End of year roundup 2011 Jan 22, 2012 No Comments
I know it has been a while since I did one of these (2008 to be exact) but I consider this a good time to start them again. Bit late as far as roundups go, but better late than never.
1. What did you do in 2011 that you'd never done before? Get married, buy a house and lose my job.
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? As is the norm for me, I didn't make any. That said, I have drawn a line in the sand this year regarding a pension. We have decided by the end of this year we need to both have them sorted.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? Having said no to this question for years I can finally say yes. Elkanah, a friend from school did to a lovely little girl called Lena who we went to see over Christmas.
4. Did anyone close to you die? Again, thankfully not.
5. What countries did you visit? Greece for our honeymoon (we were there between their recent financial issues so it didn't have any effect on our trip thankfully).
6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011? Well the last time I answered this question we were not engaged... and I said I would like to spend more time with my girlfriend and spend more time travelling. It has to be said I would still like to spend more time with my now wife and I would still like to do more travelling. We have had a very expensive year (house and wedding not cheap) and I think for now I will just consider this year to be the "recovery year". We are still planning on going out to France with my family for a week or so but that is it.
7. What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? I would be a nutter if I didn't say our wedding (June 4th)
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? I think actually buying the house and at the very least doing some more grown up things. I still don't think I've grown up, although I have got older. The house buying required me to understand and enter a world I have never got before with odd legal proceedings etc and generally I think I came out on top. Getting married I don't actually consider to be an achievement. That was just a set of things that we set in motion. The achievement there is the couples who have been together for 30 or 40 years and built a life together. Also starting to show myself as having learnt something from years of woodworking classes and doing DIY with my Dad.
9. What was your biggest failure? I'm not sure... There is no stand out thing if I'm honest. If I had to pick I think perhaps it would be being not prepared enough for the twists and turns the current economy may throw at us.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? As per usual, colds and alike, but nothing interesting.
11. What was the best thing you bought? House... clearly. We also bought a new bed which while not that exciting, is a proper solid wooden piece of furniture which represents the beginning of moving away from tat and onto things that should last a lifetime.
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration? Well, I normally become political at this point, so I see no reason to change that. I'm going to say something odd... I'm going to say for once the government deserves some kudos. While no shining light in the darkness and while still doing some pretty stupid things, I feel like there is considerably more common sense coming from Westminster this last year. Maybe in a year of hard times it is hard to say something wrong for them, but that is the general feeling I get. In an equally unusual measure I also want to see that our friend who made huge effort to come all the way down here for our wedding also deserve some recognition.
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed? I'm going to hark back to my normal the media industries. SOPA and PIPA are stunning examples of an industry that has sat on its arse for a long time, not innovated and now seeks to protect its failing business model through overpowered laws. Long may they fail and they learn the error of their ways. Also, stop trying to peddle 3D content... we are not interested.
14. Where did most of your money go? A sodding house... Also, yes weddings are expensive, but it amazed me how much money gets spent on little thing that all add up that you never see coming.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Wedding, house and honeymoon (see the pattern?).
16. What song will always remind you of 2011? Ellie Goulding - Your Song and Alexi Murdoch - Breathe. I'm special, I can have two... (Also, that is two times in a row I have done this and there have been songs with "breathe" in the title).
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a. Happier or sadder? Happier. This time last year we were just in the middle of our moving out of our flat and into Demelza's parents and all the stress that came with it.
b. Thinner or fatter? I think about the same.
c. Richer or poorer? So much poorer.
18. What do you wish you'd done more of? I normally say slept and that is always true. I think I wish I had saved more.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of? Worrying about things like job etc.
20. How did you spend Christmas? Between two families. Starting in Demelza's parents and ending at mine. We also saw a huge number of friends when back at my parents which was nice.
21. Did you fall in love in 2011? No, I stayed there.
22. How many one-night stands? None. Still not removing this question simply for the numbering.
23. What was your favourite TV program? Still the legend that is Top Gear. That said, love Big Bang Theory and Terra Nova is interesting too.
24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? Don't think so.
