John C. Kirk

01:41 am - OpenID problems with Yahoo! accounts

As I described in my previous post, I now have a sample website up and running that accepts OpenID logins:
https://jck.golgotha.org.uk/WebRPApplication1/
Unfortunately, it doesn't work properly with Yahoo! at the moment; any suggestions are welcome.

By the way, if you have a Yahoo! account, and you want to use it as an OpenID, there's an extra step that doesn't apply to other providers. You have to enable the account first, at this page:
http://openid.yahoo.com/
Click the "Get Started" button in the top right, then sign in (if necessary), and it will generate an ID for you. You shouldn't need to use it, but that's what gets stored at RP (Relying Party) sites.

( Read more... )

10:55 pm - DotNetOpenAuth

I've been looking at OpenID, and I'd like to start using it on one of my websites. In technical terms, I would be an RP (Relying Party), accepting logins from OPs (OpenID Providers). I've decided to use DotNetOpenAuth for this (formerly known as DotNetOpenID), so I've been trying to get some sample code working. This has turned out to be surprisingly tricky, and it's taken me a few days to figure it all out, so I've documented the process; hopefully this will be useful to anyone else who's in the same situation.

( Techie stuff )

If you'd like to play with the site, it's here:
https://jck.golgotha.org.uk/WebRPApplication1/
It doesn't work properly with Yahoo! at the moment (I'll elaborate on that in my next post), but other OpenIDs should be ok, so please let me know if you find any that don't work.

11:16 am - #When I'm cleaning windows ^H^H^H chimneys

Now that the weather is getting colder, I'll want to use my fireplace again soon, so I had the chimney sweep round this morning (the same guy as last year). This didn't take long: he was here for about 45 minutes altogether, and about 15 minutes of that was either preparation at the start or tidying up afterwards.

Thinking back to Mary Poppins, they covered up all the furniture in the room before they swept the chimney, presumably to stop soot going everywhere. However, the guy I had here did it a different way: he taped a cloth cover around the fireplace, which has a tube sticking out in the middle, a bit like an elephant's trunk. He then fed the brush through this tube, and screwed on each rod in turn to extend it up the chimney. Meanwhile, there was also a vacuum cleaner with the nozzle stuck under one corner of the cloth cover, which sucked out all the soot that fell down the chimney. That worked out quite nicely, so the rest of the room stayed clean and tidy. (Well, technically it's a complete mess, but that's just my clutter - it didn't get any worse!)

Chatting to the sweep, he mentioned that he's very busy at this time of year, whereas there's very little to do in May/June. That made sense, since I'd expect this to be seasonal. However, the interesting thing is that apparently it wasn't always this way. Back in the old days, people would do "spring cleaning" once the winter was over, so they'd take up the carpets and clean the chimney once they'd finished with it for the year, rather than waiting until they were about to start using it again. That seems sensible, so I'll try that next year.

I've still got a scuttle full of "coal" (smokeless fuel) left over from last year, but I'll need to buy more soon. However, the sweep suggested that I could ask around local shops to see whether they have any pallets delivered. These are apparently made of kiln-dried wood, so they won't produce smoke; I'd just need to saw them up myself. That sounds like a good plan, since I do like a wood fire (i.e. proper flames), and it would be cheaper than buying bags of fuel. I'm not sure whether this would affect my carbon footprint, assuming that these pallets would wind up being destroyed anyway, but I won't feel too guilty about that.

Anyway, I've got the rest of the day off work (using up my annual leave before it expires), so I'll try to be productive.

10:40 pm - Doctor Who - The Waters of Mars

Tonight I watched the latest Doctor Who special: The Waters of Mars. Actually, I only found out about it a few hours before it started, when I looked at the Sky TV listings online; the last time I checked the BBC website, they just said "Coming later this year". Mind you, it's been a while since I last watched anything on the BBC channels, so they may well have been promoting it for a while. Anyway, I thought it was a decent episode: not my favourite, but they had a couple of interesting ideas.

( Spoilers ho! )

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the next episode (on Christmas Day), and there's not too long to wait for that now.

02:10 am - Bib tights

Last month, I said that I was looking at bib tights for cycling. Following up on that, I've had mixed success so far.

