Two small changes need to be made first though to make it less desktop like; and more Server Like (yes before installing Lion Server App).

Power

The single biggest issue with Mac Minis is getting them to power on automatically after a power cut, or when power is removed. If your server doesn’t switch on when the power is restored, this will have the effect of turning your machine off.

and change the settings to

Other things worth poking are:

Turn the Firewall on

and turn off location services.

Running without a screen

My mac mini gets upset if I ask it to boot without a Screen (VDU, or Monitor) the easiest way of dealing with this is to make a simple terminator to convince the Lofn that a (non-DDC) monitor is attached. All that’s needed is to connect a 75Ω resistor between pins 2 and 7 of the (analogue) VGA connector. I have acquired a DVI to VGA ( DB15) converter and have bent its legs into the holes; and glued it in place on the connector.

Setting up as a server

At the moment due to nbArianrhod having a broken engine I am currently living at my parents in Swindon, so I am going to try and set up Lofn in a testing environment off my parents Virgin Media connection using uandc.co.uk as my test domain (being that Daniel Webb has failed to buy it off me). as I bring it up and get it working I will continue to blog my findings.

The AgendA

The AgendA is a British-designed organiser from the mid-80s. Its most striking feature is the microwriter keyboard. As if to encourage the use of the microwriter, the conventional keyboard is arranged alphabetically.

The microwriter is a descendant of the first chord keyboards, pioneered by Doug Engelbart (inventor of the mouse). Part of the innovation involved in the AgendA was a system of mnemonics to assist in learning the chords. Once the user had learnt the basics, it was possible to move on to more advanced uses of the chord keyboard including a full set of single-chord commands for the machine.

The Microwriter

The original Microwriter was not an organiser but a writing machine designed by Cy Endfield and first sold in 1980. It was intended to be used as a text input device, as well as to help the disabled to communicate. It could only show a single line of text on its built-in LED display, but it had interfaces to external display and storage devices. The photo shows a later model with a one-line LCD, released in 1982.

A review of the first version appeared in Personal Computer World magazine in December 1980, and a review of the improved version appeared in September 1982. Both versions sold for £500.

Data Egg

The Data Egg‘s “keyboard” consists of seven buttons (at least 3 for the thumb, 1 for each of the remaining fingers) wrapped around a shape that’s easy for the hand to hold. The seven buttons are pressed in different combinations, much like playing chords on a piano (hence the name ‘chording’), and can be used to type all letters, all numbers, all punctuation — pretty much anything one can type on a typewriter. The Alphabet is also easy to learn since the shapes of the letters resemble the button patterns that are pressed.

GKOS

There is also GKOS (Global Keyboard Open Standard) system that claims to have Full QWERTY capabilities with only 6 keys on the back of a device.

Twiddler2

The Twiddler2.1 is a pocket-sized mouse pointer plus a full-function keyboard in a single unit that fits neatly in either right or left hand. The Twiddler incorporates a keyboard which ergonomic keypad designed for “chord” keying.

These just make up a few of the keyboards I have had a look at; Greg Priest-Dorman¹ has done a lot of playing with these through his time of having a wearable computer.

There are a lot of Aids & Guides to written for the EkaPad available here; and the howto for another home made one the “Septambic Keyer” here;

More Thoughts

I think unlike the Palantype or Stenograph keyers; I am going to go with single letter cording; using either the Septambic Keyer or Chordite as the base for my keyboard.

I have ordered some switches from ebay; and have Poly-Form Mouldable Plastic to make the handset.

An intervalometer is a device which counts intervals of time. (Other names include interval meter and interval timer). Such devices commonly are used to signal, in accurate time intervals, the operation of some other device. For instance, an intervalometer might activate something every 30 seconds.

In photography, intervalometers are used to trigger exposures. This is often done for a time-lapse series. It may also be used to take, or begin taking, picture(s) after a set delay.

Since I want to automate the entire Pan Tilt head; having the camera take Photos automatically at intervals would be helpful, online is Sebastian Setz’s Arduino Multi Camera IR Control, which is a useful set of codes for controlling Canon, Nikon, Olympus, Pentax, Sony or Minolta cameras with an IR sensor. however this wont always work as some cameras don’t have IR Sensors.

The Parts list for the IR realise system is

1. Arduino
2. IR LED
3. Resistor

As such it requires access to only one IO pin.

For Cameras without IR remote shutter realise; I am thinking about mounting a servo which will physically articulate the shutter realise button. this servo could be mounted off the Hot Shoe ² or using 15mm system (I can build the entire head round the 15 mm system) There are a number of cool parts that can be made to work with the Photography/Videoography  industry standard 15mm tube system that can be printed.

• The Ultimate DSLR Shoulder Rig with deadly simple Follow-Focus
• Video Camera accessory Cheese Plate
• Camera rail adapter for DSLR rig
• 85mm offset rails for studio film/video

If you want details on how to take apart a mac mini there is a guide here

So my mac mini now has 2 Gigs of Ram meaning that installing lion is easy now. there are a couple of hard drive mounts for making use of the optical drive bay available [1 2] so the next addition may be a second internal hard drive; or an upgrade of the primary hard drive.

The Plan then will be to reduce my hosting charges, but increase the amount of Hard Drive space and Ram I have available (there may be a reduction in Traffic allowance); by moving my machine into Mythic Beasts Mac Mini Co-Lo hosting.

Once all this is up and Running; b0atg1rl and I plan to try and get some more clients; and work to formalise Just Vigilantes, My more Professional blog is at PhilipMcGaw.co.uk

• Water Pump
• Lighting
• Radio
• Angry Technology³
• Laptops⁴

So using the following calculation from [Note Narrowboatworld forum: Solar Panels]:

Ergo work on £1.75 an hour to run the engine; So with the saving on not running the engine for 2 hours a day, and even adjusting for a bit for ‘over estimating’ the numbers come out at about £3 a day, or £21 a week. James and Amy have 136W of installed capacity on nbLuckyDuck[notenbLucky Duck - Any Questions v.6] mounted directly to the roof.

