Firefox SQLite Manager extension

A number of desktop applications use SQLite as a datastore, as it is lightweight and require no configuration to work out of the box.

I have a few applications running in Ubuntu that use SQLite, and I am currently learning pyGTK programming by writing an application that uses SQLIte for a backend.

I was looking for a management tool to use to query the various databases (especially my database under development) when I found the Firefox extension.

As with all Firefox extensions, it installed easily enough after the browser was restarted and is accessed from the Tools menu.

It opens in its own window, with a list of databases appearing in a tree in the left hand pane. Three tabs in the right hand pane give you access to the structure of tables, a browse window and a query window.



This is a really handy extension which performs well, you should give it a try if you need to query your SQLite databases.

Gnumeric vs Open Office Calc

Back in the days (not so long ago) when I ran XP, we would use Excel 97 for spreadsheets. Once it started getting a bit long in the tooth, I tried to encourage the Wife to use Open Office. She could never get on with it, mainly due to the mappings of the keyboard shortcuts. Despite suggesting we change the mappings, she still came up with a few other problems with it.

So once I changed our PC to Ubuntu, she was more or less forced to use Open Office all the time. A few other problems came up, notably setting print areas. As my Wife is the main user of Spreadsheets in our house, I was forced to put up with her complaints - I often suggested she boot back into XP (as the machine is dual boot) if it was that big a problem, but she seemed to persevere.

Recently I read a few good comments regarding the 'other' Gnome spreadsheet, Gnumeric, on the Ubuntu forums. I thought I would give it a try. As with most other apps on Linux, it is free and easy to install, and a quick visit to the Add/Remove Applications menu had the application installed and running in under a minute.

Although it has only been a short while, early signs are promising. Much to my Wife's delight, the shortcut key mappings are the same as Excel (at least the ones she uses are), and the set print area feature is much better implemented.

I don't want this to sound like an Open Office bashing post, as I generally like it. I especially like the export to PDF feature. It is just that the major bug bear my other half had after changing to Ubuntu seems to have disappeared under Gnumeric. Hurrah!

Windows Update vs Ubuntu Update

Since I installed Ubuntu on my desktop, I have been running a Dual Boot system with Windows XP. While I hardly use XP now, I still need to fire it up once every few weeks or so - now I have got a Cisco VPN installed on Ubuntu for work, I will use XP even less.

Last night I needed to log in to XP for half an hour or so. While I was using it, I thought I had better check Windows Update, as it had been a while since I had applied any patches. Off I went to the Windows Update site. What a painful experience it was. First, after a half a minute or so check, I find that I need to install an updated Active X control. I allow the browser to install the control. Then, up pops another dialog asking if I want to run the install or save it to disk. I allow it to install (even though I thought I had just done that in the Browser).

Then it starts checking my machine for updates. This takes a minute or two. Then lo and behold, I get prompted again to install another update to allow me to check for real updates. Finally, after installing that update, the real list of updates finally appears.

Compare this process to the Ubuntu update process. In the Update Manager, I press the Check for Updates button. After a few seconds check, up comes the list of updates. I press apply and they are all installed (without any need to reboot, I might add).

The Windows Update process is a reminder of why I got cheesed off with Windows and installed Ubuntu.

Ubuntu 7.10

I have been running Ubuntu 7.10 since I upgraded my 7.04 install to the 7.10 release candidate a week before the final release. That was a good tip I picked up frm the Ubuntu Forums - upgrading a week before the final release avoided the release day rush.

The upgrade ran smoothly enough with no problems during the install. Before I upgraded I ran a backup of my 'Home' folder, just in case. What improvements are there in 7.10?

Compiz-Fusion is installed by default, and this seems a lot more stable than Compiz-Beryl was in 7.04. A new application is 'Tracker', a desktop search tool. I haven't noticed any performance hit due to Tracker, which is quite remarkable considering it must have run a full index search after the install. This seems an improvement over Google Desktop, which I had just started to use in 7.04.

In 7.04, I had also started to use the Avant Window Navigator (AWN). If you don't know about this, it is a 3d dock that sits at the bottom of the screen, and can be used to replace the standard Gnome panel. A new version was released shortly before the 7.10 release, and this is a marked improvement stability wise. Combined with a number of optional applets, AWN makes the standard Ubuntu desktop stand out.

Another improvement for me has been the shutdown process. Upon shutting down, my PC would regularly hang, which meant I would have to force the shutdown by holding in the power switch. I have no idea what the cause of this was, so whether the improvement is due to Ubuntu itself or a third party application I'll never know.

I also love the new elephant skin wallpaper (although not enabled by default). Very nice.

Arsenal Holdings letter to Shareholders

When Arsenal announced their financial results on Monday, the club sent the following letter to all shareholders:

Arsenal Holdings plc (the "Company") announces that a letter, reproduced
below, has been sent to all shareholders.


24th September 2007

Dear Shareholder,

Enclosed you will find the Club's latest annual report and results. The Board
believes that these results speak for themselves.  The Club is clearly in a
strong financial position. We are also buoyant on the football front with
manager Arsene Wenger extending his contract with us until 2011 and the team
making an excellent start to the season.

You will be aware over the last twelve months the Club's shareholder base has
changed significantly.  Stanley Kroenke now owns 12.2% and Red & White
Holdings, a company controlled by Alisher Usmanov and Farhad Moshiri, now
holds 21%.  The Directors of Arsenal continue to hold 45.5% and have no
current intention of selling any of their shares as evidenced by their
statement of 18th April 2007.

Against the backdrop of the strong financial and playing position of the Club,
if you are contemplating the possibility of dealing in shares, we would
suggest that you take appropriate financial advice and consider the stance
taken by the Directors in committing not to sell their own shareholdings.

In closing, we recognise that many shareholders retain shares because they are
fans of the Club and wish to support the Club to the fullest extent possible
rather than holding shares solely as a financial investment. 

We welcome shareholders' continued support at this time.

Yours faithfully
P D Hill-Wood
Chairman

Clearly the board are hoping small shareholders will hold out so that Usmanov cannot reach the 25% holdings barrier.

Music Review: Dragons, Here Are The Roses

I first heard of this band from a mention in the gig guide of the evening paper. Their 2 line description of the band made them sound pretty cool, so I thought I'd check them out. It took a while to track them down on the web, but I'm glad I did.

Best described as Indie Rock with sprinklings of Electronics, the album starts with the title track and first single, Here Are The Roses (video below). This track, like some of the others on the album, features some very Peter Hook-like bass guitar, plus some nice synth work sitting behind the guitars. Give the video a whirl and see what you think.

The second single, Condition, is a more up tempo number with more focus on the guitars. Along with the rest of the album, the lyrics and vocals are very strong throughout.

Another mention must go to the drumming - throughout the album the drumming is top class, which adds to the energy already present.

There are plenty of strong tracks on the album besides the singles: Trust (could easily be a single), Where Is The Love? (more down tempo, even goth like) , Rememberence and Forever.

A lot of albums seem to suffer from putting too many tracks on, running to 12 or more tracks. They often suffer from this, as they become over long with the inevitable fillers. Thankfully, at 10 tracks the album doesn't suffer in this way.

