Andrew Emmett

Free Stock Images

Andrew — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 18:08:35 +0000

We’ve launched the free stock images site and uploaded the initial creatures, food, landscape, nature and seaside albums. Expect more categories and photos very soon. This project is a joint project between my fantastic girlfriend and I. It is wonderful she is involved in the project.

There are two albums for each category. One contains 1280x resolution images and the other 500x resolution images. The later we’ve labelled ‘web ready’ as they are ideal for downloading and placing into blog posts. As seen below….

This will be an ongoing project. To find out more about the project, how you can use the images and to view them, please visit: http://www.andrewemmett.co.uk/freestockimages/. I will write blog posts here regarding any major updates or news. So worth bookmarking or subscribing to this blog. If you do use them sometime let us know below in the comments. Be great to receive feedback and see how they are used.

Free stock images coming soon… Just thought I would share some news. Within a couple...
free nanoCMS website theme (template) – Sunset The latest build of nanoCMS Community, a nifty flat file...
Webcam Adventures Back in April I decided to start a webcam project...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Three month Food & Drink Challenge – Day 1

Andrew — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 12:16:00 +0000

Back on the 13th July I posted about the three month Food & Drink Challenge and the time has flown by. It is day one of the challenge and I’m already enjoying the challenge. I feel energised and motivated by the changes.

My girlfriend and I had already partially started the challenge as items were consumed and not replaced. The last pre-challenge meal though was a very unhealthy homemade dough balls with an oil and garlic sauce, accompanied by homemade potato wedges and lettuce.

So day one is going well. I probably drank more cordial in the morning, than I do in a whole day. I’ve reduced my bread intake, increased my fruit and am looking forward to the homemade stew tonight.

I wish all those taking part in the challenge the very best. As Rachael said in her recent blog post “Bring it on!”

Food & Drink Challenge – What I am giving up and why So I’ve been asked what I am giving up for...
Food & Drink Challenge – Week 1 So it’s almost the end of week one of the...
Food & Drink Challenge – Week 2 Another week almost complete for the February Food & Drink...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

No Eggs

Andrew — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 12:48:29 +0000

We don’t eat eggs and I thought I would quickly tell you about the egg alternative we use. It is called ‘Orgran No Egg’ and it is suitable for vegans (though we are vegetarians and a bit vegan).

Often you hear of people recommending when cooking vegetarian food to double ingredients and this can lead to disastrous results, especially when using spices. Though in this instance it appears to be the best solution.

The results are delicious.

Food & Drink Challenge – What I am giving up and why So I’ve been asked what I am giving up for...
The Food & Drink Challenge is coming back! Back in February a group of us took part in...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Curtain Call

Andrew — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 12:25:29 +0000

Yesterday we gave the bathroom the first of two coats of paint. The dark purple had to go and the room needed painting. The white paint we used not only helps with lighting in the room, but makes the room feel more spacious.

My girlfriend as I write is making a new curtain for the small window and I thought I would write about it.

A while back we had been on a caravan holiday and were sharing a room with only two single beds. As we needed bedding for the week, we brought some from a charity shop. We since kept this to use. Then with the help of net curtain wire and my girlfriends sewing skills, she is making a new curtain.

Another benefit of painting the room white is that we can use the colours of the curtains, flooring, towels, shower curtain etc to add the colour to the room. Also I suspect this will probably aid resell value of the property.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The rattle in the box

Andrew — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 12:08:15 +0000

The postman said he might need a hand getting the box from the van. It rattled, it was falling apart and it was heavy. Upon opening I was dismayed at the computer parts loose. An envelope for the ram not sealed, the cpu with the bent pins and so on. It was punt on ebay though. Would it be worth it? The test systems had arrived.

My girlfriend and I identified the parts and cleaned the computer cases.

One of the case before…

After the cleaning with a motherboard fitted…

What I still find surprising in this day and age is the lack of security precautions people take. A hard drive had not been wiped, luckily for them we are not devious. I will run it through dban, which is is ‘Darik’s Boot and Nuke’, to wipe it. Not a simple delete or format, but a DoD standard low level wipe. The ram we will run through memtest to check for integrity.

After testing the motherboards and cpu’s, unfortunately one motherboard and cpu were both dead, but not surprising for the way they were packaged. I built one computer and my girlfriend built another using another working motherboard we have.

So was it worth it? Yes it was as we now have our test bed systems and the unrequired items we will sell.

Shake, rattle and roll!

Wipe a hard drive. Boot and Nuke! I was asked recently about wiping hard drives and as...
The case of the noise, corruption and tear in time A mystery was afoot and Sherlock Holmes wasn’t available to...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Around the web – August 2010

Andrew — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 16:26:31 +0000

August is almost at an end and the time has flown by. Below are my online contributions this month from around the web. As always the contributions listed are personal and not related to my employment.

