On hand to grab some excellent photos at the end of the dive was Erich Reboucas

John Mason - ready to go!

Leigh Cunningham watches Cath Bates as she checks her gas...

Immediately following the course we returned to 101m (the course only allows a maximum of 100m before qualification) in order to affirm my place in the 100+m club. Here’s some of the stats for the dive :

Dive site	Anemone City, Ras Mohammed
Max Depth	101m
Bottom Gas	10/55
Bottom Time	12 mins (including descent)
Deco Gasses	15/28, 30% and 72%
Deco Time	62 mins (excluding bottom time)
Dive Profile

So, with the impending launch of the iPad I was interested in it’s capability to provide a preview and back up capability. Obviously the 64GB of onboard storage would never be enough, so the article by Maxwell C Shay raised more than an eyebrow. However, one key issue with the process to access an external drive is to logically mount the drive so that it can be accessed through iFile. The demonstration shows this being achieved by using SSH from a laptop – which rather defeats the purpose of a reasonably self contained solution.

So, I tried to write a simple app that could be run from SpringBoard which would either mount or unmount a connected drive (as per Maxwell’s instructions). Unfortunately, that was a no go – no matter how I tried to execute the shell commands nothing would mount. Now, given that I would have my iPhone in close proximity the simple answer was to use a SSH client from the iPhone to execute the commands remotely – while on the same wifi network. All you have to do is install something like TouchTerm (MobileTerm is not yet compatible with the iPad) and create a connection for Home (i.e. 127.0.0.1 with the usual root credentials).

As I chose to purchase the MiFi instead of the 3G iPad, I have an extremely compact wifi router (doesn’t need a 3G signal to create the network) So I simply connect the external drive to my iPad, issue the command from my iPhoneiPad and then browse, move and organise my files without the need of the bulky MacBookPro or under powered netbook.

So far I’ve had this working fine with SDHC cards from my Kodak Zi8, Sony Bloggie and Canon 7D. Even though iPhoto seems to download the files (if there’s a DCIM folder somewhere on the card) it doesn’t play well with the HD video footage.

This was also the first trip where I took my Sony MHS-PM5K camera along for a little 360˙ fun.  I only shot a couple of movies but it appears to work well – once you remove the protective plastic cover!

Here’s the various formats of video : raw footage

Old school processed youtube (HD)

And the 360 flash player from Ruybin (click and drag around the video to change the point of view)

Traveling to Palau is no easy task – I chose to fly Emirates to Manila via Dubai, then Continental Micronesia to Palau. On paper the stop overs looked a good idea, break up the travel, eat some food, do a little shopping but in the end it more than doubled the travel time. Something to bear in mind for the next trip to Asia/ South America!

Breakfast at 7am in the Landmark Marina hotel was excellent – bacon and eggs – followed by a 2 minute walk around to FishNFins.

However, following on from the deep dive course in Dahab I’ve completed the TDI Advanced Nitrox and Decompression procedures qualifications.

A handful of deco dives to 45m using various mixes up to 72% (very nice indeed) and I’m ready to move on to the Extended range course.  Hopefully, this should open up the Blue Hole arch swim through, Thomas Canyon and much much more. A big thanks to Cat (Catherine Bates), Pit Kuiper, Deniz Aymer and Francesco Germi to name but a few!

I’ve added a handful of photos to my flickr stream, with samples below.

• Paula
• Lumba Lumba
• Richelieu (Thailand)
• Sipadan
• Green Island (Taiwan)

Trying to work out the logistics wrt to travel and timings for the liveaboard departure dates – which isn’t proving to be too easy!  I may even get the train from Phuket to Kuala Lumpur at this rate to minimise the dive/fly safety margin!

…I (we are) am too…so we’re going to do something about it!

We are all buying a download of ‘KILLING IN THE NAME’ by RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE right NOW! until the end of Saturday 19th December (23:59pm).

Go here ->  http://www.ratm.co.uk/

Thanks to Synthia, Mike, Rod,  Neil, Shady, Pete, Paul & Jacquie

The photo set is up on flickr now.

The road from Lhasa ascends quickly to the plateau (don’t look out of the side window if you suffer from vertigo) and then follows the newly constructed railway that runs from Lhasa to Beijing.  As my guide points out – “It used to be much beautiful before they built the railway right through here” – an odd comment from a chinese guide….

