tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5656179Tue, 07 Oct 2008 06:44:49 +0000I have been programming for nearly 40 years. In that time I wrote Artemis, the project management system, amongst other things. Here are some of my thoughts.http://www.jamesmiller.com/weblog/blogger.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Miller)Blogger1163125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5656179.post-8806681218650231612Tue, 07 Oct 2008 06:31:00 +00002008-10-07T07:44:49.812+01:00I was watching this on BBC on Sunday night, when they showed a piece where a cheetah was protecting her five cubs from a lion. They don't like each other. Here's what I said in Travels With My Celia(c), whilst I was on holiday in the same area. In one incident we were returning to camp and saw two lionesses stalking a herd of Thomson’s gazelle. Just as they were about to strike, a cheetah http://www.jamesmiller.com/weblog/2008/10/big-cat-diary.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Miller)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5656179.post-1251843322345178044Sun, 05 Oct 2008 19:56:00 +00002008-10-05T20:56:19.240+01:00It has happened many times in horse racing. Alan Mackay has raced against his son and we now have the Hills twins racing against Richard’s son, Patrick. This piece on the Hills from the Telegraph. Richard remains close to his twin. They live near each other in Newmarket, share an agent and regular lifts to the races. Earlier this week, Richard, Michael and Richard's son Patrick were all drawn http://www.jamesmiller.com/weblog/2008/10/fathers-against-sons.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Miller)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5656179.post-1801795389105602588Fri, 26 Sep 2008 19:53:00 +00002008-10-05T20:53:45.356+01:00I made a lot of money twenty years ago through some very innovative computer software. A few years later I made another nice sum from a medical device. A lot however was lost due to so-called professionals who put the money in so-called safe investments. One of the problems is that the financial system is now so complicated and regulated, that hardly anyone can manage their wealth, pensions http://www.jamesmiller.com/weblog/2008/09/financial-sysetm-is-all-wrong.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Miller)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5656179.post-5325119589813030272Thu, 25 Sep 2008 19:52:00 +00002008-10-05T20:52:33.495+01:00My late wife was a barrister and many of my friends are judges, solicitors or barristers, so I have received quite a large number of varied views on the law from all sides of the argument. I despair sometimes, but if there is any common thread that goes through everything I’ve heard, it is that catching perpetrators is actually a lot more important in terms of deterrence than the sentence given http://www.jamesmiller.com/weblog/2008/09/sentencing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Miller)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5656179.post-421451803405738934Mon, 15 Sep 2008 21:02:00 +00002008-09-15T22:11:43.764+01:00So Merrill Lynch is no more. At least, it's not independent any more as it has been acquired by Bank of America. Metier and Artemis was sold by Merrill Lynch to Lockheed in 1985. That seems a long time ago and it will soon be twenty five years. The interesting person in the deal was one Nahum Vaskevitch. I don't remember him too well, except that I once saw him in a beige suit. Why was he http://www.jamesmiller.com/weblog/2008/09/merrill-lynch.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Miller)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5656179.post-540407280318655779Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:53:00 +00002008-09-15T15:59:13.541+01:00I am getting calls despite being registered with the Telephone Preference Service from an American Cruise Company. They seem to be using the number 01789 0000000, which should be in Stratford on Avon. Note the extra zero. It looks like they're generating that number to get round those people who ban Withheld calls. Yet another reason not to buy American products.http://www.jamesmiller.com/weblog/2008/09/american-cruise-company.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Miller)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5656179.post-4654447823136184544Mon, 15 Sep 2008 07:52:00 +00002008-09-15T09:03:06.821+01:00I'd always wanted to go a to Grand Prix and Spa seemed to be a good place to go. On Sunday, the 7th of September, Celia and I would have celebrated our ruby wedding and it perhaps would help me pass a very sad day. Did it? I took the ferry from Dover to Calais on the Saturday afternoon and except for a delay of about an hour due to rough weather in the Channel, the crossing was uneventful. Ashttp://www.jamesmiller.com/weblog/2008/09/belgian-grand-prix.