Will You Please Turn Those Fog Lights Off!

Yes folks, its that time of year again, when what seems like a mirriad of drivers deem it a requirement to drive around with their fog lights blazing.

This is something of a pet peeve of mine, fog light should only be on when visibility is reduced to such a level that the car in front is not visible unless its fog lights are on. The reason for this is quite simple, fog lights are extreemly bright, meaning that unless visibility is vastly reduced through fog, they are massivly distracting to other drivers. This is especially the case when you are on the motorway during rush hour in clear weather.

In clear conditions, there really is no excuse for being such an inconsiderate numpty.

Drivers who insist on having their fog light on in the wet are especially idiotic. Wet roads reflect light, so such bright lights will be cause even more glare problem for other drivers.

Granted there will be some drivers who have made a genuine mistake and either forgotton to switch off their fog lights after fog as cleared or have accidentally put them on with their lights.

The latter group have fallen foul of what I call basic design stupidity on the part of motor manufacturers, namely Peugeot. Putting the fog ligh control on the same stalk as the main lights really is asking for trouble. Fog lights are rarely required and should be a button on the dashboard so that it is a consious decision to make use of them, it should not be possible to accidentally turn them on. Along with the bashboard button, there should be a big bright dash light that reads FOGS ON so there is no excusing for not realising you have left them on. If this light is distracting, all the better, because that will encourage drivers to turn them off when they are not required.

Whatever the reason, those who make the genuine mistake of having their lights on when not required show an obvious lack of attention to the car they are driving and the conditions around them.

Whorse still are those who intentionally drive around with their fog lights on. These are spotty teenagers trying to look cool in their underpowered hallfords speciales, or arrogant self important plonkers who feel the need to bully other drivers out of their way by employing every tactic possible to make the driver in front as flustered and uncomfortable as possible.

Both type of driver is equally despicable and probably incapable of understanding the logic as to why using fog lights when its not foggy is stupid.

What was that guy thinking?

The other day I saw an act of stupidity which I still struggle to comprehend.

It was on my morning commute on the motorway, traffic was slightly more congested than is normal so I expected to see some sort of incident up ahead.

When I got to the cause of the congestion, it was a single vehicle stopped on the central reservation, hazards flashing. Due to the size of the central reservation at that point, a third of the car was still in lane three, causing traffic in that land to edge over the boundry line for lane two in order to get past.

The reason for the car to be there? Well the driver was standing behind the car heaving his guts out onto the grass.

Whatever the reasons for the sudden stop and hurl, there is lots that is wrong with this situation. The most obvious that if he was in such a poor state of health, weather self inflicted the night before or he had caught a virus, he should not have been driving. If he had to drive he should have been more careful in his planning and stayed in lane one so he could drive at a more sedate pace and be prepared for any emergency action.

The needless disruption of traffic in what should be the fastest moving lane of the motorway was what annoyed, and probably hundreds of others. Standing behind his car was also very stupid because if his car was to be hit by an approaching vehicle, he would have been placed perfectly to receive the maximum possible damage to himself.

Just for a moment I am going to assume that he had no prior warning of his impending predicament. He must have had some warning in order to stop and get out of his car. Assuming that he didn’t have time to get accross two lanes of traffic and onto the hard shoulder before the resulting splurge would have created an unpleasant valeting job, surely that would still be preferable to the carnage that he risked by stopping on the central reservation.

So, what was he thinking when he stopped? I don’t think he was thinking at all.

The much anticipated XBOX live dashboard update is here

Several people I know have been quite excited about the new XBOX live dashboard and have been eagerly looking forward to today, when they can finally download and play with their own new XBOX avatar, among other things.

Here in the UK we won’t be getting the movie streaming that the US will get, personally I am not fussed about that, but I am sure there is no shortage of people who are very keen to see it launched in Europe.

The download and update this evening went very smoothly, so long as I ignore the system error and single red light my XBOX gave me when I turned it on. Due to holiday and various commitments, it had been about 3 weeks since it was last turned on.