After many, many, many more checkpoints we arrive at Laken pass at an altitude of 5190m to an impromptu snow storm. Looking around you could think that the snow up here is a one off as I seem to be the only “tour” with a 4*4. The drive down from the pass to the lake is both spectacular and frightening. Snow, ice, slush, lorries and Yaks all seem to be on a suicide mission – or perhaps they’re just late for the next checkpoint.

Permits checked for the last time we drive along the peninsular to the Tashi Dor monastery. Unfortunately, the thing that stands out the most here (and does elsewhere in Tibet) is the number of Chinese tourists. Yaks line the lake ready to have the Chinese hop on it’s back for the obligatory photo shot. A little further down the peninsula, a chinese couple are getting married. A notable omission to the general scenery are the Tibetans – I hope they have found a more peaceful place to enjoy their heritage.

Departure on time was followed by an incredible roller coaster ride(with a couple of hysteric Latvians) and a diversion to Tallinn – not the planned destination of Riga.

3hrs on the ground with little information and the odour levels increasing we headed back off into the stormy skies for Riga.

Click to view full size

While reviewing my schedule from Beijing to Lhasa using Seat61, I was suddenly aware of the significant change in altitude that I’d experience when traveling on the train to Lhasa. I’ve plotted the height across the various stops I’ll be making from Irkutsk (it’s pretty flat before then!).  Most would be concerned, but I’ve already topped out at 4,167m when I climed Jbel Toubkal.  The highest point on the trip will be Tanggula Pass at around 5,231m and from looking at the train timetable should be during the day (of day 3 from Beijing)!  One more reason to bring the GPS tracker!

If I haven’t already tried out some stupid sports, this ranks high up the list.  An outfit called Bigfoot Hostel’s offer a Volcano boarding package at around $28. This 4.5-hour excursion will have you climbing to the top of Nicaragua’s ominous Cerro Negro volcano, only to mount a sit-down board and travel at speeds of up to 50 mph while sliding down the slope to the bottom. To add to the thrill, Cerra Negro remains an active volcano, and Bigfoot even throws in a post-boarding mojito to help ease any bumps and scrapes you may have earned on your trip down. (from Uncrate)

Turning south from San Francisco down through Tijuana to Baja California.  Boat over to the mainland and head to Mexico City.  From Mexico City to Guatemala, Belize, San Jose, Panama City, Cartagena, Quito, Guayaquil, Galapagos Islands, Iquitos, Lima, Cusco, La Paz, Santiago, Punta Arenas ending at Ushuaia - suitably also called the end of the world.

Having already done Buenos Aires, Fos Iguacu and Rio I’d probably head over to Dakar and attempt the Dakar-Cairo Highway.  A quick spin around the pyramids and it’s backup through europe stopping off in Ceriana to see old friends before ending up back in old blighty.

I’d been contemplating a HTPC for sometime now but have always had issues with the ‘PC’ side of things. Considering the usual form factor and noise considerations (with a desire not to leave my MBP on 24*7) the MacMini seemed to be the best choice.

As I’ve been Handbrak’ing, MacTheRipper’ing and TURBO’ing my various DVDs to the Drobo.  So far so good

Landcruiser tackles the track

Just through the village is the local football pitch (as it’s just near the end of summer, there’s no grass to be seen anywhere).  In a barn at the end of the pitch is where we find the Amanwana transport – two classic landcruisers.

The track heads up from the village at an aggressive angle – no problem for the landcruiser or driver.  As the track winds higher and higher, livestock and crops are separated by makeshift wooden fences.  Nothing on the way looks permanent or very fertile in the midday heat.  Reaching the end of the track, we dismount and start the short trek under the shade of trees.  Ten or so minutes up the track we hit the first of several spring fed pools.  Assured that better pools are yet to come, we push on.  Arriving at the main set of pools, no one needs any encouragement to discard their heavier clothes and dive (or gently lower themselves) into the refreshing pool.  Generally around 2 metres in depth, the water is clear and very refreshing.

Limestone waterfall

Lying face up in the water, you realise that you’re not the only ones enjoying the limestone pools.  Several macaque monkey sit comfortably in the trees watching their fellow (if not larger) cousins enjoying the cool water.

