Patwa's Paradiso On The Web

Laptop Battery Help Please

patwa@patwanet.co.uk — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 13:54:43 GMT

Hello,

Posting this here in the hope someone may be able to help. I'm now having major problems with my laptop battery. I bought the laptop two years ago.

I'm using an Acer TravelMate 6592, which originally shipped with Windows XP Home. Since then I've upgraded to Windows Vista Ultimate and then to Windows 7 Ultimate just three weeks ago. I've never had issues with the battery for most of that time.

However, now I can barely squeeze 10 minutes life out of it, even on the Power Saver profile. The problem started suddenly a couple of weeks before the Windows 7 installation, when battery life decreased from nearly two hours to 10 minutes.

I'm also using an external battery, which usually gives me 4-5 hours use. However, this morning I connected it up and it was flat in 3-0 minutes. I did have the internal battery attached also, but will try again without it this evening to see if that makes a difference.

I'm not sure if it's the battery, the electronics inside the laptop or the AC charging port that's faulty. Then again, I've also heard of the power meter on Windows 7 being problematic, but not to this extent.

One solution is to test the battery with a similar laptop. Unfortunately, nobody I know has the same laptop as me, so any offers of help here are much appreciated. Also, if anyone knows how I can fix this problem, I'd be really grateful.

Apart from all this, the rest of the laptop works like a charm.

Time to pull some more hair out I think.

Definitely a week to forget

patwa@patwanet.co.uk — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 23:18:46 GMT

Hello,

Well the last week has been nothing short of hellish. In particular, I don't mind admitting I was thinking some very dark thoughts mid week and wishing it could all just come to an end. I have got to say this week has seen the worst finger pains ever. But it was also strange in that they only seemed to occur between lunchtime and late evening every day. Mornings were usually fine, but by then I was so tired due to lack of proper sleep the night before I couldn't really use that time for anything constructive.

It's only since Friday that things have started to get better, but today was the first day since before last weekend that I had no pains all day. Now I'm wishing I didn't write that in case I've jinxed myself. I've tried to work out what caused the relapse, but as I haven't really been out much, and the heating's been on all the time I've at a loss. I'm half wondering if I'm just extremely susceptible to changes in the timing for my medications, especially the slow release Nifedipine. Mum was on holiday last week, so we usually had a lie in and I took the tablet at around 8am, compared to the usual 6am immediately after breakfast. I also overdosed on the Pregabilin by accident on Tuesday, but that doesn't seem to have caused any negative side effects. Then again, it didn't help either.

Despite this, we got out shopping at Tesco's on Wednesday's (is it me or do the stores seem to get bigger every time you visit?) and then in for a Subway. We did the Ashvale run on Friday, but the pain took the edge off the excitement and I'm sure the macaroni cheese turned out dry and a little overcooked in sympathy.

On the plus side though, I got six rounds of the winter postal shooting leagues done on Thursday. I didn't score any 100's, but I wasn't really that bothered - it was too cold and I was too tired and sick of life to focus, or even be my usual perfectionist self. Ali thinks I need to seek help, which actually made me smile when I pictured myself in the padded cell and straight jacket. I've even let the work I was doing on a presentation for someone slip by the wayside, and I've just realised I'm about to enter another financial crisis with our dear friends at the Student Awards Agency for Scotland.

But hey, at least I've got my first 846 words of the Nanowrimo challenge written, albeit 22 days behind schedule.

Pain, Pain, Go Away

patwa@patwanet.co.uk — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:00:37 GMT

It's childish I know but that's the way I feel. I hate the cold. I hate making plans that then come crashing down, day after day. And above all, I hate feeling so useless and incapable and being ruled by the pain in my fingers rather than being master of it.

Even the pain power trick doesn't work anymore, or maybe I'm just losing my tolerance to it. It's a trick I learnt from Sir Ranulph Fiennes' book, "Mind Over Matter". You imagine the pain as a tool, like a hammer or drill, and put it to solving a problem and doing something useful. It's worked in the past when the feet were at their worst, but it no longer helps for the fingers.

I'm just getting so fed up with this. For the last four days, like clockwork, the mornings have been fine, then come midday until late at night it's just one constant agony, like hot lava flowing through my veins.

And this is mild compared to what some people are going through.

But really, this isn't life. It's just a horrible nightmare that's stealing my will power and time from what I'd like to enjoy the most. And Thor only knows how long I can keep this up and keep it together.

Taxi! Oh, Taxi!

patwa@patwanet.co.uk — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:48:24 GMT

I've become quite familiar with taxis and taxi drivers over the last five years, their good and bad sides, their annoyances and quirks. Most journeys have been quite unremarkable, but there have been a few experiences, which were a little more memorable. Like the time we got stuck in a snow drift in early March and had to be dug out by passersby. However, it was today's journey that I wanted to tell you about.

After arriving at the University earlier today and paying the fare (not before I almost broke the C&P machine and had to sign the receipt instead), the driver offered to wait on me after learning I'd only be about ten minutes whilst I handed in my letter of complaint. He told me that if he got a job after that time, he'd just go for it. This was fine by me, as I wouldn't have expected any less, but the thought behind the offer was welcome nevertheless.

A full 40 minutes and an argument with one very stubborn receptionist later, I emerged into the car park fully expecting the space where I'd been dropped off to be empty. The sun was quite bright, so my eyes weren't at their best. Imagine my surprise when I found the same taxi, plus driver, waiting just where I'd left it. What luck! I promptly got in, thanked the driver and asked if he'd mind taking me to the bank to deposit some cash. Oh, and if he wouldn't mind dropping me on the right side of Union Street so I wouldn't have to cross it to reach Nationwide. Now anyone who's been to Aberdeen knows how quickly this city can grind to a halt if just one street is blocked for one reason or another. This was exactly the situation today. So, after taking a wild detour, which had me completely lost, we finally arrived at the bank. Was I surprised when the driver, again, offered to wait for me, and even refused payment, saying I'd only have to pay him again when he finally dropped me off at home?

There was a long queue at the bank. I hate queuing, whatever the reason, as it makes my feet hurt worse than usual, so I sat, checked my e-mails and made some calls whilst I waited. Mum had asked me a while back to look into transferring some shares, which my dad held, but which were still active. After some calling around I discovered that I'd need to send in a letter of probate, whatever one of those was, but not to worry, as the local court could help me with this. Banking done, I returned to the taxi, and half expecting a refusal, asked if he wouldn't mind awfully dropping me off at the courthouse, and that I'd pay him there, as I had no clue how long I'd be. This he did, but again, you guessed it, offered to wait. Well, who was I to say no? He sure didn't seem in a hurry, so in I went. Twenty minutes later (does anything administrative ever happen quickly here?) and after making a complete fool out of myself (well, who was I to know that you couldn't just buy a letter of probate from Tesco's or rent one from Budget!) in front of what I'm sure were several judges and someone dressed like one of those army folks they have patrolling Schiphol Airport, I was done and off to try to track down my solicitor whom we last engaged with seven years ago.

After returning to the taxi, which I half expected to have been clamped and towed away (I'm sure it says somewhere that it's illegal to park in front of the courthouse and at a bus stop to boot), I then had the unenviable task of holding the car there whilst I did some more searching to try and track this other guy down. Thank Thor for Google. Using just his name alone, I was able to pin him down to a solicitors at, you guessed it, the other end of Union Street, and after calling in with the secretary there, was told I could drop in for a visit. We duly arrived, and the driver once again offered to wait (yes, this is getting repetitive, I know). By now, I was seriously getting concerned at just how I was going to pay the surely humungous bill that must have accrued, but by then it was getting late and time was short.

Fortunately, the solicitor was the right one, although he had moved firms since we last met. My meeting with him lasted barely five minutes, during which he assured he could get the accursed letter but that I should send him a written confirmation of the request by post. He'd be back to me after several days. Job done, I returned to the taxi and home.

Now for the bit where I start planning how to sell my soul just to pay the cabbie off. On arrival, I was promptly asked for the grand sum of £21. This after the £25 I had already paid at the University. I didn't believe him at first, and I'm sure I said something to the effect of wanting to know the full bill, not just the bill for one leg of the journey. And don't forget the nearly two hours waiting time in between. £21, he said again, and I'm sure if I could have seen his face he'd have been grinning. Oh well, who am I to say no to that? I just hoped he wasn't about to bring my world crashing down by putting some other amount into the payment machine, which fortunately my earlier episode hadn't broken.

So, all that and a final bill of just £46. I'd not have been surprised if he'd have charged over £200. Of course, I was profusely apologising over what I thought must have been an inordinate waste of time for him, even though he was the one that had offered to be my effective chauffeur for the afternoon. It's the first time something this extreme has happened to me, and I can only say it was a pleasure to meet such a genuinely kind-hearted, generous and helpful person. It turns out he recognised me from having picked me up several times before, as, indeed, have most of Rainbow's drivers. I guess it's hard to forget the half-blind 'all bar the kitchen sink' traveller trekking back and forth across the city ten times a week. Plus, my house is one of those weird ones that's numbered on one street but sits on another.

