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2013-05-21 11:50:48 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

Aer Lingus a320 arriving at London's Heathrow airport.  Sharing for +TransportTuesday curated by +Annie Irving +Gene Bowker and +Michael Earley  #transporttuesday  

http://flic.kr/p/eiD3kD

2013-05-21 11:48:05 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Flickr Changes
So I logged on to Flickr last night to upload some photos and found the site has changed quite significantly, and generally for the better.  Flickr is probably the website I use most, and is also one of the more dated looking ones (apart from my Smile banking website, that is), so it was due a revamp.  The Android app has also been refreshed and is a huge improvement.

However, the account types seem to have changed.  Previously, you could have free or Pro.  Free had space for 200 pictures, Pro gave you unlimited space and cost $25/year.  I soon reached the 200 picture limit so signed up for the Pro account.  Now there's a free account with 1Tb of data (approx 500,000 pictures) and a Doublr account with 2Tb of storage.  The latter is just shy of $500/year!!  So, my Pro account at $25/year is, in theory, better than the $500/yr option.  

If I was acynic I&... more »

2013-05-18 19:23:43 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

For some reason Northamptonshire seems to have a love affair with American diners, there are loads of them. Ken's Diner is slightly different, they have a limo inside! Kids loved it :-)

2013-05-15 21:40:57 (5 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Argh, not again!  What was wrong with the old g+ interface?

2013-05-15 06:30:58 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

With deference to the genius of David Bowie, here's Space Oddity, recorded on Station. A last glimpse of the World. Space Oddity

2013-05-14 22:47:35 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Just back from Star Trek Into Darkness.  Very impressed, JJ Abrams did a fine job working the tribbles into the script! :-)

2013-05-14 15:13:32 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

Another share for +TransportTuesday .  Had to go to Heathrow at the weekend to pick up my folks from their flight from the US.  Heathrow's a great airport in terms of the variety of airliners and airlines you can see there, but its a pig in terms of viewing.  There is no official viewing area of note (there is a 'viewing area on the North side but its about as far away from the action as you can get!), and the local council must have used up their year's supply of yellow paint marking the roads to stop you parking anywhere.

However, there is a service station on the road that goes along the South side of the airport, where you can pull in and watch the action.  Loads of other people had done so, so I went in to buy a Coke to justify my presence and took a few pics of the departing airliners.  Of course, the runways in use influence how good this spot is, I got lucky onSunda... more »

2013-05-14 15:13:03 (12 comments, 1 reshares, 2 +1s)

Another share for +TransportTuesday .  Had to go to Heathrow at the weekend to pick up my folks from their flight from the US.  Heathrow's a great airport in terms of the variety of airliners and airlines you can see there, but its a pig in terms of viewing.  There is no official viewing area of note (there is a 'viewing area on the North side but its about as far away from the action as you can get!), and the local council must have used up their year's supply of yellow paint marking the roads to stop you parking anywhere.

However, there is a service station on the road that goes along the South side of the airport, where you can pull in and watch the action.  Loads of other people had done so, so I went in to buy a Coke to justify my presence and took a few pics of the departing airliners.  Of course, the runways in use influence how good this spot is, I got lucky onSunda... more »

2013-05-14 12:05:24 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

The UK's only remaining "Aircraft Carrier" (which has had no aircraft embarked for almost 3 years due to defence cuts - she's technically a "Helicopter Carrier" these days) was berthed at Greenwich over the weekend as part of the Battle of The Atlantic 70th anniversary celebrations.  Whilst there, she was opened to the public (those with enough patience to queue for hours, anyway).  Whilst we didn't get to see much of the inside of the ship apart from the hangar, it was still quite cool to walk around the flight deck and see some of the equipment on board.  And, of course, talk to the various members of the crew.

Illustrious is due to be retired in 2014, leaving the UK with a gap of several years before the replacement aircraft carriers become operational.  As long as there aren't any of those pesky wars in that period we should be OK.