25. What was the best book you read? Don't think I have read anything this year... well, not that most people would consider a book anyway.
26. What did you want and get? Again, married and a house.
27. What did you want and not get? A stable job.
28. What was your favourite film of this year? So many to pick from this year, Probably In Time. Didn't see that many this year.
29. What was your favourite game of this year? Didn't really play many. I did very much enjoy playing Portal 2 with Jonners.
30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I was 25 and I went out for a meal with Demelza. I did then have my stag do down in Brighton and alike around the same time so that sort of counts.
31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? All of my projects being done. Not that that is possible given as soon as one is done another takes its place, but would still be nice.
32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008? Same as the year before with less t-shirts and actually a couple more nice shirts. Still a walking North Face advert though.
33. What kept you sane? As always, Demelza. She also still makes me a little less sane, but generally net effect is positive.
34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy/respect the most? I'm sure there was one from the year, but I just can't remember who it was. That in itself is sad enough.
35. What political issue stirred you the most? I think the whole pension crisis got to me when the whole of the public sector decided it had a right to a not only a better pension than the private sector, but some private sector money to prop it up.
36. Who did you miss? A lot of my friends from the South East as always but I'm fairly used to that and actually they are pretty good at coming to see us now.
37. Who was the best new person you met? I am going to say baby Lena for being the first baby that I managed to stop crying instead of start crying.
38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011: The best thing about a honeymoon is it gives you a break from smiling at the millions of people at your wedding.
Network attached everything Dec 17, 2011 No Comments
Our home network has finally made the jump from simply a set of computers going through a home router to the internet into something that better deserves the name "network".
Up until recently our home network was made up of the following.
- DLink router connecting to the internet
- TV - Streaming content over DLNA from the computer
- 1 Windows 7 Computer
- Printer/scanner
To make matters worse our TV was connected via power line Ethernet (for the uninformed this is the same tech that plug-in baby monitors use. Signals are transmitted via the power lines in the building. The advantage is no need to run cables, but faster than wireless and you don't broadcast out to the world (still not that fast though)).
Over the last month and a bit I have finally been bringing it all up to spec and adding a few more things to it (helped a lot by Demelza's computer finally being fixed).
First I drilled a hole from our lounge into the floor below. I then ran a network cable between the lounge and the study, fitting wall sockets at both ends. I then mounted a gigabit switch to the wall in the study and upgraded our DLink router to a Netgear DG834G which is quite simply still the best router for the home.
My Christmas present this year (which I admit I have had early) is a Synology DS411j which is a network attached storage/webserver/media server/go make a cup of tea/everything server. It is now taking over the files on the network. It holds all the videos, music and pictures and can stream them to any device on demand (including the phones).
I cannot explain well enough how great this box is. Want to watch something from the TV on the box, just browse to it and hit play. Same for music. You can view a slideshow of your photos from there too. If I were to plug in some IP based security cameras into our network I could have it record the video from them and serve it to my phone if I wanted€ It is a web server which for a web developer is a major plus (PHP, Apache, MySQL for the interested). Hell, for the really interested, it is just a Linux box, I can SSH as root to it and do what I like, install packages, stop services, mess with config etc.
I don't even know where I am going with this other than to say my computing life is becoming awesome. I have a network running at gigabit, 2 machines connected to it, a TV that takes content, a server that gives it, a printer on the network and even two phones that can browse to files on the network and tell the TV to play them. And the best bit€ it all just works with not a bit of Apple technology in sight (well, sometimes I let my Apple laptop come play)!
Idiots guide to buying a house Nov 19, 2011 1 Comment
In the summer of last year myself and Demelza started house hunting. In the December we had put in an offer and then finally in the February we finally moved into our first home. During this time we learnt a huge amount about how to actually buy a house. I am putting some of what springs to mind here in the hope that it will save others the sharp learning curve I needed just to keep up with the whole process. Questions more than welcome.
