Dan Unplugged

Yo!

2005-08-23T14:01:00.000+01:00

Good morning world!

Just to let y'all know what going down in Cheltenham town since I last blogged.

I have a job working as Junior Desktop Analyst for Pandi in Cheltenham mainly supporting users working for Marlborough Stirling.

I am not sure how much longer I will be a member of Salem Baptist as I feel I am being called somewhere else now and I have a fundamental difference of belief to some of the sell leadership which puts me in a dilemma when it comes to working as part of the sell leadership team at Salem.

I am not trying to look for problems where there aren’t any however I have beliefs which I have to maintain and share and if I can't freely do this where is my spiritual integrity?

There is more to it than what I have outlined here but I don’t want to go on to much, however I have a strong conviction that God has made it easy to come to him through his son Jesus one of the way is through a simple prayer of repentance. Also I have a passion for the unity of Gods church and fellowship between denominations.

Silence is Easy!

2005-05-15T23:07:00.000+01:00

Silence is easy...It is easier not to blog, so well done to people who blog however buisy they are at the time. I however am not that dedicated so have not been able to blog while finishing my dissertation which is now done and dusted.

The Blog might remain quiet with the prospect of a buisy month of work ahead. Hopefully I will get a few posts in now and again.

At the moment I am working weekends in bristol which means I have looked for a different church to go to in my home town of Yate (Bristol). This has been a refreshing experience and good to see how other churches do their thing, I am going to Christ the Rock in Yate most Sundays at the moment, although I remain closely connected to Salem Baptist in Cheltenham and look forward to starting work at Salem in September.

Who Should You Vote For?

2005-04-28T13:05:00.000+01:00

Who should I vote for?

Your expected outcome:

Liberal Democrat

Your actual outcome:

Labour -11
Conservative -3
	Liberal Democrat 67
UK Independence Party -8
	Green 67

You should vote: Liberal Democrat

The LibDems take a strong stand against tax cuts and a strong one in favour of public services: they would make long-term residential care for the elderly free across the UK, and scrap university tuition fees. They are in favour of a ban on smoking in public places, but would relax laws on cannabis. They propose to change vehicle taxation to be based on usage rather than ownership.

You should vote: Green

The Green Party, which is of course strong on environmental issues, takes a strong position on welfare issues, but was firmly against the war in Iraq. Other key concerns are cannabis, where the party takes a liberal line, and foxhunting, which unsurprisingly the Greens are firmly against.

Take the test at Who Should You Vote For

Me and Tony ... mest mates init? :-)

2005-04-25T20:06:00.000+01:00

Today has been interesting, arrived at work expecting an ordinary day with nothing eventful happening. This all changed when rumours started to do the rounds that Tony Blair was going to be visiting @Bristol, at first I did not take the rumours seriously as @Bristol rumours aren’t always 100% reliable, further rumours started to develop that Gordon Brown and John Prescott may be the politicians in town.

Things started to develop even further when a small team of police started to scope out the building for security purposes, then stiffer dogs were brought in and police came in and started to dismantle equipment, check in air conditioning ducts, etc. presumably for bombs? Eventually there must have been over one hundred police on site, they were everywhere! Also really obvious undercover security staff were swarming around the building, they all went around with long coats and earpieces talking on there mobile phones.

First signs that someone was coming was when a press pack turned up in a Labour bus with camera crews and presenters and newspaper journalists. They had to wait a bit longer that expected as the train bringing the labour part celebs was delayed...oh the irony.

Camera crews started to group in one area of the square and then they started to move towards the explore @Bristol building. Then Tony Blair and Gordon Brown emerged from the huddle, the sight of two of the most powerful people in the country left students and teachers who were visiting 'Explore @bristol' in shock, Tony got mobbed by school kids shaking his hands and taking his photo using up all the film on the instant cameras they bought with them to capture there day out at @Bristol. Gordon Brown seemed to be largely ignored by everyone. Tony Blair was bustled away to an awaiting conference room with a select labour faithful and friendly press. I followed but got a bit to close and told to not come any closer by some of Blair’s security crew.

