Simons Blog

Weird virus on hosted site

2011-11-05T17:48:00.000Z

Over the past couple of months I have been chasing a virus that has been infecting some computers visiting the church website www.1st-dunboe.co.uk

The actual cause, which I just found today, was a modified .htaccess file, which contained a lot of empty lines, designed to hide the last line which was:
php_value auto_append_file /home/www/[username]/files/Thumbs.db

The Thumbs.db file, obviously meant to be hidden in plain sight, contains php code like this:

So, as I understand it, this php code gets executed at the end of every php file, which when using a CMS system like drupal, means for every page.

This evaluated to including a file from some random site jdfhjd.nl.ai - and a file called showthread.php, which included some more obfuscated code, which ended up loading a java applet. The clever thing is that this only happened periodically, which means it may or may not happen on a given visit to the site. Every once in a while I'd get a 'this applet needs your permission to run' dialog from the browser, but I knew there were no applets required for the running of the site. As it only happened periodically I never managed to get a browser with tools to show up where the issue was, until today. I got the dialog, and used chromes developer tools to see that the extra php page was included. From this I googled, and eventually found that the htaccess file could be the source of the problem. More info here : http://wewatchyourwebsite.com/wordpress/

I had also been receiving a Exploit Script Injection (Type 1702) error, which points to this type of problem.

Googling about it revealed that it seems to be a wordpress or wp plugin problem. I had tried out wordpress on the site a couple of months ago, so perhaps this is the cause.

Anyway, its all gone now, and I know what to look out for, so I'll be keeping an eye for the future. Anyone with a similar problem, post a comment.

Dooey Sat 29th Oct

2011-10-29T17:29:00.000+01:00

Arrived at Dooey just after 10 this morning, and the wind was quite variable. At first I was tempted to try the 9, but after checking the wind for a few minutes I set up the 12.

Out on the water things were going much better today. I now feel like I'm back to the standard I was at a couple of months ago, which I had regressed from last time I was out.

The accidental rolling and board nose problems with jumps are almost gone, and I was riding out over the waves well. The wind started off cross, and moved around to cross on, so perfect conditions. Waves were good, quite frothy, but with long flats in between. Still haven't got a proper handle on the jumps, but getting a lot better; today I was able to consistently jump two waves that came in doubles - never managed that before.

My toeside riding right to left is coming on, usually I just carve around to heelside again, but sometimes I tried a flip back to heelside before turning, managed it not too bad, although I'm sure it wasn't that beautiful.

Not sure how long I was out, but I think after somewhere between one and two hours on the water I started to mess up some simple stuff, so I knew I was getting tired and lazy - time for a break. During my break I helped launch/land the other four guys, and also took some GoPro footage of Jonny. It was a warm (~14 degrees) and sunny day, so that was perfect.

During my break the wind had picked up, so I set up the 9 before heading back out. Just as I was preparing to launch the wind seemed to drop, but I though the 9 would be ok. I walked to the water, and had a few runs out and in, but the wind was really for nothing, so I came back in.

I had a few good falls today, drank a fair bit of the sea, some through my nose, and also I think in my ears. Oh, and when I was setting up my new trim line I forgot to add the wee black stopper, so that was a bit of a hinderence, although it didn't cause me as much trouble as I originally thought, I just couldn't let go of the bar.

All in all it was a superb day, I think I'm more suited to short sessions than long ones; my fitness level can let me down.

Data Recovery - TestDisk

2011-10-26T13:26:00.000+01:00

I was asked by a friend to help set up their 'new computer' and while I was doing so I discovered that they had taken the computer to a local (reputable) PC shop, and they had said the hard disk was done, and replaced it. They also said that there was no data left on the disk to recover, so all was lost.

I got the disk, and got to work on it. Sure enough, plugging the disk in showed an empty, newly formatted volume. I spent an evening downloading quite a few free data recovery tools, and ended up getting the best results from "TestDisk".

http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk

After a couple of tries, I was able to set the software to only bother about image files (otherwise you recover txt, dll etc that I really don't care about)

You could see it stall as it got to the bad sectors on the disk, but it kept spitting out files, thousands of them, mostly internet explorer cache images. It ran for a good few hours, I let it run overnight. I then filtered the images by dimensions (most of the cache images were thumbnail size). This left me with 700 image files, some of which I knew were of interest, others obviously came with the PC.

I used the unix (cygwin) exif command in a script to move all the files into folders based on the camera that took them, and subfolders named by the date taken. This should help the user to reorganise them, when they get them back.

I would heartily recommend this tool, its not very beautiful looking, but it is quite easy to use, and very effective.

Benone Friday 7th Oct

2011-10-07T21:12:00.000+01:00

Today I had planned to have an extra long lunchtime session at the beach while working from home. I had already more than done my hours for the week, so had agreed to take some time off today. However plans changed, and it was after midday before I got to the beach.

It was sunny with showers today, as I got to the beach I could see the rain blowing in from the distance. I knew I could get set up in the meantime, and so I got the bar and lines out and got the kite pumped before the rain arrived. The rain was over in a few minutes, but it was so heavy that there were puddles on the kite.

When I went to get my harness out of the boot it had locked itself shut, but I managed to prize my way into it from the back seat (to repair later)

On the water with the 12 it was blowing great, although quite up and down, but some trim adjustments meant I was powered nicely, having a great session. The waves when breaking were huge, over 6ft, and it was a frothy break, but really long flats in between, just how I like it.

However, with it being almost two months since I had a proper run out I noticed I had lost a lot of progress. When jumping out over waves I was rotating a bit, meaning I had a tendency to miss the landing, and end up on my side. Once I did this and smashed straight into an oncoming wave, boy that was sore.

Apart from that I was getting on grand, lost the board a couple of times, bodydragged back and picked it up no problem. Still working on the toeside on the way in and the jumps on the way out.

I was sailing in, ready to turn in the shallow water and suddenly the bar disappeared away up the lines. I thought my chicken loop had come out, but when I looked it was still in! My trim line connecting the chicken loop to the front lines had broken!

Fortunately it was in the shallow water, so I could walk to my kite and gather it up. If it had been out in the deep water it would have taken longer. That's why its nice to have a big beach :)

automating ssh login

2011-10-04T07:31:00.002+01:00

ssh instructions

http://linuxproblem.org/art_9.html

Linux secure disk erase

2011-09-15T21:10:00.003+01:00

shred -vfz -n 100 /dev/hda

http://linuxhelp.blogspot.com/2006/06/how-to-securely-erase-hard-disk-before.html

Castlerock Sunday 28th August

2011-08-28T23:26:00.004+01:00

From early this morning the wind was blowing well from the North, the water was visibly choppy from miles away. However we had a big family lunch, and it was big, so that took up a fair bit of the day, and it was after 4 before I arrived at Benone.

I was glad to see a few kites in the air, always a good sign, but on closer inspection they were all struggling. The wind was quite low, so I had a chat to a few of the guys and decided to head for Castlerock.

At Castlerock the beach was almost empty and the wind was howling. I set up the 12 and went out, and had a good wee session, it was up and down a bit, and at one stage I could hardly hold onto the 12. I set up my 9, but of course by the time I had it up the wind had dropped, and even the 12 wouldn't pull me.

Unfortunately some of my family had decided to spectate during the lull, which was pretty poor timing for them. Just after they left it picked up again.

Once it picked up I was out again for another reasonable session, although the wind shifted a lot more onshore, and it meant there were limited chances for riding over the waves.

Around that time lots of cars turned up and decided to park close to me too, so that didn't help, especially swimmers in my path and little kiddies in my crash zone. When that happens its time to pack up.

Not a bad session, felt a bit rushed, bit crammed, but it was nice to get out. My legs were still a bit tired from the cycle this morning, maybe not such a good idea. It will be nice when all the tourists go home and leave the beaches empty again ;)

Holiday Day 7 - Friday

2011-08-26T23:22:00.006+01:00

After another poor nights sleep we had breakfast and checked out of the hotel. We also got a drive through the shipyard, as the main road was closed and the diversion went right through the H&W yard.

We went into the city center this morning and browsed many, many shops.

After a snack lunch we went to visit Lisburn pool, which was a lot of fun as always, it always goes down well with the kids.

Tonight we came home and cooked tea; it's nice to get back to normal food.

I got back to the steps, did a bit more, a little more progress.

Holiday Day 6 - Thursday

2011-08-25T23:14:00.001+01:00

Didn't sleep that great last night, but sure that's hotels for you.

The entertainment for this morning was provided by W5. Its a great science exhibition in the Odyssey which can provide many hours of entertainment. We'd visited a few times before, but it changes each time with the kids getting older. We built an aluminium bridge, a remote control car, few a helicopter, landed a plane, made stop motion films, presented a weather forecast, and saw a liquid nitrogen demonstration, to name but a few of the things we got up to.

In the afternoon we went to the cinema to see Mr Poppers Penguins, which is a reasonable film, carried by Careys humour, which I can't help enjoying.

In the evening after some shopping (Decathlon) we went to Andrew's house and had chinese for tea. Back to the hotel.

