Blair; Brown; Flooding; Save Net Radio; Post; Grass; Mini-Me; Jeliot

Well there we are another week draws to an end - what have I been up to and what is happening in the world around me - hmmm! now let's see . . .

In the world around me it has to be the terrible floods down South - North East of England - the picture is of Worcestshire and as you can see they have flood defences in place - areas like Sheffield were not so lucky - supposedly the wettest June - I nearly wrote winter - but of course its Summer - I keep forgetting. Speaking of which I met Petr today and he is from Czech Republic - and I was asking him whether he liked Scotland and he said yes nice weather - I had to ask him again to make sure I had hear him correctly - but he says it is nice and mild here - never gets too cold he is used to -28 degrees in winter - 2m of snow etc., - so enjoys the mild weather in Scotland.

Blair - they finally managed to get him out of No 10 - kicking and screaming I believe - he has been interviewed by the police since leaving - cash for honours row continues. Brown now in power - can he be any worse - OK, I know I could rue the day I said that . . lol yes we'll see - I am not convinced by him yet - just a trifle too nervous and or controlled for my liking - anyway I hope he surprises us all but I am not holding my breath - the cynic that I am. As for making Blair special peace envoy for the middle east - give me a break - he doesn't stand a chance in hell - they have given hima big drum and set him loose in the field - and occaisionally we will hear a bloody noise - but he has no credibility on the ground and as Bush goes will loose all support in the end - I do not see a continued role for Balir like Clinton - Hilary stands a good chance of getting in - no don't even think of mentioning it to Cherie.

There is a major prblem facing Internet radio stations like congress in America - actually some large businesses in States are pressurising congress to pass a bill so that they have to pay millions in royalties . . to these businesses - Wednesday 27 June - all the Internet radios played no music in protest and played an appeal which repeated itself all day asking people in America to contact their congressmen to counter this bill - very annoying for the likes of me who just wanted to listen to music - but very effective at the end of the day . . . hopefully enough people contacted their congressment so that I can continue to listen to my favourite station.




Well I am still hard at work on my dissertation. It looks like the environments I will be having a look at are:

• BlueJ


• Eclipse


• DrJava


• Jeliot


• JGrasp


• Alice

Each has its own advantages - at the moment if I had to make a quick guess I'd say a hybrid of Jeliot & Alic in the very beginning because of what they both offer by means of visualisation and make the learning part fun to start with and BlueJ as the actual editor in the first year and probably migrating to Eclipse in year two - when the programs become more involved and students are more used to and understand things a lot better. But we will keep an open mind and see where things take us. Alice is a uique story-telling tool - whenre you compose a story by means of what is avaiable to you - but you are actually programming all the time. Jeliot actually illustrates all the algoritms and BlueJ gives you UML type diagrams and hide some of the complexity of the syntax from you.

I wanted to send some football tops to Arran, my son, (picture in right) for his birthday 15 July - walked over to the post office thinking I'll just insure it as they are notoriously bad in South Africa - when it comes to stealing the post etc., (apologies for generalising) - but blow me over when the postmaster said no problem but I can't insure as they are not prepared to take that chance - so I can send it but they won't insure the goods because there is a good chance it will not arrive on the other side. Turns out Jessila, my ex, knows of someone coming to Glasgow and she will ask them if they are prepared to take it for me - thank goodness - otherwise it would have to have waited until I go over in March next year.

I have been a BAD BOY - since last year I have been refusing to cut my grass - I went the whole of last year / season - I was working in Edinburgh remember - and I refused to cut it - I offered to pay if the housing would do it - they said OK but then backed out saying no they don't do that - anyway cut a long story short (that is what this is about) - the housing chapped on the door and told me that I am actually no longer in accordance with my tennancy agreement and they will have to write me up / send me somethign or just kick me out - not sure which - I half heartedly argued but in the end had to admit that I had had a good innings and Tuesday I got out there and cut me grass - its still a bit of a mess - takes a few cuts before it will start to take shape but it went from wiast height to ankle height - so I'll play the game now and try and more or less keep at this length.

Just back from the Bellsmyre Blue Chip Computer Club AGM - an excuse for a barbecue - I always enjoy one and tonight was no exception - nice to see everyone again - would not have know about it had Isabell not mentioned it to me recently. Some new faces - Jean's daughter amongst them . . . .

