Bloody Tesco

Yesterday we bought a laptop -an HP Pavilion model - from Tesco. It's mainly for Abby so it was about how much she liked the look & feel of it. It seemed like a reasonable deal although I knew it was an older model. However, it was factory sealed and the label simply said something about "Last chance" or somesuch. Indeed, everything in the package was sealed with HP security seals. All happy so far.

We got it home & opened it.

It was dusty, slightly scratched and had a big patch of dirty old glue on the outside of the case. So by now I'm realising that this may actually be a reconditioned model. I'm annoyed it didn't say so, but it's all sealed up by HP so one has to assume the job's done properly, right?

I opened the battery -yes, also HP sealed - which included a leaflet explaining how it needed to be charged before use. All pretty standard. Batteries are shipped usually shipped uncharged. So I put it in and prepared to plug it in when I thought, 'Just a minute, let's check this.' and hit the power button. On comes the machine powered by the supposedly un-charged battery. It goes to the sign-in page where I'm presented with a profile for Tesco Staff which it transpires is locked with a password! Yes, it was ex-display. Second hand, basically.

By now I'm pretty pissed off, especially when I realise dit meant I was going to have to return to Silverburn on a Bank Holiday. Adding to the 20-minute each way drive it took 40+ minutes to get into the place, find a space and get out afterwards. What really annoyed me, though was the attitude of the saleswoman who actually tried to blame me for it. Apparently I should have realised that it was an ex-display model because it had a 10% discount. There was nothing on teh machine we bought, on the machines beside it or in the signage for the shelving to indicate that these were ex-display.

Now, I don't buy ex-display. you never know what's been done to them. This is doubly true in the case of laptops where they've been picked up, prodded, shaken and played with by Joe Bloggs & his entire family. Not only that, but the battery has been charged and run through who-knows-how-many cycles during its time on the shelf. More than most items ex-display laptops are second-hand goods and a feeble 10% discount is not enough to make me want one. When asked if I still wanted the machine I said only if they were prepared to offer a more substantial discount on it. I got the bog-standard reply about discounts not being under the control of anyone in the store and told all they could offer me was to remove the password.

So we still don't have a laptop and won't be shopping in Tescos again. Asda customer service is so much better.

He's Getting a What?!

So Tony Blair's to get the American Medal of Peace, is he? What the hell for?

I mean apart from kissing Dubya's arse, that is.

We all know the world's less safe thanks to these two jokers. Britain is closer to being a police state than at any other time in its history and freedoms are being regularly encroached upon. So it can't be that.

Maybe it's about his job as a middle-east peace envoy.

Oh wait; he's doing nothing about that, either. Sure the Israelis aretrying to flatten Gaza and the Palestinians have been throwing rockets at them, too (not enough to deserve the response, but hey! That's what big countries do to smaller ones), but Tony's too busy giving lectures in the good ol' USofA to go and actually do the bloody job.

Speaking of which, isn't it nice of him to admit that the booming economy over which he presided was nothing but a big, fat fluke?

La vidéo ukulélé du jour: Kuricorder Quartet - Imperial March

La vidéo ukulélé du jour: Kuricorder Quartet - Imperial March


The Emperor would not be impressed and he's certainly not as forgiving as I am because I think this is hysterical.

Quelle surprise

So, I emailed 'Lucky' Jack. I got a very typical politician's response which, you'll notice, doen's actually answer the question I asked which was "Given that you will no longer be able to commit 100% of your time to being an MSP, will you be taking a commensurate cut in remuneration from the Parliament?" Here's the answer:

Thank you for your email to Jack McConnell MSP. Mr McConnell has asked me to pass on the response below to you:

My new role will be part time and it will involve discussions with the UN, the EU, the African Union, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and others to promote and secure agreement for more effective international action, peace keeping and post conflict reconstruction. It is a very exciting role and I hope you will share my view that this is a serious issue requiring urgent attention.

This role is part time and I will be continuing as an MSP. I will also personally continue to support Scottish initiatives in Malawi whenever possible. Please note that my new position will be unpaid.

Not terribly candid.

