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Windows update error
Mar 7th
I have a laptop that dual boots XP and linux. It is getting a bit old and slow running XP these days and doesn’t often get used unless I’m away from home.
I used it at my mother’s house the other day and thought I’d better run through the usual Windows update routine as I had a net connection and only a BT HomeHub between the world and me – update error 0xC800042D
I gave up after several attempts but have just tried again at home with the same result. I couldn’t find much help in a quick read of the MS links provided, so I turned to google. Seems I am not alone and it’s quite a common error and soon sorted following advice given in several links.
The latest updates seem to include the new browser chooser option, which I’ve applied but not seen as I shut down immediately after applying the patches. However I have the IE8 upgrade disabled as I use Firefox except for when I check for Windows Updates using IE7, wonder if that’s why it failed.
Typical Windows user patches every 5 days – a related and interesting link I came across the other day.
IPv6 – when
Mar 7th
Yesterday I reinstalled my server with ubuntu 9.10 as a vm using virt-manager, less than an hour’s work I guess. Next I started to set up mail using dovecot and postfix but for some strange reason they seemed to default to IPv6 settings so I couldn’t connect using IPv4. Not a major problem and easily sorted, but when are we going to see widespread use of IPv6 in the UK?
Within a few years the remaining IPv4 addresses will run out. It may happen very quickly given the increased internet use in countries such as India and China.
My ISP, AAISP support IPv6 tunnelled or natively, google offer IPv6 searches, but there’s not much about. There are few, if any, widely available IPv6 capable routers. No soho firewalls that are easy enough for general users to configure. Apparently BT have no plans to support IPv6 on their 21cn network – supposedly fit for the new century.
Could be quite a mess when it does all happen.
Elm tree reintroduction project starts – Google News
Mar 7th
Elm tree reintroduction project starts
Telegraph.co.uk – Stephen Adams
The first step to re-establishing elm trees in Britain is being taken this month with 250 schools receiving saplings to plant. By Stephen Adams From the …
via Elm tree reintroduction project starts – Google News.
Good news for future generations, for centuries the English landscape was populated by elm trees until Dutch Elm disease killed most of them in the 1970s. It has been estimated that some 20 to 25 million trees were lost in all.
Local authority websites – again
Mar 5th
A month ago today I reported some broken links on a local authority website. I received a reply the following day that my report had been passed to their IT department. The links are still broken. Here’s an example
http://www3.forest-heath.gov.uk/commminutes/\minutes\pln\ldf2010jan26\reports\ldf10064.pdf
Local authority websites – accessibility
Mar 5th
My local authority Internet Service Standards page states
We aim to provide a reliable and consistent on-line service to our customers. This means that you should expect our website to have 100% availability and that we should do everything possible to ensure this.
Why then do many pages only provide information as links to Microsoft Word documents? Do these people, who I am paying through my council tax, expect me to purchase both a new operating system and a copy of Word to access information that should be accessible to all, including me?
Strange squidguard log entries
Mar 3rd
I look after an IPCop firewall in a remote office for a small company. Yesterday I noticed some odd internal IP addresses appearing in some categories of the squidguard logs. These addresses don’t appear anywhere else on the network or logs so I was somewhat puzzled.
It turns out that these were entries from the same day of the month but one, or even two years ago. logrotate is set to rotate the squidguard log files, but only once they reach a size of 100k. The least found categories will obviously have fewer entries so may well cover a period longer than a year.
When viewed in the web gui, only the day and month is searched, and subsequently listed, so today I see entries for 03 March – but, of course, not just for this year.
Insulating roman blinds
Mar 3rd
HeatSaver Shades UK for thermal roman blinds.
Heat loss through windows and patio doors can account for 25 to 50 percent of your monthly heating bill. HeatSaver Thermal Blinds effectively prevent 90 percent of this costly and unnecessary loss.
This appears to be new idea and still undergoing research and evaluation, a multi-layered highly insulated roman blind.
Thin profile double glazed units
Mar 3rd
Slimlite Double Glazed Units are a new concept in the construction of a double glazed units which with a 5mm perimeter seal depth and can be glazed into most single glazed windows.
In my browsing through conservation and energy saving sites I have just come across this site. They produce double glazed units as thin as 11mm, as well existing frames, they should be suitable for use in conservation areas and listed buildings as well.
The Uniseco prefab bungalow
Mar 2nd
My interest in the history of the Uniseco prefab started when I moved to one in Suffolk.
Some 160,000 prefabs were built and erected between 1944 and 1949 as a result of the 1944 Housing (Temporary Accommodation) Act. They were designed to provide a quick solution to the massive shortage of housing caused by the destruction of so many buildings during WWII. At the time they provided up to date and modern accommodation, with indoor WC, running hot water, bathroom, fitted stove, and a garden. Prefabs marked a real improvement on the pre-war accommodation for most families. Most, if not all, also provided built-in storage/cupboards.
Principal models were the Arcon, B2, Phoenix, Tarran, Uniseco and Universal. The intention was for them to cost £500 each but the actual cost was closer to £1300.
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