thattommyhall.com » Life http://www.thattommyhall.com A Random Walk Through Idea Space Sun, 08 Jan 2012 11:42:23 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 2010 Retrospective http://www.thattommyhall.com/2011/01/08/2010-retrospective/ http://www.thattommyhall.com/2011/01/08/2010-retrospective/#comments Sat, 08 Jan 2011 17:53:56 +0000 tom http://www.thattommyhall.com/?p=524 Well, 2010 was a great year – thanks to all the great people who made it so.

Just a brief outline:

Work: Started the year down in Kent working on a XenApp deployment on VMware at the beginning of the year, then over in Dubai building a VMware View solution, went to Libya and built the corporate infrastructure for their biggest telco, spent 2 months working on INGs next gen datacentre in the Hague and ended in London for Forward working on merging USwitch’s infrastructure after the acquisition.
While this was fun, I got fatigued with traveling and living out of a suitcase and was very happy to settle down a bit in London (which I think is the greatest city in the world) and work for a great company which I am very pleased and proud to say I have joined permanently. It is exciting to work somewhere using so much great tech and with so many sound people (with huge brains).

Jollys: I managed to go to Russia, visiting Moscow and St Petersburg (OK, that was Dec 2009 but what the hell), the Czech Republic, Italy, go to Oklahoma for a friends wedding followed by a visit to two ancestral puebloan sites, Berlin, Paris, Vegas and Egypt. I feel privileged to have the opportunity to have done all this and am still a bit amazed at just how much happened.

Life: I have always thought their was an embarrassment of riches when I look at the great people I get to call my friends, I don’t get to see any of them enough and no amount is too much. Thanks to you all, I always say you are what makes the universe great for me, you conspire to make it so even though you don’t all know one another. The biggest change this year was finding someone patient enough to pair up with me full time, thanks Petra – I love you. We are moving in together soon and I look forward to having a permanent home in the greatest city in the world, with a spare room – please come visit!. Thanks to my family too, we had some bad news in 2010 but you all dealt with it with the usual aplomb, you are all ace.

Resolutions There is no new resolutions for 2010, I will be reporting on the 101 goals in 1001 days soon.

2011: Looks set to be the best year ever, thanks in advance for helping make it so

]]> http://www.thattommyhall.com/2011/01/08/2010-retrospective/feed/ 0 Day 300 Update http://www.thattommyhall.com/2010/10/28/day-300-update/ http://www.thattommyhall.com/2010/10/28/day-300-update/#comments Thu, 28 Oct 2010 18:00:23 +0000 tom http://www.thattommyhall.com/?p=369 Well, it is day 300 of my 101 goals in 1001 days. So as per meta-goal 101 “Do 100 day updates” here is a quick report on my progress.

Completed
66 – Via Feratta in Italy
85 – Visit Pergamon Museum
1 – Teetotalitarianism for 3 months
2 – Cheeseless for 3 months
11 -Reread all Dennett books
15 -Proofread for Project Guttenburg
53 – Make Jam
86 – Give Carrie a British Museum Tour
48 – Create a Backblaze storage pod
100 Set success criteria / progression metrics for each goal

Changing
18 – Read epic literature
A bit vague (in spite of meta-goal 100) and I have loads of reading goals so im changing it to “Read Joyce”, in particular:

26 -Scuba
My ears are bad, I worry this may destroy them, not settled on a replacement goal yet.

Sustained Effort – On Track
19 – Blog on average once a week
50 – Move 10 people to FreeAgent
68 – Complete Pimsleur Spanish
88 – Go to the theatre on average once a month
95 – Pay off all credit cards
96 – Let loans run course and dont get any more
101 – Do 100 day updates
5 – Lose 2 stone
13 – Release 303 books on bookcrossing.com
76 -Do on average 1 Project Euler problem per week

Sustained Effort – Behind
8 – Read all the VSIs
12 – Read all PG Wodehouse
60 – Hike on average once a month
79 – Raise £5005 for charity
81 – Watch all TTC Art history DVDs
90 – See all world heritage sites in the UK

