I've been a Gmail user for 15 months now so these hacks and extensions could be quite useful. read more

Great article comparing the weather between the major cities. Rach is set on that we're moving to Brisbane but I'm still open to the possibility of trying out other areas. I guess I better make my mind up soon, if all goes well we've only got 3 months to go! read more

The security breach at TJX, owners of TK Maxx, which has led to the disclosure of 45 million customer's credit and debit card information comes as no surprise to us in the IT Security community. Unlike banks, insurance companies and they're like who are regulated by the Financial Services Authority … read more

It may have the feel of monopoly money but apparently the security features built into the new £20 note are quite good. Here's a handy guide for checking for forgeries: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6444003.stm#graphic read more

According to research conducted by BUPA (well actually it was the results from thousands of personality tests), up to 75% of us toil away in unsuitable jobs or have taken completely the wrong career path for our character. I went on the BUPA website to take the personality test and it turns out I'm … read more

The Prime Minister popped in to see us at work today. It was all very hush hush, no one new anything about it until about 2 hours before the event. The first I new anything was happening was when I saw an ITV film crew turn up this morning - parked in our car park right across from where I sit. No … read more

Finally started the to-do list, no doubt this will get updated many times over the coming weeks as we remember other requirements. This is the pre-emigration list, I still need to do the list of all the things we need to do when we get to Oz, e.g. find a job! So here goes... Should be doing now Dig … read more

Interesting commentary about today's events in The Independent. I never have liked Ian Paisley. I'm sure devolution in Northern Ireland could have been a lot more advanced by now if it wasn't for the pig-headedness of Ian Paisley. It can't be a good thing to have a Reverend as First Minister when … read more

Last Thursday, while walking down to Tiger Tiger, I was approached by a scruffy looking bloke who asked me if I could spare him 11p. My default reaction was to say 'sorry, I don't have any change'. Now the reason I bring this up is because I've got to the section within the book 'Join Me' where the … read more

After loving 'Yes Man' by Danny Wallace, I've bought his earlier book 'Join Me' the story of how he started a cult, which I'm finding to be equally as funny and entertaining. I think the reason I like his books so much is because like him, I enjoy stupid pointless things, and believe things which … read more

Here's some video I took of the waves at Mooloolaba beach on the Sunshine Coast in Australia when we went out there to validate our visa over the new year. [youtube [www.youtube.com/watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QQl3CusIA8&w=425&h=350]) Soon this could be a regular weekend activity for us! … read more

It takes a few days for the 'analysts' to work it out, but it's clear now that Gordon Brown tried to pull a fast one on Wednesday. Here's some of the facts that are starting to emerge: Gordon Brown claimed that 4 out of 5 households would be better off because of his budget, yet leading accountants … read more

All in all, the project I'm working on at the moment is quite interesting. However, the task I've been working on for the last couple of days nearly made me lose the will to live. I'm providing IT security consultancy for a project that's rolling out over 6000 new PC's across the company, with an … read more

I can't believe that Iranian forces have captured Royal Navy sailors again. I sailed through Iranian waters a few times myself during my years as a matelot, and tension always rose because of the number of Iranian FPB's (Fast Patrol Boats) that came close to us. We always had to close to a high … read more

I'm sitting here at the train station waiting for my 17:18 (of course I missed the 16:18 again), with the adreneline still pumping slightly from the scare I had about an hour ago. I was sitting at my desk (on the ground floor of a very tall building) when suddenly there was a really loud explosion … read more

Had an interesting afternoon today. We had a 'Launch Event' for the main project I'm working on. The project team had booked out a room at Tiger Tiger with food laid on and a free bar! I love those words - FREE BAR! It wasn't all play though. We had to do some 'activities' before we could get stuck … read more

I was walking through the Arndale Shopping Centre at about 5:30pm today and noticed a large line of people queueing to get into Virgin Megastores. Turns out they were waiting for the release of the Playstation 3 at midnight tonight: I don't know how long the people at the beginning of the queue had … read more

We upload our photo's to Flickr. To protect our privacy, we've restricted a lot of the photo's to friends and family only. If you're friends and family of ours and would like to see all our photo's, please contact us and we'll send you an invite through Flickr. As of today, there's over 3000 of our … read more

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It was absolutely freezing walking into work this morning. It would have been cold anyway, but with strong winds the wind chill factor made it feel like minus 10. Just as I thought I was about to go into the first stages of hypothermia, a warm glow suddenly came over me when when I remembered I'll … read more