Initially I ordered some Santini Thermofleece tights. However, it turned out that the description on the website was wrong, and they weren't actually padded. (The website has now been updated to correct this mistake.) So, I then went for Shimano Windflex instead. These are the right design, i.e. they're lycra rather than fleecy, and they're padded (so I don't have to wear a separate pair of shorts at the same time). However, the tricky issue is sizing. There's nothing on the Shimano or CRC website to indicate what size to buy, so I've had to rely on trial and error. First I bought L, but they were far too small. Then I bought XL, but there was still a fairly big gap between me and the padding. I've now bought XXL: I think these are actually a bit too big, although the effect is much the same, i.e. the padded area is a bit loose.

( Read more... )

02:25 am - "I'm a PC"

Back in Jan 2007, I mentioned the Apple adverts ("I'm a Mac" ... "and I'm a PC"). As I said back then, I like the adverts, even though I disagree with them from a technical point of view.

More recently, Microsoft have been running their own advert campaign. They did a set of adverts a few months ago which had various people saying "I'm a PC": the idea was apparently to show a wide demographic range, rather than "middle aged white guy in a suit". The current version is "I'm a PC, and Windows 7 was my idea!" Unfortunately, I really think that Microsoft missed the point, so these adverts are rather embarrassing to watch.

Going back to the Apple adverts, the key concept is "anthropomorphic personification" (like Death in the Discworld novels). So, when the PC guy starts sneezing, that represents a computer catching a computer virus. By contrast, the Microsoft adverts are all about people who use PCs, e.g. school teachers and SCUBA divers. That's fine, but then the tagline should be "I use a PC", not "I am a PC".

If you do want to stick with the original concept, this Shortpacked! strip did an excellent job. (You may need to read the blog posts here and here to understand the context.) Basically, there's a USB memory stick that doubles up as a Transformers toy: more specifically, Ravage, who is (sort of) a black panther. The USB stick comes with a software application, so that you can have a digital version running around on your desktop, but this only works on Windows. Following this through, it makes sense that the guy representing a PC would then have a robotic panther as a pet, giving him the advantage over Mac guy.

So, my advice to Microsoft: either embrace the metaphor, or avoid it altogether, but the current adverts just sound stupid.

02:04 am - Outdoor swimming

Back in January, I went along to Tooting Bec Lido for the UK Cold Water Swimming Championships. I was there on ambulance duty, so I didn't take part, but I thought it looked quite fun. While I was there, I bought a copy of Wild Swim (by Kate Rew): it's basically a guidebook for various outdoor swimming locations around the country, e.g. rivers and lakes, but it also acts as general advocacy for the activity itself.

After that, it took me a while to actually try this out myself, but in July I went along to the Serpentine Lido, and in October I swam in the sea off Brighton beach. In a few weeks, I'll be trying it again, at the OSS Plum Pudding Plunge. This will involve jumping into Parliament Hill Lido, and swimming two widths; that doesn't sound too bad, except that it's a huge pool (30m wide), so two widths of that is equivalent to three lengths at my gym. Oh, and it's unheated: last year the water temperature was 4°C! Anyway, it should be fun, so I'm looking forward to it. If anyone would like to join me, please feel free, either as a participant or a spectator.
Edit: It turns out that everyone who attends has to pay £15, even if you don't swim. You do get mince pies and a swimming cap in return, but it's probably not worth it if you're just a spectator.

If all goes well, my provisional plan is to cancel my gym membership in April and join the South London Swimming Club at Tooting Bec Lido instead. That way, I can swim through the summer (when it's relatively warm) and gradually acclimatise myself to the cold during the winter (when it's closed to the general public).

I'd also like to try night swimming at some point. Kate Rew mentioned it in her book, and Sarah Hall wrote a Guardian article about it, which makes it sound very appealing. However, I think I need to get a bit more experience first, so that I can handle longer swims in cold water (rather than a quick plunge followed by a swift exit).

12:45 am - Arturo Brachetti: Change

Tonight I went off to the Garrick Theatre, to see Arturo Brachetti perform Change, which I enjoyed.

