Nahoo Blog

Sea swim

Martha an I swam a mile in Hove for BHF in 45 minutes.

New web browsers

I've just installed IE6 after having IE7 already installed and added Safarai 3 for Windows. It is a bad browser, but important for testing websites for Mac users.

Times Interactive Sudoku live

The Times Online have had the new interactive Sudoku game running for a few days now.

]]> It hasn't been as smooth as we had hoped. There are problems with establishing cookies (they store important information on the Sudoku games) within the iframe. Internet Explorer 7 doesn't allow the session cookie to start in its current format, meaning people lost their puzzles as they were about to text their three numbers in. We have added a warning about the issue and how to resolve it, but this appears too frequently now.

I found that sessions will work within a popup, so we will have a popup start the required session cookie and then disappear. This will have a positive knock-on effect in the main iframe.

Facepact

I am fed up with having a crap complexion, so I am going to cut out processed sugar (even from coffee if that is possible) and stop touching my face until things look better. I'll be charting my progress here.

Moral outcry on the Kemptown Rag

Woohoo, the Kemptown Rag has cause a "moral outcry" because I decided to post a full-frontal photo on the cover. Check out the Argus page.

If you want the actual newspaper go to: http://kemptownrag.co.uk.

Dream story

Just had a cool dream that was a mixture of the most recent Doctor Who, the Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe and the Stargate SG1 episode with that one way mirror portal.

]]> It was something about two girls (around 11 years) who inadvertently find a portal to another time by accessing another girl's dreams. They believe they are dreaming too, but in fact it is reality. They cannot discover that they are in a real world, otherwise they'll break the gateway to the other realm. The portal is in the future in a country house and two other people , myself (aged 14) and a little boy (probably 8 or 9) who understand about the portal. We regularly go to this other time, spending longer and longer in this place (as the present time is fixed, but the future time moves forward). I think the girl (who is dreaming) is ill because one day she dies while we are still in the future and the two other girl's hold the last chance of returning to the past. As they do not know they hold the key and travel through the portal a doorway, they cannot see the importance of their actions on that occasion. There is a door with a static cat's face just visible (the cat just glanced into this realm without going far enough). The two girls idly walk through the doorway much earlier than we had thought. I run towards the door and I make it back just in time but the younger boy is trapped. He continues to live around 60 years in the future as he didn't make it back to his own time. Unfortunately, as the present day has changed so much it is unlikely that he will ever exist in the first place. I am left wondering what that cat saw...

Damn, it doesn't make any sense when you write it down....

New Phone

My new SE K810i phone from Orange just arrived. It was "free" with a contract as apposed to over hundred pounts as an upgrade. My line-rental has gone up by £10 a month, but at least I can take 3.2Mpx photos now…

Church Club sunk by demented person: Alex

Its been a crazy week. I went to the first and last night of a new club in Brighton. I helped setup the place with Martha at the beginning of the month and then looked after a handful of coats in the cloakroom that night. The "owner", Alex, had no clue what he was doing and managed to piss off both the clubbers and the staff before the end of its second attempt at a launch night on Friday 1st June (the previous team walked the week before).

I have never witness such a deluded, desperate and dishonest person in my entire life. He blatantly grabbed all the cash out of the bar registers and argued about how little money he was making in front of all the staff and at the bar in clear view of paying customers. As it was a new (well relaunched) club, it takes time to establish itself. Usually, it would take several months or even years to get a club going, yet he wanted it all on the first night of opening.

]]> On the same morning, Martha withdrew her licence and the following night licencing came to forcibly close the venue (he tried to open it illegally). He convinced the DJs and doormen that it was business usual... well, for the first 30 minutes. Then, after that "amicable discussion with the authorities", he proclaimed it was a "private party".

Just to show he has true idiotic conman status: he has never paid any of the managers, promoters, bar staff, DJs, cleaners or even the brewery for the alcohol. If you want to run a con, at least get past the first night without getting yourself run out of town. Most Brighton knows about his escapades now. Using excuses like "I need insulin because I am diabetic" to get out of thousands of pounds of debt and stolen stock (i.e. unpaid stock with the heavies coming...). I wonder how things will turn out for him with lots of pissed off powerful people wanting their money back...

Anyway, this guy ran a new club into the ground faster than skydiver with lead shoes and no parachute. It is guaranteed that when this club reopens it will have a different name and Alex will be no where to be seen.

Interactive Times Online Sudoku game

Here is the new Times Online Sudoku game due to be launched this bank holiday weekend (if all goes well).

When it goes live, you can see it in action at timesonline.co.uk/sudoku/.

Flat found!

I have finally found a nice place to live in deep Hove on Portland Road. My new flatmates are two women, one a graphic designer and ex-club manager called Martha and the other a off-licence manager called Unica.
And yes, all my recent posts start with "Flat".

Flat to myself

I have got the large flat to myself now! All I need to do is find somewhere nice to live before next weekend...

Flat hunting line

Over the past few days I have looked at three flats directly in line with my current place!

Flat hunting

Just got back from a rather stressful experience, negociating a price for a room plus a small part of a mezzanine for office space. The price is £450 pm including bills (gas, electricity, water and coucil tax and internet) so that is £350 based on the estimated bills. Now, for the small amount of office space and the small increase in electricity and heating figures of around £550 were being banded around. This does seem like a steep increase. That is £200 per month extra just to work from home. It is a nice place, but is it worth it? I'll have a few days to decide...

Solve Sudoku for free money!

This is an extreme example of the emails I receive on the Sudoku website...

I want to be able to have to solve puzzles for money and prizes, because the Prize Edition that I have now, but I'm not sure that I'm going to win the $1,000 for doing the three puzzles and writing a little paragraph on when I first realized that I addicted to sudoku, because I really need that money because our family is in a really tight situation and we are really low on money.

Previously he sent:

last year we had a house fire--lost everything. At the same time my husband, who's 56 was Forced into retirement. We have two sons--13 and 14. We're only getting 990 from the retirement. Five dollers would make or break milk and bread at the end of the month. Could we work something out so as I can gain full entry to your site---Im way past easy puzzles and am looking for a challenge. thank you.

and...

Short story(i can explain the long one if you'd like) is i can not at this time afford this site. We have 990 a month income, 550 of it goes towards rent. The rest, what there of it, pays the bills. You have an excellent site. Would you consider allowing me a free access pass? we could trade services maybe. i don't know what that my be. ruth rantwineatgmail

This was thoughtfully sent by: Jay Gartman and his wife (appropriately named: rantwine) in the US. What up-side-down country are they from (the US)?!

Times Swordfish article

Our first article for the Times Online was published today. It covers the essential techniques to conquer the hardest rated Sudoku in The Times and Sunday Times.

If you ever wanted to know how to solve a Super Fiendish, or if you want to know how you managed in the first place, check out the article and leave a comment.

]]> Please feel free to leave your comments after the article.