Holiday Day 5 - Wednesday

2011-08-24T23:09:00.003+01:00

As a treat for the kids we decided to book a hotel for a couple of nights, and tonight is the first.

We spent some time figuring out what to spend the days doing, and decided to go to the Exploris Aquarium in Portaferry. It is a small aquarium, but still well worth a visit, the kids were well amused by all the wonderful creatures.

At teatime we made our way to the

hotel, where we got checked in. Its in a handy location beside the Odyssey, so we went to pizza hut to get tea. We had got a voucher for pizza for a fiver, but due to some weird "we are but we aren't" pizza hut wouldn't quite honour the deal. However, we got more than we could eat for less than thirty quid.

Holiday Day 4 - Tuesday

2011-08-23T23:05:00.005+01:00

Another lovely day today, sometimes sunny sometimes overcast, but perfect weather for working.

I started work on the steps at the end of the wall. I spent a good while at it, a lot of time on planning as it is pretty tricky.

Picked the car up from Ryan tonight, its like a different car, the clutch has never felt like that in the last four years.

On the way back from Magherafelt we called in to see granny - nice way to end the evening.

Holiday Day 3 - Monday

2011-08-22T23:11:00.005+01:00

Had a nice lie in this morning - its nice not to have to get up.

We went to pay for the rockery plants this afternoon but there was no one there. We did something I wanted to try for a long time and walked from the barmouth road towards castlerock which was really nice.

This evening I strimmed up the side of the grass. The new strimmer is a super job.

Holiday Day 2 - Sunday

2011-08-21T23:03:00.004+01:00

Sunday. We had a visiting minister today, I have to say I just couldn't get tuned in at all, although everyone else seemed to rave about him. Mum and Dad were over for dinner; Dad took the kids for an epic cycle (to Castlerock & back).

After Benone tonight we went to Normas for a very enjoyable evening, and some very nice buns. Good not to have to go to work tomorrow.

Holiday Day 1 - Saturday - Silage

2011-08-20T22:57:00.002+01:00

Got a phone call this morning to come help lift tyres to prepare for the silage. Well, one thing led to another, and Matthew and I ended up staying all day.

It was good fun, its nice to help out, but especially on a day like today, blue skies and fresh cut grass.....

Holiday Day 0 - Friday

2011-08-19T23:53:00.002+01:00

Today is sort of the first day of my holidays. Well, holidays started at 4pm after work finished, but during the day 19 tonnes of stones had been delivered to the front of the house.

Matthew and I set about levelling them, which was a considerable task, and worked for a good few hours. By 10pm they were all levelled.

Benone Tuesday 16th August

2011-08-16T21:15:00.000+01:00

I went straight to the beach today after work, and it was blowing nicely. I got set up and was on the water for around 5:30.

I was working a lot on some small jumps. Speed is key, more speed for a higher jump. That was on the way out, on the way in I worked a little on my load and pop with the kite at a solid 45. Making good progress, its all about practice, just need more time.

The session was really good, came in about 6:30 to call home, and went out again for about another hour. During this hour the wind dropped from 20mph to around 10mph. Time to quit.

How great to have a session in the sunshine

Benone Monday 8th August

2011-08-08T23:42:00.002+01:00

For about a week now the forecast for today was to be solid NW wind all day. In anticipation I had booked a short notice day off work. I had hoped to spend the whole working day at the beach, but I had to work for a while in the morning. Still, I managed to be at the beach for just after 11.

It was blowing nicely when I got there, so I set up the 12 and went out. It was super up and down; must have ranged from 10-25+ mph, sometimes the kite wanted to drop, other times I couldn't hold the kite. The waves were big too, and fairly messy, although with the wind direction it was still possible to ride in a long distance without getting into the foam.

Met some new people today, a girl whose name I didn't get, who is a youth worker locally, she was out on the sand, and I met Mark from NIKF. Mark is up and riding, but still finding his feet, and was a bit daunted by the waves. Still, he looked to be getting on well.

After lunch it was back out again for another while, and during the afternoon the waves got bigger, but further apart, leaving huge areas of flat water in between breaks.

ST was there working with Pete to get him up and riding, but unfortunately his 9 burst its leading edge. Apparently they got on grand on Petes 11 later on.

As for me, I had a great day 'mowing the lawn' as ST talks about. Its good fun riding out over the break, and riding in along with it. I worked harder today than I have in a long time. I worked quite a bit on my toeside riding, and my toeside to heelside carving turns (going towards my left). The toeside riding is still quite flakey, sometimes when I think I've got it, I can't hold the kite, or mess up the board. I managed to control it pretty well today though, didn't have to ditch it once. Some of the turns are epic, others are embarrassing. Really nice when it works well, but you can go quite a distance downwind on a large circle turn.

On the jumps, I felt like I was actually making some progress just before I left, mainly on the way out, using the waves as a ramp. ST says I'm still not agressive enough with my kite motion, so I will continue to work on that.

Benone Yesterday

2011-08-05T13:11:00.002+01:00

I have never seen glass flat water at Benone. Zero wind. Funny thing it was blowing 15-20mph at Magilligan, 5 miles away

Kitesurfing Castlerock 4th August 2011

2011-08-04T23:04:00.002+01:00

Talk about wind chasing, on my way home I went to Magilligan, blowing 20+mph, then Benone, 0mph, then downhill, 0mph, then Castlerock 6mph, then home for tea.

Water at Benone was glass, I've never seen it like that before.

After tea it was back to Castlerock for a walk with the family 15-20mph, then back to Benone, still nothing, Magilligan, which had dropped to 10-15mph, back to Castlerock where I thought I may as well try.

As I set up it blew harder, and I had a good wee session out on the water. Nice and flat, well enough powered on the 12. After 9pm it started to drop a bit, so I packed up.

With the flat water I worked a bit on toeside riding, and my toeside to heelside carving turns. Getting better, still not very beautiful sometimes. I also worked a little on my jumps, although most times I think I was a little underpowered, but still cant get a good take off.

Nice to get out.

Benone Tuesday 19th July - Evening

2011-07-19T23:15:00.001+01:00

Headed back down to Benone after we got tidied up, didn't make it there until 7, which was too late. It just wasn't windy enough.

Bad news is that my pump broke while I was pumping up, so need to go shopping.

Benone Tuesday 19th July - Lunchtime

2011-07-19T18:03:00.002+01:00

Worked from home today, and made sure I got a long lunch. Had a bit of a saga with my half working kite quiver.

I went to Benone, got set up and went out on the 9, the only kite I have. It was ok sometimes, but mainly underpowered, so I decided to cut my losses and head to Castlerock where there is usually more wind. Not today. And there was that horrible foam everywhere too.

So, back to Benone, got the two kites out, and managed to replace the broken pulley on the 12 with one of the working ones from the 9.

Headed out, and the kite was steering to the side, had to immediately come back in and change the knot on the blue line that I shortened last night.

By this time my lunchtime was almost gone, so a quick scoot out on the water, few jumps, some toeside, nice carving turns and packed up.

Long time at the beach(es) short time on the water. Perfect conditions again. Was wondering half way through if they would sack me if I just didn't turn in for the afternoon. Decided not to find out.

Benone Monday 18th July

2011-07-18T23:02:00.002+01:00

What a great evening. Home early from work, straight to the beach for just after 5pm, in the water around 6. Steven was there too, so had to chat to him for a while :)

It wasn't blowing hard when we got there, below 20mph, so I set up the 12, and to be honest I was well powered all night. Going nicely perfect conditions, quite steady wind, very long flats between reasonable sized waves. Only thing wrong was it wasn't sunny, but that was ok. Gerry called down to spectate too, so had to chat with him for a while. Going well, some small jumps, getting better, didn't do a lot of kite powered jumps, mainly waves. With all the flat water I did more toeside riding in than normal, getting a bit better. Some nice carving turns; Others werent so nice, still all on the left to right tack.

After 8pm I had a problem where the kite wouldn't steer properly, so I came in and landed. After a couple of attempts we noticed that the pulley on the leading edge of the kite was broken. Well, the wee wheel had one broken side meaning the bridle line could slide down between the pulley and the block, snagging the line. Once I'd figured that out it was game over for the night.

A good session, nice and long, quite consistant, and progressed a little. Can't ask for more than that, well, maybe just no equipment failures!

7th July 2011 - Famara

2011-07-07T23:44:00.000+01:00

While on holiday in Lanzarote I decided to check out the local kitesurfing. I didn't bring my own gear, as we intended to spend most of our time around the resort. Instead I decided to get some coaching, and signed up to an IKO school for the morning. They are a Naish outfit, so I got the chance to fly a 2009 (I think) helix and a 2011 bolt. Not a lot of difference to my 2008 code, apart from the nice one pump system.

The wind was surprisingly variable and sometimes the 12m bolt was underpowered. The waves varied too, from infrequent with lots of nice flat water in between, to all on top of each other, huge waves. The board was smaller than I was used to as well, but it seems ok.

