stop at a red light, thus allowing Schumacher to win the race, when he was in truth comprehensively beaten. It did make catching a bus home rather difficult though, as the race marshals refused to allow the bus to pull out, saying we'd be black flagged if we pulled onto the circuit.
Most entertaining, in a rather odd way.
:: Steve Benway 10:18 PM [+] ::
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Saturday, June 22, 2002

Some readers may remember a few months ago I wrote about something I'd noticed while logging onto websites that use Microsoft's .NET passport system. The send and recieve lights on my modem were going crazy for considerably longer than you'd expect for a simple password confirmation and I speculated that something other than msn would have you believe was going on behind the scenes.
Today, I spotted this article in a magazine.
"Individual EU states could fine MIcrosoft if it's found guilty of breaching data protection laws. The European Commission is investigating a complaint from a Dutch MEP about MIcrosoft's free .NET passport system. The system collects users' personal information. The EC said it may break data protection laws."
There was a link published related to this matter, which I would have included here, but it was dead when I checked it.
Makes you wonder. Do you suppose hotmail is so badly afflicted with spam because it's very creators are selling users details?
:: Steve Benway 6:29 PM [+] ::
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Friday, June 21, 2002

Another long time regular in the chatroom and thoroughly decent chap, has joined/rejoined the world of weblogs, so I'd like to introduce Mick, aka Dolphin.
:: Steve Benway 11:12 PM [+] ::
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Odd.
I've come down with a stomach bug of some kind. Nothing extreme, but enough to keep me from going to an interview today. 5 mins on the bus would've had me hurling. I know where I got it from, a friend was down with it a couple of days ago.
So why's it odd? Just that I read another blog today where the writer is afflicted with something similar that's going round, only this is like half way round the world.
Anyway, nothing else of interest to write at the moment, especially since I've spent nearly the last 12 hour asleep.
:: Steve Benway 7:17 PM [+] ::
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Thursday, June 20, 2002

Moving swiftly along, having said what I needed to, seen the response and laughed, normal blogging is now resumed.
I went to see Spiderman with a friend today. I guess most of the people reading this who wanted to see it already have, but since it's new in the uk, I'll talk about it anyway, and no spoilers for those who haven't seen it.


I liked it, though was surprised that my reason for liking it wasn't what I expected. The effects are indeed excellent, but unlike say Star Wars, they don't distract the viewer from the human aspects of the film. The balance struck between the story, the characters and the action is perfect, while the areas in which it strays slightly from original spiderman legend are minor enough not to matter, and work well in the context of the film.
Since it's out at more or less the same time as Star Wars, and sits in a similar genre, people are likely to debate which is the better film, so I'll throw in my two pence worth. Spiderman is the better film, simply because it hangs together as a whole more effectively. In Star Wars, you have three main aspects... the amazing effects, the complex plot, and the characterisation. All are done well, or maybe it's that they're overdone. They distract the viewer, so you're so busy going "wow" at the visuals, or "eh?" at the script, that you miss out on other details.
Having said that, which would I watch over and over again on video? Star Wars. I love eye candy, so being able to enjoy multiple viewings gives ample time to appreciate the finer points, and then just sit there going "wow".
:: Steve Benway 9:08 PM [+] ::
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So... when will it ever end? Right here!!!
This is where I get mean.
I never named you Jack, to save you your dignity. I never openly specified what you did that pissed me off, to save from going into character assasination type tactics. What do you do? You whine on your blog about how you've been mistreated and what an injustice it is, yet you entirely neglect to mention any of the real details.
You wish I'd sort this out man to man? Well screw that, if you can be public in your whining, I'll be public, and give full disclosure, then people can make up their own minds. I'm not gonna be made to look like the villain, while you sit there safe in the knowlege that I won't be open with the details.


HERE is what pissed me off. This in truth is only part of it. I could point out numerous such items on other people's blogs, things that I KNOW have pissed them off, because they've told me so, but since they're not quite as vicious as me, they don't wanna speak out, and I don't blame them, because this really is a very ugly business.
Anyone wishing to tell me I'm out of order, feel free to do so. I don't like being so mean, and it's not something I do lightly, but this guy has been a thorn in my side for a long time, and is now causing other people to hesitate in posting on their blogs, and that simply isn't right.
:: Steve Benway 5:05 AM [+] ::
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Wednesday, June 19, 2002

So, after going to the bank and then paying some bills, I spent the afternoon/evening playing the IL2 Sturmovik combat flight sim. Much fun, which in Benway speak means "The germans are too hard to shoot, and I can't fly, so just take over the rear gunner and shoot at the other planes in my squadron" Hehehe. I wonder what that is they're screaming at me in russian.


