It may be the case that during the last software update, I neglected to check the behaviour of a new FTP client I was using, and deleted the images folder that hosts the post images for this site. It may also be the case that I didn’t have backups of these images.
I’ve not lost data due to lack of backups in five odd years, since I constructed a vastly improved backup infrastructure/version control system. As such, I’m refusing to confirm this latest idiocy.
On the plus side, these hypothetical lost images are not of great import.
The NYT’s Freakonomics pointed me at something I think we’ve all suspected for years – Expensive wine is only worth it if you’ve either trained a highly educated palette (and we’re talking lots of practice here), or you’re one of those people who just like’s pouring money into glasses so other people can see your glasses full of cash.
I don’t buy the highly expensive bottles (I’n not that rich, nor that trained), but when other people have been kind enough (or when I’ve drunk too many cheaper glasses and am in a suitable bar), I have indulged and come to the same conclusions. But I’ll add a corollary – on average, very cheap wines can be hit and mostly miss, especially in the realm of red. The value curve has it’s peak at about, for me, £10 to £15 a bottle.
Now, I certainly don’t think you can’t get decent wines for less (I have, do, and continue to), nor that every “mid price” bottle is better (some are dross). Just that if you do your research, that price point has the widest selection of bottles that taste well above their price range, without seeming ostentatious.
Note that I’m talking about wines bought from a store, not a restaurant. Wine by the bottle with a meal starts at about that range (and normally they’d have paid about a tenth of that for it).
Tonight’s wine: A 2006 Mendoza (Argentinean) Cabernet Sauvignon, “La Flor” from De Pulenta. One of a set of staple evening reds I’ve used this year for when I want wine without food, it stands alone very well. A touch acidic, but with good fruitiness (a tannic strawberry to my mouth, but I’ve never been a big fan of the “Hint of wild raspberries on a wet spring morning” descriptions). Has a sweet nuttiness, and works well in small doses – a solid slow evening glass.
Today’s wine: A 2006 Rosemount (Australian) Pinot Noir. Picked up from the supermarket with dinner when I forgot to go to the wine merchant, and regretted; have had some 2006 Shiraz from the same estate in the past and found it excellent for the price point. This, costing circa £8.00, has no depth whatsoever, is overly acidic, and has no fruit tones that I can detect. Disappointing – should have bought red food dye, vinegar and water.
After Windows Update toasted my Vista install last week (Twas impossible to login as the console,I could only recover by RDCing in and using System Restore), I bit the bullet and bought an iMac to use as my primary desktop. I’ll keep the Windows machine around for games and some development work.
Overall, I’m very happy (but then, I’ve been a Mac laptop user for years). The only problem is the TN panel screen, which has an annoying top to bottom gradient (some colours get very desaturated as you move down the screen). It’s not ideal, and less than I’d expect from Apple. However everything else is perfect, and as I’m no graphic designer, I can afford to live with it.
My first tiplet (which is no doubt very obvious to most people, and maybe even in the help files) is that you can save Automator workflows as application bundles. It’s significantly easier to achieve some small tasks (which don’t have control structures) with this mechanism – I currently use it to read me the RSS news headlines when the machine alarm goes off. Yes, this could be achieved with more traditional programming methods, but occasionally, graphical workflow tools are useful.