As for the lesson I may as well not have bothered, there were three other beginners there who were trying to master the board start, and the instructor spent most time with them.

He did call me out of the water to show the correct kite motion for some jumps I was attempting, but it wasn't really anything I didn't already know. I just need practice. And a beach with shallow water full of learners isn't the place to do it.

Another surprise was being kitted out in a full length wetsuit - I was expecting a shorty and warm water. Not so, in fact I would say the whole thing felt colder than my normal session at home. I suppose it was overcast, maybe if the sun had been out it would have felt a lot warmer.

It was a worthwhile morning, didn't learn a lot, got to fly some new kites, got to see that other people have trouble learning too; good to see I wasn't the only one. It's always nice to spend time on the water.

Benone Thursday 30th June

2011-06-30T23:55:00.002+01:00

Took a half day from work today, although buy the time I got to the beach it was about 4pm. Wind was a bit sketchy, but I rigged up anyway.

I spent a fair bit of time on the beach practicing kite manouvres. When the wind was really low I also practiced a little unhooked flying.

I was out on the water for about 30 minutes in total the whole afternoon, but it was really good time, I did quite a bit of jumping practice, landed a couple of tiny jumps. Also managed to get a bit of toeside in, and toeside turns. Tried a wee bit of unhooked when the wind dropped a bit too, but couldn't get the angles right, and couldn't keep hold of the kite. Good practice, a good, if very short session.

Saturday 25th June 2011 Location 'X'

2011-06-25T23:48:00.002+01:00

Hadn't planned on going out today at all, but got a phone call as I finished lunch, so I headed to the beach, at the mysterious location 'X'.

After being convinced that it was safe, and that I was at a good enough level to kite there I got set up, and headed out.

It was a middling session, good to get out, nice steady wind (mostly) and sunny with quite flat water! It wasn't a bad session, sometimes you think you shouldn't have bothered, but because of the new location I was a little unsure about trying stuff, so I was quite tame. I spent most time just riding around, which was fine.

I'm at the stage now where I like to try some stuff, but usually only where I know it can be quite easily recovered. I probably would have been OK trying stuff as kite relaunch and board retrieval would have been easy in the flat water.

Will definitely be there again, don't press me on the exact location be cause I could tell you, but then I'd have to....

Benone / Castlerock 22 June 2011

2011-06-22T23:20:00.003+01:00

Its midsummer time, so I donned my winter wetsuit and gloves and headed to Benone tonight after tea. I was hoping to finish up work early and be at the beach just after 4pm, but the forecast dropped off a lot, so I knew if there was going to be wind it would be later.

When I arrived at Benone the wind was reading 13-16mph, but it was steady so I rigged up the 12 and went out. It was pretty difficult to stay upwind, especially as the wind was quite onshore.

I persevered for about an hour, and then decided to give up, it was working, but only just - very disappointing. On the way home I called into Castlerock when the wind was reading around 20mph! So I set up and went out for about another hour and a half. This was a much better session, staying upwind was no problem, and I got a bit of toeside riding in on the flat water too.

The combination of wind and wave direction made it a little tricky, but it was all good practice.

On both beaches there were only a few people, sometimes none, just the occasional walker out with a dog.

It certainly was a pleasant evening, should have went to Castlerock first!

Benone Sat 4th June

2011-06-04T20:27:00.002+01:00

Had a short session out at Benone today, the forecast was marginal, but for almost straight onshore wind. I used to like straight onshore wind, because its very safe, no chance of falling in deep water, and you can ride for miles too. However, today the wind was just a bit light, making it difficult to get out into the sea at all.

I persevered for about an hour, it was nice to get out, but it was far from spectacular, although I still think I was having more fun than most of the others on the beach, including the guys in their buggies.

Even better, because of my super wetsuit, and the few times I was actually in the water, I didn't even get properly wet :)

Scale of the universe

2011-05-31T19:27:00.001+01:00

http://www.primaxstudio.com/stuff/scale_of_universe/

In car CCTV

2011-05-18T12:55:00.001+01:00

http://www.pakatak.co.uk/shop/product.asp?P_ID=456

Some interesting recent Bible studies

2011-05-16T07:34:00.002+01:00

Thought life:

http://www.dougbrittonbooks.com/onlinebiblestudies-temptationandovercomingsin/purelife-guardyourthoughtlife.php

Marriage:

http://www.dougbrittonbooks.com/onlinebiblestudies-marriageinformationandadvice/eightkeystoagreatmarriage.php

Parenting:

http://www.biblebb.com/files/ryle/PARENTSJC.HTM

Castlerock - 14th May 2011

2011-05-14T12:43:00.003+01:00

Today was planned to be a busy day, but also a good wind day, so I decided to make an early start and headed off to the beach around 7.

When I arrived at Benone there was almost no wind. The anemometer was reading 7-10 mph! It was also cross-off.

I waited a while and then left. Randomly I decided to pop into Castlerock to see the beach there, and unbelievably it was blowing 20-30 mph! I stalled a bit as I haven't been out at Castlerock since I've been riding, it's a smaller beach, and there is a horrible pier at the end.

However, I did get set up, but as I finished setting up I noticed a big rain shower coming in. So I sat in the car(see pic at top) and watched the puddles form in the kite. After the rain finished (only a few minutes) I ended up having a great wee session out on the water in the sunshine. I was probably out for about an hour, the waves were choppy, big, flat, frothy, not frothy and then choppy again in that time - quite a variety.

Didn't really learn much, was trying a bit of toeside, some carving turns, and some small jumps. Just having fun mainly :)

What are the cameras for?

2011-05-03T10:30:00.001+01:00

There are a lot of questions around the new cameras springing up all round the country. Don't worry folks, they aren't trying to catch you speeding, they just want to build a 5 year database of your movements...

http://wiki.openrightsgroup.org/wiki/National_Vehicle_Tracking_Database

Benone Kitesurfing - Sun 1st May

2011-05-01T22:46:00.002+01:00

Today was another sunny, windy day. I managed to make it down to Benone for a couple of hours in the afternoon.

Again it was a pretty good day, wind was quite good, water was a bit too choppy though, but still very good.

I was trying a bit of jumping, but not getting on very well. I can do nice wee jumps on the way out, using the waves as a ramp, only a few feet, but still nice. I was trying to boost on the way in, but with limited success. I managed to just about land one of the million tries, but all the rest resulted in a static landing, or even landing with the kite facing the opposite direction.

Will keep working. This is my target for this year, simple boosts.

Benone Kitesurfing - Sat 30 April

2011-04-30T22:34:00.003+01:00

The recent spell of weather has been quite unbelievable, although it's not uncommon to get a few hot days in April, it is uncommon to get a few good weeks! However the "good" weather didn't come with wind... until this weekend.

Easterlies had been forecast, sometimes slightly North, sometimes slightly South, but the forecast looked good for Benone.

I actually went down yesterday after work, Alan was out, but there was barely enough wind to fly, and it wasn't even worth a try. Today however the wind was blowing hard, well worth it.

I was out for about 2 hrs. It's unusual for me riding in an Easterly; going out across the waves with the right foot first is difficult to get used to. However once I got over my initial wobbles I was fine.

It was a really good session, a bit up and down. I also learned something about my confidence - normally I can turn really well at the shore side, and am more cautious and reluctant at the deep end. Well, changing the direction of the run didn't make any difference to that. I should have been able to make good turns, even ride toeside on the way out. No chance. It's clearly a confidence thing, and when the direction is changed the problem stays the same.

Looking forward to more sunshine riding tomorrow :)

Kate's first public performance

2011-04-16T22:35:00.000+01:00

Tonight Kate played at the Spring Concert for the Causeway School of Music. When she was asked to play we didn't think an awful lot about it, we'd never been before and it was probably something like a school concert.

We were wrong. Kate was about half way though the program, and we sat and watched lots of brilliant acts come before her. By the time she was walking to the grand piano right at the other side of the packed theatre I think I was significantly more nervous than her. Most of the kids were some sort of child prodigy, there were some who were so young that they were just cute regardless of talent, but the standard was very high.

Kate took a few moments to compose herself, and began to play her grade 3 exam piece, which she played very well.

It was a great evening, really nice to hear such a variety of music and talent, from young and old.

Dooey, Sat 2nd April

2011-04-02T21:49:00.003+01:00

The wind has been from steady S/SW direction all week, although some times very strong and others weak, but the forecast was showing reasonably good for Dooey for today.

I just got up at my usual time, got breakfast and set out on the road. I arrived at the beach just after 9am, and there was only a gentle breeze. After hanging around for a few minutes the breeze changed to wind, so I got the gear, and began setting up. At one stage the kite was hard to hold as I was pumping it, but when I finished setting up there was no wind!

At around 10am a couple of others landed, and decided to set up, and sure enough, by the time they were set up the wind had started.

We all went out onto the water, after a short time I had a big fall and lost my board. The waves were huge and frequent, and the body-dragging to get the board was really difficult; each time I took a breath another huge wave hit me, and it was hard to see where the board was. I was exhausted by the time I found the board, and came in for a short rest. Apart from that time I had a fantastic time on the water. My riding continues to improve, now easily recovering from little mistakes that would have tumbled me last year.