About fifteen minuets later Tony left the building under less hustle and bustle and I shouted out to him ... "Bye Tony" (couldn’t think of what else to say) ... he said "bye, nice seeing you" ... Tony talked to be ... in hindsight I would of replied "whish i could say the same", however I am fickle and in my star struck state I didn’t think of trying to be cheeky to the PM.

I also got interviewed by a guy from the Labour party web page however I don’t think they will use the footage as I turned in to a mumbling Bristolian fool at the sight of the video camera.

Tories ... Who are they?

2005-04-19T14:44:00.000+01:00

I ask this question because so far in this election I have had no contact with them. In the Northavon constituency where I will be voting the competition is between the Tories and Lib Dems, so far our house has been indulged by Lib Dem literature however not any sign of Tory action so far. One things I find annoying about the Labour and Conservative Candidates are that they don't even live near the constituency, how are they meant to know what is best for an area that they know nothing about, Steve Web the Lib Dem candidate and current MP for the area lives in the area and had lived nearby for a while before running to become MP. It would be good to see people voting on a local basis and listening to what candidates have to say on local as well as national and international issues.

Prime Numbers

2005-04-16T20:21:00.000+01:00

I'm reading
"The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" by Mark Haddon
at the moment, it is brilliant and I started reading it today an will have finished it by tonight! I am amazed the way he has been able to write in such a way that I keep thinking it is actually a teenager with Asperger's Syndrome writing the book. I'm reading what I think is the childrens edition but I'm not 100% sure what the difference between the childrens and the adults edition is apart from the artwork. Mark Haddon writes in a way that makes you really feel for Christopher, I was gutted for Christopher when he found the letters (I don't think that gives to much away). And I found some of the information in there really interesting such as the stuff about probability and prime numbers, no other book has ever made those two topics so interesting :-).

Dan Unplugged

2005-04-15T13:05:00.000+01:00

Word for the day:
PLACATE

'Nam...Yate...'Nam...Yate

2005-04-14T14:31:00.000+01:00

These should be an interesting couple of months, the job in Bristol means I am traveling between yate and chelteham on a regular basis...It all seems like a lot of effort :-)

It is good to be back in 'nam though and meeting up with people again.

I fear the blog will be increasingly boring though with all the uni work filling up my brain you may hear increasing speak of usability evaluations and visualization which is all a bit boring :-) Oh well

A useful tit-bit of info though which I have learnt while reading for my visualization essay is the 4th dimension (4D) is time ... Any ideas for the 5th, 6th, 7th...Nth dimension would be welcome, answers on a postcard please.

It's Goodnight From Him ...

2005-04-11T00:02:00.000+01:00

Just of to bed but I'm going to blog beause probably wont for a day or two.

Will be moving back up to 'nam on tuesday so if anyone wants to meet up give me a call. I'm not going to be around weekends (fri pm, sat, sun, mon) but otherwise I will be in 'nam (on tue, wed, thur, fri am)

Get my student loan tomorow ... wooohooo ... I will be rich for a day until I pay my rent and then I will be the same skint day you know and love ;-)

See you all soon

(p.s. we went to nandos for my sisters birthday in the end)

Drink...Food...Food

2005-04-08T16:46:00.000+01:00

Went to Bath today

Bath is so beautiful however not as commercial as Bristol therefore hardly any busses go bath from my town, 1 an hour (if your lucky) to bath compared to 1 every 15 minutes to Bristol.

The purpose of my trip was to take photos of crumbling brick work for a multimedia project I have to do on Acid Rain, not very thrilling but I did manage to chill out and get coffee and food along the way :-)

Tonight I'm going out for a meal celebrating my sisters 16th birthday (which is next Tuesday), the choice at the moment is between nandos or pizza hut ... Difficult decision for her to make!

So really my day has revolved around coffee and food ... Sounds good huh?

And I did some work which included the quote

"My particular ability does not lie in mathematical calculation, but rather in visualizing effects, possibilities, and consequences."
Albert Einstein

Very good for my essay on visualization I thought :-)

Dogs of Passion

2005-04-07T19:15:00.000+01:00

My first CD purchase for a long while occurred today, due to lack of finances CD purchasing has been on hold however the first purchase could not wait!

