vi in my fingertips October 27, 2006
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Miscellany , add a commentI first learned to use the Unix visual editor, vi, in 1987 and it was old then. Before mouses, or even the wide range of keys on modern keyboards, vi was developed to allow files to be edited with a full screen, a huge improvement on the older line editors (ed, ex and, for dos types, edlin). All commands are via short, sometimes cryptic, keystrokes. dw deletes a word, ~ changes the case of the current character, 2>> indents the next two lines by a tabstop. If you actually want to insert text, you go into insert mode with :i. A silly game to play is to type your name in and see what happens.
A couple of weeks ago, I was offered some work supporting a website written in php and mysql. I needed to use their tool, rather than HTML-kit which I use for my own websites, and they gave me terminal access to the machine running the system. And so, for virtually the first time in 10 years, I find myself using vi again.
I still have the crib-card from my first Unix course, and started trying to remember all those cryptic commands. After an hour or so, I was stunned to realise that I was using it fluently, while barely thinking about it. Somehow, my fingers remember and that arcane, esoteric knowledge has surfaced from the dim recesses in which it had lurked all these years.
I’d forgotten how fast and efficient it is to keep your fingers on the keyboard, never moving to mouse or menu. And how satisfying it is to work on code, seeing it develop before your eyes. Its a role I’ve long moved away from, but this short interlude is deeply satisfying, like coming home.
A brief reply to Sheikh Taj el-Din al-Hilali October 26, 2006
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Miscellany , 1 comment so farThe mufti of Australia, reported in the BBC (from The Australian) as saying, with reference to women who do not wear the hijab:
“If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside…
and the cats come and eat it… whose fault is it, the cats’ or the
uncovered meat?” he asked.
Sheikh Taj el-Din al-Hilali, my cat would eat the meat. But she is a dumb animal. Are you seriously suggesting that men are so lacking in self control or basic human decency that they are comparable to the animal who takes every temptation placed before it? Are you yourself perhaps as unable to control your appetites as a cat? You have insulted women, but far more deeply, you have insulted men.
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Recycling in Camden October 23, 2006
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Camden, Environment , add a commentThis blog has had a visit from Councillor Alexis Powell, Lib Dem and ‘Eco Champion’ of Camden Council with a lengthy comment on the best posts page. Its interesting to see how the new Camden Council are dealing with green issues, particularly as Green councillors have been elected. The new Sustainability Task Force is apparently intending to suggest policy, rather than be a scrutiny committee, although exactly how it sits within the Council is still not entirely clear.
Camden Council is proud of its recycling record, though its hard to see why given our low rates of recycling compared to many parts of Europe. We’re better than most in London, but that’s hardly a major achievement.
One of the reasons recycling is poor is a policy which says that bins will only be given to buildings with six or less homes in them, therefore eliminating doorstep recycling as an option for many people who live in larger blocks of flats. The usual ‘health and safety’ nonsense is cited, as if it is more difficult to take away bags of recyclable material than bags of rubbish. I’ve questioned that, and have now been promised a visit from a ‘Recycling Officer’ within two weeks, so it will be interesting to see where that leads.
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Torchwood October 22, 2006
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Reviews , 1 comment so farFor years after I moved to England, I didn’t have a TV, and I never really missed it. You get out of the habit, and I listen to the radio, read books, surf the net instead of watching the telly. I did regret not seeing the occasional series, particularly the new Dr Who, and sometimes felt I’d missed an essential cultural experience, never having seen Big Brother or I’m a Celebrity. A few weeks ago, I finally succumbed and bought a TV dongle for the laptop, which gives me everything that’s available on Freeview, including the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and quite a few others.
Tonight, the first episode of the Dr Who spinoff, Torchwood, screened. Its good Sunday night viewing, very light, a bit silly but lots of fun and starring some nice eye candy in Captain John Harkness. It won’t have you hiding behind the couch, nor is it is compelling as the X Files, but its worth watching.
This first episode was a double bill, with PC Gwen Cooper being recruited to the Torchwood team after accidently seeing an evil alien tear the throat out of a hospital porter, and then an alien taking over the body of a woman and killing men by having sex with them. Its definitely beyond-the-watershed stuff, but not very serious, clearly aiming at those of us who liked Dr Who first time round and are still quite happy with simplistic plots so long as the aliens and gadgets are good enough.