The single Here Are The Roses featured two tracks not on the album, Redemption and Love Like This - both of which are strong enough to be album tracks in my opinion. So it is well worth checking out the single.

This is by far my favourite album of the year - the only danger is I'm likely to play it to death.

Dragons Web Site

Champions League Group stages squad

Arsenal have submitted the following squad for the group stages of the Champions League:


Goalkeepers

Jens Lehmann

Łukasz Fabiański

Manuel Almunia

Defenders

William Gallas

Philippe Senderos

Justin Hoyte

Gaël Clichy

Kolo Touré

Johan Djourou *

Bacary Sagna

Emmanuel Eboué

Paul Rodgers *

Armand Traoré

Havard Nordtveit

Midfielders

Tomáš Rosický

Aleksandr Hleb

Gilberto

Cesc Fabregas *

Mathieu Flamini

Abou Diaby

Alexandre Song

Mark Randall *

Denilson

Kieran Gibbs *

Forwards

Robin van Persie

Eduardo da Silva

Emmanuel Adebayor

Nicklas Bendtner

Theo Walcott

Jay Simpson *

*Player list B

Who's firing the £50 notes now?

Now David Dein has dumped (or more likely, been dumped by) Stan Kroenke, he is full of his usual self serving quotes. Even before the club has announced that Wenger has signed a new contract, Dein is trying to take the credit for it:

“I wouldn’t have advised him to if I didn’t have Arsenal’s best interests at heart."

"I want to see Arsenal become the best team in the world, and to that end I’ve been instrumental in getting Arsène to sign a new contract.”

Grating to say the least. Remember this is the guy who wanted Arsenal to share Wembley. What a farce that would have been.

I have been surprised by the board not upping their stake - holding 45% of the shares leaves them in a vulnerable position, even if they have friends among the other share holders. Lets just hope they are trustworthy.

The other option available to them is to invite Kroenke on to the board and form an alliance with him. He is in a position now where he can't get his hands on many more shares, and can't effectively mount a takeover without co-operation from the Board, so he maybe content with a seat on the Board. It is obvious Kroenke doesn't want much to do with Dein, so he may be prepared to sign up.

I just hope all this doesn't distract from our excellent start to the new season, and weigh everyone at the club down.

Arsenal 2-1 PSG

I took the opportunity to get tickets for the PSG game in the Emirates Cup. I thought it would be a good time to take my six year old daughter for her first visit to Arsenal.

The first half was fairly dull, the highlight of which was my daughter asking if there were any girls playing. I wasn't expecting much from the second half, as the usual raft of half time substitutions usually ruins the game. This time, it worked the other way and brought the game to life. Hoyte and Eboue combined well on the right, with Traore and Clichy doing the same on the left. On plenty of occasions we got to the box, but with only Bendtner on his own up front, chances were slim. Diaby did well in Midfield, getting in plenty of tackles with his long legs.

Despite missing a penalty near the end, we held on for the win. There was a surprisingly good atmosphere, probably helped by a group of PSG/Arsenal fans on the lower tier giving it a load of verbal - resulting in more than a few ejections.

Now Reyes has gone, there will be more money in the pot for another signing, and with Wenger saying he is still looking for 1 or 2 more players, more transfer action seems likely. However, as the Eduardo work permit situation is still up in the air, Wenger may wait until he knows if he needs to get a replacement for Eduardo before moving for anyone else.

On another note while there are plenty of good Arsenal blogs around, you have to wonder at some blogs posting articles like this:

Had a very short chat with my son before he went to work.

I went upstairs and he was standing on the landing doing up the buttons of his sky blue shirt.

Michael : "What's happening ?"

Myles : "We've sold Reyes to Atletico Madrid for £8 million."

Michael : "Good, that means we'll buy somebody tomorrow for £8 million. Any idea who it is ?

Myles : "No. We can't get Quaresma for £8 million."

Fascinating stuff.

Never trust Politicians or Footballers

How many times do we have to put up players or their agents coming out with bullshit?

I’ve never played in Spain and never will. This is my last contract. Thierry Henry-May 2006

No such meeting took place. That is absolute rubbish. There’s never been any question of him not being at Arsenal next season. Jerome Anderson - 11th Jun 07 on reports of Barcelona agreeing a 4 year deal with Henry.

Now, of course, we know differently. Henry blaming the departure of David Dein for his decision is nonsense. Prior to his departure there was all kinds of rubbish being printed in the papers - tales of Wenger spending £40 million on players to keep Henry happy. I'm sorry, but there is no way Wenger would ever spend that kind of money just to keep another player happy.

Now we have the task of replacing a 25-30 goals a year striker. It is difficult to imagine Wenger would allow the sale of Henry unless he had a replacement lined up. Long term, I think Van Persie is capable of getting 20 goals a season, if he stays fit. What we need is everyone else to chip in, especially the Midfield players, then perhaps Henry's goals won't be missed as much.

Who knows, now Henry has gone, maybe Jose Reyes will change his mind about returning to Arsenal. Henry was forever berating him on the pitch, and that must have been a factor in Reyes not settling.

Whatever happens, I hope we make our signings quickly. The last thing we need is someone arriving on deadline day, missing the pre-season and then needing a few months to settle in.

Broadband: Part 2

After getting a MAC code from Orange to enable me to change suppliers, the next step was to sit back and wait for the changeover date. My new supplier, IDNet, had advised me within an hour or so of signing up when the switchover would happen. After my previous experiences with Orange, I was a bit skeptical as to whether the changeover would happen when it was supposed to.

But lo and hold, at the appointed date/time, I checked my router and saw there was no connection to Orange (not that unusual of course) so I tried logging my router in with my new IDNet details. Voila! The connection was there, and a massive improvement in speed too. I was typically getting around 400kbps with Orange - now with IDNet I was getting around 4Mbps.

Now after a couple of weeks, the connection has settled down and runs at around 3Mbps, without the continual disconnections I was getting with Orange. This has made the Internet usable again, and it is a relief to be finally rid of Orange.

Arsenal end of season

Finally, the season we'd all rather forget has finished. Arsene Wenger has been so successful in his 10 years at Arsenal that a cup final appearance and qualification for the Champions League are seen as a failure.

All the way through the season we showed great inconsistency, and never quite got a good long run going. Of course, there are positives to take from the season. Diaby and Clichy both returned from serious long term injuries, and both, but Clichy in particular, showed great form. Diaby suffered a bit at times from being played out of position, but plenty of times he showed his class. Both Denilson and Justin Hoyte emerged as good players - Hoyte returning from a season long loan at Sunderland showed that it is possible to come back from a loan spell and get into the team.

Unfortunately, the negatives outweighed the positives. Our defence showed great fragility at times, and it seemed to become almost inevitable that we would go a goal down in every game. What a transformation froma year ago when the went through most of the Champions League without conceding a goal. Our inconsistency cost us points against teams that we should easily turn over. We only lost once in the league to one of the other top teams, which shows we can compete at the top level, we just need to carry that form through in every game. Our finishing was woeful at times, and highlighted how badly we missed Henry and Van Persie for the second half of the season. Also, it showed how we haven't been able to replace the goals we could rely on from midfield players in the form of Ljungberg and Pires.