In Progress
91 – Memorise 10 poems
92 – Read “An Ode Less Travelled”, do the exercises (but not share them!)
72 – Read “Winning Ways”
75 – Watch SICP, do exercises from book

]]> http://www.thattommyhall.com/2010/10/28/day-300-update/feed/ 0 Krapp’s Last Tape http://www.thattommyhall.com/2010/10/23/krapp%e2%80%99s-last-tape/ http://www.thattommyhall.com/2010/10/23/krapp%e2%80%99s-last-tape/#comments Sat, 23 Oct 2010 15:03:26 +0000 tom http://www.thattommyhall.com/?p=332 A few weeks ago I went to see Krapp’s Last Tape at the Duchess Theatre in London with some friends. I use “with” in a weak sense as as ever I was running late and had to get a jog on to arrive something like on time, just arriving as it started and pleading to be let in. I came in, trying not to pant from running, to a very oppressive silence; the entire audience watching Michael Gambon slumped in a chair and just sat at the first free seat I saw. The Silence went on for quite some time and really built up a lot of tension, so much in me that I did not take my coat or jacket off throughout the entire performance. I loved the premise: a (senile?) old man listening to tapes of his younger self that he recorded on his birthday, as there is only one actor he is engaged in dialogue with himself via the tapes he listens to. I wont pretend to have any more insight than the Wikipedia article I’ve already linked to but the other thing that resonated with me was the shifting accent of Krapp, sometimes sounding quite RP, sometimes Irish and sometimes just a lilt. A wonderful production, go see it if you can.

]]> http://www.thattommyhall.com/2010/10/23/krapp%e2%80%99s-last-tape/feed/ 0 Day 200 of the 101 Goals in 1001 days http://www.thattommyhall.com/2010/07/20/day-200-of-the-101-goals-in-1001-days/ http://www.thattommyhall.com/2010/07/20/day-200-of-the-101-goals-in-1001-days/#comments Tue, 20 Jul 2010 19:13:21 +0000 tom http://www.thattommyhall.com/?p=217 Well, as per my meta-goal 101 – Do 100 day updates, here is the Day 200 update.

Not much movement really….

The Good:-
66 – Via Ferrata in Italy
I go on Friday, cant wait.

82 – Visit Egypt
I go in October for 2 weeks, 1 week cruise – 1 week sun and as much archaeology as I can get!

94 – Go to Edinburgh festival
Will fly over for a weekend in Aug, let me know if you are interested in joining

28 – Drive Offroad
Going back to Dubai in December when it cools off, will be driving a mates Hummer in the desert.

75 – Watch SICP, do exercises from book
Did half when visiting Germany from Den Haag a few weeks ago, mind bending but wonderful stuff.

72 – Read “Winning Ways”
Inspired by Martin Gardners death, I did half of the first book when I had some downtime in Manchester. First bit of new Maths in ages and it felt great. See Games of No Chance for more fun.

8 – Read all the VSIs
Read Vikings, Human Prehistory, Memory, Archaeology, Evolution, maybe more – i need to get tactical and create a master list.

13 – Release 303 books on bookcrossing.com
Tasked my long suffering mother with labeling them all, need to teach her how to register them then release them. Still need to sort out the Crossing Zone in Liverpool too.

48 – Create a backblaze storage pod
They are getting made soon, due on the 28th

The Bad:-
5 – Lose 2 stone
Got half way Jan/Feb, might have taken a step back living away again… Correctable though!

19 – Blog on average once a week
Way off, need to blog furiously to catch up.

The Almost Had:-
22 – Spend 3 months in another country
Spent two in Holland (Den Haag / The Hague) working for ING.