I’m glad to see the BBC are making good use of my brand new TV licence fee.
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This Thing of Darkness, Harry Thompson October 15, 2006
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Reviews , add a comment
This book brings the scientific discoveries which led to that mind-shifting change to life, describing the voyage of the Beagle and the friendship, and later enmity, between its captain, Robert FitzRoy and the young Charles Darwin who he takes on board as natural scientist and companion. It’s done as faction - a fictional account heavily drawing on fact - with the conversations between the two and their daily life on board the ship at extremely close quarters dramatised, but with the details of the voyage itself drawn from The Voyage of the Beagle and other factual sources.
By no means does it concentrate on Darwin alone. This is as much a novelised biography of the brilliant but flawed Captain Fitzroy as it is the story of Darwin’s rise. Fitzroy’s contribution to modern meterology, and the shortsightedness of the Admiralty who cut it off just when it might have made Britain a leader in the subject is a poignant chapter and his brief sojourn in New Zealand a sorry but interesting one. His bravery, and his struggle with what appears to be manic-depression , come through strongly.
Normally if I take a beach holiday on my own, I’ll get through 2 or 3 paperbacks in a day, so the fact that this took nearly three days when I was in Crete in June gives an idea of the sheer size and detail of the novel. This one would bear re-reading, so I’ll have to find something of a similar size to give to Amnesty.
Technorati Tags: Darwin, Fitzroy, evolution
Espresso Tales, Alexander McCall Smith October 14, 2006
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Reviews , 1 comment so far
This is another of Alexander McCall Smith’s elegant, thoughtful and somehow relaxingly uplifting novels, set this time in his native Edinburgh. The tales of the residents of 44 Scotland Street weave around each other, sometimes intertwined, sometimes merely meeting on the stairs.
You can’t help but feel sorry for poor wee Bertie, sent to school by his mother in pink dungarees and forced through interminable sessions with the psychotherapist who has more interest in her, and cheer him on when he finally breaks free and tries to go to the local school, even though the attempt ends in disaster.
The narcissistic Bruce is just asking to be ripped off when he decides to go into the fine wine trade, but people do not always get what they seem to deserve, although perhaps Pat MacGregor does, and maybe Matthew and Gordon too.
War Reporting for Cowards, by Chris Ayres October 13, 2006
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Reviews , add a comment
A Hollywood reporter for the Times, used to the rigours of interviewing celebrities and covering first night parties finds himself embedded with the US Marines in Iraq. More or less, he copes.
Its a nice, light book with some interesting insights into the realities of the war in Iraq, and the extent to which an embedded reporter is likely to ‘go native’ with the unit to which he’s attached.
Books everywhere October 12, 2006
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Camden, Reviews , 4 commentsI have a very small flat. I have a lot of books. This is rapidly becoming a problem. I try to give one away for every one I get / buy, but it rarely works that way. When a friend recently moved to Ireland, I ended up with a boxful to distribute to mutual friends, but somehow haven’t quite got around to it. What with that and all the wonderful bookshops here abouts, I am going to end up sleeping in the bathroom soon.
I do try to give them away, either to friends or to the excellent secondhand shop run by Amnesty International just up the road in Eversholt St. Its a worthy cause, and a very good shop. Unfortunately that means that I find myself accidently and quite inexplicably coming out with as many books as I had when I went in.
Sitting before me is a pile of paperbacks. They are going to Amnesty tomorrow, but before they do, I am going to review them for the blog. By the wonders of Wordpress’ facility to create a post for future dates, you’ll see them over the coming week.
Bubbles for a day October 10, 2006
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Travel , 3 commentsEarly on a chilly Parisien autumn morning, I strolled to the Gare de l’Est and caught the train to Reims, the heart of Champagne. With the International Herald Tribune and an espresso in hand, the hour and forty minutes passed quickly and soon we were passing through Epernay with vineyards lining the sloping countryside.
I hadn’t been very organised, apart from looking through some websites before leaving London, so I was at a bit of a loss when I arrived. I know you could visit Tattinger with no appointment, but didn’t have a map or any idea about any of the others.