#tr... more »

2013-05-08 13:06:41 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

Last night I uploaded my 2,500th photo to Flickr. Its a scan of a shot I took at RAF Fairford's International Air Tattoo in July 1997, and is of an Austrian Air Force training aircraft.  As well as uploading shots I take with my DSLR I am going through my old photos scanning them in and uploading them.

Feel free to take a look around if aviation interests you.  If it doesn't, there's other stuff on there as well (although it's mainly planes!).

#aviation #nostalgia
http://flic.kr/p/ehtGeJ

2013-05-08 13:06:15 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 0 +1s)

Last night I uploaded my 2,500th photo to Flickr. Its a scan of a shot I took at RAF Fairford's International Air Tattoo in July 1997, and is of an Austrian Air Force training aircraft.  As well as uploading shots I take with my DSLR I am going through my old photos scanning them in and uploading them.

Feel free to take a look around if aviation interests you.  If it doesn't, there's other stuff on there as well (although it's mainly planes!).

#aviation #nostalgia
http://flic.kr/p/ehtGeJ

2013-05-07 16:05:06 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

Throw away culture
It is seemingly more and more difficult these days to get spare bits for something you have bought which has gone wrong to some degree.  Usually resulting in having to replace something that didn't really need it, and spending an awful lot more money in the process.

Today I have bucked that trend :-)  I bought a remote control helicopter last week which has lasted less than a week before it became useless.  In one of my many not-so-controlled-landings, a vital bit snapped resulting in it becoming unflyable.  I bought it at a local toy shop when we were on a weekend away so couldn't take it round to show it to them. I usually turn to ebay in these cases, and did so here, but nothing seemed to match the bit I needed.  Through ebay I found a small model shop in Yorkshire who were very helpful when I contacted them and got out all their spare bits andtalk... more »

2013-05-07 12:46:10 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

Airfield signs at one of Cranfield airport's crash gates.  The faded sign that says "STRICTLY NO PARKING" must be the most ignored sign ever.  The number of times I've seen muppets parked here so they don't have to get out of their car and walk a couple of metres.  I keep half hoping that the fire crews will have a practice drill and come steaming out in their fire truck flattening said idiots on their way past.  Sadly, it has yet to happen..

Sharing for +TransportTuesday curated by +Annie Irving +Michael Earley and +Gene Bowker . #transporttuesday

2013-05-04 19:48:39 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

2013-05-01 21:29:56 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

A 20th FW F-16 from Shaw AFB, SC seen here at RAF Fairford 1997.  The 20th FW were making a return trip to their spiritual home in the UK following the closure of Upper Heyford and the retirement of the F-111Es in 1994.

http://flic.kr/p/efPzzj

2013-05-01 21:28:27 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 4 +1s)

A 20th FW F-16 from Shaw AFB, SC seen here at RAF Fairford 1997.  The 20th FW were making a return trip to their spiritual home in the UK following the closure of Upper Heyford and the retirement of the F-111Es in 1994.

http://flic.kr/p/efPzzj

2013-05-01 13:32:07 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

Dinky little biz jet, the Phenom :-)

http://flic.kr/p/efFU2E

2013-04-30 09:41:17 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Classic airliner which is sadly no longer a common sight (the RAF currently operate several, but their days are numbered).  Seen here at Baltimore in 2005 in the colours of American Trans Air who flew a lot of military troop charters with these birds.

+TransportTuesday curated by +Gene Bowker +Michael Earley +Joe Paul and +Annie Irving #transporttuesday

http://flic.kr/p/dMts3u

2013-04-29 12:41:06 (0 comments, 1 reshares, 6 +1s)

I know the Shackleton on here was en route to an airshow in the UK from South Africa in 1994 and ran into trouble.  Would be interested if anyone else could shed any light on the other wrecks that this guy has photographed.

Fascinating subjects..

2013-04-23 12:07:01 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

Was out and about in the sunshine this lunchtime (once I'd got over the shock of the skies being blue!) and a friend was kind enough to escort me airside here at Cranfield.  Used to be anyone could wander anywhere but those days are now sadly gone with the advent of a great big fence :-(

Cranfield university have a British Aerospace (formerly Scottish Aviation) Jetstream which they use as a flying laboratory.  These things are getting on a bit which means that spare parts can be difficult to come by.  I think that's why this Polish registered machine is sitting outside missing a number of bits.