The reason for their attention becomes clear once we exit the pool and return to the fruit buffet and coconut set out by our guides. Suitably refreshed we set back of down the track to the village.

There have been a number of reviews posted on tripadvisor.com inferring that the condition is less than perfect.  However, the tent we had was in very good order indeed. The only difference in the location – a $100 a night premium to have a beach fronted tent, instead of on set slightly back into the jungle.  We chose the beach option and would again!  Although largely private, you may see a fellow guest walking around the bay. If you choose the jungle tent you will have to make do with the shared sun deck near the jetty.

Sand paths link the tents to one another and lead to the beach and back to the main suite of building.The dining room and bar are located in an open-air pavilion facing the sea.  There are no fixed meal times so you’re free to arrive at almost any time of the day and order what ever you’d like.  Given that I was diving every morning, I would normally return around 11ish and order breakfast with no problems. However, some days I went straight for lunch given the excellent menu on display.

If you’ve worn out the view from your tent, the bar or the sund deck then located at the far end of the camp, a few metres from the shoreline, the Music Pavilion is a forest sanctuary. Here, you can listen to music, order picnic lunch and a bottle of wine, enjoy afternoon tea or a sunset cocktail.  Out in front of the pavillion is Turtle Street, a relatively safe snorkelling area where you will most likely see Hawksbill Turtles.

So, I started to look around the market place for a suitable extendible NAS solution that was extremely mac friendly. Previous experience with a WD My Book World were less than successful. Poor management tools and slow performance were major deficiencies with the product, thus similar products were excluded.

Most solutions around are RAID based and inevitably do not lend themselves towards Mac compatibility (generic filesystems)- one exception being the Drobo. On it’s own (i.e. sans DroboShare) they act as a more than capable USB/ Firewire backup solution or even as direct attached storage through the TimeCapsule USB port. This, however, ties it to the “N” band leaving my other devices out in the cold.

However, when paired with the aptly named DroboShare, it becomes more than a NAS solution given the growing number of apps being developed for the platform. Coupled with the easy to use DroboDashboard it was a simple choice. The TimeCapsule is now back to it’s originally designated purpose – a backup device for my MBP. (Update : and now my MacMini)

Crazy skies looking out over the mediterranean sea, from the promenade d’anglais

Nice, Frace

And here’s the video to match

With a quick google of “moyo island diving” returns a number of similar results all indicating that I should expect spectacular coral and crystal clear waters for good diving possibilities. However the island’s reefs do suffer from the effects of dynamite fishing.

Angel Reef

On the west coast of Moyo lies a healthy coral reef with a vertical wall dropping to over 40 meters in depth.The wall is covered in soft coral however evidence of dynamite fishing can be seen in places. Marine life generally include longfin bannerfish, redtooth triggerfish and batfish. Blacktips may also be seen in the deeper sections of this dive. Although, on the dives I made a rather large moray eel and fantastically well behaved sea snake were in residence.

Panjang Slope

Located just north of Angel Reef is this submerged coral reef. This is one of the few places that a patient and observant diver may spot the deadly yellow blue ringed octopus. Fully grown adults reach the size of half of your thumb, and carry one of the most toxic poisons to be found in the sea so don’t touch it!  Unfortunately (or fortunately) none were sighted on the days I visited.

Shoreline sea wall

The Sea Wall, which is just off the beach and can be accessed by the boardwalk, has a reef wall that descends 40 metres. Turtle Street is just to the right of the camp in front of the music pavilion, where a reef ledge drops away to a sandy slope.  If you don’t fancy the swim out to the pontoon then one of the extremely helpful staff will take you out on the boat.  However, be warned that they’ll drop you off some distance from the pontoon so you get to snorkel up turtle street.  We saw several hawks bill turtles but the ever present black tips were well hidden from sight.

Only eight degrees north of the Equator, Moyo benefits from a year round tropical climate with the driest months starting from May through to October.
Once collected from our villa in Seminyak, we’re whisked off to Depensar airport to catch our flight to Moyo. The check in process is rather odd as no tickets are issued and the only means of identifying us as passengers is a large plastic tag. One of the benefits of taking the seaplane is access to the lounge – a must have given the heat.
A short wait in the lounge and we’re ready board for the short hop over to the island. Take off is surprisingly smooth followed by a gradual turn for an easterly heading over Lombok. After a very comfortable flight we arrive at the island with an exhilarating landing in front of resort, coming to a slow stop at the jetty.

