I’m now running WP2.0 which seems to have cured the Akismet problem, but still leaves my archives in a dysfunctional state. I’ll see if I can find time to have a go at them again – it’s been a long time since they worked properly.
Snow on a phone pole
Snow on a phone pole.
Originally uploaded by graybo.
How does snow have enough stick to stick to one side of the pole like that, yet was so powdery that none of us could make a decent snowball, yet alone a snowman?
Photo taken yesterday at Tenterden, Kent.
Sunrise over Ruralville
Rain
Does it pay to run towards shelter when it is raining? With real maths, apparently.
WordPress
WordPress 2.0 has been launched, along with a complete redesign of the wordpress.org site. But the support forums are not functioning correctly, so I suggest that you hold off upgrading until things settle down a bit.
Doctor Rip Off
I caught the first ten minutes or so of the Doctor Who Christmas special. Was it really necessary to rip off Quatermass and The Pit so much?
Quiz
As given to our family. No prizes, just the satisfaction of knowing you got some of the questions right. Answers in the comments please. I’ll publish the answers next week somewhen. And remember that you’ll get no satisfaction if you use Google.
REVIEW OF THE YEAR
- Name all of the orignal declared candidates for the Tory party leadership.
- England won the Ashes series 2-1. Give the results (win, lose or draw for England) in the correct order for all five tests.
- Charles Kennedy became a dad during the election campaign. What name did he and his wife give their child?
- Lucy d’Abreu, the oldest person in the UK, died this year. How old was she? (just the years!)
- Name the other three teams in England’s group for the World Cup.
CHILDREN’S ROUND (easy questions for the kids!)
- Name the lion in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.
- What sport do they play at Hogwarts?
- Name Wallace’s favourite cheese.
- How many colours of the rainbow are there?
- What’s the name of the policeman in Balamory?
CHRISTMAS ROUND
- In the Twelve Days of Christmas, what did my true love give to me on the fourth day?
- What gifts did the Three Wise Men bring to the infant Jesus?
- Charlie Chaplin died on Christmas Day – in which year?
- What do you traditionally do at Christmas under Viscum album?
- There are three verses in the carol Deck The Halls With Boughs of Holly. How many “la”s are there in total in the whole carol?
GENERAL KNOWLEDGE ROUND
- If Doe is a deer, a female deer, what is Te?
- If petrol costs 90 pence per litre, how much does it cost for an imperial gallon? (within 5p either way will be considered correct)
- In which year was the original King Kong movie made?
- According the the Office for National Statistics, what are the number one names for girls and boys born this year?
- Name the capital of Pakistan.
TIE-BREAKER: In which year was the last Dodo seen alive? (nearest answer wins).
Christmas
Last year, my Israeli clients all seemed to make a point of sending me emails on Christmas day, as if to say "Ha! Makes no difference to us!". It’s not a tradition that I wish to see encouraged.
So, having put together our quiz for the family for tomorrow (goodness knows why we have to do this sort of thing – I’d rather eat loads of food and then sit around being bloated than have to entertain people), wrapped all the presents (there were lots – and I only had to do the ones that I’m giving to H, as she has taken care of gifts for everyone else – delegation is the name of the game), stocked up the food and fuel stockpiles in case of unexpected snowdrifts (60% chance of snow on Monday and Tuesday could render Ruralville isolated if the gritters don’t make it out to us on Bank Holidays), we’re now fully prepared for whatever the next few days throws at us.
Expect quiet here for the next few days (though you probably won’t notice much difference from normal) except for automated posting of the quiz here tomorrow (can’t do it today in case the in-laws read it). Whatever you’re celebrating, I hope you have a good time.
Eee, cards
Notice that everyone is on their last day at work today? You can tell by the way that they are doing nothing other than sending ecards to everyone in their address book to give them something to do until the Christmas sherry is opened at lunch time (bought from the discount bin at the Co-op, no doubt). So far I’ve had five and, thankfully, only one of them was musical. Mind you, that’s two more than the number of actual cards that I’ve received and one of them wasn’t even made of card!
In other news, go over to Scaryduck and give him a well-deserved HONK. I think I might have to make some sort of New Year’s Resolution about finally getting around to doing something about upgrading my existing crop of post-name letters (from ACIM to MCIM) and adding to them (with the words "Chartered Marketer"). This will mean study and evenings in seminars, but it will be worth it – one of my competitors has the upgraded version of my letterage and I want to be seen to out-do him.
And in yet other news, I see that the WordPress 2.0 will be released on Boxing Day. I feel a festive upgrade coming on, which might resolve the issues with the non-functioning archives and the malfunctioning comments. On the other hand, it might make no difference at all.