Dongleology

I've got a Vodafone mobile internet dongle that I use when I'm away from home. Staying in a Travelodge in the East End of London, I'm surrounded by high buildings, and even though I get a nice blue 3G signal, it seems to drop out if the dongle is moved an inch or if the wind blows or if anything moves anywhere in England.

I've solved the problem as per the attached photo. Basically you put a dongle in an empty coffee mug. This is bizarre enough, but it seems to work even better if you leave the spoon in the cup too.

Sometimes you solve problems with science - sometimes you just need to stick your dongle in a mug.

Radiohead Free Stan

You never really grasp a Radiohead album the first time you hear  it, so I'm not in total shock that I'm not immediately bowled over by their eighth offering "King of Limbs".

The album it most resembles is "In Rainbows".

But without a track as strong as "The Reckoner".

And much, much. much, much shorter.

Let me listen to a couple of dozen times and I will report back.

Meanwhile I recommend  Track 6 "Codex" and Track 8 "Separator" - these two are likely  to be coming to an upscale coffee house near you real soon. They're both definitely well crafted and tonal - superior chillout music. Too early to tell yet if they're anything more important than that.

Confidence and Paranoia

New Radiohead album due out at the weekend !
New Radiohead album may suck and I'll be as depressed as ... er .. the average Radiohead fan.

Bolton Wanderers may qualify for the UEFA cup !
The following season, the overstretched squad inevitably flirt with relegation

Low interest rates !
High inflation rates

"Horizon" - Consistently excellent factual science on the BBC (get it on iplayer now !)
"Outcasts" - Consistently blooming mediocre science-fiction on the BBC (avoid, avoid)

A cyclist's observation

If you can get a bike down both sides of your car, then your car is not parked; rather it has been carelessly abandoned in the middle of the road.

8 day week

Our administration team has been slashed over the last few years and the few remaining staff are good people who work very hard for little money to remove the many obstacles in the way of us doing what we do.

The following email though suggests that maybe the increased workload is starting to take its toll :-

Is anyone available for a Saturday Court on Friday 19th February please?