My jumping over waves is also improving and obviously I don't even attempt any jumps when further out - its just too risky for me at the moment. I haven't mastered the kite action for non-wave jumps yet, was practising a little, but I just enjoy riding back and forward too much (and don't like falling in :) )

I did one huge jump, seemed like 15-20 feet, probably more like 6, although it was a shock how far away the water was. I was going over a huge wave, and concentrating so much on getting up the front and down the back that I lost the kite, and it went into floaty jump position, so up I went. It was actually quite easy to control (once I noticed it) and I floated down to a nice soft landing in the water, without my board unfortunately. A good experience though - can't wait 'til I can do it under control.

After about 1.5-2 hrs on the water the wind started to pick up and it was time to come in for a kite change, and lunch - I could hardly hold the kite on full depower to get landed!

After lunch I pumped up the 9 and went out again. It began to rain, really the only proper rain we saw all day, but the wind was really steady during and after the rain. Otherwise the wind was very up and down, sometimes badly underpowered, and sometimes a little overpowered. But, it was another great session, although I was tired I still felt I was learning. Another 1.5-2 hrs on the water in the afternoon, and I was wrecked. It was pack up and home time.

A fantastic day, and helped by the fact the air temperature was 10-15 degrees, and the sun was out, really nice. A great mix of big waves, small waves, broken and unbroken waves, sunshine and showers.

Visual C# error - Unable to copy file .. because it is being used by another process

2011-03-03T20:24:00.002Z

Since I downloaded Visual C# Express 2010 and migrated all my heating control projects to it, each time I build my main client application I get a really annoying error about the exe file being in use:

Unable to copy file "obj\Debug\MyProjectXXX.dll" to "bin\Debug\MyProjectXXX.dll". The process cannot access the file 'bin\Debug\MyProjectXXX.dll' because it is being used by another process.

It seems that the solution to this problem is to add a pre-build event that works some unlocking spell on the exe, found the answer here (which curiously says MS fixed it in 2003)

http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/forums/en-US/csharpide/thread/68648642-08d8-4cff-b0c3-c2782f010589

Benone Sunday 27th Feb

2011-02-27T20:29:00.001Z

I made it down to Benone shortly after 1pm today, and its always great to be driving down and see the kites flying in the distance. When I got there a lot of kites were parked firmly on the beach, and people were holding wind meters up, never a good sign. The general consensus is that the wind was a bit light, but it felt surfable to me, so I got set up.

It was a beautiful day, sun shining, and nice long flats between the (sometimes huge) waves.

I probably only spent about an hour actually on the water, and it was a mixture of being nicely powered up, and sometimes just not having enough.

It was a good day, I think I am making some progress, feeling a lot steadier, and a lot more confident over the waves, and I didn't catch the nose of the board on a landing at all.

Still need a lot of work on a lot of things. Sean was trying to persuade me to try a back roll, so maybe I'll give that a go next time. I think I need to work on a bit of basic jumping etc first, but we'll see. Can't wait to get out again!

Benone, 1st Jan 2011

2011-01-01T21:03:00.001Z

The forecast was looking marginal for today, but I took a drive down to the beach anyway. When I got there there were loads of people, and not loads of wind.

After standing for a while I decided to give it a try, so got all geared up and headed out. It was well worth it, although very straight on the waves were such that riding over them wasn't really a problem.

Spent only about an hour out, and then the wind dropped, so I came in for a rest. Wasn't cold apart from the tips of my fingers, which were freezing!! I should have worn my gloves to get set up.

I was going to go out again, but I felt a little cold and chickened out. Still, nice to get out after a long break.

Snow season

2010-12-24T21:28:00.003Z

Second set of snow this season so far and it's only December!

Since the return of the snow last Friday I've been out on the snowboard either in the garden or on the hills every day at least twice. Due to the travel chaos I haven't been attempting to make the trip to work, so I've had early starts working from home which facilitate two hour long lunches. My father-in-law has very graciously lent us the quad, so the kids and I load it up with snowboard and sleds and head out to the fields each lunchtime.

We also went out for a couple of hours one evening when the light of the full moon was like daylight.

As for progress, I have been steadily improving, still sometimes struggling with basic stuff, but riding pretty solid now.

Got my regular riding going well, and linked turns no problem. Still scared like mad of any jumps though - they're a lot higher when you're going over them!! As for my switch side, I can ride ok, as long as nothing out of the ordinary happens, getting good enough to ride sections and do a sliding turn.

I have also been working on my 180s, but I think I'm just a bit too lazy to jump around. I started working on them on a small kicker in the garden, and managed to pull one off. However after watching youtube videos it seems that the best thing to do is learn gradually, and work up to jumps, so I have been practising the sliding change from regular to switch and back. Sometimes frontside and sometimes back.

Its all coming together, the biggest problem I have now is the short length of any run, they are just not long enough to get any real practice in. Need to head to the proper slopes. Penny saving has started :)

Now Christmas is upon us, which means no boarding tomorrow, or Boxing day, and then the forecast is for thaw :(

Linking turns

2010-12-01T22:46:00.001Z

Tonight I got another chance to use my own private nursery slope. I first of all started to work on my toeside falling leaf, which I have to say went surprisingly well!

After this I spent the rest of the evening trying to link my turns, and sometimes was more successful than others. However, by the end of my time I was doing not too bad, maybe not very beautiful, but not too bad :)

Heelside falling leaf

2010-11-30T23:51:00.000Z

More practice, about another hour tonight. Have my heelside falling leaf working out well for me now, still no idea about toeside, will need to work more on that.

Also, no new snow, so the snow that is there is getting icy, and not that great for control, but still better than wet sticky, or even worse - none!

First Snowboarding Winter 2010

2010-11-29T23:45:00.001Z

I was really surprised when I arrived home from work to see that there was a good coating of snow all over our grass. We have not had as much snow as lots of other places. The best thing was that it was all really good grainy powder.

After we had tea I headed out to my very own private nursery slope :)

I pretty much started off from where I had left off last season, I was riding reasonably well, but couldn't ride switch at all. So after a few full length, normal runs, I decided to work on the switch. After a good few slow short runs I was starting to get it, and ventured to the top. From there I would start off switch, ride across the slope to the edge and change to regular. Then zig-zagging down the hill I got lots of practice in, including stopping and changing directions.

By the end of the evenings, after a few quite hard falls, I was doing pretty well, riding fast in switch, and flipping round to toeside, then carving (a little) round to regular, and flipping back to switch at the other side. Some of the runs felt really fluid, and quick. Other times I just fell. I think its like the kitesurfing - what I need is just more practice. Oh, and a ski lift :)

Another lunchtime session

2010-11-09T16:05:00.002Z

Today I was working from home, so took advantage of the moderate NE winds. Curiously the road from Downhill to Benone is currently closed due to a rock fall, so rather that going the mad round trip I just went a few miles along the beach :)

Got there, got set up, strong wind, so pumped up the 9, and got into the water. The winter gear is fantastic, today I was booted, gloved, and hooded, and roasting! It was about 6 or7 degrees outside, and I was quite cold on the beach while setting up.

When I got into the water it was one disaster after another. First I wasn't well enough powered up, and was letting it out little by little. I should just have let it the whole way out to start. Next on a right to left turn I think I turned too far downwind and went towards the kite, it dropped into the water and inverted. I could have pulled the safety straight away, but with the reride that can take about 1/2 hr to get untangled, so I fought with it for a while. After a few minutes I had it flying again, but the lines were inverted, so it flew ok, but not great. I tried a few tacks to work upwind to get back to the car, but it wasn't working, so I got out and walked.

Landed, untangled, and out again. Going a bit better, still struggling on the right to left turns, and on the left to right into the waves. Sort of stalling when I go over a wave, I think I need to go downwind more as I go over the wave to keep speed. Also suspect the line lengths aren't the same for both sides of the kite, seems to fly a bit better one way than the other. Blue is too long.

Came back in to meet Maris, who I had bumped into at the start of the summer. Had a chat and gave him a launch before heading out for a last quick 5 minutes. This last run was the best of the day, in fact it turned a pretty bad session into a pretty worthwhile one. Fully powered up, I seemed to be doing a lot better, and staying upwind too.

I really don't enjoy the East wind. More NW please.

Ice Skating

2010-10-25T20:39:00.002+01:00

Ever since Kate got her inline skates she always rhymes about going to the ice rink. The nearest to us is over an hour away, so it's a bit of a project just visiting the place.

We went at the start of the year as a family, and we each had varying degrees of success, Kate of course walked out onto the ice as if it was as easy as walking, and I struggled a bit, but got on reasonably by the end.

Today we decided to go again, just the two of us. Kate again had no problems from the outset, but I took a few circuits to get going. By the end of 3 1/2 hours I was getting on pretty well, although I'm sure like the kitesurfing it looks a lot better to me than any spectators.

