(Had to be moved to the 2nd Jan 2007 for logistical reasons)
The Polaris Digital LCD Theatre will be hosting its first event on Tuesday 2nd January 2007, and we thought we’d start with a bang. Following this event, more movie marathons will be announced for:
28.Nov.06 
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Continuing my ongoing trickle of OpenSource releases, the next class to leave the Polaris Digital factory is distanceObject.
distanceObject was created for a project that involved a geocoding system that would search a database for nearby properties using a postcode supplied by the user. The geocoding system would return the distance between points in metres, whereas my client required miles.
Knowing full well there were probably a number of pre-written PHP scripts available on the net, I decided to ignore them all and create my own class. This class would do more than simply convert metres to miles, it would convert any of the popular metric measures to popular imperial measures and back again. Thus, distanceObject was born.
PHP (4,5)� distanceObject class (inputValue, inputUnit)
$my_distanceObject = new distanceObject(23.44, 'm'); print($my_distanceObject->getValue('mile')); // Prints : 0.014564941
inputValue float The value of the distance you wish to convert; ie. 20.3453
inputUnit string The unit of the distance you wish to convert; ie. metres, inches, etc. etc.
getValue (unit) returns the distance value in the specified unit
Legal unit values for the constructor and the getValue() method are as follows
mm Millimetres
cm Centimetres
m Metres
km Kilometres
inch Inches
ft Feet
yard Yards
mile Miles
distanceObject is released under the GNU Public Licence v2, the full licence is included with the file.
pdnh_distanceconverter.zip 12kb
28.Nov.06 Uncategorized Comments (0)
Two weeks ago I promised the second and final part of ‘The Third Way’ series of posts, commenting on the last twelve months and various events that took place leading to a new way of thinking. Obviously this hasn’t been published yet, but don’t worry it is coming. I have decided to hold off publishing the second half until the first years anniversary of the events next week.
In the mean time, for all those that have been reading this blog or talked to me in the last few weeks, I will have no doubt told you about the last investment of the year. Two words; ‘it’s arrived!’
Yes, finally after over a months wait, our new Full HD LCD Theatre has been opened. The screen is a massive (and it is much larger than I expected) 42″ diagonally across, dwarfing our old TV. It has the Philips patented Ambilight surround system to project coloured light onto the wall surrounding the screen, which helps immerse viewers into the experience. After you get used to it you hardly notice it, other than you can watch several hours TV without eye-strain. Outside of the screen, the DVD player and surround system have been updated (courtasy of Sony) to a new high definition DVD upscaling player (outputting 1080i or 720p) accompanied by a new Sony Receiver supporting the latest MPEG, Dolby Digital EX and DTS ES and NEO:6 surround sound.
Siân and I have been busy testing the screen over the weekend, watching Planet Earth (incredible, even at SD), Indianna Jones and the Last Crusade, Donnie Brasco and the classic that is Casablanca. Of them all, Indianna Jones and Casablanca looked best. Planet Earth (pictured) was very good too. Donnie Brasco suffered because of the low resolution of the DVD image. Overall, we’re set for the HD revolution. Our local HMV and Virgin Megastore have just started stocking HD-DVD and Blu-Ray films, so we’ll be looking to get a player at some point next year - probably the PS3. In the mean time I’m looking at a HUMAX free HD satalite receiver that will allow us to watch all the Free HD channels (BBC, ITV, CH4) currently available without Sky HD subscription.
Details of the film weekends will be posted soon. Given the delay getting the screen and the proximity to Christmas, all showings will commence from January 2007. This will give us time fully configure the screen and sounds to optimum performance and provide new sofas for maximum comfort.
The Polaris Digital LCD Theatre is almost ready!
27.Nov.06 Uncategorized Comments (0)
Yes, I know I promised the next exciting episode of my life a year ago. But much more important things are afoot that need to be noted for histories sake.
Firstly. The Democrats have won both the US Senate and House of Representatives! This is such good news that I went out to celebrate the fact that the world is a marginally safer place. What does this mean in reality? Well president Bush can’t go declaring war on anyone else because unless there really is a sound case for it, Congress will not write the cheques any more. On top of this America will now start to work towards withdrawing its troops from Iraq, although don’t expect it tomorrow. The only power Bush has left is his veto and that won’t win him any Democrat friends. We all live in a slightly safer world now.
Secondly. Donald Rumsfeld was forced to quit! YES!!!!! Ahahahahaha! What an arrogant, pompous, vicious, vile, corrupt, evil, dirty little bastard! Thank god this little piece of sh*t has been forced to quit by his own party. If only Dick Cheney where with him, Bush would really be feeling lonely. Donald Rumsfeld is particularly bad because he has been plotting and scheming in the White House for over 30 years. He was there when Nixon was! Nixon didn’t like him either, which is saying something. All of the weapons Iraq supposedly had that America was banging on about in 2002-3 were mostly sold to Iraq by Rumsfeld himself. I mean ‘himself’ because he personally met Saddam on more than one occasion. So another tyrant is removed from office and we can all sleep a little safer. If only the War Crimes tribunal in the Hague would prosecute Rumsfeld now he’s out of protection!
