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May 29, 2007
The Lord of Font Glory
Back to the good old times when people where discovering Desktop Publishing - the now-common idea to produce leaflets, newspapers, books with your PC, Mac or Atari. I've counted seven different fonts plus the logo on this beautiful (ugly) flyer, and then some on the back. Jesus Christ, I'm going mad! Have you noticed where the dove in the logo is heading?
Posted by dr at 8:09 AM
May 25, 2007
More about Capital Car hire and Edinburgh Car&Van Rental
Two years ago I reported here about my abysmal experience with a car rental company here in Edinburgh and told people to not rent a car from Capital Car and Van hire. This rental outfit made a business of keeping my deposit and maxing out my credit card, claiming damage to the cars (which of course never happened).
Capital Car has now been officially warned by the City Council to "improve their services". Thomas McSweeney, David Sim and Karen Sim from Capital Car Hire have entered into an agreement with the council. It remains to be seen what is actually going to happen.
Is the problem getting worse? The same company operates another website. I just noticed that "Edinburgh Car&Van Rental" seems to be (a) new name for the same or a related company. As of 25/05/2007, the website Edinburghcarhire.com is registered by a David Sim with an e-mail address from capital-carhire.co.uk.
Be warned.
Posted by dr at 3:48 PM | Comments (4)
May 22, 2007
Bike Strategy. Cheap and no worries.
When my bike had magically disappeared on Sunday morning, I was annoyed and unhappy as I am when my stuff gets taken away from me. But, luckily, my grand master plan, David's Bike Strategy has worked out: Buy a cheap and tatty looking one, do not spend big bucks on it, and don't worry too much if it gets stolen. Because every bike will get stolen if you ride it.
So, my white Raleigh bicycle is in the hands of (presumably) some local neds now. Just like the nice Trick Bike that got nicked two years ago.
My new bike only cost £50 at Edinburgh's awesome Bike Station, and as you can see from the picture: it's a bike with character. And it rides .. great! Brakes work, goes down steps, loves the Edinburgh cobble-stone, and is fast almost like a city or road bike. I'm a happy camper!
Posted by dr at 11:18 AM
May 15, 2007
Kelvingrove Museum: How did the airplane get on top of the elephant?
The Kelvingrove Museum in Glasgow is a peculiar one. It's a hundred years old, and a plethora of art works, design pieces and artefacts have found their way into the beautiful building in Glasgow over the decades: a Picasso mounted at children-friendly height right next to multimedia screen, and a WWII-Spitfire over a stuffed elephant.
Posted by dr at 11:30 AM | Comments (1)
May 7, 2007
Cairngorms, Scottish Highlands
taken from here - near Kingussie, Scotland. The Spey Valley is right there, too - that's where some of the famous Scottish Whiskey comes from.
Posted by dr at 11:25 PM | Comments (1)
May 5, 2007
Scotland has voted
Two things struck me as odd when I cast my vote in this week's Scottish Parliament and Council elections. You can vote without the official invite that you get in the mail (that's normal), but all it takes to say your name and address. Since there is no official form of ID in this country, you can basically impersonate anyone else at the polling station. Going from polling station to polling station, you could cast a lot of votes. (Not that it would make a difference in the end.)
Secondly: ballot papers aren't folded or stuck in an envelope. So your vote is not all the secret. Funnily enough, the people manning the polling stations could see who you voted for - if they cared enough. That's according to my friend Gaya, who helped out at one of the polling station. (Gaya had her "big day out" from her office shared with other computer scientists.)
After two days of broken down helicopters brining in ballot papers from remote isles and malfunctioning scanners, the results are finally out. The Scottish National Party won (marginally). Their main goal: Scottish independence from the United Kingdom. Interesting times ahead.
Posted by dr at 10:56 AM