Christopher Eccleston, the latest British actor to play the doctor in the cult BBC series Doctor Who, confirmed today that he will not be filming a second series. The latest series has drawn huge viewing figures, and acclaim, yet Eccleston does not want to be typecast in the role. He finished filming for his first series on Saturday.

The BBC is already looking for the next Doctor, with possible candidates to include Richard E Grant and Bill Nighy.

After years of being tied to a desktop computer, I have finally got myself an iBook. I haven’t gone for a top-of-the-range new one; instead I bought one from eBay for a decent price. It’s not the fastest machine ever, but it doesn’t dawdle either. This lovely white G3/800 now allows me to sit in the garden, listening to music streamed wirelessly from my G4 desktop, whilst surfing the Net, writing my blog, doing some web design, etc.

It also means that Julie can use my desktop Mac to do some design, because her PC is refusing to do exactly what she wants. I don’t presume that the Mac will do it all either, but it’s nice that we can both enjoy Macs at the same time, and on the same network!

It took a little while to sort out the networking issues when I first got the laptop home – in an effort just to get online wirelessly, I turned off the security on my home network, which unfortunately caused Julie’s PC to complain every 5 minutes. Darn XP Service Pack 2. Well, it’s easier to blame that, anyway.

Today, I turned the password back on and the iBook connects without problem.

I could get used to this.

Man, all I said to someone who sits next to me was “Were you off ill yesterday?” to which I got the terse response “I thought it was obvious I was off yesterday, wasn’t it?”

Well, actually no it wasn’t, as I took a (fruitless) day off yesterday. Don’t bite my head off. Just because you were ill it doesn’t give you the right to talk to me like that. I don’t appreciate it. AT ALL.

But then, you’re very nice and smooth to your new boss, aren’t you? I guess you don’t stir up trouble with someone’s boots you have to lick.

Update 12pm: Said person quotes “I’m in a really s***ty mood today.” No, really? I hadn’t noticed!

If you’d like someone to sit outside in their company-branded transit van, turn up their two-way radio, and shout and swear to their colleagues and mates, then give Surrey-based Hydraquip a call.

Not only will they sit outside your house, apparently doing no work, but when challenged by one of their superiors, will blatantly lie, blaming the noise on a property opposite.

Here’s the deal: our road is generally very quiet. It was quiet this morning, it’s quite now. The only time it wasn’t quiet was around 1pm when the lovely friendly Hydraquip contractors were sat outside. They blamed it on ‘construction work going on opposite’. You know something, there is no construction work opposite. Oh sure, one house is being renovated, but no-one was working on it at the time. It’s an amazing coincidence that people opposite just happened to start working and shouting at the exact times the van was parked there, isn’t it? And also, that as the van was parked directly outside my house, I can judge distance of noise.

So, Mr Hydraquip employee, not only are you obnoxious and bring disrepute to the company you work for, but you then lie about it and try to blame my neighbours. Good work!

Give them a call on (UK) 07000 626664 and ask for someone to sit outside your house today!

It’s said that humour is always at the expense of people, and ChavTowns is no exception.

Not only are people labelled as “Council Housed and Violent” without a second thought, but it seems most towns in Britain are being maligned by foul-mouthed people who think they are above everyone else.

People, we know that there are unsavoury elements in many towns, but having an aggressive dig at people from behind your anonymous tags doesn’t solve anything. There are very real and serious issues to do with teenage pregnancy, violence, gangs, education, etc. but this mentality, particularly in the name of ‘comedy’, hardly shows maturity on the part of people for whom “chavs” are supposedly beneath them.

You would think that people appealing against “Chav’s” would be stereotypically well-spoken, well-educated, non-violent people. Dream on:

Many of the contributors there are rude and obnoxious, and are in danger of falling into the ‘chav’ territory they so rigorously attack. Maybe they doth protest too much.

I’d be quite happy for that scummy website and its big bruv “ChavScum” not to get their $199 per month bandwidth paid, then maybe we’d see an end to this attrocious pile of pap.

Here’s a shameless pluig for anyone who is looking to buy a flat in the Aldershot area. Please take a look at this lovely modern first-floor three-bedroom flat with off-street parking, garage, communal garden, gas central heating, double glazing, fitted kitchen, close to A331 and A31. Good links to Aldershot, Farnham, Farnborough, Guildford and London. Half-hourly service from Aldershot to London Waterloo.

Here’s some classy ranting against the iPod. It would’ve been enough to say he didn’t like it, and move on:

Take this Mac freaks!

Freak? Who you calling freak?

I’ve kinda had it with apple.

When did you ever have it?

Do they even know what “technical� means?