Sadly, now that University's come to an end, my taxi days may well be numbered. When you're not receiving travel expense reimbursements, charges really are sky high and you've really got to think about every journey you want to make. But my point with all this was that, following my rant about kindness and respect last week, it's great to know they haven't worn off completely. Who knows, I might meet the same chap again someday, and do a re-run of the encounter, although hopefully on happier business.

Oh, and a letter of probate is a letter from the legal authority confirming the execution of a will and divestment of an estate as valid under the law of the land. Some also call it a letter of confirmation. So now, you know.

It's absolutely not over until...

patwa@patwanet.co.uk — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 20:19:49 GMT

Well, I've bitten the bullet and filed a formal complaint against the University and Lyn Batchelor in particular over the fiasco surrounding and during my final presentation on 26 October. Up until last night, I was prepared to let it drop and perhaps just appeal in February if it became necessary. However, my friend has wisely persuaded me that there's really not much to lose now and that at the very least someone somewhere might read the complaint and take the issues within into account. I'm not sure whether it'll make the slightest bit of difference - universities are renowned for clamming up tight whenever the slightest hint of bad sentiment flows their way, but I'd never know if I didn't at least try.

The basic points of contention are:
1. That I received contradictory sets of instructions from two members of staff on the day of the presentation itself.
2. That the second set of instructions given by Lyn Batchelor came just moments before the presentation began.
3. That this gave me unreasonably short notice to change my prepared presentation plans in order to fit with the new guidelines. The revised guidelines cut my speaking time in half, something of which I had not been forewarned.
4. That several requests for the same guidelines made to Lyn Batchelor and other members of staff throughout the duration of my project at Cornerstone were not honoured.
5. That immediately before the presentation, Lyn Batchelor insinuated that the poster created as part of the assessment criteria was extraneous and therefore that its contents were irrelevant to the presentation. This resulted in my having to duplicate information during the aural delivery, diverting focus from more important issues for which I had previously prepared.
6. That immediately following the presentation, Lyn Batchelor focussed unfairly harshly on just one aspect of the project discussed, detracting from the issues, which I was led to believe, were of higher importance and relevance for marking purposes.
7. That, despite promises both written and verbal to the contrary, Lyn Batchelor failed to present me with acceptable marking guidelines for the presentation session, which would have been used to ensure I delivered a pitch of a standard against which I could benchmark. This left me unknowing as to whether I was delivering something of a high enough quality for this level of assessment.

Today I hand delivered a 3-page letter of complaint to the Registry for onward forwarding to the Academic registrar. Lest it be said that I've disregarded proper protocol, I should add that Lyn Batchelor did make me an offer of an informal chat to discuss the issues above; although at the time, she did not know of my specific concerns. However, as it is apparent that I can no longer trust in her integrity or impartiality, and that the so-called 'impartial observer' she came up with to oversee the meeting was anything but, I decided to invoke the provision stated in the University charter which allows for a complaint to be taken directly to the Registrar on occasions where the complainant feels an informal resolution is not possible or appropriate.

I've proposed the following solutions:
1. That all parties involved in the marking and verification of this assessed work be informed in full of the particulars of my complaint.
2. That I am prepared to re-do the presentation provided a completely impartial observer is present. This person must be impartial to both the course-co-ordinators and myself.
3. That the aural delivery be disregarded as it can no longer be independently judged. No recording was made of the presentation to my knowledge, and thus the poster remains the only tangible piece of work that can be marked fairly.
4. That I be given a complete accounting of the ways in which the final mark for this course is derived, and the individual weights for each component comprising it.
Apparently, I'm supposed to hear back from the University within the next week. But now that it's done, I'm not going to hold my breath and will just wait and see what happens. However, be sure that I'm not going to just let this matter die, and am prepared to do anything and everything necessary to ensure this case is heard and that action is taken to my satisfaction.

Watch this space for more news as this develops.

Customer service, the way it should be

patwa@patwanet.co.uk — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:49:43 GMT

I've been thinking a lot recently about customer service and what we should expect from it. Obviously, the most important thing is that the requested service is delivered as expected. However, there are many other positive and negative factors, which can influence our view of customer service, for example, friendliness of staff, time to respond and interim communication. I've often felt that the latter is where many companies fail, and it's something, which I feel is really important, particularly in the current times.

I suppose our ever increasingly hectic lives and advances in technology have a lot to do with it. We have less free time to ourselves, yet we can be reached more quickly through an increasing number of communication channels.

In addition, as individuals, we have a need to feel wanted, and to know what's going on, even if the job is not completed, now, and not at some unspecified point in the future. I feel this often makes us feel as if we're still in control of things, even if the service we've requested is something we may not have any control over.

This was all brought home to me by a surprisingly heartening incident earlier this week. I had written to Danmarks Radio (DR), otherwise known as the Danish Broadcasting Corporation. I wanted them to send me the titles and artists of some songs I really enjoyed on one of their online radio stations back in September, but which I couldn't identify. Like any such minor query (well, minor if you consider the size of the organisation and the far more major issues they undoubtedly deal with on a daily basis), I half expected to either hear nothing at all back from them, or to receive a standard "Please visit our website" response in a couple of week's time.

I sent in an e-mail via their online form at around10am on Monday, and immediately received an auto-response acknowledging my message. I then went out to spend some time at Ali's place, and also to deliver some new shooting target cards (but that's a different story) but I did check my e-mail from the cell phone whilst I was there. At 11am, I received a human response advising that my message had been forwarded to the correct department and that they would be in touch shortly. Another human response followed at 1pm, letting me know they could assist me, and that they would be back to me with a definite answer soon. This finally arrived at 3pm (still the same day) and boy did they come up trumps. They didn't just send me the titles and artists I asked about, but the actual log files for all of the songs played on each of the two days in question. I was absolutely delighted, and even though it might not be read, actually took the time to send a message of thanks, in Danish, to thank them for their time and support. The sheer speed of the response for such a (to them) probably insignificant matter was simply amazing, and this must rank amongst some of the best customer service experiences I've had to date. The fact that they kept me informed at each stage of the process was definitely a plus, and something I appreciated greatly.

Reflecting back on this, I feel many of us, including companies and institutions here in the UK could take an example from this. This certainly applies to the University of Aberdeen - I've been waiting for a simple letter confirming my course from them since 19 August without any acknowledgement. I even spoke to a different person to the one I contacted initially at the beginning of October, who assured me it would be dealt with "right away". Needless to say, we must be using completely different definitions of the term.

With all due respect, I do have to say that British companies are amongst some of the worst for doing this that I've encountered recently. I've dealt with both a German and Chinese company in the last week in addition to DR above, and all of these have been really wonderful interactions. Compare that to dealing with the BBC or even worse, UK Customs, and it makes you feel as if you've stepped back into the Stone Age with loin-clothed, axe-wielding barbarians running about!

I've said this before, but I do think as time has passed common courtesy in business has pretty much gone out of the window. Simple things like actually letting people know when you'll get back to them, acknowledging when there's been a delay or even better, advising that there might be a delay in the first place, or even just wishing people a pleasant day. Is it just me, or do these things not matter anymore? Have we become so clinical and self-focussed that nothing matters other than what's directly in front of us?

What do you think?

eSet Smart Security - Some Accessibility Tips

patwa@patwanet.co.uk — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:40:33 GMT

Hello,

I know some of you use eSet Smart Security as your antivirus and firewall software of choice, so I thought I'd post this in case it's of any help. Note this mainly focuses on accessibility. The tips are relevant to eSet Smart Security v4, but some of the options may be available in earlier versions.

First, open the main eSet Smart Security program and press F5 to open the advanced options dialog. Note that you may have to allow the F5 keystroke through if using some access software, as many also use this key as a function of the same. A list of option categories is given on the left. Use the tab key and up/down arrow keys to navigate through it, and between it and associated options. Use the spacebar to select/deselect options or to click the OK/Cancel button at the bottom of the screen.

Alerts and Notifications Category: Deselect 'Display notifications on desktop' and Display balloon tips in Taskbar for sec'. This removes the annoying pop-up balloon tips, which steal the focus away from whatever else you're working on at the time. They are also difficult to close with the keyboard and usually require mouse intervention. Mostly, they relate to the daily update of the antivirus definitions and so do not require user intervention. Deselecting these options will cause the notifications to appear as a standard message box on screen. You can hit OK to close it immediately, and usually you will return to the exact place you left off before the interruption. Advanced users can disable the notification altogether, so you will never be prompted when a successful update has been completed.

User Interface category: Deselect 'Show splash screen at startup', 'Use animated controls' and ‘Use animated icons for progress indication'. Select 'Advanced Mode' and 'Display menu in standard mode'. This tidies up the interface a little as well as giving access to the menu through which options can be selected. However, note that the 'Advanced Mode' will override this, but you can disable that if you're more comfortable with a simpler interface with fewer options. I have noticed some slightly faster response times with the animations disabled, and it seems to work better with the screen reader as well.

