So I’m back in London, and I really felt like a good coffee this morning. I’d forgotten how much I miss Monmouth coffee.
hēg denu
The old english words from which my name is derived, hēg 'hay' + denu 'valley'.-
Recent Posts
Happy Birthday Raquel
On the way home from uni I was accosted by a mob of teenage girls and asked to sing happy birthday to one of them (apparently it’s her birthday today). They were all ecstatic when it tuned out I wasn’t a local and could sing happy birthday in English.
So, happy birthday Raquel.
Cuenta atrás hasta la tesina
I made a count down timer for everyone who’s masters thesis is due in July.
Rounded corners!
The (very small number) of images on this site that don’t form the layout can all be served via a dynamic image resizer. The code for this was originally adapted from something that Andy (from Titan) showed me. I’ve since taken over control of that portion of code somewhat and added a few nice extra features like transparency handling, watermarking (if you really give a damn) and caching. It’s going to be used in the Forbidden Planet web site. When I added the image of ‘the troupe’ in the last post I thought it would look much better with rounded edges.
Now, being the programmer I am, rather than taking the image, sticking it in photoshop and rounding the edges I added code to round the edges of images dynamically in our dynamic image tool. Currently it just takes a PNG mask images from disc and uses the alpha layer to inflict upon the four corners of the source image. I’m hoping to create this mask image dynamically as well if possible, then the radius of the corners could also be dynamic.
Since I did this I’ve just pinched the entire file for this site and actually made the random image on the left random (e.g. it now comes from a set of size > 1).
Fotos de batalla globos de agua
Photos, taken by Gemma, from the water balloon fight on Saturday are up on flickr: batalla globos de agua.
There’s some really great photos up there, including the (possibly barely tasteful) re-enactment of the execution of catalan soldier at the end of the Spanish civil war. And yes, that’s my hand.
The troupe:
Grandma
The Saturday before last Grandma, Dorothea Wilson, passed away at 88 years of age. I had recently seen her in Melbourne while I was there and knew when I left that it would be unlikely that I’d see her again. While it’s always sad to lose a beloved grandparent I was really lucky to have seen so much of her during my time in Australia. Below is what I wrote for the funeral, which I couldn’t attend as it was last Thursday.
I have a head full of fantastic memories about Grandma, and so I suppose it’s a bit hard to know where to begin. I remember the kitchen at Burke street and her making mash potato for Evan and I, which, of course, we were cruelly denied at home. I remember Grandma’s mock incredulity every time we cut our hair short (or did something silly, like dying it green).
But my favourite memories of Grandma are from a bit later, taking her to Southland or Mentone to do the shopping and have a coffee, or just going round for lunch and a chat. Of course as many of you know, inevitably I would do all the talking on these outings, a fact that Grandma would cheerfully remind me of but never seemed to mind.
I think grandparents are always the subject of special memories, and I feel lucky that I had so much time with Grandma and have so many memories of her.
Singapore, Changi International
The visa came through yesterday, and I’m now on my way. In fact I’m sitting in the transfer area at Singapore airport, my flight to Heathrow leaves in a bit under two hours. I’ve got a cat5 cable this time, I want to see if I can actually get an internet connection from the airplane, that would be pretty neat.