Part of a series of photos taken during a lightning storm over london.

Follow the image link to more on my flickr account.

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Luckily, there’s space in Val Thorens – one of my favourite resorts.  With 25 out of 29 lifts already open and the Frog and Roastbeef  promising a fantastic NYE party, the countdown has started.

1. book tickets early
2. arrive when the gates open (good space near the bar/access paths is best)
3. picnic blanket and inflatable sleeping matt/chair combo
4. take a good picnic, although there was a tempting indian selection on sale – beer/wine has to be in plastic bottles. A popular choice is to grab a pizza from pizza express round the corner and bring it in with you.

Here’s a couple of shots from the evening ]]> http://www.johnmason.me/2007/08/12/summer-screen/feed/ 0 http://www.johnmason.me/2007/07/31/camera-crisis/ http://www.johnmason.me/2007/07/31/camera-crisis/#comments Tue, 31 Jul 2007 22:40:54 +0000 John Mason http://www.muppetfactory.co.uk/2007/07/31/camera-crisis/ Just returned from the races and discovered huge great dirty smears across most of the shots from the day. Most apparent through the Tamron 11-18mm, the photos are pretty much rubbish. What to do? Luckily I found a company called fixation hidden away in a downstairs warehouse near Vauxhall. For £25 (plus vat) you get a full sensor clean.

The question is – how did the sensor get so dirty in the first place?

INSERT_MAP

Appearing Rooms by Danish artist Jeppe Hein

It’s the zoomify export facility (file->export->zoomify). Here’s a link to the original posted on flickr

It’s nearly a year on since the operation to sort out my back following my less than successful visit to whistler and I stumble upon a very fitting tshirt from zoozoo2.

“Here’s $500 for the first documented case of someone
using the white courtesy phone in an airport to page
Mr Shootdown, Reese Sett, Sleep Now, or whatever and
blanking all the laptops in a concourse. An extra
$500 if it’s DC National…” read more

LIVERPOOL 3 – 6 ARSENAL

sorry but this restaurant has closed -  shown for historical purposes only

Outswinging corner from right by-line taken right-footed by Francesc Fabregas (Arsenal) to near post, clearance by Mario Fillinger (Hamburg).

Air Bali operate a phenomenal private charter service in and around the Island of Bali.

On this occasion, we were picked up from the beach outside KuDeTa and whisked off to Lembongan island. The trip which would normally take 3-4hrs by car and boat took only 20 mins and provides a unique view of the islands.

It was so good we arranged to have them take us back at the end of our stay on Lembongan!

Yes, it’s a bit fuzzy!

“Where is badfracture at? I want to disown him. I am putting myself up on eBay ASAP”

Two annoying comments from my xbox306voice . Anymore of this sh*t, it’ll be providing a nice base for a PlayStation3.

• Firefox 1.5
• Safari 2.0
• IE 6
• IE 7
• Opera 9

Something top end financial companies should think about (mentioning no names….)

read more | digg story

Blue screen of death! oh yes, what’s the first thing to do seeing as I’ve got a shiny new macbook pro? That’s it; install the Microsoft Vista PRC1! installing was pretty simple – install bootcamp, change the partition size to anything greater than 10gb (Vista Ultimate needs at least 8gb), install the Mac Drivers and just wait for the BSOD. Didn’t take long to occur – problems with the ATI Radeon drivers – tried the latest download from the ATI Sites but I’m having the usual problem of removing the previous drivers. Other than having to pay to download the Office 2007 trial ($250 $2.50) looks like a re-themed XP with a lot more annoying pop windows asking if Vista can wipe your arse bluescreen randomly thrash the hard drive.

Just to push my luck, I’m going to install the latest beta Picasa and Google (as they’re not out for OSX yet) to see how they perform……

“googol”

“a unit of quantity equal to 10^100 (1 followed by 100 zeroes). The googol was invented by the American mathematician Edward Kasner (1878-1955) in 1938. According to the story, Kasner asked his nephew Milton Sirotta, who was then 8 years old, what name he would give to a really large number, and “googol” was Milton’s response. Kasner also defined the googolplex, equal to 10^googol, that is, 1 followed by a googol of zeroes. These inventions caught the public’s fancy and are often mentioned in discussions of very large numbers.”

