Message Board MONTHLY (daily)
John: Blackberries
Lox
Thu May 15 18:52:34 2008

oh! 789 four five 13 eight 40
tom
Thu May 15 17:01:42 2008

John! Are you about tonight? I'm working late in London (8pm??) and grabbing a hotel for later... Which means, I'll be about tonight and probably tomorrow afternoon (for lunch?!)
tom
Thu May 15 17:01:16 2008

Contrary bug..r
Mad Mumsie
Thu May 15 12:19:48 2008

Oooh I think I am going to go for raspberries.
John
Thu May 15 11:51:23 2008

Blackberries.
Mad Mumsie
Thu May 15 11:12:45 2008

Blackberries.
Kev
Thu May 15 10:45:59 2008

Raspberries, I think, but it's close.
Simon
Thu May 15 10:22:24 2008

Quick poll - which are nicer, raspberries or blackberries?
John
Thu May 15 09:39:47 2008

Morning! :D

Thanks MM! Yes, that's understandable! :) :)
Nigel
Thu May 15 09:30:57 2008

Good morning all. Nigel, it's a bit like, two and eleven three, used when you have no idea how much something costs.
Mad Mumsie
Thu May 15 08:36:55 2008

mORNING ALL
Kev
Thu May 15 08:21:39 2008

Thanks John; I appreciate it. For some reason this strange concoction just doesn't sit well with my "eye"!
Nigel
Wed May 14 22:19:48 2008

Nigel - I believe it is used for times when you're not sure if the measurement you want is one inch or 2.3 inches. Hope this helps.
John
Wed May 14 18:20:39 2008

... Oh, and "Good Morning all!" :)
Nigel
Wed May 14 10:42:10 2008

I know I'm exceedingly dense sometimes, but I just can't get my head around this measurement - 1/2.3" . Must be just me because this expression seems fairly common in all things photographic...
Nigel
Wed May 14 10:41:34 2008

Morning Sheri, Morning MM, Morning Kev.
John
Wed May 14 10:15:15 2008

Morning MM. Morning Kev.
Sheri
Wed May 14 09:46:39 2008

Morning All.
Kev
Wed May 14 08:36:29 2008

Morning all. Tom - are you out there - OC Bracknell Sqn has asked me to give you a gentle reminder about Browndown.
Mad Mumsie
Wed May 14 08:34:49 2008

Have just spent a while scrubbing spam off the maison again. Whilst this is a particularly hateful task to have to do, it does at least remind me about some of the older articles on the site. Curiously the Diamond Car Insurance debate is still smouldering on, six years after it started. Even after I deleted a load of spam there were still over 250 comments on there.
John
Tue May 13 23:33:36 2008

Hi Lox. Funny thing today was that a colleague showed me an email our office manager had sent her, about some extra responsibility she had voluntarily taken on. It was incredibly nasty and showed the manager in a whole new light for me... Quite unsettling to learn such a thing which previously no-one had ever talked about. I need to watch my step...
Nigel
Tue May 13 22:24:34 2008

Today I have had one of the hardest days at work, with lots of things happening and the usual "interrogation" from the boss... The more I am in this company the more I understand how things work, it's bloody hard to survive when things are all messed up! :(
Lox
Tue May 13 22:08:25 2008

Well, I'm back home now, after another fun day at work! It seems a little cooler today - 20-degrees-C. I would have enjoyed your motorcycle today Sheri!! :)
Nigel
Tue May 13 20:02:15 2008

'lo Nigel.
Sheri
Tue May 13 19:24:35 2008

Good afternoon chaps! :D
Nigel
Tue May 13 15:03:20 2008

Anyway, hello everyone.
Sheri
Tue May 13 14:38:14 2008

John : I meant that your body, soaked with alcohol, got used to it... (but I'spose you're just teasing me. I never know for sure.)
Sheri
Tue May 13 13:04:04 2008

Not sure what you're talking about there Sheri, the only word that stood out in that sentence was "whisky".
John
Tue May 13 10:53:14 2008