Some system settings:
Antispam Module category: Use this tip only if you do NOT want to mark messages as spam. Select 'Enable antispam module’ Deselect 'Add text to email subject' and 'move messages to spam folder'. I have noticed that disabling the antispam module causes Outlook 2007 (and possibly earlier versions) to hang for a few minutes at the 50% mark when doing its initial send/receive. I feel this may be down to poor logic in the eSet Outlook add-in, which may be attempting to find the module even if it is disabled in the main program options. Enabling the module resolves this problem. Deselecting the other two options will prevent the module from having any impact on the e-mail messages themselves. I have not noticed any degradation in Outlook performance with this configuration.

System Updates category: Use this tip only if you have Windows set to notify you of or automatically install new updates, or if you check Windows Update manually. Select 'No updates' from the drop down list. This will prevent eSet needlessly notifying you of missing updates and tidies the interface a little.

I hope these will be of some use to you. Note however that these are only a few of the many options you can configure within eSet, but I felt these were the most important. My aim here is to make the program easier to use in terms of accessibility, but also to reduce the interaction level required by the user. I've tested all of these with eSet Smart Security v4 and latest updates, running on Windows 7 with all updates. I use Supernova 11.04 as my screen reader/magnifier.

Feel free to add any comments or suggestions that may help others.

Writing and Nanowrimo

patwa@patwanet.co.uk — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 20:09:22 GMT

Hello!

It seems I can't keep away from writing for long. I've just started the first chapter of my submission for Nanowrimo, the National Novel Writing Month. You can find my user profile and learn more about it here.

Paul in the SVQ department at Cornerstone first told me about it, and I thought it would be a great idea as I'd actually have motivation to write with the potential of winning something, and also I'd be working to a deadline - I guess I'm just one of those people that work best when under pressure.

I've almost decided what I'm going to write about, and am just at the stage when I need the final push to get started. Once I get going, it's almost as though I'm on automatic, when everything else becomes irrelevant and the whole thing just seems to flow. So I'll be hoping to come out the other side with something reasonably good. Watch this space for more.

Talking of articles, I've been busy on the shooting front as well. The new Disability Shooting Project founded by Liz Woodall of the NSRA was set up a couple of months back. Naturally, I was on the phone to her right away to see how I could be involved, and it turned out they were happy to publish an article on the Scottish Championships. Read it here. I also had an article on the same event written by a fellow shooter but edited by me published in the Autumn 2009 issue of Target Magazine (BBS). Read that here.

As if that weren't enough, I've another article due to the NSRA next week, an introduction to acoustic shooting for those not familiar with the sport. This is a fantastic publicity opportunity and one, which will hopefully raise the profile of the sport amongst able-bodied shooters. I'll be pushing for that to be placed on the NSRA website too, and you'll have a link to it here just as soon as it goes live.

Finally, just this evening I decided to enter a competition being run by STV. They're looking for a writer to work a six-month freelance contract writing articles for their website. The winner will win the contract, but I expect it to be tough competition. Also, it's short articles, (which for anyone that knows me is not something I'm terribly good at!) but I live for the challenge.

Happy reading, and for anyone else doing Nanowrimo, writing as well.

Windows 7 anyone?

patwa@patwanet.co.uk — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 19:45:40 GMT

After some time running the RTM through a virtual machine on the desktop, I finally installed Windows 7 Ultimate on my laptop. So far, I have to say I'm quite happy with the performance and features, even though I've disabled most of the media and network related ones.

Originally, I was hoping to use a slimmed down version based upon work by Liquid0624 over at the MSFN forums. However, after a successful installation, which was completed in 8 minutes flat, I found that a small component had been, overlooked meaning there was no detection of the Ethernet controller at all. Even the Intel automatic detection facility couldn't find it on this machine. As I was anxious to start playing around with Windows 7, I finally just went and installed the full version.

I've since done some tweaking to improve performance, mainly focussing on display settings, and disabling quite a few services based on Black Viper's work (actually, I've almost entirely used the 'Tweaked' services configuration) apart from a few modification to allow the Volume Shadow Service to work.

I've recently been having an issue with my laptop battery whereby it drains completely from a full charge in less than a minute. I'll admit I've been scared to even try the battery again after I tried the deep freeze trick, but it's something I'll have to do soon if only to know how Windows 7 fairs under a power saver profile.

I'm really happy that some obvious problems that annoyed me under Vista are resolved. These include the time to resume from hibernation, and Outlook 2007 hanging during the initial send/receive. It also seems slightly more stable and responsive, although that's impacted negatively by the screen reader. It'll be fascinating to see how the upcoming release of v11.50 affects performance in this regard.

So, all in all both me and Nicole (yes, I'm still naming things!) the laptop are happy with the new OS. I think I'm going to opt for a lean model this time, and will only install what's necessary rather than going full out and installing everything at max settings as I did before. I'm hoping I can still get some useful life out of this baby yet - after all, it's already been two years and she's on her third OS.

The only question remaining now is, how long till the first service pack? After all, we've already had a number of security fixes within the first week after commercial launch!

One last wrench before the end

patwa@patwanet.co.uk — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 14:31:19 GMT

Hi. Long time no write, ja?

Well, since I last wrote the project at cornerstone has ended (26/10/2009). As a reminder, it was to investigate the impact of Scottish Vocational Qualifications (SVQ) on the quality of service delivered to the people they support. It was later expanded to include staff and management's perspectives due to the low number of supported persons that could effectively communicate their views.

I can't believe it has passed so quickly, but I'd be lying if I said there weren't times when I felt totally down and ready to throw in the towel. My fingers haven't helped. For a few weeks, things were great, then I went through a spell, weeks on end where I just wished everything would come to an end and the pain would stop.

I'm reasonably happy with the final report, but absolutely kicking myself and in a real fury over the final presentation. It was a disaster. Although I'd practiced and planned for it, when it came to the day itself, it all just seemed to fall flat on its face and I found myself saying something completely different and far from the polished delivery, I'd intended. What was worse was I knew I was messing it up royally whilst I was speaking, but I couldn't seem to do anything about it. That's never happened to me before.

I suppose it's not all my fault though. The University have had an appalling lack of communication; I was given two sets of instructions for the presentation, with the last coming just as I walked in the door. Then, they seemed to totally disregard the poster I spent several days putting together, and still expected me to fit the salient points of 3 months of work into 10 minutes. After that, it completely went downhill when Lyn Batchelor, the course coordinator started attacking the methodology of the project and saying I must have asked the wrong questions to get the results I did, just because they disagree with what Cornerstone previously heard about the service they provide. Then she got all hung up about qualitative research methods, and completely disregarded the recommendations and conclusions I outlined in the presentation. Of course, I know it's important to ask the right questions, but is it my fault people told me what they did? And it's not as though I didn't revise the questions several times during the project, although I admit that only comes out in the reflective journal and I didn't do a good job of stressing this during the talk.

Sorry guys, I'm not trying to make a big deal out of this, but it was only when I came to look over the reflective journal and noted all the points against the University that have probably caused this project and my resulting mark to drop to rock bottom that I really started getting mad. I didn't realise this earlier, as it's just part of my nature to try and work through problems myself where I can. No doubt had I made a song and dance about this earlier and really pointed out the University's failings, something may have come of it.

For now, I've done the only thing I can. I've put all this into the reflective journal, and even though it's not marked, the feedback form for the project that the University asked me to complete - thank God I waited until after the presentation to submit it. I was originally only going to gently put forth my views, but my friend rightly told me I've little to lose now so it ended up being a lot harsher than it was originally - and yes, I do have the original version to hand. I've also said I'm ready to fight tooth and nail for my marks should they be unreasonable when they come out, and more importantly, if they can't give a reason to justify the mark. In addition, and following advice from many people, I've told Lyn I'm considering making a formal complaint but of course, I'm not going to specify the full extent of this until the appropriate time.

I've lost all confidence and trust I ever had in this course coordinator. A reliable source told me she's leaving for RGU in December, and I can only hope the student's there know what's in store for them when she arrives. Part of me thinks she's just lost interest in the whole course here seeing as she's not got long left here, and part of me is sorry she just doesn't seem to see how passionate her students are to really make a decent job of their work. One would think she would do everything in her power to help where she reasonably can, but clearly, that's not the case.

I'd like to end on a positive note as it's not fair to let the actions or lack of, of one-person ruin what has otherwise been a great experience. I loved 'working' (well, technically it's a consultancy) at Cornerstone and I think they have some really great people there. It's amazing to see the real passion and zest that flows through the place, and you get the same feeling of unrestrained resolve and love of their work from everyone you speak to. My particular thanks to the staff of the SVQ department for putting up with me for the last 80 days - (yes, I know I'm not the easiest to deal with) and I can only hope they get as much out of the report as I did working towards it. This is definitely something I'm going to have fond memories of for a long time, not to mention the skills I've learnt and the confidence I can feel in myself. I now know that I am indeed capable of working on a prolonged project when I put my mind to it, and visual disability aside, that I can fend for myself without the constant cushion of academic support. That has got to be the greatest gift I take away from my time at Cornerstone.