Back in the 90s, when I watched Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (the Dean Cain series), there were a few different ways for Clark Kent to change clothes into Superman. One method involved him stepping into a room, closing the door, then immediately opening it again to come out in different clothes. That's basically what Brachetti does, as a "quick change artist", and it's very impressive: he'll be hidden from view for a very short space of time (sometimes less than a second), and change into a different outfit. There's a video on his website which shows a few examples.

In a way, this is similar to what Derren Brown does: he's addressing the audience directly (rather than us being invisible voyeurs to a story), and there's an element of illusion involved. However, he's not really a conjurer, and people aren't scratching their heads trying to figure out how he did it. The changes are hidden from view, but presumably the clothes are done up down the side with velcro straps (or a quieter equivalent) and he has assistants to yank things off.

It's a relatively short performance (1h 45m including interval), as compared to other plays I've seen, but I don't think it should have gone on for any longer; as impressive as it was, it's basically the same thing being repeated several times. Actually, I think my favourite part of the performance was when he did shadow puppets, which made a nice interlude to all the costume changes.

At the start of the performance, when they reminded everyone to turn off mobile phones, the announcer referred to Mr Brachetti's "advanced age". He came on wearing a grey wig, and then a lot of the show involved him switching back and forth between this character and his younger self. I assumed that this was misdirection, and that he's actually quite young while pretending to be old. However, he was apparently born in 1957! If I'm that athletic when I'm 50, I'll be happy.

I was sitting at the back of the first floor balcony. (Well, first floor relative to the stage, although this was slightly below ground level relative to the theatre lobby!) I had a good view, and I only had to duck my head once (to see something at the very top of the stage), so I assume that most seats in the the theatre would be equally good.

Here are a few other reviews: The Times, The Guardian, The Telegraph.

08:52 pm - Men in tights

(You can tell when I get a weekend without SJA duties - I get a lot more prolific at blogging!)

I got my Brompton a year ago, and I ride it all year round. Initially I wore my normal work clothes, especially since I was doing fairly short journeys (about 2km at each end). In January I said: "I think it's important to avoid wind-chill by making sure that most of my skin is covered, even if it's only a thin layer of clothing." By May I was cycling in a T-shirt, then swapping it for my work shirt when I arrived at the office, but still wearing my normal trousers/boots on the bike. In June I started wearing lycra shorts and trainers to cycle, so I basically do a complete change of clothes at the office (although I tend to wear the same socks all day).

On the whole, this new approach is working well, particularly since I'm cycling a lot further than I used to (I average about 25 km/day). However, as I've got fitter I've found that I can do short journeys without sweating, so if I just do a 10 minute journey (e.g. coming home from an SJA class night) then I don't bother getting changed. I was up in Oxford in August, and I noticed that there are loads of cyclists around (including a lot of "traditional" bikes), but most people were wearing normal clothes to ride.

Now that we're moving into winter, it's starting to get a bit chilly on the bike. I'm now wearing gloves again, and I'm ok in T-shirt/shorts after I've warmed up. In fact, this may help by giving me an incentive to pedal faster - I hit a personal best when I came home on Friday evening (38 minutes from Balham station to my flat). The downside is that cotton T-shirts get quite damp, and then they get cold; also, I'm still exposed to the wind. So, I've now decided to invest in some extra clothing: bib tights and a long sleeved base layer. ("I need to buy some tights" is one of those phrases that I never expected to hear myself say!) I haven't tried bib tights/shorts before, so I'll be interested to see how they compare to the normal kind (with a waistband); hopefully they'll be a bit more comfortable.

Anyway, that leads to the main reason for this post: I'm not quite sure about the right order to wear these things. Do you put the tights on first, and then the base layer on top, or vice-versa? When I went snowboarding, I put the base layer on first, then put the "braces" for my trousers over the top; that makes sense, since the base is then the bottom layer. On the other hand, since you "go commando" in cycling shorts, it seems a bit odd to have something else in between on the top half of the body, and I've never seen anyone else cycling around with the shoulder straps visible, so that may be the equivalent of Superman wearing his underpants on the outside. I think that some people may have three layers (base layer, straps, jersey) but I don't have a jersey and I think I'll be warm enough without one. Admittedly, some people will probably think that I look stupid whichever way round I do it, but any advice welcome...

Poll #1469500 Cycling clothing
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 4

Which clothing goes on first?

