David Artiss

My personal blog

Waterstones are correct!

Big news today… Waterstones has dropped the apostrophe from its name <gasp>. From some responses you’d think the world was coming to an end (apt as it’s 2012 – cats and dogs living together, etc).

The chairman of the Apostrophe Society (I really can’t believe it exists) John Richards has condemned the change, calling it “just plain wrong” and “grammatically incorrect”.

But, is it?

The original Waterstone’s was named after its found, Tim Waterstone. Hence the ‘s on the end of the name indicates that it’s his shop. But it’s not now. It’s just a title. Hence, you can do whatever you want with it and it’s grammatically correct. Surely?

Noise Republic – their new album now available for download

Noise Republic, a rather fine rock band from Nottingham, have released their first album – Now Is Our Time. I have a physical copy myself, but you can also now download it from Bandcamp.com. The entire album is just £3.99.

To the right you can sample the album and, if you like it, buy it!

The album was actually recorded in 2009 but other commitments and a change on the band’s line-up delayed things somewhat.

They’re not manufactured, write their own songs and play their own instruments – what’s not to like? Hell, they even designed the artwork.

Follow Noise Republic on Facebook or Twitter, where you can also find where they’re playing next. Their “official” website is on MySpace. Alternatively, view their own YouTube channel.

Children In Need 2011 – Tweets from a call centre!

This Friday is Children in Need night – an opportunity to donate and raise money for a very worthy cause.

Last year I worked at one of the UK call centres taking donations. I’d not done it before (although I’d been wanting to do it for years) and had the late shift – until 2am! It was great fun and I took lots of donations. Sadly, it all seemed to be over too quickly so, this year, I’m doing a “Lionel” (as in Ritchie). i.e. I’ll be working “all night long” from 6:30pm until 2am.

If you wish to donate, please do so here.

On the night I’m going to Tweet updates and pictures, so follow my personal Twitter feed if you wish to know more! There’ll be no details (or pictures) of people who donate, as all that is private, but it will give you an idea of what happens “behind the scenes”.

Me and my Nikon

If you’re a WordPress developer you may have come across John O’Nolan, who works on GUI elements for WordPress. However, he describes himself more fully as “a designer, entrepreneur, speaker, author, photographer”.

Anyway, he recently made a big decision about his life. He’s young, unattached and talented and loves travelling. So, he decided to sell pretty much everything he owns and just head o

ff into the world, camera and laptop in his backpack. I’m sure he’ll do well.

Meantime, he’s been selling many of his more precious items via Twitter auctions. His final one, last Friday, was his beloved Nikon D40. A few years old but in very good condition. And, I’m happy to say, I won the auction and have the camera in my possession now. And it is lovely – my first SLR too.

So, expect the quality of my photography to slowly improve ;)

And I wish John all the best of luck for the future – but I’m sure he doesn’t need it.

Why am I no good at poker?

Poker was, is, and I’m sure will be for some time to come, extremely popular. Many discount card games as merely games of luck rather than skill, but as someone who has played dominoes and draughts (no, I’m not kidding) to quite a high standard in the past, I know that’s not true. It’s not as immediately thought-provoking and cerebral as Chess but, because there is an element of chance, the real skill is being able to deal with whatever comes your way.

All of this would suggest I’m good at poker. I certainly have the right facial ability for it. Sadly, like chess, I’m a real amateur – indeed, less than I am with chess. I’ve played with friends but have to be reminded of the rules each time. And then I usually lose quite quickly.

For an analytical thinking, logical IT professional it’s a bit of a blow.

It’s not the gambling element which invariably goes along with it either that puts me off – I’m no gambler (insert your own “and I’ll bet you £5 I’m not” joke here). I can understand the rules too. I think it’s down to the fact that I’m turned off by anything where I can’t work out the skill and I haven’t played enough poker games to hone that (a bit of a catch 22 there I guess).

When I wasn’t playing dominoes endlessly with my gran as I grew up I was playing patience (or solitaire, as it’s mainly known). No, there wasn’t much in the way of entertainment back then. My Solitaire average is 40% – that is, I win 40% of all games I play. The average, in comparison, where no skill is involved is less than 9%.

Maybe the only conclusion I can come to from all of this is to play more poker. I’ll probably avoid the games that involve money as, at my current skill level, I’d lose an awful lot. But getting together with a bunch of mates with drinks, snacks and poker sounds like a good day to wile away the occasional evening.

Moving Home

Picture courtesy of Practise

Last week I moved home, which inevitably meant that the site would be quiet. Little did I realise how quiet (see my following posts!).