Oh yeah, I got a (so called) high speed modem cable. It's come kind of shielded coaxial extension cable to plug straight from the modem into the phone socket, as the phone extension cable I was using could be what was causing my connection problems. I took the high speed description with a pinch of salt, but now I'm using it, it does seem to be a bit faster. Might just be a placebo effect though. We'll see how it works out reliability wise in due course.
:: Steve Benway 10:25 PM [+] ::
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Tuesday, June 18, 2002

It's occurred to me that people reading my past post may think I don't like comments in general. This really isn't the case. In all the time I've been writing this blog, there've only been two people I've found objectionable. One left of their own accord, while the other I dealt with. I've never had a problem with anyone else, so please don't feel nervous about commenting, even if you disagree with what I say. As I said, 99.9% of people know what they're doing.
:: Steve Benway 11:13 PM [+] ::
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A Very Contencious Matter


I find I need to address a particular matter which, after events here in the not too distant past, I have to be very careful with, as I could be seen as having some kind of vendetta, which I don't. I do need to speak on it though, having recieved a number of emails/messages on the matter, from people experiencing a similar problem to the one I had.
The matter I'm talking about is that of commenting on blogs.


Here is the thing... 99.9% of people who comment on blogs know exactly how to go about it. Very often they've gotten to know the person who's blog they're commenting on, they've certainly read the whole of the post they're commenting on, and understand what is being said, often including the more subtle points and maybe hidden subtexts too. As such, their comments are valued, and add something to the blog itself, be it a perspective, some humour or just an acknowlegement that they can relate to that particular post.
Whatever the case, it fits in, and is always welcome.

Obviously, there are always those people who comment who are simply out to be annoying. We come to expect such idiots, and as a rule, they are easy to deal with. Shut them out, tell them to piss off, whatever... everyone will inderstand.

The real problem though arises with the socially incompetent commenter. There are always going to be a few people who simply don't get it. They feel the need to comment on every single post of maybe one particular blog, or maybe even every blog they come across, consistently missing the point of the posts they comment on, and causing much discomfort/annoyance to the writer of that blog. This sometimes goes as far as to make the writer of the blog hesitate to post any more, knowing that they're going to wind up with yet another cringe inducing comment from that person.
What makes cases like this so difficult to deal with is, they don't actually realise they're a problem. Anyone fitting that description reading this would say to themself, "Oh, that can't be me", and for all I know, I may be guilty of the same thing. Someone out there may well puke at the sight of yet another comment from Benway.

That being the case, it would be pointless of me to write a set of guidelines on how to comment. Those who know how to comment would have no need to read it, those who're out to be annoying simply wouldn't care, and the socially incompetent don't realise that they are. Besides which, I may be arrogant, but I'm not THAT arrogant.


It would seem then, that responsibility for dealing with commenters lies firmly in the hands of blog writers themselves. No problem, you may say to yourself, but wait till you're in the position of having to deal with someone who's a nuisance, though not a deliberate one.
You KNOW they aren't going to understand if you ask them to shut the hell up, and chances are, a lot of other people won't either. The net is a free place, more or less, where everyone has an opinion, and the right to express it, so blocking someone from comments can be seen as a very unreasonable thing to do. To people thinking along those lines though, when faced with such a decision, I would say this: It's YOUR blog. It's YOUR place to say what you like. Anyone else having something to say there is a guest, and as such, if they're annoying, you have every right to throw them out. You aren't removing their voice, or their right to have their say, merely their right to say it in YOUR space. So, do you just sit there quietly and stop posting? I certainly hope not. You have a choice. You could politely email them, asking them to stop commenting, if you didn't want to publicly embarrass them. You could openly blast them (as I have been seen to do), or you could just block them... no explanations, and no apologies.

As an addition, it was rightly pointed out to me that simply ignoring annoying commenters is always an option. Whether or not the annoying commenter takes the hint after being consistantly ignored is another matter.