An update on the fingers

patwa@patwanet.co.uk — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:42:57 GMT

Hello,

Here's the update to the fingers situation, which I promised. Well, I saw the doctor yesterday and think I was able to convince him that enough is enough. I don't know how much longer I can take this, day in, day out. He's put me on to Gabapentin (3 x 25mg per day) and a slow-release version of the Nifedipine (1 x 60mg per day). I started the Gabapentin last night but had to go back to the chemist today, as they didn't have all of it and any of the Nifedipine in stock. I'm due to go back for a check-up on 28 October, and I'm told I should have noticed some difference by then. I certainly hope so. I hope that this is the start of a recovery of sorts, but I'm still very worried about the toll all of this is taking on me. It's costing me 2.5 days a week off now, which surely can't go on for much longer.

Let the fingers do the talking, I hope

patwa@patwanet.co.uk — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 21:30:42 GMT

Hello. It's been a long time since my last update but I just wanted to drop a note through to say I'm still alive and kicking. I've been busy with my placement at Cornerstone since the beginning of August, but I'l make a separate post on that shortly. Other than that, life's been fairly one-tracked, other than the occasional highlight now and again.

The main point of interest for today is that tomorrow, hopefully, my Reynaud’s issue may be a step closer to being better controlled. It has definitely worsened over the last few months, and is much more of an issue than a year ago. I have only to look at the daily journal I'm keeping as part of my Cornerstone project to see the number of days or part-days I'm having to call off due to the pain in the fingers being too much to work with. It's not the sort of thing I can just ignore and work through no matter how hard I try.

I finally spoke to Dr. Miller today and am to see him tomorrow evening. Maybe a little forward of me, but I've done some reading up on this tonight and have some suggestions to put to him - frankly I'm ready to do just about anything short of amputation to sort these fingers out (and yes, there is a Wikipedia article that suggests amputation as a cure!). I'm hoping he'll give me something useful, as I'm really not up to just sitting by the radiator and wearing Nordic-grade ski gloves for the rest of my days.

Anyway, short and uninteresting I know but for me this is really something to look forward to. The last three days have been agony so to be able to type this without too much discomfort is a real godsend. I'll feed back to you soon on how things go tomorrow, and about the other things happening in my life. For now, good tidings to you, take care and all the best.

New British Champion - Scottish National Acoustic Rifle Shooting Championships 2009

patwa@patwanet.co.uk — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 19:42:58 GMT

In a break from scheduled programming, I wanted to post about the Scottish National Acoustic Rifle Shooting Championships, which took place this last weekend. As both part-organiser and competitor, I've been involved in this since back in May, however for one reason and another, not helped by my surprise trip away, everything didn't really come together until last Thursday - well actually the Saturday afternoon as the electronic scoring systems decided to lose all their settings on Saturday morning, rendering them inoperable.

As in previous years we started with the stand-assisted (I refuse to call it supported any more as I think it sends the wrong signal to the world at large), with my detail starting at 13:30 following an overall delay of nearly three hours (thanks to Jim our coach for working his unique brand of magic and managing to fit everyone in throughout the afternoon). I thought I'd done fairly well with a 595, but this was later revised to 594, 2 points below my PB but one better than at Wolverhampton, and equalling Michael Whapples' score which landed me in third place (he beat me on countback on the 8th string). No prizes for guessing who came in first, although Carol surprised us with a 599 compared to her usual 600 - oh well, we all have our off days. We were all finished an hour earlier than planned so were off to Jim's place out at Banchory for a barbecue at 5pm. The weather was great, and I really enjoyed the drive out with Jim (much better than being packed like sardines in a taxi) although I didn't realise it was quite such a way off the beaten track (j/k). We sat out chatting for a while, and then went in for the meal - 4 types of salad, marinated chicken, sausages, burgers and ice cream with strawberries and a chocolate brownie for dessert. I somehow managed to down a bottle and a half of white wine in the process and still come out fairly steady and coherent, or so I'm told. Afterwards we got to talking about taking the sport forward, and (assuming everyone remembers the evening!) consideration will have to be given to whether splitting with the NSRA is really in the best interest of the sport and its shooters. The advantage is that joining with British Disability Sport would give us access to much needed funding, but the downside is that the process would probably take time, during which any competitive events would have to be put on hold. Anyway, it was a wonderful evening overall, and I was finally home at a quarter to midnight after riding back in the taxi for a tenner (not bad when I was as good as driven right around the city and back as we dropped everyone else off en-route).

Sunday was a different day altogether, although you wouldn't have thought it from the way I was feeling and the weather, which was typically depressing as only Aberdeen can be. I was feeling absolutely rotten, the fingers and toes were in full revolt and I was frankly ready to spend the whole day in bed dosed up on codeine (if I even had any). If it gives you any idea of how cold I was, I had a portable radiator plugged in at the club at full power and was heating my bare hands on it without feeling a thing. My turn to shoot the freestanding came at 11:30 but by then I really wasn't in the mood and just wanted to go home and forget it all. I was able to shoot the first three sighters and had good bulls (all within the inner 10 ring) but that was it. I felt myself burning up and the rifle was shaking in my hands so much it's a wonder I didn't shoot at someone else's target, or worse. Roger, one of our helpers who hasn't been in for a while due to having a new baby was loading for me, and I have to say he was really great about it all. I was ready to give up and not shoot at all, but he suggested I sit down at the back of the range for a few minutes to see if I would feel better and then try again. I felt like some sort of weak child but he was both comforting and encouraging. I ate half a bar of chocolate and had a drink of my usual sparkling water, and also got rid of the fleece I usually wear. That seemed to make a world of difference - something to remember in the future. Then I thought that if I didn't at least try, I'd probably never forgive myself once I was feeling better and could think back on the day clearly. And that was me. I was back on the range, and granted, it took me until just 3 minutes before the 1 hour 45 minutes allowed time was up, but I finished my 60 shot match - you hear me, I finished it! I was getting some really good strings of bulls as well, but didn't know what the score was, and frankly wasn’t even trying to keep track. I was just so please to finish whatever the result, even though I must have stopped at least a dozen times throughout.

I then had a break for about an hour before I was up again to take p9art in the stand-assisted 10 shot final. I was still in 3rd place, and this was the first time I'd done something like this, and was shaking like crazy. It's just so formal and controlled, not like anything I've done in practice. Anyway, I did my best, although I wasn't at all sure about some of the shots, and even had a 9.8 on one of them. But, fortune favour the bold and I was OK, in fact, more than OK. We had the results as soon as the final had finished, although for a few seconds I was panicking, as we were sure we may have to go into a sudden death style shootout, and I just know I couldn't have kept it together for that. But it was OK, and I came second, beating Michael by just over two points (decimal scoring is used during the 10 shot final so it's absolutely possible to get over 100 - Carol had over 105). It was time to clean up and then the presentation of the medals. We already knew the stand-assisted scores, but it was the freestanding ones that were to bring the shocks. The existing record was 580 set by Michael at Wolverhampton, with me coming second with 570. This time Michael exceeded his own score by one point to set a new British record, but wait for it, I had beat even that by scoring 586 - absolutely unbelievable. If it weren't for the fact that I trust Jim with my life (and was still feeling totally down) I would have demanded a recount. But the scores stand, so yours truly now stands as the new British Free-Standing Acoustic Rifle Shooting Championship with a new British record. I was presented with the Morag shield, a shield made up in memory of Morag, one of our shooters at Denwood who passed away a couple of years ago from Parkinson's disease. It's the first time it's ever been awarded, and will no doubt be engrained with my name in the coming weeks. I'll also get my 2nd place medal for the stand-assisted and 3rd place for the McRae (even though I hadn't entered it) when they're sent up from Wolverhampton soon.

So, a great weekend in terms of results, and I'm still completely stunned at the outcome. The only thing that could have been better is if I was feeling better, but I'd rather not focus on that. My next trick is to keep and exceed the record at the next Wolverhampton, if we end up making the trip, which is still to be discussed. As for the stand-assisted, I think I'll still keep working on that, but freestanding is definitely the way to go if we want the sport to expand beyond our borders. Practice makes perfect, so I'll be looking to get that in when I can, even though it'll probably bankrupt me in the process (taxi fares are going through the roof these days).

That’s all for now. My thanks to all that have sent messages of support and congratulations, some of whom I haven't spoken to in ages. It's that sort of support that makes it all worth it in the end, despite the stress and pain. I'll be back soon with a more general update on life, which is, quite interesting, is probably the best way to describe it. Until then, take care, best wishes and God Bless.

Hello from Dar

patwa@patwanet.co.uk — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 08:25:46 GMT

Hello world! I write to you from this very slow and clunky 64kbps 3G Wireless connection from my grandparent's house in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. It's a nuisance if you want to do anything quickly, so I'm limiting myself to the bare essentials. Still, there's a lot of hanging around as it takes literally minutes for each web page to load, but I guess it's better than nothing.

I'm out here with mum until the end of July. The original plan was for mum to come over herself after my uncle and gran asked her to, with me staying back in the UK to start my summer placement on 06 July. However, mum didn't feel comfortable travelling on her own so here I am. We're here to lend some support to my grandmother and the rest of our close family, and so most of the time has been spent indoors. It's really quite quiet, but it does make a nice change from the rush and 9-5'ness of life back home.