As for summer transfers, the inevitable speculation has started. Likely departures include Flamini, Baptista, Almunia and Aliadiere. Youngsters Lupoli and Muamba have already gone. Players coming in seems to be dependent to a certain extent on how much money Wenger can generate from player sales, although there must be some money in the pot. When Arsenal refinanced the stadium loan, one condition was net transfer spending per year of £14 million, so don't expect real big money signings. Hopefully we can get a goal scoring midfielder. Bendtner will come back from his loan at Birmingham, so that is almost like a new signing, albeit an unproven one.

Hopefully the summer will be without too much speculation on possible takeovers. The last couple of weeks has seen a marked slow down in share trading since the board announced they would not sell up, with only the occasional trade of a couple of shares being reported. I was a bit curious as to why the board (who without David Dein own about 45%) were not raising their stakes to over 50% to ensure they remained as the majority share holders, but they have since spoken of 'friends' who own enough shares to take them over the 50% mark.

Hopefully as there are no dull International competitions in the summer, most of our players can get a good rest and come back fighting fit for the new season. It would be nice to have a season not plagued by injuries and see everyone back to their best.

Orange Broadband

A few years ago, when before Orange took over Wanadoo, I signed up to Wanadoo Broadband. I initially had a 512KB connection which compared to the old dial-up was amazing. Then an upgrade to 1MB followed, and again another upgrade to 2MB. All this time there were never any problems with the connection, and speeds were consistent and fast.

Sometime last year, Orange (having subsequently taken over Wanadoo) announced I was to receive a free upgrade to the 'up to 8MB' service. Great, I thought. It would be especially handy when downloading files.

After the upgrade was completed, I saw that my line speed was around 2.5MB. While this was a bit of a disappointment, subsequent reading of how ADSL works showed up the fact that unless you live right on top of your local exchange, you are unlikely to get anywhere 8MB. Still, at least I wasn't paying any more for it.

Then around Christmas 2006, I started to notice that the connection was dropping regularly. This is a real pain, especially if you are in the middle of an online transaction - did the transaction go through or not? My hardware hadn't changed, so I was confident the problem was either down to Orange or the exchange. I was due to move house in February, so didn't do much about it, as I thought moving house would at least rule out the possibility of dodgy internal phone wiring.

So I moved house, and it took Orange 3 weeks to get the Broadband up and running at my new address. Once it was up and running, what did I find? Surprise, Surprise, regular disconnections. Not only that, but the speeds were abysmal - typically between 200-400kbps. The only time I saw it higher was early one Sunday morning, when I got speeds of 1.5Mb. This proved that higher speeds were possible, and so it was either bad contention at the exchange, or some other unknown Orange problem.

As the service was pretty much unusable for most of the time, I phoned them up to see what they would do about sorting the connection out. This is where the fun and games started.

Their Technical Support is located in India, and they clearly read from a script (which seems to include the phrase 'I apologize for the inconvenience' every other sentence), which indicates that they have no real expertise. After explaining the problem, the guy I spoke to finally ran out of options from his script and said he was going to arrange a line test. Call back in 24 hours for the results of the test, he said. I duly called back, navigated the convoluted menu system, explained the problem again and asked for the test results - this time I was told that the line test department don't work at the weekend, please call back after 24 hours (which would be a Monday). Annoyed, I agreed to call back.

When Monday came, I called back. This time I was told that the line test results were not back and I should call back in 24 hours. This was starting to piss me off. I asked them to call me back when they had the results, as it was costing me a fortune to keep calling their premium rate number. They couldn't do this, they explained, as it would be a breach of account security to access an account unless the account holder was on the line. In that case, I asked, how were they going to update my account with the line test results if I wasn't on the line? 'I apologize for the inconvenience' was the reply.

Annoyed at this, I started looking around at other Broadband suppliers, as I was hard pressed to see Orange coming up with any solution. Then I came across a website called OrangeProblems, and I realised that what I was experiencing, both in terms of poor connection and support, seemed to be the norm for Orange. Countless posters on the forums had the same abysmal speeds that I was getting, and were getting the same run around as me from Technical Support.

So rather than waste any more of my time phoning India and getting the run around, I decided to move on. I phoned Orange to ask for my MAC code, and after being transferred to the 'convince them to stay' department, the guy tried to convince me that my connection problems were due to me using a dedicated Ethernet router, rather than the bog standard cheap USB Modem Orange supplies. Plug it back in and all my problems would be solved. I really couldn't be bothered to argue with him, so just insisted on him giving me my MAC code.

I have signed up with another provider, who informed within an hour when the connection would be active.

If you are thinking of signing up with Orange Broadband, don't bother. They make using the Internet a total pain in the arse.

Tweaking Ubuntu

After installing Ubuntu 7.04, I started to install extra software and 'tweak' the setup.

Extra software that I have installed includes Celestia, Google Earth, Stellarium, Tux Paint, Thunderbird, Ex Falso (for flac/ogg file tagging) and Childsplay.

A couple of problems that I came across:

1. After installing Thunderbird and running it OK, it subsequently crashed at startup after restarting the computer the following day. Removing the folder .mozilla-thunderbird would fix the problem, but after setting up Thunderbird again, it would crash at startup again. I found a fix on the Ubuntu Forums, which was to blank out the default location for the start page. Weird. The fix is a bit awkward to do, as you have to rename the .mozilla-thunderbird folder, set Thunderbird up and remove the start page, then copy the Mail subfolder from the original .mozilla-thunderbird folder into the 'new' .mozilla-thunderbird folder.
2. I couldn't play DVDs. After following the standard Ubuntu instructions on how to add DVD playback capability, the Totem Movie Player wouldn't play any DVDs. It flashed up an error 'There is no plugin to handle this movie'. A Google search turned up the solution in a Ubuntu bug report. The solution is to apt-get xine-ui. This installs some other library which then makes Totem work OK.
3. I changed the standard font to Bitstream Vera Sans in System>Preferences>Font. To me, this font appears clearer than the standard Sans font.
4. In Firefox, I'm used to clicking in the address bar and having the whole text selected (this is how it works in XP). In Ubuntu, no text is selected. To change this, you need to type about:config in the address bar and press enter. Then in the filter box type browser.urlbar.clickSelectsAll. Change this value to True.

That's all for now, but I'll maybe find more issues as the days go by. Hopefully they will all be as minor as those that I have encountered so far.

Moving to Ubuntu: Part three

After spending an eternity defragging my hard drive, I was ready to try installing Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty). I really don't know why the Windows Defragmenter needs so many goes to properly defragment the drive - if I was doing this again I would research a third party Defragmenter.

I popped in the install/Live CD and booted the computer. Once the computer had booted into the CD, I selected the install option. You are presented with a number of simple questions regarding your locale. Then you get to the partition section. As I wanted to keep my existing XP installation so I can Dual Boot, I selected the option to manually edit the partition table.

I resized the existing Windows partition down to 15GB (after the cleanup and defrag, it was using 9GB). I created the required root and swap partitions, but I also created a /home partition. The home partition is where your user settings/files reside. The advantage of a separate home partition is that if you ever need to re-install the Operating System, your data remains intact in the home partition.

