This years escapades are available at FOSDEM Diary 2008.

FOSDEM - a geek trip to Brussels. Going abroad to experience different cultures. Or at least, a chance to eat chips, suffer rain, and watch American TV in a different country.

Ok - so it's technically an open beta, but it's a working proof of concept and development that I've been experimenting with lately.

It's not bullet proof, and not perfect, but an entertaining waste of time :)

PlayFish... I'm coming to getcha!

So basically, for those that haven't seen it, this is a joke score. It's not meant to be played, since it's mostly non-sensicle. But it's funny to read, and there's always a new joke to find.

You can see the Faerie's Aire score here.

If you want to know what the first part sounds like, I 'played' this in a short realization of the Faerie's Aire and Death Waltz. It's piano only, and there might be a couple of wrong notes, but I think it's more accurate that any that have so far been done. i.e. none!

FYI, it took about 3 hours until to get this far, at which point the boredom I felt at the beginning seem productive, so I went to bed...

(I'll wait...)

Over the last month I've written four small articles (which ultimately turned into two large ons!), released MinervaHome, and sorted out a multitude of bits and pieces. Last night I finally got back behind the microphone to record episode 16 of my beer podcast, The Beer Crate.

Here's to another good year. There's some interviews in the pipeline, 20 or so beers already reviewed, and hopefully some more stunning beers in the "Try before you die" section.

Also, lookout for a special FaceBook application about beer in the not to distant future...

Why people grade movies on a 1 to 10 is beyond me. Grades govern whether you'd want to watch a film. Therefore there are only five categories:

• Watch it at cinema
  
• Buy the DVD
  
• Rent the DVD
  
• Wait for TV
  
• Download it

• Dont bother

I have finally released Minerva Home Automation, as a brand new website, and complete bundle for the base install of Minerva.

Wow! Did that take some time to get out ;)

One thing of which the observant developer should be aware, is how the real world is designed. This will help them realize what problems can exist with code.

Upon alighting at the new Kings Cross International I discovered another example of very bad, real-world, design. Specifically, there is only one escalator for the 300+ people alighting from the train in the morning; plus there's stairs too close to the ticket machine (so when it's slightly busy the queue blocks the staircase), and the station is design for looks for than function, since more people now travel through Kings Cross because they can it's already showing signs of exceeding capacity.

If this were software, it would have crashed by now! :(