Flavia made chicken pie today, and I’m very proud of her.

Chicken pie with stars

I’ve been thinking for a while about buying an ereader, and I’ve decided that it makes sense if I:

1. Mostly read old, out-of-print books – say the kind available through Gutenberg. Not as crazy as it sounds – I want to read a lot of Shakespeare, Chekhov, Homer, etc.
2. Actually read them, rather than saying I’m going to read them, but never getting round to it.

However, if I want to read more modern books, then I’m forced to buy them at store prices. And then, I can’t give them to charity, lend them to friends, or resell on eBay. It’s the same argument with paying for MP3s, or buying CD albums.

And then along comes Mininova, Pirate Bay, Rapidshare, etc. Here we have a vast repository of books which should, in theory, work on my prospective ereader. Even this week’s Economist is available.

Why do publishers – be it of films, magazines, books, music, games – not get the piracy thing? Are they just squeezing every penny from their business models, without considering their future business models? Or are they right to think that those who are honest/stupid [your call] enough to pay full prices can subsidise the more selfish/tech-savvy users?

via Flickr

I love a soft-boiled egg for my breakfast, but can never seem to get the consistency right. I’ve always done the ‘3 minutes + 20 seconds from when the water starts boiling’ thing.

This is all wrong, apparently. I should:

• Simmer 3.5 litres cold water (seems like a crazy amount!)
• Turn down the heat to the point that it’s barely moving
• Put in the egg carefully
• Leave for 6 minutes

via Serious Eats

Clocks went back last night, so feeling wonderfully rested this morning. There’s now only 2 hours difference between here and Brazil.

Plans for today:

• Housework – clean out kitchen, living room, do washing
• Study Portuguese for about 30 mins
• Read Chapter 3 of The Iliad and The Economist

It’s a nice day outside, so I might go for a walk as well. Not sure about Church today – I still feel guilty going and standing there at the moment with all that I’m doing wrong.

Still staying at Kay’s. Went to Lakeside, bought some stuff for the kids – a dictionary, a horse book, some educational games. Also bought The Iliad, and a couple of Robert Harris books (Imperium, Pompeii) from Waterstones.

Came home, ate pizza, drank red wine. Uploaded photos to Flickr from our day in Southend. Had a bath. Watched Casino Royale, and finally understood the story (with the aid of Wikipedia).

Julie called and said her computer’s gone wrong, so I said I would take a look at it next weekend.

Flavia is OK today – in the morning she was great, but by the evening she seemed a little down. I bought her the ‘Cute Overload’ calendar as well. She had her English lesson this morning, and didn’t want to go. I’m proud of her because she really fought the depression today.

via imgbit.com

via Manolith

It’s scary to think of all the electricity required to power that – especially given that most of the rooms are prbobably empty.

London from above, at night
More of London from above, at night

I left my job at ValueClick and PriceRunner a year ago to focus on improving my skills in client-side developing. Specifically, I wanted to get more depth in my knowledge of:

• SEO
• Conversion techniques
• Usability
• Accessibility
• Copy writing

Feeling like I’ve travelled a long way along that path, I now want to return to the job market in the UK. So, armed with a ton of books, a laptop and an internet connection, I’m starting my search.

First book is The Complete Idiot’s Guide to the Perfect Resume. It seems like a fairly comprehensive overview with advice not just on writing a CV, but also on looking for jobs through networking and self-promotion.