Like I said, a very contencious matter, and one I certainly don't consider myself exempt from. If I comment on your blog and it annoys you, say something, do something, don't sit there and put up with it, otherwise I won't know. I do like to think I'm smart enough to learn from my mistakes though, as if someone blocked me, or told me to sod off, I'd certainly think VERY carefully before subjecting someone else to my comments, and I'd certainly give a good deal of thought to what was actually said, and take it to heart.


This actually reminds me of one of the VERY few things my brother taught me as a kid. I was pretty dumb when it came to girls, and on a couple of occasions met a girl who I liked, and proceeded to visit them on a regular basis. I became rather puzzled that they never actually invited me in, or accepted my invitations to wherever. What my brother said to me was very simple, and with hindsight, I kick myself for not having realised it at the time. He said "Are you sure they actually WANT to see you?" It bears thinking on. People are (generally) polite, and don't like to tell strangers to buzz off, but you never know if they're thinking it.


As a footnote, if the person I blocked from here is wondering if the emails/msgs I've recieved were about him... yes, they were. I'm not going to say who they're from, as it's not my place to do so. Just think about what you're doing. Haven't you learned ANYTHING?
:: Steve Benway 3:52 PM [+] ::
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Monday, June 17, 2002

It's hot today. Too hot. I'd intended to do a laod of stuff, like go pay bills, buy an extension cable for the phone, and I dunno what else, but in the end, I just stayed home and lazed about. I'm not gonna feel guilty about it though, as I was very busy yesterday, sorting the flat out and generally making things here a bit more civilised.
One good thing did happen today... my sister dropped round with some very old family photos which I scanned.
:: Steve Benway 7:35 PM [+] ::
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Sunday, June 16, 2002

While rummaging around in the cupboards here today, I found this...



What a strange object. It has a power cord, always a good sign, but there's no usb port, modem socket, or any other useful features. What possible use could such a strange object be put to without any of the necesary connectivity?
:: Steve Benway 2:27 PM [+] ::
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Saturday, June 15, 2002

So there's a series of adverts on tv at the moment featuring Samual L Jackson, advertising some bank or other. Now, he's the ultimate in cool actors, no two ways about it, but the script writers seem to have missed a wonderful oportunity. They've gone for the high ground, taking the intellectual line. For shame. What he really should be saying would, in an ideal world, sound something like this..."Barclaycard, for when you absolutely, positively have to buy every motherf**king pair of shoes in the shop"
:: Steve Benway 9:32 PM [+] ::
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I'm gonna be boring today.
Oh, okay, so that's nothing unusual, but so far today at least, I have nothing to tell you. Maybe something interesting will happen later.
:: Steve Benway 7:09 PM [+] ::
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Friday, June 14, 2002

Ahhhhhhhhh. That's better.
It's probably just me and my own private moodyness, but from here, it feels like the atmosphere in blogland has changed for the better. I'm smiling again. Strange how your own moods affect how you percieve other people's. Whatever, it's time I crawled out of my little hole and rattled a few cages :)
The link list is gradually getting shorter, which isn't necesaraly a bad thing, in that it doesn't take all night to read them now (yes, I do read all the blogs I link to, every day), but I'm feeling the urge to stray a little further afield and see what I can find out there.
:: Steve Benway 5:31 AM [+] ::
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Thursday, June 13, 2002

