Nick Richards — Nick Richards

It is indisputably true that I am an advocate of public transport. I see little or no point in owning the means of transportation, certainly for city dwellers. Yet public transport is often unsatisfactory even for a hardcore advocate such as myself. So it’s always nice to be able to recommend something entirely without reservation. That special something is the Heathrow Express. I had always considered it a monstrous imposition upon the British transport landscape and at £13 for a single journey it’s not exactly cheap but the secret of success is very simple. »

It’s the happiest day of the month at Starbucks! Another new month begins today which means a new coffee of the day (fairtrade, rock!) new instore promotions and new muffins (remind me never to have the Raspberry and peach ever again, please). But best of all they’ve changed the 45 minute music loop! Anyone who talks to me online a lot will know that the starbucks 45 minute loop is the bane of my life, I now feel a deep feeling of anger whenever I hear the words “On The Boardwalk”. »

I was hurt by DRM. I purchased an ebook copy of David Foster Wallace’s fine Up, Simba! using the Adobe eBook reader a few months ago. After getting my new TiBook I was interested to see if I could move my book over to my new PC. This is proving more complex than it should. Adobe doesn’t make a version of their eBook reader available for OS X, indeed they specifically state that their software will not work under the classic environment. »

Slingshoting past the IMAX cinema as the bus leans into the turn with Waterloo Sunset by The Kinks on the mp3 player. Patter of rain on the window. »

Well 1.0.2 is on general release feel free to have a download. The release fixes the bugs mentioned in the release notes, if you’re running up against these its a recommended download. There are a few more bugs that were fixed in this version that didn’t make it into the release notes, I’ll post again when they’re updated. If you’re not running into these problems then you don’t have to bother although I hear anecdotaly that it’s a bit faster. »

Why do people with such terrible/trendy fashion sense seem to congregate around art? Is it because they think they’re fashionable? I hope not. Exploting parental Tate membership I visited the Eva Hesse exhibition at Tate Modern today. It was actually rather good although I’m still thinking. The sort of thing that makes you think deeply actually. Go see it if you’re in London before March when it leaves for warmer climes. »

I’ve been playing with AppleScript. It’s startlingly easy to get a handle on and even easier to get very cool results which is perhaps why I like it. AppleScript is a computing glue that connects different applications together and allows you to use their functionality for your own evil ends. My first Applescript was a quick knocked up icon to sit in my dock and start OpenOffice.org when clicked. This is what it looks like: »

This is what the end of another year tastes like. It tastes like friendship and that’s never a bad thing. After the disaster that was 2001 this year has been pretty decent for me personally and professionally. I got my life sorted much better, kept up with friends much better and even made a few new ones. This was a good plan. I became increasingly involved in the OpenOffice.org community, culminating in being elected co-Lead of the Marketing Project which was a huge surprise and a real honour. »

A little longer this time, my reactions to The Two Towers. Simply put I think that it’s one of the best films ever made and that as a continuous trilogy it will stand in the annals of film making as one of the finest achievements of our time. The scope, the imagination, the craftsmanship, the love laboured into every detail. These things awe you. When combined with an amazing story and an amazing storyteller they leave you glued to your seat for three hours, eyes hungrily sucking in every glimpse they can take. »

There was a fire in the Sainsbury’s carpark this afternoon. Just as I was exiting the starbucks with my Eggnog Latte and a bag of shopping a Green Godess with associated police acompaniment cam screaming round the corner and very nearly clipped a nice blue Vauxhall Vectra. A car was on fire but when they tried to put it out they found that there wasn’t any water, so they have to sort out a chain of pipes to the nearest outlet 200 yards away. »