Tag: Gloucestershire


  • Nightmare bike rides

    Before the [W:BBC] series Britain By Bike reaches hereabouts and shows you some fantasy rural cycling idyll I can reveal some of the real everyday horrors you can encounter…

    Get the Flash Player to see this video.

    The opening shots are from a head mounted camera hence the swaying effect.

    This post was to test the [W:HTML 5] embedding thing but it did not work. And so there is a better mp4 version (25MB) and a full screen version (120MB) available.

    The music is a version of The Maids of Mitchelstown by [W:The Bothy Band].

    Update:
    The HTML 5/ MP4 thing seems to be alive and well. Next stop the [W:Ogg] version.

    [video:http://www.media.duncanmoran.net/nightmaresmall.mp4|http://www.media.duncanmoran.net/nightmarelight.ogg|url.webm http://www.media.duncanmoran.net/nightmaresmall_540x360.jpeg 605 340]

    Updated update: There is an Ogg version now and it is working on my Mac with Safari, FireFox, Opera and Chrome browsers. And in FireFox on Ubuntu in Virtual Box too.
    So farewell Flash!


  • Library Books software for Gloucestershire

    Harold Chu’s Library Books software for Mac OS X tracks your borrowings and reminds you when they need returning/renewing. I had messed with an earlier version but never managed to get it to connect to the local library service. A new version was in today’s MacUpdate listing but as Gloucestershire was not included in the preset UK libraries I had another go at getting it to work. Success 🙂

    So if you live in [W:Gloucestershire], are a member of the library, have a Mac and a tendency to forget to return stuff this is what you need.

    Install and run the Library Books software. It only appears as a star icon in the menu bar. Click on the star icon and select Preferences. Select the Logins section and click the + button to add a new library.
    From the Library drop down menu select Generic Catalogue Systems – TalisPrism / Talis Catalogue System.

    The Library Books Settings Pane
    The Library Books Settings Pane

    In the General settings add a Name and your Borrower numbet. PIN can be left blank.

    In the Catalogue section add:
    Catalogue host: http://www.searchourshelves.gloucestershire.gov.uk
    Library Web Page: http://www.libraries.gloucestershire.gov.uk/
    Date format: dd/mm/yyyy
    Click the Save button.

    That’s it!

    Click on the Star icon and select Update and it will fetch a list of your borrowed items. The number of items are displayed next to the star. You can make the star change colour the day before an item is due to be returned and/or add the dates to iCal so that it will also remind you.

    The software is free and no more late return charges 😉

    Update: The details were sent to Harold Chu the developer who says that they will added to the Preset list in future versions.


  • Mapping the past

    Looking at old maps is almost as pleasurable as listening to old records so the [W:Ordnance Survey] maps from the 1940s provides much distraction. But if this is 1946 shouldn’t there be an airfield (now the [W:Fire Service College]) in the top right corner of [W:Moreton-in-Marsh]?

    1946 Map & recent aerial view
    1946 Map & recent aerial view

    It is a fascinating picture of bygone age when the country was crisscrossed with railway lines and the trains from Moreton stopped at [W:Adlestrop railway station].

    It is late June.


  • Snow Day

    We rarely get a good covering of snow so we have taken to taking any snowy day as a national holiday with businesses, schools and transport networks shutting down.

    Snow Tress - Moreton In Marsh
    Snow Tress – Moreton In Marsh

    Building a Snow Lion (Bear?)…

    Others were inspired otherwise 🙂


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