So, that was yesterday... what about today?
Got up around 10ish, still with the remnants of the headache, but nothing too severe, and got stuck into editing and printing my resume for a couple of job applications. Rang my mum to check up on her... no change, but she was waiting to hear from her nurse, so I didn't stay on the line with her too long, in case he was trying to get through.
Went into town to go to the job centre, wandered around the shops for an hour or so, and then home for a nap. The headache's still niggling me, so I'm gonna have to go to the supermarket on the next estate to pick up some paracetamol. No biggie, it's just annoying. Also, I just rang my mum again, and after having had her dosage reduced, she's sounding much more with it. I must say, knowing how she got in the past, I'm very relieved. I'll be keeping a very close eye on her for the next week or so, just to be on the safe side.
:: Steve Benway 6:54 PM [+] ::
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An eventful day yesterday. A bit too eventful, as it happened.
The day started when I was woken by the phone some time earlyish in the morning. Being half asleep though, I simply rolled over and went back to sleep. Later, as I do every wednesday, I went into town to have coffee with my mum. Odd. She wasn't there.
After sitting round for an hour, I vaguely remembered the phonecall that had woken me, and figured that must've been her, calling to say she couldn't make it for whatever reason. Anyway, not wanting it to be a totally wasted trip, I wandered round my favourite shops and picked up a dvd move, The Duel, starring Andy Lau, one of my fave chinese actors. I actually bought it more to check out the dvd capabilities of this laptop than anything.
On getting home, I rang my mum to make sure everything was alright, only to find that things weren't alright at all. To cut a long story short, my mum relies on numerous pills and injections to maintain her mental stability, and every once in a while this coctail of drugs gets out of balance. When this happens, her state of mind goes completely out of the window, and the way she describes it sounds very much like being stoned on canabis or whatever, though with none of the alleged pleasant aspects. Needless to say, she was in a very confused state. I told her to phone her nurse, which hadn't actually crossed her mind, and made a mental note to ring her next morning to see how she was.
So, next I sat down to watch this dvd. Good film, very enjoyable, in a typically chinese style. I'm not overly convinced that the dvd format is as good as its described, as while the image quality and sound were excellent, it did seem to glitch a certain ammount when there were dramatic camera movements involved. Maybe this is just an effect of viewing it on the lcd screen of this laptop, as I find it hard to believe that an Athalon4 processor running at 1.1ghz isn't up to the job, and the gfx chips aren't exactly slow either. Whatever... good film.
Just as I was about to go online, my friend knocked on the door, and after chatting for a while, we got stuck into a game on the playstation. I don't remember what it was called, but it was effectively like playing worms, but in 3D, with pigs. Wierd, but great fun.
By the time he went home, several hours later, I found myself with a thumping headache. Odd how you don't actually notice untill you stop whatever you're doing. Rather than go online and struggle with it, I decided going to bed was the better option.
:: Steve Benway 6:29 PM [+] ::
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Wednesday, June 12, 2002

I've removed some links, just stuff that I don't read any more, and eric's while his blog's on hiatus. I'll put that one back when his blog's back, 'cause he's a cool character.
You may notice a new link, and I'd like to take this oportunity to introduce the blogging world to Paul, aka MrJuggles. He 's a very pleasant chap who's been frequenting the chatroom for a while now, and if his first blog post is anything to go by, it's gonna be a good one.
Someone else who's blog I believe is coming along in leaps and bounds, and who in my (not so humble) opinion deserves to be read is arryana. She's probably gonna bite me for raising her profile, but hey, I've got my kevlar underpants on :P
Since I know neither of these two are likely to request links for themselves, being vastly more polite than myself, I'm gonna do it for them. Take a look, and if you like what you see, please link to them.
:: Steve Benway 12:57 PM [+] ::
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Tuesday, June 11, 2002

Nothing too thrilling to report today. Woke around noon, had a bath, and continued compiling this huge mp3 cd I've been working on for the past few days.


Something I did a while back, though it's something of an ongoing project, was a study of chatroom behaviour. Why am I telling you this? Well, I'm considering doing something slightly similar with regard to blogs. Nothing bigtime in depth, just my observations on what types of blogs are popular, which gain more comments, that kind of thing. It's just something I'm curious about, as sometimes truly excellent blogs appear to remain almost completely ignored, while others have very high traffic, and others don't necesaraly have high traffic, but attract a lot of comments.
Anyway, it's just something I'm thinking about at the moment... it may never happen.
:: Steve Benway 6:55 PM [+] ::
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Monday, June 10, 2002

Argh! I just lost everythging I typed before hitting publish. What a pain. Here we go again then.


I had quite a result today while in town. I'd gone there with the intention of getting a printer, and possibly a scanner, and came away with a printer/scanner/fax all in one, for less than I'd planned to spend on a printer alone.
On unpacking the thing I became a bit concerned, as the software specifically stated it wasn't for use with Windows XP. However, on closer inspection I found it was simply a matter of plugging it into the pc and letting XP set it all up itself. Very impressive.
The past 2 hours have been spent scanning assorted photos from the last 12 or so years of my life. Though I doubt I'll actually put them on a web page, I'll do dcc file sends in irc for anyone who wants to see them.
:: Steve Benway 6:35 PM [+] ::
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Sunday, June 09, 2002

