More News

Firstly, the weather here in the UK has been getting hotter steadily, and is expected to get up to 30 degrees later in the week. Which is why this morning we packed up our car with all manner of bits and pieces and went down to a field for a Car Boot Sale. This is where people sell all sorts of second hand goods in order to clear out their houses.

However, if you are not one for the english weather, you could do a lot worse than going to Romania this weekend, as there is the annual Virgin Fair going on. If you hurry, there might still be some good offers :)

Yesterday was System Administrator Appreciation Day so you should have sent loads of presents to anyone fixing your computers.

And lastly, it has been found that chicken feathers provide a quicker throughput of signal than silicon, and could therefore be used inside computers. Weather they'll also produce eggs is not stated.

Have a great day.

News Updates

The Commonwealth Games started yesterday in Manchester, with some of the world's best sportspeople competing against each other in a number of events. Also it was a great day for british cricket yesterday when Nasser Hussain scored his first century on home ground for four years.

Another major news story is the fact that large americans are getting together to sue the fast-food companies for not giving enough warning that their food was going to make them fat. This is getting ridiculous, but read the story anyway.

That's it

Graduation

Yesterday was weird. Getting together in the Great Hall at University, wearing our robes, hoods and mortar-boards (hats) we received our degree certificates. It just doesn't feel like we've finished here. There is no sense of loss, just of normality.

Anyway, had a great time after the ceremony with all my friends here, managing to meet up for a drink with most, and dined with Nuria (Pablo was working hard in his department til after 1am !!).

Anyway, little time left before I have to start making my way back home, so I'll be off to meet up with some others that are still around for a bit.

Later

Apologies

Ok, I know I haven't written in here for ages, but I'm not even going to proffer an excuse. I have been away on holiday for a couple of weeks. That's right, I hopped on a plane and made my way to Spain for the sun, sand and...did I mention the sun?

Spent the beginning of my time staying at chez Jordi's, and from there visited the University of Alicante (palm trees, sun, oh, and maybe some studying) along with the Valencia in order to sort out things for my coming year studying/working there.

Managed to meet up with Jordi (obviously), Alberto, Longino and Paco (physicists), Elena P, Blanca, Mavi, Gloria and of course, Ana. It was great to see them all again, it's only a pity that I had to leave so soon.

Apart from finding out info for my stay, I also managed to find time to do a bit of shopping, visit the cities of Alicante, Valencia, Tarragona, Barcelona, Altafulla and Reus, and go to the beach for about 4 days :) Got browned on the arms and legs, but slightly red on neck and ankles, never mind, it was 36 degrees out there !!

Got home at half past midnight to find that Leanna (yes that sweet little american girl we once knew in Mainz) had come to London for a few days and was leaving that very day when I arrived. Unfortunately, due to a tube strike (trains not running at all in london) we were unable to meet up. Next time, I hope.

Well, that's what's been going on recently, more news soon.

Oh, and just in case anyone will be in the vicinity of Birmingham tomorrow, if they make their way to the University there will be a spectacle not to be missed. My Graduation Ceremony, no less.

Bye for now.

Web Update

OK, a quick note to say a load more photos have been added to this site. Under Birthdays Pablo's and Helen Booth's have been added; in Meals Physics Graduates, Vanessa's Barbecue and Our Barbecue; in Others Birmingham Haircut and Random Birmingham; and finally under Friend's Sites a link to Fabien's page has been put. Enjoy.

Off to the Sun

As you might have guessed from the title, I'm off to Spain for 15 days. I'll be arriving in Barcelona on the 2nd July and will leave there on the 17th. I hope to spend the beginning in Valencia and the end in Barcelona. During this time I will be applying for my Masters courses, and also looking for work for the coming year. I will also be looking forward to meeting anyone else who is around when I'm there, as it would be great to catch up with what's been happening. So send me an email or a text message, and we'll meet up.

An invitation for all to come for my graduation ceremony stands. You are all cordially invited to watch my collect my degree wearing full gown, hood and hat on 23rd July in Birmingham. So get your planes/trains/submarines booked now.

See y'all soon

Giving Up

OK, that's it, I give up. No sooner had I changed my allegance to Spain, are they knocked out by South Korea in a game that was even more affected by bad referee decisions. In fact, as well as FIFA conducting an investigation into bad refereeing, the BBC has put together a list of some of the worst misconducts.

Made what could be my last tortilla in Birmingham last night, Cristina and Thibu joining me for the meal. Slowly all my food supplies are being used up and all I will have left is Cup-a-Soups and noodles.