+TransportTuesday curated by +Gene Bowker +Michael Earley +Joe Paul and +Annie Irving  #transporttuesday  

2013-04-23 12:06:14 (6 comments, 1 reshares, 5 +1s)

Was out and about in the sunshine this lunchtime (once I'd got over the shock of the skies being blue!) and a friend was kind enough to escort me airside here at Cranfield.  Used to be anyone could wander anywhere but those days are now sadly gone with the advent of a great big fence :-(

Cranfield university have a British Aerospace (formerly Scottish Aviation) Jetstream which they use as a flying laboratory.  These things are getting on a bit which means that spare parts can be difficult to come by.  I think that's why this Polish registered machine is sitting outside missing a number of bits.

+TransportTuesday curated by +Gene Bowker +Michael Earley +Joe Paul and +Annie Irving  #transporttuesday  

2013-04-16 19:14:37 (9 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

A bicycle park near Amsterdam central station.  This is presumably an every day sight for the people of Amsterdam, but I have never seen so many bikes in the one place!

Sharing for +TransportTuesday curated by +Gene Bowker and +Joe Paul .  The weather wasn't great, but the white balance on my phone's camera had been set to indoors, hence the blue tinge :-(

#transporttuesday

2013-04-13 12:04:21 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Is it #caturday?

2013-04-12 20:02:18 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

ah, this is scary. 

2013-04-09 21:04:31 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

Amsterdam canal bridge at night.

2013-04-09 08:17:33 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

Google Now really comes into its own when you're traveling. I'm getting exchange rate information, time at home, nearby attractions, nearby photo spots. It's great!

2013-04-08 09:05:12 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

Wonder how old this building is?

2013-04-02 19:26:55 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

Tried out panoramic photo from my Nexus this afternoon.  Like it!

2013-04-01 19:36:45 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

Do Not Disturb

This is exactly what I need for work on days like today!  I don't think I've ever wanted a sign taped to my back so badly... I need to make this (or a shirt of this)!

h/t +Ross Life   http://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/1be374/art_school_gets_busy_sometimes/ 

2013-03-31 22:18:56 (15 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Can any +Raspberry Pi users out there (+Tim Allen or +Stephen Gilligan ?) advise on how to set up UK catch up TV with #raspbmc  ?  Googling has lots of references to a blog but every time I go to the URL I get a 'Bandwidth exceeded' error - must be popular!

I'd also like to set up a link to my QNAP NAS where I have my pictures stored...

#raspberrypi   #novice  

2013-03-31 20:50:18 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

Raspberry Pi/DVB/ADS-B

Update on my project to share plane transponder information from my DVB Tuner and Raspberry Pi with the wider world.  I easily got the Pi running the necessary decoding software and hooked it up to my laptop running the PlanePlotter application.  As I said before, what I really wanted to do was to use the Pi as a 'headless' server to serve the ADS-B information to the main PlanePlotter servers.  The point of this was to help with the locating of aircraft that are not transmitting positional information - such aircraft still send out transponder signals and with enough data and maths can be pinpointed.

Turns out to not quite be as simple as sharing the raw data with the PlanePlotter servers.  Firstly, the decoding software running in the Pi is not providing the appropriate raw data to allow these fixed to be calculated.  This is notinsu... more »

2013-03-29 22:45:17 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

Bank Holiday, weather's crap, what you going to do?  Go out anyway, cos if you don't you'll all drive each other up the wall!  Family trip to the Nene Valley Railway near Peterborough today.  Not nearly busy as I thought it would be on a bank holiday, maybe it was too cold or people were waiting for later in the weekend.

The volunteers here do a really good job of keeping these things going, they've got sheds full of various locos and rolling stock (see - I can use the jargon!).

2013-03-29 16:51:28 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

Short video I took today at the Nene Valley Railway near Peterborough.  This is the end of the line where the engine has to change ends of the train.  Bet it was nice and warm in that cab!