Hmm. Connection problems may not be entirely resolved, but it's certainly better than it was. One better piece of news though, I managed to write mp3s to cd that my player could actually read. Turns out it didn't like cds that had been written by dragging files into the cd explorer window. By chance I happened to run the cd drag and drop software, which is what I thought I'd been using anyway. After burning a quick test cd, the mp3 player found the files, no problem, so it won't have to go back to the shop after all.
Time to compile a huge compilation of my favourite tunes. That's actually something I've wanted to do for a long time, but untill now, the only format that's been able to store enough tunes was a 4 hour video tape on long play, and the sound quality just wasn't up to it.
:: Steve Benway 7:45 PM [+] ::
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Saturday, June 08, 2002

After having serious connection problems all night, and dubious connection reliability since buying this laptop, I 'think' I've cured it. *Crosses fingers*. Basicly, it's as I've always believed, internal modems suck. The default baud rate was set to 115200, which seems to have been overworking the modem and making it unreliable. I just reduced it to 38400, seeing as how my usual connection speed shows as around 3.5kbps anyway, and it seems much more stable (so far).
:: Steve Benway 8:17 AM [+] ::
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Friday, June 07, 2002

I'm a little annoyed this evening. I bought a CD/mp3 player today, and after much messing about, and many wasted CDs, it quite simply doesn't work. Hrumph! That'll be going back to the shop tomorrow, and they better not try and fob me off with a replacement, I want my money back. Piece of junk.
:: Steve Benway 7:03 PM [+] ::
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Note to self: When you wake up at 2am with the intention of being somewhere specific, DON'T close your eyes again saying "just another five minutes".
My isp being what it is, being online is only affordable at night, and I slept right through. Damnit! I'm nocturnal by nature, but all these commitments in the daytime are totally screwing up my sleep pattern.


I really need to catch up on some weblogs. I've rather withdrawn from the world of blogland over the past week, not that there's exactly been a backlash, but I do suspect I'm not entirely trusted in certain quarters. "Who'll he turn on next?" kinda thing. Completely understandable, and the price that has to be paid for not being totally open about the reasons for my actions. Ah, if only I had no concience.
:: Steve Benway 7:12 AM [+] ::
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Thursday, June 06, 2002

Well, the interview with the agency went okay. I need to produce a new CV for them to send to the company that's looking for a fleet controller. It's gonna be a few days before I can do that, as my printer died a while back and I need to get a new one. Didn't have to go to the job centre after all. I'd got the weeks mixed up, and aren't due there till next week. That being the case, I was able to get round to see my mum with no rush at all.
Other than that, there's nothing to report. I'm very tired right now, having had to get up early after a late night, so I'll probably mooch around for a while and then have a nap. Should be up later though.
:: Steve Benway 8:16 PM [+] ::
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Wednesday, June 05, 2002

A much more fruitful day all round today.Having re-encoded and converted the tunes I lost yesterday, I went in search of a different conversion utility, as the one I had was time limited shareware. The one I found looked good, claiming to convert wma to mp3, but on installing it, I found it didn't contain the necesary wma codec. "Bugger" thought I. But wait, on closer investigation I found that it will rip mp3s direct from cd, with no need to mess about with storing wav files in the HD. Better yet, it actually works on my system. After tinkering with it for a while, it turns out to be far better than either of the pieces of software I'd been using. Happy me :)



In other news, I was expecting to have an interview with an employment agency today, but they couldn't fit me in till tomorrow. This in itself is fine, but it does mean I'm gonna be running to a very tight schedule tomorrow. 11am: agency interview. 1:30pm job centre (other side of town). 2pm: go to the bank. 3pm: visiting my mum (half way across town). Busy day. Should be interesting to see if I fit it all in without being late for any appointments.
:: Steve Benway 4:32 PM [+] ::
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Tuesday, June 04, 2002

