Some early results

As you will recall, I am now working for Fundació Barcelona Media, and the main focus of my work at the moment is on a pan-european project called SALERO, which "aims at making cross media-production for games, movies and broadcast faster, better and cheaper by combining computer graphics, language technology, semantic web technologies as well as content based search and retrieval".

Specifically I am working on facial animation, and recently I was invited to upload a short video to the project's youtube channel. The official blurb to go with the video goes a bit like:

The purpose of this video is to demonstrate the concept of being able to transfer pre-exising facial animation from a low-resolution mask to any high resolution face. The 'Maskle' is placed over the face, allowing the bone structure to be automatically created, and the animation skin weights to be transferred. Current work is focussing on movement of the maskle to enable its automatic fitting to a variety of face shapes.

and the video itself looks like:

10 essential bits of software

My new laptop arrived the other day and the first thing I did was to wipe the drive and reinstall Windows, partially to ensure there was no bloatware hanging around the system (although Dell are actually very good about this, there was very little pre-installed rubbish) and partially because I wanted an English language copy of Windows, and the installation of a language pack to the pre-installed Spanish version was proving to be a more-hassle-than-it's-worth jobbie.

After reinstalling I went through the usual rigmarole of downloading and installing all the "bits of software I can't live without" (or, at least, "can't use a copy of Windows without"), and I thought I might aswell write a short list of these, simply because I found many of these excellent programs through recommendations published on blogs, just like this one.

The most important criteria for any of these programs is that they have to be as small and as fast as possible - by that I mean they should use as little system resources as possible, and not worm themselves into every single corner of your Windows installation. I don't like waiting 10 minutes for my PC to start up, and the more things that are hidden away in the registry, the slower everything runs. They should also be pretty easy to install/remove and, of course, they should be free! So here's my top 10, pretty much in the order that I would download them:

1) Firefox - Bit of a no-brainer this one. If you're not using it, you're missing out on the wonderful world of Extensions. The fact that Firefox is open source means that anybody in the world can develop a plugin that 'extends' the functionality of the browser, in a way that neither Internet Explorer or Safari can manage to the same level. My must-have extensions are Adblock (with Filterset.G), the Google Notebook extension (more on this later) and the wordreference.com search tools for English-Spanish and vice versa.

2) Grisoft AVG Free - Forget paying for McAfee, Norton, Symantec or F-Secure. For some time Grisoft have offered their free, cut-down version of their anti-virus software, and it's great. You don't get all the bells and whistles, but you do get a virus checker that provides live scanning of every file that passes through your system, and lets you schedule exactly when you want it to update itself. Unless you are given a free copy of another product, there's no reason to use anything else.

3) SpyBot Search and Destroy - One of the original spyware killers which, through creaking a little on Vista, still does a good job. Download and run once in a while, just for piece of mind. It's a shame the other 'must-have' spyware killer, Adaware, has shot itself in the foot with its 2007 release as it has an 'updater' that permanently runs in the background, which is rather ironic when you think about it.

4) 7-zip - Windows does an okay job of integrating zip-file functionality, but doesn't deal with other compressed formats, notably *.rar. 7zip is to my mind the king of compression software. Small, discreet, well-written, and very very powerful.

5) Google Talk - Instant messaging, file transfer, VoIP telephone calls, and email notification. Essential for those with a gmail account, useless otherwise. You do use gmail though, right?

6) uTorrent - Contrary to popular belief, there are legal uses to file-sharing software. Just the other day I downloaded the freeware version of Rebirth RB338, which is only available as a torrent. Of course, the less-than-legal use of such technology (which of course I whole-heartedly condemn) is why there are hundreds of bit-torrent clients, of which uTorrent consistently gets the best reviews.

7) Picasa - While I'm a little bit alarmed by Google's increasing world dominance, there no denying that if you like fast, useful software, much of their stuff is up there with the best. Picasa is a pretty good photo management software, and has a fair stab at being photo editor, but its strongest feature is a seamless link to an excellent web album. If you already have a google account, it's the easiest way of publishing photos on the web.

8) Paint.NET - Windows' old Paint program is a throwback to the days of Windows 3.1 and I was astounded to see it still bundled with Vista. Yet on many occasions you don't want to open up Photoshop or the GIMP just to save a screen grab, or to do some simple image editing. Enter stage left Paint.NET, the MS-approved-unofficial-replacement to Paint. It is simple, quick, yet vastly more powerful that its predecessor.

9) Real Alternative - RealPlayer is a horrible bit of software. The default install spreads itself everywhere, tried to hijack your system so that it is the default player for everything, throwing popups every now and again, nagging you to update it every 5 minutes, and generally being a pain in the arse. Unfortunately, if you are outside the UK, to listen to BBC Radio online you have to use it - or so I thought! Fortunately there is an alternative - the Real Alternative only installs the codec (the file required to decode audio data encoded in a certain format) that RealPlayer uses, thus letting you listen to the BBC free and without hassle.

