Archive: 2005-10
Sarcasm in English
Sarcasm is pervasive in English culture, and one of my earliest schoolteachers was particularly skilled in the art. She would frequently respond to unwanted behaviour by a pupil with a sarcastically-intoned ‘thank you very much!’ At that young age, I inferred the meaning easily from the situation and tone used.
Video in your Palm
I don’t have an iPod Video, nor am I likely to buy one considering that I already have a 40 GB third-generation iPod. However, the appearance of the tiny-screened iPod inspired me to try transferring video to my Palm Tungsten T3, with its high-resolution 480×320 pixel colour screen. It’s working very well.
Fixing ffmpeg on Ubuntu
Using Ubuntu 6.10 (Edgy) or newer? There are updated instructions available here.
Another useful website bites the dust
Last month, I used Google Maps to make a geographical representation of attempted SSH brute-force hack attempts. In order to translate the bad guys’ IP addresses into co-ordinates, I employed the handy geolocation service at hostip.info.
Preparing for the worst
EuRuKo 2005 report
I was going to write about all the goings-on at EuRuKo 2005, but I’m not going to bother, as Leah Neukirchen has done such a comprehensive job with their write-ups of day one and day two. However, I shall say something about their presentation:
Back from EuRuKo 2005
I made it safely back from Germany on time, in spite of a little confusion with the airport train.
EuRuKo 2005
Accidental tourism
Strikes, particularly those affecting transport networks, are relatively common in Belgium. On Friday, however, they went a step further, with the first general strike for twelve years. I’m told that everything was closed.
Unsanitary conditions
Remember those Japanese monkeys who bathe in hot springs to escape the bitter cold of the northern winter? Apparently, birds do the same. Well, sort of.
Partial eclipse
There was a partial eclipse of the sun this morning. I’ve seen a full eclipse before, but the weather was cloudy on that occasion. This time, it was a clear day, and I managed to get a photograph with a slightly creative camera arrangement.