02:15 pm - Stargate Universe

Back when Star Trek: Voyager started, the big concept was to get back to exploration, i.e. the crew would spend all their time meeting new species rather than acting as a taxi service for Deanna's mother. That's fine, but it had a few drawbacks:

a) With any kind of "quest", the series will be over if/when they achieve it, so you know that they won't actually make it back to the Alpha Quadrant in any particular episode. (Alternately, they will make it but then they'll have to go back to the Delta Quadrant because Tom Paris left his toothbrush behind.) I've seen the same thing on other series, e.g. the animated Dungeons and Dragons.

b) The Enterprise's mission was to seek out new life and new civilisations. The Voyager crew have an unprecented opportunity to do that, and how do they react? "We wanna go home!"

c) It's been suggested that Janeway failed the standard Starfleet initiative test, by having her ship stranded on the far side of the galaxy and not getting back home by the end of the episode. (Picard and Sisko both did far better in similar situations.)

By contrast, I think that Stargate Atlantis took a similar concept but handled it far better. Stargate Command had an opportunity to travel to another galaxy, so they prepared an expedition full of volunteers. These people knew that it might be a one-way trip, and they accepted it; they'd like to come back home one day, but if they did wind up stuck on the other side then that would be a fair exchange for the opportunity. Later on, when they did re-establish contact with Earth, it didn't end the series because they still all had a reason to stay there.

Stargate Universe is much more similar to Voyager: a bunch of people wind up on a spaceship, stranded in a different galaxy, and they didn't want to be there so they're trying to get back home. That's a bad sign, but the first two episode have held my interest, so I'm willing to see where they go with it.

( Spoilers ho! )

01:08 am - Dr Who novels

Last month I was on duty at a car boot sale, and I picked up some second hand Dr Who novels. The guy on the stall sold me all five for £1, which seemed like a pretty good bargain, since they originally cost £5.99 each. They've turned out to be a bit of a mixed bag: some are better than others, but I don't intend to re-read any of them, and I doubt that I'll read any more. If you'd like them, let me know, otherwise I'll drop them off in a charity shop.

When I was at primary school, I read several novelisations of TV episodes (as per the BBC article The Tome Lord), which was a handy way to catch up on episodes that I hadn't seen. (This was in the early 1980s, way before I had internet access, and we didn't have a VCR at home.) However, there were only a finite number of stories that could be novelised, so at some point the BBC started publishing original stories. The novels I bought recently were all published between 1998 and 2001: that's after the TV movie (8th Doctor) but before the relaunch in 2005 (9th Doctor). Back then, the only way you could get new Dr Who stories was to read the books (or listen to the Big Finish audiobooks); since this involved paying for them, it would only be a niche audience within a fairly small market, i.e. the "hard core" fans. The upshot was that the books developed their own strong continuity, with ongoing storylines, rather than being "throwaway" stories that had to preserve the status quo. Something similar has happened to Star Trek novels recently: now that the various TV series have finished, and the new film is in a different timeline, the books have the freedom to make changes, e.g. characters can get married or be promoted. (I'll elaborate on Trek novels in another post at some point.) This is also similar to the "shared universe" approach in comics, such as the Marvel Universe (where Spider-Man and the X-Men live).

Continuity is good, if it means that you can avoid glaring contradictions between different stories. It's also good if you read all the stories in question, since it allows a much bigger storyline. However, it can be tricky if you don't read all the stories, so it's worth considering whether you're really part of the target audience. For instance, I watched all the DS9 episodes on TV, then I bought them on DVD and re-watched them, and I've read most of the books in the "relaunch" series (I'm not bang up to date, but I haven't missed any out). By contrast, I used to watch Dr Who every week when I was a kid, but I started with the 5th Doctor so I've only seen a few random episodes from the earlier incarnations. Also, even with the episodes that I have seen, it's been 20-25 years, so my memory is a bit hazy! As for the new novels, this random bunch are the first I've read, so I've had to figure out the context as I go along.

Anyway, taking the books in the order that I read them:

( Spoilers ho! )

Anyway, I'm glad I bought these books: if nothing else, it's provided a cheap way for me to assuage my curiousity, and it gave me material for a blog post.