My first impressions of the new dashboard are possitive, its funky and clear, though at first glance there does seem to be a lot more items to choose from, compared to the previous dashboard. I am sure this is just a result of the reorganising that Microsoft done and that the one I use most will be easier and quicker to get to.

The new avatars are well designed and while I am sure they will be compared to Nintendos Miis, I think they are more grown up.

Is the law on using mobiles phone while driving making any difference?

When the UK government announced that it would make the use of hand held mobile phone while driving illegal there were several things that went through my mind. Specifically, what is so special about hand held mobiles that they need to be singles out by a specific law? And why can’t bad or dangerous driving as a result of using a hand held mobile phone be covered by existing road laws?

Currently I drive a about 40 miles a day on the motorway and every day I am guaranteed to see at least one person using a hand held mobile phone while driving. These fall into 3 categories;

The Conscientious

Mostly men, these drivers are acutely aware that they are breaking the law and try not to make it obvious, they do their best to not get in the way of other traffic and as a result are usually found in the first lane, keeping speed with the other traffic in the same lane. They keep switching concentration between the phone call and the road and are likely to keep a large gap in front of them.

The Distracted

Equally men and women, these drivers are probably aware that they are breaking the law but choose to forget for the duration of the phone call. They are insulated in their own world and are oblivious to the fact that their driving has slowed down and they are now causing an obstruction to other traffic. They are almost always found in the center lane and have no idea at all of the conditions around them. They are likely to spot changing road conditions too late and over-react when they eventually do.

The Couldn’t Care Less

Mostly young women, these drivers are aware that they are breaking the law and frankly don’t care. Will likely get aggressive if you try to challenge them on it. They believe that their driving is unaffected and their phone calls are usually very animated, resulting on no hands on the wheel while their other hand gesticulates as if their conversation  partner is sat next to them. They make no attempt to remove themselves from danger and will match the speed of the traffic of whatever lane they are in, and will even change lane to keep up that speed if traffic conditions change. Observers will note that they tend to ‘wander’ quite a lot within the lane and even over the edges. Causing nervousness to all around them, not that they notice, of course.

While I certainly agree that using a hand held mobile phone is detrimental to overall driving quality, so are a lot of other things, like:

- having children in the car

- changing radio station / cd / tape / ipod track

- singing along

- laughing

- smoking

- talking to a passenger

- getting bored

- eating / drinking

I am sure given 10 minutes anyone could come up with a list of things that could impair the quality of your driving.

The fact is, there is not one single driver who can give 100% concentration to the task in hand 100% of the time. Part of being human is that we are distractable and that very distractableness will sometimes result in accidents and worse.

That’s not to say that we should not have laws of the road to govern safe driving, we most definitely should, but why should we have specific laws that outlaw a specific action, when the consequences of that action are covered by existing traffic offenses. If someone is stuck in traffic and wants to make a quick call home to say so whats the problem? If someone is yabbering on to a friend and as a result is weaving about like a drunkard, well there are traffic laws that cover that.

Active policing of poor quality driving is whats required here, not black and white legislation to blanket cover topics which really should not be dealt with as black and white.

So, back to the original question; has the law banning the use of hand held mobile phones while driving made any difference? Well I don’t think it has made as much of a difference as the law makers thought it would. Given the shortness of my motorway commute and the number of drivers I see using a hand held phone, its clear many people don’t see it as the potential danger it is.

In 2007, not even four years after the law came into effect, New Labour increased further the penalty for being caught. This must be a clear indication that the law is not effective. Increasing the punishment is not the way to make a law more acceptable.

Diego Safari Rescue

Having bought a Nintendo Wii a few months ago, it was inevitable that sooner or later I would be buying games for my 4 year old daughter. I have no idea why it was this Diego game that my wife chose, but the fact that the Diego and Dora TV series is very popular with our young offspring, was probably a significant factor. The price was about £20 would have put me off, as I like to buy games after their initial popularity was waned somewhat and so tend to be a bit cheaper.

