It’s my birthday :)

I’m getting closer to retirement age as we speak – Well, as I type, that is…

So far we’ve gained a Transformers version of Risk ~ Laser Death Robots rule
A lovely bottle of wine from my favourite vintner ~ sozzled
A new USB memory stick ~ mainly ‘cos the person I lent mine to lost it, so I guess technically it’s a replacement but I’ll take anything I can get

Saturday is beckoning for a celebratory meal out, leaving the weekend to recover from the alcoholic stupor…

All in all it’s been quite a good day

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I have recently been bashing my head against the wonderful world of web development ~ in this case, specifically, the fun filled universe of Google Mapping and Geocodeing Post Codes.

I know what you are thinking:
#Cue sarcasm#
How can one man stand such excitement… How can it be that just a simple man could endure the endless, electrifying, thrill ride of such stimulation??
#End sarcasm#

Ahem…

I was tasked with the rebuild of a clients website – complete with a property search using the DezRez property database (they are an Estate Agents). This is where the fun begins, you see, the original builder of the website left me with a few problems to wrangle with.

Not being a full time web designer, and having to reverse engineer ‘interesting’ code didn’t help the fault fixing procedures either.

This is where I found out that the Post Office database of UK Postcodes seems to be in error – in the area of longitude and latitude of the actual locations of the properties.
The procedure was simple ~ find properties on the clients database and create a web page with the results ~ create a details page complete with a Google map of the property location once a property is clicked. The map was produced by ‘GeoCoding’ the Postcode via the Post Office database and sticking a pin in the Googlemap at the resulting coordinates.

This resulted in a pin in the wrong place, lots of telephone calls, and headaches trying to figure out why it wasn’t working.

Finally, today I got it figured out ~ we decided not the use the Post Office database, and instead use the coordinates within the DezRez system which can be corrected by the person inputting the data.

Oh what fun we have…

If you are reading this and need a website built using the DezRez system, call me; I am getting to be an expert at it!

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It’s a sad shame that holidays are either never long enough or too long…
Even though I had an ‘interesting’ time, it would have been nice to have a few quiet days at home before braving the cut ‘n’ thrust (paste?) of the Digital world

We British seem never satisfied

1st day back and things are going swimmingly.
It can’t last…

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There comes a moment, when you really need telling – not that it’s always a pleasant experience…

Both Tor and Chris decided I NEED to go on holiday ~ I was told I have been a miserable, grumpy so-an-so for a few days.

Personally I blame it on not being left alone to just get on with things.

(I’m heading for Bulgaria on Friday :D)

NOTHING at all to do with my mood…
Any suggestion to the contrary will receive the full force of my wrath

:evil:

Recently we’ve been doing all sorts of stuff, it’s getting increasingly busy as those “Green shoots” of economic growth poke through the bleak outlook of recession.
We’ve seen a constant month-on-month growth since January and it’s still progressing now.
We have also noticed that clients are getting more and more selective about the suppliers they use and are more often relying on word of mouth and personal recommendations, rather than the ‘shot in the dark’ advertising.

This is exactly where we position ourselves

After bucking the trend and actually RECRUITING during the recession, we are starting to reap the rewards – and it’s a good feeling.

the down side is though, we are more busy, and therefore more tired = more grumpy
Sometimes it’s a good thing though, going home late, knowing you’ve done a good, hard days work is great – and knowing you’ve helped some people along the way makes it all worthwhile.

Going to bed with a yawn now…

Nighty night

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This amused:
‘Booze therapy’ for brain injury
Comments like “Experts cautioned people should not interpret the findings as an excuse to drink more alcohol.” and “The fact is, being drunk increases your chances of getting into an accident in the first place. When judgement’s impaired, we can put ourselves at risk.” Made me smile

I’m waiting for the first case in front of the judiciary stating:
The defendant claimed: “I’m just protecting myself in case of severe brain trauma officer”

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Ever feel as if your broadband is getting really slow..?
Heard the comment “It’d be faster by carrier pigeon”?
One company in South Africa put that to the test!

SA pigeon ‘faster than broadband’
#This HAS to be one of the best stories I have read in a long time#

Well, it seems that a company in South Africa got so fed up with their slow broadband, they set up a race between a carrier pigeon laden with a memory stick, and their ADSL downloading the same file.

THE PIGEON WON BY A LONG WAY!

Fantastic!

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