Given these bits of information I have been looking for about 100-200W installed capacity; Looking around for information on Solar Panels; I have found the following information out about panels; There are three main types of Traditional panels; Monocrystalline, Amorphous and Polycrystalline

• Polycrystalline Solar Panels – Low CostThese make up the lowest cost solar panels, This is in part because they are the most established of the three main silicone technologies, offering a compromise between technical performance, physical size and price. Smaller than amorphous panels, but larger than mono-crystalline; less efficient than mono, but more efficient than amorphous; polycrystalline panels are a balance between the two.
• Monocrystalline Solar Panels – ExpensiveMore expensive than poly-crystalline, but also more efficient that poly as well; they work out at an efficiency of about 21.5%, making them about 30-50% smaller than equivalent capacity panels in other technologies. They are also are far less affected by changes in ambient temperature and sunlight intensity.
• Amorphous Solar PanelsAmorphous solar cells are a special type of solar cell, and their unique microscopic manufacturing process makes them highly versatile. The silicon used in amorphous solar panels is not very crystalline or rigid in nature.These solar cells represent the future of solar panel technology and despite their utility they aren’t all that difficult or expensive to manufacture, however due to still being a specialist product with limited production runs the cost is still quite high.These solar cells are typically composed of a layer of conductive silicon and a solid plate of glass. The amorphous solar panel is divided into many sections, defined by separations in N and P layers of the silicon substrate used in the solar panel. These sections are the individual solar cells.

Looking On-line for cheap panels; I came across these 100 Watt at 12V Solar Panel PV Monocrystalline, available from ebay for £119 (£119 + £8pp):

• Nominal power: 100 W
• MPP⁵ volatage: 18.5V
• MPP current: 4.81 A
• open clamp voltage: 22,18 V
• Short circuit current: 5.95 A
• 36 mono-crystalline cells in the module
• Dimensions: 1205mm x 545mm x 35mm
• Weight: ~8 kg

So with one of these; assuming that it cuts our engine usage dramatically it should pay for itself in about two months; and with two of them we should be looking at a better return.

A PDF copy of the book can be acquired from here.

The Kindle book seems to be unavailable; however you can still download the PDF files from Norbury Wharf Ltd’s Site here.

This is an interesting read, not dissimilar to either The Canal Boat Manual or Living Aboard (Towpath Guides).

Peter Underwood originally wrote the 12 sections as columns for one of the Canal Magazines.

Most business startups fail. But many of those failures can be prevented. How to start your own business guide is a new approach being adopted across the globe, changing the way companies are built.

Rico Nelson gives you a step by step plan of attack to succeed in business. All you need is ambition, determination and the right mind to succeed this world.

critics call How to start your own business inspiring and realistic from leaning manufacturing, marketing your business, right mind set and taxes. It relies on “validated learning,” rapid scientific experimentation, as well as a number of counter-intuitive practices that shorten product development cycles, measure actual progress without resorting to vanity metrics, and learn what customers really want. It enables a company to shift directions with agility, altering plans inch by inch, minute by minute.

Rather than wasting time creating elaborate business plans or reinventing the wheel, how to start your own business offers entrepreneurs – in companies of all sizes – a way to test their vision continuously, to adapt and adjust before its too late. Rico provides a simple approach to creating and managing successful startups in a age when companies need to innovate more than ever.

It was an interesting quick guide, but not work paying for.

My Start of a company can be found at JustVigilantes.co.uk, and PhilipMcGaw.com; if you fancy looking around teh page and then contacting me with suggestions that would be awsome.

I have been wondering if Solar Panels on nbArianrhod would be a good idea, and worth the cost. since her roof is mostly used as a bike, log, loo store there is no free roof space forward of the centreline mount; and to the stern the area is kept clear for the centreline working area.

The Sun Shines?

These two Diagrams show the solar irradiation and solar electricity potential in the UK, with both Horizontal and ‘optimally – inclined’ photovoltaic modules.

b0atg1rl and I plan to mainly stay in the south; so we shan’t be going much below 950 kWh / m²; with horizontally  (1050 kWh / m² with optimally – inclined) photovoltaic modules; which means that our electrical requirements should be met with a fairly small installation.

Currently we run the motor for a couple of hours every evening to charge the domestic batteries, I am looking for details of flexible solar panels; that could be mounted to the clear section of roof by either adhesive; or bolting them down in the centre line working area.

BW say the cost of this temporary disposal point at Dundas while it is repaired, will be about £3000⁹.

Back When I was working for Network Rail as a Technical Clarke¹⁰ I was responsible for dealing with Utility Company’s C2 inquirys under the New Roads and Street Works Act 1991¹¹, Wondering what is stooping them from packing all the equipment required for an elsan point into an open sided 20ft ISO and dropping it off; and connecting it up (there is some space out the front of the building they could park a 20ft ISO in). I have sent them a request for details of services in the area:

NRSWA/C2.1: Preliminary inquiry letter

 

Dear Sirs

NEW ROADS AND STREET WORKS ACT 1991 PRELIMINARY INQUIRY Appendix C2 of the Code of Practice (CoP)

‘Measures Necessary Where Apparatus Is Affected By Major Works (Diversionary Works)’

Our Client is considering a scheme involving major works as detailed below:

Location of Works:

Dundas Basin / Warf

Street /Road No. & Name:

Land off A36,Warminster Road,
Entrance to BrassknockerBasin, From K&A Canal
Bath,
Near BA2 7JD,

Description of Works:

Ground Penetrations

 

A plan showing the client’s proposals is enclosed. In order that all reasonable precautions may be taken to avoid risk to health and safety through contact with any of your existing apparatus during execution of the proposed works, please indicate the general position and nature of your apparatus in the locality of the proposed works and return the plan to this office. In addition, please highlight any likely special problems that could arise in connection with your apparatus as a result of the proposed works and any limitations on the quality of the information provided. If you have no apparatus in the area of the proposed works, please send a nil return.