Peace to his soul!
Sheri
Tue May 13 07:39:17 2008

Lox : fact is, I still can get drunk! Which means that my body is not *immune* to it. In John's body, every single cell is soaked in whisky. As a consequence, the poor chap can't feel a thing anymore.
Sheri
Tue May 13 07:33:38 2008

Sheri: I am starting to worry about you and your liver... I mean you are drinking too much, what a BAD EXAMPLE for poor old Brinsley!!
Lox
Mon May 12 17:42:56 2008

Lol :-D
Sheri
Mon May 12 16:39:45 2008

Sheri - how does that differ from any other day? :)
John
Mon May 12 14:55:50 2008

Ah well, too bad. I'm quietly sipping a glass of white wine on my terrace...
Sheri
Mon May 12 14:46:42 2008

Sadly not, Sheri! We have one on the 26th...
Nigel
Mon May 12 14:11:27 2008

Is it not a bank holiday in Mint Jelly Land (as it is over here)?
Sheri
Mon May 12 13:56:45 2008

Afternoon all!
Well, John, I have to say it's going OK here. They finally managed to turn the air-con on so the temperature has come down from the ceiling. Looks great outside, but everyone's coming in bright red and perspiring...
Nigel
Mon May 12 13:40:39 2008

So how are everyone's Mondays going?
John
Mon May 12 12:57:19 2008

Yes I think you could be right Kev.
John
Mon May 12 12:55:29 2008

I think its going to be warm again today :)
Kev
Mon May 12 08:56:57 2008

Mornng Kev.
John
Mon May 12 08:28:05 2008

Morning All
Kev
Mon May 12 08:23:04 2008

Wowo that looks hard to implement... I normally browse the web with my mac, I have to switch on the hotspot every time because it is attached to the network Hard Drive and if I leave it on all the time the disc keeps spinning endlessly and that's not very good for the hard drive...
Lox
Sun May 11 17:43:50 2008

No plans here. I have been fiddling about with my Mac Mini. It is set up in the lounge as a sort of Media Centre - I mainly use it for Eye TV and Front Row. However now and again I want to use it to browse the web, but it is awkward as it means I have to sit on the floor. So I have been looking into how I can use the Apple Remote to control Firefox or Safari. So far I have just found a little app called iRed Lite, which someone has written a "layer" for which lets you control GMail in Firefox. It gets me some of the way there, but isn't much good for anything other than GMail... It seems like a remote controlled web browser really ought to be a solved problem, and yet I've never seen a decent stab at it.
John
Sun May 11 13:39:28 2008

Morning.... Doing anything special today?
Lox
Sun May 11 10:52:22 2008

Wasn't the bus dead packed with people?
Sheri
Sat May 10 19:35:35 2008

Perfect opportunity to pinch a few buttocks anonymously! I know you're the type...
Sheri
Sat May 10 17:38:23 2008

Afternoon all! I'm on a bus crawling through a heavily congested London on the way home. It ain't half hot!
John
Sat May 10 17:31:41 2008

... now that's something I hesitate to do until someone gives me a clue as to what might happen!! :)
Nigel
Sat May 10 16:11:18 2008

Try searching "Pricasso" on google... Even more strange things come up!!
Lox
Sat May 10 14:49:37 2008

Very amusing Lox!
John
Sat May 10 09:36:59 2008

Guys have you seen this guy he's DEAD funny! :D
Lox
Sat May 10 08:45:52 2008

Can we do the same with Mohammed? Or shall it spark off a new jihad?
Sheri
Sat May 10 06:53:13 2008

Yes it was of course a joke - the friend-of-a-friend (his name is Andy) is one of the funniest people I've ever met. One of the other funniest people I've ever met is our very own Kev - I completely love that dancing Jesus!
John
Sat May 10 01:16:56 2008

John, I think your friend-of-a-friend is right, its a bit minimalistic, perhaps you can suggest on Monday an addition of a Dancing Jesus ?
Kev
Fri May 9 20:46:55 2008

John: Can I meet this guy? If it's real I think that you should take a picture at him...
Lox
Fri May 9 18:11:44 2008