10) Foxit Reader - For similar reasons to number (9) above, I don't like Acrobat Reader. The latest version is ridiculously slow, is bundled with all sorts of useless nonsense, and has an annoying 'update' program which lurks around in the background. There are variety of alternative pdf readers, but this one was the first I found, and I can see absolutely no reason to change, as it is small, unobtrusive, and over twice as fast as Adobe Reader. And while we're talking about pdfs, don't forget there are some nifty tools that such as PDF995 and Bullzip that let you 'print' a pdf.

Lastly, honourable mention should go to something which is less software and more of a service. Google Notebook is essentially a mobile, searchable, bookmarks folder, which lets you save interesting pages or useful bits of text, and access them via the web from anywhere in the world. When combined with the relevant Firefox extension, I think it is the single most useful thing that has come out of internet development for several years. Of course, all this means that I am now sharing my emails, photos and personal favourites which one of the largest companies on earth...let's just hope they stick to their "Don't be evil" motto!

Windy Weather at Pooh Corner

For the last 24 hours much of the eastern coast of Spain has been battered by 70 mph gusts of wind, which has seen a fair bit of damage but no serious accidents. Last night I woke up at 3pm, cursing the neighbour that had forgotten to secure their window shutters, which were clattering away in a very annoying fashion. 10 noisy minutes later it dawned on me that that annoying neighbour was in fact, me; so I spent a chilly five minutes on our balconies tying things down. On my commute to work this morning I was expecting to see big waves, but as you can see from the photo, it was pretty flat, and the wind and had completely died, very disappointing.


In other news, Djanira and I drove down to the Costa Blanca this weekend for some climbing. It was a 'puente' weekend - bank holidays in Spain are taken on the exact date, not the nearest monday as in Britain, and the result is that if the holiday falls on a tuesday or thursday, most people 'make a bridge' ('hace puente') and take the intervening monday or friday off for a four day weekend. This is what we did this weekend, and it's a good job too becuase it's bloody miles down to the Costa Blanca. The climbing there is excellent and it of course the weather was superb - sunny and 20+ degrees every day, much warmer than up here in Catalunya (although, it IS still sunny here ;) Here are some piccies:


Both of us were quite pleased to get climbing again and, although not at peak fitness, there were still signs of life in the forearms. Dj was doing particularly well as she led several routes which has given her some more confidence in ropework and the leading system. She's yet to take a lead fall though! On Saturday we hope to able to get out again to one of the local crags, and we might even try and get a bit of floodlit climbing done at La fuixarda (Barcelona's crag/climbing wall). Might be a little chilly though!

Why biometric ID is a bad idea

I'm not all that against the idea of an compulsory ID card. I mean, most of us carry around enough stuff with us anyway - driver licenses, bank cards, AA cards etc. that it makes no difference. And here in Spain (and elsewhere in much of Europe) everybody carries their photo ID (which you have to show when buying anything using a credit/debit card) and it's not a big deal.

However, I am very against the use of biometric data, such as fingerprints or iris data, for the purposes of identification. For one simple reason: once it is stolen, it cannot be reset.

If somebody gets hold of your bank card details, your PIN number, your passport number, your email, your drivers license etc. it's a pain, yes, but a quick phone call to relevant people and the old number/card/document is declared void, and you get a new one. If somebody steals your fingerprint, they have it for life. Furthermore, we leave our fingerprints on every single thing we touch. And yes, it really is that easy to make a copy, as the ever-reliable Ben Goldacre demonstrates.

Via Ferrata in Andorra

The rest of the piccies are here.

While Djanira was away in Madagascar over the summer, I popped back to London for a week or so, and one afternoon I ended up in Stanfords on Long Acre (as you do) where I happened upon a newish Cicerone guidebook entitled "The Mountains of Andorra". Within seconds of picking it up I was walking to the counter - it is a well-written summary of about 50 walks in the Andorran Pyrannees, and just what I was looking for. But the really interesting stuff was at the end of the book, a chapter describing the Via Ferrata of Andorra.

Via Ferrata is a style of climbing which, to paraphrase the guidebook description, "goes against the primary rule of the mountains (leave only footprints, take only photographs), but there is no denying it is a lot of fun". Essentially, a via ferrata ("iron way") is a metal cable which has been laid or strung up the side of mountain, for the purpose of the safety of people who wish to climb it. Basically, you clip a carabiner, attached to your climbing harness via a metre of rope to the cable, so if you happen to fall, the cable saves you from doing so to your death. The story goes that the original via ferrata were created to enable the Italian army to rapidly cross the Dolomites, and it is there that this style of mountaineering is still most famous (though, thanks to Helicopters, the army doesn't use them any more). Yet as the popularity of climbing and mountain sports in general increases, many other areas (such as Andorra) are spending the time and money creating Via Ferrata to increase tourism and boost the economy.

