Munro Club

Recently I went on the Munro club and it was fun.
We climbed up two mountains! A small one and a big one next door. We climbed vertically 1200m (lots of down in between the ups (a computer program calculated this we are not that sad))
For the majority of the time we were climbing through cloud. Which meant we missed the wondrous beauty of the Scottish countryside in terms of the views. “When the weather it good there is nowhere I would rather be” to quote one of the other people. It was still fun even if we were walking through cloud. The pace was faster than I am used to when hill walking with family and we did not stick to the paths so much – more taking a short cut straight up and scrambling along sheep paths. There were some nice bilberries en-route and we were provided with pack lunches which contained a sandwich, a piece of fruit, a bag of crisps, a chocolate bar, a can of fizzy drink (cococola zero is just as disgusting as the diet) and I was given at least 2 snack sized chocolate bars when I ran out of food. I also took 3 chocolate digestive biscuits with me and half of one escaped into the bottom of the bag and was crushed into a paste over stuff that was in the bottom – not nice.
When we had lunch we had it in a nylon shelter thing which is a bit like a large upside down bag that you sit inside – there were five boys in total + one leader (perhaps girls don’t like hill-walking?). It was amazing how much warmer it was inside the shelter with the wind taken out of the equation and 5 people inside (not enough space for the leader to fit in as well).
My trainers are still soggy and I should be using walking boots next time though even people wearing those got soggy feet. It did not really rain but the damp was penetrating.
All in all I enjoyed it – though I hope for better weather next time.

I HATE FILTERING

The IT department is preventing me from saving changes to the layout of my blog!
So I am stuck with stuff in the wrong place and looking stupid.
It does show off the new link list I have made but that is supposed to go right down the list below archives - bah.
curses on filtering by IT departments and on DRM because that is evil to.
And They block BoingBoing which I think could tell me how to get round the filtering - they were right they said they were being filtered by filter companies and they are - evil filteres.
haha I managed to add boing boing to my google homepage - so if they tell me how in a new post then I can use that.
They also block a page that tells you how to instal a program to get around filtering called circumventor.
so this is the page to get around stuff.


I have found the list of things you can be blocked from or for

Inappropriate software – password crackers, credit card fraud utilities etc.
Time wasting
Denial of service
Explicit material
Bandwidth consumption
Spamming
Hacking
Software piracy
Unauthorised use of confidential documents

Representatives of the BPI Anti-Piracy carry out surveillance of Internet sites and traffic, looking for instances of illegal music use, with a view to possible prosecutions.
For your information, the following activities are illegal, if done without the express permission of the copyright owners, and could lead to prosecutions and disciplinary action:
· Making a copy of a CD that you own, (done)
· Copying songs from a CD that you own on to your hard drive or any other storage device,(done)
· Making a cassette tape from a CD that you own, (I have copied music from a casset to my computer does that count?)
· Copying a CD belonging to a friend,
· Sharing music files across a network,
· Engaging in file trading of music,
· Downloading music from the internet to your hard drive or any other storage device (done but legaly)

All music is owned by someone. A company or an individual owns copyright to the music. There is copyright in the composition, the lyrics, the arrangement and the sound recording. The term of copyright protection lasts for 70 years after the composer dies, so all the music you are likely to download or copy will be protected by copyright. Under the law, only the copyright owners have the right to reproduce their music or sound recording.

WHAT ABOUT FAIR USE?

For example: it is a violation
to misuse Internet Relay Chat (IRC) software to allow users to hide their identity, or to interfere with other systems or users (the purpose of IRC is to allow conversation between people without them having to know each other or be sure of the others identity)
to send chain letters (oops I have done in the past - but only good ones)
to leave your computer logged on and unattended (I have certainly done that - not that it is connected to the internet or passworded or anything)

Oh and the stupid IT department has managed to write protect the folder we are supposed to put stuff in we want to share with other people at school. silly people.