Cowards

BBC NEWS | Scotland | McConnell post averts by-election

We know they're in a mess and you know my opinion of McConnell, but this begs one question:

If he's going to be jetting of around the world as a part-time diplomat (Jack diplomatic?) does that mean he'll be taking a cut in his salary as an MSP as he clearly won't be doing the job full-time?

I Don't Believe It!

I can't believe they've let Mandy back into government.

I also can't legally say the things I think about the man, but in my opinion he's not fit to hold his own dick never mind high office.

FFS! #173

BBC NEWS | England | Cumbria | TV-viewing lorry driver sentenced

I wonder if they checked to see if he had the files legally. Then they could possibly have hit this complete twat again.

Hopefully he wasn't a fannish person because this is just the kind of thing that gets the rest of us a bad name.

Mind you, if, as has been widely reported, it was the 80's version it doesn't really need a lot of attention to follow it... Of course, one wonders just how many reporters actually are aware that there is a more modern version?

Aeryn

Some updates of the wean looking cute.

She figured out the spoon at the second feeding. Hasn't mastered it or actually managed to get any food in her mouth, but sheknows what it's for.

Aye right!

MaltaToday

An interesting article on the mince spouted by creationists. In this case that Dinosaurs helped build the pyramids. Read, laugh, realise that these bampots are putting this rubbish into the minds of children as young as four and despair of governments somired in political correctness that they're not protecting our children.

Review: Clone Wars

It's fun, certainly, but is quite a bit further down the path of made for kids than even Return of the Jedi went.

There are moments where your expectations are decidedly jarred. The first being that, as this is distributed by Warner Bros; and not 20th Century Fox it doesn't have the Fox Fanfare opening it and, somehow, that's just weird. That piece of music, iconic in its' own right, has always been apart of the opening of a Star Wars film. Speaking of music Clone Wars doesn't even have John Williams' theme, but a variation on it. This is tinny, thin and lacks the majesty indicating this cartoon's real place in the world which is a TV movie. Much of the incidental music is a sort of cross between world music and mild rock which is fine of itself but, again, just isn't Star Wars.

Whilst we're on the beginning, there's no opening crawl, either. Instead it's a voice-over done in that cheesy American style which the old serials might well have had. Here, though, it just seems to be pandering to an audience who don't want to take the time to read.

Much of the advance rumour mill suggested that this movie would be a bridge into the new series which is to be set, apparently, between episodes 3 & 4. The rumours were wrong as this is set between Episodes 2 & 3 where it should have had a great chance for fleshing out Anakin's story and how he dealt with the aftermath of his mother's death and his response to it, certainly his first steps on the dark path to becoming a Sith. What did they make of this opportunity? "I don't want to talk about my past." says Anakin to his new padawan. Talk about a waste.

Actually, let's talk about waste. Padme barely appears, preventing any development of her relationship with Anakin, the politics (barring some drivel about the Hutts controlling space trade routes in the Outer Regions) are all-but ignored so there's no advancement of the overall situation and Obi-Wan & Anakin are kept apart so there's no sense of growing conflict between them. So the Star Wars Saga goes even further down the road of shallow spectacle. It's really little more than an excuse for one battle after another.

The good news is that it does that well. The battles are well-staged, the animation sumptuous and the voice acting excellent throughout. Indeed, Anakin works better than Hayden Christensen ever managed it. The animation department have gone for a style which often leaves visible 'brush strokes' on backgrounds or 'tool marks' on computer models making the art look more organic and less clinical than is too often the case with computer-generated imagery. That hyper-realism which seems to make things less real is subverted and works incredibly well. Using computers also allows the camera right into the middle of the action on occasion giving a soldier's-eye view of the proceedings.

As always, it's the story that lets it all down a bit.

Anakin fights Dooku again, but there's no real tension to it as you know it can't be resolved until Revenge of the Sith. If you haven't kept up with the comics or novelisations you may be confused by the heroes' familiarity with Asajj Ventress, the apprentice of Count Dooku as she's not explained at all. So much for "Always two there are; master and apprentice." Since Dooku is the Sith apprentice what's Sidious doing letting him have his own? Toe-curling cuteness is provided by the new padawan, clearly meant to be about 13 and fitted with the biggest baby-blue eyes you've seen outside of Jap-anime and a baby Hutt. Yep, you read right; a cute Hutt.

