Apr 2009
MacFormat v5.5β1
22 April 2009 @ 19:01 in Work
We've redesigned! Or rather, in deference to Cameron
Moll's Good
Designers Redesign, Great Designers Realign
manifesto, we've realigned; this was no mere
facelift, but a chance to make MacFormat a more
coherent, accessible magazine. We've reorganised to
bring hitherto-disparate sections together,
introduced some new sections and page elements, and
increased legibility. We've reduced our use of
reversed-out text, switched to a new family of
typefaces, and both increased the point size and line
spacing of text. The new issue will hit the
newsstands next week, but I am empowered to give a
sneeky-peeky right here, chez Receding Hairline.
Apologies for the geeky post title, by the way. I have no idea how often MacFormat has redesigned before.
Apologies for the geeky post title, by the way. I have no idea how often MacFormat has redesigned before.
visitscotland(ifyou’rearichbastard).com
21 April 2009 @ 20:55 in Life
“Hey,” people say, with their faces and their shoes
and their lattés and their trombones; “don’t go
abroad for your holidays, yeah? Holidaying in the UK
is, like, really green, toadally cool, and don’t you
find, yeah, that you never really appreciate what’s
on your doorstep?”
People, eh? Well, I’ve long wanted to visit Shetland or Orkney, and since we’ve booked off some time in July, and I have an uncle who lives on Shetland, we thought we’d bloody well just go. OK, it’s hardly Paris, but it’ll be beautiful, bracing and budget-friendly. Hey, The Internet, how much would it cost to get to the stunning Scottish islands?
Return train fare to London £98.00
Sleeper service to Aberdeen £246.00
Actual berth in said sleeper service £76.00
Return flights from Aberdeen to Sumburgh £222.20
Train fare, Aberdeen to London £246.00
-------
GRAND TOTAL £888.20
On the other hand, a quick visit to lastminute.com suggests:
Flights + three nights in Paris £396.16
Even if you add in the cost of driving the short distance to the airport and parking the car, that’s half the price, and we hadn’t even added luxuries such as accommodation or perhaps a hire car while on Shetland. Vive l’Écosse!
People, eh? Well, I’ve long wanted to visit Shetland or Orkney, and since we’ve booked off some time in July, and I have an uncle who lives on Shetland, we thought we’d bloody well just go. OK, it’s hardly Paris, but it’ll be beautiful, bracing and budget-friendly. Hey, The Internet, how much would it cost to get to the stunning Scottish islands?
Return train fare to London £98.00
Sleeper service to Aberdeen £246.00
Actual berth in said sleeper service £76.00
Return flights from Aberdeen to Sumburgh £222.20
Train fare, Aberdeen to London £246.00
-------
GRAND TOTAL £888.20
On the other hand, a quick visit to lastminute.com suggests:
Flights + three nights in Paris £396.16
Even if you add in the cost of driving the short distance to the airport and parking the car, that’s half the price, and we hadn’t even added luxuries such as accommodation or perhaps a hire car while on Shetland. Vive l’Écosse!
Dog of the Week: Stig
Stig was huge, and was on two leads. He liked to stand on his hind legs with his front paws on my shoulders, and to chew his chain lead. He was, however, a sweetheart, and I was given some treats to help train him; if he got too boisterous, you gave him the ‘sit’ command while holding a treat at shoulder level. He’d immediately drop to his haunches – good boy! – and sit waiting for his treat which you’d then drop for him to clop out of mid-air. (He did at one point try to clop a bumble bee out of mid-air, but missed, luckily.)
I forgot to put a card in my DSLR, so the above picture is courtesy of the iPhone’s appalling sensor, heavily Photoshopped.
Up, up and away!
Today we went in a hot air balloon; we took off from
here and landed here. It was brilliant; I hereby
declare it my ambition to be served chilled
champagne at 3000′ at least once a month, while
floating serenely above some (surprisingly vocal
and unsurprisingly spooked) farmyard animals.
Wife kindly pointed out that I was taking more
photographs than the rest of the group combined,
but I did manage to get some nice shots; a few
were well-suited to my tilt-shift
technique that fools the eye into thinking
you’re looking at a scale model:
And some non-novelty pictures too, such as this one, below. There are lots more, ripe for the desktop-in’, on Flickr.
I know; I’ve completely overcooked the colours. The crazy slab of shadow is real, however.
And some non-novelty pictures too, such as this one, below. There are lots more, ripe for the desktop-in’, on Flickr.
I know; I’ve completely overcooked the colours. The crazy slab of shadow is real, however.