]]> http://www.thattommyhall.com/2010/07/20/day-200-of-the-101-goals-in-1001-days/feed/ 0 I am alive http://www.thattommyhall.com/2010/07/16/i-am-alive/ http://www.thattommyhall.com/2010/07/16/i-am-alive/#comments Fri, 16 Jul 2010 12:48:58 +0000 tom http://www.thattommyhall.com/?p=206 Well, it has been an interesting few months, in brief:

  • Went to Libya to work for a big telco
  • Went to Oklahoma for a mates wedding then drove 2000 miles (or rather, made my girlfriend drive 2000 miles as I lost my driving licence…), visited 5 states and two national parks to see ancestral pueblo people sites
  • Moved to Den Haag (The Hague) for 2 months to work on INGs Next-Gen data center
  • About to move to Camden for the next bit of work

Not much movement on 101 goals, planned Egypt in October and Via Ferrata next week. Behind on learning goals though have done half of SICP in one mind bending train journey!

I kind of feel my life has been on hold the last 6 weeks I have been in Holland and am really looking forward to being back in the UK (though perhaps could have done with more of a break in between)

Expect more jollys to get planned before the end of the year (VMworld, Citrix Synergy, War Horse, Japan and Edinburgh all sounding fun at the moment), perhaps I’ll find time to blog about some of the cool shit at the NGDC and my US trip.

Tom

]]> http://www.thattommyhall.com/2010/07/16/i-am-alive/feed/ 1 Making Lemon Curd http://www.thattommyhall.com/2010/04/15/making-lemon-curd/ http://www.thattommyhall.com/2010/04/15/making-lemon-curd/#comments Thu, 15 Apr 2010 16:09:27 +0000 tom http://www.thattommyhall.com/?p=189 I was just over at a good friends in Leeds and mentioned my 101 goals and needing to tick some off and if he could help me make some jam sometime.

We got straight down to making lemon curd (not a jam, but my goals – my rules) and it was seriously yummer, recipe below.

Lemon Curd

4 medium-sized lemons
100g (4oz) butter
1/2kg (1lb) sugar
4 beaten eggs

  • Scrub Lemons, grate rinds, squeeze out juice
  • Place juice and rind in double saucepan over low heat and slowly add sugar and butter.
  • Cook, stirring, until all the butter and sugar melt
  • Add eggs and cook, stirring, untill the curd is thick enough to coat a spoon.
  • Pour into small jars and seal with waxed disks or paraffin wax.
  • Cover and store in cupboard for one month, fridge for 3 months, freezer for 9 months.
    • ]]> http://www.thattommyhall.com/2010/04/15/making-lemon-curd/feed/ 1 Theatre Fun http://www.thattommyhall.com/2010/03/23/theatre-fun/ http://www.thattommyhall.com/2010/03/23/theatre-fun/#comments Tue, 23 Mar 2010 14:25:04 +0000 tom http://www.thattommyhall.com/?p=176 I saw The 39 Steps at the Criterion Theatre on Saturday. It is an interesting little theatre underground in Picadilly Circus with quite a history

    The show itself was great, really playful with the staging and the 4th wall. They used Shadow Play for the mountaintop chase and biplane crash, lots of funny scene changes and played with theatrical conventions (though at times it was a bit slapstick). A weak point were a few references to other Hitchcock movies (though I loved the cameo as that was much more subtle)

    I remember that I meant to blog a while ago about the best bit of theatre I’ve seen in a while, an adaptation of my favourite PG Wodehouse book, Summer Lightning. It was at the Theatre By The Lake in Keswick and was absolutely amazing, they are a really superb regional theatre and I hope to see a whole run by them as one of my 101 goals in 1001 days.

    I also went to see The Caretaker recently at Trafalgar Studios, a strangly cosy venue for Pinter. It started in Liverpool at the Everyman and I was sad to have missed it but they seem to have maintained momentum with it, Jonathan Pryce is really excellent and well supported by a great cast.

    I did catch the recent translation of Medea by Tom Paulin in Liverpool. I love the Northern Broadsides, they are among the best Shakespeare I have seen when they did the Wars of the Roses a few years ago so it was good to see them do something else.

    ]]>     http://www.thattommyhall.com/2010/03/23/theatre-fun/feed/ 1     101 Goals in 1001 Days http://www.thattommyhall.com/2010/01/03/101-goals-in-1001-days/ http://www.thattommyhall.com/2010/01/03/101-goals-in-1001-days/#comments Sun, 03 Jan 2010 17:01:28 +0000 tom http://www.thattommyhall.com/?p=98 I have decided on a kind of hyper-resolution for the new year, 101 goals in 1001 days.
    I have a mindmap of the ones I have settled on so far and have started working on some of them already.