The construction of the Andorran ferrata has been quite a success. As a country, Andorra is blessed with a vast quantity of rock (it is right the middle of Pyrannees) but unfortunately much of it is quite shattered and not so suitable for pure rock-climbing. This is where the Via Ferrata comes in, as it lets you link the good bits of climbing by letting you quickly and safely scramble over the less attractive sections (you climb Ferrata with light walking boots). They are very generously equipped with metal rungs (more so than in the dolomites, so I've heard) so that if you can climb a ladder, you can reach the top. However, what this means is that they lead you into wildly overhanging and exposed territory (in climbing terms, places you'd need to be leading E-something to get to) and they are not for the faint of heart or those without a head for heights.

This weekend was a bank holiday weekend and so DJ and I spent four days in Andorra with some friends, did three via ferrata and a Very Long Walk. It was completely awesome, the last day in particular leading us up a mountain that is essentially one large cliff, finishing off with a tightrope suspension bridge. I say again, it was completely awesome, and we are hooked on this via ferrata stuff. It's going to have wait for a while now though as, despite this weekend's good weather, the first snows have reached Andorra already and everybody's fingers are crossed for a good ski-season. Still, there's no reason the ferrata can't be done in the snow!

Some time ago I blogged about how the Wii was looking like the way forward for the gaming industry. The Xbox 360 and PS3 may have the better graphics, but the Wii has its motion sensitive controller, possibly the most revolutionary item of gaming hardware since the joystick was invented. I was interested to re-read my words from back then, because I raved about how the Wii looked great, while the PS3 looked dead in the water, and that I wasn't that impressed with the Xbox360. Yet, as you will notice by scrolling down the page a little, the other day I got me an Xbox, not a Wii. Why? Well to answer that question, we have to talk about the Wii version of a game called Rockstar Presents Table Tennis.

The game was first released on the Xbox 360 over a year ago, and made a big impact due to it's outstanding graphics, addictive gameplay, and cheap price. In fact, the existence of the game contributed to my decision to buy an Xbox360 rather than a Wii or PS3, in that it is part of a large catalog of excellent games that I wanted to play, that were only available for the Xbox. The news that it had been ported recently to the Wii made me feel a little sick - surely the idea of actually being able to *play* virtual table tennis, crafting shots with a motion sensitive controller, would make this version superior to that on the Xbox? In which case, had a just bought the wrong console?

Well, from reading about the game, and from having played around a bit with other games on Wii, it would appear that my fears are unfounded. Yes you can use the motion sensitive controller to play table tennis, but in a completely unrealistic way. You don't hit the ball as you would do with a table tennis bat, you have to learn to make the correct gesture in order to hit the ball in the desired direction - it doesn't even separate the different swings for forehand and backhand - and to impart spin (crucial in table tennis) you have to resort to pushing buttons on the controller body. Basically, you still have to learn an artificial control scheme before you can actually play the game which, for me, rather nullifies the point of having motion sensitive controller.

The other big difference is the fact that there is no online play in the Wii version. Playing another human being is vastly more satisfying than playing an artifical intelligence, and online play gives you a greater opportunity to do that. Lastly, the graphics are crap, at least compared to the almost-lifelike quality of those of the Xbox verion. I know this shouldn't matter, but when you're comparing two versions of the same game, there's no doubt that it does.

I must admit that, in general, and having played it a bit at a mate's house and in FNAC, I'm quite disappointed with the Wii. Yes, it is a significant milestone in computer gaming. Yes, it has been a commercial success. Yes, it has drawn in grannies and mums and all sorts of people that never thought they would play a video game, ever. And you have to applaud Nintendo for achieving that. Yet all it has managed to do is pull the wool over people's eyes, glossing over the necessity to learn an artificial control system by making it seem more real - but real it is not, and learn it you must. For those of us less scared of traditional console joypads, the wiimote is actually a regressive step, offering less precision and less opportunity to practice and master a game's interface.

So although the Wii is a step in the right direction, I'm happy with the Xbox for the time being. Eventually, somebody will develop a commercially viable controller that is able to properly mimic the motion of a virtual table-tennis bat, and let you play near-as-dammit real table tennis against some random person in another part of the world. That would be worth paying money for.

Rugby Final

I watched the game in some Irish bar downtown. Possibly the dullest game of rugby I've ever watched. I spotted this on the Guardian's website, a comment by some anonymous person,

Well done England for getting to the final with a crap team. I hope it will be some solace to you to know that Wales scored 50 points more than you despite playing three games fewer.