My laptop bit the dust a couple of days before we left, so I re-installed Vista and thought that was the whole thing sorted. Unfortunately, that then broke a couple of days after our arrival, so one of the guys at my uncle's office re-installed Vista, but only the Home Basic version. I'm almost scared to switch the thing on now, but I'll have to give it a go over the weekend and see if I can't upgrade it by changing the product key or something.

Otherwise, there's not much to report. My phone is working thankfully, and I finally managed to lift the sim card restrictions using an unlock code supplied by T-Mobile last year. Lucky thing too as it was my last attempt before the phone would have had to be sent for a hardware unlock at cost. I'm using a sim from Story Telecom which at least allows me to roam here without being charged for receiving calls.

More later, although it'll probably be after we return home at the end of the month. For now, I'm off for another drink - it's so humid here (but not all that hot) that one might as well spend all day in the shower for all the good using a handkerchief or towel does :)

Passing away - Grandfather R.I.P

patwa@patwanet.co.uk — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 06:40:55 GMT

My grandfather passed away in his sleep at my grandparent's home in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania some time during the night. He was around 85 years old and I'm told that he was not in too much pain when he died. My aunt (who also lives with them together with my uncle) called mum to let us know around 05:00 this morning. I've spoken to both of them to give my condolences but understandably, they're both very busy making arrangements for the funeral later this afternoon and with letting the rest of the family know. Two other grandchildren are in the US/Canada so it'll be at least a few more hours before news reaches them. I guess it hasn't really sunk in yet but that'll probably happen once all the immediate rush settles down. My heart and love go out to my grandmother who i think is taking it hardest of all, them having both lived and grown together for a very long time.

I'm not really sure how to feel right now. I'm sad of course that he's died, but I can't say I knew him all that well. Even though we usually visit every two years or so, I haven't really spoken to him much since our last trip back in 2007. Grandfather was ill with suspected Alzheimer’s disease, but ironically, he was reportedly getting better following a change of medication about a fortnight ago. I guess fate, or Karma, or whatever you want to call it just works in strange ways like that; either that or they just have a damned weird sense of humour. Anyway, I guess I'm feeling a little remote from it all right now, and not sure whether to be sad, fall to pieces or just be philosophical about it all and accept that these things happen and hope wherever he's moved on to on his next great adventure he's happy and free from pain.

Mum's also upset about it but I guess she's trying to brave it and continue with life as best she can (EDIT: The company she works for have been quite sympathetic about it all and have given her time off until Monday on compassionate grounds. They were quite angry that she even chose to go in in the first place. At least it's good to know they can be understanding when the need calls for it). She's not going to go over to Tanzania, even though I've said its fine by me if she does and she should go over now if she really wants to rather than possibly regret it later. I can't for obvious reasons, which I think and hope everyone will understand.

Well, I have a list of jobs from mum and for myself to work through today, and will probably spend the rest of the time fielding calls from friends and family and generally trying to move on with life with something resembling normality.

Grandfather, rest in peace, wherever you are, Ameen. We love you, always have and forever will.

On Track

patwa@patwanet.co.uk — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:01:45 GMT

Yes indeed. I was in this morning to see Nicola Duncan, the admissions coordinator at the University to find out what stage I'm at regarding my degree classification and what mark I can expect given performance over the summer. To my surprise, I'm still on track for a distinction but I'll need a CAS 18 or above for the Student Engagement Programme report to qualify. I asked about the grades for Business Development and Research Methods & Professional Conduct in Business but was told that it wouldn't have mattered if they were any higher - it's the summer work that counts. Nicola also re-affirmed my impression from last week that nothing will be done regarding the outcome of those courses' examinations. Word must spread like wildfire in this department - she seemed to already know about my feelings on the subject and perhaps also my talk with Lyn and Russell last Thursday. Well, I guess I'll have to accept that but as I said this morning, with all due respect we're just going to have to agree to disagree on this matter as I don't think it's one which I can change my stance on. It's truly unfortunate that we can't reach a consensus here, but life's like that I suppose. For now, I can rest happy that I'm on track for success if I can keep it together over the summer. I'm just going to forget the past for now and look to the future.

After the storm, the calm

patwa@patwanet.co.uk — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:59:53 GMT

Hello!

I have what amounts to a rather good past seven days in complete contrast to the week before.

We finally had enough of the heating problems on Wednesday as well as waiting for our regular engineer to call, so we called Scottish Gas and, after taking out a repair contract costing £2 per month had one of their guys out first thing on Thursday morning. He quickly diagnosed a heating fault and after conducting all the standard safety tests identified the problem as being a clogged tube in the boiler that was causing it to overheat from lack of water-cooling. This also cause water to flow back through the system and out through the overflow outside the house. The tube was promptly cleaned, after which at my request the guy checked out the water tank in the loft, pronouncing it perfectly safe and in full working order. The same was said for the hot water tank and associated systems. The only downside was that he advised us that the current overflow system poses a safety hazard to the neighbours due to the potential for scalding water to escape from it. We must now make the decision as to what to do given that caution. After all this, the heating works much more efficiently than ever before, heating up quicker and meaning we don't have to raise the thermostats as high. I expect the whole job to cost around £120 (discounted due to the contract) but have not received papers for it yet. It's a lot of money but its worth it for the peace of mind it has afforded us and the potential for fuel savings during the winter.

Our insurance claim for the garage doors is almost sorted. It turned out we hadn't heard back from them before now, as they had apparently not received confirmation from our contractor as to the legitimacy of the claim. What actually happened was that the contractor spoke to the insurance company two weeks ago, but their computers crashed taking the records of the claim with it. It makes us wonder why they did not contact us about this directly, as they must have known about the crash and surely would have checked to see if anything was missing. Anyway, I asked the contractor to call back and he spoke to a rep at the insurers, co-incidentally, the same one he spoke to before. The long and the short of it is that a cheque for the quotation amount should be with us shortly so we can have the work commissioned this week or next.

Ali and I are on speaking terms again, and the whole issue of his volunteer expenses refund seems to have blown over. Co-incidentally, I had a call from the club treasurer yesterday regarding a discrepancy between the amount owed and the total shown on the expenses receipts. This was quickly sorted and was probably an error by whoever added up the original total. Ali should have his cheque later this week, which he was really happy about. What greatly pleased me however was an assurance that the treasurer has no problems with honouring the volunteer expenses for next year, should we once again attend the championships at Wolverhampton. I just have to raise it with the Committee nearer the time to have it formally ratified.

I don't know if you recall my battle with Maplin from a few months back? Basically they sent me different halogen bulbs to the ones I ordered and to those listed on the website, confirmation e-mail and despatch note. They refunded the cost of the bulbs when I returned them, but not the delivery charge. I'd written two letters and sent two e-mails to them since then to no avail. Yesterday I spoke to trading standards who assured me I have a solid case against Maplin, but advised that I should send them one last letter outlining my intention to escalate the matter if I didn't hear from them within seven days from the date of the letter. I was half way through writing that letter this morning when I received a short, one line e-mail from Maplin stating that they would refund the delivery, but not the excess cost of the replacement bulbs ordered from elsewhere. I guess this is the best I can hope for and I'm going to accept this offer as opposed to pushing the matter further and just causing more stress and hassle for myself. Discretion is definitely the better part of valour here.

My Tesco Credit Card finally arrived and was activated on Friday. However, just to add another chapter to the saga, they failed to add my mother's maiden name to their security records despite asking for it during the card application process. Thus, I couldn't register for online banking. I phoned them and it was all sorted, but I still have to wait for a stupid code to be sent to me by post to complete the registration. This after the electronic signature mechanism breaking down, three lost customer agreements, one of which was incorrectly signed due to misleading instructions on the covering letter, and the details of my card not matching those on their system. Honestly, why can't things be simple like with MBNA, which was the smoothest experience I've ever had with a credit card provider? However, at least the balance transfer has now gone through so I can stop worrying about interest piling up on my Virgin card. The balance transfer will remain interest free with Tesco until next summer, at which point if needs be I'll start the whole transfer process again with another card.

In other news, all my phones are now working again, my air conditioner is up and running after Ali gave me a bung for it to replace the one lost in transit when my friend originally sent me the unit from London, and I finally sold the chainsaw I bought two years ago ()never used) for a slight profit.

Overall, a good week, don't you think?

A disasterous week all told

patwa@patwanet.co.uk — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 20:39:14 GMT

It seems like forever since I last updated this, but there is at once plenty but yet not very much to say. Life has taken on a sort of monotony, which is at once both exciting yet tedious. I find myself carrying a burdened mind this evening, and thought writing it here was perhaps the best way to get it out of the system.