12:20 am - The birds and the bees (except for the birds)

Someone left an old copy of The Sun (from 15-Sep-2009) in the changing room at work, and one of the stories caught my eye:

"HIVE A HEADACHE

Scientists in Leeds are studying if the honey bee decline is due the queen bee's boring sex life."

11:04 pm - Powerplate

I'm been off work again today, so I went along to the gym to try out a Powerplate class. It's the first time I've used one of those machines, and I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I remember the old machines that used a vibrating belt, and the newer ones that attach pads to your belly, the idea being that you can just watch TV while the machine does all the exercise for you. (However, there's a very funny description of someone using one in Things My Girlfriend And I Have Argued About, e.g. "a spasm tightened all my stomach muscles into a sudden, straining grip such as one might encounter in the darkest days of constipation.")

( Read more... )

After that, I went along to Pizza Hut for lunch, since they have Happy Hour between 14:00 and 18:00. This costs £4, so it's cheaper than a buffet (I'd usually pay £6.49 + extra for a drink). The trade-off is that you get smaller portions, but it actually worked out quite well. When I go to an "all you can eat" buffet, I feel that I need to refill my plate a couple of times in order to get value for money, and I usually wind up feeling a bit ill afterwards. After today's meal, I didn't feel hungry, and I was happy to walk home afterwards (about a mile). So, that all worked out nicely.

09:49 pm - #Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside

Today got off to a bit of a bad start, when I was woken up at 5am by one of my upstairs neighbours shouting "Why the f--- did you wake me up?" (I'm guessing that he was oblivious to the irony.) However, it improved after that. I'm taking a long weekend, so I'm not back in the office until next Tuesday, and today I went down to Brighton.

( Boots, bookings, and beaches )

12:07 pm - Random reviews

Technology reviews are a bit tricky, because things change so fast - if you wait a while before posting your thoughts, the specific item you're talking about probably won't be for sale anymore. Having said that, here are some comments on a few items I own; I think that they illustrate features to look for in new purchases. (There's no particular reason for this post, it's just stuff that I've been meaning to mention for a while, so it will clear some mental clutter.)

* Toshiba 27WL46B (27" LCD TV).

( Read more... )

* Panasonic RP-WF930 (wireless headphones).

( Read more... )

* Samsung B130 (mobile phone).

( Read more... )

11:49 pm - Tax relief

In the last few years, I've seen some adverts about completing tax returns, e.g. Moira Stuart sitting in an understairs cupboard. However, I've ignored them; I only work for a single employer, and they deduct income tax from my salary each month (PAYE = Pay As You Earn), so I don't have to do a tax return. I do my own calculations in Excel, to see how much income tax I'd expect to pay each year, then compare that to what I've actually paid: if the difference is less than £10 (in my favour or theirs), it's not worth disputing. (I also do another Excel file for National Insurance contributions.)

Meanwhile, I've also heard various people use the phrase "tax deductible", but I've never been quite clear on what that means. I think I now understand it, but I also think that lots of people misuse it, which leads to extra confusion. In particular, it turns out that I can claim some money back because I'm a BCS member. If you're a member of any professional organisations, this may apply to you too.

( Read more... )

04:55 pm - Bike maintenance

Back in 2008, I bought a mountain bike. For a while, I used it to cycle to work, but I got a bit frustrated because I kept getting punctures from all the broken glass on the road. I think this mostly comes from beer bottles rather than broken car lights; for instance, my upstairs neighbours woke me up at 04:30 on Saturday morning when they were throwing their empty bottles out of the window to shatter all over the road.

So, when I bought my Brompton last year, I opted for Schwalbe Marathon tyres, which are reinforced with Kevlar. I've been impressed by these, so I've recommended them to several other people; 10 months after I started riding the new bike, I hadn't had a single puncture. Unfortunately, I've had a bit of a bad run of luck in the last week.

( Read more... )

Meanwhile, I was cycling home on Monday evening, and as I approached a few guys they started laughing. I initially assumed that they were mocking the bike, but then one of them said "I thought it was a car, bruv." Presumably that's because they saw the sweep of my headlight as I came around the corner, before they saw my bike, so that's a good endorsement; even if I can see where I'm going without the light, it makes me more visible to other people.