Home come Johnny didn't do that thing with the drop goal in the dying minutes?

Xbox 360

Despite my last post, it would seem that recently I've gone all Microsoft crazy in that I've installed Vista, and got me an Xbox 360. Now I'm no great fan of Microsoft, but neither am I a Sony/Nintendo/Mac/Linux/Unix/ fanboy, and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.

So, the Xbox. I have been thinking of getting one for ages, tempted by stories of online gaming, cheap retro games and Media Centre compatibility. What finally tipped the cart was a miserable wet Saturday morning (after I'd just come back from a miserable week in Germany), a lack of Djanira in the flat, and only the sixth ever 10/10 given to a game by Edge Magazine, for Halo 3.

So, is all the hype worth it? Well, there's no denying that, by and large, it all seems to work very well. Xbox Live (the name given to the online gaming portal) couldn't be easier to set up, but the biggest novelty is not just being able to play games online (the PC sorted this years ago), but being able to speak to other players in real time. The Xbox comes with a (wireless) controller and a headset unit that plugs into it, which enables communication between players. It's quite something to be able to play Rockstar's Table Tennis against a human-being located who-knows-where in the world; but it's something else entirely being able to speak to them as you play, congratulate them on a good shot, complement each other after a good rally or, more usually in my case, excuse oneself for being completely rubbish. The headset, and its default inclusion into the Xbox Live experience, is what elevates online gaming on the console above that what is available for the PC. Sure, there are a million and one gaming-talk applications on the PC, while on the Xbox there is only one - but everybody is using it.

There other excellent feature of Xbox Live is 'Xbox Live Arcade', a growing collection of old-school (though not necessarily old) arcade games that can be downloaded and saved to the console's hard-drive for a few quid each. Most of them have a free demo-level for you to try, and while many of them are rubbish, some are excellent. Geometry Wars is one of the most popular and has become a classic, proving that you don't need amazing graphics to have a great game, but I'm very excited about SpeedBall 2, a classic amiga game which I used to play with my cousin John when I was a kid, which is being revamped for Xbox Live Arcade. Lastly, Xbox Live lets you download free demos for all the latest full-price releases, nothing new for a PC gamer but a welcome bonus for your average consolista.

The final clincher for me is the console's integration with a PC running XP Media Centre or Vista. The Xbox connects with the Media Centre, allowing you to access the music and video stored on your PC through the console. This works well for me as my PC (and all my music) is not in the lounge, but my Xbox is: ergo I can listen to tunes in the lounge without having to go through the hassle of burning a CD and all that. There's no doubt that the interface is very slick and it all works well, though the lack of native DivX and Xvid video support on the Xbox is what prevents it from being the all-in-one solution. Still, it is very impressive.

So, to conclude; from what I've experienced and read of the PS3 and the Wii, the Xbox is quite comfortably ahead in terms of functionality, at least at the moment. Of course, the fact that it is an accomplished single-player gaming system is one thing, but what really sets it apart is its online and media centre capabilities. All I need now is get some of you lot to come and join me in Halo 3's cooperative mode...

Old Microsoft joke

I was searching the internet for some help with a little code problem I had, and stumbled across this page, which consists of some bloke asking a question (exactly the same one as I had) and a Microsoft employee giving an answer:

http://www.thescripts.com/forum/thread300172.html

Upon reading it I was instantly reminded of old joke which, given the employee's response in the link above, is based upon reality...!

A helicopter was flying around above Seattle when an electrical malfunction disabled all of the aircraft's electronic navigation and communications qquipment. Due to the clouds and haze, the pilot could not determine the helicopter's position and course to fly to the airport. The pilot saw a tall building, flew toward it, circled, drew a handwritten sign, and held it in the helicopter's window. The pilot's sign said "WHERE AM I?" in large letters. People in the tall building quickly responded to the aircraft, drew a large sign and held it in a building window. Their sign read: "YOU ARE IN A HELICOPTER." The pilot smiled, waved, looked at her map, determined the course to steer to SEATAC airport, and landed safely. After they were on the ground, the co-pilot asked the pilot how the "YOU ARE IN A HELICOPTER" sign helped determine their position. The pilot responded "I knew that had to be the Microsoft building because, like their technical support, online help and product documentation, the response they gave me was technically correct, but completely useless."

Barf!

Internet at last!

You may recall a solution that a friend of mine employed to gain access to his neighbours wireless networks, with the aid of a wok as an arial to boost the signal. Well, had i been following my friends example over the last few months, then I would no longer need to, because now finally our flat is connected to the outside world! We had organised for one company to come and connect us up, but after three months of waiting nothing had happened, so we said bugger it and went with another company - and yesterday (less than a fortnight after I had requested it) the engineers came and installed the service. I'll be changing the default 'security' settings on my wireless router though!