Reading By Candlelight

Book Review: The Moneyless Man: A Year of Freeconomic Living
Book Review: The Elizabethan Secret Services – Alan Haynes
The Bookcase

Social Matters

Internet Overload

The Internet Protectors

Too much protection?

Around the web – April 2010 Well almost another month, so here is my update of...
Around the web – June 2010 Another month, another around the web post. The post where...
Around the web – March 2010 Every month I will post a round-up of personal blog...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

The case of the noise, corruption and tear in time

Andrew — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:29:02 +0000

A mystery was afoot and Sherlock Holmes wasn’t available to solve…..

A bunch of graphics cards had arrived and I was all too eager to test them. Alas I currently don’t have a test bed system available, so I decided to use one of my P4 computers….bad mistake.

I opened the computer case and replaced the existing card and switched the computer on. It all then went horribly wrong.

The first hurdle was the motherboard ‘beeps’. Easily enough solved and I reset the computer ram and graphics card. The system at last would boot past the bios.

The second hurdle was the computer wouldn’t load into the operating system. Upon diagnostics I discovered I had badly corrupted the partition table. Drive c wasn’t being recognized and unfortunately it wasn’t a simple repair. A boot cd with testdisk to rescue a few genealogy related files to a second hard drive.

The third issue was a ripping noise. I had bent down and heard a tearing noise. I had completely torn my boxer shorts! I was in no mood to sew and create a pair of frankenstein boxer shorts.

So with deduction, logic and a new pair of boxer shorts the case was closed. I’m already organising the parts to build a test system.

Until next time.

The rattle in the box The postman said he might need a hand getting the...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Free stock images coming soon…

Andrew — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 09:44:24 +0000

Just thought I would share some news. Within a couple of weeks I will be launching a free stock image site and it will be hosted here.

I know there are a ton of free stock image sites, but I feel I can contribute in my own unique way. All the images are going to be free. No limitations such as only licensed for this, give me a return link, only suitable for personal use or must be modified etc. None of that, just free for commercial, personal or charity use.

The quality will vary and I will most likely provide two versions of an image. A small web friendly one ideal for people to use in blogs or docs straight away and a larger version for editing etc.

The important part is to get the project launched. Then over time to add more photos, improve the site features such as search etc. I’ve already prepared over two hundred photos and there are a lot more to follow.

So if you’re a blogger, web designer or just require a photo for a presentation this archive could be for you. Though I’m sure the images will be used for a variety of reasons.

Free Stock Images We’ve launched the free stock images site and uploaded the...
Free Icon(s) Pack I’ve put together an icon pack which is free for...
free nanoCMS website theme (template) – Sunset The latest build of nanoCMS Community, a nifty flat file...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Food & Drink Challenge Blogs

Andrew — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 06:37:13 +0000

With the Food & Drink challenge around the corner, I thought I would tell you about a couple of blogs. The lovely Adele & Rachael have both started blogging about the challenge.

Adele’s blog: http://lunaticmagnets.blogspot.com

Rachael’s blog: http://raemck.blogspot.com

Though obviously if your taking part in the challenge a blog isn’t required. To find out more about the challenge you can click here. Don’t forget to let me know if you decide to join the challenge. Anyone is welcome. not just people I know.

Food & Drink Challenge – Are you taking part? Time has flown by and soon the Food & Drink...
Three month Food & Drink Challenge – Day 1 Back on the 13th July I posted about the three...
The Food & Drink Challenge is coming back! Back in February a group of us took part in...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Food & Drink Challenge – the shopping list

Andrew — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 12:28:17 +0000

Here is my entry for boring blog post of the month….joking aside (sorta), my girlfriend and I have been preparing for the food & drink challenge. Using up the last of the tea bags, finishing the tomato sauce, clearing space in the freezer etc.

I am now like a child in a sweet shop, drooling at the thought of the homemade soups we are going to make etc. Which leads me onto the…*drum roll please*…shopping list. Yes the exciting topic of shopping lists. Strap yourself in, for the rest of the post will be non-stop excitement!

We didn’t want to drift haphazardly into the challenge. We want to cross the start line at full pelt so for us this means looking at what is on our shopping list already. Especially as we plan to not go beyond our existing food budget. Plus there are key items that it’s okay if we can’t pick up one week due to availability, but would be annoying if not available locally a second week etc.

Variety is itself going to play a major part in this challenge and some planning will help. So as we finish up those freezer items that we’ve delayed cooking and say goodbye to the last of the English mustard, I say thank goodness for that.

My taste buds are ready for the change.

Food & Drink Challenge – What I am giving up and why So I’ve been asked what I am giving up for...
Food & Drink Challenge – Week 2 Another week almost complete for the February Food & Drink...
February Food & Drink Challenge Update So if you missed an earlier blog post, I’m giving...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.