Into my last week up here, and it is noticeable that most people have already disappeared. However, my plans for visiting everybody are in progress, so we'll soon see each other.

Back to applications...

Catch-Up

A long time has past since I last wrote, but my excuses are good.

Firstly, as if you hadn't noticed, the World Cup is currently in progress. This has led to many a morning/afternoon being spent in front of the TV shouting at the referee. Unfortunately, today England were knocked out of the quarter-finals by Brazil in a match that was marred by the amount of Brazilian fouls, falls, and the referee's bad decisions. However, now I will be changing my allegiance for Spain for the rest of this Championship.

Ana has finally left for Barcelona, not a day too soon, as there was a general strike in Spain the day after. In fact, most of the Erasmus students have now departed, as have most of the British ones. So it's only me left working away at the International Office once again.

What else has been happening...oh yeah, I just remembered, I finished my degree with a 2:2. So no more physics for me, yipee !!

Just a quick note on the news, an australian mayor has announced that he thinks illegal immigrants should be used as live targets for the army. Some people are objecting (as if you couldn't guess).

Another thing that has happened recently. The University of Birmingham has deleted all email and logon accounts of all graduates without warning and barely a few days after finishing term. This has caused outrage amongst the students who have had job applications, shopping orders and logon confirmations set up with their uni addresses. The fact that there was no warning given is probably the reason why nobody is taking responsibility for this action, the blame being passed between the computing helpdesk and Administration Services. As one of those seriously affected by this move, I will endeavour to find out who the culprit is and make you all aware how you can complain.

OK, I think it's time to get more things organised, good luck to Spain tomorrow morning, and bye for now.

Holiday

This will be my last update until next weekend, as tomorrow morning Ana and I leave for Edinburgh, Belfast and Durham, coming back on Friday evening. During this time we'll be meeting up with Douglas, who will hopefully be showing us around the sights of his University city.

On Saturday a BBQ was held at our house with over 20 students coming for over 7 hours. Fun was had by all, and photos will follow shortly.

OK, that'll be it for now, have a great holiday.

Me

Finished Degree

As you can probably guess from the title, after a month of exams I have finally come to rest with the knowledge that I will never have to look at a physics textbook again. I said have to, I might just need them for something else, but that will be my decision.

So, you can probably guess that my time since has been spent celebrating, meeting with friends, and generally catching up on things I haven't been able to do for the last year.

To top everything off, the sun has decided to descend on us today which will definitely help our BBQ which is set from 5pm tonight. Wow, it feels like summer already - hold on a minute, it is summer !!!

Of course others still have exams to do before they finish this year, namely all those in Mainz and Valencia. Well, I wish them luck, but as I don't have a beach nearby to go to, I'm still envious of them.

Ok, that's it for today, let's see if I can get online later on this bank holiday weekend (for those of you that aren't in the know, because of the Queen's jubilee, we have a holiday until wednesday !!!

Happy celebrating

TV Tonight and Scandals

Well, with another exam under my belt, I have the weekend to relax a bit with just one exam on monday afternoon and my final one on tuesday morning. Others amongst us will undoubtedly already be in the pub as many finish today.

Either there hasn't been much going on in the news recently, or my exams really have taken their toll on how up-to-date I have kept. So only one news story today.

Although I don't agree with publicising public figures' private lives too much, I will avert my course slightly and mention the fact that the recent claims in the tabloid papers about TV star Angus Deayton having sexual relations with a prostitute will come to a culmination tonight at 9pm as this week's episode of Have I Got News For You (hosted by the aforementioned) will be shown. Expect lots of harrassment from both sides of the studio all being directed in one way - at the presenter. Promised to be a worthwhile viewing.

That's it. It appears Jordi is still away in Milan enjoying himself, and I haven't heard anything from him, so presume/hope everything's going well.

Until the sun setteth...

Off to lunch

Just a quick note before I go off to eat with Becca and Soph (haven't seen them in ages, probably a lot to talk about). I am now halfway through my exams, having just completed the Catalan certificate this morning (yes, a 9am exam on a saturday!). I can't say that they are all going as well as I expected, but one can but hope.

Anyway, a couple of pieces of news before I leave you. Germany is on the verge of introducing legislation for animal rights to be incorporated into the constitution. It will be the first european country to pass such a law. On a more amusing note, read this report of a journalist's search for love by text message which is quite amusing.

Well, good luck to those that need it, and have fun to those that actually like the exams.