Notice under The Street Works (Registers, Notices, Directions and Designations) Regulations will be sent in due course.

Under the CoP, the requested information should be provided free of charge and normally within 10 working days. Please contact us at your earliest convenience if you are unable to provide the information within this time.

If you require any further information, please contact me via email

Yours faithfully

Skippy

Just have to wait to see what they will say is in the area.

Further Reading

• Narrowboat World – Pressure gets Elsan action
• Waterscape - Advice: Dundas Sanitary Facilities

This Post has taken me a while to write, and I hope I do not present any false or inaccurate information here; please contact me if you think I have failed in this regard, or comment at the bottom of the post.

If you know of any further resources I should Cite or Link to please also post these at the bottom; also if you disagree with my position; the comments section is available for your feedback.

Delkaetre’s Rant

I follow a number of London Goth’s including Delkaetre, recently she wrote this long ranty post:

Oh do fuck off, you anti-choice douchewranglers. And you, the journalist – have the decency to call lies out as such, instead of using “claim” for both hateful fictions and actual fact. The claims being made by Abort 67 are not merely things that “BPAS [British Pregnancy Advisory Service] claim are misleading information”, they are outright lies. BPAS is disputing A67′s claims, because those claims are lies. There is a big fat difference between a claim and a statement of fact. I can claim that the sky is filled with pink unicorns, but it is a fact that the sky is not filled with those things. So, Abort 67, here are reasons why you are telling lies to vulnerable women:

• There is no link between abortion and breast cancer. The initial claims actually relate to the fact that a pregnancy carried all the way through appears to lower the chance of breast cancer
• aborting it [the foetus] does not raise the risk any more than being abstinent or using contraception.
• There is greater danger to the mother with birth than with abortion, not the other way round as Abort 67 claim. Birth is far more dangerous to any woman than abortion ever will be, with a much greater range of potentially lethal medical mishaps and life-threatening conditions attached to it.
• There is no mental health link. No suicidal tendencies linked to abortion. The “study” that made this claim used total lifetime incidences of mental health problems, including those that existed prior to the pregnancy and those with no link to the abortion, and this “study” has been pretty thoroughly debunked by anyone who’s actually read it. In contrast, it *has* been shown that women who are already suffering some mental health issues who give birth and then give the baby away have greater issues directly stemming from the pregnancy than those who have abortions. If you don’t want the baby, being forced to carry it and then hand it over to a stranger will make your problems worse, not better.
• The pictures on the signs used by the aforementioned cretinous slime-spewers are almost exclusively of late-term (after 24 weeks) abortions, which are very uncommon and only allowed for serious medical reasons such as the fetus not being able to survive outside the womb anyway, or fetus killing the mother. Those pictures are not pictures of early and mid-term abortions, which look like a bad period at best. The women who are going in without a really quite obvious third trimester pregnancy are not going to have the Bits Of Baby special, they are going to have a very heavy period with possible chunks.
• And no, an early-term abortion is not killing a human. It is killing cells which contain human DNA and which will eventually develop into more complex human tissue if nothing goes wrong at any point, but which at that early stage is about as human as a cancerous tumor. Sure, it contains your DNA and is being made and fed by your body and even starting to develop bone mass and blood vessels – well, so’s the fetus.

Now stop making shit up, you gibbering shitwaffles. (more creative swearing than usual per people trying to take away my actual sodding right to my personal bloody autonomy and medical cocking safety)

Rosie Swash’s Abortion Protest Video

After reading Del’s post I went and watched Rosie Swash’s Abortion Protest Video¹³ shows Hundreds of pro-choice and anti-abortion activists conducting rival protests in London’s Bedford Square (30/03/2012). The pro-life/anti-abortion group are 40 Days For Life, but like Abort 67, they are a crazy right wing group (oh and Catholic). Catherine who is an anti-abortion protestor sets the argument level low by almost instantly invoking Godwin’s Rule of Nazi Analogies¹⁴, because she believes that abortion is the killing of Children, and then comparing that to Hitler’s Germany;

Also on the video Rosie went to the bpas’ clinic in Brighton where 40 Days for Life are protesting outside. Secret filming shows the protesters asking Rosie why she is going to the clinic, bpas have writen a feedback form for women to fill in if they chose:

As you will have seen there is currently a demonstration outside by protestors who do not support your right to consider an abortion. Protestors such as those outside the clinic today are legal and unfortunately we are unable to prevent them, however bpas is committed to doing everything we can to ensure that teh protestors do not cause you undue stress or prevent you from accessing our services.

If there is anything that the protesters said or did which you would like to tell us about please use the box below to leave your comments/ If you feel that the protestors have harrassed or intimidated you today and you wish to take further action you can contact the local police on 0845 60 70 999. If you would like to talk to someone about your experance, and perhaps allow your story to be used by bpas whan campaining on this issue, please call Abigail Fitzgibbon on 020 7612 0224 or email abigail.fitzagibbon@bpas.org

responses include:

The demonstrators approached me blocking my access. I told them in no unceertian terms not to speak to me. They [illegable]. I found it extremely stressful adn upsetting. This is not a desion taken lightly and I do not feel I need to be harrassed.

and

I feel intimidated by being fillmed I was raped and have PTSD. I felt calm coming here and now I can’t breath and feel panicy and judged last thing I needed.

This is a description of a 40 Days for life protest According to British Medical Journal’s  Blog¹⁵:

Some campaigners pray aloud, while others hand out leaflets and “counsel” women going inside. Lorenzo, speaking on behalf of campaign organisers in London, stated the campaign was not a protest but a peaceful vigil praying for lives that would be lost. He said: “We’re here to show women there are other choices and other options.”