That said, we have certainly had our moneys worth from the purchase. We have both spent some time ‘playing’ the game with our daughter and she has spent time on her own, simply enjoying playing the game. Such is the simplicity of the game that a 4 year old can very quickly get the hang of it. Yet it is not so monotonous that she is bored of it. She will simply loves playing it and will repeat sections of the game just for the shear pleasure of playing the game.

Its a sad indictment of my ‘grown up’ attitude to games that I detest replaying games that I own and once completed, or more accurately, one they get too hard, they tend to be discarded to the dusty back shelf while another new and exiting game takes my fancy.

Diego will be familiar with many parents of young children and is a safe programme for all kids to watch and includes some educational aspects as well. Safari Rescue builds on that and has very simple game play and gradually eases in more complicated moves as the game progresses. There are also sections that make use of the WiiRemotes motion sensors, such as pumping up a balloon or doing a swimming action. Even a four year old can work out that you can still do these actions from the comfort of the sofa, but at least the game play is not restricted to pushing buttons.

Movement of Diego on the screen is done by tilting the WiiRemote, the only button pushing required is to do an action, such as jump. The menus are navigated in the same way. This is a good implementation, as it makes the whole experience much easier for a young child.

So pleased am I with this Diego game, that I am certain that I’ll be purchasing more Diego titles and will very likely purchase Dora ones as well.

It looks like Steve Fossett has at last been found

While it is indeed a sad story and no doubt the last 12 months and more have been a terrible time to the Fossett family, its great news that at last the mystery can start to be solved.

In the last year I have read musings that his death was faked and even that he found his way into another dimension. I am glad that both theories will now be seen to be false, but the fact that people had the poor sense and bad taste to make the statements I found disturbing at the time and it only goes to further deepen my contempt of all things conspiracy. It would be great if those responsible for the comments would retract them, but somehow I doubt that will happen.

In fact I expect someone to come up with further reasons why there is a conspiracy, someone if bound to mention the small amount of tissue found so far, of the fact the found items are conveniently his IDs and were a distance from the plane. Of course I hope I am wrong, but experience of the low intelligence that occupies parts of the web expects the worst.

That doom and gloom aside, I hope the end of this missery for the Fossett family is soon over and they can soon live without the glare of media interest.

Samsung R700

My wife has had her new Samsung R700 laptop for a couple of weeks now, so I thought now was a good time to give a detailed review of it. We have already had to deal with poor quality Dells before so Dell was out of the running, my preference would have been to have a Lenovo as I have had very good ones for my work, but for personal use they are just too costly for our home budget, which is a shame.

We chose the Samsung over many of it rivals because it was given a good review on CNET. We wanted a high power laptop and a decent keyboard was very high on our priorities. The R700 offers a full size keyboard and a separate numeric keypad, so barring a poor review, the Samsung was effectively top of our list of laptop choices.

This laptop is our second R700 because the first one suffered from a dead screen the first day we got it, see here. Having already refunded us for a failed Sony Viao, DABS continued to provide good customer support by shipping us a replacement Samsung. We did have to wait about three weeks for the replacement and communication was lacking a little. But at no point did Dabs fob us off or fail to deliver on a promise, which means they will continue to get my business and recommendations.

So, now that we have it, how is the Samsung to use? I’ll do the negatives first as it is by far the shortest list.

Negatives

When sitting on the sofa (as I am currently typing this) the balance of the laptop is wrong. There is far too much weight at the back of the laptop, meaning that the front edge lifts off your lap, leaving a gap of about half an inch or more. This makes a large typing effort (such as this blog post) less comfortable as it should be due to the wobble of the laptop as the typing pressure causes a see-saw affect. Lifting my knees up to counter this is only a temporary releif because its not long before the laptop starts to slide down my lap and I have to adjust the position every few sentences.

