UPDATE – 25th February 2009

Ramipril - C23H32N2O5

At the start of December I was down at the Royal Brompton in London for my yearly checkup – my consultant seemed happy with my progress after my pulmonary heart valve replacement in April 2007 (despite the complications at the time).  Just before Christmas I got a letter from the hospital with the results of my tests and they indicated that my heart was still slightly enlarged.  Now I hadn’t been aware of this before so this was a bit of a shock.

They suggested that I start taking 2.5mg of Ramipril before going to bed in order to lower my blood pressure abit and take a bit of pressure off my heart to see if it can improve things.

Now this came as a bolt from the blue as I have always prided myself on the fact that I have had as many heart operations and this and that and still don’t take any medication.  Everytime I visit the hospital they ask if I am on any medication and are surprised when I say no.

Well I suppose the day had to come when I had to start taking something but I feel healthier than I have ever done – I can now excercise more following my valve replacement – I’ve been using the Wii fit fairly regularly doing various aerobic workouts (running, step, boxing etc…).

Now being a geek and having the net at my fingertips I search for all I could find on Ramipril and it put me off going to see the Dr to get a prescription.  There are plenty of side effects which I’d rather not have.  Well I went to the Dr’s last night and he prescribed 4 weeks worth and made an appointment for a blood test in 2 weeks (to check my kidney function and potasium levels) and another appointment to see him again in 4 weeks.  I took the first tablet last night before I went to bed and am sure I felt some sensations (may be all in my mind).  Woke up this morning feeling no effects although now at just after 10am I do feel a bit light headed but I do have a head cold at the moment.  I will keep updating this blog with details of any effects that I experience just so others can share my experiences with Ramipril.

Well it has been a week on Ramipril now and I haven’t noticed any side effects – I have had a bad back twice although I think I pulled something when stretching.  I didn’t take my tablet last night as I had been popping Codine tablets to try to numb the pain.  More updates will follow.

UPDATE – 25th March 2009

Well now five weeks on Ramipril now – no side effects to speak about.  Still have a cold hanging about. Had blood test at the Dr’s last week and my Kidney function is excellent and potasium levels fine.  Next blood test in 3 months time.

Saw TiltShiftMaker is a blog post today.  TiltShiftMaker is a web-based image manipulator designed to give you photos the unique look of photograph taken with a tilt-shift lens for free.  TiltShiftMaker allows you to mimic the depth of field blurring that using a tilt-shift lens would create. You upload a picture from your computer or from the web and from there you can adjust size of the focal area and it’s location in the picture.

I have added a sample to show you what the effect looks like.

No tilt shift added

Tilt Shift added.

See more examples here – http://flickr.com/groups/tiltshiftmaker/

I’ve been meaning to purchase to a NAS for my network for about 6 months now mainly to back up the photos of the kids/holidays just in case the hard disk in the laptop goes belly up.  I’d been looking at a Western Digital MyBook but had read a few reviews about not being able to access files on it from off the network.  Over Christmas I found a good deal on LaCie Ethernet Disk mini – Home Edition – 1TB edition for under £150.

This is what the LaCie site says about it:

• • Access your home files from anywhere
  • Improve the experience of having multiple computers
  • Play back videos on your TV via a UPnP media player
  • Back up/synchronize folders automatically
  • UPnP Streaming
  • Watch a Flash demo of this product

d2 Design by Neil Poulton
With the Ethernet Disk mini – Home Edition, your household’s digital library becomes accessible from inside and outside your home in just a few minutes. The LaCie media portal, HomeLaCie.com, enables access from anywhere for uploading or downloading files to your Ethernet Disk mini at home. Simply drag & drop your photos, for example, and make them accessible to your relatives and friends via simple email invitations. The pre-defined folders and personal shares enable easy management of your family’s digital library. Listen to your music from your networked sound system with the embedded iTunes server. The Ethernet Disk mini – Home Edition provides peace of mind by automatically backing up all of your home computers at your convenience.

Specifications

Item Number :	301270EK
Capacity :	1 TB
Interface :	Gigabit Ethernet 10/100/1000 Mbits
Rotational Speed (rpm) :	7200
Processor/RAM :	400MHz / 64MB DDRAM
USB Port :	for backup on external USB hard drives
Network Setting :	Easy Install on CD (Mac/PC) Assistant for router set-up
Multimedia :	UPnP Media adapter compatible iTunes server Photos (JPEG, GIF, PNG); Music (MP3, WMA); Video (MPEG, MOV, WMV) streaming over the Internet**
System Software :	Axentra HipServ™ v1.5
Dimensions (WxHxD) :	44 x 160 x 173 mm / 1.7 x 6.3 x 6.8 in.
Weight :	1500 g / 52.95 oz.
Supported OS :	Windows 2000, Windows XP (SP1 & SP2), Windows Vista™ / Mac OS X 10.3 or higher Web browser: Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher, Safari 1.3 or higher, Firefox 1.5 or higher
System Requirements :	Ethernet router (UPnP preferred); broadband Internet connection using Ports 80 (http), 443 (https) and 22 (ssh) unblocked – refer to your Internet Service Provider for details; PC or Mac equipped with Ethernet network adapter and a CD-ROM/DVD-ROM drive; Intel Pentium III 500MHz processor or greater; minimum 512MB of RAM
Software :	HipServ™ Desktop Agent for quick connection HipServ™ Desktop Mirror for backing up files (Windows)
Comments :	1 GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes. Total accessible capacity varies depending upon operating environment (typically 10–15% less). **Audio and video playback is dependent on the codecs installed on your computer.
Box Content :	LaCie Ethernet Disk mini – Home Edition; Ethernet cable; external power supply; drive stand for upright use; CD-ROM with Easy Install; Quick Install Guide
Warranty :	3 Year Limited Warranty