Also, that must be a joke, please....
Simon
Fri May 9 16:59:26 2008

John: I think you just found your new company mission statement :)
Simon
Fri May 9 16:58:50 2008

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D !!!!!!! (to put it mildly!!)
Nigel
Fri May 9 13:36:50 2008

I gave a friend-of-a-friend my business card last week. Today I got a mail from him which read:

"I’ve had a look at your company website. It’s quite minimal on the front page but there’s a pretty good search function."
John
Fri May 9 13:26:26 2008

Morning!
Lox
Fri May 9 11:06:12 2008

Good morning Maisoneers :)
Nigel
Fri May 9 09:38:51 2008

Kev: Was your injury a meniscus problem or a real cartilage issue? No ligaments included? It's a real pain in the arse anyways. Something that I would not wish to anyone...
Lox
Thu May 8 21:33:35 2008

Well Lox's knee has made me a bit queasy, had a similar injury myself, from playing football ( not played since ), I took the - no operation - poke cartilage when required back into place myself - option. Turns out its quite handy for predicting weather patterns too.
Kev
Thu May 8 21:02:35 2008

Quiet again today!
John
Thu May 8 20:49:04 2008

Morning all! :)
Oh cripes! Sorry to hear that Lox :( Take it easy mate...
Nigel
Thu May 8 08:50:05 2008

Morning... posting from home... The day before yesterday my knee broke down again while I was walking at work... do I have to add anything more? :(
Lox
Thu May 8 07:27:21 2008

Hi Sheri! Hi all! :D
I'm not dull - just full of cold :( However the present beautiful weather has cheered me up considerably!
Nigel
Wed May 7 13:04:31 2008

Everyone seems to be in a dull mood. Morning!
Sheri
Wed May 7 10:19:48 2008

Lox: glad you noticed the search box. I realised I was typing site:maison-de-stuff.net into Google a lot, so thought it was time for our own custom search. Enjoy!
John
Tue May 6 10:36:55 2008

Thanks Nigel! Hello MM and 'morning everyone
Sheri
Tue May 6 06:54:42 2008

Good evening all. Sorry this comment is a bit late, but I've had a couple of days off work. Yes John, just you and me, I voted some 14 days ago. I worked in a polling station on Thursday so had to vote by post. I think Boris is a very clever man, and knows exactly what he is doing with the buffoon personna. After all when you saw the two of them side by side, with Ken's mac done right up to the neck and Boris in a suit with the jacket undone, who looked the more open of the two?
Mad Mumsie
Mon May 5 22:50:56 2008

Oh gawd, I fluffed a little there... The "=" in the middle between color and Blue is correct and doesn't need changing etc... Where's a web-meister when we need one?!?!? :D
Nigel
Mon May 5 22:42:05 2008

... and the weeny bit of code I used was =font color="Blue"= Hello Sheri! =/font= which is about as simple as it gets I guess... Just replace the "=" with "<" ">" etc...
Nigel
Mon May 5 22:40:35 2008

Many ways, but a simple one for the 16 predefined colours could be:
Hello Sheri! ...
Nigel
Mon May 5 22:37:17 2008

Question : what do I have to write if I want to change colour for the text in my entries. Something like ...COLOR="a0a0ff"...?
Sheri
Mon May 5 21:53:42 2008

Why, of course!!! ;) ;)
Nigel
Mon May 5 20:03:20 2008

Do I sense a feeling of jealousy, Nigel?
Sheri
Mon May 5 19:56:06 2008

Go for it, Sheri!! (You wicked person, you!) Better check with Christelle first though...!!!!!!!! ;)
Nigel
Mon May 5 19:50:52 2008

Evening, everyone. Gonna go for a jog right now. Have to keep fit if I want to please (and keep) my mistress. 'later
Sheri
Mon May 5 18:54:51 2008

John: SOMEONE has put a nifty internal search engine sponsored by Google on the main page!! :D Nice stuff!
Lox
Mon May 5 17:39:47 2008