Went to Ndebele last week Saturday a South African shop where I can stock on Mrs Balls chutney - now to South Africans - Mrs Balls is to us what HP sauce used to be to the British or - vegemite is to the New Zealanders' - and to top it all according to Judi she is happy to have found them as they make a mean cup of coffee . . . we had breakfast there . . .

Some of the photo's I suppose need some explanation - opposite is a photo from the Guardian - ala a photo competition and it was about Australia and this Roo in a phone booth won it - looks as if he was just looking for some shade . . . probably just made a quick phone call - no doubt a blind date! Blair leaving Downing street - Blair being parachuted into save the Middle East (Steve Bell) - yeah right! Mini Me - is actually a Scottsih company WeeWorld - who advertised for Graduate programmers at our Dept at university - the rest is history - or rather Mini Me - some screen shots of my dissertation Java environments . . . Mont St Michel (Philip Plisson) - where I believe you really have to keep an eye on the tide - Mags reminded me of this - a place I'd really love to go to still - and will . . . . lastly flooding in Worcestershire.

Missing Lake? Team Gordon

Scientists try to solve mystery of vanished lake in Chile

Rory Carroll,

Latin America correspondent

Friday June 22, 2007

The Guardian

The Chilean Andes. Photograph: Corbis

A glacial lake on the southern tip of Chile has vanished, leaving behind a dry crater and a scientific mystery.

Park rangers in Magallanes province, a remote wilderness 1,200 miles south of Santiago, were stunned to discover that the lake no longer existed. When last seen three months ago it had a surface area of 101,200 square metres (332,000 square feet) and was filled with icy water 30 metres (100ft) deep.

Read all about it . . . .

Team Gordon

If the PM-to-be is prepared to offer the likes of Paddy Ashdown a job, might he be prepared to cast his net even wider? Michael White offers some suggestions for a dream Brown cabinet

Friday June 22, 2007
The Guardian

Personally, I'm not sure how hard Gordon Brown had thought about it before he offered Paddy Ashdown that job as Northern Ireland secretary in the new cabinet. Admirable public servant though he is, Lord Ashdown can be quite exhausting. "Action Man" was one nickname he acquired as an MP, but "Tigger" was another. It is not true that he used to abseil into Lib Dem meetings through a closed window, three policy bullet points between his gritted teeth, but he was certainly in the habit of ringing up senior colleagues at all hours. Pre-dawn telephone raids were a favourite technique, probably drawn from his time in the Special Boat Service. The man is a trained killer. No wonder Charlie Kennedy took to drink.

But Brown is clearly on to something: a cabinet of all the talents. Let us help him out by providing a Guardian fantasy Brown cabinet to take on the rest of the world. What is more, let us not confine our attention to the Lib Dem talent pool, wide and deep though it is. After all, there has not been a Liberal cabinet since 1915, and no Liberal cabinet minister since Sir Archibald Sinclair was secretary for air in Churchill's 1940-45 coalition.

. . read all about it . .

listening to this week - catherine feeny just kind of stumbled across this artist . . . not made my mind up - I like her but I'm not sure if she is a Katie Melua type artist for me - whose CD I eventually gave a way as I just found her too laid back too insipid - if you know what I mean . . . .

Bulldog's - puppies 'n all

iGoogle; New Dawn; Solstice;

Did you know you can personalise your Google home page - and yes this would be the general page for Scotland - raining - but it knows my post code and changes the picture accordingly to more or less reflect the current weather - it is linked to my weather setting on the home page - this woudl be the bus stop theme there are others .

Photo's - iGoogle; amazing photo from Guardian - just looks like one dog is looking at another; Groove Salad me Internet radio station & Summer Solstice - in keeping with the solstice and Stonehenge - I've included some, of my own, pictures pictures from Lewis - Callanish Stones - as well as bay which is right next to Butt's End - the split rock is on Harris.

Some links you may (or not) enjoy -
Guardian - pictures sent in by readers
flixxy video's - well worth checking out - I'll let you decide which one's to watch . . .

My favourite Internet radio station the Groove Salad channel - it is great for background music for me whilst busy writing my dissertation - allows me to think without being obtrusive - its always on in the background - sometime listening for 12+ hours at a stretch - well go away and come back again sometimes . . .

Today is the summer solstice at the moment outside I am hearing loud peels of thunder and it looks like it may pour at any time.









One of yon email questionnaires - sent to me by Benita:

1.What time did you get up this morning? 08:45!!!

2. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds I suppose - not really keen on either but if I must choose

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Exiled (Korean / Chinese - Johnny To film)

4. What is your favorite TV show? Heroes - love it - reinforces my belief that anyone can do anything

5. What do you usually have for breakfast? try to vary it - corn flakes or toast cup of coffee

6. What is your middle name? John

7. What food do you dislike? trifle - can't really think of anything else

8. What is your favorite CD at the moment? Malomobo - Pele Pele

9 What kind of car do you drive? Nissan Micra

10. Favorite sandwich? Peanut butter & Apricot Jam

11. What characteristic do you despise? Intolerance / Ignorance - People who just blindly lash out but don't really know anything - bias

12. Favorite item of clothing? new pair of jeans I just bought

13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? Croatia - Dubrovnik; Mexico - Cancun

14. Favorite past pet? Whiskey - Cat

15. Where would you retire to? House on a cliff with lovely sea views - on one of the islands in Scotland

16. What was your most recent memorable birthday? Den Anker Cape Town; Kubhla Khan last year & of course Judi spoilt me rotten this year

17. Favorite sport to watch? Foooootball!

18. Furthest place you are sending this to? New Zealand

19. Who do you least expect to send this back to you? I have no control over other people

20. Person you expect to send it back first? Entirely up to them

21. Favorite saying? In my opinion . . . or albeit

22. When is your birthday? 17 March

23. Are you a morning person or a night person? Hoots mon! - A night owl

24. What is your shoe size? 8,5

25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with us? Expecting news very soon which may fundamentally change my life - study related

26. What did you want to be when you were little? Interior Designer; Journalist - hey I would still like to do both . . .lol !

27 What is your favorite candy? Kinder Bueno

28. What is your favorite flower? vygie - Portulaca grandiflora

29. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? handing in my completed dissertation towards the end of August; Pat Metheny - next weekend Friday; Barcelona vs Hearts 28 July; 23 Sept Scotland vs New Zealand - Rugby World Cup

30. What is your full name? Andrew John McKenzie

31. What are you listening to right now? http://somafm.com/ - Groove Salad

32. Do you wish on stars? Yes

33. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Blue

34. What is the weather right now? Its About 15 degrees - sun struggling to come through and it is of course the Summer Solstice

35. Last person you talked to on the phone? Judi

36. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Yes – I do

37. Favorite soft drink? Diet Coke

38 Hair Colour: Dark Brown

Hang hang on what's going on 'ere then - 39 has made a break for it ?????

40. Favorite day of the year? Not sure - no one specific day - a number of them

41. What was your favorite toy as a child? minuature soldiers - used to get those boxes with different armies . . .

42. Summer or winter? Depends where you are - I enjoy the warm weather when we get it here in Scotland

43. Hugs or kisses? Kisses . . (but like hugs . . .I'll never forget when I was active in teh unions and was fired by Telkom - it was a joke initially but almost 2 months later I was still not back in company and had no money coming in - mortgage to pay etc., - Anyway long story but I was re-instated as if I had never been fired - Geoff Blomkamp came up to me when I walked back in at work and gave me a hug - well I could have cried right there . . . but I was a man - I should have!)

44. Chocolate or Vanilla? I agree vanilla ice-cream - but I am partial to a wee bit of chocolate now and again>

45. Do you want your friends to email you back? Naturally!!

46. When was the last time you cried? When I thought about my story about being hugged . . .

47. What is under your bed? thank goodness I have no space otherwise it would be full of rubbish

48. Who is the friend you have had the longest? Sharon we were at school together - lost touch then met up again

49. What did you do last night? watched the new Pirates of the Caribbean - a pirate copy of course

50. Favorite smell? freshly brewed ground coffee - a barbecue (nostalgia).

51. What are you afraid of? losing belief in myself and in my ability to do whatever I set my mind to

52. Plain, buttered, or salted Popcorn? Buttered & a wee bit of salt

53. How many keys on your key ring? about 5!

54. How many years at your current job? student for the last 8 months

55. Favorite day of the week? depends - don't really have one

56. How many towns have you lived in? 2 Cape Town & Glasgow - can I count Dumbarton as 3 now??

57. Do you make friends easily? My initial reaction Yes, I can speak to anyone - but now I'm thinking friends? I still think yes

58. How many people will you be sending this to? Not sure some will not be impressed - think I have nothing better to do . . . .lol - yes that was you I was thinking of Judi

59. What is your pet peeve? People who just think about themselves - not a care in the world and often oblivious to the fact

60. How many friends will actually send a response to this Questionnaire? we will see how many friends we have . . .lol

PhD Apps; Dissertation; Dinner; Geordie's Myre;

Pictures - most of them Harvie Nichols - shop windows - and if you look carefully they are self-portraits as well. Connor decided my mop of hair was the place to be and sat on / made himself comfortable for a wee while - until mike left the kitchen and took Connor with him - otherwise he might still be on my head. Firth of the Forth in the background.