I can go pretty well in a straight line, striding nicely, and round the corners still could do with a bit of work, but getting there. No way of coming to an unplanned stop yet, just aim for the side. Getting a bit better at skating around obstacles, but still able to crash into them if they are completely unexpected.

Clothing - couldn't quite remember from the last time, but my recommended clothing would be jeans, tshirt, light top, gloves and a hat. It's a pretty warm activity, but its cold on the hands and head.

Felt it in my legs today too, although not too bad now, sore ankles where the skates were rubbing a bit, and my Achilles on my left is really sore, a super workout for the legs. Also, not nearly as risky injury-wise as I would expect. I saw some people falling pretty hard, and nothing bad to report. Far more likely to get far worse injuries on the water :)

Lunchtime Kitesurf - new wetsuit

2010-10-19T17:35:00.002+01:00

Today the forecast looked good, so I arranged to work from home.

About 12 I set out to the beach, and was pleased to see the wind was blowing nicely, cross on, which is perfect for me.

Today was a bit different to any time before as I got a new wetsuit at the weekend. I bought an O'Neill Psycho 2 winter suit from Troggs. It certainly seemed snug in the shop, it was time to see if it made much of a difference at the beach.

Set up the 9 and went out and the difference in the wetsuit was immediately noticeable. Much warmer straight away. After a while I switched to the 12 as I was a little underpowered on the 12.

Didn't really do much today, just back and forth, trying to jump a little over the waves, and trying not to let the waves on the way in put me down. Only fell a couple of times in about 2 hours.

Definitely a worthwhile trip.

Benone Thursday 16th Sept

2010-09-16T21:56:00.002+01:00

As the nights draw in this evening was probably one of the last chances to have an after work session. A short, but good session with Alan, although when I got there he had already broken a line, and spent quite a while swimming - not ideal.

Wind was good, quite nicely cross-on (NW), and the waves were huge and white with long flats in between, just how I like it.

I was working on little jumps over the waves on the way out, some toeside on the way in with a toeside to heelside carve to turn. Still struggling to do nice turns on the way out, especially with the approaching wall of water if I miss.

Alan was trying to get me to do a grab when I jump to keep my arms under control, I was trying but wasn't getting on very well, judging by Alan's incessant shouting at me :) Like my teachers said "could do better". More practice required.

Dooey, Sat 11th Sept

2010-09-11T22:01:00.000+01:00

I decided to make a day of it today, and head to the west coast, over to Dooey in Co Donegal.

When I got there I found I was on my own, so for safety I decided to go with the 9. It was good decision as the wind picked up considerably, although I was a little underpowered for most of the time. I was out for about an hour.

Today I was trying to work on riding toe-side, but I just kept sinking as I was underpowered.

Just as some of the others arrived the wind dropped off, so I had my lunch.

I changed to the 12 and was nicely powered. I had mixed success on the toeside, sometimes going really far downwind, and other times just crashing. It's like learning all over again, falling over waves etc, but after a bit of practice I was doing much better. Still shaky, but then so is my normal riding. Oh, and it's worth mentioning that I can only do it in one direction, no hope in the other way at all. That'll be for another day :) stayed out for just over two hours in the afternoon

Sunday 29th August

2010-08-29T22:20:00.000+01:00

As always with Sunday kitesurfing is not a priority, but will get fitted in around the important stuff if possible. We managed to get to the beach in the late afternoon. Today there were a couple of kids out, apparently around 10-11, and they were fantastic, even doing kiteloops etc.

After messing around with the 9 I set up the 12 and had a really good session, the wind was a perfect direction, nicely cross-on (more on) and the waves had huge flats in between. Actually got some useful practice in, working on my carving turn, managed a couple, probably didn't look very beautiful, but just need more practice. It's amazing how much difference it makes carrying a bit of speed out of the turn.

Saturday 28th August

2010-08-28T22:16:00.000+01:00

I intended to get to the beach early today as the forcast was showing good cross-on all day, but didn't manage to get there until after lunch. I called at the White Rocks in Portrush where some of the forum guys said they'd be, and there were two there, and another couple setting up. I really didn't like the look of the beach, and told the guys it didn't look safe enough to please me; obviously they are more expericenced and were having a great time. I called at the East Strand on the way past and there were two guys out there too, having a great time, getting some big floaty air. Again this is a dangerous location, no place for a beginner like me.

I travelled on around the coast to Benone where I was glad to see a number of kites already on the water. I got set up, it was very gusty, and quite a lot of surf, very hard to stay upwind, so some of the lads decided to do a downwinder, which was great.

Good practice riding some big waves, learning how to ride over waves at different stages of the break, all good experience. I did fall in more than I would have liked, I fell really hard a couple of times and its a real pain in the face when that happens. Quite a short session, but I was completely done after it.

First Downwinder (on purpose)

2010-08-24T21:56:00.000+01:00

I made an early escape from work today, was at the beach and ready to fly before 5:30, but although the wind cross - cross-on, it was poor strength wise. To top that out where the waves were breaking they were huge, like about 6-8 feet - so big that a proper jump was inevitable. I wasn't having a good run at all, it was too difficult to stay upwind with the waves and the light wind.

However all was not lost. Sean turned up, and suggested we use his jeep to do a downwinder, so off we set. It was quite a strange experience to not be worried about losing ground to the wind as I zig-zagged down the shore. It was actually quite difficult to ride sometimes, as you get lazy and don't bother edging, which makes for much worse riding.

When we landed down the beach Sean reset the mileage and measured exactly a mile back to my car. In that mile I think I fell properly three times, each time bodydragging back to the board, and getting up on it ok. I'm getting better at it, and more confident. Hopefully get out again at the weekend.

Final visit to Benone - for the holidays

2010-08-13T22:00:00.002+01:00

Today officially finished my time off work, back to Letterkenny on Monday.

The wind report wasn't showing great, but I decided to give it a go anyway. Arriving at the beach I saw another kite in the air, always a good sign. While I got set up it was clear the other guy was a learner, and struggling a bit in the onshore wind.

It proved to be a bit of a waste of time, the wind was very light, but I persevered knowing that the experience would do me good, and also that it was pretty safe with an empty beach and onshore wind. Short session, glad I went, but definitely not a great finish to the holiday kiting.

Benone AM

2010-08-12T17:54:00.002+01:00

While the kids were at holiday Bible club today I took the opportunity to get to Benone. Once I got set up, and went to change into my wetsuit, I discovered it wasn't there! I had to phone for backup, and my wetsuit arrived after a short delay...

Wind was blowing ok, 12m weather, and quite onshore, probably NW to NNW, which suits me really well for now. When the wind is in this direction I don't seem to need to do any walking at all.

Today was just a relatively short session, probably on the water for about 1.5 hrs.

Once again I was working on my sliding turns and my upwind riding. I was also having a bit of fun using the waves for ramps to do some small jumps when riding towards the sea. I am also reliably informed that it looked a lot better from my perspective than from the bystanders perspective.

A good, short session, riding for good long distances in both directions. I'm making about 95% of turns, but probably only 25% (or less) are really good turns where I manage to keep the speed up through it. Lots of times I struggle to get up to speed coming out of the turn.

Once or twice I tried to turn toe-side and carve around the turn, but it was very shaky. I think I need to work on my general balance before going much further down that road.

My one handed riding is also coming along quite nicely. Struggling a bit with some wave landings, sometimes landing on the nose, and going under. Getting a bit better every time out.

Benone Kitesurfing

2010-08-11T22:40:00.002+01:00

Today was another cross-on day for Benone beach. I went and got set up, the launch area was completely vacant, although I was joined by another kiter before I started in the water. The sea was really nice, with long stretches of flat water between the waves, and the waves weren't powerful.

It was another day of walking back up the beach, but that's all part of it.

I was riding well again, until my usual problem occurred, in the deep water I lost my board and really struggled to get back to it. This time I had fallen and the kite had went into the water. By the time I got the kite relaunched I was far away from the board. Fortunately one of the other guys there was able to recover my board, and we were able to sail safely into the beach. After that I took a break. I really need to practice my body-dragging!

I went back out determined not to get into that difficulty again, so I decided to practice my turns. I am just doing sliding turns, but on my left to right I struggle in general, and right to left sometimes I have trouble gaining speed out of the turn.

I ended up working on these turns and also good up-wind riding for the rest of the time, which turned out to be about another two hours. I completely lost track of time, left home just after 1pm, and stayed at the beach until almost 7pm.

Once again I feel I made a significant improvement today, riding quite consistently in both directions, and with reasonable turns at each end. Maybe more practice tomorrow, if all my aches go away!

Afternoon at Benone

2010-08-06T23:35:00.000+01:00

The forecast for today was showing marginal wind, and that is what actually happened. When I got to the beach the water was cresting, and there were a couple of other guys already set up, but not on the water.

I went a bit further up and got all set up. The biggest problem was the number of other people there on the beach, I stood for a few minutes trying to find a safe spot to enter the water.

There were too many bathers, surfers etc, all because of the sunshine. Also, the waves were quite big, and my first hour was disappointing and very off-putting. I also lost the board a couple of times, and really struggled to get back to it. I just can't do a left to right turn consistently enough yet.

