IconUK Idiot Web Master

During a discussion.....

2008-09-11T12:02:00.001+01:00

Serf & I we chatting about odd things, and this one popped up "I'm going to them you how its going to be", which led to the Stones, in turn led to this gem....

Indoor League.........

2008-06-10T02:04:00.006+01:00

I very vaguely remember the late Sir Freddie Trueman sauntering about with half of mild (in a barrel glass) and his pipe close to hand, extolling the virtues of indoor sports, bar billiards, darts sans les treble bits, shove 'apenny et al.

Here's a gem, watch and be enthralled at the excitement of Taffy John banging the cue ball up and down the table, it's like poetry in motion, granted bad poetry but poetry none the less.

And in this gem we get to actually see several things of note, 1: a dodgy comb over from Our Freddie, and 2: the gripping final for a oneer of shove a round thing up a plank of wood and put chalk marks on it.

Saving the best till last, this is Sid Waddell waffling about the wholesome joy of Indoor League, please watch it to the end, for 1 thing and 1 thing alone. Ahl Sitha!!!

Cheers

Hhmmm 2:30am, not in bed thinking about HP cartridges, I need a strong sedative.

Addicted........

2008-06-06T09:57:00.003+01:00

Not only is it a stunning Saw Doctors song, I am like 9 million of other people, I have an addiction to something hitherto untouchable, you can smell it, you can’t taste it your cant physically touch it either.
What is it? A game, yes dear readers I play a game that involves stupid amounts of time to gain to what someone who doesn’t play World of Warcraft would call “things”

However after battling over 70 character levels (twice and now on for a third time), spending more in-game money than is imaginable I noticed something the other night.

In WoW you have quests to do, which you basically trot around WoW islands killing things, picking things up or speaking to someone. Then you have 5/ 10/ 25/ 50 person instances, where a group of like minded individuals with their bunch of desperado toons join up and tackle some hard things. An instance as the name would suggest is “happening” hardly Woodstock, but nonetheless a happening.
One of the Big Instances is Karazhan, which tests your metal, you need some good gear and a sound understanding of the class you play. You need a specific group of class’s to be successful.

Enough, the point is. Morose is the 2nd of 10 Boss’s in Karazhan, so after we bad him night night in the room I noticed a statue that looks to be familiar.

Have a look see if you can spot the famous person.

Cheers

Snap/ Fule/ Snaptinski

Realm: EU Lightbringer
Guild: HONOR Guild Site
Class: Frosty Mage

Crivens......

2008-05-21T13:27:00.005+01:00

I'm sorry; I have been very remiss in my blogging activity.
Several reasons, each more and more ludicrous than the last.
1: Saving the world from tyrannical mice.
2: Resurrecting the potential theory of sweeties actually being able to assist weight loss.
3: Taking reason number 2 and advancing it further by testing the possible weight loss scenario by adding highly sugared fruit based fizzy drinks.
4: Gout.
5: Rain.
6: Rain & Gout at the same time.
7: Gout with slight precipitation on a Thursday, just as I was about to write something exhilarating.
8: More of number 1, little swine’s they are.
9: Watching the telly. Rediscovering Rab C Nesbitt. (Wiki on Rab)

The man himself.

10: Developing reasons 2 & 3 by adding Bourbon Creams (This, you’ll appreciate is an ongoing study. Possibly becoming a lifetimes work)
11: Thinking (I have been told not to do this by several people, by and large I do actually avoid it, but sometimes you just can’t help it.

12: Sweeping up grass, again this is a lifetime’s work. (I may publish a guide to Grass Sweeping Etiquette)
13: There is no 13 (A weak reference to whom? It’s the wrong number by the way, it should be 6, there is no rule 6)
14: Following on from number 13, trying to track down this “
First Bruce: This here's the wattle - the emblem of our land. You can stick it in a bottle or you can hold it in your hand.
All: Amen!”
15: Erm that’s about it really.
I shall return, as I have made a note for topics to waffle about.

Cheers Mon Amis

Earthquake......

2008-02-27T12:53:00.002Z

Well as much of the country felt the tremors last night 27/02/08 in the UK.

Sat at home with my beloved, watching some quality TV we felt the house move, it felt as if the whole house had been picked up and moved 3 feet forward.

Loads of news about it, happily no serious injuries, apart from a poor lad in Barnsley who was caught under some masonary.

But, heres something that I'm not sure is a joke, an oversight or what, you decide.

You'll Always Find Me......

2008-02-05T17:18:00.000Z

In The Kitchen At Parties.......

Right, the reason for this retro blast from over 20 years ago is this.
Recently in the Independent News Paper, they had a Stiff records best off freebie bung it in the Saturday papers to listen to later.

Now out of the collection of joyous memories, one thing stands out like a sore thumb.

Jona Lewie, letting us know who he was no good at chatting up and always got rebuffed.

What struck me about the song is it simplistic approach to telling a story, theres no hidden subtext and angst ridden vengeance about the Government of the time, or the fact we we're skint, (for that see Ghost Town by The Specials incredibly evocative of the time) Or the rants of SLF about the problems in Ireland, they were of course well versed in the matter, as they were from Belfast.

Well here it is, if you can actually see something I haven't thats taking a poke at Maggie, please let me know. Think the closest thing I can see about anything getting close to social anxiety is the fact Jona (Real name John, make no wonder he changed it) pile his pots up in the sink and leaves them and gets blown out by their lass at a party, then finds some saucy French chic in Palmers Green.

Jona Lewie - You'll Always Find Me In The Kitchen At Parties Lyrics

I'm no good at chatting up and i always get rebuffed.
Enough to drive a man to drink i don't do no washing up.
I always reached the stuff piled up
A-piled up in the sink.

But you will always find him in the kitchen at parties.

Me and my girlfriend we argued and she ran away from home.
She must have found somebody new and now I'm all alone

Living in my own. what am i supposed to do?

That's why always find him in kitchen at parties.
You will always find him in the kitchen at parties.
You will always find him in the kitchen at parties.

Then i met this debutante i said i like new wave rock.
She was into French cuisine but i ain't no cordon bleu.
This was at some do in palmer's green
I had no luck with her.

You will still find him in kitchen at parties.
You will still find him in kitchen at parties.

At last i met a pretty girl she laughed and talked with me.
We both walked out of the kitchen and danced in a new way.

And now I've done my time in the kitchen at parties.
I've done my time in the kitchen at parties

He's done his time in the kitchen at parties.
He's done his time in the kitchen at parties.

I said Captain, he said........

2008-02-05T17:13:00.000Z

I defy anyone to not to answer that very posing question.
If like me are of the venerable late 70's & 80's Punk & New Wave scene, you'll answer it without thinking.

OK, I'm sure someone won't have got it.

Captain Sensible
Wot (1982)

Well I woke up this morning I was feeling fine
But this cat starts banging man what a swine
So I called reception but to no avail
That's why I'm telling you this sorry tale
He went bang (bang) I said shut up
He went bang (bang) I said wrap up
Well I'm aware that the guy must do his work
But the piledriver man drove me berserk

He said Captain I said what
He said Captain I said what
He said Captain he said what
He said Captain he said what you want

Once a lifetime twice a day
If you don't work you get no pay
I've been to the east I been to the west
But the girls I like most are the ones undressed
Well hello Adam where you been
I said stand aside 'cos I'm a- feeling mean
I had a gut full of you and I'm a- feeling bad
But you're an ugly old potterer and ain't I glad

He said Captain I said what
He said Captain I said what
He said Captain I said what
He said Captain I said what
He said Captain I said what you want
He said Captain he said what
He said Cpatain he said what
He said Captain he said what
He said Captain he said what whooo!

Bang!
bang!
He said Captain he said what
He said Captain he said what you want
He said Captain he said what
He said Captain he said what
He said Captain he said what
He said Captain he said what whoooo!
He said captain he said what
He said captain he said what
He said captain he said what
He said Captain he said what you want

Cheers

Possibly the most amusing pic I've seen in a long time....

2008-01-19T14:47:00.000Z

Looking for something unrelated, I spooted this pic of a Shotgun Wedding, it wanst untill I actually looked at the pic I realised it literally was :o)
my how sad am I? (You can answer if you want)

We went away for Christmas....

2008-01-15T11:06:00.000Z

We went South for the festive season, and heres a few pics of a little amble we decide to take.

Plus I'm fiddling about with Picasa and Blogger, and seeing how they work together.

Cheers

It only seems to add a fe pics at a time. Heres a link to the full album

Genial Harry Gout (or metabolic arthritis)

2008-01-15T10:37:00.000Z

I've had a visit from my old friend Genial Harry Gout (or metabolic arthritis)

bless him, for anyone who doesn’t know what Gout is, let me quickly explain what it feels like. Imagine someone sticking a burning pin into the joint of your big toe.
Then add to this having to hobble about on the outside edge of your foot. Side effects of this are aching ankles, knees, hip and plenty of muttering under the breath.

This Pinched from Wiki (link)

Signs and symptoms

The Gout, Cartoon by James Gillray (1799). The artist memorably illustrates the excruciating pain and swelling that are symptoms of the disease.
The classic picture is of excruciating, sudden, unexpected, burning pain, swelling, redness, warmness and stiffness in the joint. Low-grade fever may also be present. The patient usually suffers from two sources of pain. The crystals inside the joint cause intense pain whenever the affected area is moved. The inflammation of the tissues around the joint also causes the skin to be swollen, tender and sore if it is even slightly touched. For example, a blanket or even the lightest sheet draping over the affected area could cause extreme pain.
Gout usually attacks the big toe (approximately 75 percent of first attacks); however, it also can affect other joints such as the ankle, heel, instep, knee, wrist, elbow, fingers, and spine. In some cases, the condition may appear in the joints of small toes that have become immobile due to impact injury earlier in life, causing poor blood circulation that leads to gout.
Patients with longstanding hyperuricemia (see below) can have uric acid crystal deposits called tophi (singular: tophus) in other tissues such as the helix of the ear. Uric acid stones can form as one kind of kidney stone in some cases.
[edit] Diagnosis
A definitive diagnosis of gout is from light microscopy of fluid aspirated from the joint (this test may be difficult to perform) to demonstrate intracellular monosodium urate crystals in synovial fluid polymorphonuclear leukocytes. The urate crystal is identified by strong negative bi-refringence under polarised microscopy and its needle-like morphology. A trained observer does better in distinguishing them from other crystals.
Hyperuricemia is a common feature, although, urate levels are not always raised.[1] Hyperuricemia is defined as a plasma urate (uric acid) level greater than 420 μmol/L (7.0 mg/dL) in males (or 380 μmol/L in females). However, a high uric acid level does not necessarily mean a person will develop gout. Urate is within the normal range in up to two-thirds of cases.[2] If gout is suspected, the serum urate test should be repeated once the attack has subsided. Other blood tests commonly performed are full blood count, electrolytes, renal function, thyroid function tests and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR). This helps to exclude other causes of arthritis, most notably septic arthritis, and to investigate any underlying cause for the hyperuricaemia.
Pathogenesis
Gout occurs when mono-sodium urate crystals form on the articular cartilage of joints, on tendons, and in the surrounding tissues. Purine metabolism gives rise to uric acid, which is normally excreted in the urine. Uric acid is more likely to form into crystals when there is a hyperuricemia, although it is 10 times more common without clinical gout than with it.[3]
Purines can be generated by the body via breakdown of cells in normal cellular turnover, or can be ingested in purine-rich foods such as seafood. The kidneys are responsible for approximately one-third of uric acid excretion, with the gut responsible for the rest. It may be possible that defects in the kidney that may be genetically determined are responsible for the predisposition of individuals for developing gout.
There are also different racial propensities to develop gout. Gout is high among the peoples of the Pacific Islands, and the Māori of New Zealand, but rare in the Australian aborigine despite the latter's higher mean concentration of serum uric acid.[4] In the United States, gout is twice as prevalent in African American males as it is in Caucasians.[5]
A seasonal link also may exist, with significantly higher incidence of acute gout attacks occurring in the spring.[6] [7]
Hyperuricemia is considered an aspect of metabolic syndrome, although its prominence has been reduced in recent classifications. This explains the increased prevalence of gout among obese individuals.
Gout is a form of arthritis that affects mostly men between the ages of 40 and 50. The high levels of uric acid in the blood are caused by protein rich foods. Alcohol intake often causes acute attacks of gout and hereditary factors may contribute to the elevation of uric acid. Typically, persons with gout are obese, predisposed to diabetes and hypertension, and at higher risk of heart disease. Gout is more common in affluent societies due to a diet rich in proteins, fat, and alcohol. When it follows as a consequence of other health conditions such as renal failure, it is often regardless of the person's lifestyle. [8] Lin, et al have statistical evidence linking gout to lead poisoning [9] and lead level in the body is significantly correlated with urate excretion and gout [10]. It is known that lead sugar was used to sweeten wine, and that chronic lead poisoning is a cause of gout,[11][12] which condition is then known as saturnine gout, because of its association with alcohol and excess.[13]
Gout also can develop as co-morbidity of other diseases, including polycythaemia, leukaemia, intake of cytotoxics, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, renal disorders, and hemolytic anemia. This form of gout is often called secondary gout. Diuretics (particularly thiazide diuretics) have traditionally been blamed for precipitating attacks of gout, but a Dutch case-control study from 2006 appears to cast doubt on this conclusion.[14]

