I can’t believe that it’s two years since I first mentioned Movember – and here it is again!! I’m not doing it myself this year – but if you are interested – have a look here. I realise that I have been lax in not posting – but a lot seems to have been happening both in my life and in the world. I will try to be more regular.
Rising Fuel Costs
I’ve been trying really hard recently – making sure that things are turned off when not needed. I’ve even been scrabbling under my desk to make sure that my computer, and all the periphery around it, are turned off at the wall. In the UK – which is where I am, all the Power Companies are eager for you to switch to them. I did a while ago when British Gas increased prices once again. Now on a fixed price tariff which I manage online. I can even see graphs of my usage – and it was decreasing. Fine.
Yesterday – a letter arrives telling me that my direct debit payment is increasing by £31.00 per month! I remembered something about companies and cashflow – and I found this on the BBC News website.
I’m not happy about this – especially when the wholesale price of oil has dropped dramatically recently (and we were told that the former high price of crude was one of the reasons for increasing prices). I’m sure that I am not alone in thinking that someone somewhere is making a lot of money on this. I know it’s not me!
Audiobooks for Free
I enjoy listening to books on my mp3 player whilst cooking or working in the garden. Today I came across a site named Librivox, which provides readings of books in the public domain for free. You will be surprised how many there are. Also – if you think that you have a reasonable reading voice, you can volunteer to read a book for the site. All you need is a computer and some free recording software. They also have podcasts – haven’t checked those out yet. I have just got a Jane Austen novel to listen to ‘Sense and Sensibility’. Never really liked Jane Austen when I was at school – more of a Raymond Chandler type – thought I’d give it another try.
Star Trek May 9th 2009
Just came across a trailer for this just here. Looks exciting. Not sure about making James T. such a rebel though – but then again………
Friend Surfing in Facebook
It’s quite surprising just how far you can get friend surfing in facebook. Many people do not alter their privacy settings and by clicking on ‘friends’ of friends you can often glean interesting and not so interesting things about them. Just as well that I’m not a stalker or out to rip people off – ‘cos it wouldn’t be that hard…
The other thing that amazes me is just how personal some of the stuff posted up on there is. Do people think that the anonymity of the keyboard and screen stops it being personal? Some seem to live their lives on facebook. Also, many of the pictures that people post are of them in situations where they are ‘having a good time’ – which seems to consist of being rather the worse for wear, having had ‘one over the eight’ – or eighteen in some cases. How about the situation where you hold a fairly responsible position and you post up pictures of yourself drunk? I’ve seen it happen. How about your kids seeing you that way? Also a bit worried about younger people putting themselves up – complete with photos. There are a lot of predators on the web.