This week has been somewhat of a disaster. Last Thursday mum reported that the pipe outside the house was leaking again. She suspected that it was the heating system, and upon contacting our regular engineer, we were told to bleed the radiators with the heating off. This made almost no difference at all. Yesterday, my regular taxi driver, who also incidentally worked as a plumber previously, had a quick look, only to tell us that we have been told almost complete and utter rubbish all this time. He proved by example that you are supposed to bleed the radiators with the system on, and indeed even after he did just two of them we noticed a significant reduction in the leakage. This is quite depressing. We put our trust in people who know their trade, and trust them to give us sound advice. We pay good money for them to come out and repair problems, yet we are never told how the problems were repaired, or how to avoid them happening in the future. Our regular engineer was the person who installed the heating, and indeed did most of the plumbing around the house about 15 years ago. He has always proved reliable, and we have had no reason to question his judgement. Now, we found out from someone with whom the situation was discussed purely by chance that what we have been doing all this time has had no effect whatsoever, and that we have in fact been pouring money down the proverbial drain in trying to fix problems, which recur every few months. I have decided I will bleed all the radiators this weekend, following the new set of instructions and hopefully this will solve the problem. The worst-case scenario is that the large water tank in the loft has overflowed, and is therefore saturating the ceiling. This would leave us in exactly the same position as four years ago, when half of the upstairs ceiling collapsed due to being waterlogged. That’s just not something I even want to contemplate right now.

Another issue causing frustration is that relating to the replacement of our garage doors. The front door has been either vandalised or damaged by a reversing car, and the side door is falling off its hinges. We filed a claim with our insurance company, and after taking some photos and sending them a quotation from a local repair outfit, thought that was the end of the matter. Nearly 10 days later, when trying to follow up the claim, we were told that we needed a crime reference number from the local police, which we did subsequently obtain. However, it makes us question why we weren't told this before, as it is hardly a difficult thing to do and would have saved so much time, stress, and inconvenience. Now that we have filed the relevant details with the insurance company, we can only hope that the local repairperson contacts us soon to arrange a time and date for the work to finally be completed.

This week also started badly as one of my friends who is also on the same course as me at university was accused of plagiarism and had to attend a formal meeting to discuss it. This is bad enough, however what is worse is that she was only told of this accusation the day before the exam for that same course. My friend has completed seven course works before this without problems, so it is understandably very distressing for her. Fortunately, but quite ridiculously as well, the result of the meeting was that it was concluded that it was a computer fault which detected an unusually high level of similarity between her work and that of other students. However, in a university, which prides itself on excellence, one must wonder how such a situation could arise, and how such a contingency was not anticipated beforehand. Luckily, for my friend, no sanctions will be taken against her, and a high mark she obtained for that particular coursework will be retained.

Another depressing situation is that which arose with my friend Ali earlier this week. In a nutshell, he is due reimbursement from the rifle club to cover the money he paid to Jim, which in turn cover his volunteer expenses during our recent trip to Wolverhampton. For one reason or another, the club treasurer has been dragging his heels over this matter, and as the representative for all the visually impaired shooters who is also on the club committee, it was my responsibility to ensure that the correct papers were filed to ensure that the payment could be made. It now appears after some communication with the treasurer, that he confused the payment of this year's expenses with last year's, as well as the fact that the reimbursement had already been approved by the committee in April. It doesn't help that the treasurer's day job often takes him out and about travelling, so he has little time to spend doing admin work. Ali is waiting for a new computer to be delivered, and needs the money to balance his bank account in order to pay for it. Understandably, the delay in getting his money back, together with the swings and roundabouts being perpetrated by the treasurer is getting to him. This all came to a head on Wednesday, when he called me to tell me of the latest developments. The guy started ranting and raving about the incompetency of the treasurer, the committee, and how all of this was just too much hassle. He even threatened to give up shooting altogether and withhold any equipment currently on loan to any of the shooters, and basically said that he could 'sod the lot of us'. I know this is quite selfish of me, but this is the last thing I want to see happen, given that he has given his rifle to me on loan, and it's a darned good rifle at that. The whole conversation became rather heated, and whereas I'm not one to take things too personally, I was trying to offer what I hoped was constructive help. Ali has always said that he doesn't want to burn any bridges with members of the club or the committee. I therefore suggested that he should write to the treasurer one last time, explaining the position, outlining the confusion and stating clearly in black and white what the solution was. His retort was that his forte was doing DIY and shooting, and not writing long-winded e-mails. When I offered to write a template for him, whom he could then send to the treasurer, he said I could do it if I wished but from the tone of his voice, he couldn't care less. Personally, I don't really care if he's angry or not. What bothers me is the fact that he seems to be getting angry at completely the wrong person, and it's far from constructive. I know that often we just need someone to speak to who can be a good listener and that's that. And I'm more than happy to play that role, and I've done it for several of my friends over the last few years. However, when the tone of the discussion turns personal, and has underlying sentiments that it is my fault that the current situation is as bad as it is, that is something I find very hard to take, especially as there is nothing really more that I can do to resolve the situation. As things transpired, I did write two e-mails to the treasurer that same afternoon, and I now understand that he will review the entire matter over the weekend. I have also sent him electronic copies of all the papers on file with the committee detailing the expenses incurred, which the treasurer had apparently not received. I have also alerted the committee secretary to the problem, and he will be looking into this as well. Since then, I've probably only said about three sentences to Ali, although I think I'm still on good terms with his wife. Ali admittedly has apologised to me, although it wasn't very much. I would just be happy with an understanding that one must not get angry at the wrong person, that it is very easy to lose friends and more difficult to make and keep them, and leave it at that. As far as I'm concerned that would be water under the bridge, and everything could return back to normal. What happens is yet to be seen, although I think a few days for everyone to cool off would not be a bad thing.

Apart from this, life has been fairly uneventful. I sat four exams towards the end of May, all of which I think past of at least somewhat successfully. Each of the exams had accompanying coursework earlier in the session; however, I'm still waiting for the results for some of these. I received a somewhat lower than expected mark for business development, however I am still considering whether or not to appeal this. Other than that, I am waiting to see what I will be doing over the summer. I have a choice between either a dissertation or a student engagement placement. The latter involves working over the summer for a local organisation selected by the university, the work for which will be assessed in the same way as the dissertation. I have already had one interview with Aberdeen Foyer, however as there was also a second person interested in the placement I must wait for them to be interviewed, and for the organisation to make a decision as to who they want to take on board. I was also told today that Cornerstone would be interested in seeing me for an interview; however, I am still waiting for a date and time to be confirmed. I would not mind working at either of these organisations, however as Cornerstone have worked for me before providing support when I was younger, I could probably empathise with them more however this may affect our working relationship. Until such time as I know more on any of these, I pretty much have the time to myself.

As if this week weren’t bad enough, other things that went wrong included my phone crashing just one too many times requiring the firmware and all applications to be reinstalled, my laptop going kaput after I tried out a new anti-virus program (Avira Premium Security Suite) recommended to me by one of my other friends, Tesco’s taking an age to sort out my credit card application and my having to fork out a boatload of cash for shooting pellets and target cards. After all that, I’m just about ready for the whole rotten week to end and to start afresh on Monday.

That's about it for now, however I'm only sorry that I wasn't able to report anything more positive this time. Unfortunately, that's just the state of mind I'm in at the moment, but as I said before hopefully putting this down in print will help to clear my head. Also, I'm using speech recognition for this, so apologies if it comes out somewhat more verbose than usual. And yes, I know there are far too many commas here, but that’s just something I’ll have to watch out for when using speech.

Medical Moans

patwa@patwanet.co.uk — Fri, 22 May 2009 17:58:30 GMT

Hello,

Once again, it’s been ages since I posted anything really newsworthy about my life, and once again, it is only due to someone nudging me on MSN and asking me about it a couple of days back. For the last month or so life has been somewhat of a painful blur, interspersed with Uni and the odd administrative toil so I guess you could say I haven’t really been living much of a life.

It all started when I got back from holiday in April, and went to see the doctor about this whole feeling so tired that I didn’t want to get out of bed in the morning business. He suspected anaemia, as I have had a history of this over the last few years, and he therefore ordered a blood test. This came back positive for anaemia, and also revealed a rather high glucose level. I was put on iron tablets almost right away, but it took two more blood tests before the doctor was satisfied with the results for my glucose levels, namely that they are dangerously high to the point where I am on the borderline between being diabetic and not. I’ve been taking the iron tablets since then, and I have to say that I am noticing a slight difference, but probably not as much as I would have liked or hoped.

At the same appointment in early April, my doctor also decided to advise me that he was recommending I stop taking the effervescent paracetamol tablets, which I take for both the neuralgia in my feet and the headaches. Apparently, they are trying to reduce all soluble tablet prescriptions, due to the high sodium content. The result of me moving to regular tablets was that my feet both rebelled and it left me in agony for about a week, even after I started taking the original ones again. It almost got to the point where I was going to the hospital for morphine injections several times a week, and I was told that if this continued my only option might be to return to taking the effervescent codeine-based tablets of the past. Needless to say, this is something I wanted to avoid with a passion. Things are starting to get back to normal now, or whatever serves as normal these days, however there are still long spells of pain where it is difficult to focus on anything else other than the agony flowing through my veins.

