Bobby's Journal

Well, back

2007-02-27T19:31:25Z

Back from Redemption 07, and signed up for Eastercon 08 and Redemption 09. Will consider eastercon 09, see how the money flows.

New Pocket Watch!

2006-08-14T19:21:45Z

Just got myself a nice new pocket watch :)

£0.01 - plus £6.95 in postage and insurance :) Still, good value and I'm glad to have it.

Cute Ducklings!

2006-05-11T22:12:54Z

I was on my way out of work, when I saw, in the pond/fountain at work, a family of ducklings. So very cute, I just had to stop and take a photograph of them to show you all!

More mac!

2006-03-31T07:37:07Z

The world domination of Apple continues!

I've just ordered myself a new Mac Mini (to go with my old Mac Mini!)

All this started just from buying an iPod! Macs are addictive, I tell you.

Countries

2005-10-18T12:16:08Z

Countries I've visitied - all 5!

create your own visited countries map

Photos!

2005-03-29T14:05:24Z

The URL for my Eastercon Photos is Eastercon 2005

Eastercon 2005

2005-03-29T13:42:11Z

Well, I'm on the train traveling back from Paragon 2 - the 2005 Eastercon. It's been a fun con, and I've enjoyed myself immensly. Not to say that there haven't been the occational quirk, but in all I've had a good con, and I'm looking forward to my next Eastercon eagerly.

The hotel was Hinkley Island Hotel, and the staff there have been very good. They have been helpful and supportive of the con, and have treated us well, overall. Hinkley Island is getting a good reputation as a hotel to run cons in, and I know that both Redemption and Discworld plan to return. The food was good, and plentiful. The bar was pleasant, and (so long as you were happy with the Con specials) cheap. Unfortunately, if you weren't into bottled real beer, the prices were more in line with what you'd expect from a hotel in this area.

The con itself was good; there were several interesting panels every day and I never felt bored, or without something to do. People were friendly, though not as willing to talk to new people as the Redemption con members, so I ended up talking a lot with the people I met at Redemption. Still, there were many friendly people, and I had a good time. Curiously, when arriving or leaving, people are far more willing to talk, and I chatted with more new people while waiting for taxis and trains then at the con!

The one really worrying thing is that no one has put forth a bid for Eastercon 2007 - there may not be a con then! With any luck someone will put forward a bid in time for the 2006 con so there will be a con in 2007, but things are looking a little worrying right now. I hope that there will be at least one 2008 bid at the 2006 con too.

In general, I had a great time and I am looking forward to going back for Concussion (Eastercon 2006) next year. Most of the people I met are going to go to Interaction (Worldcon 2005) too, so I expect to see many of them there too!

Links to photos will be put up as soon as I have them uploaded to a web site.

Eastercon

2005-03-24T13:40:11Z

Well, it's the day before Eastercon starts. I've got my train tickets, my case is packed and I'm slightly better equipped this time. I should have fun and see familiar faces, and hopefully some new ones too :)

Eastercon - Paragon 2

2005-03-01T21:33:42Z

Well, before Redemption, I was planning to skip Eastercon, because of the cost and the fact I'm already going to two cons this year, not to mention having bought myself a new Mac.

It's now the day after I'm back from Redemption. I have:

Ordered and paid for Paragon 2 membership

Ordered and paid my deposit on my hotel room

Ordered and paid for my train tickets

Back from Redemption 05!

2005-02-28T16:43:34Z

Well, I'm back!

I had a great time. I acted as a steward, and attended quite a few panels. I met new people, and in general, everything was good!

My photos can be seen here, and certain people will get access to the full sized photos.

Redemption had an official photographer, and those photos can be seen Here.

The next one is in '07, and I've signed up already. Can't wait!

thebobby @ 2005-02-14T08:51:00

2005-02-14T08:56:58Z

Geek! Computers and Sci-Fi!

Redemption

Redemption is in 2 weeks! Yay! My first Sci-fi convention since Eastercon last year! I’m getting all excited and stuff, getting clothes packed and ready and making plans for travel. The time’s booked off work, and I’ve got a copy of the program – which has me down for a workshop! Eeeeek! Still, fixing PCs is an area where I’m knowledgeable, just got to see how well I talk about it to people.

