Welcome to the new site! To paraphrase Eric Morecambe: there’s all the same content here, but not necessarily in the same order.

Actually, that’s not completely true. There are a few posts with photos that I’ve not (yet) managed to migrate over. Most of those I’ve hidden, but there may be a few posts with breakages. Bear with me.

But what motivated this change? Largely it’s a desire for something a bit simpler. I do have misgivings about how it’s all being managed recently but, honestly, Wordpress the software when self-hosted is still really nice. It’s just… a lot. It’s a full CMS and supports all kinds of interactive stuff, magic SEO and a bazillion plugins (one of which I maintain).

• Fukushima is a triumph for nuke power: Build more reactors now! – Despite multiple failures there has been no significant release of radiation.
• Japan Earthquake: before and after – Amazing and shocking.
• Why I am not worried about Japan’s nuclear reactors – I did think that the coverage suggesting a nuclear disaster was unlikely. This explains why my intuition was (probably) right.

If you’re seeing any pictures missing from ZX81.org.uk at the moment this is because of a glitch in the way that I synchronise my pictures from my computer to Flickr. In short a large number of images were removed and I’m having to go back, find out which pictures I’d used and update all the relevant blogs. Please let me know if you find one that I missed.

• The November Plan – Post now updated with my recent trip to Austria.
• Apple’s Mistake – “How much of the goodwill Apple once had with programmers have they lost over the App Store? A third? Half? And that’s just so far. The App Store is an ongoing karma leak.”
• The Daily Shoot – A great idea to help people (myself included!) to take more pictures. I think a lot of us have the will, just not the time or inspiration. Time is hard but inspiration just got a little easier.

• 2.8 Release Jazzes Themes and Widgets – I just upgraded ZX81 to the latest version of WordPress. Let me know if you see anything that’s not working properly!
• Chinese troops out in force for 20th anniversary of ‘nothing happening’ – “Many people who were in the area in 1989 were expected to observe the anniversary by staying at home and doing nothing special, much as they did 20 years ago.”
• Behind the Scenes: Tank Man of Tiananmen – “Few images are more recognizable or more evocative. Known simply as ’tank man,’ it is one of the most famous photographs in recent history.”

Wishing you and your family happiness and peace, turkey¹ and chocolate this festive season, whatever your faith or lack thereof.

The above image, by the way, was taken in Reykjavik, Iceland a couple of days before Christmas 2006.

It all started ten thirteen years ago. In November 1998 I went with a friend to Amsterdam, and now every November since I have spent at least a few days out of the country.

For the record, those trips were:

• Amsterdam, The Netherlands (1998)
• Abu Dhabi, UAE (1999)
• Thailand (2000)
• Oslo, Norway (2001)
• Malta (2002)
• Charlotte, NC, USA (2003)
• Cuba (2004)
• Brussels, Belgium (2005)
• Lille, France (2006)
• Jordan and Egypt (2007)
• Lisbon, Portugal (2008)
• Vienna, Austria (2009)
• Amsterdam and Den Haag, The Netherlands (2010)

It never started as a challenge and you can’t deliberately start a tradition, but I’m keen to keep this one going for as long as I can. Even if it is a little silly.

Full news on her own website, but today B said her “Affirmation of allegiance” and gained British Nationality. She was a little unhappy about having to pledge allegiance to the Queen so I’ve made a minor edit to the original picture.

I commented that a lot of our government clearly have not had to make such a pledge themselves. If they too had to respect democracy and freedom I think we’d be hearing rather less about 42 days in gaol without trial and ID cards. (End of rant.)

I hesitate to say that it happens often, but people do sometimes talk about special abilities or super-powers, even if it’s phrased as a “party trick.” Today I realised that I have what might best be described as a special inability.

I took a quick wander into Wimbledon, the nearest town to where I live. It looked gloomy outside and the weather the previous day had been windy and a little chilly. I decided to wear a jumper and my jacket. It didn’t take me long to realise that I had misjudged the weather and that I was very warm.