In other news, the last three days have seen a solid 2 foot of swell, which in the mornings is glassy clean, but more choppy by the evening after the wind has picked up. Unfortunately, lazy bones Alun hasn't been bothered to get up early enough to enjoy it clean, and has only watched it enviously on his ride to work, and gone in in the evening instead. But the clocks go back sooner rather than later so ther'll be no time for surfing after work, so I'll have to get my arse in gear in the mornings.

And one funny story to finish off. Yesterday afternoon it started to rain, and I couldn't help chuckling as the whole off office stopped working and walked to the window to look. In fairness, it was a quite impressive heavy shower, but the thought struck me that if people behaved similarly in Britain, nobody would get any work done!

Graduation, new job, and surfing!

A lot to catch up on this time because I've been away for a while, back in Blighty for a three reasons. The first was to do my last week's work in my old office in London (though I go to Germany for a conference next week), the second was to attend my mate Mark (as in, Mark-I-did-my-MSc-with-Mark)'s wedding, and third was for my graduation. The picture above is of me with my beautiful, wonderful girlfriend, in Russell Square just before the ceremony. I must be honest, the last two graduation ceremonies I've been to have been rather rubbish, and I didn't have much hope for this one either, but it was actually really well done - they were doing the year's honorary degrees in the same ceremony, so there was a bit more pomp than there is usually. After eating and drinking as much free wine and nibbles that we could get our hands on at the post-ceremony reception, we rounded the day off with a few beers in outside the Jeremy Bentham with my old workmates and supervisors, Tryphon and Cliffy.


In other news, I have started a new job! I am leaving my old job at UCL and have started in a company called Barcelona Media, a not-for-profit research entity setup as a spin-off from the main university in Barcelona, Universidad Pompeu Fabra. I have joined the computer graphics research group, and it's pretty much my perfect job - I would have applied for it had it been in Britain, so it's a total bonus having it here. Although I've only been there three days everything is going swimmingly, my first 'warm-up' project is to see if I can help a PhD student who is a bit stuck on his project which is to do with facial animation, so I am busy getting up to scratch on my 3D modelling and animation. All good.

Finally I ran the gauntlet of surfboard air-travel the other day, and fortunately my board arrived in Barcelona airport in exactly the same condition that it left (i.e. very good!). Also, for Djanira's birthday I bought her a bodyboard plus all the kit, something she's been talking about getting for ages. Yesterday was her actual birthday and, right on time, 2' of choppy swell arrived in the evening, so we trotted off down the beach. Needless to say Djanira caught several really good waves and thoroughly showed me up (although I did manage a couple of half-decent rides) and we both left the water after sunset, tired but with big smiles on our faces. Although the swell had dropped I sneaked in another session this evening while Djanira was off doing some temporary translation work, it was only a foot and barely rideable on my board, but good to get out and get some practice for the bigger days. I must admit it's thoroughly bloody marvellous being up and riding on a board again, I had almost forgotten how much fun it is. Roll on the winter and bigger waves!

Image resizing using seam carving

It's very rare that I see something in Image Processing that makes me go 'wow'. The fact is that a lot of the current state-of-the-art in the field is becoming increasingly limited in its scope, and many good research groups are either wallowing in their own success or pursuing ideas that are more and more mathematically complex yet lack any real purpose.

This video on youtube though is brilliant. From a technical point of view, the work is quite basic. But from a 'bugger me that's such a cool idea' point of view, it is superb. It just goes to show that the best ideas are not necessarily the most complex or technical ones.

And I can't help asking myself why I didn't think of that for my PhD?! I'd have made millions!

Bollock-steep, bollock-rocky and bollock-hard

(not in this photo, though, obviously)

At about 3pm on saturday, Raoul and I sat down for a beer and some lunch, having had a morning's riding at the Grand Valira Bike Park in Andorra. I decided to rub things in a little bit for the boys back home, so texted Mr Paul my whereabouts and current situation. To immense joy and delight, his swift reply was thus: Currently pushing up Aston Hill (a mountain bike spot near London) with Muir and Rhys. Rhys says you're a ****. I agree. I laughed like a tit for a full minute.

The Grand Valira is the name given to the largest ski-lift network in the Pyrannees. For years it was split into two halves, as the two biggest resorts, Soldeu and Pas de la Casa, argued over which was the biggest and best. Fortunately, they have settled any differences they had and have now joined their lift systems. They have also invested in a bike park for the summer and created 11 downhill mountain bike trails and a myriad of cross-country trails, so they can draw tourists into the area in the 'off'-season, in an attempt to copy the success of other areas such as the Portes du Soleil in the French/Swiss alps. This of course means that bikers can take chairlifts and gondolas to the top of the mountain, and ride all the way down. It goes without saying that this is GOOD.