As you can see, these two momentous occasions far out-weigh my little mis-givings with former employers
08.Nov.06 Uncategorized Comments (0)
With the nights drawing in a lot sooner and the seasons changing from summer to winter, completely skipping autumn this year, the simple fact that 2006 has almost run its course is getting hard to avoid. A week ago the sun set at 18:00, now it is 17:00. One week ago the temperature at night was a nice twelve degrees C, now it is minus two. I haven’t noticed such a sudden change of seasons for a long time and it makes me feel rather uncomfortable. But I do not want to continually moan about the weather as it is something the British do far to often. Instead I want to talk about following your heart and listening to your stomach.
In November 2005, the weather was similar with the first spots of snow falling over the Pennine peaks. At the time I was working for a visualisation company in Sheffield, whose name I shall not mention for fear of giving them unearned notoriety. I had been employed in their service for eleven months prior to this cold November, and a long eleven months they were. During the beginning of the summer I had moved to Manchester with my girlfriend. This was a bold statement of distaste with Sheffield and also subliminally a small step away from the company I found myself employed with.
I am never quite sure why and how I ended up working for the visualisation company, but I am sure that money had something to do with it. All the warning signs where there from the beginning, but at the time of the interview I was still in a strange trance lingering from months of not working and the grief for my late father. It was another year earlier in November 2004 that I had travelled the 200 miles from Colchester to Sheffield for the interview. Dazzled with the rhetoric from the managing director and the notion of being able to work on a television show, I failed to notice the constant empty promises and slimy attitude clearly on display. Returning to Colchester I was pretty nonchalant about the proceedings and much more interested in getting home. Moving to the north was an attractive idea, I had worked and lived in London and it wasn’t easy. But Sheffield was not what I had in mind, Manchester maybe, but not Sheffield.
Two hours after walking through the door I was offered the job. I decided to defer for 24-hours so I could think about this and put it in perspective. The 24 hours quickly passed and the ultimatum was upon me once more. Needless to say I took the job. Once again I state that I am not sure why I took the job, but it probably had something to do with the following.
In November 2004 my bank account was almost empty, whereas three months earlier it was healthy at over ten-thousand pounds. This large sum of money I had inherited from my Grandfather two years earlier and had intended to travel the world with, but when my father died in May 2004 and I thought it would be more appropriate to spend it all and live without working. It was fun while it lasted but the end was clearly in sight by November.
To blame or attribute another person to ones own personal life defining decisions is dangerous, if not a little irresponsible. Bear this in mind when I say that besides the financial incentives, there was also a girl involved in my decision making as there invariably is in a young man’s life. Having got to know Siân over the past three months properly whilst living as a vagabond in Colchester, I had grown to like her more than casual friends should. In the weeks leading up to November I used to go out to the bar she worked in to buy a drink, then sit at the bar and chat with Siân for hours. It started out as innocent socialising on a quiet Tuesday night but quickly grew to a weekly event that I would not miss for rain or snow. It became obvious to me that there was more than just good company keeping me coming back. So by accepting a job far away in Sheffield I could make a move on Siân and if it all went terribly wrong as it usually did with me, then I could run away and save myself from the shame in Colchester. It didn’t go wrong as I had foreseen, but the atmosphere was right for a move.
I moved to Sheffield, started working in January 2005 and then was thrown out in December 2005. ‘Hang on a minute?’, I hear you cry. ‘What about the eleven months in-between?’
Unfortunately those eleven months were rather dull, a few key events stuck out but I was generally unhappy with my job and was looking for a way out after four months of being there.
The idea of handing in my notice with no job to go to scared me, but looking back now it is exactly what I should have done. I was (and still am) young and would quickly find a new job if it was required. I had no commitments and could have survived a few months with no money. So to throw caution to the wind and resign was technically a real possibility. But I couldn’t see that. In November 2005 Siân and I did the unthinkable and put an offer on a flat in Manchester, which effectively sealed me into my employer until the deal went through.
In an amazing case of tragic irony in ancient Greek proportions, a few days after paying the deposit for our new flat I was forced to resign. I did so without hesitation. Strange it may seem, but it was better to be gone from the company that depressed me greatly than to grovel for a job I hated anyway. It was a rude awakening to life, but a much needed one. Everything was suddenly up in the air, the new flat was in danger of falling through and living in Manchester was probably not going to be a reality any more. There were three weeks until Christmas, eight-hundred pounds left in the bank and no sign of any more in the near future. After much thought, I decided to wait until the new year before I started looking for work.
— End of part one —
You can read part two next Wednesday 8th November.
01.Nov.06 Uncategorized Comments (3)
