NHS: A+E - in, x-rayed, diagnosed and out in 1 hour!

People are quick to criticise the NHS so I thought it only right to add praise where it's due. The back story (not very interesting) - last night, with all the athleticism of a drunken elephant, I went head over heels off my mountain bike and landed on my shoulder like a fat javelin. It was hurting a little more than the usual bike injuries I frequently sustain so I headed to Macclesfield Accident and Emergency to get a professional opinion. I arrived at just after 11pm and was immediately booked in, saw the Doctor about 20 minutes later who sent me off for an X-ray. Walked straight around to the X-ray department and went straight in, had two X-rays on the shoulder and was sent back to wait results. I was expecting a long wait while they were processed but about 10 minutes later the doctor returned, confirmed there were no breaks and that the nurse would be along soon to sort out a sling for me. About 5-10 minutes later the nurse arrived, fitted the sling and explained the concoction of drugs I would need. I was back out of the door just after midnight. NHS - a service worth fighting to keep I think!

WRITING: Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 review in shops next month

I've just finished looking at the preview release of Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 for the Mac for Digital Video magazine. It's nice to see the program back on the Mac and offering a little competition for Apple's Final Cut Pro. The review should be in next months issue (issue 230) but if you are curious Adobe is offering the preview of the software as a free download. It weighs in at just over a 1Gb for the mac and you can get it here

SPAM: Every so often one makes up for all the junk...

Spam mail and even those seldom amusing jokes that people forward often drive me nuts. However, every once in a while one comes my way that seems to make up for all the others. Here is the text of one I got this morning which rather tickled me. If you are easily offended by sexual innuendo don't read on!

MAKING A BABY...

The Smiths were unable to conceive children and decided to use a surrogate
father to start their family. On the day the proxy father was to arrive, Mr.
Smith kissed his wife good-bye and said, "Well, I'm off now; The man should
be here soon."

Half an hour later, just by chance, a door-to-door baby photographer
happened to ring the doorbell, hoping to make a sale.

"Good morning, Ma'am," he said, "I've come to...''

"Oh, no need to explain," Mrs. Smith cut in, embarrassed, "I've been
expecting you."

"Have you really?" said the photographer. "Well, that's good. Did you know
babies are my specialty?"

"Well, that's what my husband and I had hoped. Please come in and have a
seat"

After a moment she asked, blushing, "Well, where do we start?"

"Leave everything to me. I usually try two in the bathtub, one on the couch,
and perhaps a couple on the bed. And sometimes the living room floor is
Fun. You can really spread out there."

"Bathtub, living room floor? No wonder it didn't work out for Harry and me!"

"Well, Ma'am, none of us can guarantee a good one every time. But if we try
several different positions and I shoot from six or seven angles, I'm sure
You'll be pleased with the results."

"My, that's a lot!" gasped Mrs. Smith.

"Ma'am, in my line of work a man has to take his time. I'd love to be in and
out in five minutes, but I'm sure you'd be disappointed with that."

"Don't I know it," said Mrs. Smith quietly.

The photographer opened his briefcase and pulled out a portfolio of his baby
pictures. "This was done on the top of a bus," he said.

"Oh my God!" Mrs Smith exclaimed, grasping at her throat.

"And these twins turned out exceptionally well - when you consider their
mother was so difficult to work with."

"She was difficult?" asked Mrs. Smith.

"Yes, I'm afraid so I finally had to take her to the park to get the job
done right. People were crowding around four and five deep to get a good
look."

"Four and five deep?" said Mrs. Smith, her eyes wide with amazement.

"Yes," the photographer replied. "And for more than three hours, too. The
mother was constantly squealing and yelling - I could hardly concentrate,
and when darkness approached I had to rush my shots. Finally, when the
squirrels began nibbling on my equipment, I just had to pack it all in."

Mrs. Smith leaned forward. "Do you mean they actually chewed on your, uh..
equipment?"

"It's true, Ma'am, yes. Well, if you're ready, I'll set-up my tripod and we
can get to work right away."

"Tripod?"

"Oh yes, Ma'am. I need to use a tripod to rest my Canon on. It's much too
big to be held in the hand very long."

Mrs. Smith fainted.........

CARS: Mini Cooper D test drive

Had a test drive Monday. Before I get on to my thoughts, a little background...

I owned a Mini Cooper 2002-2005, then a Cooper S from 2005-2006. I got rid of the Cooper S due to running expense and I was sick of having to go to the petrol station every 10 minutes I was also sick of seeing Mini Coopers EVERYWHERE! Seriously, throw a stone from my window and I can hit hit ten of them.