Step 1: Get some money
It doesn't really matter how you get a deposit, but one way or another you will need one. Mortgage lenders seem to want between 10% and 20% of the value of the property at the moment. Clearly this means you need to know how much you are going to spend, but a quick check on something like Rightmove won't take long. Words of caution, if your money is coming to you via a Will then all is fine. Same too if you are saving it all yourself, however, if you are being lent or given it by say close family then be careful how much you get. I think the limit is 12k per year that you could have received from someone else before anti money laundering laws kick in. Basically, when filling in your mortgage they will want to know where that money came from. And if it happens to have come from someone else they will want details about that person. The best thing to do if you are being given it is to 'save' it is smaller chunks over a little while so you never tip over the threshold and get lots more questions than you want.
Step 2: Work out what you have to play with
Once you have a deposit you need to work out how far it will go. You could setup a meeting with a mortgage broker at this point, or you could just look up the numbers on the many mortgage calculators that exist on the lenders websites. I think I used the one on Nationwide and the one on Santander. There is nothing wrong with talking to a broker at this point either; there are no obligations, they will be more than happy to talk to you about their options. I also think they are worth going to even if you didn't think you would be using one. They have access to a lot more deals than the set the high street offers. They also make comparison of a lot of options a damn sight simpler. They might also help give you a better understanding of how mortgage work if you are unsure.
Step 3: Go hunting
Now comes the fun part, time to actually look for a house. There isn't much to this really... Find houses, talk to estate agents, look round houses, nod and smile when they make jokes. They don't seem to generally make jokes though, just stand and look solemn and point out the bleeding obvious like "this is the kitchen"... really. I actually think the best way to go about visiting houses is having done your homework on them first. Thanks to the internet getting lots of detail is normally fairly easy, but there will always be something missing. For example, a lot of postings miss out floor plans. Write down the list of things you want to check when you are there, such as layout etc. If you are seeing more than a couple of places in a day then make notes the same day about each one... On one day we saw 4, 2 in the morning and another 2 early afternoon and it was surprising how quickly you forget the details important to you. By the evening of that day it took a bit of thought to drag out the pros and cons.
Most importantly, remember to ask questions and have a good poke around... this can be a little hard if the owner is the one showing you around... just try to be chatty.
Step 4: Show us the money
OK, so you have found the one. It fits all the requirements; you love it, see potential in it, whatever it may be. Assuming at this point there were no clear turns off's like damp or huge cracks in the walls... time to put in an offer. The best tip we heard on this was never start at the asking price. This may seem obvious, but there is a good reason for it. If you were to offer the asking price straight away then the seller is going to think maybe they have undervalued their home if you are so willing to go for the asking price. They may hold out; seeing how high you will go and how badly you want it.
The key to this negation stage is two part, firstly you want them to think they need you and not that you need them. With your first house this one is easy, you have no chain so can move when you want. This is a very powerful bargaining chip. The second key is to lower their expectation.
It is also worth noting that as you get closer to a deal you can put things like appliances, fixtures and fittings on the negotiating table.
Step 5: Things start getting serious
At this point you need to start getting the paperwork to catch-up. That means two things, getting a solicitor involved and getting a mortgage. Generally estate agents and mortgage brokers are happy to make recommendations for solicitors they have worked with.
Applying for the mortgage is the slightly scary bit, but it isn't too hard. Once you have your solicitor on side you begin the long and arduous job of keeping everything moving forward. It is surprising how much work there is to get everyone doing their jobs... At peak I was speaking to the solicitor and or estate agents at least once a day.
It is worth noting that when you have a mortgage the solicitor is acting on not only your behalf, but that of your mortgage provider. If you think about this it makes perfect sense, they are buying a greater stake in the house than you are most of the time. The solicitor will do searches to find out the details the local council hold about the property. They will confirm boundaries, do environmental checks (things like if there is an old tip nearby, or a river or even in the south west checks for Radon). The seller will provide a detailed list of what they will and will not include with the property. Check this sodding carefully, it is important. Once you exchange contracts you can't go back on things. It is up to you to make sure everything is as it should be.
