Author Archives: james

New Life…

Posted on September 19, 2011 by james

Our chickens are kept in large fenced runs (to keep out the foxes) in the orchard with the trees providing some shade from the fierce heat of the British Summer. The birds are rotated around the pens giving them fresh … Continue reading →

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8GB Memory Upgrade for HP Proliant Microserver

Posted on September 19, 2011 by james

I decided to upgrade the server to 8GB RAM (its default configuration is 1GB). The motherboard has two RAM sockets, so I purchased a pair of 4GB RAM sticks to put in. It’s not a difficult job, only taking ten … Continue reading →

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Clearer Boards

Posted on September 14, 2011 by james

Back in the Spring when I wanted to take the OSR honey off some hives I had a real problem getting the bees to vacate the supers. Up until now I’ve always used a crown board fitted with Porter bee … Continue reading →

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Google Sketchup on Ubuntu 11.04

Posted on September 13, 2011 by james

For designing the observatory I really needed something a bit more “touchy-feely” than pencil and paper — my usual method of designing bits and pieces I build. A few people had mentioned Google Sketchup, but it’s only available for Windows … Continue reading →

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Crystal Balls

Posted on September 13, 2011 by james

I was amused (or perhaps bemused) by a piece on the BBC News website today covering the inflation rate rising once again. One economist is quoted as saying: “However, inflation should start to fall by the end of the year, … Continue reading →

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Backup Server

Posted on September 13, 2011 by james

Now I’m moving as much of my paperwork as possible to electronic format and given that we have lots of photos and video footage of the children in electronic form I decided it might well be sensible to have some … Continue reading →

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Pier Tube Deliberations

Posted on September 13, 2011 by james

Before construction on the main structure of the observatory can start, I need to get the pier in place because this will be set into a concrete block in the ground under the floor. As I’ve said before, my aim … Continue reading →

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Observatory Build. The Big Idea.

Posted on September 12, 2011 by james

Since I’ve had my telescopes I’ve been very tempted to build an observatory. My preferred viewing site is some forty metres from the house which is a long way to carry kit (not to mention to trail power leads if … Continue reading →

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Ditching My Paperwork

Posted on September 12, 2011 by james

I can’t quite believe it’s been six months since I last wrote anything. I guess that’s just how busy I’ve been of late. Time flies like a banana. Anyhow, thanks to a client who wanted me to sign an NDA … Continue reading →

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Observation Report catchup

Posted on September 12, 2011 by james

It has, IMNSHO, been a rubbish summer. Sunny days have been few and far between and according to the reports this August was the coldest for seventeen years. September isn’t turning out to be anything of an improvement either. So, … Continue reading →

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