To be honest, though, I was left a little underwhelmed. To put it bluntly the trails just aren't as good as those in the Portes du Soleil. With a few notable exceptions, the construction feels a little lazy; many trails are just taped off sections of hill that have no flow and betray a lack of thought. I had a great day but left the tiniest bit disappointed - although I should also point out that I didn't get the time to ride all of the trails, so a repeat visit is certainly warranted.

So, after a night in Soldeu, we headed back across the hills to La Molina, to the second of Catalunya's three bike parks, and completely different to the Grand Valira. There is only one gondola here open in the summer, but the place could not be a bigger contrast to its Andorran cousin. The lift takes you up 800m and dumps you right at the top of a 2,500m mountain, so all the trails are very, very long - twice the length of those in Andorra. The biggest difference though, is the quality of the trails. The blue run is, without a shadow of a doubt, THE best trail I have ever ridden. Perhaps it is slightly more 'enduro' than a proper balls-out DH trail, but it is simply awesome. It weaves it's way down the hill along seemingly endless narrow technical singletrack, never too steep but never too slow. About halfway down it dawned on me that this was the best experience I'd ever had on a mountain bike, and it just kept coming and getting better and better. After who-know-how-long it dumps you out at the bottom, where a kilometre of easy fireroad takes you back to the lift station, but not before you hit a north-shore section, with a variety of drops and wall-rides. The whole place has obviously been designed by somebody who really knows what they are on about, and I simply can't wait to go there again. In fact, on my way down I had ridden the first third of the red run and then switched to the blue. The red was bollock-steep, bollock-rocky and bollock-hard. I don't know whether to be happy or scared at the prospect of the black!

The only shame was that we only had one ride up on the gondola, and then only just. Thunderstorms were around and by the time we'd reached the bottom again the lift was shut. Bollocks. Still, we had a time for a piss-about on the shore and it means there is more to come back to.

The best news, of course, is that less than two hours after leaving I was unpacking the car outside my flat. You lot (and you know who you are), you really do need to get out here...
A video, taken by some friendly Catalan chap, and the rest of the pics.

Junior is complete!

And here he is! Today I finally got round to visiting a bike shop that was actually open, to get the necessary bits to finish assembling Junior. Looking good, eh? The build is mostly what I was running on my old Specialized: Marzocchi Z150 forks, old (but effective) Hope 4-pots and full XT gearing, with the exception of the cranks, which are old Deores and will be the first target for an upgrade, though probably not until next year now.

A quick spin down to the beach confirmed that all was working but the first real opportunity to put him through his paces will be this weekend. The plan is to have a day at Vallnord, which is about a 3hr drive away, come back home for a few beers and then head out a little later on Sunday to La Molina, which is a the closest ski resort to Barcelona (only takes 90 minutes to get there), and which conveniently also has a bike park - only one lift and three proper trails, but apparently they are all very good. And it's reachable for an afternoon's riding from here, so I can't complain!

In other news the sun is shining after some refreshing rain this morning, and there was even a lovely little clean wave being enjoyed by about 10-15 surfers this evening down at my nearest beach. Djanira is back in London and has had great time in Madagascar, and is arriving back here in Barcelona on Monday. I'd better start cleaning the flat soon!

Street riding around Porto Olimpico

Today I went out on the Charge, with the main goal of going to the bike shop to buy a new cassette and seatpost for Junior. Unfortunately, I had forgotten that today is a public holiday (the Spanish take their public holidays on the exact date, rather than the nearest Monday, which is what we usually do in Britain), and so everything everywhere is shut. Rats.

The best thing about the Charge though, is its flexibility. I have taped him up to make him look less attractive to thieves (see pic - although it still looks quite badass unfortunately), and so use him for commuting and getting to and from places all the time. But today I took the the long way home from the bike shop through the Olympic Port, and ended up putting the saddle down for a good two hour's worth of street riding. The Olympic port was redeveloped and renamed for the 1992 Olympic games, held here in Barcelona, and this was where the Olympic village was, with all the accommodation for the athletes. It has now been converted into a modern housing estate which, while very safe (and actually quite upmarket) is actually quite soulless, in the way that all thrown-up-overnight sort of places tend to be. Fortunately for some, such places also tend to be very good for interesting street furniture, and the Olympic port is no exception! There are "lines and lines and lines and lines" (to quote a character from the League of Gentlemen TV series); pretty much everywhere you look, every corner you turn, you stumble across another possibility. From easy gentle wall rides to big-ass gaps that will brook no error, there is just so much to do. After an hour I was knackered (the heat is particularly draining, it's 30° today), but I kept getting diverted on the ride home by more cool stuff. In the end I had to stop as my tiredness was forcing mistakes, which eventually and inevitably result in a face-pavement meeting if left unnoticed, so I stopped before having any nasty crashes and headed home.