I have some tips for anybody moving…

  1.  Be specific when you mark your  boxes – especially at the end when contents tend to be “assorted”. After the move I found my PVR in a box in the bedroom marked “lamp shades” (which it did also contain). Who’d have thought?
  2. Create a box containing essentials to get you through the day and take it yourself. Assume you won’t find anything else and will need to live from the contents of this box.
  3. Don’t help the removal men – it’s going to be a hard enough day as it is, let them do the job they’re best at. But give them drinks.
  4. Check the removal T&Cs. Mine were handed to me on the day. I don’t even know where they are now and I certainly didn’t read them. If I had, I’d have known that breakages have to be reported by post within a week of the move. I didn’t know this until today, one week after the move. Now I’m stuffed.
  5. No matter how the day goes, keep your cool – it will soon be over.

But I’m in and most boxes are unpacked. There’s now a lot of furniture to buy for a much larger house!

One holiday later…

If anybody noticed a lack of output from me last week it’s because I was enjoying a holiday! Because of my increasing online presense, I don’t feel it sensible to announce when I’m not around (I’m sure some burglars would have liked to have known). As it turned out, during a week of looting, it was more sensible then I even realised :D

Anyway, I took my family to Norfolk – more specifically to a family-friendly complex of cottages just outside Great Yarmouth.

Lower Wood Farm cottages has an indoor swimming pool (and, boy, is it heated!), games room and outdoor play area. There are 5 cottages available, sleeping 4 to 9 people. Certainly, if Norfolk is for you and you have children to keep entertained, I’d highly recommend it.

The nearest big seaside resort is Great Yarmouth and it IS a proper resort – all fish and chip shops and arcades. It’s also very windy. The beach is quite stony and the sea goes quite far out. We found the beach at Caister-on-Sea to be better – quieter, only the occasional ice cream shop and the sea was nearer!

However, if you do visit Great Yarmouth, we’d recommend the Sea Life Centre and, for a bite to eat, Friends bistro & bar. Friends is off the main high street and is a welcome change to McDonalds and KFC. The ladies who work there were friendly and the food very nice (and big portions too).

Anyway, I’m now back and raring to go – more on plans in a later post!

Todays BBC/Sky F1 news

In a quick break from the tech for a moment, I just wanted to comment on today’s news about the UK TV rights to the Formula One.

For those unaware, the BBC and Sky Sports will broadcast Formula 1 in the UK between 2012 and 2018. All of this has happened before the BBC’s contract expires after the 2013 season.

From next year Sky Sports will show every race, qualifying session and practice live and BBC Sport will broadcast half the races live, as well as the qualifying and practice sessions from those races.

Now, I’m not a sporty person and I don’t watch it either, but I don’t mind watching F1 and there’s something particularly nice and watching a live race in its entirety on a Sunday. To hear that I’ll now only be able to enjoy half is annoying. I’m not a Sky subscriber and, if I was, I certainly wouldn’t be able to justify a monthly extra subscription to the Sports channel just for the sake of every other F1 race.

I think it was summed up nicely by this joke from SniffPetrol…

Make the next GP feel like it’s on Sky by throwing £30 away and then turning your TV off every 10 minutes.

And, more seriously, they also took the opportunity to produce some interesting statistics, for all those who are saying that the BBC had to do this to save money…

Alleged cost of F1 rights per year: £45m. Alleged cost of moving BBC depts (including Sport) to Salford: £900m

Approximate cost of F1 rights per year: £45m. Approximate cost of BBC3 per year: £115m. Re-runs of Two Pints Of Lager all round!

I think I’ve worked out why car insurance is so expensive

Image courtesy of ZoofyTheJi

Car insurance is pretty expensive. And getting more so year-on-year.

I’ve just renewed mine and although I’ve gone another without any claims or indeed anything happening that could affect my insurance, it’s gone up. In an ideal world you’d expect the opposite.

So, let’s just see how I got that insurance.

I went via Quidco, as I could get cashback from MoneySupermarket.com. MoneySupermarket.com put me onto Hastings Essentials. Hastings Essentials are a broker and, on the paperwork they’ve provided, state that my insurance is with “Advantage Ins”. If that’s the Advantage Insurance I think it is, they’re described as “an independent marketing organization that delivers products and services from insurance companies to its member firms in the Independent Brokerage Distribution Channel.” In other words, another broker. At some point at the end I suspect is an insurer. Somewhere.

So, here’s the chain…

  • Cashback website – Quidco
  • Cashback comparison site – MoneySupermarket.com
  • Broker – Hastings Essentials
  • Broker – Advantage Insurance
  • Insurer (we assume)

With each takings they own cut, is it any wonder how much we’re paying? Sadly, I don’t save any by going any more directly – the Hastings Essentials quote is no different if I go to their website or via MoneySupermarket, so I may as well make use of the £20 cashback I’d get from Quidco.

Of course, there are some who shun cashback and comparison sites – Aviva and Directline for example. However (and try and work this one out) their quotes were astronomical compared to what I got elsewhere.