These other options as detailed on their leaflets, include promises of help with accommodation, help arranging financial assistance, and help with baby sitting. They also say they can “show how you can continue studies or your job.”¹⁶

The protesters from 40 Days for Life As well as handing out leaflets offering help, the campaigners also seem to be happy using emotional manipulation; praying vocally for the fetuses’ souls, the placing of plastic fetuses on the steps to the clinic, and bringing their own children to play in full view of the clinics door.

“As at least one in three women in the UK can expect to have an abortion, it is not surprising that support for legal abortion remains quite strong – despite shrill campaigns by individuals who would like to see tighter laws,” said Bpas chief executive Ann Furedi.

She also described abortion as “a necessary back-up to birth control” for family planning, saying: “No woman ever wants to need to have an abortion, but those who do not want it to be legal are in a minority.”¹⁷

My understanding of the 1967 Act, is that it requires two registered medical practitioners to sign a form that states that the continuation of the pregnancy would “injury to the physical or mental health of the pregnant woman”. I can not think of another surgical that is so difficult to access (perhaps with the exception of euthanasia).

We have lived in a status quo which the pro-choice lobby tolerated so as not to rock the boat. The driving political pressure was towards limiting abortion – cutting down the time limit or enforcing new counselling on women from suspect groups. Women’s rights groups have ended up defending a system which is manifestly unacceptable. Abortion should not be legal to protect a woman’s mental health. It should be legal because a woman – not the state and certainly not deranged religious crusaders – owns her body.¹⁸

The history of abortion is not very progressive; Access to abortion was heavily restricted in the UK.  The Offences Against The Person Act 1861[Note The Offences Against The Person Act 1861] made abortion completely illegal.  It was the acquittal of Dr Aleck Bourne by the  Central Criminal Court in July 1938. Dr Bourne had carried out an abortion on a 14-year-old sexually assaulted by five off-duty British officers in the Royal Horse Guards. The Young lady had first asked at St. Thomas’ Hospital however she was turned away on the grounds that she might be “carrying a future prime minister”. Dr Bournes actions were defended by Lancet as:

an example of disinterested conduct in consonance with the highest traditions of the profession.

Due to Dr Bourne’s actions there was an limited increase in the  legal toleration of abortion, the next change was that in 1967, the Abortion Act was passed, opening the way to a much more liberal regime. Within five years the annual number of abortions had reached almost 160,000. It is worth noting, that Dr Bourne was never in favour of “the right to choose” and later became a determined opponent of abortion:

Those who plead for an extensive relaxation of the law [against abortion] have no idea of the very many cases where a woman who, during the first three months, makes a most impassioned appeal for her pregnancy to be ‘finished,’ later, when the baby is born, is thankful indeed that it was not killed while still an embryo. During my long years in practice I have had many a letter of the deepest gratitude for refusing to accede to an early appeal.

Abort 67

I wondered who Abort 67 were, after a quick look at their website¹⁹ I found this passage:

Abort67 is the name given to the public education project that seeks to change the way we think about abortion. In 1967 the Abortion Act [Abortion Act 1967] was passed granting legal abortions to all women. We would like to see the law reversed giving full protection to the unborn. The best way to achieve this goal of changing public policy is to first change public opinion. Abort67 is a project of Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform UK.  Abort67 is a non-religious organisation though many of our supporters and volunteers belong to various faith groups.  Abortion is not just a “religious” issue it is a matter of human rights that all should be concerned about.

oh great a secular group of right wing nutters :S

Also on Abort 67′s Site I found a number of photos of “aborted foetus”, I shall compare them against images form The Boots MD site²⁰, Other information²¹²².

Over View

This image was found on Google Image Search; not sure of original source.

Conception

The length of a pregnancy is usually measured by the number of days that have passed since the first day of the woman’s last menstrual period (abbreviated to LMP).

LMP day Zero is considered to to be the first day of the first trimester, and the end is the last day of the 13th week thereafter²³.

Post Coital

After Sex, but if they have not used contraceptives (or if they have failed) a woman can use a “morning-after pill”, howver the term is actually misleading.

the traditional type of tablet works for up to 72 hours (three days) after sex – not just the morning after. And the newer version, introduced in 2010, should work for up to FIVE days after intercourse.

But the earlier you take it, the better: the morning-after pill works best if taken within 12 hours of unprotected sex.

Medical professionals don’t use the term morning after pill. They call it the post-coital pill (PCP) or – in Britain – the emergency contraceptive (EC)²⁴ they are drugs intended to disrupt ovulation or fertilization²⁵.

Some Pro Life campaigners don’t agree with the use of PCP or EC as they feel they are still preventing a human life.

4 Weeks

About the size of a poppy seed.

5 Weeks

About the size of a sesame seed, looking more like a tiny tadpole than a human.

6 Weeks

About as long as a lentil.

7 Weeks

Having doubled in size since last week, is about as big as a blueberry.

8 Weeks

At this point the foetus is about 16mm long and weighs 1 gram, now comparable to the size of a kidney bean.

This is the point Abort 67 Give us the first images:

The smallest UK ‘Bronze’ coin is a Penny, which has a Diameter of 20mm; looking at the images that Boots gave me; and the Abort 67 photos; and comparing them against a penny on my desk, I would have to come to the conclusion that these photos are not as they claim a foetus at 8 weeks (for reference a sharpened pencil is ~15 mm from point to paint).

9 Weeks

At this point the foetus is about 23mm long and weighs 2 gram, now about the size of a grape.

Up until this point a medical abortion can be carried out. A medical abortion is a type of non-surgical abortion in which  pharmaceutical drugs are used to induce abortion. An oral preparation for medical abortion is commonly referred to as an abortion pill²⁶²⁷²⁸.