Once the partitioning was finished the install began. I had read that it can take up to an hour, but was pleasantly surprised to find it only took 15 minutes to install on my PC. You are then prompted to remove the CD so the system can reboot and start properly from the install.

This is the moment of truth - would the system recognise both the Ubuntu and XP installation? Yes it did. I selected the Ubuntu installation and it proceeded to start up. It forced a disk check during the start up, and found an error. This was a bit worrying. It then restarted after correcting the error and this time booted up OK. Phew! My new system was up and running. I then shut it down to test if I could still boot into XP OK. This also worked. It was then back into Ubuntu to stat installing some software!

The only problem I found (so far) was after I installed Google Earth. The rendering was very jumpy and not smooth at all. This was quite easy to fix - I needed to activate the restricted ATI graphics driver for my graphics card from the Restricted Drivers menu item.

I've still got a few things to setup and install, but so far it is looking good. And it runs really quickly too. I checked the memory consumption out of interest in the System Monitor and it was around 250MB - my XP installation would generally be around 400-500MB with a similar set of applications running. Make of that what you will.

Moving To Ubuntu: Part two

After running the Ubuntu Live CD, to check the compatibility of my PC hardware (see part one), the next step is to clean up my XP installation to free up as much hard disk space as possible. I will be dual booting for the time being, mainly because I need to access my work PC via remote access. This is through a Cisco VPN, which is Windows only. Also, it doesn't hurt to have a backup system, as who knows whether everything will work OK.

I uninstalled most of the software on the XP installation, save for Firefox, Thunderbird, the Cisco VPN software, and a few other programs that I have paid for. I moved all my data onto an external USB hard drive. After deleting all the original files, I then ran the XP disk defragmenter.

This takes quite a few goes to properly defragment - there may be thrid party tools that do a better job, but as I was trying to clean the disk up, I didn't want to install anything else. After the deragmentation is complete, make sure you view the report - this can show up a number of files that have been left behind by programs that have been uninstalled. As an example, I uninstalled Google Earth, but the report in the defragger showed a 400MB Google Earth Cache file that it could not move. These type of files can be manually deleted, but of course you will have to defrag again afterwards.

Something else that will leave lots of unmovable files is the XP System Restore. You may want to delete all previous restore points except for the latest. After doing this, another 6GB of space was reclaimed on my drive. To delete all previous restore points, select the More Options tab on the Disk Clean Up utility, and press the button at the bottom to delete all except the latest restore.

After performing these steps, there should be a sufficiently clean hard drive to install Ubuntu. As long as the defragger shows everything as far over to the left hand side of the drive as possible, then it is time to run the install. It doesn't matter if there are a few small gaps shown in the defragger, so long as there are no large spaces you won't be wasting too much space.

The only thing left to do before running the install is to export my mail from Thunderbird. The Ubuntu Migration Assistant will import bookmarks and some other files, but I don't think it imports mail. Once that is done, it is time for the install...

Moving to Ubuntu: Part one

As I have decided to move to Ubuntu, the first step in this process is to check whether my current hardware is compatible. Handily, Ubuntu provide an easy way to achieve this - the installation CD doubles up as a 'live' CD. This means you can boot your PC from the CD, and it will run Ubuntu without installing it. Of course, running from the CD is nowhere near as fast as running from an installed system, but it is a great way to try it out and check if your hardware is compatible, and also if you like the Ubuntu way of working.

So, last night I booted from the Ubuntu CD, and very quickly the system booted into Ubuntu. My PC is 2-3 years old, so I wasn't entirely sure whether everything would work. But I'm relieved to say that not only did it work, it was no slower than my normal XP installation.

I even switched on the desktop effects, expecting to find my ultra cheap graphics card either wasn't supported, or couldn't handle it, but, again, it worked like a dream.

So, now that little test is out of the way I need to clean up my XP installation (remove all but the absolutely essential software to reclaim as much disk space as I can), and back up my data to an external drive. I've already got a list of applications I currently use, and what their equivalents will be in Ubuntu, and so far I haven't found any gaps.

This may sound incredibly 'geeky', but after trying out Ubuntu, I can't wait to install it and get it up and running properly.

Kroenke buying more Arsenal shares

Arsenal received notification yesterday that Stanley Kroenke now owns 12.19% of the club's shares.

There have been a number of small trades in the last week or so, with another small chunk of 50 or so shares changing hands today, driving the share price up, hitting £7,000 a share.

If the Arsenal board are as resolutely against a takeover as they say, then they need to start buying up some of these small chunks so that they have a majority share holding. Since David Dein's departure, they now own about 45% between them.

Cole's pathetic book sales

After that former Arsenal left back released his crappy book, it was obvious from looking at the bestseller charts on Amazon and other places that it was selling badly. I never saw it get higher than about 150 in the Amazon best seller list.

In a recent edition of Private Eye, they published the actual sales figures - 8983. Frankly I'm surprised it even sold as many as that. While it's great news that it sold sod all, unfortunately it makes little difference to Cole and his bank balance. He was reportedly given an advance of £250,000, so regardless of sales he is quids in.

Hopefully, it will discourage other publishers from giving vast sums of money for crappy self serving books.

Bye Bye Windows

I have made a big decision - I am going to move my main desktop PC over to Ubuntu from Windows XP. Why am I going to do this?

Quite frankly, I have had enough of Windows. An organisation the size of Microsoft ought to be able to through enough resources at an OS to make it extremely robust and stable. Instead, I find things that just stop working, have to spend too long applying various anti virus and firewall patches, and constantly patch Windows itself.

I recently finished re-installing a friends XP machine that had been crippled with a virus that had wrecked the networking side of things, including internet connectivity. They had a Packard Bell computer, but lo and behold they had lost the XP CD that came with the machine. We tried different XP discs that we were able to get hold of, but none worked with their serial number printed on the label on the PC. Fortunately, another friend had a spare license from their Microsoft Action Pack subscription, so we were able to use that to rebuild their machine. This took more evenings than I care to count, trying all the different discs and serial numbers.

Now I find that my PC is going to need re-installing. The sound has stopped working, and no matter what codecs or drivers I install, nothing works. I have tried re-extracting the required Windows dlls but no luck. So the only thing I can see left to try is a re-install. But, lo and behold, I seem to have lost my XP CD as well! Despite being able to find every worthless bloody driver CD I have ever had, the time I need the important one, I can't find it.

So, I'm not going to bother. I have no intention of ever going to Vista - the prices Microsoft charge in the UK are way over the top for a system that seems focused on stopping you doing more things than it allows you to do. I recently installed Ubuntu on my music server to run Slimserver, and I like the look of that, so I have decided to kiss goodbye to Microsoft and their unreliable, insecure software, and say hello to Ubuntu Feisty Fawn. Who knows, perhaps it will be no more reliable than XP, but at least I will no longer have the worry about losing license keys or discs or worrying about how many times I can install it without breaching the license.

