things change

Mike’s blog – for his amusement

Alternative home page

  • Things Change

    Life stressed me even then….

    No comments on Things Change

  • Splashing out on my birthday

    For old times sake, I’ve just ordered 10 blank punch cards from the Centre for Computing History in Cambridge. At £6 they’re a bargain, or maybe not.
    I loved punch cards and the mechanically beautiful punch card machines that you used to type new cards. It was all so tactile in those days! 
    SUM = 0.0
    DO 10 I = 1,100
    SUM = SUM + X(I)
    10 CONTINUE             <sigh>
    2 comments on Splashing out on my birthday

  • Playing around with camera and Gimp

    No comments on Playing around with camera and Gimp

  • Auction of Emperor Proculus coin

    Today is the day of the auction of the Roman coin found by a man who was magnet-fishing (although he found this coin in a field using a traditional metal detector) and whom I got talking to on a Yorkshire Wolds bridge back in February. The auction can be watched live over the Internet. See my previous post on the subject.

    Update! The auction estimate was £50,000-£70,000 but it actually sold as a result of a single bid of £35,000. I would imagine a mixture of disappointment and joy for the two guys who found the coin.
    No comments on Auction of Emperor Proculus coin

  • #nowthatchersdead


    Cher isn’t dead.

    Twitter users confused over Margaret Thatcher death hashtag #nowthatchersdead.

    No comments on #nowthatchersdead

  • The Plaza cinema, Southampton (part 1)

    The Plaza cinema in Southampton, with its ornate surroundings, was claimed to be the most luxurious film theatre in the south.

    Many local people will remember two distinctive features about the Plaza; the double seats in the back row, much in demand by courting couples, and the illuminated Compton organ that used to rise from the floor.

    One of the most popular events held at the Plaza was the children’s Saturday morning club during which the cinema’s chief projectionist, the late Ken Batten would play the organ and screen a serial, cartoon and main feature for the youngsters.

    The Plaza closed on Saturday, November 30, 1957.
    This is an edited extract from an article in the Southern Evening Echo.

    4 comments on The Plaza cinema, Southampton (part 1)

  • Bargate – Southampton

    The main entrance to the walled town of Southampton was through the Bargate at the northern end of the town. 


    Since Henry II, many of the Kings and Queens of England have passed through the Bargate. By 1175, a simple square stone tower had been built, and the arch completed.

    The Bargate was a toll gate, and every cart carrying goods into and out of Southampton had to pay a tax.

    On TripAdvisor, Emma-Jade reviewed this iconic Southampton monument as “just a pile of rubble with no interesting, redeeming features at all, why this is even a tourist attraction i do not know!”
    No comments on Bargate – Southampton

  • Microsoft’s SPF record wizard – gulp!

    So I’ve had a couple of funny emails. My web/email hosting company suggest the following:

    “In order to fix the spam issue, you could try adding an SPF record to your domain. By adding an SPF record into your DNS configuration any mail servers receiving email, that is allegedly from you, will check that the email has come from a trusted source. The trusted sources are provided by the SPF record that you set up.”

    The procedure for adding an SPF record includes running Microsoft’s SPF record wizard. Well, I didn’t get far into that before I realised you need to know a lot more about email systems than I do! So I abandoned the SPF solution.

    Next, my web/email hosting company suggested altering the email spam filters in order to filter out any more funny emails. Given that I had only received 2 so far, I decided the best course of action was to leave everything untouched for the moment.

    I’m not sure this is a good idea but I’ll see how it goes.
    No comments on Microsoft’s SPF record wizard – gulp!

  • Margaret Thatcher dies and Pudsey writes a book

    On the day that Margaret Thatcher died, I bring you some real news:

    Ashleigh Butler has admitted she would love to star in Pudsey: The Movie as herself. The 18-year-old and her adorable pet dog Pudsey won Britain’s Got Talent last year, and now Pudsey is publishing his autobiography Pudsey: A Pup Star’s Story, and there is a movie adaptation in the pipeline. 
    She has been busy helping Pudsey write his book, going through old family albums, and remembering what he got up to as a puppy. Ashleigh explained: “We had to tell everything that’s happened to him and get photos. He’s telling the story, so it’s all his life right through from when he was a puppy to Britain’s Got Talent. All my other pets are in the book, guinea pigs and cats, they’re all in it too.”
    Thanks to the Irish Independent for this gem.
    No comments on Margaret Thatcher dies and Pudsey writes a book

  • Recently read books

    The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier was an odd read. When you die, you end up in the city, then, when the last person who ever knew you dies, you finally die.  An interesting read, but something was missing.

    Arcadia by Jim Crace is about an elderly millionaire who wants to leave his mark before he dies, by replacing an old market place he grew up in with a modern building complex. It was OK.
    No comments on Recently read books