I bought mine a couple of weeks ago and getting it set up on my network was a sinch. Plug it into the ADSL router and stick in the installation disk and 10 minutes later I was loading files on it. My wireless laptop saw it as soon as it connected to the network and I can stream movies from it to the laptop with no problems. Haven’t tried uploading to it using FTP or sharing folders to friends and family with the secure accounts.

I’ll provide further updates as I use it more.

What's in the box

Well I have had my Archos 605 for 6 months now and have to say that it is the best ‘gadget’ that I have purchased in recent years.  I could honestly say that I have used it almost every day since it arrived.  I have even purchased a 1TB LaCie Ethernet Disk mini – Home Edition NAS for backing up both my network and storing movies, photos and music.  That’s another post though.  I take my Archos to work every day and listen to my music catalogue via media player.

Touch wood the only problems that I have had with it is with the USB cable that despite still charging the player didn’t want to allow the player to be seen for any more than a few seconds in windows explorer.  The docking station still allowed me to transfer data so there was obviously an issue with the cable.  I sourced a replacement on Ebay for £8 and all working fine again.

I’ve had a look at the new player that has been out for a few months and it looks good but I’ll wait till the 605 is a couple of years old before I replace it.

Still would give it 5 stars after 6 months.

5 out of 5

Just splashed out on a new car.  We’ve had a 1.8 Vaxhall Meriva Enjoy since 2004 (53 plate) and it was time to think about replacing it.  The mission this christmas holiday was to look for a family car which was a bit bigger than the Meriva.  The crucial factor was that it needed to have a bigger boot to house buggies or bikes plus all the other child stuff that families with 2 young kids need to stow away when going anywhere for a night or more.  We looked at an Audi Estate, test drove a Ford C-Max and looked at a Citroen Picasso and also a Volvo v50 – we drove a Volvo V50 T5 R-Design SE Sportin Black with 8,000 miles on the clock (08 plate)  including sat nav, bluetooth, reverse parking etc  reduced from £30,000 to £19,995 and really loved the car.  The problem was the 2.5 litre engine.  The sales guy who we happened to know found us a 3 month old (58 plate) 2.0 litre diesel with 1,300 miles on the clock and threw in reverse parking which will get fitted tomorrow for just over £17,000.  Hopefully will pick it up on Thursday.

Ahhhhh

Just spent Thursday and Friday in Dublin.  Terminal Four were having a t44u User Conference and Open Day in the O’Callaghan Alexander Hotel, situated close to Merrion Square.  We have just signed up to T4 and I was gathering as much information as I could about the product road-map and how other customers had found the product.  Some users have been using Site Manager for five years now with no problems.  An issues that some potential customers seem to have with the UI seem to be getting addressed with version 7 developments.  Terminal Four seem to be getting ready for growth in the sector with a new SEO starting back in September.  Interesting presentations from Vicky at Worthing Borough Council, Stephen Evans – St Andrews University, Dean Hale – Manchester University (one of the biggest implementations of Site Manager).  The new customer extranet was also launched.

Thursday night at the Russell Court Hotel in Dicey Reilly’s, was excellent – plenty of drink vouchers were being handed out and much Guinness was drunk. A lovely lady developer (sorry forgotten her name) told me the Guinness was shit there better in an old man’s pub. That may be so but it tasted better than over here in Scotland and the company was better looking than in an old man’s pub. Piles of finger food arrived. Conversation was excellent and was good to chat away to T4 staff and people from other Universities/Companies. I remember speaking to a couple of guys from Portsmouth University. From what I can remember I left the club at 2am and got a taxi back to the Holiday Inn – the taxi driver didn’t have a clue where it was despite his sat nav – fortunately I had a Google Map print off with me so made it back. Friday morning was a bit fuzzy but a cooked breakfast and plenty of tea sorted that out. Friday was a much shorter session with lots of customer feedback being collected and small group discussions. I think that some sort of user group is going to be set up similar to the Scottish Webfolk T4 thing – there seemed to be a large number of people up for collaboration.