Ebay Account hacked

This week I received an e-mail from Ebay, informing me that my account password had been compromised and that they had therefore reset the password and locked down my account. The e-mail went on to say that this must have been as a result of me falling for a phishing scam, and giving my password to some third party.

Sorry guys, but I HAVE NOT given out my password. I have a bit more sense than to fall for some phishing scam, and have seen plenty of examples in my time. Indeed, I was highly suspicious of the Ebay e-mail, until I realised it contained no links. It was only after trying to log in to my account and finding it was locked that I realised it was genuine.

It seems a cynical ploy by Ebay to try and blame account holders for the problem, obviuosly to try and cover up their well known security problems. My password being compromised can only be as a result of Ebay being hacked, and after seeing this article on The Register, perhaps I shouldn't be surprised. While they may get away with passing off this old baloney about phishing scams to the average user, it is clear they have an ongoing security problem.

The alarming thing is that it appears to have been ongoing for some time, with Ebay either unwilling or unable to do anything about it.

Stanley Kroenke owns 11.26% of Arsenal

According to a statement released by the Plus Markets group this morning, Kroenke holds 11.26% of Arsenal shares. 9.9% were obtained from ITV. According to the Statement, his company KSE holds 9.99%, with the remainder held by JP Morgan, of whom Kroenke is the indirect holder.

The full statement can be read here.

What a difference vinyl can make

One of my favorite bands is Depeche Mode. While I think their last album, Playing The Angel, is one of their best since Songs Of Faith And Devotion, I have always stuggled to listen to it. If that doesn't make sense then I'll explain.

My first impression when I bought the CD was 'Bloody hell, that's loud.' Despite repeated listening I'd always struggle to get to the end of the album - I found it very tiring to listen to, and would usuallly turn it off two thirds of the way through. I could never quite figure out why.

Then I found two web pages that describe the problem. Both pages describe how the album has been ruined by over compression, in a bid to make the album appear as loud as possible. Take a look at the diagrams included in the links, and you will see how over compressed the album is.

What I find most amazing is the band letting the album be released like that. After spending a good few months recording and mixing the songs, I would have thought they would immediately notice how the CD mastering had ruined all their hard work.

Fed up with the CD, I resorted to downloading a FLAC rip of the vinyl version of the album - what a difference! It is now possible to hear the detail in the songs - as vinyl cannot cope with the extreme levels used on CDs, it has been mastered at a much more sensible level without all the compression.

I don't normally download music torrents, but I made an exception in this case - after having paid for an unlistenable CD, I don't feel I am ripping anyone off by downloading another copy of the same album.

EMI remove DRM

Following yesterdays announcement from EMI that they are to remove DRM from their entire digital download catalogue, and initially make the DRM free versions available on iTunes (at a higher bit rate, and at a higher price), a few questions remain.

1. Apple will continue to sell the DRM, low quality versions as they do now. What is the logic in implementing DRM on low bitrate files? Numerous sites offer unprotected sound samples in lower bit rates, the whole point being that the sound quality isn't good enough to bother copying it.

2. I hope that the following statement means some sites will soon start offering officially sanctioned lossless downloads:

EMI expects that consumers will be able to purchase higher quality DRM-free downloads from a variety of digital music stores within the coming weeks, with each retailer choosing whether to sell downloads in AAC, WMA, MP3 or other unprotected formats of their choice.

3. Why won't Apple make the files available in MP3 format? While it is not the best format around, it is the widest used - there are plenty of players out there that do not support AAC. I guess we will have to wait and see who else will carry the DRM free files.

4. Can we now expect Apple to remove the DRM on the Independent music they carry, that is available elsewhere without DRM?

While this is a good first move, we will need to see how things pan out over the next few months, and what other record labels, if any, follow EMI's lead. Personally, I feel the price rise is a bit much, even though I accept that bandwidth costs will increase with the bigger file sizes of the higher bit rate downloads - in the UK, the existing iTunes offering is overpriced for what it offers.

Arsenal Share Holdings

With news of Ken Friar transferring 152 shares to Peter Hill-Wood on 27th March, and Danny Fiszman selling 659 shares on 14th March, it is reassuring to know that not all the board members are selling. Sir Chips Keswick bought 20 shares at £5300 per share on 1st March. He now owns 40 shares.

Whether he did this in the hope of making some quick cash from a possible takeover or for a long term investment is unknown.

So the breakdown of known Arsenal share holdings of the board members is:

Danny Fiszman - 15000 shares (24.11%)
Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith - 9893 shares (15.9%)
David Dein - 9072 shares (14.6%)
Richard Carr - 2722 shares (4.4%)
Peter Hill-Wood - 500 shares (0.8%)
Lord Harris of Peckham - 63 shares (0.085%)
Ken Friar - 47 shares (0.07%)
Sir Chips Keswick - 40 shares (0.064%)
Keith Edelmen - 25 shares (0.04%)*

*Held as nominee for Danny Fiszman

Other major shareholders are:

Granada - 9.9%
Lansdowne Partners - 2.7%

Where do Arsenal go from here?

After Arsenal got dumped out of the Champions League by PSV, there has been the usual mixture of reasoned debate and over reaction.

Some have called for big money signings to improve the team. Firstly, there is no guarantee signing anybody would make any difference at all. Wenger's history of big money signings is not great, and Julio Baptista has proved that no matter how long you chase a potential player, they can still be a huge disappointment when they get into the team. I was one who thought he would bring a different dimension to our game, someone who could compete physically when it mattered. Not only has he not done that, his finishing has been woeful. At this stage, only Wenger knows if he will sign him permanently, but in my opinion he wouldn't be a great loss if he left.

Regarding the forward line, Wenger needs to decide what will happen with Bendtner when his loan at Birmingham finishes. If he brings him back to Arsenal, Baptista or Aliadiere will have to go to make room for him. Regardless of who goes or stays, we desperately need to improve our finishing. Time and again we have anything up to 20 shots on goal, but come out of the game having scored 1 or less. Our midfielders aren't scoring, which is a major loss after years of Pires and Ljungberg providing 10 or more goals each. This then puts the onus on our strikers to take their chances, which they regularly fail to do. I like Adebayor, who has scored plenty of important goals, but sometimes his finishing is abysmal. I have lost count the number of times he has been through one on one and missed.

I was amazed before the 2nd leg against PSV when we heard Arsenal had started to practice corners. We all know how little we take advantage of them, but to virtually admit that they are not part of our game exposes a major weakness - opposing teams know they are unlikely to come under pressure from us at corners. To me it seems a huge waste of the effort put in by our forwards. After the Carling Cup semi Final against Tottenham, I commented on the number of corners Aliadiere won for us, as he never gave up on a lost cause. He might as well have not bothered and saved his energy. We need to improve at corners straight away, as not taking advantage of them must take 10-15% out of your game. It is no disgrace to get a headed goal from a corner - it won't betray our footballing principles!

The other surprise for the PSV game was playing Gilberto at centre half. Why this was the case when we had Djourou on the bench is a mystery. As a result we had 2 19 year olds playing in central midfield. As good as Denilson looks, I would have preferred the experience of Gilberto for this game. Of course, it's impossible to tell if this would have made any difference, but it seemed a huge risk to take in such an enormous game.