So, from my personal standpoint of bitter disillusionment with Mini I moved to a Suzuki Swift. Cue much verbal sparring and derision from the Mini faithful but me being a lot better off in the wallet. I've kept an eye on the second generation (R56) Mini's as they were released and despite always having a soft spot for Mini's I could never find a compelling reason to buy. Until now...

The Cooper D was announced. I was interested. Then the revelation that due to me being self employed, 100% of the cost of a low emission car (such as the Cooper D) could be off-set against my earnings. Nice! Back that up with frugal MPG figures and a chance to get back driving a car that for me just always feels 'right' and I knew I would at least have to take for a test drive.

However, I was not without a little trepidation. I have driven a few diesels in small cars in the past and I have rarely been impressed. My usual feelings are that they are noisy, sluggish and dull. The Cooper D proposition seemed too good to be true...

I haven't tried any of the R56 models so don't have that comparison to make. First thing that struck me was that the R56 interior isn't nearly as bad in the flesh as it appears on pictures. The buttons and knobs have definitely lost some of their tactile feel and I REALLY miss the lights on the end of the switches. However, there is the reward of flick switches on the roof so I can at least pretend I'm a helicopter pilot when no-one is around Once I had soaked up the cockpit it was time to get down to business.

The test drive...
Jumped in, key in, hit the start button (start buttons: the way forward) and the diesel leapt into life. It was a little noisy to begin with and chugging around in first and second on the way to the open road I was a little unsure about the cabin volume. However, as soon as I opened up a little I can honestly say I was no more aware of the engine noise than I am in any other car. The best thing for me was I literally forgot it was a diesel. Plenty of pull, the brakes are fantastic and really cut the speed off (I've missed great brakes as the Swift only has drums at the rear!). Handling wasn't quite up to the likes of my previous Cooper S but in fairness, this Diesel, although running 17" wheels, was minus sports suspension. As an aside, having ridden in a Mini without sports suspension again, in the balance, I would personally leave the sports suspension if I order another and enjoy the slightly comfier ride. Age gets to everyone!
There was some vibration noise in the cabin but no obvious rattles - a factor that blighted my first Cooper. The 'feel' of this Cooper for me was spot on. Although it didn't have whince inducing speed or acceleration, given its other credentials it makes all the right trade offs. It certainly felt just as fast as my Cooper and the actual 'pull' sensation when at the right revs felt just as good as the Cooper S. Handling was nearly up there with my two previous R53 Minis but as has been much documented in the press, there really is some tiny bit of 'mojo' missing from these new Minis. Just a little pinch of magic that hasn't made the build list.

The bottom line - it's a great car to drive. It has plenty of power and pull. Acceleration (thanks to great torque) feels aggressive despite not enjoying the high end poke of a Cooper S. The low emission credentials are a big deal to me fiscally (despite me being more than sceptical about man made global warming) and mean in terms of total cost of ownership this is by far the most attractive Mini on the market today for me. Want to buy a Suzuki Swift?

P.S. I still wish others would stop buying Minis - it's making them dreadfully uncool!

TECH: Final Cut Studio 2? Not on Mac Mini. Why Apple needs a 'Mac Middle'

I moved away from Mac towers (G5 and the like, now known as 'Mac Pro') around 12 months ago. I just didn't need the power, expandability and frankly the noise that the towers provided. The Mac Mini has served me well since then, even running Final Cut Pro and DVD Studio Pro etc. The only grievance is a limit of 2GB of memory and having to use laptop size internal hard drives.

However, a worrying section of the spec requirements for Final Cut Studio 2 is 'An AGP or PCI Express Quartz Extreme graphics card (Final Cut Studio is not compatible with integrated Intel graphics processors)'

What this basically seems to equate to is 'if you have a Mac Mini you are screwed'. So, on first glance, it would appear that if I want to run Final Cut Pro 6 I need to get a tower? Not necessarily as the specs for Final Cut Studio 1 said much the same. However, this factor has reminded me about something I have been thinking about for a while...

Why on earth don't Apple release a 'Mac Middle'; a mini tower with an AGP/PCIe slot (for the graphics card of choice), space for two internal SATA drives and perhaps a maximum of 4GB memory powered by a single Intel Core Duo processor? Such a device would be a perfect half-way house. It would fall short of the real high end power and expandability that make the 'Mac Pro' an essential purchase for some, whilst also providing a more affordable yet capable platform for 'middle ground' users that don't enjoy the purchasing budget of a small country. Just a thought!

TECH: OSX - Next version delayed and it's a very simple feature I am most eager to get my mits on!

So Apple's next OSX release (10.5 Leopard) is delayed until October. Funnily enough, the feature I am looking forward to most isn't 'Time Machine', or even 'Spaces'. It's something far simpler...