This is by far the biggest frustration but since we more often use the laptop sitting at a table its not something that effects us every time we use it.

The home/end/pgup/pgdn keys are part of the numpad and not separate as on a desktop keyboard, this means much use is made of the Num Lock key if you like to use the keypad for numeric entry.

Other issues with the laptop are minor niggles; the black gloss finish marks easily, there is no physical switch to turn the wireless on and off, something that has been very useful on laptops that have one.

Positives

The keyboard is great, the full size keys make it as easy to type on as a normal keyboard and the feed back is good.

The screen is bright and sharp, making everything clear and easy to read. Glare from the sun is only a problem in the brightest of sunshine, which means we can use it in the conservatory.

The R700 comes with a good array of connections, including 4 USB ports. However, we have not had need for any of them since the printer, scanner, external storage, iPod etc are all connected to my desktop upstairs.

There is also an HDMI port should we want to connect it to our HD TV (also a Samsung), though to be honest, I really don’t see that need arising, unless a digital camcorder makes its way into the house.

One thing that has caused frustration in the house before is wireless, we use a wireless TV sender so that we can watch TV in the bedroom upstairs without having to fork out the extra cost of Sky Multiroom. This has on occasion caused wireless laptops to fail to connect to the wireless box upstairs. The solution is simple, switch of the wireless sender, usually this results in someone coming back downstairs when we realise we’ve forgotten to switch it back on again. It is helpful that this does not seem to affect the Samsung, the wireless connectivity is excellent.

Summary

A solidly built and well specced laptop that I have no hesitation is recommending.

Brands Hatch Hotel – August 2008

Wanting a night away from parenthood, my wife and I booked a night at the Brands Hatch Hotel.

The hotel is easy to find and entering the sweeping driveway definitely gets you into the feeling that you are going to have an enjoyable stay.

The arrival was slightly marred by a bit of difficulty parking near the entrance thanks to an inconsiderately parked estate sporting a flat front tyre. However, that was the worst part of of stay the Brands Hatch Hotel experience and as niggles go, it really does fall very low down the list.

My wife had booked the night a few weeks prior in order to make the most of a Bank Holiday weekend and to take advantage of the hotels’ reduced Sunday evening rates. We arrived to see a wedding party having photos by the front door, the bride looked lovely (don’t they all) and we didn’t need to pause for long before we spotted a chance to make it to reception without becoming part of the background of a wedding photo. Glancing quickly about I felt certain that there must be more pretty places in the hotel grounds to have formal wedding photos than the main entrance.

The reception staff were as expected, friendly and professional. We had been guided to arrive after 3pm to ensure our room would be ready, however, we were asked to wait about 15 minutes as our room was not quite ready. Time soon used up by having a cup of tea in the bar, which gave us the opportunity to note that the noise of the races at nearby Brands Hatch Race Circuit were faintly audible in the background. I couldn’t help but wish that screens showing the races were on display in the bar and even on the TVs in the rooms. Predictably, to enjoy the races you really need to be track side.

The room was probably the nicest hotel room we have been in for a long time. Which, while it says a lot about the types of hotels we normally stay, does go to show that good quality hotels do not need to be prohibitively expensive. As well as computer connections, the room featured a DVD player, not something we have often seen, but then again, not something we have ever needed either. It was nice to see the inclusion of a couple of sports channels, especially given it was the final Olympics weekend.

Since our stay included use of the spa facilities, we made sure we got value and, once unpacked, headed that way to make use of the steam room, sauna and pools. They were all very pleasant and clean and gave the feeling of a very good quality health club. Chatting to other couples while sweating it out in the steam room or soaking in the spa, it transpired that we were not the only couple with dreams of a relaxing night away from the kids and this certainly is a good place to live that dream.

Heading into the bar for pre-dinner drinks did show up the compactness of the bar when there are many guests with the same idea. Probably a hazard of booking a night away that clashes with someones wedding, the staff were very attentive to the guests and it was a short wait for drinks and thanks to another group heading for the dining room, we were able to sit down for our drinks. Looking at the bill later it transpired that we paid over £5 each for out Gin and Tonics, good job we didn’t spot that until checking out time the next morning, London bar prices will always be a shock to us.