I'm getting used to the Charge now. The rigid forks in particular took me some time to adapt to, but I'm actually quite happy with them now and it makes me a more careful rider. I'm also finally getting better at manuals and a couple of lines today involved some pretty long manuals (for me that is, not Aaron Chase) across various bits and bobs. I even managed a decent "Manualeeeeeeeeeeeeeroooooooo" under my breath at one point!

The only disappointment of the day was that I didn't get my parts for Junior. Not to worry, it is only Wednesday, so plenty of time for me to sort it out before Saturday when my mate Raoul and I are heading up to the Vallnord Bike Park in Andorra. Oh yeah! Here is a shot of Junior 'work-in-progress' build:

Junior

Here he is. Some of you may recall my old green Kona Stinky Dee-Lux, an original 1998 model, complete with curved seattube and a whole 5.5" of travel. He was called Konrad (the Kona) and died three years ago in the alps. Well, here's his younger cousin, who I shall name Konrad Junior, or just just Junior, for short.

It's hard not to compare the two frames because superficially they are quite similar. Both are from Kona's 'freeride' lineage, both employ a 'faux' four-bar suspension linkage with the rearmost pivot directly above the axle on the seatstay (as opposed to a truly active fourbar linkage where the Specialized-patented 'Horst'-linkage is in front of the rear axle on the chainstay), and both appear (or appeared) reliably big and burly. But seven year's of evolution is obvious to the trained eye. The curved seat-tube, where Konrad orginal snapped, was dropped from the range several years ago. One of the chainstays is dropped lower than the other, to counter the strong forces that go through that point that snapped many a previous Stinky frame. The downtube and seattube become increasingly box-sectioned as they rise to the junction with the headtube, to improve strength and increase weld area (I'd be surprised if this frame failed in the same way as my old Specialized. Crucially, the main pivot point has been raised and a longer stroke shock used, so travel is a smooth 7" without the need for an extra long pivot arm to create large stresses. All in all it the product of the best part of a decade of product development, and looks very smooth for it.

I bought it second hand from some bloke I met through www.foromtb.com, the buy-sell section of which is very similar to that on southern-downhill.com or descent-world.co.uk. It was a very good deal and, as you can see, it is absolutely mint, and has obviously been barely ridden at all.

My sister Tracey is out visiting at the moment so this weekend we will head off up to the Costa Brava for some snorkelling and sunbathing. But next weekend I think a trip to the chairlifts of Andorra is called for...

Bodge of the day

This is a picture of the solution employed by, er, a friend of mine, who was so pissed off with waiting for ADSL to get installed in his flat that he has resorted to using the www.aircrack-ng.org suite of tools to gain access to other wireless networks in the area (only temporarily, mind you, and he has assured me that he is using them very sensibly, not downloading GB of movies). But to get a decent enough signal he resorted to some interesting bodges, as you can see here.

A day of ups and downs

Yesterday was a day of ups and downs, in more ways than one. In the physical sense, I went up the Tibidabo funicular (twice), and down a really quite good mountain bike trail (twice). Needless to say, the knowledge that I can pay €2 for a train to to take me to the top of the biggest hill in the area is A Very Good Thing. This, then, represents the metaphorical 'up' to today's post. My world this afternoon took a turn for the better.

It also, inevitably, took a turn for the worse. Well, in fact, two turns for the worse, and these represent the metaphorical 'down' that completes the allegory. You see, upon driving (the 20 minutes(!)) to and from the foot of Tibidabo funicular, my worst fears were confirmed. Pleb the Passat, my erstwhile companion of the last few years, is ill. In fairness, he doesn't appear to be dead, and still pootles around town perfectly happily. Only when we reach the motorway though, does something appear amiss, vis., he doesn't change to top gear. Refuses. No matter how fast we're going or how high the revs are, his automatic gearbox will not shift into its fourth and highest gear. This means, when driving along the motorway, I am stuck with having the engine screaming at me - I dare not take it above 60mph in case it blows up. It is very sad, because the problem is terminal. Automatic gearboxes like Pleb's keep going until the stop, at which point the cost of fixing/replacing one becomes several times more than the value of the car. So, while Pleb is still alive, he's very much on this last legs.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said for my bicycle frame, which is well and truly DEAD. For some time (in fact, since I got it second hand) it has creaked quite a lot, but it did me proud for a week in the alps a couple of years ago - in fact had it only lasted that week it would have been worth the £80 I paid for it! Recently, though, I've noticed the creaking getting worse, and after two 10 minute runs (down exceedingly rocky trails - with a few north shore drops put in for good measure) I had noticed a significant increase in creak-noise. Only a quick glance was necessary to confirm my worst fears - there is a now monstrous long crack at the point where the headtube joins the main part of the monocoque frame (see pic above). Proper 'terminal'; so this afternoon I shall strip the frame of everything of worth and chuck in in the skip. I remember first seeing the frame when Oli pulled up out side Mat's parents' house in Clent about, ooooh, I'd say 7 years ago. I was impressed with it then and have been impressed with it ever since. Given that neither I nor Oli are reknowned for our 'delicate' riding styles, such an ending was to be expected, but it doesn't make me any happier.