Now we must make sure we get as much out of every league game as possible. It's probably too much to ask to return to the days of killing teams off in the first 20 minutes at the moment, but we must make sure we qualify for the Champions League next season.

Who knows where Wenger expected us to be at this stage in the teams development, in public he would never admit to having a 'transitional' season. We can't afford to have another season without a trophy (literally - if crowds start to wane at the new stadium, we will be in the shit).

Lets see how ruthless Wenger is in the summer...

Music Review: Onetwo, Instead

Instead is the first album from Onetwo, who are Paul Humphreys and Claudia Brucken. Brucken is ex-Propaganda, and Humphreys ex-OMD, so they both have a bit of a pedigree behind them.

The whole album has a very lush and polished finish to it - whatever Humphreys has been up to since he left OMD, he has honed his engineering skills brilliantly - he is credited with the engineering on the album, with the mixing by Bob Krushaar.

The album begins with a short intro, 'The Theory of Everything part1', which then leads into part 2. Although part 1 is short, part 2 is a bit of a surprise as part 1 has a dark feel to it, which is nowhere to be found on part 2. Part 2 wouldn't be out of place on Radio 2.

The first great track is track 3, 'Sequential', which has a great mood and a good guitar hook for the main melody. 'Signals' is a fine example of lush Electronica, which precedes one of the stronger tracks on the album, a cover of Pink Floyd's 'Have a Cigar'. In places this sounds as if Trevor Horn has produced it, but it is a good example of how strong Claudia Brucken's vocals can be. This leads straight into 'I Don't Blame You', which is the only track to feature Humpreys on lead vocals. This is a slower track and is a fine contrast to 'Have a Cigar'.

The lead single from the album, 'Cloud Nine' comes up next, which features Martin Gore of Depeche Mode on Guitar, who also co-wrote it. Although not the strongest track on the album, it is a fine showcase, and is a good example of how the album sounds overall. 'Kein Anschlub' is a classic piece of German Electronic music, with Brucken singing in German.

Overall, the album is more 'Propaganda' than 'OMD', and as mentioned previously, it sounds fantastic. A good album, infinitely better than most of the dross on the radio, it's just a shame it is unlikely to get the recognition it deserves.

How to get a Wii

Nearly 3 months after release, it is still difficult to find anywhere that has the Wii in stock.

You could pay over the odds at E-Bay, or spend all day trawling round the online suppliers hoping to get lucky.

I used a website that does the hard work for you, WiiPreOrder. They track all the online suppliers and pop up notifications when the Wii is in stock. You have to be quick, as even now some of the retailers sell out in 5 minutes, but it worked for me. I don't have any association to that site, but they provide a useful service.

Nintendo Wii review

Released on Dec 8th in the UK, and sold out out straight away, it has taken me until the middle of Feburary to get hold of a Wii. In fact, it is nearly 3 months since it was released, and all retailers still sell out as soon as they get their hands on a few units.

Bundled with Wii Sports, a 5 sport game, it retails at £179, which is a bargain as far as I'm concerned. Nintendo decided to go for mass market rather than high end graphics, and it looks like that has paid off for them. Sales figures for January show that the Wii sold 436,000 in the US, compared to 294,000 XBox 360's and 244,000 PS3's. In Japan, the Wii outsold the PS3 by 3 to 1 in January. No fgures are avilable for the UK.

Everything about the Wii package smacks of Nintendo. The Mii Channel, where you create mini lookalikes is great fun, and classic Nintendo. My kids think this is the best thing about it, and like going to the Mii parade to watch everyone mill about (we created Mii's for everyone in the family). The warnings to take a break during Wii Sports are a bit annoying, but again, that is a very nintendo thing to do.

The fact that Wii Sports uses the Mii's you have created in the games is the icing on the cake. Although to me the Mii's don't look like any of us, the kids seem to think they do and think it is hilarious watching 'themselves' swing a golf club or tennis racquet on the TV!

Wii Sports itself is fairly simplistic, and is a good demo of what fun can be had with the motion sensing controller. None of the games have any great depth, but they are all good fun (OK, except for Baseball, but that's Baseball I suppose). There is no great depth in the graphics, indeed some of the design strikes you as being a bit odd - none of the spectators in Tennis have any arms or legs, in fact the players don't appear to have any arms either, with a the racquet swinging around in mid air! Similarly in Boxing, the boxers don't have any arms, just a set of gloves swinging around in mid air as well. While this seems odd at first, it seems to suit the 'caricature' nature of the gaming, with your Mii being used as the player.

The Golf is quite difficult, as it seems to be quite hard to get any repeatability in the swinging action, but you do eventually get there. You need to underhit rather than go for power. There is a fair bit of aliasing in the trees and rough in the golf, but you get the feeling that the whole lack of detail in Wii Sports is more down to the rush to get it out there to show people what it can do, rather than the hardware's capabilities. It will take a while before we truly see how far the console can be pushed graphics wise.

All in all the Wii is great fun, and Nintendo have been successful in making the thing appeal to a wide audience, far beyond what a normal console generally has. Even the Wife has got up and had a go with Wii Sports, and believe me, that is some feat.

Carling Cup Final

Like the guy who books a wedding or something a year in advance, only to find it ends up clashing with an England World Cup semi final (as unlikely as that is), I have managed to arrange to move house the week of the Arsenal v Chelsea Carling Cup final. The chances of seeing the game were reduced anyway as it's on BSkyB (shitehawks); the fact I'm moving means I can't even slope off down to the pub for the afternoon to see the game. It will be one of those frustrating occasions of having to tune into the radio to listen to it.

It would be a fantastic achievement to win the cup, having used a second string side throughout the competition, but I'm confident we can do it. I'm sure Aliadiere can run rings around Essien, & Carvalho is bound to give away a few free kicks around the box if put under pressure, like he usually does.

I don't think we will have any problems being motivated for this game; we have been guilty in the last couple of games of looking like we only need to turn up to win, and putting in poor performances as a result.

Come on boys, bring that trophy home!

Are Blackburn as bad as England?

After the exciting, and, OK, nerve wracking FA Cup replay at Bolton, we were subjected to one of the worst games I have ever witnessed at home against Blackburn. Some reward that was for winning the nail-biter. It wasn't quite as bad as an England friendly, but then again, I gave up watching those ages ago, so I may be wrong.

Why Blackburn played the way they did in a cup game is a mystery, and frankly it's no surprise the number of fans in the away end was as low as it was if that is what they have to put up with on a regular basis. Don't they realise fans pay good money to go and watch these games?

Arsenal needed to show more guile, and it was only the introduction of Clichy, Rosicky and Adebayor late in the second half that made us look like we would put Blackburn under pressure. We only made two clear cut chances during the game - early in the first half when Justin Hoyte played a nice chip into Henry, and then late in the second half when Friedel saved from Henry & Hoyte in quick succession. We should have had a penalty when Aliadiere was blatantly tripped, and you wish the ref had given it, if only to save everyone the misery of having to watch Blackburn again. Then again, we would probably have missed it.

Now we have got Man City at home in the next round, if we win the replay.