Watching Rugby: school Rugby.

Loud
Violent fast moving game.
Lots of people jumping on top of each other in big piles. I don’t know the rules.
I do know that every player playing is better than I would be, and that must confer some kind of respect.
I am watching two games simultaneously though I could be watching three. I don’t know the score or who is winning. Apparently the relative school sizes are important and are against us. I think the tide is against us on at least one of the games though we are putting up firm resistance.
The ball just smashed into the stand beside me and a few moments later it was tumbling from great height down the slope in front of me and hit someone on the back.
Ohh first injury one player off. That is why they need subs. I did not see what happened. In the game with the first injury we had been forced into our 22 and the other side scored a try 5: nil down the other game is going much better only 1 : nil down. (I know a little of the technical terms from a bit of rugby training I had before I got myself transferred out to do other things instead).
There is definitely a reason why they wear weird helmet things, crashing headfirst towards the ground does not look fun.
70 minutes is a long time to sit in the cold – mental note next time wear a coat; this is Scotland.
Now I see why the headmaster told us to be courteous and sportsman like in assembly rugby is an emotional game.

Award assemblies – long and boring.

Prize giving and book signing ceremonies where you have to clap continuously are tiring as well as tedious.
Followed by class crosswords! At last my reading of fantasy comes in useful the person who stands in duel(I have not explained this well) is called a second. And I know what tacky means (like glue was the clue). Anyway I know words. :) (note both pictures are random)

Kayaking!

Recently I did my first kayaking on a river which was also my first kayaking for a while. It is much more interesting kayaking on rivers than on lakes. Much easier to capsize – you have to adjust your edge using your knees especially when crossing the current if you let the current side lean down then the pressure will build up and you will flip.
I managed to do the whole long trip without capsizing despite not having a bung (I did not realise this till I got out). I did however have to get out and walk for a shallow bit – I was not going anywhere and was only damaging the bottom of the kayak.
Kayaking is fun.

The etiquet of Kilt wearing

Today (last Sunday (notepad post)) was the first day I had to wear a kilt. I found there is more to it than I first thought.
Firstly you have to wear a sporn with your kilt otherwise you are not decent (despite wearing a pair of shorts and pants underneath) secondly you have to wear garters on you socks to stop them falling down. The socks are long reaching almost to the knee.

Wearing a kilt is an interesting experience. The bobbles on the sporon beat like a small drum as you walk. I can easily se the disadvantages of wearing skirts when you sit down you have to smooth your kilt underneath to prevent sitting on it in an uncomfortable way - and crumpling the back. Also it is more airy than trousers and so chilly in cold weather. Which makes it hard for me to see how it came to be the national dress of Scotland which is often cold; especialy in the morning. I can however see that skirts could be an advantage in hot weather.

When Kilts were first made they were big enough to ve the blanket for two people and they were more like togas and therefore much warmer.

Kilts can cost from 200 - 400 pounds (the pound sign is not working when you press it you get # ahhgrh) but I got mine for 40 pounds on the inerenet (nylon rather than hadmade wool) . You also have to wear a kilt Jacket with it and that cost over 100 pounds - extortionetly expensive, and very itchy. I feel more than slightly stupid wearing a kilt.

It is a long way ot Edinburgh in a rattling bus, nice scenerey and sky though.

Please bear with the low frequency of posting - I don't have much time and getting to an internet connected compueter is harder than usual.