Treatment
Acute attacks
The first line of treatment should be pain relief. Once the diagnosis has been confirmed, the drugs of choice are indomethacin, other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), oral glucocorticoids, or intra-articular glucocorticoids administered via a joint injection.
Colchicine was previously the drug of choice in acute attacks of gout, as it impairs the motility of granulocytes and can prevent the inflammatory phenomena that initiate an attack. Colchicine should be taken within the first 12 hours of the attack and usually relieves the pain within 48 hours, although side effects (gastrointestinal upset such as diarrhea and nausea) can complicate its use. NSAIDs are the preferred form of analgesia for patients with gout.
A randomized controlled trial found similar benefit from nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and oral glucocorticoids; however, less adverse drug reactions occurred in the glucocorticoids group.[15] In the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs group, each patient initially received diclofenac (75 mg) intramuscularly, indomethacin 50 mg orally, and acetaminophen 1 g orally. The patient was received a 5-days of indomethacin (50 mg orally every 8 hours for 2 days, followed by indomethacin 25 mg every 8 hours for 3 days), and acetaminophen 1 g every 6 hours as needed. The glucocorticoids patients received prednisolone 30 mg orally, and acetaminophen 1 g orally. The patient was then given prednisolone 30 mg orally once per day for five days.
Before medical help is available, some over-the-counter medications can provide temporary relief from pain and swelling. NSAIDs such as ibuprofen can reduce the pain and inflammation slightly, although aspirin should not be used as it can worsen the condition. Preparation H hemorrhoidal ointment can be applied to the swollen skin to reduce the swelling temporarily. Professional medical care is needed for long-term management of gout.
Ice may be applied for 20–30 minutes several times a day, and a randomized controlled trial found that patients who used ice packs had better relief of pain without side effects.[16] Since gout is caused by crystals, it has been suggested that keeping very well hydrated and heating the affected joint in hot water (rather than cooling with ice) will promote the dissolution and clearance of the urate crytals. [17] Keeping the affected area elevated above the level of the heart also may help.
Due to swelling around affected joints for prolonged periods, shedding of skin may occur. This is particularly evident when small toes are affected and may promote fungal infection in the web region if dampness occurs, and treatment is similar to that for common athlete's foot.
Some sufferers of Gout report an aggravation of the condition in the knees and toes associated with long periods of immobility, such as when sitting at a computer desk for long hours. This can be particularly unfortunate if the sufferer is searching for work as the aggravation can interfere with mobility. Sufferers who notice early swelling or early pain may appear to be able to arrest the aggravation when medical treatment is applied before the condition gets worse. Where this is the case, a medically prescribed anti-inflammatory oral treatment taken with food and bed rest may provide relief within 6-8 hours.
Another possibility is use of acetazolamide, one of the first diuretics discovered. This drug inhibits the action of carbonic anhydrase on the proximal convoluted tubules within the kidneys, which effectively inhibits reabsorption of bicarbonate, thus alkalinizing the urine. After two to three days of usage, the diuretic effects of this drug decline because of increased downstream reabsorption of ions and water by the renal tubules; however, the alkalinization of urine persists, and this basic urine attracts weak acids such as uric acid and cystine into the urine, thus increasing their urinary excretion.35
Chronic joint changes
For extreme cases of gout, surgery may be necessary to remove large tophi and correct joint deformity.
Prevention
Medications
Allopurinol is a xanthine-oxidase inhibitor, widely used in the prevention of attacks of gout, and well tolerated. It is safe to use in patients with renal impairment and urate stones.[18]
Sulfinpyrazone is an uricosuric. It is widely used than allupurinol, and must not be used in patients with renal impairment, or a high urate excretion rate.[19]
Allopurinol and azathioprine (Imuran) used together present a risk of a potentially fatal drug interaction, a severe risk of allopurinol use which is of importance to transplant patients being treated with azathioprine for immunosuppression.[1]
Febuxostat ((2-[3-cyano-4-isobutoxyphenyl]-4-methylthiazole-5-carboxylic acid) - a non-purine inhibitor of xanthine oxidase seems to be an alternative that is superior to allopurinol at reducing serum urate levels, but not at reducing attacks of gout; it is currently in Phase III trials.[20]
Probenecid, a uricosuric drug that promotes the excretion of uric acid in urine, is also commonly prescribed - often in conjunction with colchicine. The drug fenofibrate (which is used in treating hyperlipidemia) also exerts a beneficial uricosuric effect.[21]
As arterial hypertension quite often coexists with gout, treating it with losartan, an angiotensin II receptor antagonist, might have an additional beneficial effect on uric acid plasma levels. This way losartan can offset the negative side-effect of thiazides (a group of diuretics used for high blood pressure) on uric acid metabolism in patients with gout.
It is suspected that in many cases gout may be secondary to untreated sleep apnea, when oxygen-starved cells break down and release purines as a by-product. Treatment for apnea can be effective in lessening incidence of acute gout attacks.[22]
A study in 2004 suggests that animal flesh sources of purine, such as beef and seafood, greatly increase the risk of developing gout. However, high-purine vegetable sources did not. Dairy products such as milk and cheese significantly reduced the chances of gout. The study followed over 40000 men over a period of 12 years, in which 1300 cases of gout were reported.[23]
PEG-uricase, a polyethylene glycol ("PEG") conjugate of recombinant porcine uricase (urate oxidase), which breaks down the uric acid deposits is being studied in Phase III clinical trials for the treatment of severe, treatment-refractory gout in the United States in 2006.Pipeline
Sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) is an old remedy,[24] thought to work by raising blood pH (lowering blood acidity). However, the added sodium may be inappropriate for some people.
Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, a chelator of lead, has successfully increased uric acid excretion [25]. This should be an advantageous treatment for those people whose gout was caused by lead poisoning. Care should be taken to increase intake of trace essential elements since chelation often remove these elements also.
Gout can be triggered by the same agents that cause potassium losses such as fasting, surgery, and potassium losing diuretics [26]. A potassium deficiency can increase urate levels in the blood [27]. So potassium supplements should be advantageous to treat gout.
Research from the University of British Columbia suggests long-term coffee consumption is associated with a lower risk of gout. [28][29]
History
Writing ca. 30 AD, Aulus Cornelius Celsus appeared to recognize many of the features of gout, including its link with a urinary solute, late onset in women, linkage with alcohol, and perhaps even prevention by dairy products. [2] "Again thick urine, the sediment from which is white, indicates that pain and disease are to be apprehended in the region of joints or viscera." and "Joint troubles in the hands and feet are very frequent and persistent, such as occur in cases of podagra and cheiragra. These seldom attack eunuchs or boys before coition with a woman, or women except those in whom the menses have become suppressed. Upon the commencement of pain blood should be let; for when this is carried out at once in the first stages it ensures health, often for a year, sometimes for always. Some also, when they have washed themselves out by drinking asses' milk, evade this disease in perpetuity; some have obtained lifelong security by refraining from wine, mead and venery for a whole year; indeed this course should be adopted especially after the primary attack, even although it has subsided."
The Roman gladiatorial surgeon Galen described gout as a discharge of the four humors of the body in unbalanced amounts into the joints. The Latin term for a drop, as a drop of discharge, is gutta -- the term gout descends from this word.

Right that’s a run down of Gout. Couple this up with working in IconUK's office that’s upstairs, and the warehouse downstairs, and both people who ring up and who work in the shoppe, means I’m up & downstairs like a witch on a windy night. Joy.

Ah well more later

Cheers

IWM

Going to work....

2007-12-05T12:45:00.000Z

This morning whilst enjoying looking at traffic lights, I noticed the interesting sky. I whipped out me camera and snapped. The ambulance happily didn’t have its blue lights on.

Thats all for now :o)

We're international.......

2007-12-03T11:49:00.000Z

Whilst checking our monthly visitor stats, I noticed that we have been visited by someone from about 2/3 of the world. Look at the map, the bits in green are from visitors from that particular country.

Interesting to see where we get visits from.

Ahem, suppliers, some good, some bad, some can sing, some cant take video, you know how it goes....

2007-10-09T17:03:00.000+01:00

It was bound to happen, I get reminded by a supplier that they too can take videos.
A spot of karaokiecokie or somthing. I wasnt there in person, but I feel that the greater world should appreciate this.

Now the singing sounds OK, but for anyone commenting on my shoddy camera work may wish to revaluate their thoughts after seeing this.

Cheers Boys!!!!!

For anyone who cares, I'm working on the next amateur video, which should be up by the end of the week with a bit of luck.

Cheers

So we get bored and make a video......

2007-09-27T16:07:00.000+01:00

We had a visit from a supplier yesterday and he left us with a new toy to play with. A Biometric Fingerprint Authentication 2.5” IDE Caddy. Brilliant. Well it is to be honest. OK on the site I have to be as positive as possible, but here I can be a little more honest.

It is without doubt possibly the best thing we've had for ages, with the possible exception of the USB massage ball's we well too. (Didn’t video those, should have but didn’t. They bounce over the desk like a mad desk bouncing thing. In fact we could have tried racing them)

Das Caddy (Irony as it comes from a German Caddy)
Das Caddy Link if your interested in one (Shameless I know)

Right dead simple, you plug the caddy in. Go to My Computer and open it up. The software starts and then you get to do the fun bit. Rub your finger over the sensor. It works it really does. It would only recognise my finger print. Serf tried and got a big fat red X, in fact I tried and used the wrong finger that had been programmed into it, at this point it very nearly got 2 more fingers that it expected, but I held back.