It had to be The Futureheads self titled album (£8 in Fopp) with funky covers of the Kate Bush song Hounds of Love and other cool tracks like A to B. It is not over produced, some friends have said to me there should of been a few less songs on it however the fact that it is under-produced and you get the good songs and the bad songs makes it more interesting, I would compare it to the production quality of The Mull Historical Society although the songs are of a completely different style.

The other CD I got was Republica, Ready To Go The Best Of (£4.50), the fact that they only had 2 hits at the most makes this a poor best of album hence the £4.50 price tag! However the tracks are an interesting insight in to the early days of Girl Power and the tracks on the CD include the classics 'Ready To Go' and 'Drop Dead Gorgeous'.

Ah....Sweet Music

CD Stores of choice:

Fopp (Park Street, Bristol)
Kays Disks and Tapes (Yate Town Centre, South Gloucestershire)

Another Day Gone

2005-04-06T20:14:00.000+01:00

Today has been quite frustrating, I have been trying to write an essay entitled

"One compelling reason for an interest in 3D space perception is the explosive advance in 3D Graphics and its rapid growth in various applications. Discuss how the understanding of space perception makes 3D representation really useful."

Not my title but the module tutors title, in my humble opinion it makes the big assumption that 3D representation is usefully at all ... I am focusing the essay (2000 words +/- 10%) on Scientific visualization, Science is a field which uses visualization, however is not so keen on 3D visualization due to 3D visualization generally being less quantitative.

Anyway, back to today ... It has been frustrating because I haven't actually written anything ... I have just read and searched for literature and I would like to of done something a little more constructive.

ACM have saved my life for this essay and my dissertation because they have so many good journals...To many to tell the truth.

Even more frustrating ... Grand Designs Revisited and The Apprentice are on TV at the same time...What to watch...I have 50 minutes to decide while I start to write my essay :-)

...on a lighter note

2005-04-05T19:36:00.000+01:00

There is a bit of a trend in Bristol at the moment called 'Subversion', which is the customisation of adverts to come up with these results ...

...what ever your political views these are kind of funny ... I'm assuming these are all from Bristol but I have only seen 2 of them so far.

Elections '05

2005-04-05T19:29:00.000+01:00

So the election is going to be May 5th. Now we are in for a month of annoying politicians filling our TV screens behaving like children. This will be my first general election that I can vote in, the Lib Dem MP has won two elections in my area now tacking the place of the previous conservative MP and increasing their margin the second time.

The Lib Dems seemed the party that is campaigning on positive, realistic policies and not slaging of the other parties (give it a day I'm sure that will change). Michael Howard seems quite sleazy and Tony blaired looked nervous .... Those are my initial views of the election :)

At this stage I predict that Labour will have a decreased majority, Conservatives slightly Increased and Lib Dem a significant percentage increase on the previous general election (this is just my opinion and has no scientific basis ;-).

I feel labour will hold on to some of their voters purely because the conservatives are not fit to run the country, I would go as far as saying that I feel the Lib Dems would do a better job at the moment (however I have no illusions that they are going to).

It will be interesting to see how things change over the next month.

Mixing!

2005-04-03T23:04:00.000+01:00

Just got back from 'The Mix' which is a big christian youth service that happens in 'ton,'stol (Clifton, Bristol) a few hundred youth (which I still am, just about anyway) meet up once a month at Woodlands Christian Centre. It was a great time of prayer and worship which I find I dont get enough in Cheltenham however it is probably through lack of effort on my behalf.

I heard a great quote today:

"Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried."
Gilbert K. Chesterton

How true, Christianity (not the traditional C of E christianity) is a bit wierd in the sence that it needs to be experienced to get a flavor of what it is like and then you want more ... a bit of a legal adiction really (in a good way) ... it takes a big leap of faith and passion.