Seated at our table, the service was excellent and the food fantastic. Sometime a restaurant can ruin a great dish by serving it with averagely cooked vegetables which don’t get eaten, so it was nice to see unneeded extras avoided completely, leaving us to simply enjoy three courses of excellent cooking and not feel stuffed and overfed afterwards. It is a pet hate of mine to have restaurants serve plates so full you are effectively forced to choose to have either a starter or a desert. For me a decent restaurant is one that manages to serve excellent food in sensible portions and allows the diner to fully appreciate the food and still be comfortable afterwards, I gladly say that this restaurant is such a place.

Waking up at 9am the next morning was quite a surprise, not something I have done for a very long time. Not since I became a parent that’s for sure. The late waking was no doubt aided by the heavy curtains which very effectively blocked out all the sunlight. Within ten minutes waking there was the sound of a helicopter hovering close overhead and sitting up in bed we caught sight of a helicopter landing on the front lawn to collect a very excited (and very pretty) young lady. Not a sight I have seen very often and much as I would love to think the display was for my benefit, I suspect my presence there had nothing whatsoever to do with the helicopters presence.

Breakfast the next morning brought another pleasant surprise, a buffet style cooked breakfast where all the food on display was still hot and still tasted good. Having been used to hotels taking a breakfast order for you it was nice to see the food on offer and enjoy what I fancied there and then. Though one does wonder how much food is wasted with such a system. Thoughts of wastage aside and one good hearty breakfast later we were on our way again.

Summary:
A great hotel which I recommend wholeheartedly.

Hever Castle – August 2008

It was an overcast Saturday in August when my wife and I visited Hever Castle.

We went because we spotted an advert showing that they had a special African event with some African birds of prey and a Cheetah doing a running display. The castle visit therefore became part of an extended night away together while our daughter spends a night with her grandparents.

Two things made the castle visit more relaxing for us as a couple than any other attraction we have visited in recent years; the lack of a child and the lack of a camera. We were now able to admire everything without constantly keeping a four year old entertained and safe and being free from the desire to try and get the best shot possible of every photo opportunity is strangely liberating, even if its not the mode of choice.

Due to the aforementioned night away, we arrived at midday to find parking in a field, being well directed by visible staff. Parking was still very close to the entrance and ticket booths. The ticket queue was significant with about 20 minutes waiting until we got our hands on our tickets. Ticket prices are reasonable with adults paying about £10 each (add £2 if you want access to the Castle included in your entry) and children £6 with under fives free.

The gardens are very well kept with interesting hedge designs that even children will admire. There is plenty to wander about and do and adventurous youngsters will have no end of places to explore. The water maze is small and easy to solve, but that’s not really the point. Having sat and watched many kids enjoy it, having fun and getting wet seems to be the order of the day rather than engage in stimulating challenge.

The Castle is interesting and very informative with some spectacular artifacts on display and plenty to learn if you are weak on the history of Anne Boleyn. However the whole experience is feels rushed due to the way in which the Castle rooms are sectioned off and you are routed through in a specific way. There are probably some good reasons why this is done, but I much prefer to wander if a more random fashion and spend my time in rooms that catch my interest without being conscious that I am getting in the way of a queue of people behind me. Over half an hour should be allowed for this tour, just hope that the young one with you does not need a loo break halfway round. The really big downside to the Castle visit is the queue to get in, we didn’t see it reduce at all over the lunch period and when we joined it the wait was over half an hour before we started the tour. I think that adding an extra cost to the castle visit means people feel they must do the tour to get the full value from their ticket and since the relative increase in cost is small, people feel they may as well pay the extra, the result being the huge queues experienced. Hever have made a mistake doing this and they should have a single price for everything.