Computers – New Mac and PC woes.

If you’ve seen the Mac Mini advertised and been wondering how it holds up, wonder no more! I have one, and have been playing with it enough now to be able to give an opinion on it.

I love it!

The adverts don’t really give an idea of how small it is – 5 cd cases stacked up, and it’s a full computer. It’s barely big enough for it’s own CD drive, in fact. Performance wise, it is very reasonable for the price, though it will never touch more expensive computers – but then, do they ever?

Usage wise, it’s great. Mac OS X is lovely to use, though it does have quirks of its own. I hate that you drag a disk to the trash to eject it, enough so that I never do it, instead right-clicking and picking eject. Yes, right clicking works if you’ve a two button mouse, it does the same as cntl-clicking, opening up a context menu. I hate that I can’t get much software for it, especially games. I love that it’s based on BSD UNIX, and it has enabled me to decommission my Linux system in its favour – I use SSH to connect from work and read usenet, and use tf on it to play my MUDs at home, two things that work well as command line tools.

The real big hate though, was the keyboard layout. I’m used to the UK keyboard layout, having used it for all my life. The Mac’s ‘UK’ layout has the £ symbol, and that’s it – it doesn’t move around the keys from the US layout. When you use a PC USB keyboard, all the symbol keys are wrong, and produce anything but what you want. I’ve finally found out how to generate a custom key layout (URL) but I feel that Apple should have included one for the UK PC keyboard layout, as the Mac Mini is advertised as working with your PC keyboard and mouse. That’s an odd use of ‘working’ if you ask me.

Would I recommend a Mac Mini? Well that depends. Is the software you want available? If not – and if you’re an avid gamer it won’t be – then obviously a Mac Mini won’t do you any good. Do you like Mac OS X? If you do, get yourself a G5 :) The Mini’s a low cost option if you can’t afford one, but a G5 will be more what you need. Are you a UNIX person? So long as you’re not tied to a particular flavour of UNIX or UNIX-like, likewise get a G5 if you can. Fink [http://www.fink.com] will enable full BSD goodness. A Mac Mini will make a good small BSD system but for power splash out on a G5. What if you’re not convinced, or are not sure if OS X is for you, or that OS X is UNIX enough for you? Then get a Mac Mini. It’s cheap enough for a Mac that you can get one and try it. That’s what I did; I bought a Mac Mini as a play and learning box, and fell in love. It fills my UNIX needs, and most of my application needs. My Windows machine will see heavy use for gaming – but only gaming.

Speaking of my Windows box, it recently threw out a big evil-smelling cloud of blue smoke:(. I need a new PSU, so I can get my gaming fix. This would suck more if I didn’t have a good Windows laptop – as it is it’s merely inconvenient. I’m half tempted to replace the box with the laptop and get a KVM to share my big screen and good keyboard with the Mac. I’ll try things and let you all know, assuming you care ;).

Worldcon

2004-09-15T09:54:51Z

Well I got my hotel booked for Worldcon. Already getting excited, looking forward to it quite considerably :)

Not a lot else happening with my life - the gadget purchaces continue though!

A lot of my time is spent on the game Eve Online - a lot of fun! I'm still mudding, though not as much as I used to do.

Work is, well, work. All the usual complaints everyone has so no real point spelling them out here.

Trying to plan my next trip abroad - almost certainly in 2006. 2005 has just too many cons to spend money on :)

Can't think of any more, shout if you want info!

Bobby.

Root Beer!

2004-07-08T18:26:27Z

48 cans of A & W Root Beer (well, 47 now) are in my possession, at a cost of £35. Yahoo tells me that's $64.88 at the current rate.

Much joy to be had, till it's all gone.

Bobby.

EasterCon!

2004-02-09T20:45:39Z

Hi,

Seeing as I won't be hitting Seattle this year (or abroad at all even), I've been looking for a con to go to this year, and I've chosen Eastercon at Blackpool.

Not NorWesCon which I hoped to go to but should be fun all the same!

*hugs*

*Bobby*

Why am I doing this?

2003-11-05T20:50:12Z

I play a role playing game (RPG) with friends. One of the games that's just started is a Shadowrun game. This is a lot of fun.

