Author Archives: Jon

A User Experience

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I am planning on going to the cinema tomorrow. I just tried to book on Odeon’s web site and received this very unhelpful error message (click for full message)

error message

and there was nothing else. No link to get help. No explanation of what 202 is and, more importantly, every time I followed their ‘try again’ instructions I got the same message.

I am sure they must spend millions on their cinemas to ensure they are giving the customer the optimal experience. So, why don’t they do it on their web site?

blocked cookie image from my ieI use Mozilla as a browser and I’ve already had to switch to IE just to use Odeon’s site. Then I see they’re using some service tracking facility which is trying to set cookies on my machine – but it can’t because IE blocks them. As I don’t use IE as a browser for anything but Odeon, it’s the default privacy settings that are causing this. Now, I don’t think this looks very good on a secure site. You would have thought that they would want to alarm users as little a possible. It’s a simple thing to prevent by ensuring the third-party cookie is p3p complaint.

All in all, I am torn. I want to book online because it’s convenient right now and, because I find it useful, I want them to see the value of their online presence. On the other hand, this site is making it hard for me to book and I am seriously thinking of going to another cinema.

On this day…

2006: Pants To That

On this day…

2006: Pants To That

Transport Museum

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a sign at the london transport museumThe first omnibus service arrived in London in 1829, prior to that people had to walk around London. Can you imagine the change that the bus has made to people’s lives? Although back then they were only for the wealthy, transport soon became an important part in the growth and prosperity of London. From the horse-drawn trams to today’s bendy buses, life for people around the capital would never be quite the same again. The arrival of mass transit allowed people to move out of the centre of the city and it permitted people to travel, both for employment and leisure.

London has had trams, trolley buses and the world’s first underground system. The last tram ran from Woolwich to New Cross on 5 July 1952 when trolley buses took over. Trolley buses were fairly short-lived and buses, as we know them today, were introduced to the capital in about 1910. The Routemaster bus has become a symbol of London and, as I previously noted, was introduced in the mid-fifties. It was the last bus to be specially designed for travel in London.

picture of buses at the london transport museumToday I visited the London Transport Museum that is housed in an old flower market in Covent Garden. Sadly, it’s not the world’s biggest building so the collection is a little limited. It is, however, fascinating and I loved every minute of the time we spent there. I love the trams (I think this comes from a fascination with Blackpool trams when I was a child) and the operation of the underground is really quite interesting, as it the development of the familiar tube map that Henry Beck designed in 1959.

Sadly, the future of London transportation exhibit is a bit dated and, therefore, a disappointment. Luckily for me it’s the history that appeals so much more.

There are a couple more pictures in the gallery.

On this day…

2005: Back London’s Bid For 2012
2003: 23 Mile Traffic Snake
2003: Starbucks

On this day…

2005: Back London’s Bid For 2012
2003: 23 Mile Traffic Snake
2003: Starbucks

Naked Across Britain

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I’m sure spending Christmas in prison is not much fun at all and walking naked across the UK must be hard on the feet:

The former Royal Marine made the 900-mile journey to question society’s attitude towards the human body [Naked rambler completes his trek]

I appreciate the fact that he’s trying to get us to lighten up but, really, in this weather?

On this day…

2005: Hitch Hikers Guide Is Coming
2004: Shop ‘Til You Drop
2003: Lost In La Macha
2003: The Digital Music Debate

On this day…

2005: Hitch Hikers Guide Is Coming
2004: Shop ‘Til You Drop
2003: Lost In La Macha
2003: The Digital Music Debate

Shop ‘Til You Drop

Since Christmas British retailers have been telling us what a bad year it was. But it’s not all doom and gloom. The Times today tells us about Tesco and this rampant success. Apparently, in the year to February 2003, ‘Out of every £8 spent with British retailers, one went to Tesco’. [Tesco: The profits of doom?, Times Online]. And it would seem that this is not enough – they are going for more. Seems that the rise of the mighty retailers will not be stopped, while the little ones who try to compete are blocked with threats of legal action. I don’t really see how the case of BPI vs CD WOW is that much different from me popping to Hong Kong and buying the CDs myself. They’re legal copies. Ah well, I imagine the legal people were also taking a good chunk out of every pound I spent on CDs last year. It all makes me sound so anti-big business when, really, I am not.

