We have now moved house, from Coventry to Redditch. The move has gone OK – a few little things: Removal firm turned up late Removal firm worried that not everything would fit in lorrry Last owners hadn’t moved out Problem with getting furniture into house Burglar Alarm went off Boxes from floor to ceiling – […]

Now that the UK has gone Smokefree it is mandatory for public buildings to have No Smoking signs and it is against the law to smoke in public buildings. Enforcement of this is down to the local authorities. I went to the Walsall Illuminations at the weekend (a proper review will be in a future […]

The NSPCC “Be the Full Stop” campaign encourages people to help the NSPCC. There are a number of “clicks” that can be done from the website each of which help the NSPCC. For the reason this is so important see the NSPCC click video advert. The advert is quite hard hitting featuring a young child […]

The larger newsagents are selling a Linux Format Special Edition magazine on OpenOffice.org. The magazine is not just aimed at Linux users, but also caters for Windows and MacOS users as well. If you get the opportunity to buy one of these before they sell out then I suggest you do. Although most of the […]

It seams that every-time Microsoft release a new version of software they always manage to add a new features that really bugs you. In this case (as it was with Windows XP SP2) Microsoft has introduced an anti-productivity feature, in fact to say it just bugs me would be generous as that doesn’t indicate the […]

Keeping young children entertained on long car journeys is a challenge. I should know, driving my toddler daughter for a 30 to 60 minute drive between home and nursery each day. Our daughter loves drawing, but giving her crayons in the car generally means that they end up all over the car. So seeing a […]

According to a recent announcement from Sony – almost all Media / MP3 players users are pirates. In fact it doesn’t stop there but implies that anyone that uses iTunes or other computer software to manage their songs are also pirates. In fact this even includes buyers of Sony Walkman Video MP3 players. Perhaps Sony […]

One of the advantages of Linux (UNIX) over some other operating systems is that it can be maintained on the command line, and hence is useful for accessing over a modem or serial connection (e.g. via a Baytech or Terminal Server device). The problem is that there are so many different standards for RS232 cabling, […]

The first Toy Review: V.smile Baby – Computer Console for Babies and Young Children from vtech, was mainly a technical description as we’d only recently bought it. The second provides some information if the connector doesn’t work on your TV – Update to Toy Review: V.smile Baby – TV Games Console for Toddlers from vtech. […]

The refurbishment has gone ahead and the museum is now a huge improvement on what it was before. I’m not sure if it is completely finished, I think there were plans to move or refurbish the cafe, but other than that most of the exhibits seam to be in their final destinations. I must say that I am very impressed by the new exhibits that have been completed since I was last there. This includes a road layout with an Ambulance donated by Warwickshire St John Ambulance, a mini showing how the tunnel scenes for the original Italian Job (the one starring Michael Cane) were actually filmed in Coventry, and an example of a production line.