Morning Tom. How's things?
John
Mon May 5 10:28:14 2008

Hey all. Been a while!
tom
Mon May 5 10:06:12 2008

Morning all. Any bank holiday plans? I think we're going to Kew gardens.
John
Mon May 5 08:36:11 2008

Actually it's a nice weather here is Pizzaland, so we are going out with Chiara before she starts work, apparently we are going to attend to some birthday of a friend of her.
Lox
Sun May 4 10:27:16 2008

Morning all!
Missed the opportunity for a beer garden today. Thunder and lightning and rain this morning! :(
Nigel
Sun May 4 10:02:34 2008

AAAHhhhhhh... Beer Gardens....
Lox
Sat May 3 23:44:11 2008

Ahhh..... apparently beer garden season has started already in Japan. I'm getting very itchy feet all of a sudden!
John
Sat May 3 22:49:15 2008

Kev: yes that`s right, I'll be packing up a promising career in IT to go and scrape bits of fossil fuels off the side of a cave, because that's what the upper classes expect of me.
John
Sat May 3 22:46:17 2008

John: Why did you vote Robert Redford as the new major of London?
Lox
Sat May 3 12:41:23 2008

So is it back dahn t'Pit for you then john?
Kev
Sat May 3 12:08:59 2008

:D
I just keep thinking of his appearances on "Have I Got News For You"!
Nigel
Sat May 3 08:42:05 2008

http://youtube.com/watch?v=TSqkdcT25ss
John
Sat May 3 08:24:25 2008

Has anyone seen Monty Python's Upper Class Twit of the Year sketch? For some reason I am reminded of it...
John
Sat May 3 08:23:41 2008

Hmmm I may partly take that back - I read it first time round, but just now I watched the video of the speech... Oh dear, we're being presided over by the village idiot.
John
Sat May 3 08:22:55 2008

Yes Nigel, I have to agree that was quite well done.
John
Sat May 3 08:15:59 2008

Morning all :)
John, though I fully understand your sentiments there, re the new Mayor, I have to say his acceptance speech and recognition of Livingstone and his efforts, seemed incredibly magnanimous and decent.
Nigel
Sat May 3 08:06:15 2008

Hello Mr Watson! I'm good thanks, how're you?
John
Sat May 3 07:51:24 2008

Oh sweet jesus, the buffoon got in. I think this is one of those "what is this country coming to?" moments.
John
Sat May 3 07:49:56 2008

Syntax Error! :D
Nigel
Fri May 2 19:53:08 2008

so John would you ?
Kev
Fri May 2 15:42:56 2008

Hi John, how are you sir?
Simon W
Fri May 2 14:25:04 2008

When it comes to whether to continue executing code after an exception is thrown that's a huge generalization. Imagine code to transfer money from one bank account to another implemented as remove from one, add to the other. If there's an error with the remove step do you really want the add to continue? I think I would argue that unhandled errors are worse than unhandled exceptions in important applications.
Simon
Fri May 2 14:03:55 2008

Oops, refresh error :) I think in general that it comes down to 6 of one and half-a-dozen of the other. Both approaches have inherent problems and will break when used by lazy programmers. Equally both can be very powerful when used correctly.
Simon
Fri May 2 13:57:11 2008

John: Hmmm, broad strokes there. How many people do you think remember to check the return code from every call they make and handle all errors properly - including propagation of relevant errors? The nice thing about exceptions is that important errors don't go un-noticed. Can you be more specific in your complaint?
Simon
Fri May 2 13:55:26 2008

In other words, exceptions often end up being used as the alternative to writing the code which deals appropriately with whatever error condition they represent.
John
Fri May 2 13:13:18 2008

It's the fact that quite often throwing an exception means that huge swathes of code don't get executed, which probably should have been. I've seen several examples of mature pieces of code which have been modified by a number of people, where they've added in some error checks, found that the class in question has an existing exception class associated with it, and then thought "oh well it's obviously appropriate to throw that exception then" - and suddenly you're throwing millions of dollars of business data on the floor.
John
Fri May 2 13:11:34 2008