From the Showtime series Penn & Teller: Bullshit, an animal communicator helps owners get in touch with their pets’ pain.

Blogged with Flock

Looks like someones managed to take most of the usability lab out there to the real web. Normally, to monitor how people interact with your web site you’d stick them in a room with either cameras or observers watching what the do and ask them questions. With CrazyEgg, it’s a non intrusive experience that goes along with the page to the client. I’ve added it to this page to see what happens…

Will it be Maldives, Bali, India, Mauritius, Austria Australia or a caravan on Isle of Wight?

Seriously, you’re more likely to be killed by a falling coconut that a shark. That got me thinking. What else should I be looking out for? We all know the “more likely to be hit by a bus” line, but what else?

Ok, so I’m not supposed to go out on my bike (‘cos of my back) but I am supposed to go swimming. As shown below there’s more chance of be checking out while swimming than on my bike!!

Newton’s second law of motion can be formally stated as follows:

The acceleration of an object as produced by a net force is directly proportional to the magnitude of the net force, in the same direction as the net force, and inversely proportional to the mass of the object.

In terms of an equation, the net force is equated to the product of the mass times the acceleration. Given that I can not increase the mass (as my back is still generally weak) I will be increasing the acceleration, thus increasing the net force applied to my spine (in a controlled environment).

Unfortunately, Newton missed the relationship between f and the p from his equations where p is pain. I’m going to stick my neck out here, and theorise that p is exponentially proportional to f (directly proportional at best!!!)

As you can see…. a great improvement but a long way to go in order to reach the target range (in green).

Yes, it’s official – with 4 days to go and after two physio sessions there’s no chance of travelling out for the games (let alone going to a match!). So I’ll be staying in town and watching it at home and returning to work!. Tickets have already been re-allocated so no outrageous offers of cash or begging!

In addition to the screws and rods is, apparently, a large amount of osteoconductive matrix constructed of cross-linked collagen fibres that are fully coated with hydroxyapatite. This is the artificial bone graft that is accelerating the regeneration of bone within the burst fracture of T11.

For saftey reasons, I’ve added the picture above so everyone should be aware where abouts in my back the rods are. So no patting on the back!

As they say, sport hurts… ” Go hard or go home” …. or to hospital like me. Tomorrow morning at 7am I’ll be checking in for a “universal spine system fixation”. Catchy isn’t it? Several screws and a bone graft later I should be as good as new. You can catch all this action live at the London Independent Hospital, just of Beaumont Square… Operation should take around 7hrs and be out in 4 or 5 days. No flowers please…

Thanks to Marshall, Shaz, Jason, James, Andy, Ben, Gavin and Fluff over the last few days for popping in to the local to say hello.

Laters……..

However, following today’s xray the fragements have moved a little to far for comfort.  It’s also visably collapsing.

Recommendation, operate and insert screws to stabilise the fracture and get me bac to normal.  Not looking forward to being screwed by a consultant – but it would be the first time! (DF take note!)  Just to see how close it all was, here’s a snapshot of the fracture pressing on the spinal cord (from the MRI scan)

Time to recover? enough? lets see.

Unfortunately, it appears that I’ve also torn a large amount of tissue between T10 (wedge fracture) and T11 (burst fracture). So, I’ll have to stick with the brace, crutches and have another x-ray/scan in two weeks time.

Then the bad news, looks like there’s a possibility of a “Chance fracture” (from G.Q Chance, British Radiologist) so I’m booked in for a MRI scan to make sure there hasn’t been any tissue damage.

B*gger.

Slainte… I’ve ordered mine in today (guiness that is.!!) and my snowboard bag turns up. Hidden deep in the bag is the proof of some boarding. Luckily, I’d decided to test out my little GPS tracker on the first run (marked in blue) as shown on the google map above.

I’ve also estimated where I crashed….somewhere near Wild Card. Crystal Lodge is where I was supposed to stay the week…

More images can be found on the google image page.