On this day…

2005: Hitch Hikers Guide Is Coming
2004: Naked Across Britain
2003: Lost In La Macha
2003: The Digital Music Debate

On this day…

2005: Hitch Hikers Guide Is Coming
2004: Naked Across Britain
2003: Lost In La Macha
2003: The Digital Music Debate

Not American

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Many people are linking to Brisingamen’s post, You see, the trouble is, I’m not actually American, which pretty much sums up a great deal of the reaction to the current state of security paranoia in the United States.

Consequently, if I’m to be fingerprinted, photographed, iris-scanned, weighed, poked, prodded, stripped naked, denied access to sanitation, handcuffed if I so much as raise my voice to complain, and generally humiliated because of your government’s Patriot Act, I do not anticipate that I will be comforting myself with the thought that, hey, it’s okay because I’m doing my bit to ensure the security of the American people. [Source]

Many people, quite rightly, point out that many countries have been living with terrorism for years and have learned to live with it in ways that to not lead to a situation where people no longer want to visit. It seem to me the principal of ‘innocent until proven guilty’ is being lost and that is a worrying trend.

Knowing American immigration and security, I am fairly certain that Samantha Marson was stupid and should have know better, and security officials were right to detain her. But a potential prison sentence of 15 years?

On this day…

2003: New Year New Mirror

On this day…

2003: New Year New Mirror

Hubble Bubble

Jupiter WFPC2 June 1999I am not a star gazer by any stretch of the imagination but I am fascinated by the pictures of Mars coming from the Express Probe, there really are some interesting images. It’s amazing to think that not very long ago we believed there were little green men on Mars. It’s a great achievement for the scientists involved. On a sadder note for those interested in life beyond the stars, it has been announced that one of the most successful space projects is to be allowed to gradually die as no more servicing missions will be made to the Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble also had some great pictures of Mars – although I really do think it should be known as the orange planet.

I’ve just updated my computer’s wallpaper to use a picture from Hubble, although I have chosen something from Jupiter as my background image. I really should try and learn a little more about the planets and what is happening there. Maybe I should have made something like that a New Year’s resolution. Ah well, there’s always next year.

On this day…

2004: London Buses
2003: 8 Mile

On this day…

2004: London Buses
2003: 8 Mile

London Buses

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picture of a red london bus

The familiar red London bus with an open platform (no door) at the rear, a conductor and a charming little bell to signal the driver to go or stop is the Routemaster. Introduced to an post-war 1950s London they were the hight of modernity (automatic gears and hydraulic brakes) and, apparently, designed to be in service for only seventeen years. In 2004 they’ll have been in service for fifty years and there will be a party in Finsbury Park in July.

This picture was taken at Piccadilly Circus in London at around 13:35 today. It’s a mobile-phone picture so it isn’t great but, for some reason, even this blurry shot of a Routemaster bus makes me smile. The route listed down the side (Oxford Street, Selfridges, Marble Arch) evokes a warm and fuzzy feeling about this great city, the kind you had as a child when imaging what London was like to live in. I wonder if there were advertisements on the sides of the original buses and what they were.

On this day…

2004: Hubble Bubble
2003: 8 Mile

On this day…

2004: Hubble Bubble
2003: 8 Mile

British Government Since 1970

I am not sure if it was the recent New Year’s message from Tony Blair telling us how great everything is (despite the tough choices) or Michael Howard’s ‘too much control from the centre’ message that got me to thinking about British Prime Minister’s in my lifetime and, one evening, the question came up, ‘can you name all the PMs since you were born’?

