my thoughts

For all the promotion from the mobile operators you'd think they'd provide some better guides to getting your mobile data connection set up. I just found this page which lists all the settings for all of the operators, so now I can connect to the internet with Orange GPRS on my Pocket PC over bluetooth to my Smartphone. Yay!
» www.taniwha.org.uk/gprs.html

Update: Configuring a Pocket PC to use GPRS for mobile internet access on o2 UK
I have since moved away from Orange to o2, who have different settings. Here's what I've found to work for configuring a Pocket PC to use GPRS for mobile internet access. (Note the different APN & proxy server requirements.)
» Pocket PC : Connecting to the Internet
» UK APN settings (o2 gprs)
» Pocket PC: Using WAP

Most people like to think of themselves as a good driver: Well trained, considerate, able to make good progress with due care for example. So why is it that so many people are not? Take a look at takeawaytheirlicence.co.uk and see what I mean.
www.takeawaytheirlicence.co.uk/

Have you ever been browsing a website and been asked to register (e.g. telegraph.co.uk)? Bugmenot is a very useful website that may help. You can usurp those compulsory registration requests with anonymous login information from this slightly Machiavellian resource. So much for the targeted marketing! bugmenot.com/

LEDs present some interesting options for lighting: they are available in a range of colours (from infra-red through the visible spectrum to ultraviolet, and also white), they are small, low-temperature and energy efficient which lends them to practical and 'mood' lighting applications.

I saw this project mentioned on slashdot a couple of days ago - a home made mood lighting thing based on LEDs. The author has now posted a guide on how to make your own LED lighting project although the colour control is a little crude (it uses dimmer switches, a more elegant solution is to use pulse width modulation).

I also found this page of fun things to make and do, many of which use LEDs but there's plenty of other silliness on offer, such as: extreme shampoo, exploding last rolos and a light fitting so bright that it requires sunglasses to view.

There are plenty of really bright LEDs available now, and Inova make a rather impressive flashlight based on them.

This got me thinking about other forms of lighting (I do have a degree in Laser-Science, after all), and what fun might be had customising existing devices. I found the candlepower forums which has a range of topics including LED lighting projects and also the frankly dangerous 'modifying laser pointers'' thread in which a 5mw output is cranked up to 45mw!

Would you believe it, all new and shiny. I have finally sorted this site's content, and structure: gone is the old mess of topics under arbitrary headings (as is often the way with a personal website), replaced with a sensible information architecture in response to what you are actually looking for. Revolutionary.
www.get2dom.com/

Notes 2.0 (this bit) is now live and released - also properly implemented as a nice OO php design, built around a simple MVC framework (with database abstraction) and lots of nice new features on the way (commenting, image library etc). If you want a simple multi-user 'blog' application that is managed entirely online then contact me to find out how you can have a copy (php/mysql).
www.get2dom.com/notes/

I have moved the 'Stuff' section (aka 'Stuffster') to a new home now, it did not really belong in my site as it is a completely separate service. Again, if you want a copy of this application let me know (php/mysql).
stuff.get2dom.com/

The independent is covering the opeining of a new chain of coffee houses, Progreso, which uses entirely fairly traded coffee. This is a good thing.
news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/story.jsp?story=578273

While this is not the most comprehensive culinary resource it makes for interesting reading. I particularly like the recipe diagrams.
www.cookingforengineers.com/

I am quite sensitive to screen flicker when working with CRT monitors, so I always make sure that the refresh rate is set to a decent value for a stable image which won't give me a headache!

The following thread features a few useful tips on avoiding screen flicker - with some background information too:
weblogs.asp.net/oldnewthing/archive/2004/06/25/165762.aspx

Steven Frank draws cartoons based on the subject headers from spam e-mail. Funnier than you might think and reminiscent of explodingdog.com/

My favourites:
spamusement.com/index.php/comics/view/41 - "Amazing Software Types While You Talk"
spamusement.com/index.php/comics/view/11 - "We have located several horny women in your area!"
Visit spamusement.com/ to see the archives...

Here is a convincing argument from a microsoft security expert on why you should forget about using passwords on your Windows PCs: They are just not secure! In fact, many can be broken very quickly. It is far more secure to use a pass-phrase, which cannot be broken computationally within a reasonable amount of time.

It is very easy to remember a sentence or a line from a favourite song than it is to remember a string of 10 random letters, for example, and you can actually have a password of up to 128 characters in NT based operating systems (Windows XP, 2000, 2003 etc.)

There are plenty of reasons why you would want to do this (it is not just for the paranoid). The rise of internet "worms" and virii presents a continual risk for any internet-connected PC.
blogs.msdn.com/robert_hensing/archive/2004/07/28/199610.aspx