The whole thing with the Hutts is the most aggravating thing about the whole premise. Sadly, the franchise is going the Star Trek (and more recently Doctor Who) route of constantly shoehorning previous characters in where they're not needed. It began with Boba Fett into Ep 4's special edition which had the effect of reducing him from one of the galaxy's most feared bounty hunters into a standard minion followed by stuffing Chewbacca into Revenge of the Sith just because fans wanted to see him back.

Please stop listening to bloody focus groups.

Here it has resulted in giving the Hutts, and Jabba in particular, far too much power in the grand scheme. The Hutts are crime lords, not galactic potentates. Surely it wouldn't have been too hard to come up with the head of some galactic fiefdom with real value or strategic importance than stretching to having the Republic and the Jedi prepared to deal with Jabba? Don't get me started on Jabba's gay cousin from New Orleans, either. Other than pointing out that it meant requiring Padme to have an almost inside knowledge of the Hutt's family structure and where to find this cousin (Uncle? I really was past caring).

In short a movie which is to Star Wars what those digital roller coasters are to thrill rides; fine but not as good, as memorable or as much fun as the real thing.

Vroom!

I bought a new car today!

Well, I say new. It's not, of course, but it's new to us. After several months of trying to make public transport work with a baby we decided we'd had enough. So I'm now the owner of a fairly beat-up silver Rover 25. It'll do me for a year until I get my test passed and my insurance down, although the latter wasn't nearly as bad as I expected it to be. That's not to say that I actively enjoyed the amount of money I shelled out today and I've hardly begun.

The tax is due up in November, it needs body work and a full valet. It has, at least, just been serviced and had its MOT done. Picking it up tomorrow.

I had been planning on buying a Honda Jazz, but they're still too dear and with the new model coming out in January the current model prices will fall then. Or if I'm making more money then I might buy something a bit bigger come renewal time. I did go and look at one at Arnold Clark's, but the whole process of dealing with them just put me off. Even having a connection to the salesman didn't make it a much more pleasant experience. I just don't like some of the thingsd they do. Like refusing to accept a personal cheque for the deposit despite it being on their list of accepted payment methods. Like having to give them a deposit to test drive a car in the first place. Mostly like their refusal to refund my deposit to my card but I have to wait for a cheque from them!

Bastards!

Passengers to be fingerprinted at British airports - Computeractive

Passengers to be fingerprinted at British airports - Computeractive

This really smacks of another step towards a police state in the name of fighting terrorism.

Every passenger photographed and fingerprinted on every journey? It really is nothing short of tracking teh movements of the populace. How long is it likely to be before we're bening asked to justify our reasons for making the trip? Then it's travel permits.

Sound paranoid? It does to me, too, but then I never thought I'd be getting fingerprinted every time I wanted to fly to London. Read that bit about the Home Office saying 'it would not be responsible in “satisfying the Information Commissioner that the right data protection is in place". and that it would "use its powers...to push the proposals through." In other words, sod what we want this sub-agency of the Home Office can do what it likes to our freedoms with impunity.

Animated avatar

USC Lab Creates 3-D Holographic Displays, Brings TIE Fighters to Life | Gadget Lab from Wired.com

This is phenomenally cool. Make sure you look at the youtube video at the end.

USC Lab Creates 3-D Holographic Displays, Brings TIE Fighters to Life | Gadget Lab from Wired.com

How to Waste Money

Don't you just love how expensive political correctness is?

£100,000 police hunt for 'terror' suit to fit over turban

A police project that involved spending £100,000 helping a Sikh officer find a chemical and biological attack suit to fit over his turban and beard has been described as "ridiculous". The junior officer, who has not been named, encountered problems trying to join West Midlands Police's counter-terrorist operation support unit because he could not fit protective gear over his religious headwear and beard. Police chiefs decided to let him spend 18 months trying to find new respirators and helmets suitable for Sikhs. But after failing to come up with an alternative he was restored to his regular role – only to go on long-term sick leave for stress. The cost of the 18-month project has been estimated at £100,000 and has been criticised for being a "ridiculous" waste of taxpayers' cash.