The mortgage company will normally sort out a basic survey if they feel they want one, but you can get a more thorough one done. It is very normal (hell, expected) for you to request more visits to the property during this time. Even if you have nothing to check, I would still recommend this. All this pushing back and forth of letters takes time and it may have been some time since you saw the property. Never hurts to keep in fresh in your mind. We actually got Demelza's parents to come with us to give us a second opinion and sanity check. While it will be expensive to pull out at this point, better to be sure.
Step 6: Exchange
Once all the contracts have been sorted out, the paperwork in place and the dates for everything agreed you are almost ready to exchange. To exchange you need to have fulfilled any requirements your mortgage lender might have (house insurance is the big one), you need to give your deposit over to the solicitors and you need to be sure with what you are buying. Once you exchange you are committed. It is worth noting, if you are transferring over 10k to the solicitors, you will need to pay for a CHAPS transfer (about £25).
Step 7: No man's land
Once you actually exchange you enter a contractual point where you are legally responsible for the house. At this point you sort of own the house. The lenders transfer your mortgage amount to your solicitor who combines it with your deposit. They transfer this over to the seller's solicitor. They update the deeds of the house and hand them over to you. This period between exchange and completion can take between 3 days and about 2 weeks.
Step 8: Completion
Finally, day of completion arrives! You can collect the keys from the estate agents and open your front door for the first time! Now the fun part of moving all the services over...
Let's try this again Nov 18, 2011 1 Comment
Hello, I'm Craig and this is my blog...
Some of the more observant of you may have noticed it isn't the most well tended to in the sphere, but I'm hoping to change that.
Back in the good old days when I had more spare time and life was less interesting I harped on chapter and verse about whatever bugged me at the time, but since becoming less of a child and more of an actual functioning member of society I seem to have transitions away from blogging.
Personally I don't see this as a good thing and I certainly see it as something I want to change. Who knows if I will be successful, but it seems worth a shot.
To that end I feel a little catch-up is in order. Since my last real blog post the following have happened (in order):
- Proposed to my girlfriend
- Blew up the engine on our (well, technically her) car
- Bought a new car (my first)
- Went on holiday in France (and a little Switzerland)
- Spent epic amounts of time planning a wedding
- Went house hunting
- Had Christmas
- Bought a house (harder than you would think)
- Decorated a fair bit of said house
- Got married (Up to June 2011 so far)
- Went on our honeymoon to Athens
- Went to the wedding of our friends Nicola and Michael
- Lost my job
- Got a new one
Over the next little while I plan to have a proper catch-up of some of those events, but I thought I would start with the cliff notes.
For anyone actually interested, the other reason I have been so quiet for so long was because I was rebuilding my whole website from scratch, new design, new front-end code and new back-end code. It is the largest overhaul my site has had since I've had one. With everything else going on it took longer to do than planned (clearly). As part of this build I was putting in an admin which allowed me to post to my blog and Livejournal at the same time, categories replicated over, edits happened in both places etc. All of this took a little while, but hopefully this post will prove it works.
A new beginning? We'll see...
Zzzzzz
Computer Upgrade Jul 28, 2010 1 Comment
Over the last week or so I have been slotting into place a plan I have had for some time to upgrade some of the core hardware on my computer. Last night this plan culminated in me sitting down to put it all together. 4 Hours later it was done and below are the photos to prove it.
First the new case, all closed and read to go. For those interested this case is huge and detailed here: http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/product/product06.php?pr_index=212&cl_index=1&sc_index=25&ss_index=61
Opened up there is a lot more space for cables and disks. It also has space for the PSU at the bottom which was a big part of my plan to keep good airflow around the CPU.
New PSU, CPU cooler, DVD drive and a few cables to go with it all.
This new PSU is modular (also a part of the plan to improve airflow).
PSU installed.
Front panel being done.
Front panel complete.
Old case with machine squashed inside.
Side panels removed and motherboard tray being removed. Starting to clear out the way some of the cables.
The lounge with the rebuild just starting to step up a gear as I move onto the CPU cooler.
All the bits out of the old case, CPU cooler off and CPU cleaned. Just about to put the new cooler on.