However as the afternoon wore on I started to get on really well. I stopped doing left to right turns, just dipping into the water, stopping and restarting instead. I also picked my turn spot carefully, so it wasn't in the breaking waves, either first break or second break.

By my third hour in the water I was having a fantastic time, riding really well over the waves, and the best thing was that there were very few other people in the water.

Lots of good practice, another great day. Managed to keep the kite dry too, until just close to the end when I was practising my turns, the wind dropped and the kite flagged and flopped into the water. I knew it was going too well before that :)

Benone, second choice

2010-08-04T23:49:00.003+01:00

I had planned to go to Dooey beach again today, but unfortunately couldn't make the trip to Donegal. So I had to settle for second best, our local beach at Benone.

After arriving and setting up around 3pm I was on the water pretty much until about 6pm. Still progressing well, struggling to stay consistently upwind, but that is mainly because of losing ground while falling or turning rather than riding. I need to work on my turns, although I was turning quite well right to left, and reasonably well in the other direction, but I think that was due to confidence in the deep water. It's a bit scary losing your board way out there, where the beach people look so small.

The other thing I really need to work on is riding over waves. As one of the other guys put it I was more going through them than over them.

The best thing today was also the worst thing - the waves. Every once in a while they were huge (for me) and this caused all sorts of problems, like trying to get back on the board, out of my depth while these things were breaking over me. On the other hand the best ride of the day was when I just launched in front of one, and managed to ride it the whole way in, that was great!

Dooey Beach, Donegal

2010-07-31T20:44:00.002+01:00

Today the guys from NI Kite Forum were travelling to Dooey Beach as the wind was forecast from the West or South-West. I got my sat nav out and put in the nearest location I could find and set off. I was curious as to why it was estimating such a long time for the last few miles, but I found out when I got there. The roads there made our road look like a motorway!

Descending from the hills into the beach area I could already see a few kites in the air, which is always a welcome sight.

I arrived, and got set up, and just as I was ready to go the wind dropped and people started coming in from the water! After a while it picked up again and we were out again, although it was a bit busy for my liking. I hadn't been out for long when my kite flopped down - a burst bladder. What a pain. That was my day over. I packed it up, but some of the other guys suggested that I should try my smaller kite.

What a great suggestion it was! It was definitely underpowered for the day, took a bit of work to get it going, but when up to speed it was pulling nicely. I spent over another hour on the water before it was time to stop.

All in all a great day. Now I just need to dry and fix my big kite...

Another visit to the beach

2010-07-28T22:25:00.002+01:00

The forecast for today was a bit marginal, but we hoped it would be surfable, so I made the usual detour to Benone on the way home from work.

The wind was pretty bad when I arrived, but I set up and had a bit of a fly on the beach. I was joined on the beach by Stephen, another learner, and we noticed a bit of rain about to blow in. Rain usually brings wind, so by the time we were suited up the wind was blowing strong.

Headed out into the water, and it was easy to get going. On my first run out I was just about to turn when I noticed a porpoise in the water - well I assume thats what it was, I just saw the fin about 20ft in front of me.

It turned out to be a good evening, got a good few runs in, spent less windy time bodyboarding and flying on the beach. Lost the board a couple of times, thats when I'm glad it is bright yellow. First time I was able to very easily bodydrag back to get it. Second time the wind had dropped, the kite was pulling me downwind, and I was scared of the kite landing in the water, and so I went to the beach, landed it, took off the harness, and swam back out for the board. Thats a bit scary, swimming directly out into the sea. At least when I got out to the board and turned I discovered I could still stand on the sand. It's just a cautionary note about the potential danger of going out when there is not quite enough wind.

Also managed a couple of turns tonight, that's the first time I've done that without dunking.

Cant wait for next time.

DIY car service

2010-07-22T08:51:00.001+01:00

http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/MotorOil/Car_Care/DIY/Do_It_Yourself_Archive.aspx

Fantastic Benone wind

2010-07-21T23:16:00.000+01:00

This evening I was out for a couple of hours on the 9m at Benone. It was blowing somewhere between 20-30mph, which is really nice power on the 9. It was a bit gusty, but pleasantly it was almost straight onshore. I am still struggling a bit with the water start, and in an onshore this means a lot of walking backwards into the sea, trying, failing, drifting in and repeat.

I did have a few really good runs, working hard on stance to try to improve the balance, and my upwind tack. Another thing I was working on was riding over waves, previously I was surviving about 25% of big waves, today I probably managed 75%. Using your legs as suspension is key, and also rising the kite a bit to pull up over them is helpful too.

One thing that was unusual for me today was the fact that there were a few other people on the water. Most of the time they turned before they got to me, but a couple of times I managed to pass safely, I hope, both with the other rider upwind, and sometimes downwind, pretty scary the first time.

It was an excellent evenings riding, and has shown me that what I really need is time on the water. It's really nice to be at the stage where I can see quite a bit of progress each time I'm out. All we need now is more North wind....

Benone

2010-06-19T23:07:00.000+01:00

I have just had a great day kitesurfing at benone beach. Best day yet, riding reasonable distances in both directions, although still quite inconsistent. Just need more practice. More north winds please. And strong :)

Google streetview

2010-03-05T12:07:00.003Z

Just noticed the streetview has been updated for the local area. Not completed yet, but a good coverage of the Magilligan area

Mussenden Temple

XBMC

2010-02-03T22:33:00.002Z

For years we enjoyed XBMC running on several networked softmodded XBOX consoles around the house, delivering SD and HD content to our televisions.

Since then the TiVo/XBMC solution was retired in favour of Vista Media Center, which provides a simple solution for media to TV, including dual tuners, and playing divx and xvid etc. It also acts as a server to the very clever media center extenders, which provide the same functionality to other TVs around the house.

Recently I upgraded to Windows 7, which adds some functionality, but is altogether nicer and a more modern experience. Also includes xvid and divx out of the box. However, it doesn't support MKV files, and although a codec can be obtained I fought for several hours to get it to pass Dolby directly to the optical output.

I gave up, and decided to try the XBMC for windows download. Fantastic piece of software, runs straight out of the box, easy to add media folders, and plays everything! The people at microsoft could learn a bit from XBMC - the options to change to digital audio output and other simple changes are right on the screen. There is a slider to correct audio/video sync issues. There is also the option to automatically set the display to 50 or 60 Hz depending on the source. Very clever stuff. And simple. Pay attention Microsoft.

No fuel

2010-01-05T21:51:00.002Z

Went out to start the car, but it just turned and turned, without a kick. I hadn't noticed the whirr of the fuel pump, so I decided to check to see if there was petrol getting to the front, and when I disconnected the hose, there was none.

As this happened before, just a few months ago, I knew exactly where to look. Jobs are always easier the second time.

This meant I couldn't make the journey to work, so I split the day between working from home, and car maintenance.

A quick post to the scoobyireland.com forum told me I could pick up a brand new one in Magherafelt, so I set off before lunchtime. Of course this journey was made much more difficult by last nights snow - although there was only a few centimetres it was freezing hard, and it lay, making even main roads treacherous.

I picked up the pump, and later on got it fitted. It is quite a relief when you turn the key and the engine starts.

Later on this evening I tidied everything up, screwed the seats back in etc, and that's the job done. Wonder what the next component to fail will be.....

Garage completed

2009-12-23T22:01:00.000Z

Today the last part of the work on the garage was finally completed. The contractor returned to fit the downpipes to the guttering, and that was the job done.

But that is not how I know the job is done - I know it's done because of the bill that landed through the letterbox :)

Garage update

2009-11-29T21:56:00.002Z

Over the last 5-6 weeks not much happened with the garage, it was waiting for the plasterer to return. Saturday two weeks ago the electrician came and put in the first fix electric, and couldn't go any further until the two remaining walls were plastered.

This week the plasterer returned, and finished off the two internal walls. With the reasonable weather outside he was able to dash some more too, and a couple more days outside should get the dashing done. Then it's just the bases to rub up.

Yesterday the electrician returned to start the second fix, and got on fairly well, although there is still a few hours work left.

No pictures I'm afraid, as the daylight hours are few, and by the time I remember to take some each day it is dark :)

A week off

2009-10-29T19:20:00.008Z

We have all been off work and school this week, and as usual we have been busy. I had quite a bit of tidying up to do to the paved area, and I had managed to get a Saturday or two at it, but what I needed was a sustained effort. I started on Monday, and finished this morning.

Lots of the edge flags had been cut, but not placed, and it took quite a bit of preparation to make the area ready for them. The adjacent sand and cement mix had hardened and needed chiseled out to enable new mix to be laid to bed in the edging.

There were kerbs to be laid for the edge at the

front, so we got that done too, and placed the flags in behind them.

Perhaps

the most challenging cutting I had to do was the bit around the manhole. This was tricky because the slabs that had been left out created a space that wasn't really very square, and also cutting slabs to fit inside the manhole cover was extremely delicate. Worth it in the end.