Das Video.

Well I was bored so thought it might be a good idea to show people how the fingerprint recognition works. Well what you do. Which has fuelled the though process and I’m going to try and make more videos of products.

The video was shot using my Nokia N95 a true gadget, the things it can’t do aren’t worth bothering with anyway, but the things it can do are really worth mentioning. It’s a 5 million Mega Pixel camera, a HD (well it says it is) Video Camera, a Sat Nav GPS Device, Video & MP3 player, Image Viewer, Document Reader, and it’s a mobile phone too.

So the video was taken on the phone, converted by some deeply convoluted process, that must be easier and then edited in Windows Movie Maker, something I’ve never used before, so excuse the amateur appearance of the video, its my first time. Like wise first time I’ve ever uploaded anything to YouTube either. But I have to say both processes were entirely painless. I need to learn more about Windows Movie Make and try and make a cleaner and steadier job. But today has been a good day and IconUK HQ, Serf & I have had things drop into place at long last.

Right more later mon ami's

Cheers

Why dont you blog me up buttercup.....

2007-09-19T09:34:00.000+01:00

Well, this morning I have very kindly received some really nice e-mails, either asking how I was, or some kind comments about something on the web site. But they all mentioned the fact I have left a bit of a gap blog wise, this has given me a nudge to write this.

Where have I been, what I been doing etc.

Well Serf & I have had our hands full setting up the warehouse, a new EPOS (Electronic Point Of Sale) till system, this is ongoing and virtually finished, well it might as well not be even close to be honest. We're waiting for the final tiny bit of code that makes things go as they should. Its a bit like driving a car and you change from 5th gear down to 1st by mistake and your get thrown round the car, well the EPOS is like that we were steaming ahead full tilt, and then we found this little issue and slammed straight into first gear again. No whiplash happily, but some heated moments though.

The web site, ah the web site alas has had it's nose pushed out a little while the EPOS has been set up. We've tried to keep them both going but some days one gets neglected, hence my sometimes slow response to queries and e-mails. But I'm back on top of it now and I'm working hard again. Interesting this, someone mentioned the lightbox script I'm using, (Search the web site for ZIF caddy and click on the image in the description part of the product page, you'll see the script at work) it's becoming more and more wide spread this way of presenting images and some massive web sites use it such as http://www.virginradio.co.uk/djs_shows/shows/afternoon_tea/index.html if you scroll down the page a little, you'll see some images, click those and you'll see the script at work again.

Actually I've been talking to a web development team about some upgrades and face lifts to the web site. They’re a smart bunch of guys partially the reason why we chose them were their web site is quite brilliantly understated and impressive http://www.thinkology.co.uk/have a look and a roam around their site.

The warehouse is coming along a treat and starting to fill up with lots of new things that will be appearing in a shop near you soon (well if you live near our shop that is) and the web site (now that is near everyone :o) ) we've been having raced with the pallet truck too, great fun until you collide with a 4mtr piece of pallet racking, that’s full. Luckily the racking wasn’t injured. The ability to have all this room and storage systems has helped create a Zen like atmosphere here at IconUK HQ, the calm tranquil feeling does help the work flow erm flow. That’s about it really for the warehouse really, other than for us Christmas has started and we're now gearing up for the festive season, since 1st September Serf & I have had our Santa hat's on looking daft. But hey it’s Christmas.

And I have actually had a whole weekend away from home; we (my family) piled into the Idiot mobile and set course for the seaside. Hornsea if you will; now not the most thrilling or exhilarating of destinations, however it meant I would have a weekend holiday. Smashing. Sad to see the effects of the massive flooding we have suffered this year. We had in the floods in South Yorkshire, Over towards Hull and the East Coast and down south Bristol & Gloucester way. We feel for everyone who suffered damage from the torrents.
But that aside, we had an excellent weekend and came back all the better for it.

Now I must take a moment to mention Serf's Souly activities, He's donned his oxford bags and polyveldts and had a dance around the country with ever lovely Mrs Serf his beloved souly dance mate. (Better mention that we're not always stuck at work, though it does feel like it sometimes)

What else have we been doing, well I managed to duck out one night to see a great band The Saw Doctors brilliant!!!! Like all good gigs I managed to come home with ringing ears and the ability to hear nowt. The concert was in Holmfirth at the Picturedrome, its mid renovation, but its a fantastic venue really intimate and you do feel close to the band. Well we were about 6 feet away from the stage.

Right I need to do some actual work, I'm going to try and set aside a bit of time each week to start blogging again.
I know my loyal and merry band of visitors like reading my drivel for some reason.

Later mon ami's

Cheers

Idiot Web Lærer (See Lone, I said I'd do it)

Aarrgghhhh offensive people

2007-08-31T11:02:00.000+01:00

[rant]Aarrgghhhh offensive people. Now here's something that doesn't go to make a happy day and especially as its a Friday too.
Had a phone call from someone about the cost of cartridges, now he tried to be assertive and request an immediate 20% discount, this person has no sales history with us and proceeded to inform me of what other companies did and their prices. Well we have our own pricing structure and policies.
To cut a long story short, after the third phone call I was accused of being an idiot, this as we know is basically true, hence the blog name. However to be called an idiot & a rip off merchant is quite an affront to me personally and the business and especially the web site. We have been accused of being many things, but not those. Ahem!!!
[/rant]
Thats better :o)

well well well mobile blogging

2007-08-31T00:10:00.000+01:00

right heres a first. Blogging by mobile. Takes some doing to actually log in, but writing is a doddle :o). More later.

This my be the yay forward for me & my blogging ways.

Cheers
The Idiot :o)

The Saw Doctors

2007-07-04T00:54:00.000+01:00

The Saw Doctors

CIS Barnsley!!!!!!!!!!!! (Updated)

2007-06-18T19:38:00.001+01:00

OK the acronym is wrong, but the acronym is actually right.
CIS - Continuous Ink System, has been installed at the New HQ, and despite my worst fears I was not covered in ink.
I just needed a stirrup pump to fill the bulk ink containers that live outside the printer. I fitted the cartridges in the printer and guess what?
Ah that comes later, because it was time to finish work. I took some pics too (Pour vous Steve) which need toothing from the Idiot Phone to the Idiot PC and onto the Idiot blog :o).
More later troops :o)
***** UPDATE *****
Got it working perfectly :o), just need to set a big print run going to see how the ink levels go up and down in the ink monitor.
OK heres the pics. You'll notice some dodgy paper effects, well thats due to copyright issues.

***** UPDATE PTII*****
OK I'm a liar about getting it working perfectly, well it did work, and then the ink started running back up the pipe to the big containers rather than through the cartridge. But what was in the cartridge escaped with I'm sure a shout of glee straight onto the paper I was trying to print onto. It would appear that a vacuum system is needed, and the system needs pressurising. So this done I am going to attempt to fit it again

More later Mon Ami's

I'm so sorry I have neglect you dear dear blog and readers

2007-05-16T13:51:00.001+01:00

OK I apologise, I have been very remiss in my blogging of late. There are several reasons.

1: We’ve moved to a new unit, and we have, or at least it feels like we’ve hit a brick wall every step of the way. An example, try to get a phone line into the building. You would have thought that the 2 telecoms providers in the Fair Isle of ours would be breaking their necks to snatch money from our hand, apparently not. One said the had to survey the property, and then pass this survey via 78 planning stages, only to find out that there is a secret planning stage that adds a further 5 days to your wait to actually find out if you can have a phone line or not.
The other said we had to place an order to find out if or when an installation date could be arranged. So the 2nd provider and I were at logger heads, both saying it isn’t fair that you can’t have an installation date without an order, and vice versa. However provider number 1 won the race (well 6 weeks altogether)
2: Trying to set up a poxy EPOS system. Again something which in theory should be a doddle to do? But add a geographically different location and it all goes pear shaped titsup.com. However this has been sorted out with, wait for this its good, with 2 dial up modems. In this country we have had mass availability in towns and cities for about 5 years, half a decade, 1/20th of a century. (Just checked and our exchange was broadband enabled on 31st July 2001)Alas it seems our EPOS provider has ignored this fact, and stuck with good old dial up modems to link multiple sites together. HHhhhhmmmmmm let me see, for this length of time, new and emerging technologies and been thought about, put thorough a Beta phase, launched onto the public, been used and then superseded by a new and improved version, and so the cycle continues. Yet it is almost impossible for data to be sent successfully over a broadband connection, using anything other than a VPN. I do have to add though, despite my moaning, they are about to launch a secure connectivity kit. Which should make our lives easier and a bit less noisy (Can you remember what dial up modems sounded like? Loud and noisy that’s what)
3: Racing between the shop and the unit has also become a new pastime, I have the unit phone on divert so I don’t miss any phone calls, but when my PC is in the unit and I’m in the shop, I have to kick someone off their PC to find information. We have become an information dependant nation, and want the information now. Please welcome the Internet Information generation. The availability of all kinds of information within seconds has led people, I included wanting and often demanding information there and then, or certainly within a few moments. Please don’t get me wrong, this is purely a transitional thing, and will settle down as soon as we have our systems back in one place.
4: World Of Warcraft. Is erm very time consuming in an evening. I wont say any more than that, I’ll make a post all about that on its own.

So that dear friends, is why for the last 6 weeks haven’t posted much or paid much attention to the blog. I apologise again.

Cheers

Greetings Grapple Fans.......

2007-03-20T21:47:00.000Z

Today Serf and I were talking about old British Wrestling, rather the spectacle of old British wrestling. After drying our thoroughly chortled eyes about Kendo Nagasaki

(Apparently real name Peter Thornely) we found this gem on You Tube.

Its shockingly bad.
Saturday afternoons on the telly when we were young consisted of World Of Sport With Dickie Davis at the helm,

and then we had Kent Walton with his immortal words "Greetings, grapple fans."
Interesting link about him here

I am trying to get some good pics of the good old boys of wrestling, like Big Daddy, Giant Haystacks, Cat Weezel, Mick McManus and the rest of the great pretenders.

I think SVG and I should spend less time reminiscing about things happening 30 odd years ago and get a bit more up to date, erm then again sod it :o)

Hull City chums :o)

And lo it came to pass that the time had come..........

2007-03-13T21:00:00.000Z

To move the web site from Server A to faster more reliable Server B.
So here is I, all prepared and ready to go.

As you can see from the pic I have Idiot Web Master Secondary PC with big nice flat monitor and a relic cobbled together with Linux (Kubuntu if your really interested) installed to backup all the files.

We're just about all set to go, just need to do the washing up, walk the Idiot dog and we're set for some late night database shuffling.

More later as the job progresses..........

Chugga-Boom

2007-03-04T22:36:00.000Z

Me and the Idiot mobile have been out to Castleton in Derbyshire. Home to the famouse Blue John Mines. Its unique like Whitby Jet for its vivid colours. Anyway back tot the tale, ahem and boy did it rain.
All the way there then to Glossop via Snake Pass onto Woodhead and back to the centre of our Universe, Idiot Mansions. A grand total of 88 miles and the only time the windscreen wipers stopped were in a petrol station. Smashing :o|

However, the Idiot Mobile did an excellent job of ferrying Me and my entourage there and back both dry & warm.

Have a look at the snaps to see the Mist and clouds.

The car is actually park on top of Mam Tor (ass unclearly seen below, it was really really misty)

And here we can see a rare glimpse of The Idiot Web Master Himself.