Turns out the new cooler was a tight fit to say the least. Note where I have had to cut away at some of the plastic on the fan to get the heatsinks to sit next to each other. Thankfully plastic was not important.
Harddrives mounted in new case.
Motherboard tray clipped in, as is the DVD drive. Just starting to do the power cables and alike.
All cabling complete. Not a very neat job and there is a lot of room for improvement, but at this point I just wanted to get it all and working.
Its new home (note lifted off the floor to reduce carpet dust).
Google maps is lost Apr 22, 2010 No Comments
It seems myself and Google are at odds over the best alternative route...(click to view a bigger version)
Food for thought Mar 8, 2010 No Comments
This is a subject I am always ranting and raving about, and this week is no different. I present two cartoon/workflows which make my point rather well me thinks.I live in hope that one day the entertainment industry will come to the conclusion that to get people to pay they have to offer more, not irritating paying customers into not staying paying any more.
Originally from: http://lifehacker.com/5475113/remains-of-the-day-why-piracy-works-edition
Originally from: http://www.bradcolbow.com/archive.php/?p=205
Broken me thinks Feb 24, 2010 1 Comment
For reference, the reason I am running the speed test is to gather more information as I am n the process of bitching to Virgin Media that my connection is too slow (getting around 300k if I'm lucky during normal "peak" times and not much more than 2.3Meg off peak)
Computing misconceptions Feb 8, 2010 No Comments
As many people know, I know a thing or two about computers. If anyone asks my industry or my field I normally say computing. I say that for simplicities sake, because otherwise it leads to too many questions. However, of late I have come to realise that is akin to calling a shelf stacker at a supermarket part of the food industry.While technically correct, it avoids the detail that makes the difference.
As soon as someone hears that I do web development and "build websites" as I put it, they want to know if I can help them with their computer. While as it happens I often can, in reality the computer is just a tool to me in my industry the same as it is to a secretary in an office. While you would expect them to be able to use the machine, you would not expect them to fix it when it went wrong.
People seem to think that everything to do with computers is all the same and that if you can do one thing in computing you can do them all. If only it was as simple as this.
To illustrate my point I'm going to explain something I was asked to explain the other day. I was asked how websites work. Remember to keep in mind as I explain what a tiny tiny fraction of computing this is.
Most websites begin with a database where all the data in the system is stored. This is accessed through SQL (1 language) which I then connect to with in my case PHP (2 languages) which then does all the processing of that data. In my environment I use CodeIgniter (1 framework) to do the main calls, process and validate the data and then pass it to Smarty (1 mark-up) to be displayed.
From there the Smarty template contains the HTML (2 mark-ups) which describes all the components of the page and what order they are in. That HTML is sent to the browser along with the CSS (3 mark-ups) which describes to the browser how all that HTML should look. The page might also contain graphics which need to be made in a graphics package of my choice (Photoshop for me). Once on the page there is then one final layer which is the Javascript (3 languages) which sits on top of the data, the HTML and the CSS and allows direct manipulation of that data including sending things back and forth to the server. As an added twist I write all my Javascript using jQuery (2 frameworks).
So all in all to create a simple website for me it requires knowing 2 Languages (PHP, SQL and Javascript), 2 Frameworks (CodeIgniter and jQuery) and 3 Mark-ups (HTML, Smarty and CSS) as well as one graphics programme on top of that.
Then for good measure I need to understand some Unix (operating system), some Apache (a web-server) and all the other techs that go with each of those. Oh, and having a good understanding of XML, JSON, IMAP, POP etc all help day to day too.
Now consider that each of these sections could be several years of learning and trial and error in their own right to truly master
So all this covers a small part of web development and all of this is evolving and changing on a quite literally daily basis and people wonder why sometimes I can't be bothered to fix their computer.
Time honored tradition Jan 31, 2010 No Comments
1. What did you do in 2009 that you'd never done before?
Moved in with someone that I haven't planned to move out with afterwards.
Oh, and Go-karting... that was epic fun.