Hamsters, Children, and 8086 chips

Following the enhancement of mobile phone technologies, how would you like a hamster to read out your SMSs? Or Kylie Minogue?
Well, the mobile companies are now banking on the fact that you'd love it as it is the latest feature being incorporated in the new handsets.

In a first of its kind court case, a mother of five children has been put in jail for 60 days because she didn't ensure that they went to school regularly. At first glance you would think this reaction is stupid, but if you delve deeper into the effects of it, it actually seems to work. Apparently her children now are attending school and are sorry for what has happened as they did not know how missing school would effect their mother.
Just had another thought. What if a law was passed for university students missing lectures? Would personal tutors be put in jail for not ensuring our attendance. Of course they could improve turnout rates by actually making the courses interesting...

And finally, NASA is looking on internet auction sites for old 8086 computers so that they can take out the chips to use for their old equipment on board their space shuttles. They say that they stick with the old technology because it is tried and tested, although i'm sure there's enough bugs in the old processors as well to warrant concern (Y2k anyone?). I wonder if any other government agencies are using the same method to buy up bargains. Let's just hope the CIA don't fall for one of the many hoaxes around, and try buying small countries or governments - wait a minute, they do that already, just not officially...
Of course the health service might be able to find many people's hearts available on ebay, including those of Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, Bill Gates...

Finally, for those of you that want something to put in your diaries, here followeth my exam timetable:

(May) - Wed 15th, Fri 17th, Sat 18th (Catalan), Wed 22nd, Fri 24th, Mon 27th, Tue 28th.

You are kindly requested to refrain from calling me during the times of the exams (phone is switched off anyway), and if you want to be able to talk to me after me last one, it's better to make the call within the first couple of hours (ie before lunchtime) as I may no longer be coherent after that :)

To infinity and beyond...

News Updates

OK, lots of information for you to saok up, so keep your eyes peeled.

In a great reversal of roles, it has recently been discovered (although the event happened years ago) that the company most associated with trying to combat piracy of its software (yep, Microsoft again) was in fact found guilty and fined by a french court for doing just that - selling software from another company as its own. Read the Register's great article for more info.

A novel but disturbing way to clone mobile phone SIM cards has been discovered by IBM. So be aware. It only takes minutes to make a copy of your phone so that someone can make phonecalls that appear on your bill.

The forever popular australian soap opera Neighbours has reached its 4000th episode. This is the program that has launched the careers of many a famous singer or film star (including Kylie Minogue).

With only a few more days left before the release of Spiderman and Star Wars episode II it has been announced that copies of the films are already circulating on the internet. This comes as no surprise, as most things spread quickly over the net and there is definitely enough people who would like to get hold of them in advance. What does surprise me, however, is the fact that people are still able to make recordings of the films in previews at cinemas. Wouldn't you think that the companies would try to ensure that nobody carries in with them any recording equipment? Although, on the other hand, it probably does the films good to have a version released in advance, as people see it on their computer screens and decide whether its worth seeing or not. If it is, they tell their friends and everbody goes. If it isn't, there won't be much abuse from people who have paid to see it and didn't like it at all.

And now some very sad news about another train crash that's happened close to london. Yet again the english railway system is proving that privatisation of essential services does not work. Six people have died this time (the Hatfield one had 4) and nine are seriously injured. It has also caused substantial damage to the station it was passing through at the time its three coaches derailed.

So, after all that news you are probably wanting a break. Well, go forth in the knowledge that you didn't have a Maths exam set by a sadistic lecturer, where the results came out too complicated to be able to manipulate afterwards. Yes, I'm not in the best of moods about today's exam.

Back to the grindstone.

One down, eight more to go

No doubt the reason for my recent silence is obvious, so I'll leave it like that :)

Had my first exam yesterday, Philosophy of Science. Didn't even get stressed beforehand (stress forgot to stop off to visit me this year). Went quite well, I think, ok 2 out of the 3 questions did. But as it was an essay exam, the marking is totally subjective, so let's wait and see how the professors mark it.
Next up is Applied Maths, which I am currently underway getting to the appropriate standard (ie so that I know what those functions mean).

Haven't had much time to catch up on any interesting stories, but that's understandable, I hope. However, a couple of things need to be mentioned at this point. The final game of the spanish football league was played the other day. And who are the winners you may ask? None other than the glorious VALENCIA. 31 years they've been waiting for this as far as I gather. Seems very similar to the England for the World Cup scale of things. I wonder if that means we're going to win this year....