    To follow (allowing me to tick off some of the meta-goals):

    Success criteria for each
    Divide them up into “Sustained Effort”, “1-off” and “Requires Break” to make sure I don’t overextend myself. I plan on taking roughly quarterly 1 or 2 week breaks to try and do these tasks. For the sustained ones I need progress metrics, am I on track to complete in the time given?

    The actual 101 things!
    Need to settle on the actual 101 things, most are on there but it’s still a bit fluid.

    As one of my goals is to blog more, you should be hearing more from me in 2010.

    ]]>     http://www.thattommyhall.com/2010/01/03/101-goals-in-1001-days/feed/ 1     Can Google create community? http://www.thattommyhall.com/2009/09/30/can-google-create-community/ http://www.thattommyhall.com/2009/09/30/can-google-create-community/#comments Wed, 30 Sep 2009 11:32:42 +0000 tom http://www.thattommyhall.com/?p=94 I have been meaning to blog for ages about a site I use called Goodreads. It is really excellent, I signed up ages ago and cant remember exactly how I found it but I think it might have been a Rails app. Anyway, it is a fairly simple idea, log what books you read (or want to), rate them and share reviews with others, I am on there as thattommyhall. What convinced me to use it was the really stellar monthly emails with interviews with authors and picks of books with a certain theme.

    I have been playing with my new HTC Hero and there is a Google Android app that can scan books and add them to the (easilly overlooked) My Library section of Google Books. While the app is good, there is no feeling of community there really. Orkut does not seem to have taken off and they released Wave today but I dont know if they can really get a feeling of community in their apps. I love the stuff they put out, use gmail and docs in particular pretty much constantly but think facebook, flickr and lots of other sites somehow seem to get more of a communtity vibe, perhaps it’s even the google branding – it all looks the same.

    Anyway, I have things to do today, if anyone gets an invite to Wave and wants to send me one, please do.

    ]]>     http://www.thattommyhall.com/2009/09/30/can-google-create-community/feed/ 0     Hiatus, Departure, Return http://www.thattommyhall.com/2009/09/22/hiatus-departure-return/ http://www.thattommyhall.com/2009/09/22/hiatus-departure-return/#comments Tue, 22 Sep 2009 22:48:51 +0000 tom http://www.thattommyhall.com/?p=80 It’s been ages since I blogged as I have been mad busy in work though a lot has happened recently.

    I have:

    • Left thebigword
    • Packed up my house
    • Sold/Gave away most of my possessions (keeping only books and my PC, as my friend Ben said “proves you are principally concerned with knowledge”)
    • Left Leeds
    • Gone to India
    • Returned (earlier than planned but refreshed and excited about the future)
    • Set up a limited company to go contracting
    • Started plotting a move to London
    • Begun making big lifestyle changes – drinking less, eating better and training for the Paris Marathon, a triathlon and a return to India for some Hardcore Mountaineering next year

    All is well in TomLand, expect more posts now I’m not so sillybusy!

    ]]>     http://www.thattommyhall.com/2009/09/22/hiatus-departure-return/feed/ 0     Christmassy Shizzle http://www.thattommyhall.com/2008/12/22/christmassy-shizzle/ http://www.thattommyhall.com/2008/12/22/christmassy-shizzle/#comments Mon, 22 Dec 2008 18:45:01 +0000 tom http://www.thattommyhall.com/2008/12/22/christmassy-shizzle/ Last weekend I went down to London again for a Christmas jolly with some great old uni friends, it was a lovely weekend, good wholesome fun.

    On the Saturday I went to see the Wallace Collection while some girlies shopped on Kensington Highstreet (where the sales are apparently excellent but I’m not sure I could have tolerated a moment). There was an Osbert Lancaster exhibit there that was great, alongside the permanent collection which is excellent. I had never heard of him before but hes is definitely worth investigating, the blurb on the wall described him as a dandy aesthete, something I have always considered myself.

