Steve's blog

I have entered the world of blogging. Terrific!

I spent an hour or so this evening fitting new taps and a wastegate to the sink in our downstairs loo. Having never done any plumbing before, this was a slightly nervewracking undertaking. However, it was rather straightforward, as it happens.

Pics after the break.

No big surprise here: rude, dangerous and downright stupid road users.

I cycle to work every day, and I drive plenty too, so I'm not one of these people who regards as pure evil users of modes of transport other than their preference. However, I would quite like to be able to complete my bike journey to work of a morning without fearing for my life.

I've been thinking about how blogs can be used in a corporate environment. I know I'm not the first to look into this; I'm probably several years late in that respect. However, I think the Anglia Ruskin University could use blogs to great effect, both for its students and staff.

I spent an hour or so this evening working on some stuff for the blog.

To be honest, I stole all of the ideas from someone else's blog. This is Joe from work who, like me, will only ever write good stuff about work on his personal blog. Wise man.

I did some work today on creating a blog for C&ITS Directorate.

It's basically he same as this blog, but with a revised skin and a clever little bit of code which allows the visitor to filter by Author. (I was surprised to find that this feature was missing from Movable Type. It's old and underdeveloped software, unfortunately.)

Check it our here: www.rymix.co.uk/is

I learned loads of stuff today. Here's some of it:

• Volvo drivers who try to undertake you don't like being blocked in
• Hair always either gets greyer or thinner
• Similarly, spectacles apparently reduce in size with age
• There's a fetish known as 'regency porn'
• Ergo Preceptor 5 laptops like to crash unapologetically whenever one attempts to write a blog entry

* Proof of the 'mighty brain' claim: the subtitle of my blog says so. Proof.

Been doing some more on the blog this evening. Changed to a three column, full-width layout. I'm not finished yet, so loads of pages will look weird, and the banner is screwed up. Broken, in fact. That's because I'm not finished yet, but I'm a bit knackered today, so I'm going to bed. L8rs.

Freakin' sweet!

I did some more DIY plumbing today. I fitted a towel warmer radiator in our new bathroom.

It's one of the hottest days so far this year, but we've had the heating on for an hour, just to test it for leaks. So far so good, which is more than I can say for my previous (and admittedly first) attempt at plumbing, earlier this week. Apparently you need some sort of sealant for the wastegate. No one told me this! Didn't mention it in the instructions, either.

Thankfully it just drips a bit; not an out-and-out leak. So I'll have the downstairs sink to pieces again later..

Pic after the break.

Did a few minor updates to the blog tonight:

• Added tooltips to the Amazon icons on the right
• Applied a three-column style to a few more pages
• Tidied up some css stuff

Plenty of things are still broken, though. Sorry. I'll get to them when I can be bothered. More importantly, though: here's some good amazing virtuoso bass playing from some random geezer on YouTube.

You just know this guy has some serious chops hidden away just under the surface, but he keeps this 'simple'. Ok, so it's hardly simple. In fact, it's really very tricky. But what I'm trying to say is he never goes over the top. He clearly knows (better than I ever will) that good bass playing is all about the groove. It's as much about what you don't play as what you do. I've not checked whether this is an exact copy of Stuart Zender's original line, or just a guy who can play every bit as well as Zender. Either way, this video is a major lesson inspiration for me. Enjoy.

I know that there's only one way to successfully pull off a black colour scheme: make it absolutely brilliant, otherwise is just looks very 1999.

Well, I haven't managed to make a brilliant layout yet, but I did find a stunning header image. Illustrator Greg Martin created this with Jessica Mae Stover. Quite something, isn't it? I'd chop off my right hand to be able to draw like this. Only trouble is I'm right-handed, so that probably wouldn't help much.

There are still loads of css bugs; I've only worked on a few pages so far.

And from the sublime to the...hornophone. Thank you, Harry Hill!

Halifax adverts.

Why don't you think...about your Current Account today?

Why don't you get the hell off my TV, you annoying bint? Not only do you far too frequently bombard my ears with your excruciating wail, but I actually remember your commercials. Irritating and effective advertising. This is as bad as it gets.

I tell you what Halifax should do next: get that equally annoying Howard bloke to perform a ridiculous pseudo-rap (you know: down with the kids) about a Savings Account or something. Oh, wait a minute...