In the Church I attend in Cheltenham I feel God is working however I do not feel it is somewhere which is a good place of witness to my friends of what christianity is all about, maybe somewhere like Trinity in Cheltenham would be a better place? Having said that my life has not been a shining example of what a perfect Christian should be but the great thing about being a Christian is that you are not ment to be perfect. Christianity is not a set of rules that you follow and if they are broken you are not a Christian (which is a good thing because if that were the case there would be no Christians) it is more a journey towards a goal, trying your best, falling down again but getting picked up and carrying on.

I have found that I strugle without Jesus, the times that I ignore the Holy Spirit and try to walk my own way my life goes a bit 'pete tong'. Some people may find that they feel there life is OK, others that they need something else and that whatever it is will fulfull there life (whether it be Career, Drink, Sex or anything really) however for a Christian hopefully these are not the aims and they are content in knowing Jesus and God personaly.
(BTW Christianity is not against drinking but getting plastered)

Any way, hopefully that was not to deap, like I said my church is in upheval (hopefully) but there are some good churches and a good CU at the Uni of Glos to so check them out.

(rubbish spelling I know, but hey :-)

Bristol in the Sun

2005-04-02T23:38:00.000+01:00

Today I worked all day, so I have been stuck inside instead of enjoying the sun.

In my lunch break I managed to get out and walk the streets of Bristol and enjoy the sun and I realized why I love Bristol so much and that is despite being a city it is a very relaxed and fun place, people were sitting in bars chatting, out on the various greens and squares playing Frisbee, sun bathing on college green and queens square.

There are two sides to Bristol the weekend night clubbing crew who invade at the weekend and the real bristolians who are passionate about where they live and making it a better place, I'd like to think I am the latter however I don't really spend to much of my time in Bristol nowadays, despite that fact I am still Bristolian at heart and I will always return to and feel part of Bristol.

Here is some Bristol news: Bristol Indymedia

I might take some pictures of this gorgeous city for you all soon :)

Update on the diss

2005-04-01T17:43:00.000+01:00

Lots of junk food and late nights later the word count is 4617 and still lots to do.

Soon I will have to start usability testing so be prepared I might be nagging you to be a test guinea pig, there might be a free pint in it and I will probably do it in the bar (I will have to factor these in to my tests!).

Cop It!

2005-04-01T17:14:00.000+01:00

No I'm not talking about the famous transit cop, but the pope, it looks like he is going to pop his clogs. Now in my opinion thats a job that sucks, you cant resign until your dead ... so what do you do if your the pope and you get bored of your job, or if you feel your career is going no where, i certainly wont be applying for his job ;)

Lets just hope georges interview didn't go to well

and this doesn't happen...

Dan Unplugged

2005-03-24T09:32:00.000Z

Got my uni results yesterday and I passed all my modules, got D, A, C, C ........ wooooo hooooo! Funky Chickens!

The two C grades are third year results and not to far off a B so that gives me something to aim for!

Dan

Fame!

2005-03-23T08:43:00.000Z

Casualty is being filmed in my sisters school over the Easter hols, which is my old school so you can all see where I used to go to school some time in April I think.

Where you to? (Bristol accent)

2005-03-23T08:35:00.000Z

Keeping it real in Yate, Bristol at the moment but will be back in 'nam (Cheltenham for you people who aren't down with the street lingo like what I is) in mid April. I am currently working back at at-Bristol which is cool so far, lots of great (slightly insane maybe) people still working there, that has made life a bit more interesting and I'm hoping to have some at-Bristol celebrity encounters, the best I have so far is some woman that used to be on Rough Science on BBC2 but that was after 2 days work so still plenty of time for more encounters with celebrities.

Hello....Anyone in....?

2005-03-23T08:15:00.000Z

This is my first step in to blogging, great ... I'm only really doing it to avoid doing my dissertation but hopefully it will lead to greater things.

It's called Dan Unplugged like all those live performance albums you see about, which are not quite as good as the original studio recording but make you whish you were at the live performance.... A bit like jokes which sound rubbish the excuse being ... "You had to be there for it to be funny" .... That's enough of that .... Sounds a bit depressing really