The ‘Gold’ coin used above is 22mm in diamiter; just slightly bigger than a penny; looking at the images that Boots gave me for 12 weeks; and the sizes from Baby Centre and the Chart at the top and comparing them against the Abort 67 photos; I would have to come to the conclusion that these photos are not as they claim a foetus at 9 weeks.

10 Weeks

Just over 3cm long, or about the size of a kumquat, 4 grams.

Again I really don’t trust Abort 67′s scale, or the truth in the dating of these photos; the tweezers I use on a day to day bases are ~150 mm long, so again I don’t trust Abort 67 to be presenting images against the right week.

11 Week

4.1 cm long, or about the size of a Fig, and 7 grams.

The First photo looks like it could be about the right size; and this is the first one where I agree that the second images scale makes sense.

12 weeks

5.4 cm long, about lime sized, and 14 grams.

14 Weeks

First Day of Second Trimester, considered to run till week 27.

15 Weeks

The method used in pregnancies up to 15 weeks is the Vacuum Aspiration or Suction Method.  This can be used if you are unable to take the abortion pill or if you are further on in your pregnancy.  You can only have this treatment up to 15 weeks into your pregnancy.

This treatment is carried out by using gentle suction to remove the foetus from the womb.  It doesn’t take long – around five to 10 minutes.  You can choose whether to have no anaesthetic, a local anaesthetic or a general anaesthetic.²⁹

16 Weeks

11.6 cm, about the size of an Avocado, and 100 grams.

19 Weeks

There are two procedures that can be used at 15, 16, 17, 18 & 19 weeks of your pregnancy.  The first is called a Late Medical Abortion and can be used from 13 weeks into your pregnancy.  The second is called Surgical Dilation and Evacuation (D&E) and is available from 15 weeks into your pregnancy.³⁰

20 Weeks

About the size of a Banana at 16.4 cm and 300 grams.

24 Weeks

At this point the UK law states that a Surgical Abortion for non-medical reasons can no longer occur, however abortions for medical reasons can still be carried out up until Full Term.

about the size of an Ear of Corn at 30 cm and weighing in at 600 grams.

There are Two methords for carrying out Late Stage abortions; Surgical Two-stage Abortion, and Medically Induced Abortion³¹

Surgical Two-stage Abortion

During the first stage of the treatment your cervix, the entrance to your womb is softened and opened or dilated.  This can take a few hours to take effect.  You may or may not be offered an anaesthetic at this stage of the procedure.  The heartbeat of the foetus is then stopped.

The second stage is carried out under general anaesthetic.  The doctor will use forceps and a suction tube to remove the foetus from your womb.  This is the same method as used in the Surgical Dilation and Evacuation procedure.

Medically Induced Abortion

Prostaglandin is used but, unlike earlier methods where it is used in tablet form, this time it is injected into your womb.  This causes your womb to contract, a bit like it would if you were in labour at the end of a pregnancy.  These contractions can last between six and 12 hours.

You will be awake throughout this process but you can opt to take medicines to help you manage the pain.

After this treatment you will have a general anaesthetic so your womb can be completely emptied using the Surgical Dilation and Evacuation Method.

I cant really guess how far off date these images are; but it looks like they are about right.

28 Weeks

36 Weeks

New born

Thoughts

I can’t disagree that the photos are not possibly of human foetus, but I feel that the week numbers are wrong, and that the images have been staged to make the most impact possible.

40 Days for Life

From Wikipedia ³²

40 Days for Life is a pro-life campaign that was begun in 2004 by a local group in Bryan-College Station, Texas, led by David Bereit. The campaign is active in the fall and spring of each year, though local campaigns may continue it year-round. The fall 2010 campaign launched in 238 locations around the world, including the United States, Canada, Australia, England, Northern Ireland, and Denmark.

2011 campaign

The spring 2011 campaign ran from March 9 to April 17, 2011. 40 Days for Life, according to their definition of embryos and fetuses as babies, says that they are aware of “483 babies who have been saved from abortion” as a result of the campaign. ³³

As for this lot, they are a right wing bunch of Christian nutters, who seem to be importing (or exporting) the American Conservative right wing politics to the rest of the world.

Gah

While looking for more details on statistics, and resources to compile this post; I came across AbortionFacts, that is a right wing Pro Life site set up to misinform, and misrepresent the facts.

All in

I feel that the Right Wing, Religious and secular “Pro-Life” are slowly trying to erode the rights that were brought in in the Abortion Act 1967, and will slowly try to lobby government, and shame, pressure, emotionality blackmail women, until abortion is back to being illegal, regardless of reason for the woman requesting one.

I believe that although Rosie Swash’s Video had good intentions; she failed to research, and should have called out the inaccurate lies by the pro lifers for what they are; rather than giving them equal footing to facts.

I believe that Religion has no place in Medical Ethics, or Morality; I have no respect for people who try to reference passages out of a book (in this case; the bible) that is in no way applicable to wider society; outside the members of their particular cult.

A Large number of people who are against Abortion are also against Same Sex relationships, Sex out side marriage, and contraceptives. they can’t have everything! they are not representative; just vocal.

If abortion becomes Illegal; women will die; back street abortions will happen, will go wrong, and women will die.

Further Reading

• Sam Rants – Why Do We Abort?
• Freakonomics - Abortion and crime: who should you believe?
• Jezebel - How much it costs to own a Vagina (US)

The Website status checker ³⁴ when you type in skippy.org.uk gives you this screen:

Which to be honest is about as much use as a chocolate teapot; and gives you no information as to why my site was blocked.

The only option is to request reconsideration by scrolling to the bottom of the page and clicking the ‘Continue’ button; This means my request to be de-blocked will be logged and in the queue. This seems to be a manual process, submit site and wait for O2 to be useful… they’ll get around to it eventually.

O2 will do not notify people; you  just need to keep checking.

I have written about how I feel about O2 and parental controls they also unilaterally impose on people previously.