Then, about a week into the new University session, and coincidentally on the same day as yet another blood test, I started noticing that both hands were tingling, and would go numb from time to time. I went to see the doctor and he diagnosed me with carpal tunnel syndrome and provided me with a splint for my left hand. To cut a long story short, almost a month later the left hand is starting to feel a little bit more normal, however the right hand is still almost the same as it was, partly due to it taking them nearly 3 weeks to find a splint for it. you would think that with the new outsourcing of health facilities to local medical centres, that they would be able to obtain these things a little faster, but clearly not. The result of all this has been that I have been unable to take notes in lectures, which is quite upsetting as I feel it significantly, diminishes my understanding of the subject. More importantly, I have had to get an extension for two pieces of coursework, which will now probably only be handed in a few days before the exams which start next Wednesday. It was actually quite funny as I originally hoped to only use the extension for one weekend, but was almost ordered by the secretarial personnel at the business school to take it easy and not work at all. I’m a little ashamed to say I took this advice literally, hence the major backlog of work. I’ve been trying to get around my hands being disabled by using Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10, which I finally installed and configured. I’m pleased to say that the accuracy seems to be significantly better than in version 9. Also, to my pleasant surprise, the preferred version works with Microsoft Outlook, something I only thought was possible with the professional version before. I would be interested to hear back from you as to whether you think my style of writing has suffered in any way given that I’m not really used to speaking what I want to write aloud. I definitely feel this has an impact on the way in which I phrase things, but I guess this is not something you realise fully until someone points it out to you.

Honestly, the way things have been going recently it’s quite hard to find anything really positive to say. I suppose one interesting thing was that I received a new talking book player from RNIB after writing to them expressing interest in testing the new device. There are several functions, which I really like, such as the faster fast forward and rewind, time and date announcement, and best of all the ability to copy from CD to USB, or the internal memory. I am also part of the focus group providing feedback on the player. Another exciting thing that happened was that my interview for the NB magazine was finally published, as well as that for the BBS Target magazine. I’ll have both of these on the website as soon as I can get round to it.

I guess that’s really all for now. I should get back into the habit of updating more regularly, especially as I don’t have the excuse of not being able to type any more what with the speech recognition and all. I’m really hoping my mood and life in general will pick up sooner rather than later, as now really isn’t the time for a major breakdown. Here’s hoping life has been good to you all, or at least better than it has for me.

Until next time, take care and all the best.

A dark day for freedom indeed (TPB)

patwa@patwanet.co.uk — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 13:35:00 GMT

Today marks a very, very sad day for us all.

This morning the Stockholm District Court handed down guilty verdicts, including one-year prison terms and a 30m SEK fine to four of the key members of The Pirate Bay Bit torrent website. The charges included the promotion of copyright infringement by the site's estimated 22m worldwide users and accessory to the same. This case marks the first of its kind in Sweden, which has always taken a relatively liberal attitude to file sharing in the past, and could set a dangerous precedent for other states in the years to come. The four men charged have vowed to appeal. This case comes after several years during which TBP offices have been raided and noises made about putting a stop to their activities, however this is the first time legal action has been sought.

Today marks a dark day for the freedom of online communication and collaboration, a hallmark of the modern times we live in and one, which we have accepted as fundamental in our 21st century global society. For me, this case rings sinister alarm bells. Granted, and setting any economic nuances aside for a moment, an argument can be made that illegal file sharing of copyright material is an unacceptable offence, but I feel this sidelines the many non-illegal uses of file sharing technologies, which are used every day. These include, for example, the wide distribution of open-source material so as to increase its accessibility to a worldwide audience, and the sharing of individually created material for mass, non-profit consideration and benefit where no copyright is intended or enforced. Linux and the considerable work related to it contributed by the end-user community is just one example of this.

This is why this case is so appalling. In many ways, this case is no different to the prohibition of freedom of expression rampant in so many countries, yet which is denounced so vigorously by the general international community. If one can be allowed to share one's view verbally on the street, or publish articles in the press, why cannot one share one's media online? Granted, this is far short of major copyright infringement, but this just proves my point that this case has tarred all these activities with the same brush. This is apart from the fact that, under both Swedish law and those of many other countries, it is not an offence to provide links to any material, no matter how legal or illegal, which is not hosted by the link provider. This is akin to saying that putting up a signpost in the street pointing to a house that is not yours is illegal. It is not. Even if someone then went and used your signpost as a directive to rob that house, it is still not illegal. It's not your fault the house was robbed, unless of course you instructed the robber to do as such, which is a different kettle of fish entirely.

I suppose it is just good that not all politicians have completely lost their minds, and that even those at the European Parliament level agree that this whole affair is nothing short of ludicrous. I have to agree also that there is definitely a level of political jockeying here, as the decision of the court is almost a complete turn-around from what was being said just a few months ago.

Two articles, which I hope, shed light from both sides of the case:
TheLocal.se - Pirate Bay Guilty
Svenska Dagbladet - Peter Sunde Kaller Domen Bisarr

I just hope that this does not spawn negative repercussions, which spill over into other areas, and that it does not provoke society into becoming even more insular than it already is. That is anything but what we need in the here and now and far from conducive to a brighter, more liberal future.

Maybe there is light yet...

patwa@patwanet.co.uk — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 19:33:18 GMT

Hi,

I watched Barack Obama's speech on the economy via France24 today. It was really heartening to see someone able to explain the problems we face, and more importantly what needs to be done to fix those problems in a way which was easy to understand and which allowed people to relate to the issues at hand. The first part of the speech could just as well have been a high school economics lecture over an important update to the nation, which is in no way a bad thing. If all politicians spoke this way I think the world would be a better place for the hope and trust people would place in their leaders. I think much of the voter apathy and negative sentiment that one finds in both developed and developing nations stems from leaders' inability to govern at the level of their constituents and to instil the motivation and drive that would lead people to help themselves as well as be helped by the state.

I try not to make a habit of this, but when Obama speaks, it's hard not to feel uplifted and that life really can be what we make of it rather than life leading us without any control or restraint. Very few people have this ability, to not just take at people but to really engage with them and see that engagement reflected back in the form of real action on the ground.

You can read the full text of the speech here. There is supposed to be a video of the speech here but I can't get it to work. If anyone knows of a link to a working, complete video do let me know.

Muhammeds Ansigt - So simple, yet so complex

patwa@patwanet.co.uk — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 20:50:05 GMT

I just got back from attending a fascinating debate as to what extent reaction or sanction is justified based on individual opinion expressed in the public domain by those with whom it conflicts. This all stems from the recent uproar over Turkey's (up until the 11th hour, anyway) refusal to accept former Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen's nomination as candidate for the position of Secretary General of NATO. That, in turn, hails from the offence caused by the publication of cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad’s face in a Danish newspaper, the Jyllandsposten, back in 2005.

I'm probably not going to be too popular for doing this, but as I believe it's important to have all the facts of the matter to hand, here's a direct link to the cartoons in question: Muhammeds Ansigt Unfortunately, the original page on the Jyllandsposten website in Danish is down with a 404 error. I wonder why?

The debate was quite interesting with, as expected, the two main points of view; 1) that the cartoons were blatantly offensive to both Islam and the entire Muslim world and that the lack of any public sanctions by mediators or even the Danish Folketinget just highlights the western world's derision and lack of tolerance for any other faith, and 2) that the cartoons were an expression of an opinion, that we all have the right to free speech and that as no-one was specifically implicated in the editorial that those who disagree with the view should feel free to do so without stooping to violence and blowing the issue out of all proportion both represented. Personally, I mostly share the latter view, which seemed to surprise quite a few people. As a Muslim myself, I was not offended by the cartoons in the least. Maybe it's just my view on life, but I know what I believe in, and if anyone wants to contradict that they are more than free to do so as long as it doesn't infringe on my right to observe my own faith in the manner I see fit. Clearly, these cartoons don't infringe such rights so I really can't see what the great hoo haa is about.

It's really quite interesting that such issues cause the amount of friction that they do, seeing as there have always been differences of opinion between people, be they over politics, sport or religion, and there have always been those who will express views in different ways, even though some of those may be tactless or provocative. I do think the way the cartoons were published was done in bad taste, and that a full justification of the views attempting to be expressed by them should have been divulged at the same time. However, I think in today's world, where we have so many more important issues, which impact us all, no matter who we are, we should all strive to moderate ourselves and focus on those issues of most importance in the here and now. Doubtless this is an overly optimistic hope, given that there are those groups with certain agendas that seem to be single-mindedly self-driven to the point where all else becomes irrelevant, but as this debate and the issues raised within showed, there must be a central point where the expression of free speech and reaction to that can meet in a way which is non-destructive to society as a whole. I do not agree with the overly exaggerated response to what was, at the end of the day, a point of view, even if that viewpoint did conflict with fundamental principles of the Muslim faith. However, something clearly has to be said when the response to that goes to the point where it imposes potentially serious ramifications on political and economic stability on a broader scale.

To round off this topic, Turkey did eventually exceed to backing the nomination, after a last-minute intervention of Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi. I think the chosen candidate is a good one, someone who is moderate in his views and actions, and who seems to have an open mind when it comes to sensitive topics. I think at a time where NATO is looking to expand its sphere of operations, this can only be a good thing and it will be interesting to see what happens in the months and years to come.