Erm, yes. First decent PC, first decent GUI, first decent flat screen, first PCs with CDs as standard, produce one of the best video systems in existence (aka Quicktime), first new-generation portable digital jukebox (iPod)…

But you gotta respect a company which has resurrected itself from death with a piece of marketing genius

You don’t.

One word. hype

Another word. First. Or Innovators. Or Cutting Edge (sorry, that’s two words)

How they did it I have no idea.

C’mon, Tempest, you do know â€â€? they produced the first decent portable digital jukebox.

Making a sub-standard piece of hardware

How can it be sub-standard when it set the standard? I’m not saying there aren’t better devices, or different devices? Don’t knock the product. Most people with iPods don’t moan about them, they love them, and if they don’t like them, they get something else. Don’t be fooled that de facto standards are automatically loved; many people hate Microsoft.

which couldn’t even multi-task properly

S’cuse me? Multi-task? Like, when did it even have to muti-task? It plays music tracks!! Did you want it to make your cappuccino too?

Then ofcourse incorporating BSD recently into its falling architecture was probably due to the fact that consumers were just about to find out how crappy the little toy really can be. But thats another story.

Now you’ve just lost me completely.

Honestly, how many people have 40 gigs of *legal* music?

Plenty. Actually I have about 20 Gig of music, then I also have some other vocal audio tracks which are also legal. I also have content that I have downloaded from the BBC radio stations, and given that is for personal use and I pay my licence fee, I think I am entitled to store and listen to that also.

How many people have 40 gigs of music?

See above.

And are u gonna listen to all of those 40 gigs when u are on the go?

No, just bits of them.

Okay, maybe if u are gonna be on the road for a month – but is your iPOD battery gonna hold out that long?

No, that’s why it has a charger, like mobile phones and laptop computers and digital cameras â€â€? or perhaps you are going to slate them because they have batteries that run out. Shock, horror, hate to break it to ya â€â€? batteries run out.

People say the iPOD looks cool. I think not.

That’s your opinion. It is designed well, in that it design aids its functionality (unless you are still trying to get it to make that cappuccino…). The fact that a lot of people think it looks great too is up to them.

Its large, thus bulky

Something being large doesn’t necessarily equal bulky.

and more importantly it contains an almost full-sized harddrive.

OK come on now, I’ve seen the HDs that go inside some PCs, and that is NOT a full-size HD.

One drop and there goes the music u probably took a lifetime to accumulate.

Funnily enough, not. I guess that’d also be your argument against using laptop computers (they can be dropped).

Did I mention that it is difficult to copy the music back out onto a computer without some funky hacks?

No you didn’t, you have now, but it’s not true.

Technically, the iPOD’s sound quality is blatantly worse off than its major competitors.

Not blantatly. Measurable, perhaps, not blatant. Thinking of a Sony, by any chance?

Cost wise, why does the iPOD command a premium? Its sore lack of features seems to be the root to inceased cost.

It’s a premium product. We’re not talking bread, milk or rice here. Sore lack of features? Hmm let me see, it takes my digital music and it plays it. Damn, where’s that coffee…

FM transmitter?? How many people actually buy and use these over-priced accessories which do little value add to the already limited player.

Do I get the feeling you think it’s limited. I do know people that have bought the accessories.

How people change in little over 3 months. I actually wanted an iPOD in December.

OK, so what you really mean is “How I changed in little over 3 months.”

I ended up getting the cool Muvo2 FM instead.

Cool, I hope you’ll be very happy together.

functions as a thumbdrive

If you mean like a USB drive, the iPod is one â€â€? it’s also FireWire on a Mac

(if u bring the cable)

and it already comes with the cables. Minor point, minor point.

but also has no stinking DRM!

OK I’ll admit Apple’s policies are tightening and aren’t necessarily good, however you seem to be harking back to (il)legal music and I have no pity for anyone who finds it difficult to listen to their cracked music.

I just feel happy that I did not cough up the additional hundred and fifty bucks for something effectively being hype.

Very happy for you too. I think you made your point.

Tempest’s favourite word: hype.
Tempest’s favourite phrase: lacking in features.

That said, I still want a power book to attach my amazing M$ mouse to it :p

Yeah right.

Yes, there really is a Museum of Bad Art as Drawn! makes reference to. There are some “works of art” that are so bad that they cannot be ignored.

Quite who makes the judgement as to what is ‘good’ art and what is ‘bad’ is another matter, but it’s nice to know that there is a museum for all works, whatever people think of them.

I found this fascinating article about a DVD that’s been made suggesting that workers tasked with removing graffiti, by painting over it, are in fact ‘subconscious artists’. I’m not sure, but it’s an interesting thought.