Fox Talbot is universally recognised as the father of modern photography. His ‘calotype’ or ‘Talbotype’ process was the first working photographic process to use the now familiar format of negatives and positives. He was an ambitious man but his interests spread far beyond the confines of photography and it was as a mathematician that he was awarded first Membership and then Fellowship of the Royal Society before the age of thirty-three. He was an accomplished astronomer, a keen archaeologists and a fluent master of Greek and Hebrew. He patented pioneering ideas for internal combustion engines and as early as 1840 and through his life was at the forefront of progressive scientific thinking in England.

b0atg1rl recently went to Lacock Abbey, and had a look round the Fox Talbot Museum and Village, when I got back to our home she gave me this interesting book as a present Its a nice easy read and a good introduction to Fox’s life and his inventions. It would appear that b0atg1rl is a Photo Geek too

My Project 365 site seems to have been blocked from being accessed over 3G by O2, I have written about my feelings on O2′s content blocking before, most people I assume have already got pissed off with it and bitten the bullet since and ‘verified’ themselves since content blocking was imposed in March 2011.

The restrictions are at the DNS level, meaning that there is no easy way round it. and you can not use your 02 Modem, Android phone as a portable hotspot, or teather your iPhone. If you switch from O2′s 3G network to a Wi-Fi hotspot, however, then the restrictions disappear. There are suggestions that O2 is a using a reference directory from the ICMB (Independent Mobile Classification Body), so the problem may be on other networks as well.

O2 claimed back in March last year:

This is solely to ensure that children are protected from inappropriate content when using the internet on their phones. That’s why we require customers to prove they are over 18 before they can use these sites.

and pointed to the “UK code of practice for the self-regulation of new forms of content on mobiles³⁶” (see also their FAQ). however it looks like there is no procedure for either getting a copy of the block list; or an easy way to getting your placement on  it independently checked. I phoned o2′s customer service number; however they were adimunt that there was no way of unblocking the site; or telling me why the site was blocked; however O2′s Twitter team seem to be the people to contact, but again they only pass the details of the block on, and have yet to provide me with any information. The IMCB (Independent Mobile Classification Body) has a copy of the Classification Framework³⁷ available to read that says I have to complain to O2 and then wait 28 days before I can speak to them (the IMCB).

However the one thing that I would like, that no one seems to list on any site is a copy of the blacklist, or a tool for checking if your page is blocked.

There are two types of keyboard used in the UK for STTRs (Speech to Text Reporter), the Palantype system and the Stenograph system. Unlike a QWERTY keyboard, not every letter in a word is pressed, but several keys will be pressed at once whaich represent whole words, phrases or shortforms. Specially designed computer software will then convert these phonetic chords back into English which can then be displayed for someone to read. This system can also be used for subtitling and closed captions in television broadcasts or Webcasts³⁸

Stenograph System

A stenotype, stenotype machine or shorthand machine is a specialized chorded keyboard or typewriter used by stenographers for shorthand use. Some users of this machine can reach 300 words per minute.³⁹

The Stenograph system is whole words in a cord; not just one letter; which while faster to type with than individual letters, it would mean learning word lists, and learning to spell full words as chords would take far too long.

Palantype System

The Palantype system like the Stenogpah System is also corded:

recording words phonetically syllable by syllable instead of letter by letter. To effect this, several keys can be depressed at the same time, as with a chord on the piano, instead of having to be depressed one at a time in sequence. The overall saving in the number of keystrokes is shown in the Tables and the corresponding saving in time is not difficult to imagine.⁴⁰

Something of interest on the Spelling Society’s site was this article about AgiliWriting⁴¹, an abbreviated, alphabetic shorthand that, if taken down correctly and legibly, can be transcribed by anyone else on a computer which has an automatic word processing conversion program to transcribe the text into standard English (auto replace/correct).

My Idea

Since learning cords for full words may be harder than just learning cords for single letters, I am looking at somthing like ”Yet Another One-hand Keyboard” ⁴², it has not been updated since 16/09/2010.

since I have now got some experance with using a Teensy as a human interface device, as such I will use that again.

When I am next around the London area it may be an idea to have a wonder along to see the Incorporated Phonographic Society⁴³ (IPS).

Vicarious liability is a form of strict, secondary liability that arises under the common law doctrine of agency – respondeat superior – the responsibility of the superior for the acts of their subordinate, or, in a broader sense, the responsibility of any third party that had the “right, ability or duty to control” the activities of a violator. It can be distinguished from contributory liability, another form of secondary liability, which is rooted in the tort theory of enterprise liability.

I really hope that the police, the CPS⁴⁴, and the courts deal with the people who are responsible in the correct way.

Photos from Random Zero

I will update my blog as I get more details.

Bmi.js, and I guess the image compression are a result of ByteMobile‘s “Smart Capacity”

Through a wide range of patented optimization techniques, as well as caching, Bytemobile web optimization solutions enable network operators to cut internet and mobile application traffic by 30-35%. This includes traffic generated by the automatic download of software updates. The result is reduced network congestion and significantly faster web page downloads, leading to superior quality of experience (QoE) for mobile subscribers.

Some of the annoying problems with it are:

• All the images are pipes through a proxy to degrade their quality and reduced their resolution in order to speed up the browsing experience, this can get annoying very quickly. However hovering over the images ushaly reveals a hint that: “Shift+R improves the quality of this image. Shift+A improves the quality of all images on this page“.
• bmi.js is not very well written it hijacks event handlers and stands a high chance of messing up the scripts you want to run.
• Non-deterministically inlines some of the CSS and JavaScript into the main source files of the web pages. This can create errors either because of mistakes in their algorithm or the consequence of stripping white space from source files.
• Strip copyright messages from copyrighted javascript libraries and css libraries.
• Breaks Local Caching: For example, A user is visiting a sequence of pages on your site which all use the same jQuery libraries. Instead of letting the mobile browser locally cache the library, ByteMobile inline the library on every page, forcing your phone to load the entire library over and over again for every page.
• Its not just my Browser that these alterations are made in, any where that an image is displayed (or html page is pulled in) the alterations are made, so emails, RSS reader, iTunes for example.