To do a lot of the work and to keep my character sheet neat I use a character generator for my character.

The generator is great, saves a lot of time but the output isn't in a great format, and the author acknowledges this, which is why he generates an XML file so you can create your own character with XSL to create your own designs!

So I decide to do this. So now I'm sat here, head in an XML book, thinking 'What possessed me to decide to do this?'

I'll let you know if I manage anything!

Trip to Lincoln

2003-08-21T19:44:57Z

Headed into Lincoln to meet a lady from Canada who came to the UK to meet her family. We've been chatting on the net for 6 years now so I took the opportunity to meet her.

Many pictures of the city of Lincoln including it's castle and beautiful Cathedral here.

http://www.byphotos.com/public/detail.html?c_album=379560

Pics!

2003-07-15T11:12:46Z

Pics are up from my trip - see here!

Seattle 2003

Enjoy
*Bobby*

Seattle Trip '03

2003-07-14T09:22:29Z

Well, I'm just back from the USA. It's been an interesting trip, and fun, though not without stresses.

I arrived Saturday eve, and was collected by Jax and Krystal. It was good to see them both again. I spent Sunday with Jax and her partner J.C. We went out to Mt Rainier, took photos and had a good day.

That eve, I went to Steve (Mage) and Shell, with whom I stayed for the rest of the trip, apart from Westercon. It was good to see them both, I've enjoyed staying with them despite the occasional tense moment. I enjoyed my time there talking with Shell and Steve and meeting their baby Rian. Mostly I spend time with Shell; going to and from day-care with Rian and shopping. Krystal came by one morning and Shell, Krystal and I spent a breakfast out.

Westercon started on Thursday, when Krystal took us all to the hotel. Shell and Steve stayed with Eric (Raist), a friend of theirs, and I stayed with Krystal, and Rodney and Mir (housemates of Jax and J.C..) I had fun; details in my previous entry.

The next week I spent with Steve and Shell, Krystal coming by a couple of times, and we went out for a meal, shopping, and I got to see the Sound too.

Krystal's father was kind enough to come and collect me to take me to the airport Saturday, and I arrived home Sunday.

Westercon

2003-07-09T18:36:28Z

Westercon was a whole lot of fun! I shared a room with my friends Rodney, Mir and Krystal, while Mage and Shell had a room with Raith. The event was a little quiet, most likely because the 4th was a Friday.

I went to a couple panels, the most memorable being Filk 101. Seems that I was the only one there to have encountered filk in .mp3 format before live. Some interesting discussion about what filk was, too. I got to a filk circle Saturday night to listen, and I chatted with a couple of filkers I met last year at NorWesCon. Would have liked more time with the filking but was doing too much - sign of a good con, way too much to do!

Room parties were interesting, but not really my speed. Still I enjoyed a couple of short visits, better then last time. Jax didn't make it :-(

Met new people, had a good time, all is good! Met nice people, saw some old friends, what more can you want?

I have been invited to Summerstar next year,and I have been debating between going there or to NorWesCon next year. Based on all I've heard Summerstar would be interesting, but NorWesCon will be more my speed. So on the last day of the con I prereged for NorWesCon.

*Bobby*

Can't sleep

2003-06-27T22:19:55Z

Should sleep. Need to sleep. Can't. Should be in bed resting for the long flight tommorow - too excited to!

Looking forward to seeing all my friends again, in Seattle.

Bobby

thebobby @ 2003-06-23T12:36:00

2003-06-23T11:40:21Z

Counting the Days!

I'm counting the days now till I fly to visit my friends in Seattle - I'm getting all bouncy and excited!

Still got to pack but pretty much everything needed is bought - except for Dollars - oops! Booked an extra day off work for that. Darn bank, they /used/ to do a Saturday service, not any more I guess. So much for improved opening hours - only if you want counseling and not actual service.

5 Days! Woot! Only 5 days to go!
^Bobby^

It's me!

2003-05-12T19:40:05Z

*Grin*
I don't plan to update religiously, or even regularly, though you never know. This is for what I'm doing or have done, for those who wish to know. I especially don't promise to be interesting or entertaining, though I will try.

In that regard, I'm hitting Seattle from 28th June to the 12th July. I will be at Westercon 56 from July 3rd to July 6th.