Well the last bit of my title comes from an old song - an old folk song - I don't know it - can't really recall it but these words have been going round my head the last day or two . . .something about mucking about in Geordie's mire (just a bit of poetic licence in the title . . .) - what does it mean - not sure - I don't know - well now your probably baffled . . . . ???? Don't ask me I'm only the piano player so to speak . . .

Last week was a funny week - I was still struggling to find my feet - my topic for the dissertation had been allocated and I had decided enough 'faffing around' - I voted for it i.e. my first choice - I was lucky enough to be allocated the topic - loads of people were given there 2nd and even 3rd choice - or that's what they are saying - so who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth - where have I heard that line before . . . lol - so I decided to knuckle down and run with it . . . .

I started by reading the book Writing your Dissertation written by Derek Swetnam that I had bought and found it to be a useful introduction to getting started. Plenty of useful tips and pointers / things to guard against and watch out for. Armed with this I was able to draw up a projected plan with rough guides as to when I should hopefully have finished various sections of my work - so I have a number of milestones and I will have to try and stick to them - my first milestone should be towards the end of next week . . . I foresee a lot of hard work between now and then . . .

I have set up my first official meeting with my supervisor and will discuss focus and structure with him on Tuesday - this will become a weekly event - to ensure that I stay on track.

I have sent off an number of applications now for my PhD
1) University College Dublin - OJAX++
2) Loughborough University near Leicester - Health Care tracking
3) Glamorgan University (near Cardiff) - Computing Education & Learning
4) Paisley University - Games-Based Learning
and await feedback. Its a big step - it will be a lot of work - I believe if I don't do it now I will never get round to doing it . . . so I am highly motivated to continue studying now that I have started . . .

Judi had some things on the weekend so never saw her - Sunday morning though she phoned me and invited me over for dinner - which I accepted - she had cleared the kitchen and she & I had a lovely candlelit evening - the boys drifted in and out once or twice but basically we were left to our own devices and it was quite a change - we are usually left to our own devices - it was just nice and I was made to feel very special . . . a lovely evening.

Monday night my computer drop-inn class and I found out that Alan has a doctorate - which was quite amazing - we have spoken about football once or twice but never really connected - he obviously has a passion for football and come to think of it seemed to have extensive knowledge of Rome - just shows you how prejudicial we are some times and now when he told me he has a doctorate I suddenly saw him in another light - I immediately respected him academically and for the first time perhaps saw Alan the person as opposed to Alan the person who checks up on me as to whether my time-sheets are up to date and my class register has been filled in etc., . . . a lesson there I think.

So not the most exciting week . . . and most of my weeks from now on will be head down and hard work . . . all necessary to get me where I need to be - if only our results would come out now - interested to see how my software construction went . . . more Java . . . not to mention Artificial Intelligencia . . lol

Nearly forgot went for my O2 interview with the agency Randstadt - turned out to be a bit of a waste of time - they phoned me and interviewed me telephonically on Monday afternoon and by the time I got to them 14h30 on Wednesday all - yes all the positions had been filled ????? They are now talking about end of July beginning of August before they will take anyone on again ????
Anyway I had time to kill before the interview and went into Borders as the interview was in Buchanan Street anyway - I even had a suit and tie on - wow first time in ages . . . didn't even wear one for my Mum's birthday . . . anyway went for coffee at Borders and on the way a book jumped off the rack at me the Secret by Rhonda Byrne well to cut a long story short - you probably will go to the web site (link) but it is all about your thoughts creating your own destiny and to prove it all after the interview I was telling Judi about the book and I was telling her about its all about thinking it and it will manifest itself and low and behold what happened - in the middle of Buchanan Street - I found £5 - amazing don't you think - you be the judge of that.

So long folks!