10:24 pm - Getting into gear

On Monday, I started having some trouble with the gears on my Brompton (there are three altogether). More specifically, I couldn't change into first gear at all. ( Read more... )

I thought about taking it into the shop on Thursday morning, but I didn't know how long they'd take to fix it, and I basically rely on the bike to get to work. Instead, I made an effort to cycle gently on Thursday/Friday, then I took it back to the shop (Bigfoot Bikes) today. As it turned out, they were able to fix the problem very quickly, and they didn't charge me anything for it, which was remarkably kind of them. This is the same shop that I bought it from in the first place, and I've been back there a few times since; it's not the closest shop to where I live (or work), but I'm impressed by their customer service. The only problem was that I didn't see how they did the repair (the mechanic took my bike into their workshop at the back). They are on the LCC list of people who run maintenance workshops; they don't have any more planned at the moment, but I've asked them to contact me if they do restart them.

While the mechanic was checking my bike, he suggested that it's due for a service. I agree, although I think it makes sense to synchronise that with other maintenance work. Following on my previous post (where I pondered a trailer), I've asked them to order a rear rack and "Eazy Wheels", then they can install that and do the service at the same time. The only snag is that I may need to replace my rear mudguard at the same time; there's nothing wrong with it, but apparently there are different versions for with/without a rack. So, it would have been cheaper to order the rack when I first bought the bike, but never mind.

Anyway, time for an early night - I'm out on the ambulance at Notting Hill tomorrow.

11:14 pm - Yo, pump it up ... to the max!

As I mentioned last month, I had some trouble figuring it how the new-fangled pump worked on my Brompton, so I wound up with a bit of a squidgy back tyre. Since I save quite a bit of money by cycling (I now pay £39.20/month for a rail season ticket rather than £169 for a travelcard), I figured that I should invest some of that saved money back into the bike. So, I bought a Topeak Joe Blow Max II Track Pump: in brief, I'm very impressed with it, so I strongly recommend that all other cyclists get something similar.

( Read more... )

Although my season ticket is cheaper, I do have to spend a bit of extra money on bus fares (previously covered by travelcard), e.g. if I go to the supermarket. This is because I wouldn't want to carry the Brompton around with me inside the shop, but I wouldn't want to leave it outside without a lock. So, I also recently bought a Kryptonite Evolution series 4 D/U-lock. It's not the most secure lock that they sell, but it's the cheapest one that gets a "Sold Secure Gold" rating.

( Read more... )

When I cycled to Sainsbury's recently, it was a bit of a struggle, since much of the journey is one long uphill stretch. Still, that will probably get easier with practice, and the return trip is a lot easier! A more serious problem is that I only have limited storage space in my cycle bag, and I wound up carrying one (light) carrier bag over my wrist. I have a similar problem if I cycle to SJA duties, since I don't have room to carry my big high-vis coat, and I don't want to wear it while cycling. That's not really an issue at the moment, since the weather's been quite warm, but it will be more of a concern in the winter. One approach would be to get a trailer, e.g. the Bike Hod; the main snag is that it's quite expensive (£285), so it would take a lot of journeys to recoup the cost, assuming that my alternative is to pay £2 for the bus. Other options include the Carry Freedom Y-Frame, the BOB Yak (recommended by Breton Bikes), or the Weber Monoporter. Anyway, that's not an imminent purchase, just a vague long-term plan.

Finally, I've replaced the handlebar catch on my bike (part of the folding mechanism). ( Read more... )

05:29 pm - Phones and UPSes for sale

I'm trying to tidy up the server room at work, by selling a bunch of equipment that we no longer need. So, if any of it catches your eye, feel free to put in a bid on Ebay. (This really applies to other people who work in IT, since none of this is suited to home use.)

Phones:
38 Norstar Meridian phones

3 x APC rackmount UPS:
Smart-UPS 1500
Smart-UPS 2200
Smart-UPS 5000

I've started them all at 99p, ending on Friday, because I want to get rid of them as quickly as possible. However, I obviously hope that I'll get a bit more than that, particularly for the final UPS! No guarantees, no refunds, but let me know if you want more info.

Edit: All items now sold. Ka-ching!