In other news Arsene Wenger has been speaking about the quality of young English players coming through. he says:

"When I started, I wanted to produce a team with 60 per cent English players. We've ended up with 80 per cent or more foreign players because I haven't found enough quality among the English. But something amazing is happening. There is real quality among the English, in the under-16 and under-14 groups. We have to be patient. But the attitude of English players is changing and you no longer have the problem with alcohol - not like 20 years ago.''

The full article can be read here.

New Linux Server results

After recently completing the installation of my new server to run SlimServer, I thought I would post some results.

My requirements were for a quiet, low-power consumption machine that would be easy to manage. I opted to build my own machine, based around a Jetway J7F2 mini-ITX motherboard. This uses the low power VIA C7 1.2 Ghz processor. The board is a fanless design, satisfying my requirement for low noise. As I will be using the server to house my music files, I opted for a large 320Gb Western Digital 3.5" drive. These are very quiet in operation. The system was built into a Noah mini-ITX case. I installed the maximum 1GB memory that the board supports.

The case has a fan, which is fairly quiet, and is the only source of mechanical noise in the system (apart from when the hard drive is reading/writing). I may yet remove the fan, but I need to see how hot the hard drive runs without it.

The ideal situation would have been to have a drive for the OS, and a separate drive for the music files, but the Noah case doesn't have room for this. An external drive wasn't really an option, with three kids running around the house leaving a trail of destruction in their wake ;->

For the OS, I decided to go for the Ubuntu variation of Linux. This was mainly because it was free, and a number of people on the Slim Devices forums were successfully running SlimServer on Ubuntu.

I was a bit apprehensive as I had no experience of Linux, but the install went smoothly. The install of SlimServer was equally straightforward, using the Slim deb package.

As I intend to run the machine headless (without a monitor/keyboard), I needed some way to control the machine from my main Windows XP desktop. This was easy, as Ubuntu has a VNC based remote desktop facility built in, so it was a simple case of installing the free edition of RealVNC on the Windows machine, and setting the preferences in Ubuntu.

Sharing the music files on the Linux machine with the Windows machine was a bit more involved, but I found some instructions on how to do this here, using Samba.

Now it is all up & running, the performance of the machine is very good. Considering it is a low speed processor by todays standards, it has no problems running SlimServer. When it is streaming music to the Squeezebox, the CPU runs at 15-30%. The system is using about 190MB of memory, out of the 1GB installed. I'm not sure why, but the interface on the Squeezebox is a lot quicker than when it was running from my much higher spec Windows machine. I think MYSQL runs a lot better out of the box on Linux compared to Windows, but I don't have any figures to back that up.

There are still one or two things to fine tune in the setup. The board supports ACPI power management (which means you can set the machine to do a safe shut down when pressing the power button, for example), but I need to fine tune this as at the moment Ubuntu pops up the standard shutdown dialogue, rather than just shutting down.

In the end, there was no need to worry about using Ubuntu, it all installed very well. The machine is a lot quieter than my noisy Windows desktop machine (an Acer), so I'm very happy with the results.

Why Linn do not use DRM

Thanks to 'The Smokester' on the Slim Devices forums for pointing this out on Linn Records web site. Linn, to their credit, do not use DRM on their digital downloads If ever there was a reason needed for music companies to avoid using DRM, this is surely it:

"...We have been testing the only known commercially available system (Microsoft WMA-DRM) and come to the conclusion that it is neither robust nor "developed". The faults and problems we have encountered are:

The "system" is a two part handshake license agreement that requires Linn and the customer to meet certain technical requirements. These requirements include for Linn:
Check the computer that is downloading the music is "compliant". This means that we must check that the computer that is downloading the music has not been hacked (Microsoft DRM has been hacked quite recently and not for the first time) to remove all DRM information and capability.
We need to interrogate the downloading computer via our web connection and to do this the contact has to be via Internet Explorer (only) which needs to have both ActiveX and cookies turned on. (If customers don't have these system requirements they won't be able to receive the licence to play the music they have bought).
By doing this, Microsoft will then be able to update the customer's computer to remove the hacked files.
There are versions of Windows Media Player in use and only the most recent ones can be checked. If a customer doesn't have this, they will need to download an up to date version of WMP before being able to play their music.
There are many operating systems in use and only some are supported in the test code. Once all three variables (the browser, Media Player and Operating system) are considered it is easy to imagine that we will only be able to download music to a very small subset of contacting customers.
Once we implemented the new system we tested it and it fails to deliver files with the correct "rights". The files we tested did not operate as intended.
Microsoft has dropped support of WMA (the only audio file format that can have the DRM applied) on the Mac platform. (7% of our customers are Mac users). Plug-ins are available but they require considerable user knowledge and skill. These Plug-ins only work on recent Mac operating systems and are third party support rather than Apple or Microsoft.
Microsoft DRM does not wok on a Mac meaning that any music downloaded to a Mac will not play in iTunes even when the Plug-in is used.
WMADRM'd files downloaded to a PC cannot be imported to iTunes for PC meaning that customers cannot add their legitimately purchased music to their iPod. The files only work when imported into Windows Media Player.
There is no other platform independent DRM systems that are commercially available.
As you can see from the above it is our opinion that the Microsoft DRM system does not work and that until such time that something does work our best endeavours to protect our artists' music will be to include the usage rights as above and ask our customers to agree to these rights when making a purchase..."

New server for SlimServer

Up till now I have run Slimserver from my main desktop Windows PC. While it has run OK, I have always been a bit uncomfortable with having to have the PC running and consuming anything up to 190W of electricity just to play some music. I thought about a NAS solution, but wasn't happy with the current NAS solutions. Instead, I decided to build a mini-ITX based system. These have the advantage of low power consumption (around 25W flat out), plus the board I chose (a Jetway J7F2) has no onboard fan, so it would also be quiet.

Initially I was going to stick Windows on the new machine, but in the end decided to go for Ubuntu, a flavour of Linux. I was a bit apprehensive, as I had no prior experience of using Linux (or building my own PC for that matter), but it all went rather well.

Initial impressions are that the interface on the Squeezebox is a lot snappier than when run from my higher spec Windows machine. But I will spend some time trying more things out before I come to any firm conclusions.

There were one or two Linux related pitfalls along the way, which I will document later, but it was a good learning expereince, which now has me tempted to run Ubuntu on my main machine...

Who is Steve Jobs trying to kid?

In a recent open letter, the Apple CEO Steve Jobs called for the Music Industry to relax their stance on DRM. While the record companies may have insisted that DRM be in place before they would license their catalogue to Apple, it was Apple themselves who have placed the greatest restriction on the music bought on iTunes - that you can't play it on any non-Apple devices.

Jobs then went on to claim it would be a bad idea to license their 'Fairplay' technology so the files could be played on other devices, saying:

"The most serious problem is that licensing a DRM involves disclosing some of its secrets to many people in many companies, and history tells us that inevitably these secrets will leak. The Internet has made such leaks far more damaging, since a single leak can be spread worldwide in less than a minute. Such leaks can rapidly result in software programs available as free downloads on the Internet which will disable the DRM protection so that formerly protected songs can be played on unauthorized players. "

Sorry mate, but in case you hadn't noticed, your 'Fairplay' DRM system has already been cracked numerous times, check out http://hymn-project.org/ for starters.