There seem to be a limmited number of Workarounds; some more use than others:

• Only visit https sites; (EFF’s HTTPS Everywhere available for FireFox and Chrome makes staying on https easer). However not all websites are available via https; while you can go to https://skippy.org.uk/ it will return an error telling you the certificate is invalid.
• Another workaround (if you have access to your .htaccess file) is to on the server you can set cache control by adding Cache-Control: no-transform to your .htaccess file

  # Force no caching
  
  <FilesMatch "\.*">
  Header append Cache-Control "no-transform"
  Header append Vary "User-Agent, Accept"
  </FilesMatch>

  This will stop all modifications and present your site correctly (assuming that ByteMobile respect this), and that you only look at sites where this has been set.

• If you are writing PHP you can control your HTTP by using something like this:

  <?php
  header("Cache-Control: no-transform");
  header("Vary: User-Agent, Accept");
  ?>

• And ASP

  <%
  Response.AddHeader "Cache-Control", "no-transform"
  Response.AddHeader "Vary" , "User-Agent"
  %>

• One that may work (assuming the Telecommunication company haven’t brorken it) is Bytemobile Unison feature called “clientless personalization”. It should be able to be reached via http://1.2.3.50/ups/ - if it’s configured, you will end up on a page which will offer you to disable all feature you don’t like.
• T-mobile it’s called “Mobile Broadband Accelerator” You can Visit: http://accelerator.t-mobile.co.uk or http://1.2.3.50/ to configure it.
• I will try and update this list as I find out where other config pages are located.

After Running the code on my Teensy from Post Number Two, I moved onto mounting the buttons and joystick in a box,

My Test device has nine buttons; rather than the severn that the finished product will have; plus the joystick’s four; but this allows me to tryout other configurations of buttons etc without having to move buttons round.

One of the problems I think I may face is that I will have 13 different switches, the finished product will have 11 including the Joysticks four.

As such I am planning on using a key matrix, to reduce my requirements from 13 inputs, to 8 data lines (Four inputs, 4 outputs). and using diodes to remove the ‘masking problem’/ghosting. also this will allow me to have multiple key presses.

I found this site that discuses how this should work. but the easiest two images to quickly show this are these two, one showing the problem, and the other showing the solution using Diodes.

Here is my Crocodile Clips drawing (doesn’t have auto route) [Accessible Mouse.cyt] but shows the layout of the switches and diodes (the three toggle switches will have diodes as well).

Letters; A,B,C,D, are to be the outputs from the Teensy, with the Numbers; 1,2,3,4 being the inputs to the Teensy, this would allow a maximum of 16 switches, with every switch having an unique address (there would be ways to map more switches to the same number of lines; but then you would have to be careful about multiple button presses again).

The Three unused lines will be available for external buttons; so that there is expansion available.

Another thing I will be doing is putting LEDs in some of the buttons; but rather than using one pin per LED; I can also use a matrix to allow me to reduce the number of pins used, I don’t know what the current limiting resistors value should be in this, using the normal value means that the LEDs light output will be reduced.

For the full details of Ghosting and Masking works please look at the original site.

I have managed to get my switches mounted in a test box, with the diodes soldered on,

Microswitches before Wires are added, showing each switch’s diode.

The wiring is two colour; White, and Black (White is the letters, and Black is the Numbers)

With all the wires attached, I now plugged it into the Teensy, and marked up the switches

Flashing the Teensy with the code below:

/*
	Affordable Accessible Mouse

	For this to work the board must be a Teensy 2.0

	If the code fails to Verify or Upload check this first; As I
	get more experience and hardware configurations I may add a
	working define line for hardware type

	See the file "Read Me" at http://git.subvert.org.uk/skippy/Affordable_Accessible_Mouse.git/tree/Read%20Me.txt
	for the full license governing this code, and any other things that may be of interest.
*/

	// Mouse Speed and Scroll Speed
	// Number between 0 and something bigger,
		#define MouseSpeed 3
		#define ScrollSpeed 3

	// Define Letters to Pins
		#define OutputA 0
		#define OutputB 1
		#define OutputC 2
		#define OutputD 3

	// Define Numbers to Pins
		#define Input1 7
		#define Input2 8
		#define Input3 9
		#define Input4 10

	// Set up feedback LEDs
		#define PCBLED 11	//PCB LED

void setup()
{
	// initialize the four pins for the Outputs
		pinMode(OutputA, OUTPUT);
		pinMode(OutputB, OUTPUT);
		pinMode(OutputC, OUTPUT);
		pinMode(OutputD, OUTPUT);

	// initialize the four pins for the Inputs
		pinMode(Input1, INPUT);
		pinMode(Input2, INPUT);
		pinMode(Input3, INPUT);
		pinMode(Input4, INPUT);

	// initialize the Pins for the LEDs
		pinMode(PCBLED, OUTPUT);

	// Allows me to use the Serial Console to debug
		Serial.begin(38400);
}

void loop()
{
	// All the Physical Buttons on the Pannel.
		int North = 0;						// North is A1
		int East = 0;						// East is A2
		int South = 0;						// South is A3
		int West = 0;						// West is A4

		int LC1 = 0;						// LeftClick1 is B1
		int LC2 = 0;						// LeftClick2 is B3

		int RC1 = 0;						// RightClick1 is B2
		int RC2 = 0;						// RightClick2 is B4

		int DC = 0;							// DoubleClick is C1
		int CL = 0;							// ClickLock is C2
		int SL = 0;							// ScrollLock is C3

