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Richy's Random Ramblings

Net: Major Site Changes Across the Internet

Well, it seems Google has admitted that there is a problem with their search engine (after all the news coverage after the “Florida Update” where lots of sites went ‘missing’ – take a look at the New Google Website and let me know what you think.

As for the BBC, well, I’m pleased to announce that as from now – I’m providing all the news for them! Don’t believe me – check http://news.bbc.co.uk yourself!

(Ok, ok – it’s a bug in Internet Explorer, Mozilla and many other browsers – but if you are on Windows you can get a patch from WindowsUpdate – thanks to CNN).

In other news – do NOT trust any links on sites or in email – that Paypal or Ebay site may not be what it seems…

Personal: Amazon.co.uk

Well, it’s time to place a nice big order from Amazon.co.uk again – this time:

  • 2x Yamada DVD 5520 Multi-region DVD Player at £39.99 each [Order from Amazon.co.uk] (one for me, one for my sister which my Dad is buying off me)
  • Al Murray – The Pub Landlord – Live – My Gaff My Rules. DVD £14.98 (for my sister). [Order from Amazon.co.uk]
  • Open All Hours. Series 1 [Order from Amazon.co.uk] and Season 2 [Order from Amazon.co.uk]. DVDs £25.98. (for my Dad)
  • Tenko – Series 2 Complete. DVD £43.99 (for my Mother). [Order from Amazon.co.uk]
  • Gerry Anderson’s Terrahawks – Vol. 1. Video £9.89. [Order from Amazon.co.uk] (for GESF’s birthday)
  • Lynne Truss: Eats, Shoots and Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation. Book £6.99. [Order from Amazon.co.uk] (for GESF’s flatmate)
  • Helen Fielding: Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination. Book £6.49. [Order from Amazon.co.uk] (for GESF)
  • Philips HR2303 Comfort Ice Cream Maker. £28. [Order from Amazon.co.uk] (for GESF + flatmate to share)
  • Robert X. Cringely: Accidental Empires: How the Boys of Silicon Valley Make Their Millions, Battle Foreign Competition and Still Can’t Get a Date
    . Book £6.29. [Order from Amazon.co.uk] (for my OU course)
  • Philip Evans, Thomas Wurster : Blown to Bits: How the New Economics of Information Transforms Strategy. Book £11.34 [Order from Amazon.co.uk] (for my OU course)
  • John Naughton: A Brief History of the Future: The Origins of the Internet . Book £6.39. [Order from Amazon.co.uk] (again for my OU course)

So that just leaves my other sister and my grandparents to shop for…

News Commentary: Mobile Phones and Driving

Shortly in the UK (1st December), it’s going to be illegal to drive your car whilst using a hand-held mobile phone (aka a “cell phone”).

Whilst I’m all in agreement with making our roads safer, I’ve got to take issue with a report on my “East Midlands Today” News (my local BBC news service broadcast in the BBC 10 O’Clock news on TV). In it, either a reporter or interviewer said that drivers can be fined if the mobile phone is not in a fixed cradle (showing someone install the mobile phone cradle at that point) and then they said that having the cell phone on your lap with a cheap (in my phone’s case, free) earphone and microphone would result in a fine. However, I’ve got to question that – what’s the difference between the phone being in a cradle (ie not hand-held), being in your lap (ie not hand held) and my “personal preference idea”: being in a shirt pocket with the ear-piece? According to the DFT’s Mobile Phones and Driving: Frequently Asked Questions document, there doesn’t seem to be much difference…