It seems Apple would rather the record labels change their stance on DRM in general, rather than Apple have to license their technology to others. This currently seems unlikely, with the RIAA urging Apple to license their DRM technology to others.

Into The Final

The first game I ever saw at Highbury was against Spurs, back in 1980 or 81 when I was 10 or 11 - I ought to look up the stats and see exactly when it was. We won 2-0 (I think). It was a strange experience for me at the time, as I wasn't prepared for the atmosphere Arsenal v Spurs games generate. Not to mention the fact I somehow got separated from my Step Dad who had taken me! Now of course, I'm old enough to go without my Step Dad.

Last nights game was the first Arsenal v Spurs game I had been to since that first game at Highbury, and if everything else has changed, at least the atmosphere was as intense as before. In fact, for most of the game I forgot it was a semi-final, all that seemed important was beating Spurs.

There is no point in doing a full match report, there are plenty of those around. I thought Denilson stood out as being excellent, Diaby was good (once he was subbed we started to struggle in Midfield until the end of normal time). Aliadiere was full of running, and won us numerous corners - it's just a shame we never take advantage of them. His goal was just reward for the hard work he put in all night, and looked absolutely knackered at the end. In fact, all the team played well. Walcott did well in trying to get past people, but too often his final ball was poor. But he still got a great reception from the crowd when he was subbed, so that was good to see (or should that be hear?).

Our seats were 6 rows from the front in the Lower Tier. Although it was good to be so close to the goal (at the North End), once the ball gets past the half way line it is difficult to tell how far from the other goal the action is. I think I'll try for the Upper Tier again next time.

And if anyone thinks Wenger doesn't take this competition seriously, they obviously didn't see him talking to the team before extra time started - this was a man determined to win.

All in all a great night and great result that sent the travelling Spurs fans scurrying off early with the tail between their legs - long may it continue.

Tickets and stuff

As a Red member, it is often difficult to get tickets - most league games sell out before they become available to Red members. You usually have better luck with Champions League games, and of course in the past, Carling Cup games have never usually sold out, despite the reduced prices.

Anyway, I was able to get tickets for tonights 2nd leg of the Carling Cup semi final against Spurs, which has now sold out, perhaps surprisingly. We all know Arsenal won't field their first choice eleven, which is why they wanted to reduce the ticket prices (which was vetoed by the Football League at Tottenham's behest). However the draw of a semi final against our big local rivals has ensured a demand for the tickets.

So we can sell out a 60,000 seater stadium even though everyone knows we won't see our best players. But how long for?

At the weekend Chelsea were advertising tickets on general sale for their home Premiership game tonight Why do they (regularly) struggle to sell out a 42,000 seater stadium when they are Champions? As unattractive as their football is, you would have thought enough good time charlies would turn up while they are in a successful spell to help fill the place up.

Most other teams in the Premiership are also suffering from reduced attendances - whether this is due to over saturation of Football in general or high prices I'm not sure. But paying £30 to watch Wigan v Aston Villa seems high to me. Hopefully this trend won't reach Arsenal, as reduced attendances could have a major impact on the club's finances, and we can barely compete in the transfer market as it is. And we don't want to have to pay more for our Fish & Chips at the Emirates!

Anyway, hopefully my attendance tonight will ensure another victory, as I have never seen Arsenal lose under Arsene Wenger.

Book Review: On This Day

A relative of mine was kind enough to send me this book shortly before Christmas. It was a nice surprise of course, but I was actually unaware of this book, as I hadn't seen it mentioned anywhere before.

It is a simple premise; each day of the year is listed with half a dozen Arsenal facts each. The facts go all the way back to 1903, so there is plenty of history provided. I suppose the older you are, the more the book will trigger memories of old. For me, I struggle to remember anything before the cup final of 1979.

There are a couple of negatives to this type of book. Firstly, when it comes to the months in the close season, the facts are limited to signings/departures or International appearances by Arsenal players. Secondly, it is not the type of book you pick up and read from cover to cover. It is more of a 'lying' around book, that you pick up from time to time, to see if anything interesting happened on whatever day it is when you pick it up.

Overall, this is probably only a book for the real die hard fans. But it is useful for triggering long forgotten memories, and if you really want to know when Willie Young made his last appearance or when we beat Chester City 5-0 in the Rumbelows cup, then this is the book for you. And it is fairly cheap at £6.99.

The Comeback Kings

Well, that's two great comebacks in 4 days. Two late, late goals against Ferguson's old timers, and two second half goals against the Tiny Tots in the Carling Cup semi.

It seems to me we have got that never say die attitude back that served us so well in our 49 game unbeaten run. It has taken us a while to get there this season, but I now feel we have turned the corner. Of course, these two results came at a price with the injuries to van Persie & Hleb (or 'Helb' as Graham Taylor insisted on calling him last night on Five Live), but I think we have the strength in depth to cope with it.

Now I'm looking forward to the second leg of the Semi Final at the Emirates, even more so now I have booked my tickets this morning :-)

Is it a surprise Lauren is free to leave?

No sooner has Lauren got fit after his year out with Injury, then Wenger announces that Lauren will not be offered a new contract and is free to find another club. While this came as an initial shock, it shouldn't come as a surprise.

Back when Lauren signed his last contract, he was only offered a 1 year deal. This was a big surprise back then, as Arsenal normally only do this for players who are over 30. Lauren was understandably annoyed at this, and Arsenal eventually relented and offered a two year deal. At the same time, Arsenal offered Justin Hoyte a three year deal, so it was apparent at the time who Wenger saw as the long term option. Since then of course, Eboue has also established himself (although he seems to have gone downhill a bit recently, what with his rolling around antics getting more coverage than his game).

So while I'll be sorry to see Lauren go, it is not a real surprise. I do hope he goes abroad, as I don't want any of our forwards to come up against his no nonsense style of defending!

The other problem I have with him leaving now is that we will get next to nothing for him, as his contract expires in the summer. Why we keep doing this is beyond me - players like Wiltord, Kanu, Pires have all left for free, and now it is going to happen again - but then again, perhaps it is all compensated by the cost of the food/drink at the Emirates!

UPDATE: Lauren signed for Portsmouth last night, so our boys will come up against him. Lets hope he continues to save his best tackles for Ronaldo.

One Billion Bulbs

One thing every one can do to help fight Climate Change is replace standard light bulbs with low energy replacements (either Compact Flourescent or LED).

If you go round your house and add up the total wattage used by all your bulbs, you'll probably be amazed, especially with the current fashion for Halogen spots. I recently replaced a number of standard bulbs with CFLs, and calculated the total wattage used would be reduced from something like 370 Watts to 60 Watts. If you want to know what that equates to in energy saving/money saving terms, check out the stats on OneBillionBulbs, where you can create an account and track your C02 and cash savings.

Also, if you have your own computer, why not check out LocalCooling, who have an application you can install on your PC to optimise it's power use. The application provides a few extra options than the standard Windows Power Saving settings, and again, it will also keep track of your energy savings.