Building collapsing on Beverley Road
About 10 past 12, there was a loud crash, almost like a car accident. Wasn’t unil I noticed the large pile of debris and 4 workmen stood with an “Oh Fuck” Expression on their face…
Exam Results
| 08101 | Programming I | 05/06S1 | 20 | 77 | P | ||
| 08120 | Programming 2 | 05/06S2 | 20 | 74 | P | ||
| 08119 | Information Technology and Professional Skills | 05/06 | 20 | 71 | P | ||
| 08123 | Computer Systems | 05/06S1 | 20 | 65 | P | ||
| 08112 | Software Engineering and Human Computer Interaction | 05/06S2 | 20 | 63 | P | ||
| 08125 | Quantitative Methods for Computing | 05/06 | 20 | 57 | P |
| Semester 1 Credits | 40 |
| Semester 2 Credits | 40 |
| Other Credits | 40 |
| Total Registered Credits | 120 |
| Sessional Weighted Average | 67.833 |
| Total Credits Passed | 120 |
In short, despite the fact I expected to fail maths and have to resit it, I have passed everything, and have ended up 3% short of a 1st.
Not a bad result, especially given my past history with maths.
On my course, the first year is not counted, only the second, third, and MSc years (if I get that far).
This bodes well for the rest of the course :) Especially as I never have to do anything maths related again 
Deskfans, Optical Illusions, Windows Vista, WebOS’s, and Windows Vista
Still, the water cooling gear arrives tomorrow, so the desk fan is a temporary measure.
You’ll notice two new links in the blogroll too, though you won’t find them praticularly exciting unless you play Final Fantasy XI. Which you all should. If anyone sees the error of their ways, send me an email once you’ve signed up, and I’ll grab you a passkey for the server that I’m on.
For anyone that feels brave, the Microsoft Windows Vista beta has gone public. Signup here.
To save you downloading hours of stuff, I can burn you a copy of my disks (offer available to people who know me in real life).
Standard disclaimer applies, this is a beta grade operating system and will overwrite any existing operating systems on the hard disk (Read: uninstall Windows XP) unless you have multiple paritions available. It may also crash, burn, fail, kill kittens, and eat babies. The last 2 are unproven.
On a similar note, I have installed a new toy on here, available at http://webos.omega.org.uk
It’s something called a WebOS. It tries to be a traditional operating system, with a key difference. It operates using a web browser, and so is available from anywhere.
If you want to have a play with it (go crazy, it’s impossible to do any damage (nothing that I can’t fix in 15 seconds flat anyway)) then the user account is “guest” and the password is “guestuser”.
In the future, I will write a script enabling people to create their own accounts.
Did you miss me?
I bet you didn’t.
The site was unavailable for approximatly 10 minutes while I changed webhosting providers.
I was mildly impressed with the speed at which I achieved this.
The new provider, dreamhost, have a much better uptime record, and offer me shell access (something very useful not a lot of companies provide).
The only snafu came from the forums, because I typed a 5 instead of a 4 and stuff broke. All is now fixed, apart from images.omega.org.uk which will be fixed right now.
EDIT: As of now, images are back up.
It’s Official
It’s official. This site not only looks good, it saves lives too.
[21:12] <hypothesis> Btw TMX, thanks your site saved me today in ICT
Holy hell, 2 blogs
I created a second blog on a site called thespoke, on the advice of a friend and two lecturers.
Do not view it, your brain will explode when you read the technical goodness.
In case you are feeling masochistic, and want your head to explode, the address is here.
For those that actually enjoy the random offerings that I find on the internet and decide to share with you, I have a surprise for you.
Yes, another link! Aren’t you excited? You should be if your title is Doctor, and our first name is Who…
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/28/dalek_film/
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Partial List of Rootkit-Laden CD’s
A list of CD’s known to have the Sony Rootkit on them is available here:
http://www.idiotabroad.com/2005/11/cds-affected-by-the-sony-bmg-spyware/trackback/
If you have used these CD’s in your computer, then chances are you are infected, for lack of a better word.
Boycott Sony
After pushing the concept of DRM too far, I urge everyone to boycott Sony.
If you haven’t heard what they have been doing with their “copy proctected disks”, then a few of read these:
The Register: First Trojan Found Exploiting Sony’s Code
The Register: Radio Interview by Sony Exec.
The Register: Original Story
BBC
Sony have yet to even admit they are in the wrong, or even aplogise.
The attitude of one of their executives?
“Most people, I think, don’t even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?”
Why should you care about it?
I disagree with DRM full stop. Every single track on my computer is bought from itunes. Paid for, completely, no illegal music for me TYVM.
Yet, I am restricted to what I can copy it to.
If I want it on a mobile device, I have to either buy an iPod, or copy it to a CD, then put it on my existing player, taking time and money to be able to use something that I have already paid for.
To then find out that if I buy certain tracks, what is basically a particularly vicious computer virus will be installed on my computer, without my consent, let alone my knowledge, is beyond unnacceptable.
On top of this, because of the way Sony’s rootkit works, a file given a filename starting with “$sys$” will be completely invisible to the computer.
That includes Virus Scanners, anti-Spyware tools, and, if you play any MMORPG’s, anti-cheating devices.
A trojan has already been written to exploit this. If it were to infect you, there would be no way to detect it, and no way to remove it easily.
So, once again, boycott Sony, at least until they rethink their policy.
BEHOLD!
I am pleased to announce an expansion of the omega.org.uk franchise, http://images.omega.org.uk, an image gallery full of… Images *GASP*.