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Miller)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5656179.post-4728642120511987665Thu, 04 Sep 2008 07:21:00 +00002008-09-04T08:26:50.626+01:00I have a bus pass, so I get to use buses free. Well! I could if there were any suitable ones. To get to Newmarket which is about eight miles away is a simple drive through Great Bradley and Dullingham. Haverhill is directly the other way through Thurlow and Great Wratting. But is there a bus that goes directly from Newmarket to Haverhill, which you would think would be logical? Of course http://www.jamesmiller.com/weblog/2008/09/why-no-one-uses-rural-bus-services.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Miller)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5656179.post-2265211712386167496Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:10:00 +00002008-09-14T18:12:19.537+01:00The title of this post was prompted by a comment from a Newcastle United supporter on Radio 5 complaining about us here in the South. Huh! The further north in the UK you get the more they are addicted to the subsidies provided by the greater South East of England. They get all the investment, whilst here for example in Suffolk we struggle on with bad roads and poor public transport. But at http://www.jamesmiller.com/weblog/2008/09/southern-shandy-drinker.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Miller)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5656179.post-8798434151336621291Tue, 02 Sep 2008 09:29:00 +00002008-09-02T10:32:48.682+01:00I finished my trip to Manchester with a game at the excellent Manchester Tennis and Raquet Club in Salford. I got the friendly reception that you usually get from clubs all over the world. The court and facilities were excellent and I had a very good game with one of the local members. I shall go again. I am sure that anybody who wants to sample the wonderful game of Real Tennis will get a http://www.jamesmiller.com/weblog/2008/09/real-tennis-in-manchester.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Miller)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5656179.post-540186628114425224Tue, 02 Sep 2008 09:25:00 +00002008-09-02T10:29:20.555+01:00The Manchester trams work well, but they lack something that many public transport system lack all over the world; detailed street maps at each station or stop. I grew up in London and every tube station has always had those maps and they are absolutely essential. http://www.jamesmiller.com/weblog/2008/09/trams-in-manchester.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Miller)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5656179.post-8865076115912068002Tue, 02 Sep 2008 08:31:00 +00002008-09-02T09:53:02.849+01:00I took this picture as I walked back from the Imperial War Museum North to The Lowry of the lights in the underside of the handrail on the lifting bridge. You will notice that lights have been placed in the handrail at intervals. I wasn't sure if they were low energy or not, but it is certainly an expensive solution in that wires have to be run to each light. If it was designed now, it shouldhttp://www.jamesmiller.com/weblog/2008/09/poor-handrail.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Miller)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5656179.post-4013930765942226242Tue, 02 Sep 2008 07:53:00 +00002008-09-02T09:22:04.762+01:00Opposite The Lowry Museum is the Imperial War Museum. The following pictures were taken from the tower and show Manchester on a typically grey day. I should say that the sun did come out later. These flats were built a couple of years ago and Celia bought one, whilst she was on a case in the city. Not sure where it is though, but I think it's in the block on the right. This picture http://www.jamesmiller.com/weblog/2008/09/window-on-manchester.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Miller)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5656179.post-2058237498389536256Mon, 01 Sep 2008 20:11:00 +00002008-09-02T08:53:28.295+01:00I get rather disappointed at modern art galleries. The Liverpool Tate was full of a load of junk and it often seems that the more spectacular the building the more banal and poor the contents. Now I knew about Lowry and his matchstick men, so it was with no small amount of trepidation that I approached the museum that holds his pictures in Salford. But the Lowry pictures are a revelation. http://www.jamesmiller.com/weblog/2008/09/lowry-museum.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Miller)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5656179.post-3191844562858384050Sun, 31 Aug 2008 21:48:00 +00002008-09-01T21:11:15.062+01:00As an Ipswich supporter, I don't really want to put this in, but the picture shows one of the main reasons why Manchester United are successful. Their ground is large and they have been able to expand the stadium without moving. It is much less expensive and a more orderly in terms of cash-flow to expand stand-by-stand. Look at the number of clubs, who've built new grounds and suffered.http://www.jamesmiller.com/weblog/2008/08/old-trafford-from-salford-keys.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Miller)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5656179.post-9061560656170115377Sun, 31 Aug 2008 20:00:00 +00002008-09-02T09:31:46.050+01:00The Lowry Hotel is one of the best in Manchester. Celia stayed there and in a couple of others of the so-called best and she felt it was streets ahead. I stayed in the hotel on Thursday night and got a room for £125 from LateRooms.com. That must rate as the best value I've ever had and a real result for the Internet and LateRooms.com.http://www.jamesmiller.com/weblog/2008/09/result-from-lateroomscom.