Ladies and Gentlemen.......

2007-02-21T17:55:00.000Z

Idiot mobile Update:

There is a new Idiot Mobile waiting in the wings. This time it doesn't have silly suspension or a timing belt either for that matter. You may have seen it before, its previous owner was one Bruce Wayne.
If your passing Idiot Towers, you should see the new car being looked after by the local under age reprobates. It gives them something to do and the new car clean and unpinched.

2007-02-11T01:25:00.000Z

Melancholy sounds such a nice word, possibly because it rhymes with Jolly. However melancholy the feeling is far from jolly.
I must point out that melancholy is not hanging about my person this evening. I've just read a newspaper article that mentioned the very word and that's where the thought came from.

HIGHLY PERSONAL NOTE COMING RIGHT YOUR WAY
For those who know and feel true melancholy and its other associated feelings know it is far from jolly.
Sorry it's led to depression but one goes hand in hand with the other. For those among us who have been diagnosed with depression whether its Uni, Bi polar or manic (If you read about it, its Bi-Polar under another name, I'm the former I'm only depressive to the power of one and off meds for over 3 years now)
I am in a light mood, no dark clouds gathering, but certainly in a happy reflective mood. The article took the word "melancholy" out of context and applied it to a feeling about a TV programme, "The show left one with a melancholy feeling" this written about a fictional piece of drama. I fail to see how a fictional TV drama with no apparent plot would cause such a feeling. Is it that the journalist felt that way after watching the show, did they feel that whilst writing their review melancholic. Or (and this is my personal thought on it all) apply the word as a catchall phrase that fitted the fill for that occasion.

Is this lazy journalism?

No it isn't. Grab a thesaurus and you will be inundated with associated word, for example click this link for 61 results for Melancholy and this link for only 5 results for Melancholic.

Heres what I think the rub is in all this. A few words mean many different things to many different people. For me I know the feeling of melancholy and about feeling melancholic. However, a journalist purports to having the same feeling having watched a TV show.

So does a TV show or a diagnosed medical condition have any claim on the word? or is it a common word that people can easily identify with rather than feel?

I have no idea, happily I am not suffering from the word, but am reflecting on it's liberal use within the media.

This post has been sponsored by alcohol and brought to you ((C) Bill Gates) at the speed of thought.

This isn't the start of a discussion or debate, merely a thought process affected by popular media sources.

Thank you and good night dear readers. I fully appreciate that this will make no sense unless your part of the Psychological Maladjusted Fraternity.

I'm going to leave this as is, written under the influence of drink. Hopefully I can reflect on it in a sober capacity and see if it makes sense, right now it makes perfect sense. We shall see what the morning and sobriety brings

Cheers:o)

Your loving Idiot Web Master.

P.S. even more international orders. Serf & I are looking for a new office in either Florida or up Boston way in New England.

Steptoe .................

2007-02-06T18:50:00.000Z

Well maybe not, but a Christian name is what we're talking about.

On the web site I mentioned a possible explanation of where the name for BlueTooth devices comes from (Link for further reading) here's an excerpt:

"Bluetooth technology and name comes from our Scandeweigian cousins. The name apparently comes from Harald Blåtand who was King of Denmark from approximately A.D. 940 to 985 and was known for teeth of a bluish hue resulting from his fondness for blueberries. (This is probably folklore)"

It would appear I am potentially wrong. Now I must qualify the above statement with the pretty red writing saying that it is probably folklore. I thought it was quiet amusing and nearly two years on someone has picked up on the description.

Right after much searching and digging about I have found the following information, which will go onto the web site.

A certain King Harald "T'auld Bluey Bluetooth" Gormson or if your after the full blown Scandeweigan experience:
From the Danish: Harald Blåtand,
From the Old Norse: Haraldr Blátönn
And finally From the Norwegian: Harald Blåtann

Now we know the mans name, lets look at a little of what he did or didn't do with Blueberries.

Harald I of Denmark

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from Harald Bluetooth)

Jump to: navigation, search

Rune stones of Gorm and Harald

Rune stone of Harald, writing side

Rune stones of Gorm and Harald, back side

Harald Bluetooth Gormson (Danish: Harald Blåtand, Old Norse: Haraldr blátönn, Norwegian: Harald Blåtann), was born around 935, the son of King Gorm the Old, king of Jutland (that is, peninsular Denmark) and of Thyra (also known as Thyre Danebod) a supposed daughter of Harald Klak, Jarl of Jutland, or daughter of a noblemen of Sønderjylland who is supposed to have been kindly disposed towards Christianity. He died in 986 having ruled as King of Denmark from around 958 and king of Norway for a few years probably around 970. Some sources state that he was forcefully deposed by his son Sweyn as king.

His biography is summed up by this runic inscription from the Jelling stones: "Harald, king, bade these memorials to be made after Gorm, his father, and Thyra, his mother. The Harald who won the whole of Denmark and Norway and turned the Danes to Christianity."

[hide]

[edit] Conversion and Christianization of Denmark

Although Harald's predecessors had adopted Christianity at the instigation of the Frankish Carolingian kings in 826, paganism remained predominant among Danes and northerners for centuries. His mother may have implanted in the boy the first seeds of Christianity which his father, a devout servant of the Norse god Odin, did his utmost to combat. When Harald converted around 965, he had the Jelling mounds – previously started by his pagan father Gorm – adapted into Christian monuments honoring both Gorm and Thyre. The Jelling monuments are said to have been a statement of Harald's new-found religion; it was thought that with these monuments, he was trying to conduct a smooth transition from paganism to Christianity both for himself and his subjects. Christianity may have been impressed on him as a result of military pressure, but the stones have led some people to believe that they represent a new-found love and confidence for his new religion.^{[citation needed]}

Meanwhile the Christian religion became more and more deeply rooted among the Danes. Even a few members of the nobility (such as Frode, Viceroy of Jutland) embraced the faith and soon episcopal sees were established (Schleswig, Ribe, Aarhus). The first recorded attempt at Christianization was made by the English missionary Willibord in the early 8th century. The attempt was unsuccessful, but Willibord is said to have taken 30 young Danish men back to England, possibly to start a seminary. Other attempts were made after this time, but they too were largely unsuccessful. In 845 the Danes sacked Hamburg the town where Anskar, the Bishop of Hamburg, resided. As an indirect result of the sack, Anskar was compensated and given the richer see of Bremen which was run jointly with Hamburg.

It was not until 935 that Christian missionaries had a major breakthrough in the Christianization of Denmark. At this time the Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen, Unni received Harald’s permission to begin preaching across Denmark, even though Harald was not yet the king. As early as 948 sees were established with German missionary bishops in Denmark at Hedeby, Ribe and Aarhus. Harald Bluetooth converted between 960-965 and became similar to non-Scandinavian kings ruling through Europe.

However the prominent part the Germans had in these achievements as well as the lofty idea of the Roman Empire then prevailing led Otto I, the Great, to require Harald to recognize him as "advocatus", or lord protector of the Danish church, and even as "Lord Paramount". It is easy to understand why the indignant king of the Danes replied to this demand with a declaration of war, and why the "emperor" sought to force his "vassal" into subjection. The devastating expeditions, which were pushed as far as the Lÿmfjord, enabled the emperor to beat down all opposition (972), and to compel Harald not only to conclude peace but to accept baptism. Henceforth paganism steadily lost ground.

The Bishopric of Odense was established at Funen (Fyn) in 980; the sacrificial grove at Lethra (on Zealand), which, until then, had been from time to time the scene of human sacrifices, was deserted. King Harald moved his royal residence to Roskilde and erected there a wooden church dedicated to the Holy Trinity. In the eleventh century it was replaced by a basilica, which in turn was soon torn down. Since about the year 1200 its site has been occupied by the Gothic cathedral of St. Lucius, the burial place of the kings of Denmark. Christian houses of worship were also built in many other places during Harald's reign; in these German and Danish priests preached the gospel of the crucified and risen Saviour.

Harald undoubtedly professed Christianity at that time: it is also true that he contributed to its spread. But his moral conduct in many respects distinctly violated biblical commandments. This attitude toward Christianity can be seen throughout the Norse world. The Christian god became a part of Norse life, but was no more important, at first than their gods which already existed. A good example is the Jelling Stones made by Harald I. The rune-stone has both Christian and pagan qualities demonstrating the mixture of old and new values. Consequently many people looked on the plots that were directed against the sovereignty and life of the aging prince by his own son Svend as a punishment from Heaven. Although baptized, Svend joined forces with Palnatoke, the most powerful chieftain on Funen, who lead the heathen party. The fortunes of war varied for a time, but finally Harald was slain on 1 November, 985 or 986.

[edit] Reign

His father's invasion of Friesland in 934 involved him in war with the German Holy Roman Emperor, Henry I. Having been vanquished, he was forced to restore the churches which he had demolished as well as to grant toleration to his Christian subjects, and he died one year later, bequeathing his throne to Harald. Bishop Unni of Bremen, accompanied by Benedictine monks from the Abbey of Corvey, preached the gospel in Jylland (Jutland) and the Danish isles, and soon won the confidence of the young ruler, although he did not succeed in persuading him to receive baptism. Harald sought to shut the Germans out of his kingdom by strengthening the "Danawirk"–a series of ramparts and fortifications that existed until the latter half of the nineteenth century.

During his reign, Harald oversaw the reconstruction not only of the Jelling runic stones but of other projects as well. Some believe that these projects were a way for him to preserve the economic and military control of his country. During that time, ring forts were built in five strategic locations: Trelleborg on Sjælland, Nonnebakken on Fyn, Fyrkat in central Jylland, Aggersborg near Limfjord, and Trelleborg near the city of Trelleborg in Scania in present-day Sweden. All five fortresses had similar designs: "perfectly circular with gates opening to the four corners of the earth, and a courtyard divided into four areas which held large houses set in a square pattern"^[1] A sixth Trelleborg is located in Borgeby, in Scania in present-day Sweden. This one has been dated to the vicinity of 1000 AD and has a similar design, so it too may have been built by king Harald.

He also constructed the oldest known bridge in southern Scandinavia, known as the Ravninge Bridge in Ravninge meadows, which was 5m wide and 760m long.

Harald had a son named Sweyn (Forkbeard), who was baptized along with the rest of the royal family, and given the name of the Holy Roman emperor Otto the Great:

Not long after Harald himself was baptized together with his wife, Gunnhild, and his little son, whom our king raised up from the sacred font and named Svein^[2]

While absolute quiet prevailed throughout the interior, he was even able to turn his thoughts to foreign enterprises. Again and again he came to the help of Richard the Fearless of Normandy (in the years 945 and 963), while his son conquered Samland and, after the assassination of King Harald Graafeld of Norway, he also managed to force the people of that country into temporary subjection to himself.

The Norse sagas presents Harald in a rather negative light. He was forced twice to submit to the renegade Swedish prince Styrbjörn the Strong of the Jomsvikings- first by giving Styrbjörn a fleet and his daughter Tyra, the second time by giving up himself as hostage and an additional fleet. Styrbjörn brought this fleet to Uppsala in Sweden in order to claim the throne of Sweden. However, this time Harald broke his oath and fled with his Danes in order to avoid facing the Swedish army at the Battle of the Fýrisvellir.