The doorstep at the patio was also finished, just this morning. I had to build the edge and then fill in the centre with concrete, and when that had hardened I laid the paving stones.

The plasterer has also been here, but only for two days, and has most of

the inside rubbed up, and all four corners done now. Lets hope it doesn't rain tonight!

Roof Tiles

2009-10-16T21:29:00.004+01:00

After another bit of a break the contractor was back today and got the roof tiled. They intended to do it last Friday, but it was such a miserable day they just gave up and went home.

Today the tiles went on at an incredible rate, and late in the afternoon they had it finished.

As a bonus the plasterer arrived today, and by the end of the day he had three of the exterior walls scratched.

At the beach

2009-10-11T21:35:00.003+01:00

This morning instead of my normal Sunday lie-in I decided I would take advantage of the moderate Westerly wind and head to the beach.

I arrived at the beach just after sunrise, and had a reasonable session, although the waves were a little too huge for me. For the first time I was riding a little in my bad direction.

I can't wait until I'm out with some of the more experienced guys again, 'cause I'll be looking for some advice, and also its a little scary being out there on your own. If you lose your board, or get into any sort of trouble, you have no help, so I was being cautious, staying within my depth at all times etc. What I really need to do at this stage is start off out beyond the breaking waves, so I have more uninterrupted water to practice in. The problem with that further out, better water is that it is so much more dangerous.

Out of the water and packed up for just after 9am, driving back across the beach I spotted Alan, who is one of the other regulars. Spoke briefly, and left him to it, apparently he had a good session too. Can't wait until next time!

Roof felt on

2009-10-07T21:28:00.001+01:00

Trusses on!

2009-10-01T21:18:00.005+01:00

Today the trusses were put on. Yesterday the workmen were back and started the work, but really just got the preparation work completed. Today they came back, and very quickly finished the job.

The brickies were also back and almost finished off the pillars at the road. Just the pillar caps to go on.

The good thing about seeing the trusses on was that I could see the size of the room it gives above the garage - that's the place that all the stuff w

e should throw out, but will keep for years will stay. It will be a good size of a room.

Step foundation

2009-09-26T21:15:00.002+01:00

The slow progress continues on the paved area. Today we used the mixer that the builders have left to mix some concrete for the foundation of a step at the conservatory doors.

Trusses arrive

2009-09-25T21:13:00.000+01:00

The trusses arrived today, but no-one is here to put them on :(

Best day yet.

2009-09-19T23:23:00.007+01:00

In March, when Marty and I were in California for 3 weeks with work we were determined to have a good holiday, as well as doing whatever work had to get done. Every day when we went somewhere we enjoyed it more than the previous day, Big Bear, Sunset Beach, San Diego, Vegas, Grand Canyon, Beverly Hills. Each day we acknowledged that we'd had the 'best day yet'. Well, today was another 'best day yet'.

A few months ago the guys at scoobyireland had arranged to hold a "rolling road" day, and today was that day. It had finally come round; it's something I've always wanted to do, I would have loved to have put my GTE Astra on the rollers as I'm sure it was pulling close to 200bhp.

Anyway, headed off this morning for AI Autosport near Randalstown, and was the first one there, so got first shot on the rollers. I'd hoped this wouldn't happen as it would have been nice to see what goes on before actually going. Phil reversed the car onto the rollers and they got it tied down with ratchet straps. Because my car was the first of the day the rollers had to be heated up, so he took the car up to 100mph and ran it there for a few minutes.

Then the run began, the car is held at 3000rpm for a few seconds to calibrate the machine, af

ter which the operator lets it rev lower, and then floors it. The graph is updated live on the machine, although its hard to see what is actually happening on the screen; there is so much information.

My car ran twice, once on SUL, and once on LPG. I was really curious about both runs because the car has 135000 miles on it, and IMO it has never really been going 100%, so I was expecting less than the stock 208bhp for the petrol, and slightly more on the LPG as it has a higher octane rating (apparently).

Wrong. 251bhp (219 at the wheels) on the SUL, and 240 (203 at the wheels) on the LPG.

Fantastic result, and although it cost £70 for the two runs, I think it was a good economy, as I was thinking about a chip, or boost controller, but sure now I don't need one, I'm already 20% over stock power!

Next it was off to Benone for a spot of kitesurfing. It was alright, first ride was the best going slightly upwind, after that it was a series of sinking, or crashing into waves etc. Then the wind died etc, so not a great session, but great to get out again for the first time in 3 weeks, after our wind drought!

Finally I have just spent over 7 hours painting in the living room. It's well overdue as with a coal fire burning there is a lot of soot. Now its got a nice fresh coat of paint. Actually found the job strangely enjoyable today, I'm sure that feeling couldn't last!

Garage - Day 5 - Brickwork complete

2009-09-17T23:42:00.000+01:00

The brickies finished off the brickwork of the garage today, so we have to wait for a week for the trusses to arrive.

While the brickies were here we decided to put their skills to good use, and they finished off the copings on the wall. This was probably a wise decision, as it took them about a full day in total, so I don't think I could have done nearly as good a job.

After marking out the sizings for the pillars and wall at the road we got the foundations dug and poured today. Now all we need is the building done!

Garage - Day 4

2009-09-16T21:35:00.006+01:00

More work on the garage today, and we also marked out at the roadside where we hope to put pillars and a wall.

Garage - Day 3

2009-09-15T20:33:00.000+01:00

Garage - Day 2

2009-09-14T21:29:00.002+01:00

Garage - Day 1

2009-09-11T21:33:00.000+01:00

The workers arrived today to start the garage. I expect it'll not take them long to put it up, at least they're getting great weather for starting.

Moving shed

2009-09-05T21:35:00.001+01:00

In preparation for the garage getting built we had to clear out the accumulated rubbish from the foundations. For the most part this meant lifting wood and other rubbish, but the biggest item was the garden shed, which was a quite substantial task.

After preparing the path we got the heavy lifting machinary in and got it delicately balanced on the forks. Matthew kindly drove it all the way around to its new resting position, where it will stay until the real garage gets done.

Now we just have to wait for the builders to turn up :)

Up!

2009-09-03T22:09:00.002+01:00

On day 4 out on the water I'm finally riding, only short distances, but still up. Once I made it over several waves, and couldn't believe how I got over each one! Looking forward to getting out again...

On the water again

2009-08-28T22:49:00.002+01:00

The wind was just right again tonight, so I was back at Benone to pick up where I left off. This time I was able to go short distances before falling. I'm not ready for any competitions yet, but at least a little progress is encouraging! No pics or vids tonight, the multimedia crew let me down!

On the water - just about!

2009-08-26T23:32:00.004+01:00

After months of waiting for wind that was the correct strength and the correct direction I saw the forecast for tonight, and left work as early as possible. On arrival at the beach at Benone I was pleased (although a little intimidated) to see three kiters already out on the water.

I headed over and parked up, introduced myself, and began to get set up.

After my first few disastrous attempts on the water one of the fellows came over and offered some advice, so I tried that for a while, until the handle came off at one side! Fortunately it was just a loose screw and I was quickly back in action.

Hours, and lots of attempts later, with more advice I was making some progress, "riding" for short distances before either sinking or being pulled over on my face.

I definitely am absolutely no good at this sport, but it definitely is the most fun I've had!

Unfortunately there are no pictures of me up on the board, one person suggested that it was because there wasn't a fast enough setting on the camera!

Garage?

2009-08-13T10:51:00.000+01:00

Last night we had the contractor who built our house back to give us a price for building a garage. Hopefully it'll come in at something reasonable, but we'll wait and see.

It is quite a coincidence today 6 years ago we had his quantity surveyor here pricing up the build of the main house. Link here: http://www.ccso.co.uk/sb/13Aug2003.html

Ozone Imp Quattro 1.5

2009-08-10T22:30:00.001+01:00

New kite for the kids arrived today, its an Ozone Imp which is designed to be an introductory kite, and its perfect for learners. It flys really nicely, right around the window, but never has too hard a pull, exactly what I wanted. Good fun for me too!

Google car

2009-08-06T21:03:00.001+01:00

Today on my way home I spotted the google car here. So when the streetview goes live check for a bule impreza in the middle of Greysteel, that'll be me!

Rust in my gas!

2009-07-29T22:04:00.002+01:00

Today I finally got a change to return to Automotive Gas Systems in Portadown to see what was wrong with my autoGas conversion on the impreza.

After spending a while looking at it they discovered rust residue in two of the solenoids. They asked where I got my gas, as they said this can happen when people fill it from home gas tanks. I assured them that all the gas I got came from the two local Texaco garages in Coleraine.

Well, anyway, they replaced the two valves, and reset the ECU so we were on our way.

The ECU reset means we need another trip back, as the automatic learning program has to start again. Let's hope it goes better this time!

Rocker cover gasket

2009-07-27T23:32:00.005+01:00

About three weeks after I fixed the last oil leak from the crankshaft a new oil leak appeared in my car. This time it was the rocker cover gasket.