I am a believer that the simplest ideas are always the best and this little beauty is a stroke of genius. I am desperate to get my hands on the new version of mail, or more specifically the new 'notes' feature. What about all those things you put 'safe' in the house and can never find again? Or the name of that great film or book you know you want to check out. The notes feature lets you enter a little note for yourself which is stored in mail and can be searched just like your email. This means all your information can be saved in one place and backed up easily. Roll on October and I can look forward to a desk free of scribbled down notes to myself!

MTB: Routes travelled, interactive map

Hopefully I'll be enjoying a few more jaunts on the good old bike across our green and pleasant lands this summer. You can see where I have been by taking a look at my interactive Google Map. I'm sticking a pin in after every journey. If you can recommend any in the locality be sure to add a comment.

Look at the routes travelled map

MTB: The MBR mountain bike trail in north Wales

Took the time to visit the MBR mountain bike route in north Wales this last weekend. A 3 hour plus journey (thanks to bank holiday traffic) but the stunning scenery of the area more than makes up for it.

The MBR trail is situated at the Coed-y-Brenin, the dedicated centre enjoys showers, toilets and a small but well stocked bike shop. Cycles can be hired on site (decent ones too from the likes of 'Specialized') which is essential if you don't have a suspension bike. I wouldn't attempt the black route on anything less than a full-susser (that said 2 of our party were riding 'hardtail' Orange Crush bikes).

The course is around 18km long and takes in some tear inducing ascents (for me anyway) but rewards the dedicated with some great technical descents. My personal favourites were the long 'rollercoaster' style mounds and jumps throughout the first forest section.

I would have preferred longer, faster, downhills as some are quite slow and will visit the other Welsh trails (Marin etc) before going back. However, since coming back I have been informed of another trail in the same area called the 'Pink Heifer' so may be back sooner than expected!

Click here for a JPEG map of the route

POLITICS: speakout.co.uk - time for a referendum on Europe?

Good old Paul Sykes. Not only has he helped bankroll the UKIP party some time back, he has also invested in the 'speakout' campaign. This campaign is pushing for a referendum on returning 7 key powers back to Britain from Brussels.

Anyone with a passing interest in the UK should take the time to take a look at the website, www.speakout.co.uk

It's a good, straightforward site, giving lots of easily digestible pieces of information about the EU, its costs and implications.


Whether you are pro or anti EU, a referendum for the electorate can surely be no bad thing. Unless of course you fear the majority of the UK may have different plans for their countries...

POLITICS: Politics Idol

Question to contestant, "Why do you want this?" Reply from contestant "It's all I've ever wanted to do" - it's the reply most uttered by pop star wannabes on Pop Idol and the like. A phrase so vacuous and common it produces little more than a roll of eyes from anyone but the most kind hearted. It seems that now, more than ever before, wanting to be 'famous' is a career choice in its own right. This aspiration may seem woeful enough but it gets a whole lot worse when applied to politics.

At present the main political opposition to Labour is the Conservatives. However, it would seem that with each passing day David Cameron moves his party ever left. This is either alarming, disappointing or downright catastrophic dependant upon your concern for the near future of UK politics. Where has the debate gone? Where are the angry young politicians? More than anything, where have all the opinions gone? There is now nothing more than a meandering centre ground, where open debate is muted and opinions more than a little off centre are derided and lambasted by the politically correct, the bullies of mundanity.

Labour or Conservative? This was a question that historically would split a room of people and give some good pointers as to the respective opinions of the people. Now? It's about as incisive as splitting people based on their condiment preference. We have finally come to a point where the same question mentioned in the beginning of this post could be applied to politicians: "Why do you want to be in power?" Reply, "It's all I've ever wanted to do!" The most disgusting thing for me about David Cameron is that I don't believe for a single moment he actually has any firm political beliefs. In some ways I find this more intolerable than a politician with despicable but genuinely held personal beliefs. It means the UK is destined to be run by people with no firm vision for our nation either morally or economically. Merely career politicians, as hungry for fame and power for fame and power's sake as the wannabe pop stars are.

The likely conclusion is a bleak vision: political correctness, a lack of reasoned debate, government manifestos based on popularity over prudence, pandering to fashionable fads *cough* global warming *cough*. With more than 30% of polled people opting out of the democratic process at present these are sad times. I don't believe it is because people don't care about our country. I believe the more likely scenario is that people are apathetic about the options. Whatever your political persuasion you should, for the greater good of democracy in our country, vote at the fringes (both left and right). Shock the current wannabes into having an opinion, if nothing else.