Still around, but it's a close call

patwa@patwanet.co.uk — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 19:52:34 GMT

Hello,

It's been an age since I updated last, but I really haven't had the time or energy to post previously. I'm only writing today after being nudged by a friend on MSN.

Life since February has just been one long working marathon, predominantly dominated by Uni classes. The courses are directly tailored towards my MSc programme (Management, Innovation & Change) but have been compacted into six weeks rather than twelve. Therefore, we effectively have twice the workload in half the time. The Enterprise Creation project itself took up six weeks, during which time we had to write up a business plan for an existing business, which has been floundering for the last two years. Ironically, we spent more time focussing on research, interviewing people and discussing possibilities than the actual business plan, not that the former isn't important when establishing a business but it did rather detract from the overall aims of the course. The project was worth 100% of the marks, which will be released in June.

Talking of marks, I passed all my exams back in January. I received CAS grades of 19 in Accounting & Finance, 18 in Business Strategy and 17 in both Operations Management and Economics. I'd hoped for a higher mark in Economics, as it was my favourite subject, but all in all the damage, if any, to my degree certificate chances is minimal.

I'm now on holiday (if one can call it that when I have four papers due in at almost the same time when I go back) until 20 April. I really do need the break, I think, as things were getting really dicey towards the end. When you start wondering what the point of it all is and why what you achieve never quite seems to be good enough for yourself, there's surely a problem somewhere. When you start asking yourself why you bother getting up in the morning, why you even try when the rewards never seem to be all that apparent, it's definitely time for a reality check. It didn't help that I was indirectly told last Wednesday that I'm the only one out of nine on my course on track for a distinction at this time. I'll pretend I didn't hear that so as not to become complacent. I just hope everything doesn't come crashing down on the home straight and that I can use this time out of the daily grind (err, routine) to recharge the batteries a little. My friends reckon one of my problems is that I'm too much of a perfectionist; that I'm pushing myself beyond my limits when I'm already way past the goal posts. They tell me it's leading me right down the road to burning myself out, and I have to agree. However, that just seems to be the type of person I am. I can't not help trying to prove myself beyond all reasonable doubt. Of course, maybe my stopping taking Codeine the Sunday before last (yes, I can hear the uproar across the ether already, thought I'd gotten over that, didn't you?) wasn't the best of plans for the last week of the session.

In other news, I attended the British National Shooting Championships in March where I picked up three medals, and there's some technology news. However, I'm going to post that as back entries so as not to make this too long.

Back in a bit, I'm tired again after just typing this. Incidentally, the clocks moved forward an hour last Sunday. Interestingly, TalkTalk's 1471 service didn't change in sync with the rest of us and was delayed by several hours. Nokia handsets also have the annoying quirk of moving all of the phone's timestamps, including those for messages and calls forwards or backwards an hour, which plays havoc with trying to keep track of things. I'm sure it's meant to be helpful in someone's mind, but it's just a nuisance to me.

PC Accessibility for the Blind 101

patwa@patwanet.co.uk — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 02:49:26 GMT

Hi,

Well, I read about this free software by System Access to go today and I
was excited to try something new. Ironically, people on this list often
criticise Dolphin for poor planning and incompetence during the latter
stages of the development process, and their support to customers. I'm
sorry, but Satogo got me annoyed within 30 seconds of loading their site.
Having been a beta tester for several software vendors and being one who
likes to test out new software, I can honestly say that's a first.

OK, so the first impression of the site is great; a nice, clean interface,
just one link and a nice voice prompt telling me to press Enter to get
started. Then, a simple 2.71MB download, and I'm ready to roll. But,
forcibly terminating my existing accessibility product, which I'd
incidentally used to get to the site in the first place, without warning,
thus causing me to lose any unsaved settings in that application, and then
playing music at me for nearly two minutes, again without any feedback
left me wondering just what on earth it was doing to my poor computer.
OK, no worries, let's move on.

So, I finally have speech back, totally ignoring my computer's sound
settings and booming out at me from my rear left speaker, nerve-janglingly
emulating the dark days of hardware synthesisers and their Darlek
undertones at their worst. Now what's this? I have to log in? Account
number and PIN? Is this some kind of scam? Oh, but no fear, I can create
an account if I don't already have one, or, I guess I could just continue
without. Since when have I needed an account to have my computer speak to
me? But moving on.

Ah, I can press Alt+H for help. Well, as they kindly didn't provide any
guidance on how to use the system before it was installed, or even whilst
it was being installed, that's quite comforting. A new window pops up,
telling me to kindly read the entire help file before contacting technical
support. No mention of just how to do that, or even that support was
available, but I do have the tendency to shoot first and ask questions
later, so maybe I'll wait and it'll all become clear in due course. And
that's it. Yes, I'm not just cutting this short so I can catch some
well-deserved shut-eye that is truly it!

Maybe if I press the down arrow it'll continue, and offer me some inkling
of what I should do next. Maybe it's one of those old-fashioned jobs that
don’t know how to scroll past the visible window. But no, I'm told, twice
no less, once by the suicide-inducing fellow and again by another guy who
sounds like he's had one too many on a Saturday night (oops, it is
Saturday night as I write this but I digress) that I'm already at the end
of the document. Is he kidding me? Try again, with the same result. And
again, just in case good things really do come in threes. Nope, clearly
not this time.

So let's just get this straight so we're damned sure there's no mistake.
This thing which is actually suppose to help people has hijacked my
computer, caused old Bach to roll over in his grave and my neighbours to
seriously consider committing me to an asylum for my taste in music, given
me the strong desire to break something and helped me do absolutely
nothing. Nothing! And it didn't even have the decency to tell me how to
shut the god-forsaken thing up. I had to work that out myself, and even
then it meant ending my entire web browsing session - I had pages up I was
consulting between, thank you very much.

So, in summary, whereas the concept is good the delivery, implementation
and support are sorely lacking. I recommend this to anyone who either
fancies a joke, or is collecting artefacts for the worst design of the
year award. Come back when you've done your homework, tested it, asked
users about it, tested it again and got your house in order. Oh, but
wasn't that what people said about Dolphin?

This review is being posted on several mailing lists, the patwaspotterfan
blog on LiveJournal and elsewhere on the web. The Satogo software was run
on a Windows Vista computer using both IE7 and IE8 and was used simulating
a blind user with no useable sight for maximum effect. No information,
which personally identifies any individual other than myself, is intended
with this submission.

Dying for a lousy bit of paper

patwa@patwanet.co.uk — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 01:59:13 GMT

I feel sick, physically sick to my stomach. The kind of feeling which onlycomes from the realisation that if just one of many things had been done differently, I wouldn't be in this mess now.

I've realised that my Creative Gigaworks S750 7.1 Surround Sound Speakers are dead, or rather the subwoofer is. There's no electrical power going to it, no lights, nothing, even though the fuse is fine. That's the easy part. It's finding the purchase receipt that's the cause of my current misery.

I bought the speakers from Advancetec along with several other things, a hard drive included, in February 2007. But after two hours of trying I can't find the receipt anywhere. Oh, I've got proof for every other order from these guys, I've got delivery proofs from ages ago, I've even got a receipt for a £4.99 PCI USB card I bought off eBay in 2004. But the one damned piece of paper that could save me now is nowhere to be found.

I've now started resorting to the desperate measures of asking Advancetec if they can source the order receipt, although I doubt they'd even get back to me. I've turned my room and the guest room upside down trying to find it. I've looked in every box, jiffy bag and anything else that looks like it could hold a receipt to no avail. It's the one receipt I didn't ask for by e-mail, the one receipt I didn't throw in the usual drawer with everything else and the one god damned piece of bloody paper I didn't leave under the scanner, in the box for the speakers, in my rucksack or anywhere else one would even remotely think of leaving it.

I can't even sleep now I'm so preoccupied trying to find it. And if it doesn't show up by itself, or as a result of some devine intervention, then I'm honestly and unabashedly going to cry. That's after I've come up with several hundred conspiracy theories about people who surely must have had something to do with this, just to spite me. I can't even remember ever reading the thing, yet I can almost swear I remember shoving the paper somewhere in this room as I was stacking the boxes. And remember, this is the stuff I left sitting here for 18 months before I even opened the boxes. That's it, it's just got to be that heating guy. It's too damned convenient that he disappears off to New Zealand for months, then comes back happy as anything and then a few days later my speakers die on me and my receipt is nowhere to be found. If it's not him, it's probably the Sky TV guy, or the gas meter chap, or even that what's the name company fellow that came to deliver something or other. It's schadenfreude, that's what it is. Gah! People just have no sympathy for innocent people who just want to go about their lives, returning things perfectly legally under the warranty when they break, and when all they ask for is that their receipts make themselves available when needed, instead of driving said people balmy and right up the wall.

Right, I'm going to post this, then turn everything inside out again, hit something, break something, think of more conspiracies and maybe get round to doing the reading I need to do for my course later this morning. Then I'll start again, and if it hasn't showed up then, well I haven't got that far ahead thinking yet, but it'll probably be loud, rude and long lasting.

It's a wicked world, truly evil it is.