2013-03-28 09:02:24 (19 comments, 1 reshares, 1 +1s)

My Raspberry Pi and TV tuner setup in an upstairs bedroom hoovering the sky for planes :-)  Might have to make it a little less intrusive before the missus comes home..

2013-03-28 09:01:30 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Raspberry Pi/ADS-B/TV Tuner

Been playing around with the position of the aerial this morning to see what that does to detection ranges etc.  First I tried plugging the TV tuner stick into the house TV aerial.  I thought that would increase the range, but it appears to have had the opposite effect, I was getting less data than last night.  Thinking about it, might be due to the large amount of cabling between the aerial in the roof and downstairs.  Not sure the connector to the plug is the best, either - the TV sometimes struggles.

So I gave up on that and moved the Pi upstairs and reverted to the TV tuner's own aerial.  Our house is on the top of a hill and the bedroom I put it in has an unobstructed view out to the West.  Below is a screenshot of PlanePlotter, again with the local data in blue.  The orange rings are at 50 and 100 miles from my location, if stuff ishigh e... more »

2013-03-27 23:52:56 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

ADS-B/Raspberry Pi/TV Tuner

My second TV tuner arrived today in the post, so time to dust off my little project. The Pi was all WiFi'd up and ready to go.  All I needed to do was plug in the TV tuner and off I go.  Not quite that simple, but actually not that difficult either.

I installed and compiled the rtl-sdr drivers on the Pi, which turned out to be remarkably easy (instructions here - http://www.hamradioscience.com/raspberry-pi-as-remote-server-for-rtl2832u-sdr/ if anyone's interested - or if I need to come back to it).  I then downloaded and installed a program called 'dump1090' (from https://github.com/antirez/dump1090) which decodes the data coming in from the TV stick.  Once compiled, running this from the command line resulted in a tantalising glimpse of lots of decoded data scrolling up the screen - so far so good :-)

Now to dosome... more »

2013-03-27 23:42:12 (2 comments, 1 reshares, 1 +1s)

ADS-B/Raspberry Pi/TV Tuner

My second TV tuner arrived today in the post, so time to dust off my little project. The Pi was all WiFi'd up and ready to go.  All I needed to do was plug in the TV tuner and off I go.  Not quite that simple, but actually not that difficult either.

I installed and compiled the rtl-sdr drivers on the Pi, which turned out to be remarkably easy (instructions here - http://www.hamradioscience.com/raspberry-pi-as-remote-server-for-rtl2832u-sdr/ if anyone's interested - or if I need to come back to it).  I then downloaded and installed a program called 'dump1090' (from https://github.com/antirez/dump1090) which decodes the data coming in from the TV stick.  Once compiled, running this from the command line resulted in a tantalising glimpse of lots of decoded data scrolling up the screen - so far so good :-)

Now to dosome... more »

2013-03-27 17:55:33 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Checking the storage on my nexus 4. 85mb used on pictures and videos. I've taken about three pictures and since deleted them all, and have not done any videoing.

So where's all the space gone??

2013-03-27 16:17:00 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

OPCFailover 2.2 Released - We've been busy lately!

I'm extremely proud of OPCFailover. It's a simple and elegant solution to a problem and truly unique in the way that it works. This simplicity makes it incredibly reliable as a means of providing OPC Server redundancy to OPC Clients.

It just works!

2013-03-27 10:00:35 (5 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

Despite my comments yesterday about getting a new Android not being as exciting an experience as new phones used to be, I still find out new stuff.  For example, +Brett Legree introduced me to using Google Now's voice commands to do stuff like launching apps, calling people and sending texts as well as google searches.  I'd done the latter before but didn't explore much further.

A fellow N4 user +Greg Cooper also this morning introduced me to a new lock screen widget called DashClock which allows you to show stuff on your lock screen like unread emails, battery status, weather information.  It works on extensions and you can configure a number of these to appear on your lock screen.  It looks really slick.

Every day's a school day :-)

2013-03-26 22:05:07 (11 comments, 0 reshares, 3 +1s)

Screenshot of my #nexus4. Not very exciting, just getting started after having to cut my sim card down to size.