First stop then was the tourist information office. I figured it would be close to the cathedral, which was badly damaged during both world wars, along with the rest of Reims, and all its stained glass destroyed, but the building has been repaired and it stands looming gigantic over the city. There is a lot to see and do in Reims other than the Champagne houses - excellent museums and the cathedral - but I was here for the bubbles.
With the aid of a map and a bus pass, I managed to see three houses - Piper Heidsieck, Tattinger and Mumms.
The first was Piper Heidsieck, the first French champagne I ever tasted, back in the late ’80s on a wine waiters course I did in New Zealand. French Champagne was extremely expensive and not common in NZ then, at least not for me, and I still remember how it contrasted with the local methode champenoise of the day - dryer and with far smaller, more delicate bubbles.
The tour here is perhaps best described as touristy, if not tacky then definitely a created ‘Champagne Experience’. I don’t believe Piper Heidsieck actually make Champagne in central Reims any more, and instead they have turned the cellars into a series of displays. You buy your ticket and go down about 20 metres underground to the cellars where you board a small electric car and select your language. For the next thirty minutes or so, you are taken through the tunnels, and told the story of Piper Heidsieck and the champagne making process. If you’re on your own, as I was, this is a bit odd as the tunnels are dark. It’s not a trip for the claustrophobic.
Next stop was the venerable, and significantly more upmarket Taittinger. The woman on the door spoke such clear French that I decided to go on a French-speaking tour rather than wait until the afternoon thus rather over-stretching my linguistic abilities, but I managed to follow most of it, I think. This was a proper tour of the caves, down in the chisled limestone parts of which were originally the cellars of the church above, and the house of the Comtes de Champagne. The oldest part of the caves is an excavated pyramid dating back to the 4th century AD.
At about 15m below ground the limestone is permanently damp with mould growing prolifically, and the temperature consistently chilled. Rows upon rows of bottles filled the caverns, stretching out into the dark. Apparently there are 20km of tunnels here, filled with Champagne.
My third, and final, stop was at Mumm. This tour placed far more emphasis on the production of Champagne, and the industrial processes behind it. The house is a little out of the city, near the station, and it is clearly a working factory with great stainless steel vats which the other houses hide carefully from visitors view. Like Tattinger, it was a proper tour of the cellars, as well as a small museum of machines used in champagne-making, such as this device for moving the sediment into the neck of the bottles so that it can be frozen and expelled.
Of course, every tour ends with a tasting, though I seem to have caught the poor tour guide at an odd moment here.
A coffee for your portfolio? October 9, 2006
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Investing , add a commentIts time to start thinking about my share investments again, after I’ve left them be over the summer. The Little Green Portfolio of green shares in my SIPP has become rather more little, with all the stocks languishing sadly.
Back in March, when I first started my SIPP, I put together some guidelines for myself in picking shares. I think the mistake I made was not to consider whether the share I was contemplating adding to the portfolio was at a peak price anyway. Most of the ones I bought were at alltime highs, and that may be part of why they haven’t recovered although the market itself has.
I’m now thinking about another purchase, not for my SIPP, but for my ISA. That means it can’t be an AIM listed stock, but has to be from the main market. A company I’m considering is Caffe Nero.
Caffe Nero were founded in the late nineties, and with a chain of just under 300 shops throughout the United Kingdom is the smallest of the three main coffee companies. Their main competitors are Costa Coffee and Starbucks, though of course they complete in the general leisure market as well, against local coffee shops and probably pubs too. Their coffee is stronger and, in my opinion at least, rather better than either of the other two.
The coffee shop market in the UK is expanding, and dominated by the chains, in contrast to the more traditional coffee markets in Europe which are dominated by independent stores. According to Allegra, there is still considerable room for growth in the UK. They have mooted plans to expand into Northern Europe and the Middle East, though nothing has happened on that front yet.
Their recent results are good, and they are now generating sufficient cash to fund their expansion plans from trading. There is also a possible management buyout in the wind, with the founder wanting to take the company private. For these reasons, Investors Chronicle tipped them this week.
Looking at the share price chart for this over the last few months leaves me worried though. The price has just passed an all-time high of 264, and overall it performed much more miserably over the summer months than the rest of the sector. The good results last week don’t seem to have helped the price much.
I think I’ll leave this one for the time being.
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