As a consequence of Harald's army having lost to the Germans in the shadow of Danevirke in 974, he no longer had control of Norway and Germans having settled back into the border area between Scandinavia and Germany. The German settlers were driven out of Denmark in 983 by an alliance consisting of Obodrite soldiers and troops loyal to Harald. Soon after, Harald was killed fighting off a rebellion led by his son Sweyn. He was believed to have died in 986, although there are many other accounts that claim he died in 985.

He died 1 November, 985 or 986. His remains were buried in the cathedral at Roskilde, where his bones are still preserved, walled up in one of the pillars of the choir.

[edit] Family

He married (1) Gyrid (Gunhilde) Olafsdottir, probably by 950. His children by Gyrid were:

Thyra Haraldsdotter, married Styrbjörn Starke
Sveyn Forkbeard. Born about 960. Usually given as the son of Harald and Gyrid, though it is said in some of the older sagas that he was an illegitimate son.
Hakon. Born in 961.
Gunhild. She married Pallig, Jarl and Ealdorman in Devon. They both died in the St. Brice's Day massacre in November 1002.

He married (2) Thora (Tova) the daughter of Mistivir in 970. She raised the Sønder Vissing Runestone after her mother.

[edit] In popular culture

Poul Anderson's "The Mother of the Kings" is mainly concerned with the Norwegian King Erik Bloodaxe and his family, but a section takes place in Denmark, with a depiction of the young and ambitious Harald Bluetooth ruthlessly playing off various factions and viking leaders against each other.

In The Long Ships or Red Orm (original title: Röde Orm), a best-selling Swedish novel written by Frans Gunnar Bengtsson, the plot takes place some decades later - a large part of it in the court of the aging Harald, shortly before the outbreak of the rebellion of his son Swen. (One of the characters, a Christian cleric, makes comparisons with the Biblical story of King David and his son Absalom).

From 1835 to 1977 it was believed that Harald ordered the death of Haraldskær Woman, a bog body thought to be Sigrid the Haughty until radiocarbon dating proved otherwise.^[3]

[edit] Bluetooth wireless specification

"Bluetooth" now more commonly refers to the Bluetooth wireless specification designed to enable cable-free connections between computers, mobile phones, PDAs, printers and other electronic equipment. The Bluetooth logo consists of the Nordic runes for its initials, H and B.

[edit] Notes

^ Viking Empires, Fortehad, Oram and Pedersen, Cambridge University Press, 2005, p.180
^ History of the Archbishops of Hamberg-Bremen, Adam of Bremen, p.56
^ "Haraldskaer Woman: Bodies of the Bogs", Archaeology, Archaeological Institute of America, December 10, 1997

[edit] References

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700, by Frederick Lewis Weis, Lines 1B-22 & 243A-20

And then,

Harald I Bluetooth (Danish Harald Blåtand) was the King of Denmark between 940 and 985 AD. The name "Blåtand" was probably taken from two old Danish words, 'blå' meaning dark skinned and 'tan' meaning great man. He was born in 910 as the son of King Grom The Old (King of Jutland, the main peninsula of Denmark) and his wife Thyre Danebold (daughter of King Ethelred of England). Like many Vikings, Harald considered it honorable to fight for treasure in foreign lands. When Harald's sister Gunhild was widowed after the death of the violent Norwegian king Erik Blood Axe, she came to Denmark to seek Harald's help in securing control of Norway. Harald took the opportunity to seize control himself. By 960 he was at the height of his powers, ruling over both Denmark and Norway. He was baptized by a priest named Poppo, sent by the German emperor. He then created a monument that read: "King Harald raised this monument to the memory of Grom his father and Thyre his mother. Harald conquered all of Denmark and Norway and made the Danes Christian". These words were also carved in stone called rune stones. Harald was killed in a battle in 985. Harald completed the country's unification begun by his father, converted the Danes to Christianity, and conquered Norway. The expansion begun by Harald in Norway was continued by his son Sweyn I, who conquered England in 1013. Under Sweyn's son Canute there grew up a great Anglo-Scandinavian kingdom that included parts of Sweden.

Old Harald Bluetooth united Denmark and Norway, Bluetooth of today will unite the worlds of computers and telecom (hopefully longer than the few years Harald's Viking kingdom survived). In 1994 Ericsson Mobile Communications initiated a study to investigate the feasibility of a low-power low-cost radio interface between mobile phones and their accessories. In Feb 1998, five companies Ericsson, Nokia, IBM, Toshiba and Intel formed a Special Interest Group (SIG). The group contained the necessary business sector members - two market leaders in mobile telephony, two market leaders in laptop computing and a market leader in digital signal processing technology. It is estimated that before year 2002, Bluetooth will be a built-in feature for more than 100 million mobile phones and several million communication devices ranging from handsets and portable PCs to desktop computers and notebooks.

But is it fair to say that, without mentioning this too.....

King Harald Bluetooth lived in Denmark between 910-940 AD, and was the son of Gorm.
Contrary to popular opinion, Bluetooth or "Blåtand" as it was in old Viking language had nothing to do with a blue tooth.
It means dark complexion – he had very dark hair, which was unusual for Vikings. Not only did Harald not fit the classic image physically, he was a rather unusual Viking.
That is, if your understanding was that the life of a Viking was all battles and pillage. The good King Harald brought Christianity to Scandinavia and also "united" Denmark and Norway. And while we are destroying long-held beliefs, Vikings did not have horns on their helmets!
Much of Harald’s history was learnt from two runic stones erected to his memory in the town of Jelling in Denmark. The first concept of the technology that became Bluetooth was created in Lund in Sweden 1994, and Ericsson has now chosen to erect a modern runic stone to the memory of Harald Bluetooth.
This was unveiled by Ericsson CEO Sven-Christer Nilsson during his recent visit to the Ericsson R&D facilities in Lund. The modern runic stone bears the following inscription (in runic language translated from Swedish): Ericsson Mobile Communications AB erected this stone to the memory of Harald Bluetooth who gave his name to a new wireless technology for mobile communication.
Ericsson’s R&D facility at Lund is undoubtedly a centre of creative excellence. Bluetooth’s genesis there follows many other new ideas, including the Ericsson mobile phone. In fact, the first portable NMT and GSM phones on the market were developed there. It seems that Ericsson is not only making history, but celebrating it, too.

*Phew* this dude is the man, and here's yet more on out mate

While searching for info on Bluetooth, I came across this little nugget of info from University of Utah. I had no idea that…

Bluetooth® is named for Tenth Century Danish king Harald Blåtand, known in English as Harold Bluetooth Gromson, who is reputed to have been so fond of blueberries that his teeth were stained blue. The Bluetooth symbol is a bindrune that combines the runes for Harald Blåtand’s initials — “h” looks like an asterisk.

I have no doubt that eating a large amount of blueberries regularly would stain the teeth blue. However, I’m not exactly sure how that relates to cutting-edge wireless technology.

Regardless, one of the reasons I was doing a little Harald Blåtand research (I’m going to refer to the technology by its original Danish name) was trying to find out if the Apple Wireless Keyboard and Mouse work with two Macs. Meaning, if I have my laptop and tower in the same room, can I control both with the same Bluetoo— excuse me, Harald Blåtand keyboard and mouse.

One issue I could imagine would be that typing and controlling the mouse would happen simultaneously on both computers. That could be a problem — but perhaps there’s a way for it to work. I’ve had a tough time finding an answer online, so if anyone has already experimented with this, be sure to leave a comment.

Filed in: Technology

38 Comments Add your own

#1 Fernando: → http://www.fserb.com.br

Dan, the blue teeth of the king relates with the technology in the fact that the first bluetooth receptor had a “teeth-like” shape and, of course, was blue.
I don’t know if this remains true.

#2 Kyle

Teleport might offer what you’re looking for.

#3 Mike Steinbaugh: → http://webspiffy.com/

I have a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse on a Windows PC. As far as I know the bluetooth connection will only activate on one machine and you can adjust the settings to specify which computer you want activated. Bluetooth has some sort of unique ID system built in so that it doesn’t interfere with another computer. On Windows I know it is not a problem and I heard Bluetooth works even better on a Mac so I would guess that it isn’t an issue.

#4 Matt: → http://photomatt.net/

I was under the impression that a bunch of people got drunk at the conference where they were putting together the specification, and the name stuck.

#5 Tore

What’s next: Svend Tveskæg CPU’s or Erik den Røde Monitors?

#6 Jake

From my understanding of it Harald Blåtand was famous for having everyone talk to each other rather than fight, which in theory is what Bluetooth is supposed to do. Plus weren’t they all Nordic guys who were designing the standard?

#7 Jonas: → http://www.jonas.rabbe.com

Tore: Remember that the names should be translated to english and should apply to new technologies, or alternatively technology standards. So it would be more like Twinbeards CCPUA (Common CPU Architecture), or Reds WDSC (Wireless Display Support Connector).

Dan: Another note, you needn’t call it Harald Blåtand, as only the Blåtand is used in the english name for the technology.

Now we just need to teach you to say it. It’s actually quite easy. First, we start with the BL sound from BLeed; then we steal the OU sound from OUght; finally, we finish of with TAN. This should get you close enough that a dane could understand what you meant. You could record yourself saying the name and put it here on your page.

#8 Andreas: → http://www.solitude.dk/

I can’t be the only Dane who is amused that the Swedish inventors of Bluetooth named it after a Danish king!

Everyone I know generally use the English “Bluetooth” in conversations in Danish. I use “Blåtand” some times - often because I, as every other Dane, have trouble with pronouncing the “th”. :o)

#9 Gunnar: → http://www.mattiasson.net/

Andreas: I think the inventors of Bluetooth are based in Lund, Sweden, at the Ericsson office there. Since Lund (my hometown!) and the whole county of Skåne was dansih at the time of Harald Blåtand, it’s not that strange.
A small, blue toothlike thing invented in Lund… What else would they call it? ;)

#10 Kim

Regarding Bluetooth keyboards, I have not tried to Apple keyboard but I have used another vendors with a PC.

The keyboard needs to “handshake” with the computer - setting up an encryption key so it is only talking to the one computer. You can handshake with a different computer each time you wish to change by hitting a button on the base of the keyboard. I do this semi-regularly when I switch between using the keyboard for my laptop and for my desktop PC.

So, to answer your question - if it works the same - yes, you can use it with both, but only with one at a time.

#11 Andre Leistner

A trailing l is missing in the URL to the University of Utah

andre

#12 ppk: → http://www.quirksmode.org

I heard a different story about king Harald Bluetooth.

Harald was a heathen king of Denmark who ruled, say, around 850 (?) He had bad teeth which caused him a lot of toothache.

The only ones who could cure his aches were monks, and therefore Harald decided Christianity was the Only True Faith, converted, and forced all Danes to convert, too.

Denmark (including Skane in the south of Sweden, in those days) thus became the first Christian Scandinavian country.

Since Bluetooth appeared on the market I’ve constantly wondered why they named it after king Harald. Maybe it’s the “conversion” bit? Everyone should convert to Bluetooth to cure their online aches?

#13 Tomas: → http://jogin.com/weblog/

I’m Swedish myself, and over here we call it “Blåtand” all the time. As far as I know, however, Ericsson has said that the name of the technology is Bluetooth and not Blåtand, because originally, even in the press they occasionally called it Blåtand.