On the subject of the football, the licensing laws in England have now been changed in order to allow pubs to open in time for the games live from the other side if the globe. This means that you will find me down at the pub cheering our side at about 6.30am. Wow, it should be a weird feeling supporting your side whilst others are just thinking about getting up :)

OK, that's it for now,
til later

Quick Update

Revision seems to be taking up a lot of time at the moment (understandably since my first exam is in 5 days), but I just have time to give a couple of news clippets.

The second leg of Madrid-Barcelona semi-final was played yesterday, but the result was not the main news. ETA terrorists planted a car bomb about 50 metres from the stadium and another one within the city of Madrid. Luckily nobody was killed, but enough damage and injuries were caused.

Local elections took place today in the UK, but lets wait and see how apathetic the population was this time before we take note of who won.

That's about it at the moment, lots more has been happening, but alas you will have to find it out for yourselve at the moment whilst I get stuck into some more revision notes.

Bye

Shocking News

Germany is in bemusement today, as they come to terms with the high school massacre that occured in Erfurt (East Germany) yesterday. An expelled pupil came back to school whilst the class was taking a maths exam and shot 13 teachers, 2 pupils and a policeman that was summoned. The most moving part of this saga was the fact that whilst the shooting was going on downstairs, the pupils upstairs could do nothing except put up a paper sign on the window saying "Hilfe" as they didn't know what was going on. At the end of his rampage, the ex-pupil took the coward's way out and shot himself as well. Apparently he had on him enough ammunition to do a lot more damage.

hopefully better news tomorrow...

Quickie

Lots of revision going on, but I still manage to find out what's happening around the globe.

Despite the lack of celebrations, today is Saint George's Day, the patron saint of England. So take to the streets proudly sporting your red cross ! (unless you're foreign, that is).

Tonight also sees one of the most gruelling and interesting football matches being played. Madrid are playing their arch-enemies Barcelona in the semi-final of the european cup. Just one thing to add. Up Barce !! (only because I don't like Real).

Classes have started again back in blighty, and revision lectures are the order of the day. However, as a change from the other years, this year they aren't a complete waste of time. I am actually understanding the points that are brought up, and this makes a big difference to how positive (or is it realist? - philisophy of science lecture) you feel.

For anyone in the Birmingham area over the next week, the spanish film festival is currently taking place at the Electric Cinema. However, what with revising in the library all day, and getting home at various times of the morning (no naming of the culprit, but you know who you are :) I haven't found time to see any of the films. Maybe sometime next week.

Taking a quick break from study schedule to go to an IT Security conference in London tomorrow, but come wednesday night I'll be back in good ol' brum.

feel the force.

More bits and bobs

A few bits of news in a second, but first I need to mention that Jordi has now arrived in Mainz again, Alberto is in Naples, and I'm still stuck here in Birmingham.

Now a bit of internationalisation. Amidst fears of further economic collapse, Argentina has closed all banks, not allowing anyone to withdraw their money. Although this is for the good of the country, it really doesn't inspire confidence if people need to buy food or something. In fact, surely it means that businesses will go bankrupt because no-one can buy anything from them any more.

Next up is the 'friendly fire' incident. In case you haven't heard, an american bomber dropped a 227kg bomb on a bunch of canadian soldiers in the middle east. Certain scenes from South Park come back to me at this point. For those of you that still remember the Gulf War, you will recollect that there were more allies killed by 'friendly fire' than by the enemy. America says that accidents do happen, and people have been killed by 'friendly fire' before. But if you look at the details the 'friendly fire' has always come from the american military. I don't want to draw any conclusions (don't want the FBI knocking at my door), but...

Last, and most interestingly, if you look up into the sky just after sunset over the next week, you should see Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn all lined up. As the week goes on they will move closer together, so to be able to distinguish them better, look as soon as possible. The next time this will happen will be in over 100 years, so it's worth looking now.

Off to the symphony hall tonight, 'til then.

A Bit of News

1. No, that was just a joke (only those that understand binary and computers will get it, so don't worry).

Listening to the great SWR3 whilst studying 'philosophy of science' it was brought to my attention that there was an attack on Java (the island, not the programming language) earlier on in the week. Despite the fears from all the germans out there that this was a direct attack on them, it has since emerged it was against israel/america. Oh, that's okay then.

A new book has just been released in Germany. Nothing spectacular in that, except that it is a dictionary with seperate definitions for males and females (eg for 'fidelity').
I will keep you updated when I find out more.

Another quick bit of info, the american supreme court has just deemed virtual child pornography legal. They did this because it was decided that if the law was kept as it was, all pieces of artwork must be removed from museums if they depicted something of that form. Interesting development.

That's it.