Now, I did manage to get it correct, although I got the order of those when I was little, slightly wrong. The first PM I remember is James Callaghan (and with it I have memories of power cuts) but of course there were some before him and I managed to name them.

While I was coming up with the list I did, for a moment, forget John Major and was later surprised to learn that he came to the job in 1990 and was defeated by Tony Blair in 1997. He had more-or-less seven years in the top job. That came as a bit of a shock.

When I think back to my time as a student, Margaret Thatcher was in power for a great deal of it. I have mental images of the Iron Lady ruling her over-whelming parliamentary majority with nothing but a handbag to beat her party. What shocked me, as I was checking the list of Prime Ministers I had come up with, with was that Tony Blair’s New Labour has had a bigger majority in The House than either of Mrs Thatcher’s governments.

So, for my own record, British Prime Minister’s since my birth (the year is the year they came to the job):

  • 1970: Edward Heath (Conservative)
  • 1974: Harold Wilson (Labour)
  • 1976: James Callaghan (Labour)
  • 1979: Margaret Thatcher (Conservative)
  • 1990: John Major (Conservative)
  • 1997: Tony Blair (Labour)

(Full list of British Prime Ministers since 1721 at Burke’s Peerage)

and those majorities at recent elections:

  • 03 May 1979: Conservative majority of 43
  • 09 June 1983: Conservative majority of 144
  • 11 June 1987: Conservative majority of 102
  • 09 April 1992: Conservative majority of 21
  • 01 May 1997: Labour majority of 179
  • 07 June 2001: Labour majority of 167

There seems to be some dispute about the June 2001 majority. Some figures put it at 166. I use the election results pages at Keele for these numbers.

On this day…

2003: The Good Girl

On this day…

2003: The Good Girl

Helsinki Snow

I am travelling again on business and, yet again, I have found myself in Helsinki. This time it is like a picture postcard – the snowy streets illuminated by the soft glow from a street lamp. It’s lovely but I have to admit that it is cold! We landed with snow on the ground and snow in the air, temperature was already below freezing when we landed at 9pm last night.

I didn’t get much of a say in the hotel for this trip as it appears there were few rooms available. So, I stayed in a good hotel in a decent sized deluxe room. It appears there was a fashionable bar in the hotel and I got use of a separate lounge with, what I imagine, is a great view of the city (when it’s not dark). The downside is no wireless Internet – which is quite unusual for this part of the world.

Helinksi in the snow

I really like the people of Finland, especially Helsinki. They are always friendly and welcoming; everything seems so clean and efficient – although I am sure that there are natives that would dispute that. For a city with 560,000 people there does seem to be quite a bit of space – which is great and makes for large areas of clean, unbroken snow. Interestingly, 10 per cent of the country is water (which seems a lot) but I imagine that a great deal of it is ice right now.

snow in helsinki

The streets were snowy and many of the back roads had compact snow but the driver’s were oblivious to the skidding. The pathways were also, often, ungritted but people just walked along without a care – which made my carefully placed steps look silly.

Finland declared independence in 1917 but became and member of the European Union in 1995 and has adopted the Euro which makes transactions easy for me as I have always have a stock of Euro coins that I need to use up from my various visits. I really must remember that I need to come here for a holiday and explore it a little more. I will, of course, have to save as this is not a cheap country!

On this day…

2003: To Play Or Not To Play?

On this day…

2003: To Play Or Not To Play?

Another Cute One

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And more cuteness (of sorts). Last night I got around to adding the first Man of the Moment for 2004. I decided to pick Phixx cutie Andrew Kinlochan in celebration of another gay pop idol. Phixx will release their second single towards the end of February so, hopefully, there will be some more information to post about them then.

Dermot O’Leary is still proving popular because of this recent appearances on Channel 4 and I am surprised Josh Harnett, Ben Affleck and Colin Farrell get so little attention.

On this day…

2004: Too Cute

On this day…

2004: Too Cute