The birds of prey display was not up to the standard of that experienced by us 2 weeks prior at Warwick Castle and some occasional sound issues further compounded the disappointment. This is a shame because I can never tire of watching birds of prey climb and swoop, be it in the wild or at a show. It was clear that the majority of people were there for the Cheetah display and having a Cheetah out in the open air to run for crowds and raise awareness of the plight of Cheetahs in the wild is a great idea. The Cheetah on display was a young Cheetah and it was obvious we were not going to see a spectacular example of a Cheetah at high speed. Judging by the reaction of many in the crowd, not everyone appreciated this subtlety and obviously expected far more than they saw.

Refreshments:
The restaurant on site was massively over subscribed, thankfully we had enjoyed a huge breakfast beforehand and didn’t need to break for lunch. The grounds offer many places to enjoy a family picnic and thanks to the close proximity of the car parks, sending dad back to the car to collect lunch is a very real possibility.

In Summary:
Definitely worth the visit and somewhere I will visit again.

Warwick Castle – August 2008

It was a lovely Saturday morning in August when my wife and I visited Warwick Castle with our young daughter. We had planned a weekend with friends and Warwick Castle was on the way.

The Castle is easy to get to by car, well signposted and the car park is large. The walk from the car park to the Castle entrance was longer than we expected and little daughter was asking to sit on shoulders before we even arrived at the ticket booths. Signs in the car park reminding you that you need to purchase a £2 token to exit raise the cost of visiting the castle.

Fortunately for us, a friend had a get in free voucher for one adult and with darling daughter getting in free as an under 4, our entry cost was significantly less that we would have paid otherwise. We felt that the full entry cost was been higher than we would have been happy to pay, but since we were only paying the entry cost of 1 full adult, we were very happy with the price that we paid for entry. My opinion is that the cut-off age for children getting free entry is too low. Paying close to £10 entry for a 4yo is too much. Paying for the tickets also became rather confusing, on arriving at the ticket booths there is a clear sign for a ticket booth which takes cash only. It wasn’t long before a group of people crowded together wondering how they were going to pay for entry as alternative payment points were not obvious. It wasn’t until a member of staff pointed out that we all had to go through the arches to the Castle entrance for more ticket booths, which would take other payment methods. Quite why the tickets booths are separated like that is a mystery and while, in hindsight its obvious now that one must go through the arches into the entry courtyard, for a first time visitor it is slightly confusing.

Entry and ticket costs were the only disappointments of the day, once we and had entered the castle grounds it was fun and distraction all the way. We really did enjoy our day there and the Medieval experiences that went on were good fun for children and adults.

Arriving at 10am was definitely the right thing to do as it enabled us to wander unimpeded on the castle walls and around the rooms. Later in the day, specifically the afternoon, the queues to for these were significant and would probably hamper the enjoyment somewhat, especially with a toddler in tow. Staff on hand in the rooms were helpful and informative and seeing them in period dress added to the value factor. We estimated that at about 2pm the number of people on site was three times the number who were about shortly after we arrived, yet the grounds did not feel crowded and there was still plenty of room to wander about freely. There were noticeable queues at the food stall and to get onto the castle wall.

The entertainment on display was good with well choreographed fights and amusing incidentals. It made for good entertainment for the whole family.

The trebuchet on site claims to be the largest in the world and is certainly an impressive site. We managed to miss the firing of it, which is a shame as it was something I would have really liked to have seen.

The day we visited included a birds of prey display which was well presented, informative and hugely enjoyable with spectacular flights from the birds.

Refreshments:
For lunch we bought burgers from a stand, one of several on site, and picnicked on the lawn. There are table you can eat at and there is a restaurant with children’s menu available. Eating early is advised as the queues build up. Taking in your own food means having to carry it from the car park (note the walk length) which, unless you have a pushchair to put it in, you may not wish have with you all day.

In Summary:
Definitely worth the visit and somewhere I will visit again, though I will try to avoid paying full price again as well.