#14 Dan August: → http://k9k.dk

I have to clear this matter up. Harald Blåtand was indeed the first christian king of Denmark.
He was the son of Gorm (not Grom) the Old. Harold’s son was Sven Forkbeard.
Harold had a black tooth, but I’m told that back in those days, they didn’t differentiate between black and blue, so he became known as Harold Bluetooth.
Harold merits include uniting the warring tribes of Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
The name ‘Bluetooth’ was chosen as a code name for the project and found fitting because it unites the efforts of different IT industries.
The ‘Bluetooth’ standard was first conceived by Danish scientists and developers.
Read more about the name on bluetooth.org.
Bonus info - or bonus myth:
The missionary, abbot Ansgar, convinced Harold that his god was stronger than Harold’s gods (Odin, Thor etc.) by winning a classic i-dare-you competition. Harold said that he would be agree to be baptised, if Ansgar could pick up a burning log from the fireplace without hurting his hands as a proof of faith and the power of God. Ansgar did so, and Harald became a christian and let Ansgar convert the rest of the kingdom.
Bonus info II:
The belief in the ancient Nordic gods is hard-lived. Last year it made a comeback and was once again approved as a religion (though nowhere near the dominant one) in Denmark; rendering Asa-believers no longer heathens.

#15 Kyle

Horror story time:

At work, we have wireless mice (and now keyboards). Although, not bluetooth, the Logitech ones work great, but the Microsoft ones interefere badly with each other. They will start working with another computer, and you can’t stop them. The channel changing doesn’t work properly.

I would hope that bluetooth does not do the same, but I bet it depends on the brand.

#16 Jason Pearce: → http://jason.pearce.net/

Perhaps Synergy would solve your problem.

Similar to Teleport, Synergy lets you share a single mouse and keyboard between multiple computers. Except, Synergy works with several operating systems. I’m just not sure if it works with a Mac.

#17 Brian Middleton

I believe that if you pair an Apple mouse and/or keyboard to a Powerbook and a desktop and have all the components in the same room, that the mouse and/or keyboard will activate on both machines. I can give it a try tonite. It would be interesting to set up the two machines the same, start the cursor in the same place and do the same work on both. Not very productive..but kinda funny..

-b

#18 blueserker: → http://www.blueserker.com

the person that actually first proposed the name was an american working for intel that just happened to be reading a book on viking history :-)

http://www.blueserker.com

#19 Thomas Baekdal: → http://www.baekdal.com

…which is why we should reintroduce the glorious viking age (sorry could not resist).

#20 Michael Heilemann: → http://binarybonsai.com

So many danes… It’s… It’s just so beautiful!

/me sobs

#21 michael: → http://www.grooveraccoon.com

In a similar tradition; the story of the 4th Century Welsh King, Robert, gained the name ‘Blackberry’ after surviving in blackberry bushes after the English raids in the border town of Wrexham.

#22 michael: → http://www.grooveraccoon.com

Couldn’t resist. But I’ll come clean so as not to offend.
‘Bobby’ Blackberry was a joke!

#23 Dan Cederholm: → http://www.simplebits.com

For the record, I’m loving the Scandinavian history stuff. Half of my ancestry is Swedish, and my wife and I are making a trip to Stockholm in late May. Can’t wait.

#24 derek

I stumbled across Harald Bluetooth Gromson’s name just last week in Poul Anderson’s book Mother of Kings and wondered whether there was any connection. Thanks for clearing that up for me!

#25 Jeff Croft: → http://jeffcroft.com

Dan-

Thanks for the history lesson. :)

I have the Apple Bluetooth Mouse and Keyboard, as well. When you set it near a computer, it does sync up with that computer, creating an encryption key that is specific to that computer, preventing the mouse and keyboard from controlling another nearby computer. Having only one Mac right now, I’m not sure how easy it is to “switch” the active computer. I’m sure it can be done — I’m just not sure if it’s as simple as reaiming the keyboard and mouse, or if there is a 10 step proceedure that would make it more trouble than it’s worth.

#26 Darrel: → http://darrelaustin.com

Someone needs to turn this all into a fun childrens book: The Legend of King Bluetooth!

#27 jens persson: → http://persson.cx/

When talking about Harald Blåtand I can’t resist giving a hint about The Long Ships by Frans G Bengtsson which is a fantastic book featuring a yule at king Harald’s court. It’s all fiction but have been very influential about how vikings are perceived, at least here in Sweden.

#28 Magnus the Good

Uhm… do this mean, that all the times I (and my friends) said “Bl�tann” as a joke, we acctually used the correct name :P

(I know the real name is Bluetooth, I just couldn’t resist! I’m Norwegian, and as a good Norwegian, I’m proud as long it’s related to Scandinavia.)

#29 Ole Hansen

Just a small correction: It was not Ansgar, but Poppo, who convinced Harald Blåtand to convert. At least according to this page.

However, Ansgar did try to convert the Danes to Christanity, but unsuccessfully. The king at that time, Harald Klak (who supported Ansgar), was driven from his kingdom. This was about 150 years before Harald Blåtand’s reign.

#30 Dan August: → http://k9k.dk

@Ole: True, the legend is about Poppo, and not Ansgar.

However, I seem to recall from the back of my mind that Ansgar was the first bishop in Scandinavia and based in Hedeby (now Flensburg).

Nevertheless, if you ever visit Jelling, Denmark, you can still see the graveyards of Gorm (not Grom) and Thyra, who were Harald’s parents. Along with the rune stone Harald rose in remembrance of his parents. The stone is often referred to as the birth certificate of Denmark.

Bonus info:
Legend has it that Gorm (not Grom) and Thyra slept with a sword between during their first years of marriage as they were very suspicious of eachothers true intentions. The vikings allways brought very straight forward measures to daily life problems.

#31 Jason Kilpatrick

One KB/Mouse for multiple computers will not work simultaneously. And I don’t anticipate it ever working. The KB/Mouse can be used on one computer at a time. Yyou will have to pair the connection every time you want to switch between machines. Sorry if this has been mentioned. Most comments were history lessons. =)

#32 Michiel

There are a lot of irrelevant answers in this thread, which makes it hard for me to conclude: is it possible yes or no? Of course nobody would want to control 2 computers (win/lin/mac) at the same time, so non-simultaneously, is it possible?
The answer I’m looking for is: which product can do this? It would be the product that has a simple button to switch, but how does it connect to the ‘next’ computer? I inspected the Lochitech MX set, it comes with a button on the bottom labeled ‘connect’. Has anyone tried to use this to switch computers?
And what happened? I could imagine being stuck in between. Since we are talking about input devices, doesn’t pairing require you to make an active selection in the OS? How does one do this if your input device is not connected??

Very interested to hear before I run out to spend money…

Can also mail me, would be very thankfull!!

#33 Daniel Kasaj: → http://www.lekke.net

All this talk about Bluetooth keyboards got me wondering… I have an iPAQ PocketPC and wonder if it would be possible to pair it with a BT (full size) keyboard and use it as an input method… Probably need some kind of drivers

Great page btw!!

#34 Harald Blåtand: → http://www.investindk.com/1024/visArtikel.asp?artikelID=8993

Here’s the story about Bluetooth according to the Royal Danish Ministry of Foregin Affairs:

Check the link to read the full story.

Early Danish experiences with Bluetooth

Quote:
“The idea behind Bluetooth wireless technology was hatched in 1994 by Scandinavian engineers, who thought it was appropriate to name it after the legendary Danish King Harald Bluetooth, as it is a technology uniting devices. During the reign of the Danish King Harald Bluetooth from 940 to 981, Denmark and Norway were converted to Christianity and united - hence the inspiration for the name: Bluetooth symbolises a consolidating and unifying element.

Today, Denmark is at the forefront of Bluetooth technology. Several Danish companies have developed innovative Bluetooth products and Denmark is setting the pace of development, with 7 out of the world’s first 11 classified Bluetooth products being developed here.

A Cluster of Complete Mobile Competencies

Today, Denmark is one of the world’s leading centres in wireless R&D, both in the application area, in the design of new handsets, infrastructure components, expertise in RF engineering, overall system design, product design/user interface as well as testing and end-production. Within a short radius more than 60 companies are engaged in Telecom. Furthermore, Denmark is characterised by many remote R&D facilities from international players such as Nokia, Ericsson, Motorola, Texas Instruments and Siemens.Denmark has a position as a value-adding location for development activities in wireless communication.
Since 2001 Danish Digianswer A/S has been Motorola’s Center of Excellence within Bluetooth technology. Main areas are: Chip development, integration and software development.

“It is only natural for us to locate ourselves in Aalborg, Denmark, because it is a well-known fact that the region is among the world leaders in connection with Bluetooth technology.”

Ian Campell

Recruitment Officer, CSR”

#35 dean

..I just wish Harald’s son Sven had united the danish tribes - then everything would now be Forkbeard enabled.

#36 Adem: → http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=King+Harald+Bluetooth

Everyone!!!!!!!! here is the complete cut and dried history of King Harald Blatland though I can not give you tech answers for bluetooth stuff. Some of you touched on parts of it and quite well I must say and though you did a good job you do not get the cigar.

Here it goes

It is thought that blatland is derived from “bla” meaning darkskinned and “tan” meaning great man (bluetooth was a nickname).

Part two coming soon do not have time to type the rest right now.

#37 Anonymous

940 to 981?! A blue tooth? Blueberries?!?
Come on! Harald Gormsson was called “Harald the Good” while he was alive, that is the only nickname (if you will) by which he is ever referred to in ancient sources. Don’t ask me why he has become known as “Bluetooth”, but it is a fact that no-one knows if he was ever actually called that during his lifetime. And even if he was, we don’t know why…there are plenty of fanciful explanations, but everything is pure guesswork, really.

He became king in 958 or 959 (that, on the other hand, is a fact), and died on November 1st, probably 986, but 985 and 987 are also possible.

#38 Rob Mayfield

I am looking for any and all information on “King Harold 1st, or King Harold Bluetooth. According to my Geneology, I am a direct lind from his linage, and I am looking for informtion on him.
Thank You,
Rob Mayfield

_________________________________________________________________
OK, you may have noticed I have just copied all this information, and to be honest I havent even read the last three chunks, I do know however the last one is from a blog, and there are claimants to his thrown and possible dependency.
To give the righful respect to other hard work this is where all the information has come from. Thank you for allowing me to "borrow it" and I would also like it to me know, that the only comments through the articles which are mine, are infact mine and no -one elses. Like wise the hard work of others, copyright belongs deservedly to them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harald_Bluetooth
http://www.cs.utk.edu/~dasgupta/bluetooth/
http://www.cellular.co.za/bluetooth_king_harald.htm
http://www.simplebits.com/notebook/2004/04/04/harold_bluetooth_gromson.html

More later :o)

Failiure...................

2007-02-04T19:20:00.000Z

That's me gang, I'm a failure, I was fully intended to stop smoking this week. However on Thursday the day to stop I went to Telford and had a nightmare on the roads, I think had I stopped that very day I'd have been over stressed and would have started again.
New date to be set, I am still committed to stopping and sooner rather than later.

TJ the sweetie jar is primed and ready the receive its rewards.

The biggest failure though is the Idiot Mobile, the head gasket has failed. So that's why it was overheating. I have no great or firm religious beliefs. But you have to admire vertain traditions, such as the Old Norse tradition of Valhalla sending the car to to Valgrind escorted (pardon the pun) by a team of Valkyries. For a ceremonial burial.

New car required. Any offers under 30 bob gratefully received :o)

As a little light releif heres a 5 year olds take on my job:
Star wars atat luke Darth vader ben kenobi
Not sure what they were trying to say.

