Flickr.com

I've been using Flickr for a while now. I stumbled across it at the end of 2004 and gave it a try, and was quite impressed. Since then it's improved continually, and virtually all the pictures I've blogged for the past couple of months have been hosted there. Why? It's easy; it's well designed; it just works really well. There's nice web apps written in Flash that deal with organising your photos, and it integrates well with various photo tools on computers (like the excellent F-Spot for Linuxy types). However, there's a limit to the number of photos it will let you index on the free account of 100 - once you reach that the oldest photos won't be deleted, just not directly accessible. It's fine if you've got photos hosted there just to be blogged, but I'd fallen in love with the organiser as well.

Then, yesterday I discovered that they'd slashed the price of a Pro account by about half, to $24.95 a year, and with the favourable exchange rate, that worked out as a little over £13, about £1.11 a month. So I bit the bullet and endorsed their account, and now I'm a Pro =)

To celebrate, I've uploaded the photos of my dad putting down our conservatory floor over the weekend, and you can see them by clicking on, um, the floor! (It might not be exciting for you, but we LOVE it...)

Flickr: Photos from Irregular Shed

Tory Extinction

On 6th May, Michael Howard will be signing on as the Tories get stuffed again. The Liberal Democrats will gain strength again. Please click on the Dodo to see how many of the ten reasons you agree with and then consider giving them your vote as well. It's not a wasted vote, as the big two parties would like you to think - the only wasted votes are the ones that are never made. Participate in democracy.

My Bruschetta Recipe

Here's my recipe for bruschetta. Why? Why not! Makes a change from all the geek crap here =)

Take one good sized ciabatta loaf. I like the part-baked ones that you finish off in the oven, because they come out lovely and fresh - if you have one of these, cut it in half and slice each of these pieces down the middle lengthways, so you end up with four, fairly flat pieces. Bake off, or heat up your alternative bread product.

Whilst that's cooking, take three regular tomatoes, slice the top 5mm off (to get rid of the green bit), scoop out the core and pips (hereafter refered to as "The Guts") and dice roughly. Take half a red onion, and dice roughly as well. Dump all this in a bowl, and mix in some roasted pepper pesto - a couple of desert spoonfuls. If it's a bit on the thick side, add a bit of olive oil (extra virgin, naturally).

Spread the tomato/onion/pesto muck on the bread, allow to warm under the grill or in the oven for a minute or two, and then serve. It's lush.