… what on earth a neighbourhood cat is EATING that makes it leave diarrhoea all over my front lawn every couple of days. But most of all, I wish it would just do it elsewhere.

I’ve tried the tip I was given of pouring hot water all over the area after removing the faecal matter to remove the smell and discourage its return, but all that seems to be doing is killing off my grass nicely.

So I’ve finally resorted to cat repellent (supposedly non-toxic and environmentally safe, it also has dire warnings about keeping away from children and washing your hands after contact – I’ve erred on the side of caution and warned neighbourhood children to stay away from the front lawn for a while).

Unfortunately, it also appears to be a people repellent, too. It smells vile.

Back to the drawing board.

I got my “personal” apology from the acting chairman of the HMRC today.

Not quite sure of the logic of referring to it as “personal” when it’s the same form letter sent out to 25 million people, and not even a photocopied signature at the bottom, but hey. This is from the same government department with the dubious definition of “secure” after all…

It’s getting to that time of the year again.

No, not Christmas (come on, it’s still only November!) but the time of year when the weather is generally shite, early evenings and the children’s television viewing increases exponentially.

It’s the time of year where it’s traditional that I give myself a huge guilt trip.

I forget that during the rest of the year, they’ve played loads outside and we’ve gone out lots as a family and their screen time has been much much less. I forget that they’re tired and uninspired after a long day of school/nursery. I forget that they do chat to each other about what they’re watching and use TV as a basis of imaginative play when they are in the mood. I forget how much screen time I have to unwind (okay, admittedly more computer-based than television based, but screen time all the same) and how hypocritical it is to expect the kids to be different.

I still feel a bad parent.

But not bad enough to warrant making a fuss.

This article should be essential reading for anyone who still assumes biometrics are a secure and infallible way to prove identity, specifically covering how ridiculously easy it is to make an artificial fingerprint.

The video at the end is especially interesting (from Mythbusters, I think?), showing how a sophisticated fingerprint lock is quickly fooled by a variety of techniques including a photocopy of an authorised person’s fingerprint. I’ve also embedded it below for convenience:

On reflection, I don’t think I want a system where authorisation is solely reliant on fingerprints, given that you effectively leave your “PIN” on every surface you touch…

It’s been a bit of a scary week here in the Naan Household, and all down to Li’l Bhaji.

It all started on Thursday (ignoring Wednesday completely as a hell day where both children had toileting accidents, one of which (to mortal embarrassment) lead to the emergency evacuation of a local swimming pool).

I was upstairs, getting ready, while the kids played downstairs. All of a sudden, I heard loud crying from Li’l Bhaji and hurtled down the stairs to see him standing at the bottom, hands held out both covered in blood.

Yes, he had the mother of all nosebleeds. As best I can make out, he tripped over something and landed smack on his nose, but boy did it bleed. 4 blood-soaked tissues and a changed top (mine) later, the bleeding finally stopped and I managed to get them both of to school and nursery, albeit a bit late.

Friday afternoon on the way home from school he decided to mess around near the gates, banging his nose again. Fortunately, it didn’t result in another nose bleed, but already being sore hurt like hell and removed a chunk of skin from the top of it. I just hope he didn’t break it in either attempt. I did ask a neighbour (ex-A&E nurse) to take a look, but he was being uncooperative and she couldn’t tell at the time due to the swelling, but did give some fab advice for things to keep an eye on (including signs of concussion).

Probably unconnected (unless bumped noses can trigger previously unknown allergies?) we were sitting down to dinner the same evening and all of a sudden Li’l Bhaji mentions his hand hurts and starts attacking it as if to scratch it with his fork. After removing the fork from him before he did major damage, we noticed that all the back of his hand and wrist is red and inflamed, as is the back of the other hand. It looked like an allergic rash, so I quickly gave him some Eurax cream (to stop the itching) and gave him some piriton in case it was affecting his throat too.

He has had no history of eczema and the only other allergies have been to mixing of two suncreams (by accident we were applying and nursery were applying) and to a bought pineapple & cottage cheese when he was a baby which never reoccurred. We’ve had nothing new in terms of soap or food. Tea was eggs, chips and baked beans (all previously eaten before with no ill effects) and in any case did not seem to affect his face, mouth or throat. We are completely utterly flummoxed as to what’s caused it, and slightly concerned that whatever it was will reoccur (and worse next time) because we were unable to identify it.

Any ideas on what it might have been are very welcome. I just hope it isn’t the beginnings of eczema – I’d hoped so hard that my children wouldn’t inherit any of my auto-immune idiosyncrasies.

I think The Times summed up the news best this morning:

“Someone gave a disc containing confidential information about 25 million people to a bloke on a bike? And he lost it?”

And these are the people we trust to keep our ID data on a single database?

I don’t think so.

Warning, the podcast I am about to review may seriously affect your bank balance…

I don’t know what it is about Simon Mayo, but he is probably one of THE best presenters on British radio. He is funny without forcing it, offers intelligent conversation without dominating it and is a very skilled interviewer. The Book Panel podcast (originally broadcast on BBC Radio’s 5 Live) is probably one of his best shows.

The format is usually set around the review of two books (announced in the previous week’s show) with a panel of reviewers, the two authors in question and a phone-in review from a listener. The team seem to gel well and the quality of discussion (as you would expect) is in depth and excellent covering everything from what the book cover looks like to character dissection and background information.

The book genres and topics are varied and well chosen – since I’ve been listening, they’ve reviewed children’s books, graphic novels, true life accounts, historical fiction… there’s something there for everyone, and quite often even those you didn’t expect to be interesting make for gripping listening.

The only disadvantage is… every single book they review I end up desperately wanting to read. It could become a rather expensive free podcast for me…

… one more to knit!

(feeling elated that I actually managed to turn a heel)

(oh, and excuse my cluttered desk… it was a spur of a moment snapshot before casting on the next one)

(as you were)

The thing I really love about Flickr is its groups – this is where the community of Flickr can be found, where I’ve made new friends and been inspired.

The problem is, one of the aspects of Flickr culture seems to be to join as many groups as possible. In order to get images the biggest audience, it’s common to see photos posted into multiple groups and it easily becomes the photographic equivalent of a hit and run.

I’m ashamed to say that my participation in most of the groups I belong to is simply to add a photo now and then. I don’t participate in any discussions. I rarely comment on other’s photos unless they’re on my contacts list. I’m not the only one, there are many many groups who have thousands of members, but their discussion boards are like ghost towns. The group becomes anonymous and loses its community.

So, I’ve had a prune. I’ve culled masses and masses of groups from my list and have got down to nine. Nine groups which have got a great community and I want to participate in. I’ve subscribed to their RSS feeds for both discussions and photo pools. I’m going to be an active member of just those nine groups.

I can do that.

So, it’ll probably be that most of my photos disappear into obscurity because they don’t fit neatly into any of my groups any more. It’ll also be interesting coping with a vastly extended RSS collection which was already fairly hefty. I’ve probably sabotaged any chance of my pictures being “interesting” enough to hit Explore ever again.

But at least I’ll feel part of a community again.

What happened to this week?

I can’t believe it’s Friday already and I haven’t posted since Monday. I was going to be more efficient with this week.

Not that it’s zoomed past. In many ways, this week dragged on and on and on.

I just wish I had something more to show for it.