Kirkstone Pass

Kirkstone Pass
Originally uploaded by markc123.

A view of the kirkstone pass, looking towards the Windermere end from the Rough Edge / Caudale Moor area.

This was taken on 27th December 2005, with some snow and it was around -3 deg C.

Add comment December 31st, 2005

Merry Christmas and a happy new year

Quick post to say Merry Christmas to everyone and a happy new year.

Should be a new post in a day or so detailing my latest walk in the lakes - with snow!

Computer time has been limited due to a failing hard drive :-(.

1 comment December 30th, 2005

WordPress 2.0 Soon

WordPress 2.0 Release is due on the 26th December. As long as the size hasnt gone up too much, I should be using WordPress 2.0 here by the 27th.

With any luck it wont break too much of my tweaks / plugings.

Add comment December 22nd, 2005

Abandoned Mining Equipment

Abandoned Mines
Originally uploaded by markc123.

This is some of the abandoned mine workings that you would see on The Old Man of Coniston. The cables run quite a way up the mountain to a winding house and there are also some mines, ruined buildings and track etc up there. Beautiful area and fascinating too.

Add comment December 20th, 2005

How to Close Tabs

In Firefox, you often get a lot of tabs open - thats the beauty of tabs - and going looking for the little close tab button can be a little annoying and maybe slow surfing down a little. There are in fact 3 good ways to close a tab simply and quickly:

1. Click the scroll wheel - This is built into firefox, simply click the scroll wheel on the actual tab and presto - its closed.
2. All in one gestures - Mouse gestures allow you to perform almost all navigation in the browser via the mouse. I have mine setup so I perform a gesture when the right mouse button is held down (customisable for people who are a button short :-)). In this case, down then right closes a tab. This is the method I prefer as I cannot live withouth out mouse gestures.
3. TabX - This Firefox extension puts a close button on each tab a la Safari.

One of these methods should suit just about everyone.

2 comments December 16th, 2005

IE Tab

IE tab is a Firefox extension that allows you to run Internet Explorer within a tab in Firefox. It uses the embedded IE system, so it will use whatever version of IE that you have installed on your machine. All you need to do is right click on a tab or link etc, and click “view this page in IE”. IE is then loaded up within that tab and you can continue browsing in IE as long as you need. Then simply close the tab and you are back to normal Firefox.

The beauty of this is it makes testing web pages that bit simpler - no running IE, no extra windows (I like my tabs). Since I only ever resort to using IE to check webdesign work or if a site (windows update springs to mind) refuses to work in Firefox. All the normal firefox buttons work so the UI is the same.

Download it here

A simpler alternative to this is the older View In IE extension, which simply adds a shortcut to the context menu which launches IE witg the page you are currently on.

Add comment December 14th, 2005

The Old Man of Coniston

I have climbed The Old Man of Coniston twice now, once in 2003 and once in 2004. The old man is 805m tall - the seventh highest mountain in England by relative height, and the 24th highest in the lakes overall. It is located near Coniston Vallage on the shore of Coniston lake made famous by Donald Campbells speed records.

Continue Reading Add comment December 13th, 2005

Wrynose Pass

Wrynose Pass
Originally uploaded by markc123.

A View from close to the summit of Hardknott (393m) pass, showing the valley and Wrynose pass (390m) in the distance. This is a 1:3 climb over narrow roads, with sheer drops. Great fun to drive / cycle.

I cycled this years ago, with a broken seat pin so I had to stand up all the way. I think replicating this feat will tell me when I am fit again.

4 comments December 13th, 2005

How to Become an Early Riser

I have talked about sleep before on my weight loss blog - that was a strategy for trying to wake up and not feel tired. I have a habit of snoozing - its cold outside my bed, I don’t have to get up right now etc etc.
This post How to Become an Early Riser deals with an approach that seems attractive. By fixing your get up time, and simply going to bed when you are tired. This means your body can adjust one end of the sleep cycle to allow suficient sleep and should result in the mornings becoming a routine.
One of the other things that struck a chord with me in that article was the subject of self discipline in relation to getting out of bed. Recently my self confidence has been boosted - I have stuck to a diet and worked out 3 times a week for 18 weeks now. So I really should be able to get out of bed early!
So heres my aims:

• Get up at 6am
• Sleep when tired
• Reclaim lost time by sleeping less

Since I sleep up to 9 hours a night I should be able to reclaim 60 to 90 minuites of each and every day - thats a working day every week. Obviously if this causes any problems with my health I will stop - but the reccomendations for sleep tend to be simply 7-8 hours depending on the source you ask.

2 comments December 12th, 2005

Langdale Pikes

P3070071
Originally uploaded by markc123.

This shot is of the Langdale Pikes from the shore of Lake Windermere.
Click to see it on flickr, where you can download the original if you so wish.

Add comment December 11th, 2005