John: Hmmm, broad strokes there. How many people do you think remember to check the return code from every call they make and handle all errors properly - including propagation of relevant errors? The nice thing about exceptions is that important errors don't go un-noticed. Can you be more specific in your complaint?
Simon
Fri May 2 12:48:37 2008

On a completely unrelated note, for those of us writing Java/C++ or whatever, is it only me that think exceptions are just a fundamentally bad idea? If they were handled correctly, that would be fine, but in practice it seems they never are. They're the goto statements of our generation, if you ask me.
John
Fri May 2 11:53:40 2008

Yes, I agree. I think we all trusted Labour for a few years, then it seemed to go sour (citing cash-for-questions as an eg)

I remember hearing Arthur Scargill spouting obnoxiously about the government and miners job cuts... Well looking back, he was totally right - there is no mining industry worth the name any more. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Shame foresight isn't regarded with so much respect!

As for the music - :D
Nigel
Fri May 2 10:20:16 2008

....oh and Portishead have finally released a new album. It's just like time is winding back by 11 years!
John
Fri May 2 10:10:07 2008

Actually in reality it probably doesn't make that much difference for me as a purely selfish individual... but even though the execution has been poor at times, there's still a core belief (perhaps pushed to the back benches these days) in Labour for a fairer more equal society. You never hear conservatives espousing ideals like that, they just whinge on about the fact we pay too much tax. I pay absolutely bucket loads of tax, and I am very happy with that.
John
Fri May 2 10:06:57 2008

But John - aren't you a "DINKY" ? (Double Income No Kids Yet) A wonderful 80's institution which means money naturally gravitates towards you!! As do Porsches, Share options and private health-care! Whereas I am one of the down-trodden masses for whom money is but a dream... (I feel a revolution coming on!!! :D :D )

As for the Google Image Search... Ah, but I've just dicovered the Battle-Metal music of TURISAS and fear no-one!!! Grrrr! ;)
Nigel
Fri May 2 09:46:54 2008

Well, as being one of the few individuals that managed to vote in two different countries WITHOUT having double citizenship, I feel entitled to give my opinion, since the ballot is out of question as I now am in Italy... I think that it's time to get the Wigs to power, even though they will strip John of all his assets. :D
Lox
Fri May 2 08:57:41 2008

Vince Cable is the man.
Kev
Fri May 2 08:43:30 2008

Take a look at this and try not to quiver in fear. If the tories get in, that'll be the end of all the money for me, I'll tell you! They'll send me straight back to the working class ghetto from whence I came.
John
Fri May 2 08:36:16 2008

Morning all!

So then, the divide between rich and poor getting wider; pensions and mortgages not able to pay out for lifetime workers; house-prices out of control; a war in the middle east; oil shortages... Labourite Naughties not much different to Thatcherite 80's then...

Bring back the Monster Raving Loony Part I say!! Can't be much worse!! :D :D
Nigel
Fri May 2 08:36:06 2008

Morning Kev! I see there are no results in the mayoral election yet - but things are looking bad for Labour in the local council elections apparently. What with all this talk of recession etc, are we on the brink of being plunged back into the Thatcherite 80s?
John
Fri May 2 08:22:33 2008

Morning All :)
Kev
Fri May 2 08:11:21 2008

Kev: I fold! :D
Nigel
Thu May 1 23:33:21 2008

I love the Italian tax thingy, I thought that no harm was done but here it seems that everyone has gone crazy about it... Oh well... I am trying to apply for UK citizenship anyways!
Lox
Thu May 1 15:57:47 2008

Lol very good Nigel.
Now I raise you BBC link
Kev
Thu May 1 12:29:45 2008

Oh I say!!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7376608.stm
Nigel
Thu May 1 11:22:47 2008

Morning all! I hope all of us living in London will be voting today.... errr actually come to think of it that is probably just me and MM.
John
Thu May 1 09:17:45 2008

I've just been reading-up about what a "Cron job" is. The whole Franta-Maly tree-thing seems like overkill, if you ask me.
Jimmy
Thu May 1 09:03:59 2008