    In the nighttime we watched the 1951 Scrooge with Alastair Sim in an incredible private cinema, ate nice food, got a little squiffy (port was involved you will be surprised to learn)

    On the Sunday we went to see the Babylon exhibit in the British Museum and I returned to Leeds feeling tired but ace. Babylon has appeared in art of all forms, not least a few Jazz numbers.

    ]]>     http://www.thattommyhall.com/2008/12/22/christmassy-shizzle/feed/ 0     Byzantium at the Royal Academy of Arts http://www.thattommyhall.com/2008/12/06/byzantium-at-the-royal-academy-of-arts/ http://www.thattommyhall.com/2008/12/06/byzantium-at-the-royal-academy-of-arts/#comments Sat, 06 Dec 2008 20:42:50 +0000 tom http://www.thattommyhall.com/2008/12/06/byzantium-at-the-royal-academy-of-arts/ I was in London a few weeks ago and saw the wonderful exhibit at the Royal Academy of Arts.

    I have been interested in Byzantine history since a historian friend at university described how they were essentially the eastern Roman empire, called themselves Romans, spoke Greek, were Christian and survived well into the Middle Ages. As ever, wikipedia has a good introduction to the topic.

    Off to London again next weekend, going to see the Babylon exhibit at the British Museum and have a lovely Christmas celebration with some good old friends.

    ]]>     http://www.thattommyhall.com/2008/12/06/byzantium-at-the-royal-academy-of-arts/feed/ 0     BodyWorlds In Manchester http://www.thattommyhall.com/2008/05/10/bodyworlds-in-manchester/ http://www.thattommyhall.com/2008/05/10/bodyworlds-in-manchester/#comments Sat, 10 May 2008 22:36:42 +0000 tom http://www.thattommyhall.com/2008/05/10/bodyworlds-in-manchester/ I went a few weeks ago to see BodyWorlds at the Museum of Science and Industry (mosi) in Manchester.

    I have only just had chance to get the pics off my phone and am amazed at how well they came out.

      Tennis Player 
    All one body, look at the shared foot.
    Magnificent Beast
    This was the highlight for me, what incredible musculature.

    Blood Vessels
    This is amazing, enough features remain with just the blood vessels that you could probably recognise him if you knew him in life.

      Newton’s Cradle?
    Either a real life visible human or a macabre newtons cradle.

    It was a great day out.

    ]]>     http://www.thattommyhall.com/2008/05/10/bodyworlds-in-manchester/feed/ 1     Felicini Voucher http://www.thattommyhall.com/2008/05/09/felicini-voucher/ http://www.thattommyhall.com/2008/05/09/felicini-voucher/#comments Fri, 09 May 2008 18:07:59 +0000 tom http://www.thattommyhall.com/2008/05/09/felicini-voucher/ Went here with a friend, pretty yum. 50% off makes it great value too.

    http://www.felicini.co.uk/voucher/felicini_voucher.pdf

    Expect an update soon on why my brute-forceing below was plain dumb rather than simply naive.

    ]]>     http://www.thattommyhall.com/2008/05/09/felicini-voucher/feed/ 0     tomFS http://www.thattommyhall.com/2008/03/26/tomfs/ http://www.thattommyhall.com/2008/03/26/tomfs/#comments Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:43:59 +0000 tom http://www.thattommyhall.com/2008/03/26/tomfs/ As some of you may know I am unusually interested in filesystems. After sending John a link about HAMMER, a new FreeBSD clustered FS and joking about starting a tomFS project, his reply offered some help deciding on features it should have and marketing it.

    tomfs can process a huge number of operations in parallel, just not necessarily the operations it should be processing, and it might get bored with some of them and forget about them sometimes.

    tomfs stores redundant copies of anything it detects as documentaries or spoken word.

    tomfs is very easy to port – a couple of bottles should do.

    Cracked me up.

    PS: Only perhaps 5 of my friends would get this, but I know at least 3 of them read this so no bother.

    ]]>     http://www.thattommyhall.com/2008/03/26/tomfs/feed/ 0