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Miller)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5656179.post-7644211958766238297Sun, 31 Aug 2008 19:07:00 +00002008-08-31T20:19:58.210+01:00The Stuart Sutcliffe Retrospective is being held in the Victoria Building at Liverpool University. The exhibition is certainly worth a visit. The fifth Beatle certainly had a lot of talent, produced a large variety of work and would have been a lot more significant if he hadn't died tragically at only 22. You can read a review here.http://www.jamesmiller.com/weblog/2008/08/stuart-sutcliffe-retrospective.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Miller)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5656179.post-7976663365821518862Sun, 31 Aug 2008 19:01:00 +00002008-08-31T20:03:38.300+01:00Look at this direction sign at Liverpool University. It's all in metric. Great! http://www.jamesmiller.com/weblog/2008/08/liverpool-university-goes-metric.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Miller)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5656179.post-291453026799693029Sun, 31 Aug 2008 18:55:00 +00002008-09-01T22:23:41.958+01:00Liverpool is the European Capital of Culture in 2008. It has lots of Super Lamb Bananas. http://www.jamesmiller.com/weblog/2008/08/super-lamb-banana.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Miller)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5656179.post-8619133933294775148Sun, 31 Aug 2008 18:45:00 +00002008-09-01T22:24:15.856+01:00St. Luke's Church in Liverpool sits at an important cross-roads in the city and it is a church that has a deep significance, as it was destroyed by an incendary bomb in the Second World War. http://www.jamesmiller.com/weblog/2008/08/liverpool-st-lukes-church.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Miller)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5656179.post-3104607126623981151Sun, 31 Aug 2008 17:38:00 +00002008-08-31T19:45:52.709+01:00Celia and I met in Liverpool and as I'd been invited to the opeing of the Stuart Sutcliffe Retrospective at Liverpool University's new Victoria Museum and Gallery, I decided to spend a day in the city. Liverpool has changed in recent years and especially since we met there forty years ago, but perhaps the biggest change in the centre is the new shopping centre called Liverpool One. But some ofhttp://www.jamesmiller.com/weblog/2008/08/liverpool.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Miller)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5656179.post-1325489525752973353Fri, 08 Aug 2008 08:50:00 +00002008-08-08T09:50:31.911+01:00The Olympics will open at 8:08 on the 8th of the 8th, 2008. Perhaps they will be lucky as eight is the Chinese lucky number! Twenty years ago, my late wife, Celia, had a horse called Golden Panda, who she had named after a Chinese friend’s restaurant in Ipswich. On the 8th of the 8th, 1988, Golden Panda ran in a handicap at Nottingham. Given a superb ride by Steve Cauthen, she won easily at http://www.jamesmiller.com/weblog/2008/08/chinese-and-eights.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Miller)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5656179.post-513952459698304530Sat, 02 Aug 2008 09:28:00 +00002008-08-02T10:30:38.727+01:00I've just had a cheque for one of Celia's cases from the Legal Services Commission. She did the work in January 1999 and was partly paid in February 2000. But the final payment was nine and a half years after she did the original work. Where's the interest?http://www.jamesmiller.com/weblog/2008/08/fast-payments.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Miller)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5656179.post-5150638574389593382Sat, 26 Jul 2008 07:15:00 +00002008-08-02T08:15:36.454+01:00My wife, Celia, died in December and since then I have taken out a subscription to both Sky Sports and Setanta. In some ways it’s been a lifeline and a great help to get my life back on track. You’d be surprised at some of the offerings I’ve enjoyed. Especially the Indian Premier League. But she would have disapproved!http://www.jamesmiller.com/weblog/2008/07/watching-football-and-other-sports.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Miller)tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5656179.post-8139317814429879343Fri, 25 Jul 2008 07:13:00 +00002008-08-02T08:14:33.802+01:00This was prompted by a letter to The Times. I sent it in, but it wasn't published. As an engineer, who worked for ICI in the early seventies, I’ve never really used Imperial units, as that company went to SI (metric) units in 1956 or thereabouts. I also have a copy of The Times for the 20th July 1969, which as well as announcing the birth of our first son, Edward, also documents the first http://www.jamesmiller.com/weblog/2008/07/acres-v-hectares.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Miller)