Arrived at Heathrow on time but had to wait for a high-loader to get me off the plane as we’d been parked away from the terminal.

Straight through VIP customs and collect my baggage (well, the chap pushing me through did!).  Meet Ali and my driver as we pass through customs.

Unfortunately, the insurance company (who organised the car) forgot to mention the snowboard.  Off to left luggage with the board and then we head home.

Friday flew by and finally meet up with Furniss. Apparently a quiet week in whistler but the snow was good. Turns out that Cameron joined the wounded on the second day by tearing his ligaments in his shoulder – not bad…. two down in two days. No more incidents though.

Sent Furniss out for extra supplies of medication for the trip home. Hospital went out of their way and organise an ambulance to transfer me to the airport (apparently a limo might of been too low and difficult to get into… yeah…..)

Arrive at airport and check in with a large audience. (that’s the cattle class for you…) A cheeky beer with furniss and I’m wheeled into the lounge (after discussing why I can’t walk through the metal detector with a very understanding security guard…??)

Several Kokanee beers later, I’m wheeled onto the plane and start on the champagne. Take off and bed is laid flat. Homeward bound.

Arsenal 0 – 0 Madrid – and we’re through….  Good start to the day.

No shortage of physiotherapists today.  Medication taken and the brace fitted.  Not that comfortable, but should stop me flexing my toight body and impacting the burst fracture.

Quick wheel down to xray to may sure the fractures look stable while standing and then back to Canadian TV.  Ice hockey isn’t too bad …

Doc turns up around lunch and ok’s the mobilisation.  Saturday return home now looks promising.  A quick walk around the reception area and back to medication.

Nice view from my hospital room window today, appears to have stopped snowing.  Shortage of physio’s today so no brace fitting.

Time to lie back and enjoy Canadian TV – luckily they’ve got the Arsenal vs Madrid game on.  Asked for some beer and end up with some water. C’est la vie….

All attempts are called off and a prescription for Apo-Diazepam (Valium…) to control the spasms and the fitting is rescheduled for tomorrow. Oh joy…..

Rooms nice, given that it’s $2500 a night which includes food. Doctor arrives early to deliver the news, which is good. Only fractured two vertebra (the other one was a past accident) and both look pretty stable. Here’s a link to the CT scan showing both fractures to T10 and T11. The fractures are highlighted in red as shown above.

Given that both fractures appear stable, I’m getting a Jewett Brace fitted tomorrow and seeing a physio to get mobile.

Given some more shots of morphine and scheduled for a CT scan around midnight. Couple of other skiing accidents and a number of drunk drivers in pretty bad shape.

Have my scan around 11:30pm and moved into the spine ward to await the results.

Choice of routes down – either Shale slope or Doom and Gloom…… Lunch beckons so Doom and gloom will have too wait.

After skiing almost blind down from the top of the peak, we join onto Franz’s meadows for some nice powder and jump on to Wild Card. Really should have gone for Doom and gloom…..

The rest, as they say, is downhill from here. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the infamous “Dave Murray Downhill” – although he may have had some similar experiences…..

New lenses for goggles (to improve contrast..), hat and ski pass. Original plan was to meet at the whistler lift for 10am. As it’s 9:30am, Furniss and I get on the lift and guess we’ll meet the others for lunch.

Several runs later we stop for drinks at the Roundhouse Lodge at the top of the village gondola (12 ish). Impressed with the snow although the slopes are still quiet – got no problem with that! Off to the peak and take a run down to resort for lunch.

Day started very well with Arsenal beating Fulham 4-0. Checked in around 5ish, a breeze with the first class desk – even the board bag was whisked off (no looking for oversized luggage.!) and into the lounge.

Couple of drinks and then a couple more. Check the map, vancouver just 2 1/2 hrs away. Time for breakfast or is it dinner. Running a little late, but the transfer should be fine.

Plane lands, straight through customs and pick up tickets for the perimeter express. Furniss is in the bar, so a quick couple of beers for the next journey and grab some classy polystyrene cups for the in-transit refreshments.

Arrive at the Crystal-Lodge around 10:30pm, check-in and locate Marshall et al. in the hotel bar. Furniss, Keith, Cameron and myself are the only ones to venture out to sample the night life. All pretty quite, but then it is a transfer day.