:o)

IconUK Around the world

2007-02-01T22:08:00.000Z

I've just found this link, it mentions IconUK, but quite what the point is I don't know.

Mesdames et messieurs IconUK en Français

Back to Telford said the imp.........

2007-02-01T21:28:00.000Z

Mission: Go to Telford, see our Agent in the area and report back.

What could be easier? well going by train or walking for a start!
I had the good fortune of visiting one of our suppliers in the West Midlands, Telford to be precise. I set off about 9ish thinking it wouldnt take me too long, as things transpired I couldnt help but think about Edmund Hilary and Sherpa Tenzing scaling Everest in less time than it took me to get through Passport control and into the Telford.
Roadworks on the M1 I can deal with, there's a reason why your stood and moving slowly. That's the first hour of the trip.
But why with no apparent cause you park up on the M6 (finest car park in the country in my opinion, sadly the services need some work though) and wait.
Oh boy did I wait, 1hour 10 mins to move precisely 1 mile, yes ONE mile, and in all that time, I had the sheer joy of following possibly the most orange portable machine ever made. I can tell you that you stand well clear when chipping wood with the machine, and that there are two buttons that allow wood either in or out. which seems odd. If there is a reverse button, does it rebuild the cellular structure of the wood being chipped, if so lets hot foot it to the Amazon and rebuild the rain forest's. I'll be Sting's bestest mate forever.

After all the van peddle soft shoe shuffling I eventually broke free of the massed throng. After 4 agonising hours I arrived, I had borrowed a Sat Nav, which did what it claimed, and got me to my destination without getting lost. What it didn't do is get me out of a motorway car park situation. You can ask the Sat Nav to redirect, but if there is no road block, it just thinks you've parked up for a bit of a rest cos your a tired little bunny. Pah! I wanted it so ring a commercial helicopter service to get me to a faster moving section of motorway.

Anyway, meeting over. I thought I'd put the Sat Nav to a good test (I've never used one before, I'm so far behind the times its not funny) I deliberately took wrong turns (I know my way from Cannock back to HQ) and sure enough it guided me away from the M6 and eventually onto the M1.
Then dear readers, On the M1 I had the thrilling pleasure of enjoying more car boot & truck door watching, I'm sure voyeurism should be more entertaining than this.

To recap
Depart at 08:55, arrive destination 12:18
Depart at 14:00 arrive home at 18:35
Total miles about 250
Time spent looking at rear ends: forever.
Conclusion, invite suppliers to Idiot Mansions.

That aside it was a good worthwhile trip, thanks Nathan & Lee :o)

Cars PT MXCVIIIIXXXXCCVVVVCCCCIIIII.2a

2007-01-30T20:13:00.000Z

Quick car update, the battery charged up nicely.
The Idiot Mobile started immediately oh happy joy.
Out for a quick trundle round the block.
Engine started overheating again.
Thinking about employing the heavy hammer technique from the School of Vehicle Mechanics.
And use

to batter the car to smitherennies. If that doesnt work I'll send the boys round to sort something out somewhere or other. Sorry I just wanted an excuse to put some pics of Yosemite Sam and The Anthill Mob and this is the best I could come up with.
( (C) All copyright to owners etc etc etc etc)

Believe it or not, it seems that most mechanics have no great desire to set up web site/ forums or blogs about mending cars, which is odd considering the amount of crap there actually is on the Internet, there is very little information about cooling systems on the Internet.
Maybe I haven't lifted enough stones while searching.
I sense a money making scheme in the making.

I just need a mechanic to sit next to a PC and set up general how to's for simple car mechanics.

HHmmmmmmm, more later.

When I were a lad.........

2007-01-30T19:27:00.000Z

There would have been non of this malarky! We would have been soundly thrashed by all and sundry.

When Serf Von Graftingington & I left IconUK HQ Dungeon Dept, now with 100% extra added fax facilities (just need to get a good 0845 number for all you lovely people to ring us at local rates, although only for web site enquiries, anything else use the usual shop number and let one our helpful staff assist you with your enquiry)

We noticed a group of young people hanging around the shop opposite, as this is nothing unusual for where mission control is located, we thought nothing more of it and set off home for the evening.
Then, as though a whirlwind had passed by our multi purpose vehicular charger (hence forth the Van) we noticed the group of young people charging down the street mob handed, again nothing out of the ordinary. Serf VG spotted a couple of small pramesque wheels peeping out of the melee of feet. It turns out the group of angelic cherubs had pinched the Bubbly Gum machine from out side the shop across from us.
As quickly as they had appeared they shot down an alley and disappeared, no doubt to chew their way through the evidence.
Had we had chance we would have done our civic duty and apprehended the foot pads, alas they had gone into the ether not to be seen again, well they may be seen again with very tired jaws.

Please lets not enter a debate into the rights and wrongs of all this. Just an example of youth, not that's not fair on youth, I should say an example of PEOPLE who are willing to openly steal despite two massive CCTV cameras pointing in that general direction.
Is this be indicative of the "want it now" society we live in?

Right I'm putting the soap box for the evening. As I said this isn't a debate in the making just something else we see during our working day.

Hull City.

Cars PT MXCVIIIIXXXXCCVVVVCCCCIIIII.2

2007-01-28T13:16:00.000Z

OK back to the damn Idiot Mobile, let recap.
1: Christmas Shopping suspension appeared through the bonnet.

2: Get suspension leg mended, fit new spheres.

3: Take car out and car starts leaking water like a running tap.

4: Fit new (well new to me) radiator.

OK, with me so far? right, tried to start the shed and YAY a flat battery. IF and I mean IF I ever get the car sorted and running I will race to the local shop and display my derriere in the shop window with a sign that simply states "Car Fixed!"

More later when the battery has been charges .....
Cheers

Oh and another thing

2007-01-26T03:52:00.000Z

According to every clock in Idiot Mansions the time is now 03:54 am, but my last ost says posted at 03:26am.
Blogger is well behind the times :o)

*EDIT*
The time is from when you first open a new blog post, rather than when you post it.
Silly me, time for bed I think.

The time sponsored by Idiots Clock is...........

2007-01-26T03:26:00.000Z

.........Oh Christ o'Clock in the morning, and finds your IWM in a reflective mood.
Feeling cold, tired and more than a little nauseas (non alcoholic related I hasten to add, I wouldnt mind if it was) I'm sat shivering merrily wrapped up in a big thick blanket thinking about an odd collection of things.
Such as Google which to be honest is never far from mind anyway both Serf Von Graftingington & I seems to do nothing else other than try and work out Goggles next move.
Or a half wit wanting to play e-mail tennis asking two and three word questions about a particular product.
Or how come the rest of the country have had about 37 foot of snow and we've only had about 6 snow flakes.
But the biggest thing going on down thought alley is................................ (drum roll please)

Stopping smoking, I seem to have subconsciously started smoking more, possibly to make me more sick and tired of smoking.
I think also that I am actually scared of stopping, why I dont know because its a good thing I am trying to achieve, it could be down to a fear of failure, or possibly for the past 20 years I've smoked and I'm going to be breaking the habit ritual/ cycle. I really don't know, but I'm a little scared.
My rational thoughts are in the right place, but my irrational thoughts are all over the place.
In the past I have used psychological techniques to help students over come many things (A Community Tutor is far more than someone who teaches people, they also become a counsellor, a directory enquiries sort of device and on occasion a taxi service. Granted the taxi service was a bit of an emergency) but when I try to think positively my irrational negative cognitive process gets right to work.

*ladies and Gentlemen this has turned into a stream of waffly consciousness*

But I'm going to post it, leave it then re-visit to see how I feel in a few days. It may very well be that at 3:49am on a Friday morning feeling cold, ill and miserable is causing a clouding of thought and judgement.
At least it's not another breakdown!

We shall see.

Sorry its a bit of an odd post this one, I have just sat an typed it all in one go and haven't re-read any of it. Brave but I don't think I've said anything out of turn.

Cheers
IWM.

Cars........

2007-01-21T16:34:00.000Z

..... Are a pain in the derriere. I get the spheres on, lovely smooth and very non bouncy car. Took the Idiot mobile out oh happy joy.
Arrive nearly at my destination, the damn thing cut out. Fiddle sticks says I.
I ring the new recovery people (used to be The AA, but they got ditched after fleecing me for an extortionate amount of money just to get home)
The lad duly turns up after 30 mins or so. He got the car started and said I was out of diesel, which seemed odd as I the gauge said I had a third of a tank left.
The car now running, I thanked the lad and made my way to the petrol station to make sure I had lots of fuel.
An odd feeling befell your hapless Idiot Web Master, the temp gauge had hit the roof, and two little orange lights appeared. Quite scenic and had I not started to worry I would have pulled up and enjoyed the little light show before me.
Long story snip to short story.
I got home and discovered the radiator has a hole in it dear Liza, replacement has been located and with a bit of luck come the summer I might have a car that works. Fingers crossed and all that.

Now couple this with the fact that I have some E-bay auctions running and out of the 12 items listed, just one item has 2 people watching not even a single bid. Pah!!!!!

Oh well, think this evening I shall commiserate myself with some wine. After all I wont be driving to IconUK HQ (Dungeon Dept.) I shall have my trusty MP3 player in me ear ole and enjoy or endure the exhilarating thrill of Public Transport.

Not the greatest blog, but I's kept me amused for 10 mins and help take the frustration of the situation away from me.

Hull City mon ami's enjoy your Sunday Evening :o)

Fantastic News

2007-01-20T20:01:00.000Z

Evening Readers (LOL my precious dear dear readers I know to of at least 5, please step forward if theres more :o) )

You'll pleased to know (possibly not but I am as is The Idiot's loyal and diligent serf Von Graftington) that some of our pages have come out of Google's supplemental results. This means that the deep crawl is about over and the results are seeping in, the Google Dance has begun and main index awaits us. Smashing, that means when you search we should start showing up. The experiment is working also. Search results for this blog are showing and cross pollination links are propagating successfully (That reminds me I need a new greenhouse)

Now top that off with a made from scratch Thai green curry for dinner, followed by a goodly amount of lager. A good day had by all.

Oh and able and diligent Serf Von Graftington still shovelling the keywords like a man possessed. I imagine that an spellbinding evening of topical debate will take place at the Thinkley Tavern this evening. Good lad :o)

Enjoy the rest of weekend, and If I'm fed up at Idiot Mansions on Sunday I may post yet mote pithy erm rubbish :o)

Jubelt dem Idiotnetzmeister zu

Good Blogs By Other Bloggers.

2007-01-14T20:22:00.000Z

Dear N E R's (Non Existent readers, as soon as someone leaves a comment I will change the opening line :o)

Part of me starting to blog, was initially as an experiment in driving traffic to the web site I work for. But now my mind has changed somewhat. It is an excellent method of expression and release of tension (saves shouting at other people, mumbling is a fantastic method of conveying fed upness)
They seem to have made it into common daily web use, well they have for me. I read a diverse collection of blogs.
The two I keep going back to most are a chap called Tom Reynolds who write Random Acts Of Reality He write about his job working for The London Ambulance Service. Some of his posts have certainly been thought provoking like this Anger this post is an exceptional piece of writing and should be admired for what he is trying to say.

The other one is a bloke called Matt Cutts Blog this chap works for Google and does heaps of other things. When I first set about hunting through the myths of SEO, I saw a video blog Matt did and at first sceptical, I continued researching, revisited his video blog and everything dropped into place. He's good at dodging questions but has lots to say that is now starting to make sense.

