Whizzing through flickr (I have got my camera back, after all), I spotted this and loved it:
It’s the inside of a cooling tower at Satsop nuclear power plant in Washington state and it’s even more striking bigger and on black.
And yes, that tiny black rectangle at the end of the walkway is a door. So yes, the scale and size are incredible.
Photo credit: Rustyjaw on flickr
Here’s Matt Munro from 1969, and by even the second line, it seems that he’s forgotten the words and resorted to “La la la la”- but don’t let that put you off.
The era is a bit out of character for this blog perhaps, but it’s a classy tune with a great video. And so it stays.
And On Days Like These – specifically this one, in fact – we’re going to have a braai.
Thanks for your comments on Facebook and on here. The news is good.
A quick squeeze and tug (ooer!) on my ankle revealed that things are apparently healing nicely. And that means that my surgeon (who never actually surged me) has suggested that I can see a physiotherapist and *gasp* start to learn to walk again. He even suggested that I would be “back to normal” in 6 months, which would be perfect for my first game of footy just ahead of my birthday, as I had planned.
The only problem with this scenario is my brain. Given that any slight knock, bump or bit of downward pressure on my ankle generally causes me brief, but blinding agony, my boot – which I had previously seen as rather annoying – I now see as a security blanket.
Even taking my boot off while sitting in bed feels weird. Getting my brain to agree to putting any weight on my bad leg feels completely impossible right now. I shudder even thinking about it. So maybe thinking about it is not what I need to do.
I’m off to Physio this afternoon and we’ll go from there. The road ahead might be long, but at least it’s now straight enough to be able to see my destination.
Google Reader is no more. Or at least will be no more after 1st July this year.
This makes me sad, but as I’m reminded by this sensible post, it was always Google’s product, not ours:
The death of Google Reader reveals a problem of the modern Internet that many of us likely have in the back of our heads but are afraid to let surface: We are all participants in a user driven Internet, but we are still just the users, nothing more. No matter how much work we put in to optimize our online presences, our tools and our experiences, we are still at the mercy of big companies controlling the platforms we operate on. When they don’t like what’s happening, even if we do, they can make whatever call they want. And Wednesday night, Google made theirs.
Because while there were a lot of people using Reader, there simply weren’t enough, as this unnecessarily provocative comment points out:
In other words, no one uses RSS. No one ever has. Not at the level for which Google Reader was meant: an average computer user.
It’s not being used. Google is dropping it. Get over it. The “market” has spoken.
Well, I did. I used it every day. And I loved the way it linked into all my other Google apps (which aren’t actually mine either). But, much like Cavendish’s Cinema Noveau, Reader simply wasn’t doing the business and so we must move on.
But where to?
Well, we’ve got a few months to explore our options and so that’s what I’m going to do. And I’m going to start by giving feedly a go, not least because they’ve been waiting for this moment and they have made it easy to move my stuff from Reader to their product.
Google announced today that they will be shutting down Google Reader. This is something we have been expecting for some time: We have been working on a project called Normandy which is a feedly clone of the Google Reader API – running on Google App Engine. When Google Reader shuts down, feedly will seamlessly transition to the Normandy back end. So if you are a Google Reader user and using feedly, you are covered: the transition will be seamless.
Which sounds promising, and with apps for iOS, Android, Chrome, Firefox and Safari (find them via the link above), there’s something for everyone.
I’ve installed feedly on my tablet and, with a quick login to my Google account, my feeds have indeed moved across seamlessly. The UI is going to take a bit of figuring out, but just because it’s different to Reader, doesn’t mean it’s wrong.
I’ll keep you informed of how I get along with feedly and you can let me know how you get along with your chosen successor in the comments below.
UPDATE: A few days later, check what I think of Feedly.
Today’s the day – in fact this morning’s the morning – when I get an updated prognosis on my ankle.
My overly-optimistic side thinks that I will be ready for a game of footy on the weekend, my more realistic side reckons I’m going to be stuck in my moonboot 24/7 for another few weeks.
The big thing for me would be permission to drive again.
But whatever the news from the orthopod, there will be some good news as I apparently get to (finally) pick up my apparently repaired camera from next door to the hospital.
Expect many photos of my bedroom walls in the upcoming days.