Taste; Heat; Balloch; Lost; FRILLS

Pictures - I think you get the idea . . . . cartoon Martin Rowson - The Guardian

I was not successful with my FRILLS job application - damn it took me a while to memorise what it stood for - Forensic Readiness in Local Libraries in Scotland - whew! that is a mouthful and no doubt there is an academic behind that somewhere . . . am I being unkind?? lol

Anyway we have to move on and I have applied for a number of other positions and I am going for an Interview on Wednesday afternoon - as a prospective Broadband support technician - which is a fancy name for a bloke what answers the phone when you have a problem - probably a premium rate phone number - although I have no idea yet - will find out more on Wednesday - have to wear a suit or she relented by saying smart casual - shorts with dress socks on - OK well, maybe not.

I have my topic for my dissertation:
Comparative Evaluation of teaching environments for Java Programming - tomorrow - lol - I need to get started and focussed on my project - don't laugh - I know I should have been full steam ahead . . . but tomorrow I will get cracking . . . that is for sure . . .

Well most notable event to happen over the weekend (yes, there were a few) - Judi was given complimentary tickets to Edinburgh 'Taste'
read all about the festival and what it comprises which was on the Meadows - Just for clarification you will see what was on offer - 2 crowns = £1 - they even had there own currency - its a cunning ploy to get you to spend more - it worked with gullible me. As I was saying it was on the Meadows which is just down the road from where she stays (just as well it turned out). It is basically what it says but between you and me there was more drink than taste - we started off with a strawberry whisky - now I know that sounds weird and somewhat abhorrent - but it was actually quite nice - then it was some red wine and then malt whisky in between some food and so it went for most of the afternoon - we finished up in the 'Leffe' beer tent - I love Belgian beer - and I had a few - then it was some more red wine - lets just say we were lucky we didn't have to drive anywhere - a most enjoyable afternoon - my tummy felt like it had been to several restaurants and at least if not more pubs along the way - lets just say I am still feeling the effects in one way or another - but I have decided that I will follow a different strategy next time . . . . lol


Well there we are - according to PetrolPrices.com Dunglass is top of the pops again.
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Station : Dunglass Service Station, Dumbarton Road, Milton, Dumbarton
Brand : Esso
Distance: 2.81 miles
Price : 95.9p
Updated : 10-06-2007
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All roads lead to

Rome of course - Once the centre of the World as we knew it . . . Lots to see - and do - too many restaurants to try out - but almost without a doubt somewhere that I will return to . . . .

I've taken loads of photo's - need to just sift through and decide which are the best - if I had to choose just a few that is - will post a few more on webshots as well - will post link as well.

Rome Photo Album - click here

Had to leave my window as shown in last week's blog whilst I was away as the earliest they could do it was on Tuesday - no good for me as I explained - took some of my more valuable possessions i.e. my computers to my Mum's for safe-keeping and hoped and prayed for the best . . . . and it was fine.

I know I should just be getting on with my dissertation but for one reason or another I am finding it very difficult to get any direction at the moment - what has happened is we had to vote for topics that we wanted to do and also we are awaiting our marks to hear whether we are able to continue to Masters level - now I obviously do not have a crystal ball but I would assume that I have achieved the minimum of 50 % and more 1st attempt for each exam and or assignment or project - what am I waiting for basically:
a) Project Methodology
b) Software Construction
c) Designing Usable Systems
d) 2nd part of e-Commerce
e) Artificial Intelligence

once we have these marks we would know ourselves where we stood - but need confirmation that we have been nominated to continue with our dissertation. Then secondly we had to vote for our topics - I voted for one - and chose another 3 as back up in case my first choice was not available - I have subsequently got another topic and seem to be oscillating between my top two which are all about teaching Java programming and now my new option which is about the visualisation of search results . . . I need to make my decision as I am going to apply for PhD studentships and in my opinion the topic could be quite important in this regard.




So I just feel I am in limbo at them moment as I don't know what is happening one way or another - when I had my exams - no problem I could sit here and study non stop for days . . . but at the moment I'm just seem to be tredding water . . . . lol - Oh well, I imagine it will all change within a very short space of time as soon as the results become known. - Needless to say I'll keep you posted.

Some useless - interesting information - according to my new source www.petrolprices.com
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Station : Dunglass Service Station, Dumbarton Road, Milton, Dumbarton
Brand : Esso
Distance: 2.81 miles
Price : 95.9p
Updated : 03-06-2007
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This is the cheapest petrol around here . . . . penny wise pond foolish they say . . .