The Telegraph

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/2136162/andpound100%2C000-police-hunt-for-%27terror%27-suit-to-fit-over-turban.html

Catching Up

So I'm in the new job, which is ticking over nicely and is about as much of a skive as I expectred it to be. The folk are pretty nice the customers are fine and the troubles from the neds arent' too terrible so far. That last includes being water-bombed towards the close of business the other day. Too stupid to realise that we were watching him & that he'd been logged into a PC immediately beforehand so bye-bye internet access. Chump!

I'm heartened to see how many people actually use the place, although a very high proportion are only there for internut access. Two stories, both sad in their own way.

One wee boy came in, sat quietly readin in the corner until closing and then asked us to keep the book behind the counter for him. "Why not take it home?" I asked. "Because my dad slags me off for being a geek if I take books home." says he.
Community police officers came in. Not to see us, so one of them could use the internet to book his holidays. Yep, whilst on duty. During the conversation at the counter about why he needed a membership to get on the computers he announces -proudly- that he "...tried to read a book once about fifteen years ago. Got about three words into it and that was enough." Makes you weep for the state of our polis, doesn't it?
Oh yeah! Before I forget. Typically, I've had more auditions & work since I semi-retired that I have in the past year.
Aeryn's doing really well. Had her first innoculations - a month late - and her six-week checkup - six weeks late. The joys of centralised organisation!
She's trying to sit up, is grasping & reaching for things and beginning to 'talk' and laugh. She has a smile that could melt the heart of a Thatcherite, too. Whatever the day's been like being greeted with the radiance of her biggest, cheesiest grins makes the world just disappear.

Finally!

I started at the library last week.

Only three months after being offered the post.

Yes, it is about as big a skive as I imagined it would be, and I've laready threatened a ned with being booted out.

Quick Update (again)

It's amazing how little time I'm spending online these days. True, it's not all Aeryn's fault but it is mostly due to just not getting time to sit & do stuff. You should see how much TV is on the HDD recorder. Something tells me we're never going to get through the backlog of DVDs, either.

So what's new? Frankly, nothing. Still waiting to start at the library, although it has been confirmed that I'll be at Elderpark. If I ever start.

Aeryn broke the 12lb mark this week and has figured out how to roll over. She doesn't do it much so far, but can do it when she wants. She's still both colicky & a bit congested, but taking her in to a steamy bathroom is helping with that. The doc wants us to give her amoxycillin for it, but I think we'll give her a few days longer with the steam. Last thing I want is to discover she has an allergy now. At least I know what to look for having spent the past week doing the medical roleplay concerning it. Our doc failed the test as he didn't mention any potential side-effects of the drug. Since teeny-bash already has a bit of a rash just now we'd have a hard time telling what was causing it if she did have trouble with the drug.

New pics should be on Flickr soon.

We bought Aeryn her first two books the other day. This one, Goodnight Panda is her favourite so far. The idea of a glove puppet & book combined just worked so well we thought we had to have it. The fact that it's predominantly black & white (which is best for Aeryn's eyesight right now) made it even better. She seems to be fondest of the zebra and the cat as they're the ones she grabs.

Or does that mean she hates them & wants to rip their heads off?

She also had her first visit to the doctor on Saturday.

After a couple of colicy days she suddenly developed large, very hard lumps in her breasts. She actually looked like she had hit puberty already. Putting the two things together made us really worried, so we called NHS24 who sent us off to the emergency surgery.

All was well, though, as it's apparently quite common and hormone-related.

We reserve the right to be worried parents, though.

She's been unsettled again tonight & won't stop feeding so there may well be a rough night ahead...

Quick update

I've just not had a moment to sit down & post properly of late. I've been going days without hitting the power-switch on the PC. Then when I do my inbox is full of clutter I have to wade through to get to the good stuff. Anyway, a quick note to say all's well. Aeryn's not as perfect as before, but I reckon that's down to us still trying to figure out her needs and get the right routine for her. Mind you, by anyone's standards one feed per night is pretty good.

I've set up a Picassa web album alongside the Flickr one, because Picassa works better off the desktop.

Still waiting for the library to start, but got a few days on River City in the meantime. Which I'm off to now...