Still no scanner working! and all they need to do is login! :(

Boarding school

I have now started at boarding school for the first time and I will now tell you about it.
Boarding school is... interesting.
The boarding house is far enough from the main buildings for it to be worth cycling there - but you aren't allowed to but it is not to far to walk.
I like the IT department better than the one at my last school already - despite their accidental failure to create an account for me at the beginning was swiftly remedied and I found that the space available on the system is all that you will need and that the only limit they put on you is that if you put lots of music on it then it will be deleted.
Also it is apparently possible to install programs onto the computer without administrator access. something I am thinking of taking advantage of before they fix it - if they intend to fix it.
ahh it seems that hole may have been fixed humbug.
But complete school coverage with wifi network and lots of space still great - I think I should recommend them some free software software seems to be a department which is lacking.
Okay the IT department is lazy and incompetent.
it still has not managed to make the @ key work - it is still found under the " key.
It still has not managed to get a single scanner to work - and all it needs to do is to log on as an administrator and then plug the stupid scanner in.
It has discovered all the problems with cloning - even cloning computers - a computer stuck in continuous restart was cloned and so the poor teacher lost address books and stuff. at least one computer does not have a sound card - how is a teacher supposed to show a video without one?
Food
The food is certainly more fatty and salty than I am used to - worse than my old school and much worse than home (where salt and fat are down to fanatically low level (DAD)). Chips every day this week for supper - and a couple of times for lunch as well (cook was ill or something and this should not happen normally) but fried eggs, hash browns, cream, bread and butter pudding made with butter (it does not need the butter). The food is however quite nice, and I can have grapes with every lunch meal. which is nice.

Sorry for the late arrival of this post - I started it ages ago but my loan laptop has no Internet connection as it has no wireless ability and it is not worth upgrading it as when I get my normal one back after the inordinately long time they have spent fixing it. More to come soon.

The smell of burning chicken stock

Is not very nice and if you smell it just before going to bed it is a very good Idea to go to the kitchen and turn off the hob. That bit I did right but poring water from a glass onto the smoking chicken stock was not such a good idea. but everything was all right in the end - though very smelly.

I have been a bit busy getting ready for going to bording school and have been distracting myself from nervousness with webcomics which I will tell you about when I can but at the moment I have to go. hopefuly I will be able to post again soon.

Inverness Swimming pool Highlife

This is an email I have sent to info at invernessleisure dot co dot uk but information contained within it is important to remember generaly.

I am writing concerning the security of the personal information provided by users of the High Life membership scheme. This information contains a photograph name, address and telephone number and credit card details which could be used by identity thieves if it is not properly secured. Is the data encrypted at the storage level? Who has access to the data and are they vetted for a criminal record etc.
The use of remotely readable cards to carry information is dangerous as it is possible to create a fake remote readable card if the card has passed within 25cm of a thief's (boosted) RFID scanner. A criminal could also wipe or change the details on the card.
It is very important that all personal information is securely held and as limited as possible because Identity theft is a self perpetuating crime where the criminals are making so much money that they can afford to have their own research and development people to work out how to extract personal information in order to make more money and unless those companies who are collecting the money keep it securely they could have the data stolen and their customers would loose money and the company would loose face and possibly be sued. You have my personal information (under my real name) and I want to make sure it is well protected.

Yours sincerely
--
Max Randor

read the sign it says

Paper Only!

I was recycling some paper and look what I saw inside the recycled paper container. If you look carefuly you can se expanded polystyrene sheets. There was also some cardboard which you can just see in the top right of the opening.
We removed the polystyrene sheets and cardboard (with difficulty) but someone is very stupid and rude or cannot read putting polystyrene sheets in the paper recycling could corrupt the whole lot and make it unusable. It is also illegal since someone who did something similar to their concil recycing (we don't have door to door recycling) was charged for corrupting 300 peoples recycling. (recycling in the Highlands is not very good the only place to get paper recyclins is Invergordan there is an industrial estate there where someone does paper recycling.

Sometimes I feel...

Sometimes I feel like someone is inventing new stuff and then changing the past so that it has been there years. On this occasion I heard about House yesterday and saw an advert in a magazine today – apparently lots of people have been obsessed with it for ages – but I don’t watch much TV especially not Channel 5.

I found out about IRC on Worldforge and saw it mentioned in a blog a few days later.