	// These are not going to be buttons on the finished product; however they may be
	// attached to external switches to allow for further expansion.
		int A = 0;							// OptionalButtonA is C4
		int B = 0;							// OptionalButtonB is D1
		int C = 0;							// OptionalButtonC is D2 - Not Connected
		int D = 0;							// OptionalButtonD is D3 - Not Connected
		int E = 0;							// OptionalButtonE is D4 - Not Connected

	// Mouse and Scroll Speed.
		int Rate = MouseSpeed +1 ;			// reads in Speed from top and uses that as mouse speed.
											// the +1 is to stop the if speed = 0 well… FAIL
		int X = 0;
		int Y = 0;

	// Read in All inputs
		digitalWrite(PCBLED, HIGH);			// set the LED On
		digitalWrite(OutputA, HIGH);		// Set A High
		delay(1);							// seems to be needed to allow switches 1 to work
		if (digitalRead(Input1) == HIGH)
		{
			North = 1;
			Serial.println("North");
		}
		if (digitalRead(Input2) == HIGH)
		{
			East = 1;
			Serial.println("East");
		}
		if (digitalRead(Input3) == HIGH)
		{
			South = 1;
			Serial.println("South");
		}
		if (digitalRead(Input4) == HIGH)
		{
			West = 1;
			Serial.println("West");
		}
		digitalWrite(OutputA, LOW);			// set A Low
		digitalWrite(OutputB, HIGH);		// set B High
		delay(1);
		if (digitalRead(Input1) == HIGH)
		{
			LC1 = 1;
			Serial.println("LeftClick1");
		}
		if (digitalRead(Input2) == HIGH)
		{
			RC1 = 1;
			Serial.println("RightClick1");
		}
		if (digitalRead(Input3) == HIGH)
		{
			LC2 = 1;
			Serial.println("LeftClick2");
		}
		if (digitalRead(Input4) == HIGH)
			{
			RC2 = 1;
			Serial.println("RightClick2");
		}
		digitalWrite(OutputB, LOW);			// set B Low
		digitalWrite(PCBLED, LOW);			// set the LED off
		digitalWrite(OutputC, HIGH);		// set C High
		delay(1);
		if (digitalRead(Input1) == HIGH)
		{
			DC = 1;
			Serial.println("DoubleClick");
		}
		if (digitalRead(Input2) == HIGH)
		{
			CL = 1;
			Serial.println("ClickLock");
		}
		if (digitalRead(Input3) == HIGH)
		{
			SL = 1;
			Serial.println("ScrollLock");
		}
		if (digitalRead(Input4) == HIGH)
		{
			A = 1;
			Serial.println("OptionalButtonA");
		}
		digitalWrite(OutputC, LOW);			// set C Low
		digitalWrite(OutputD, HIGH);		// set D High
		delay(1);
		if (digitalRead(Input1) == HIGH)
		{
			B = 1;
			Serial.println("OptionalButtonB");
		}
		if (digitalRead(Input2) == HIGH)
		{
			C = 1;
			Serial.println("OptionalButtonC");
		}
		if (digitalRead(Input3) == HIGH)
		{
			D = 1;
			Serial.println("OptionalButtonD");
		}
		if (digitalRead(Input4) == HIGH)
		{
			E = 1;
			Serial.println("OptionalButtonE");
		}
		digitalWrite(OutputD, LOW);			// set D Low

	// Process Inputs

	// Lets deal with the Mouse Pointer first; as that will be the easiest to deal with.

		if (SL == 0)
		{
			X = Rate * (South - North);
			Y = Rate * (East - West);
			Mouse.move(Y, X);
		}
		else
		{
			// Really needs to toggle and have an LED attached. Same as ClickLock.
			// Should also be interlocked against all other buttons; so that it locks them out,
			Mouse.scroll(South - North);
			delay(ScrollSpeed);				// Scroll is really quite fast otherwise
		}
	// Click Lock Next
		if (CL == 1)
		{
			// Not Implemented yet.
			// Really needs to toggle and have an LED attached. Same as Scroll Lock.
		}
	// Left Click.
		if (LC1 == 1 || LC2 ==1)
		{
			Mouse.set_buttons(1, 0, 0);
			Mouse.set_buttons(0, 0, 0);
			delay(500);						// Will sort this out.
		}
	// Right Click.
		if (RC1 == 1 || RC2 ==1)
		{
			Mouse.set_buttons(0, 0, 1);
			Mouse.set_buttons(0, 0, 0);
			delay(500);						// Same as Left click; needs removed from delay.
		}
	// Double Click.
		if (DC == 1)
		{
			Mouse.set_buttons(1, 0, 0);
			Mouse.set_buttons(0, 0, 0);
			delay(100);						// Tenth of a second delay (this I guess is ok…)
			Mouse.set_buttons(1, 0, 0);
			Mouse.set_buttons(0, 0, 0);
			delay(250);						// Same as Left/Right click; needs removed from delay.
		}
}

I now have a working Prototype, and on Friday I will be in Swindon to get some user feed back before progressing with the final product. Also I will need to clean up my code.

“This new volume provides readers with an in depth look into the Somersetshire Coal Canal. The previous volume of old photographs of this delightful short canal, which branched off the Kennet & Avon Canal just south of Bath, brought together what was then considered the finest range of photo-graphs of the canal. Further research by the author has, remarkably, unearthed a large number of hitherto unseen images and many of these are included in this new journey down the canal. Lavishly illustrated with a vast amount of black and white images as well as a variety of maps and line drawings, this title will appeal to all those interested in the history of Somerset and the coal canal.”

Also according to Amazon Roger Halse is a leading light in the Somersetshire Coal Canal Society and is well known for his lectures on the canal.

b0atg1rl and I were Dundas recently; and I would like to have a wonder up the available parts of the Somersetshire Coal Canal at some point, I bought this book to give me a bit of background on the canal; its mostly historical Photos (B&W) showing the state of parts of the canal over time; and describes the creation, use, and the canal falling into disrepair, parts of it subsequently becoming railway and then complete abandonment.