After a number of visits from the evil lab fairy…

… it turns out my lab was visited during my absence by her cousin, the good lab fairy! Not only were the windowsills cleaned (cobwebs everywhere, one could hardly call that a clean room!), but the issue that was affecting my system seems to have magically vanished.

I’ve documented it, tested it, wrote a case to present to the NI engineers so that they could help me sort out my issue, and yet… it healed on its own!

One has to say… I should go on holidays more often and leave things sort themselves out! 😀

PS: apparently the windowsills business was actually the cleaners who came during the time I was out. But again the good lab fairy was there, as no fibres were broken nor is the system misaligned! 🙂

First snow of the year!

First snow of the year!, a photo by Manuel Jorge Marques on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
I woke up in a whitish world… Now that’s a proper way of starting my work year here in Canterbury! 🙂

You got to be kidding me…

Honestly, I did not do this intentionally! And if it wasn’t for the oranges… 🙂

Amadeo de Souza Cardoso

Amadeo de Souza Cardoso, a photo by Manuel Jorge Marques on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
@Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport, Porto, Portugal.
TP334 flight to London Gatwick.

Here we go again…

Here we go again…, a photo by Manuel Jorge Marques on Flickr.

Via Flickr:

Back to the UK after spending the holiday season at home. Feels really strange, like I’m leaving my life here in suspended animation until the Summer holidays!

Hey spidey!

Hey spidey!, a photo by Manuel Jorge Marques on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
I’ve been organising some old photos and I stumbled across this one. Given my digital camera ownership history, I was having doubts this one was in the right place, as it definitely appears it was not taken with one of the cameras I had at the time (a fixed/macro focus, 2 MP camera which was complementary for a computer magazine subscription – wasn’t anything special, but sure better than the Mustek GSmart mini 2 it replaced!).
But yes, it is! (I’ve confirmed that with the EXIF) It did suprise me… with the proper conditions, it could perform quite nicely! 🙂

Leaf mesh

Leaf mesh, a photo by Manuel Jorge Marques on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
The remains of a fallen leaf, as found by my father in our back garden.

The inside of my everyday backpack in 2008

The inside of my everyday backpack in 2008, a photo by Manuel Jorge Marques on Flickr.

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All of these things (with some small exceptions) are still working!
– The G3 PowerBook has since retired (replaced by an ASUS netbook and then afterwards by a second-hand ThinkPad), for a time it provided hosting for my Mac museum webpage.
– The white, fourth-gen 60 GB iPod is now permanently docked in a set of powered speakers, its battery has since been replaced. The hard drive is a bit temperamental, but it mostly works!
– My old Palm Z22 and the little Nokia 6070 phone were both replaced when I got my first smartphone, a Palm Centro. Years later, I still used the Centro when I travelled abroad, due to the unavailability (at the time) of MetrO for Android (a public transport route planner).
– Unfortunately, the earphones pictured are only partially working, one of the channels is not making proper contact (I still intend to re-solder them, they are very comfortable to use! 🙂 )
– The TI-84 calculator proved relatively useful on my 1st year at the university, but afterwards things became either too demonstration-based or too complex to make any good use of it…
– The pencil case is still the same! (I think I have it since year 8 or something… 😉 )
– And so is the keyring, with the difference that now I have much more keys in it…