What a truly frustrating day. I set out with the intention of making a compilation cd, filled with all my fave David Bowie tracks in mp3 format. All started out well, as the ripper and cd encoder I had sittining in a drawer installed with no problem. From that point on though, things just didn't go to plan.
Firstly, the ripper doesn't appear to like my cd drive, and refused to copy audio tracks using anything but an analogue copying technique, which when played back turned out to produce nothing but white noise. I suspected it may be a problem with the drive itself, but after messing with MediaPlayer, and being able to encode wma files directly from cd, I know it's the software. Pity, 'cause it worked fine on my other machine.
So, after much messing, and trying other rippers with the same end result, I decided to encode the tracks into wma format, and then find something to convert them with. Several hours later, I had 75 tracks stored on my drive, and went off in search of a file converter. After finding and installing one, I did a quick test, and it worked just fine. Happy me. Hah! Too good to be true. While doing a batch test, I accidentally clicked a button (this glide pad makes that something of a common occurrence), it stopped converting and deleted every single audio file. Not just the ones it had converted... the whole lot. All 75 tracks, gone. Argh!!!
:: Steve Benway 7:50 PM [+] ::
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On the subject of polls, there's one down there on the left. It's pretty widely known that I dislike aol, mainly because many of it's users who've wandered into my chatroom have been, not to put it too finely, absolute morons. Yes, there are exceptions. One or two people using it who I've had the pleasure of speaking to are decent, intelligent people, and this poll isn't aimed at them. It's not aimed at anyone specific. It's just a simple case of `when you make a tool easy enough for a baboon to use it, baboons WILL use it'.
Go on, cast your vote. It's just a bit of fun :)
:: Steve Benway 7:39 AM [+] ::
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For a while now there's been a fun and healthy debate between myself and Jodene on the subject of colour. To be specific, she hates purple and I don't care much for orange. A few days ago she placed a poll on her blog to get more people's opinions on this, so now it's your turn. Go and cast your vote... the continued existance of the universe as we know it depends on the outome.
:: Steve Benway 6:44 AM [+] ::
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Monday, June 03, 2002

A few months ago I had several teeth removed, since which all has been well... untill a day or so ago. I started getting a minor nagging pain, like a toothache, but in a place where there's no longer a tooth. Today, it's progressed from being a minor niggle to a full blown ache. I had a little prod about back there, and it feels like part of the bone around where a molar used to sit is breaking through the gum. This isn't unusual in itself, and should eventually degrade and break up, but for the moment it hurts like hell and is giving me something of a fever (probably some minor infection in or around the bone). Hopefully it'll clear up quickly, but I guess it's time to schedule another appointment with the dentist to have it checked out. In a word... ouch.
:: Steve Benway 6:22 PM [+] ::
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Sunday, June 02, 2002

Couldn't sleep this morning, so I sat playing Quake till I literally fell asleep at the keyboard. I'm only awake now because a friend phoned me, but that was okay, 'cause it was someone I always enjoy hearing from. My friend who's been in university is finishing in a couple of weeks and moving back into town here, so we're gonna get together and not exactly party, but probably get drunk, and have a video night. I've got a big collection of movies, a lot that she wants to see, so that should be fun.
Over the years I've drifted through various friendships, losing touch with a great many people when they've moved to other areas, so I find I'm really pleased that we stayed in touch. There's none of that awkward 'not knowing what to say' thing that sometimes happens when you haven't seen someone for a long time. Sure, a lot of stuff has happened to both of us over the past few years, but when we see each other on occasion, it's just like it always was... relaxed and comfortable. Friends like that are hard to find.
:: Steve Benway 10:59 PM [+] ::
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Saturday, June 01, 2002

Gaming isn't something I've tended to do much on my pc, always having used the playstation for that. Today though, I decided I'd find out what this machine's capable of, so went out and bought Quake III. Ooooh my. The controls are pretty fiddly, even with a multi-function joypad, but is it ever a blast. Haven't figured out how to play it online yet, as it kept giving me errors for some reason, but that's no biggie, 'cause it's not what I bought it for.
:: Steve Benway 8:30 PM [+] ::
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Something for all you spidey fans out there, courtesy of... oh, she didn't want to be named...hehe.
It seems they must have blown their budget making the first film, so have had to make cutbacks in both casting and wardrobe for the sequel.
Click here to see for yourself.
:: Steve Benway 3:43 AM [+] ::
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Here I am again, using this speech recognition software. It's improved drastically, as I sat up all last night training the thing. Hopefully you won't see any errors on this post, as I am training it while I do this. I have to admit its accuracy is very impressive, but as its accuracy increases its speed reduces almost to the point where I could type faster.
Having said that, something like this would be very useful for people who are physically impaired, or for people like me who are just plain lazy... Hehe. it also spells things correctly which is more than I can do. The


Okay, I'm too lazy to write any more just now, but suffice to say I only had to correct it is three or four times during the whole of this post, which is pretty good.
:: Steve Benway 2:15 AM [+] ::
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