Friday 25 February 2011

OpenZone hotspots in the Woodbridge area
9-45: hrs. The end of this week marks 18 months since I was diagnosed with Lung cancer. I have some vague sense that this is a sort-of birthday. So a treat is in order. I am now going to wander round some of the hotspots here to see if my netbook will connect to BT OpenZone. There do not seem to be hotspots along the river bank, so I shall visit a few shops and coffee bars and take it as a good sign if it does not rain and a bonus if there is a sunny interval.

Thursday 24 February 2011

17-20 hrs: My small part of the Joomla! documentation project - - progresses. This might be the most important thing I have written - -  ever.

I have now done a bunch of 'How to - -' do things documents about starting to use Joomla! They are not finished because they are never finished. They are in the same format as Wikipedia - so I can go on editing them for ever. Unlike a book - they don't get copy-edited but they do get seen rather sooner.

I have spent a lot of time editing and writing these - which is one reason I have not written as many blogs as I would have liked. They are due to be released into the wild - that is to say - linked from the main Joomla! site - maybe the end of the week. This is the importance because thousands of people use the site.

Joomla! is free at the point of download. It is a Content Management System - used for - um - managing the content and layout of lots of web sites world-wide. Some small business, clubs, associations use it - as do bigger outfits. More on this and the ecosystem that is Joomla! in another post.

And the small logos - well - I had no sooner finished the main text than - guess what - they released a new version which is significantly different. So much angst about how to write for both in one go. Infact I am writing two different pathways (ie versions) to avoid frightening the audience.

Friday 18 February 2011

11-20 hrs: Into the sunset of retirement - - you know who you are - -  I am sorry not to join you for the parties and celebrations. I am there in spirit. Enjoy them all - and what you have worked for so long and so hard - - .

Thursday 17 February 2011

Tender to Lookfar
17-20 hrs: admire- - ready for the summer exploration of East Anglian rivers.
I have been after a small tender for the boat for ages - the concept is to be able to row ashore short distances without getting wet.

All I need now is - energy to paint rudder - energy to clean hull - energy to put anti fouling on hull - money to get a few luxuries - nice weather  -- and away I go - -

Wednesday 9 February 2011

Snowdrops encircle a fine horse-chestnut tree in local woodland.
9-50 hrs:  Note the sunshine in the background. There are other signs of spring - winter aconites, swelling buds, catkins;  but no sailing activity on the river yet.

I continue to fettle boats, visit the gym for a new and better regime, visit the river banks and ponder the future, alongside the usual domestic trivia. Most of my focus is on the Joomla! documentation project - of which more later.

Thursday 3 February 2011

12-20 hrs: See resonance from Monday

I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;
....
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock, T.S. Eliot
================== and then =============
Poem in Memoriam T. S Eliot, Adrian Henry
I'd been out the night before & hadn't seen the papers or the telly
& next day in a cafe someone told me you had died
....
and I did not know what to feel

For years I measured out my life with your coffeespoons

9-25 hrs. Instead of working on Joomla! I am watching this - Bell Rock - http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00y6hym/The_Lighthouse_Stevensons/

Wednesday 2 February 2011

Forests

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing
This may or maynot have been said by Burke - but apply it to forests.

The plan to sell forests - a really bad thing.

It is selling the family silver (or in this case wood - but no less valued) 

Tuesday 1 February 2011

Happy birthday Bell Rock lighthouse - 200 years old today

The Bell Rock in 2006 - at high water -  from Iris May on the way  from Peterhead to Anstruther.
19-50 hrs: This does justice to the grandeur - but not to the rough sea that day. But I recall it as a fine sail and put it here in celebration of 200 years since it was completed. Work had started in 1807. Amazing.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00y6hym/The_Lighthouse_Stevensons/