2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I didn't make any, so yes, very easy to keep. By far the best kind when it comes to keeping them. Given that plan has worked out thus far, I plan to keep not making them and ably achieving the.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Nope. This said, we are all getting older and a lot more people seem a lot closer too it (not in the fat sense)
4. Did anyone close to you die? Again, thankfully not.
5. What countries did you visit?
Just France I believe on Family holiday.
6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
Time.. lots more spare time. Money would be good, sleep would be too, but time more than anything else.
7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Moving in, the many epic trips to Ikea that were required, Holiday, Thanksgiving is always quite an event and actually, Christmas was really nice too.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Finding somewhere nice to live and actually starting to live there. OK, so I know it is a simple thing, but it is always the simple things that mean the most.
9. What was your biggest failure?
Uni work and alike continue to be a constant source of failure, one I have yet to fully work out how to deal with. Im trying not to put it into that "one day" bracket, but it is going that way.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Im sure my pride has taken a beating from time to time and colds and alike have hit me, but in general, no.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
A whole pile of furniture, turning a few rooms into a home.
12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?
The countless charities I know of or help from time to time who despite everyone tightening their belts still managed to do good in every way they could.
13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
The music industry, the film industry (US and UK) and the government and some large companies for their onslaught against privacy. Their belief that everyone is a criminal and that making a copy of something for free is the same as taking a physical item.
14. Where did most of your money go?
Rent, followed by the car, followed by food, followed by furniture, followed by plights and tech maybe...
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Again, like a true stuck record, moving in with Demelza, starting a new job, get out and making my own way a little bit more...
16. What song will always remind you of 2009?
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a. Happier or sadder?
Happier
b. Thinner or fatter?
A bit thinner.
c. Richer or poorer?
Richer
18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Sleep, my own projects, spending time with Demelza.
19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Work, driving, spending money.
20. How did you spend Christmas?
Driving mainly. This was a lot better that is first sounds. We did both the parents in the one day doing the morning and lunch with Demelzas family and then drove all the way over to my family for tea. We actually really enjoyed it, despite it being quite a day.
21. Did you fall in love in 2009?
Over and over, same girl though...
22. How many one-night stands?
None. I should really remove this question, but it will mess up the numbering.
23. What was your favourite TV program?
Still the legend that is Top Gear. Also very much been enjoying SG1 again.
24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Nah, hating has so been done.
25. What was the best book you read?
I still don't really read. In fact, I have little choice what I'm going to put here, I only read one book. It was The Last Lecture and I highly recommend it.
26. What did you want and get?
Somewhere nice to live and a job.
27. What did you want and not get?
A degree would have been nice...
28. What was your favourite film of this year?
The new Star Trek film. A nice mix of the new and the old into something enjoyable.
29. What was your favourite game of this year?
As I said before, Burnout 2 on the GameCube, still. I still play it more than anything else. That said, Boom Blox is really cool. As is the free PC version of TrackMania.
30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I was 23 years old and Demelza came up from Cornwall and at best guess, we went to the cinema, but I honestly don't remember.
31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
All the filling being done sooner and automatically... Sad isn't it.
32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
Same as the year before with more t-shirts.
33. What kept you sane?
Demelza, despite the bloody Ryanair music trying to push me over the edge.
34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy/respect the most?
None. I am growing tiered of celebrity in general and few warrant respect.
35. What political issue stirred you the most?
As stated earlier, piracy and privacy annoyed me the most. They still do mainly because I see little intelligent thought going into them. Every study has come out against the government and the industry, but instead of realising how wrong they are and innovating they are pushing back... but they are pushing back against a public that will win.
36. Who did you miss?
Hello stuck record. Demelza for the first half of the year, and then for the second half of the year, a good number of friends I'm now a bit further from.
37. Who was the best new person you met?
Since moving down to this part of the country I have met a lot of good nice people. I won't name names, but there are many who I am happy to have met.
38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009:
Just because the car says it has oil doesn't mean it knows what it is talking about...
So, same time next year... No, you're right, a month earlier...