Heady days and headgear

Just spent a contented hour diving down a rabbit hole of my former life as a robotics researcher - all to find this photo.  I'll put it here for posterity as it has now been deleted from the icub summer school site (VVV-06 I think) (or it is behind a authorisation I no longer qualify for).

I used it as a funny image to introduce myself to my fellow summer-schoolers - but it endures for me.  It was originally taken in my sister Shema's garden at a party for one of here children when they were little enough to have piñata's - the remains of which adorns my head.

It was also the image I used to test my Homebrew computer's graphics ... (a venerable TMS9918A dealing with as many colours as it could) ... 

Geek Cred

I know it has been a year since I posted here, but, you know, not much has happened!

However, that all changed when the BBC decided to show a film about the history of home computers focusing on the battle of Clive Sinclair with Acorn. The film was cut in with archive footage from the era to give it a real feel. So much nostalgia and so much part of my life.

So you can imagine how I felt when I saw my younger self at a computer in a school uniform!

Yes, my geek credentials never need to be questioned again :)

Micro Men: Catch it until Sat 17th October 2009 in BBC iPlayer. I appear at 27:02. I am stood up to the left, Chaz Gauder is at the keyboard and Kevin Marks is at the other side.

Notte Bianca - Notte Inzuppato

Notte Bianca (White Night) was turned into Notte Inzuppato (Drenched Night) with an almighty thunderstorm that marked the transition from hot stifling summer to cool autumn.

Notte Bianca in Genova is a wonderful city-wide festival that claims to have "Music Everywhere" and arranges to keep attractions open late into the night along with ample bus services. Unfortunately 2008 was marked by a torrential downpour around about 11pm. Such was the timing and nature of the rain, just about everyone (and there were thousands) decided, as if as one person, to catch the next bus home. I have never seen such a rush for so few busses by so many utterly soaked people.

By hook and by crook we got home before 1am with 3 exhausted boys. We did feel like great parents though, as we had managed to note the weather forecast and came out with rain-coats for each of them. Mind you, Jackie and I had nothing - not even an umbrella (but one was procurred at a price - of course).

Still - despite the rain, it was quite honestly one of the best nights we have had in Genova. The "venti" was closed to trafic and instead had stalls and music. (How about Rage Against The Machine playing at full volume outside Coin!). There were stages set up all over the place and 4 huge outside pizza ovens outside the Ducal palace. MTV ran 2 stages and even had UK acts Duffy and Estelle performing. As much as I love the cute welsh 60's throwback though, the highlight for us was seeing local group "Ottocento" play to a small but thrilled audience in the old backstreets of Genova. They played the music of the famous Genovese singer/songwriter Fabrizio De André. They even played through the start of the rain, gingerly covering themselves with a tarpaulin and playing on regardless.

Random post made to a /dev/null site

Posted to : asdfghjksemicolon.com

My memory is not what it used to be. This I know. Honestly I can't remember if it is better now
than before, but i think it was. Usually because I remember knowing something that I know I no longer know.
Anyway, I digress.
Today I've been cheating. I went to the internets, sacrificed a virtual hour of my actual time and asked the god google for an answer.
It was not forthcoming, needless to say.
The question was how to solve my Brain Twist puzzle. All I could find was links to the product and the statement that a hints booklet comes with the said product - much use that was, by the way.
I came this way via the wonderfully diverting "Dry Erase Board" (MSPaint -wow!) and am now speaking to the void. Great.
Oh, I nearly forgot. Why I mentioned my memory was that I recall very clearly being about 12 or 13 (that would be around 1979) and solving the original Rubik's cube all by my self. I promptly wrote down the solution and used some carbon copy paper my dad had to make a few copies which I gave to my friends.
So, how come I can't even cheat now let alone work it out for myself.

Truncated holiday memoirs

So, I never did manage to post anything about the rest of my Roman holiday. Suffice to say it was all brilliant. Really enjoyed the Roman Forum and the Palatine hill and also the Trevi Fountain.
Hard to pick out highlights, but what was great was that everyone was very chilled out, Jackie's parents were in great form and I didn't have to shout at the kids too much.

This weekend (from tomorrow - a public hol in Italy) we are going to Pisa (so Yousef can go up the tower on his birthday) and hopefully visit Florence and Lucca while we are down there. We are staying in a 4-man tent to avoid paying through the nose for a hotel room in the most expensive week of the year.

I shall be quite happy if a) we do not cook like boil-in-the-bag fish, b) we do not get bitten raw by mozzies and c) if I don't go crazy at the kids.

A tra poco care mio.

Bright Zig-zag lines - part 2

This post (here) is my only post which people other than my direct friends and family have ever commented on. I just wanted to give a little update for anyone really interested:

The phenomena I described was the appearance of bright neon-like zig-zag lines in my vision. They appear, are quite disturbing, and then disappear as quickly as they arrived - often in a rather beautiful burst. Pretty, but quite worrying, I am sure you will agree.

It is called an Opthalmic Migrane - and is something not to worry about too much it seems. (I never have any really bad headache associated with them, but people often do.)

What I found interesting was that it seems to happen when I am particularly dehydrated - a fact I hadn't noticed until someone commented on the original post.

It happened to me again - quite severely - just last week, and once again, I had not been drinking enough, had spent far too long on the computer the day before and was generally a bit tired.

So, rest assured, it is not indicative of some really horrible brain disease (or too much LSD in your youth)
Just, relax, have a drink of water and lie back and enjoy your personal light-show!!

Roma Giorni Uno

What a fabulous city!
Our first day felt like a week. We arrived at Roma Termini at 6am having nor slept in our sleeper cabin all the way from Genova. Taking a bus to our hotel we hit the pavement immediately. A tour of the outside of the Colesseum, the wall around the roman forum, the road beside the circus maximus, the banks of the tiber before stopping on the steps of a chiesa for an ice-cream. Then, back to the hotel to find our rooms finally ready.
When the in-laws arrived via dodgy-rip-off-taxi we set off for lunch and a quick view of the place with the cats (Largo della Torre Argentina). All feeling worse for the wear we returned to the hotel to crash before setting out for the afternoon to the Vatican.
St. Peters was at the same time impressive, awe-inspiring and ostentatious to a fault. Finding our way back via a crowded bus and having a short rest, we headed out again for the evening.
Things improved greatly when we found "Casa Bleve" - a classic wine and cheese house. Platters of exquisite cheeses and bottles of wine were enjoyed before we settled the big bill and meandered home via an excellent gelateria.

So finished the longest day. Day 2 has started at an alltogether much more leisurely pace. The morning spent at the Pantheon, Piazza Nuova and a church of which I can't remember the name (but has a blue vaulted ceiling and Michelangelo's "naked" Christ in it).

And so, beer and pizza and a short rest and then on to this afternoon's schedule. Which, will take in the Colesseum again - this time with an entrance ticket ;)