Software tools

This post will be updated periodically to contain details of software tools I have found useful in the past. To be honest its main purpose is as an aide memoire for myself, but if anybody finds it useful then that's fine.

Portmon - Serial port monitoring software for Windows

All about the environment

OK, it's Blog Action Day, when we're all supposed to talk about the environment. So here's my take on it...

Green parties. The ones that say they have the world's interest at heart. "Friends of the Earth" and suchlike. Do they really care about solving global warming, or do they want us to leave the world of technology behind?

How many times have you heard a politician or political group talk about constructing an environmentally-friendly power station, which you would think everybody who is "green" would love, and they dismiss it out of hand?

Wind farms... can't do that, that would spoil the landscape. They make a great deal of noise. No, we can't have that here.

Harnessing the energy of the sea with barges... what are you thinking? What about all the wildlife?

Nuclear power... no, can't have that. It might be relatively clean, but it's not safe. We haven't learned enough about it yet.

Then there are others that claim that global warming is a myth, or an unproven theory. All theories are unproven, but there is a weight of scientific evidence for global warming that is overwhelming.

We need to address the environment. People will not give up their needs for energy consumption, and the rest of the world is catching up with the Western world in this regard. We need to look towards cleaner, renewable sources of energy. Governments across the world should offer incentives to promote such energy sources so that they come into greater use. The trouble is that renewable sources of energy often cost a lot more than fossil fules to do the same job.

Of course, if a lot of investment was made into renewable energy sources, techniques for generating these sources would be perfected. Greater competition would mean that prices would fall to a level where government subsidies were no longer required.

We need to continue building renewable sources of energy now. That's my personal view.

Live role playing: the b'Astids from the second Moot, 2006

Some friends and I have been battling the forces of evil at one of the biggest European live-action role-playing events. We are the b'Astid group, and, from left to right, the following members of the b'Astids are pictured:

b'Ringut on'Yer b'Astid (played by myself);
Gron y'Knees yer b'Astid;
Cheeky b'Astid;
Ivad y'Mam yer b'Astid.

Also representing the b'Astids at the event was the leader, y'Smarmy b'Astid (not pictured).

A hardy bunch of warriors, we are a mixed bunch including half-orcs and humans. As a group, we originally joined the Jackals at the Heartland Games 2004. Since then, due to political disagreements with the leaders that plagued our time with the Jackals, we migrated to the Lions, supporters of truth, honour and justice! We are with the Lions faction as I put my hand to this piece of parchment today.

 

How to use Content Style Sheets

This is a great web site for getting to know how to use content style sheets with your own web pages. It allows you to make changes on the fly, and see the effect that those changes will have!

The web site in general is a very good resource for learning HTML, in addition to CSS.

CSS Examples