Ewen Bremner

Friday afternoon involved dandering about Dublin shops looking for gifts for the wee man and daughter. The town was mobbed. Got the bus back to the Airport about 4pm and had something to eat and sat down with my Archos watching a film till the flight back to Edinburgh at 7pm.  As I went to board the plane I happened to look at the guy in the queue in front of me and thought ‘you look familiar’ – It was Ewen Bremner star of

Fool’s Gold (2008), Match Point (2005), AVP: Alien vs. Predator (2004), Around the World in 80 Days (2004), Black Hawk Down (2001), Pearl Harbor (2001), Snatch. (2000), Trainspotting (1996), Judge Dredd (1995)  ended up sat in the seat behind him on the plane.  His blackberry was all smashed up though.

Finally arrived home after bus to Edinburgh Waverley and Train back to a freezing Carnoustie at 11:20pm – woke up to snow.  YAY…

Our daughter returned home this evening after an afternoon at the child minder with a bag of paintings and other things that she had been making at nursery this morning.  She retrieved the following from the bottom of the bag and proceded to tell mummy it was a hedgehog covered in pricks.   Inocence is a wonderful thing.   She was corrected when mummy said spikes and she said prickles.

Hedgehog

Halloween Pumpkin

Halloween is fast approaching and for the last couple of years – since our daughter was old enough, I have carved a pumpkin.  Last year I did two because the first one went moldy in the house and the candle burnt the top and made the house stink.  The second pumpkin last year went over the top on an outdoor garden light that sits next to our front gate so the light from the lamp lights it up.  I have to say it looks great all lit up in the dark.  This year we got a bigger pumpkin which was easier to get into to carve.  I also tried a new approach and used a apple corer to strip out lots of the flesh and the a tea spoon to get a bit deeper.  Also because I was cutting a 4 inch hole in the bottom so the pumpkin would sit over the light I could get access from the bottom as well to carve with the corer.  Here’s all I used for carving – apple corer, big knife, small knife, tea spoon, 1 small child.

This years pumpkin has the addition of ears fashioned out of the shell from the 4 inch bit I cut from the bottom.  I tried to attach them to the side of the pumpkin with ‘No more Nails’ but it didn’t seem to want to hold so I just used pannel pins.

Unfortunately my face is not very inspiring compared to some of the amazing ones I have seem.  Take for example some of the beauties on www.jack-o-lantern.com .  Perhaps next year I will do something more exciting.  Mmmm  motion detection sound….????

Ok now I feel sorry for my tortured pumpkin – sorry.

I’ve been looking for software to ‘backup’ some of my DVD’s to enable me to play them on my Archos 605 and up until now I had been using combinations of DVD Shrink and Auto GK but some of the DVD’s had DRM or DVD Shrink wouldn’t back them up.  Last week I found an application called DVD Catalyst. Here’s what it says about it on it’s website.

DVD Catalyst FREE ,the free version of DVD Catalyst, is a One-Click conversion utility to convert DVD to iPod, PSP, iPhone, PocketPC, Zune and PalmOS devices. While not as feature-packed as DVD Catalyst 3, DVD Catalyst FREE does offer many benefits over other free conversion solutions. Unlike the need to use multiple applications, or following a free “guide”DVD Catalyst FREE automatically converts DVDs as well as video files to a format that your portable video player can handle. There is no need to install additional software. DVD Catalyst FREE works on Windows 2000,XP,2003 and Vista, and includes all that is needed to work. No compatibility issues or the need to install additional codecs.

DVD Catalyst FREE supports all video-capable iPods, Zune, iPhone, PSP, PocketPC and PalmOS devices, and is completely free (no spyware/adware/toolbars etc)

Obviously this should only be used if you have the original DVD.

I have converted to Windows Mobile and it converts a 2 hour film in under 2 hours.  The output is an .avi file that once transfered to the Archos plays without any problems.  If you want to convert a DVD that perhaps has multiple episodes then it gives the option of creating one .avi file or one for each episode which is handy.

Sa Marina Hotel

Well our holidays are all booked – last minute as usual.

We’re heading to the Sa Marina Hotel in Cala D’or on the Southern East coast of Majorca. We stayed at the same hotel 2 years ago and loved it so we decided to go back again.  I tried to book with ThomasCook but they didn’t have anything so we booked it ourselves online.  Hotel, Flights, Transfers and Airport Parking all individually.  We just need to pack now and worry about what sort of bottled water we can use to make up formula milk for the wee man.  Apparently some bottled waters have high sodium levels – not good for babies.  Evian is apparently good.

Spending the last few days at work trying to clear the decks so I don’t have too much to come back to in October.  Spent last couple of nights getting some films added to my Archos and also some kids stuff for the plane journey to keep madam entertained.  Happy Days.

Oh yes and working out when the Grand Prix is on next Sunday so I can watch it in the bar !!!!