I know this feeling is wrong it is just that you don’t always see things until you know they are there and also because lots of clever people are inventing things and they may have been around years before they reach my attention and by that time they are probably going somewhere in the world.

Thus ends my pad of paper blog posts series. 1660 words. I hope you enjoyed it.

but the title just cried out for this
... Sometimes I don't :)

The return Journey

The continuing tragedy of Virgin Trains (episode 2)

The local train from the station near the camp was fine with plenty of space and luggage room (this was a not a virgin train).

However the Virgin train to Edinburgh was terrible fully booked with seat reservations all the way to Edinburgh and despite my seat reservation I ended up sitting on my bag in the vestibule, there was an elderly man in the seat I had reserved and he needed it more than I did. It should not be possible for all seats to be fully booked and the additional passengers which pay more for valid tickets which work all day have no where to sit. Also neither of my bags would fit in the overhead racks and the small luggage sections were full to the ceiling. There were additional complications caused by an irate passenger (who had also been annoying on the previous train) who complained that she would faint or have an epileptic fit if she could not be provided with a seat. (standing up causes epileptic fits? I think not). She resorted to insulting England and English people. Slightly loopy I am afraid. Oh well.

I asked if it was possible to advise the management of Virgin trains that not allocating all seats through reservation and then having additional passengers but instead reserving a few seats for the additional passengers might prevent repeats of the severity of the problem.

I was told that I could try but that there were “government plans to reduce the number of trains running and so it would only get worse and I should make the most of it”[approximately] this from the manager of the train. (what the government has to do with the decisions by virgin trains of how many trains they run I do not know – though perhaps they could be reducing the amount of subsides paid to Virgin)

Soon afterwards the slightly loopy lady complained that the train manager had been extremely rude to her after the manager had managed to create a seat and persuade her to move and sit in it (the lady did not want to squeeze along the corridor). The lady then proceeded to be rude to surrounding passengers which I later learned caused much hilarity. The train manager was not even in the same carriage when this supposed rudeness occurred. As I was originally writing this the train manager was phoning up to see if a policeman could get on at the next station and remove the lady because she was “upsetting everybody”. I pity the poor employees who have to deal with this.

One of the train crew agreed that ‘it is often like this’.

Train crew and passengers should not be subjected to this for the greed of the higher management.

Oh and the doors do not check whether anyone is between them before they close – lots of slightly squashed people. :)

A policeman came aboard at Carslie to try and remove the loopy lady sensitively she left but the manager was unsure whether she had reboarded but then she saw that the lady was on the station as we were leaving and so someone else will have to deal with her.

The plastic bag the lady left behind was disposed of in the bin, no one wanted to find out what was inside.

All the vestibules I can see are packed with standing people.

But Virgin does have Fair trade sugar. PR I think.

I took them up on there offer of a complementary drink and the orange juice and biscuits distracted me for at least 10 minutes.

At Lockerbie the train got even fuller and I do not think many people got off – though lots got on.

1 hour on the train from Lockerbie to the next station standing in a hot overcrowded vestibule. I do not anticipate this to be fun.

I usually like travelling by train, less hassle (especially with all the airport security checks) better for the environment… but travelling by Virgin trains is pushing it. Ahh my poor knees I will delve again into my in search of knee braces and hope that the weird pins and needles like pains that assault me after wearing wetsuits don’t get too bad.

The Scottish countryside however is living up to its usual beauty.

I think seeing me scribbling away in my notebook may have unnerved the crew slightly but they were all nice. I pity them the most as they have to do this every Saturday and probably have other journeys on other days. I know that this is the last weekend of the Edinburgh festival but this is no excuse if more people want to travel run more trains.

The strain lessened slightly at Haymarket but it is only a few minutes from there to Waverly.

Freedom at last 1 hour 20 minutes to eat my packed lunch before my connection leaves.

Thus ends episode 2 of the Tragedy of Virgin trains.