The rocker cover gasket in something like a nova, which is probably the last one I have replaced, is a simple job, as the camshaft is at the top of the engine, and it takes about 10 minutes.

The impreza is not so simple, as with a box engine the camshafts are down at the side. So I stripped back the airbox, and the boost solenoid assembly to give me space and eventually managed to get the six bolts and cover off. It took ages to clean the seal as the old rubber gasket had disintegrated and stuck itself all over the place.

Placing the new gasket, and getting the cover back on was a breeze, and I then screwed everything back together, and as always was pleased when I turned the key and heard the engine start. Now all that remains to be seen is if the oil leak has actually gone, and if that is the last one!

First Day

2009-07-20T21:01:00.002+01:00

Today I began my employment with Sita in Letterkenny. Quiet day, lots of reading and getting settled in. Seems like a nice place, good people, looking forward into getting settled in properly.

Benone with kite...

2009-07-19T21:03:00.003+01:00

Nice and windy today, so we headed to Benone. We went off up the beach where no-one would bother us, and I practiced my one-handed flying, required when in the water with board in one hand and kite in the other. Kate took some pics one of which is above.

No 747

2009-07-18T22:00:00.003+01:00

While moving jobs this summer I had decided to take two weeks off in between employments. As always a list is compiled of things that should be done in the 'holiday'. This year that list had one item - slabs. We had left an area at the side of the house that needed to be laid with patio slabs, so the time had come to do it.

Just today, after 10 days work at the area I laid slab no 747 of 875 - that was the entire interior area completed; now only the cutting remains to be completed.

This is the result of the labour.

Thanks to all who helped, without whose help this could have not been completed in this time!

Another kitesurfing lesson

2009-06-21T19:19:00.002+01:00

I waited patiently for today. I had booked a lesson on Friday afternoon, and took off work a bit early, but there was no wind. Then yesterday I waited patiently at Belmont Shore beach, but again, all day, there was no wind. I got up this morning really not expecting anything, but by the time I got to Belmont it was picking up nicely, a 10-12 mph wind was blowing.

I called Nudge, and he met up with me, and we took to the water.

I knew this would be difficult, but after spending almost 3 hours on the water I only made it sort of up, maybe twice. In my mind there were several factors in this:

1) I still can't fly the kite well enough (this is the main one)

2) Everytime I was ready to get up there were huge waves washing over me. I think I swallowed enough sea to avoid eating salt for 4 years.

3) Sting rays [en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stingray] - apparently there are normally some lurking in the sand below the shallow water. They were on my mind.

4) Apparently it takes everyone a few attempts to learn :)

Having said all of that it was valuable time; having someone standing on the shore shouting encouragement, re-launching the crashed kite, and telling me where I was going wrong was all worthwhile. I will be much more confident at trying it at home now.

Back to CA again

2009-06-14T11:29:00.000+01:00

With only 3 weeks of employment left I find myself sitting in an airport waiting on a flight to California, where I will spend the next 2 weeks. That'll be a total of 7 weeks spent in CA this year.

2800bhp, what a drag

2009-05-02T22:57:00.004+01:00

This what 2800 bhp looks like. Quarter mile in about 6 seconds at 220mph, and in that distance using around 6 gallons of fuel.

This is the brawn behind the operation - a V8 engine, no cooling, only runs for a few minutes, then rebuilt after every meet.

Of course, cars that go fast need good brakes. This car has no foot brake (the driver only has two feet, one for the clutch and one for the throttle) so there is a hand brake. More importantly there are two parachutes deployed at the back. These do most of the braking.

Earthquake!

2009-05-01T23:17:00.004+01:00

Last time I was in California the dinnertime conversation revealed that small earthquakes are not uncommon here, and being here for three weeks I thought I stood a good chance of experiencing one, but it didn't happen.

Tonight at work (I know, I was in the office at 6:11pm on a Friday) things started to shake, not a lot, but enough to notice things moving; I could see the monitors on the desks moving and feel the shaking for a few seconds.

I had a quick google, and came up with a site that listed earthquakes, and their magnitudes. It turns out that it was a 4.4 quake centered near Malibu, about 50 miles away.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/shakemap/sc/shake/10403777/

Kitesurf lesson

2009-04-26T22:51:00.001+01:00

Once again I find myself in the US on travel with work. This time I decided to see if I could get some lessons on kitesurfing, so I headed to the coast looking for kitesurfers. I eventually found a guy in a kite shop who pointed me to Belmont Shore, just north of Sunset Beach (sharing its name with the best TV show ever).

Upon arrival I met Hank, who owns a kitesurfing shop. He told me to be wary of instructors who had no qualifications or insurance and pointed me to Nudge, who had a cancellation was able to take me for a lesson later that day.

We spent three hours on the beach setting up, taking down, launching and landing focusing a lot on safety. Nudge was able to give me a lot of good tips, and it seemed clear that the new kites make flying very safe and easy. The large amount of depower from the 8m Naish Code we were using made flying very easy, although there was almost not enough wind to fly properly - good for learning though.

What a great afternoon, I learned a lot and had lots of fun. Now I'm looking forward to the next lesson, where I'll get to do some bodydragging in the water....

Goodbye MNZ1221, hello new Astra

2009-02-06T20:49:00.003Z

Four months ago we decided to change our Passat, and decided to go for a Kia Sportage. This jeep had all the good features of this type of car, but came at a significantly reduced price tag. We went to Roadside Garages, our local Kia dealer in Coleraine. After talking to their salesman we decided to go for a 2005 Sportage.

After the deal was done we were very satisfied with our new car, well, all apart from the 25-30 MPG, but I suppose that was to be expected.

However about 4 weeks ago the car began to exhibit a fatal fault - every so often it would loose power and stop, but then after about 2 minutes would start and drive as normal. Obviously this was a great concern for our safety, so we contacted the dealer to get it fixed. Well, to cut a long story short the car seemed to have quite a chequered past and after disputes, solicitors, rumours, lies and the occasional fact we managed to strike a deal where they gave us an upgrade to a 2007 Vauxhall Astra.

We picked it up today from the garage. It seems like a very nice, solid car, and hopefully should give us a good length of trouble free motoring. I has only 8000 miles on the clock, which is less than anything we've had before. I think this is a record for the shortest time we have kept a car, but now I have another number plate to remember. Pity, MNZ 1221 was quite easy, even for a "fish brain" like mine!

Goodbye Pipex, hello TalkTalk

2009-01-05T22:21:00.002Z

After months of gaining courage to do so I have finally signed up to TalkTalk ADSL broadband. I have been with Pipex on an 'unlimited' service for about 4 years now, and have had several reliability issues due to the long length of phone line connecting me to the exchange.

Recently it had been working very in a very satisfactory and stable way. However, it was still costing me about £20/mth for a 512k service. When TalkTalk recently revised their pricing I decided to look again, and after a phonecall from a suitably pushy salesman I signed up. Line rental, all landline phone calls and broadband for £21/mth - a substantial saving.

TalkTalk didn't really inspire confidence with their overzealous sales, but I though it was time to take the plunge as the savings were potentially huge, plus they promised a substantially better service. Well, today it went live, and when I got home I unplugged my trusty Draytek router and plugged in the less than industrial D-Link replacement. Surely enough all the correct lights came on, and when I checked it had connected at just over 1.1M - a great increase on the old speed.

So far, so good - lets hope the high speeds keep up, and that its reliable.

TiVo - farewell

2008-12-29T23:13:00.005Z

The simple act of TV watching in our house was revolutionised about six years ago when our TiVo arrived. Once set up we could pause and record TV scheduling 'season passes' to automatically record all episodes of a series, and it even looked at the programs we liked to watch and automatically recorded others we may enjoy.

As we moved to digital TV TiVo moved too with external freeview box control, an upgraded hard disk, and 'Mode 0' allowing recording at full 720x576 at 9Mb/s MPEG2 being output over component - a pretty good picture on a 32" LCD TV.

Over the years TiVo served us reliably, but more recently it has been freezing occasionally.

I had started to look into replacements, but any hardware options (like sky+) seemed to limiting, or just poor. I was hoping to replace both the TiVo and the XBOX (XBMC) with a single box. The only option was to go for a PC, using some form of PVR software to control it. I spent time setting up various offerings like MythTv, MediaPortal, GBPVR and a few others. Each had their positives, but I couldn't find an overall package I liked.

I had given up until a colleague persuaded me to try Vista Media Center. I bought a copy of Vista Home Premium Edition and installed it, and after a bit of messing around I was impressed. It is easy to use, simple to configure and seems to work well. The only issue we have is the occasional stutter on live TV, but hopefully we'll find a solution for that.

The other big advantage is that I can now cancel my TiVo subscription which was £10/month for their listing and guide data, meaning the new machine is already paying for itself...

I finally decommissioned TiVo and XBMC from our living room today, hiding a fairly out-of-place looking PC in the corner of the room. Hopefully it'll do us as well as the TiVo.

Snow

2008-10-28T08:20:00.001Z

Welcome the winter, snow on the mountains on the way to work this morning