Apologies for the quietness here – I’m busy attending a huge trade show in Essen, Germany, and having problems connecting to a local internet service provider (this call is being routed back to the UK – goodness knows what it will cost). As compensation, there is beautiful thick snow here and a number of pretty good restaurants too.
The show itself is in a huge exhibition centre, and is on a vast scale. Yesterday I managed to get through three of the twelve halls. Today I have a considerable number of meetings scheduled, so I doubt that even that much will be achieved.
I will try and write one of my usual travelblogging monologues and post it here, but so far there hasn’t been time for that, and tonight I’m expecting to go for dinner with a couple of German growers.
In the meantime, please entertain yourself in whatever manner you feel is appropriate.
Poster
To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the breaking of the 900-day seige of Leningrad in the Second World War, the Russians have set up several displays and monuments including this poster:
Just so that you can get a sense of scale, that little dot at the bottom of the poster is a woman looking up at it.
Who needs Millennium Domes?
Nice
Following on from Gordon’s exhortations to be nice to each other, I’d like to point out how good I was to pull out the credit card that someone had left in the machine outside the Abbey in Tunbridge Wells yesterday and take it in to hand to the receptionist there. Hels was full of praise for me doing that, but, honestly, it was just the natural thing to do. The thing is, a whole bunch of people must have walked past the loudly beeping machine with the obviously protuding card and done absolutely nothing. I guess it is the typical British reaction to "not get involved".
And whilst I’m being nice, I’d like to warn all readers to watch out for MyDoom, a new virus that has appeared in my inbox three times already today.
MT problems
I’m not even sure that anyone can read this. Anyway, thanks to Vicky for her suggestion – this is a test to see if it works!
UPDATE: Vicky’s suggestion does seem to have fixed the comments problem, so you should now be able to leave comments as normal. If you experience problems, please let me know by email.
Oh, and I realise that this must be very boring for most grayblog readers, but these technical difficulties are making it quite difficult for me to keep the site updated, and I’d really love to resolve them.
MT troubles
OK, I’m beginning to quantify the symptoms of the MT problem more accurately.
I have started a thread at the MT support forums here. Please, anyone who is an MT buff, go take a look and add anything that you feel might help me. Thanks.
Pretty Polly
MT headed
I’m still experiencing MT problems. It won’t post properly (always comes up with a DNS error), rebuild properly (ditto) or allow comment posting properly (same again). I’ve tried a rebuild which has been unsuccessful, so now I may have to resort to the MT troubleshooting pages. Guh.
A little bit of politics
Simon Hoggart on Ken Clarke’s return to the front bench. via Darren. All hail the return of the most powerful weapon in the Opposition’s ammunition.
Humour?
From yesterday’s Grauniad magazine:
How many bloggers does it take to screw in a light bulb?
Dude, lightbulbs are totally old media – we can now download photons directly from the internet.
Dude, lightbulbs are totally old media – we can now download photons directly from the internet.
Does the world need blogging jokes?
He’s a very nice young man…
Spirit breaks down. Do NASA know a man who can?