There are other, there must be millions. Proably all better written than this, and no doubt quite a few less well written (possibly by Nursery Infants, trying to express their Zimbardo thoughts.

Cheers

Stopping Smoking....

2007-01-14T12:09:00.000Z

As I rapidly approach the middle part of my life, I've been hit with a stark realisation that I'm half way through my life, what have I done thus far?

1: Worked in factories, working for the man and wanting to stick it to the man!

2: Moved about a bit, lived in Leicester, Wolverhampton and a spell in Manchester too.

3: Made redundant and moved back to the glorious Metropolis that is Barnsley

4: This is the best bit went and found some qualification, started an ICT course and within 6 months started as a volunteer teacher on the very same course. Things escalated from there.

5: Decided that to be a Tutor more qualifications were need. Got stuck into a City & Guilds course, and then Greenwich University for a Cert. Ed.

6: Worked for several Colleges in their Adult Education departments.

7: Spent 4 years working in ex mining communities delivering ICT, History & Basic Skills courses to people from all walks of live, my oldest student was 93 and she was distraught that she could no longer come to the sessions as her Son who used to bring her was ill. Thats what use make tutoring worthwhile. The students. I've made some fantastic friends who I am still in touch with. As most Tutors & Teachers will admit to away from work. The back end stuff of internal politics and back stabbing that happens in all educational establishments I've worked in is too much, you become despondent and disillusioned. Oh and the paperwork, man oh man I am willing to wager that unless your in teaching you will have never ever seen as much paperwork related madness.
At the last College I worked they very kindly (I do mean kndly as it happens, hindsight is a fantastic thing) didn't renew my contract.

8: Whilst working in Education I happened to be asked to teach some Young Adults ICT course on a "Summer Camp" easy enough I thought untill I arrived at the Activity Centre where it was to be held. The Camp Commandant (Who is a good friend and who was later awarded an MBE for his work with young people) then decided to let me know these Young People we're Socially Excluded from mainstream education. Great Young Offenders. About now I was searching in vein for a number for Sketchleys or any other dry cleaners.
Once the Summer Camp started rolling, I learned that my prejudices we completely and utterly unfounded. We had a fantastic time, I have the pictures to prove it. It was from this Summer Camp that my affection for Archery began. We also ran a further 2 Summer Camps. All with the same goal and that goal was met, passed and surpassed. All the Young People who finished the course had a plethora of certificates and qualifications as rewards for their hard work. It wasnt easy, there was a lot of late nights and shouting. If you have Year 11 or 16 year old children, you'll appreciate who much fun a sullen teenager is.

9: Time for a new job, I ended up working in an Activity Centre, famous round these parts. Teaching primarily ICT. But also setting up courses for Business for their "Away Days" or Team Building days. Now that was fun, telling a group of grown ups to act daft is fantastic. We were heavily involved
with Central Government trying to run "Summer Camps" through the year, well 21 day courses for young offenders/ at risk offenders (the "at risk" offenders, were those who didn't have a criminal record but might be about to get one, a sort of nip it in the bud situation)
sadly we didn't manage our objective. Things got worse at the Centre, the Operations Director & Finance Director resigned as a move against the stifling attitude of the Trustee's. Likewise in a show of principals resigned.

10: Icon Computers and Consoles & IconUK. Then three years ago this April 1st (not a joke honestly) I started work for Icon Computers and Consoles, then a small shop in Barnsley. There are 5 of us who work there in total, and between us we managed to muddle through with never enough space building and mending PC's, selling heaps and heaps of Compatible Inks for Epson and the like. Expansion began, we took over the upper floor of the building, room and future plans we're now a reality.
We set about our Web Site www.iconuk.co.uk which I have to say for the 18 months The Boss Shaped Man & I have been running the web site it has become a labour of love, we each spend an awful lot of time at home working late into the night, I at Idiot Mansion and The Boss Shaped Man at Boss Shaped Man Towers. Some customers may notice that they get replies to their Contact Us forms at odd hours, thats because we're working late :o)

That dear non existent readers is what I've done in 20 years. Not much really.
But one landmark thing I AM going to do is STOP SMOKING. I'm aiming for 1st of Feb as "Stop It Naughty Boy" day. it may or may not work I don't know, I have never tried to stop before. No doubt I will fail, as will power inst one of my strongest traits. But determination is a strong character trait.
I may moan and use the blog as a release point, sort of self therapy.

Cheers & Hull City (To be explained later)

Hammer

2007-01-13T20:20:00.000Z

Things need knocking in, big hammer required.

2007-01-13T19:45:00.000Z

Dearest Non Existent Readers,

Allow me to regale you with tales of dareing do, broken cars and then having them on the mend, love, romance, dastardly deeds and other things!

Imagine if you will, the Friday before Christmas, My family & I decide to get some shopping.
Duly did the shopping, and then I think stupidity got the better of me, we decided that we need something else from a certain shop that has catalogues.

We set off for the Nirvana that contains the Laminated Book Of Dreams, once we were within striking distance, we are shocked, surprised and just a bit peeved that the suspension strut made a Yuletide appearance though the bonnet.

The AA we're informed of our predicament, they duly set about ignoring us for an hour, despite a baby in the Citroen Idiot Web Master Mobile.
The nice man arrived with his big "take away poorly car" truck and brought us home.
Festive comments were exchanged, car dropped off outside the baronialesque Idiot Mansions, just off Cretin Plaza.

The following morning, heading to IconUK HQ (Dungeon Section) I noticed some little possibly big Urchin had booted the wing mirror off. Great Merry Christmas to Me :o(

It seems that something had rotted away and as we hit a pot hole we got a chance to all waved a cheery Hello to the newly bent bonnet.

The IconUK Idiot Web Master Mobile is now very nearly back to its former glory. The work has been done save 2 new spheres (Anti bouncy floaty Citroen suspension thingy)
Chuck them on and job done and sorted.
Smashing :o)

SEO Stuff.

2007-01-12T15:22:00.000Z

I've had a steep learning curve this week regarding Search Engine Optimisation. My readings have lead me to the following thoughts.
1: SEO's earn their money.
2: SEO's REALLY earn their money.
3: There seems to be 2 different camps Alliance and Horde and both decry the other as being halfwits and anti christs.
4: Are 301's and 302's really the best way of re-directs (Like I really know :os)
5: A good way to escape all this is to play Command & Conquer or World of Warcraft. (Never played either before, but Christmas brought both of these and now I play merrily)
6: Keyword density formula is possible harder to work out than Pi.
7: Our SEO Mark McNeece at BsolveIT is worth his weight in gold and other precious things too. He makes the non-sensical sense make sense (Cheers Mark)
8: It is said that a good way to point things to your site is fresh content, such as a blog mwwwahahahahahahahahah, hence this tarradiddle. So as an experiment, I'm blogging, could also be seen as blagging. Either way I think waffle from IconUK HQ Dungeon is a good way for me to write inane drivel and try techniques for generating inbound links and traffic :o)

Merci vous mes lecteurs inexistants (probably makes no sense to a Frenchman, I dont speak French but web based translators I think try their best)

Well its been a while..PTII

2007-01-10T13:19:00.000Z

Happy New Year to all my non existent readers :o)

Moans about Googles supplemental results.
I've been researching SEO and it's wily ways. Minefield doesn't enter into the subject its far far worse than that.
It would appear that Google has been flushing out its temp files and re-indexing with a deep crawl. We and from what I've read virtually everyone else have been dumped and been re-indexed. Now the crux of the matter, how to get from Supplemental back to the main index.
Pointers suggest a new site map, a part of the Dark Arts, I've tried but lacking a cloak and cauldron means my efforts have been erm not successful.
Fear not my dear non-existent reader I am plugging my way through it.
While I'm in moan mode, I must say something about halfwits who send me silly e-mails regarding something we don't have such as PSP, Wii, X-Box 360 or PS3 consoles. Please if you could find them on our site, let me know I'm after a Ninetendo Wii myself.
I want to look silly swinging the controller about like a Medieval Knight, well actually I want to play Zelda.

Its been a while......

2006-11-01T10:22:00.000Z

I really don't know where time goes, here we are in November.
Still I have found some SATA 2.5" Icy Box caddies. And just waiting for our web site add-ons to be added-on. Which will make the web site even more functional.
Better get ready for Christmas I guess.

Woah web sites are a PIA

2006-09-25T15:33:00.000+01:00

Well it would seem that e-commerce sites are not without their problems, especially when the web site is down for 12 hour, throwing gripping error messages, anddddddddddd then the back end uninteresting bit gets reset to 3 days previously, which then in turn sets of a chain of events that cause me to bounce around the country trying to rectify the resulting issues. As with all problems, invariably they have a happy outcome, well I’m nearly at the happy outcome stage. Just need to resolve one more thing and with a bit of luck we’ll back to where we were.

Erm I say that as I hold the biggest chuck of wood I can grasp in my hands. :o)

Caddies required.

2006-09-12T13:25:00.000+01:00

It would seem that a high percentage of our customers are wanting external caddies, this started off as an experiment. We wanted to see what and how many caddies we could sell by devoting time and energy into that particular product.
We chose a wide range including Safecom, Stardom, Icy Box, Icy Dock caddies.

Well I'm happy to say its worked, lots of people buying our caddies and we're still focusing on them.

Not sure which product to choose next. Any offers?

Should have made this the first post.

2006-09-05T15:55:00.000+01:00

Right the world and its mother seem blog happy, so I thought I may as well join the thronging mass.

Starter for 10...................

2006-09-05T15:44:00.000+01:00

Right, It would appear that trying to find images of such simple things as nuts and bolts is erm to say the least difficult. Just try going to google images and typing in "nuts and bolts" and try an image that you like and will fit in with what your trying to do on a web site. Its tough!

IconUK Idiot Web Master

During a discussion.....

Indoor League.........

Addicted........

Crivens......

Earthquake......

You'll Always Find Me......

I said Captain, he said........

Possibly the most amusing pic I've seen in a long time....

We went away for Christmas....

Genial Harry Gout (or metabolic arthritis)

Going to work....

We're international.......

Ahem, suppliers, some good, some bad, some can sing, some cant take video, you know how it goes....

So we get bored and make a video......

Why dont you blog me up buttercup.....

Aarrgghhhh offensive people

well well well mobile blogging

The Saw Doctors

CIS Barnsley!!!!!!!!!!!! (Updated)

I'm so sorry I have neglect you dear dear blog and readers

Greetings Grapple Fans.......

And lo it came to pass that the time had come..........

Chugga-Boom

Ladies and Gentlemen.......

Steptoe .................

Harald I of Denmark

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Contents

[edit] Conversion and Christianization of Denmark

[edit] Reign

[edit] Family

[edit] In popular culture

[edit] Bluetooth wireless specification

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

38 Comments Add your own

Failiure...................

IconUK Around the world

Back to Telford said the imp.........

Cars PT MXCVIIIIXXXXCCVVVVCCCCIIIII.2a

When I were a lad.........

Cars PT MXCVIIIIXXXXCCVVVVCCCCIIIII.2

Oh and another thing

The time sponsored by Idiots Clock is...........

Cars........

Fantastic News

Good Blogs By Other Bloggers.

Stopping Smoking....

Hammer

SEO Stuff.

Well its been a while..PTII

Its been a while......

Woah web sites are a PIA

Caddies required.

Should have made this the first post.

Starter for 10...................