Getting a new phone in the old days used to be an exciting affair as you got used to a completely new way of doing things. With Android not so much, especially as I was already running Jelly Bean on my Desire HD. Of course, that's the whole point of the thing so I wouldn't really complain!

2013-03-26 18:29:01 (7 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

#nexus4 arrived. First hurdle, it needs a micro SIM card, and mine's a mini :-( Can I really cut mine down to size or should I get a new one from my network? Any thoughts +Chris Westcott or +Greg Cooper ?

2013-03-25 22:05:41 (3 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Sharing for #militarymonday. A Hercules from the NY ANG 210th RQS (Rescue Squadron) on show at the international air tattoo at RAF Fairford. Looks like this year we'll have to do without American participation due to the impending budget cuts caused by sequestration. That's going to put quite a dent in the show :-(

http://flic.kr/p/dFYX1D

2013-03-25 22:01:43 (5 comments, 1 reshares, 1 +1s)

Sharing for #militarymonday. A Hercules from the NY ANG 210th RQS (Rescue Squadron) on show at the international air tattoo at RAF Fairford. Looks like this year we'll have to do without American participation due to the impending budget cuts caused by sequestration. That's going to put quite a dent in the show :-(

http://flic.kr/p/dFYX1D

2013-03-25 21:40:30 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 6 +1s)

#nexus4 has shipped. Should've given them the work address. wonder if I can persuade the wife to stay in all day just in case.. :-)

2013-03-25 10:55:32 (19 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

Come on +Google Play - hurry up and deliver my #nexus4  !  I ordered it hours ago :-)

2013-03-24 18:01:32 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 2 +1s)

Some photos from a weekend spent sampling the pubs of Whitby and Robin Hood's Bay in eastern Yorkshire. It was brass monkeys weather and blowing a gale, but we escaped the snow that a lot of the country had this weekend.

2013-03-19 23:44:53 (2 comments, 0 reshares, 0 +1s)

Raspberry Pi/Mode S/Digital TV Tuner Project

Still waiting for my TV stick to wing its way across the pond :-( In the meantime, I ordered a WiFi dongle for the Pi.  Bought an EdiMax from Amazon.  As you can see, its rather small!  So small in fact that I temporarily lost it under the printer when I took it out of the packet!  Didn't get a chance to try it out until 11pm tonight after finishing some wallpapering.  Thought it might take me a while, but no.  Plugged it in, switched on the Pi and ran the handily named 'WiFi Config' app on the desktop and its all good to go.  Things really have changed in the Linux world since I last seriously used over 10 years ago when I had to compile the kernel!

Quick trip to my router home page to make sure the Pi gets a static IP so I can always remote to it and we're one wire down :-)

I thought I'd get ahead s... more »

2013-03-19 09:16:50 (0 comments, 0 reshares, 4 +1s)

Haven't done a +TransportTuesday for ages!  To celebrate, here's a bus.  Not just any bus, mind, but Britain's Biggest Bus.  I give you the MEGADEKKA!!  Sounds like it should be a transformer :-)

The local town museum near us had an event at the weekend to celebrate 100 years of buses in Northamptonshire, there were several vintage and retro buses there giving people rides around the town.  Kids had a great time!

#transporttuesday  curated by +Michael Earley +Gene Bowker and +Joe Paul 

2013-03-17 21:32:15 (1 comments, 0 reshares, 1 +1s)

My New Project - Raspberry Pi/ADS-B/DAB TV Stick

This last week I have been toying with an idea for a project.  Its not often I start 'projects' (unless you count decorating and other DIY) because I don't often find something which gets my attention.  For once, something has.

With the spread of Rasberry Pis in the last year or so, I've often thought it would be a cool thing to have, but have struggled to actually think what I would do with one.  I'm not too bothered about buying stuff like this just to have a play - I need a specific purpose in mind.  I think I must have been the only one at work not to have one until now!

My main interest is aviation, specifically 'plane spotting' - seeing planes and ticking off their numbers in a little book (its a little more technological than that these days, but you get the idea).  As part ofthis... more »