So, to summarise, my day of ups and downs ends with me with me sitting here, facing an iminent bill of several thousand euros to replace today's physical losses, but offset by the gain in knowledge that there is some awesome mountain biking around the corner. Given that the biking was always there (I just hadn't discovered it yet) I think I am probably worse off out of the deal. Still, 'push on through', as Fatus* would say. Barcelona is still awesome place to live, money can be earned and material things replaced. Eventually. Anybody know any good car/bike shops in Barcelona?

* (Muir)

PS Check out some photos of a new DWS venue at Rhossili!

A comprehensive dissection of MMR scare stories

MMR has back in the news again recently, what with Andrew Wakefield being investigated by the GMC. Wakefield's original paper, asserting a link between MMR and autism, has been pretty convincingly rejected by the scientific community - largely on the basis that his research was being funded by parents of autistic children who had received the MMR jab, and who were trying to build a legal case to claim compensation. This fact places Wakefield's 'research' firmly in the same the same boat as those 'scientific studies' that conclude that smoking isn't bad for you - coincidentally those are the studies funded by the tobacco companies. There were other quite glaring research errors too, there was a good New Scientist article a few years ago on the whole situatiuon.

So it was with some trepidation and disgust that I read the Observers front page a few weeks ago, stating that there was fresh evidence in favour of a link between MMR and autism. Putting aside the fact that this would only be the second study that suggests such a link, disagreeing with the tens of comprehensive, peer-reviewed and statistically significant studies alleging otherwise; AND the fact that the first supportive study (Wakefield's) is thoroughly discredited, even a numpty like me could see that there were several holes in the Observer's story.

Fortunately, Ben Goldacre, seemingly the only mainstream science journalist who is capable of rational thought, has investigated the new study behind the Observer's front page. Rather unsurpringly, it falls apart under analysis. Ben shows that:

a) the report that the Observer based its story on is neither published nor peer-reviewed

b) the study isn't actually even finished yet, the Observer got it's data from an interim report

c) The Observer cherry picked the most shocking statistic, ignoring the context of the report.

d) The Observer misquotes the lead scientist, Professor Simon Baron Cohen, who has since labelled the Observer's story "inaccurate and scaremongering".

e) The Observer flatly lies about the opinions of a 'leading academic' on the study, Fiona Scott. It says she was 'concerned about the results'. In fact, Scott is considering legal action against the observer for repeatedly lying about her opinion. Her actual opinion is that "I absolutely do not think that the rise in autism is related to MMR." And: "My own daughter is getting vaccinated with the MMR jab on July 17."

f) The other 'leading academic concerned about a link', Carol Stott, is not an academic. She doesn't even work in scientific research. She works in the private clinic of yes, you guessed it, Andrew Wakefield!

Will the Observer publish a front page apology and retraction of their story, which has now been quite comprehensively discredited? Probably not. The sad thing is that last March, a young 13 year-old lad who didn't receive the MMR jab became the first person to die from Measles in Britain for 14 years. Sadly, until the press grow up and start behaving responsibly, that statistic will surely rise.

Back in Barcelona, but no internet

Apologies for long delay in updating, I know you avid readers have been waiting on tenterhooks for next intallment! (tumbleweed) Well, here it is! (more tumbleweed) Anyway, I am back in Barcelona after being in London for a week, for work. My Dad and I drove all the way down from Britain with a car load of stuff, so now DJ and I have almost a complete flat full of our stuff, and (as you see above) our bikes, which is cool as it means we get to explore the city a bit more. The photo above is taken in Plaça Real, in the old town, just off Las Ramblas. I have bought my heavy suspension bike out, lured by stories that it is possible to take your bike up on the Funicular to the top of Tibidabo, the biggest of all the hills that border the city. Hopefully next week I'll go with my mate Raoul to explore and find some trails. Cool.

Djanira an I have become regulars at the local internet cafe, as we still don't have neither a phone line nor internet in our flat. Everything here goes very slooowly, but hopefully by the end of the month we will have a fat 4Mb pipe, and our flat will be complete. It's looking pretty cool now, if you go and see my Dad's photos that he took during his visit, you'll be able to see some pics of the flat. The best thing about it is that we're so close to the beach. Yesterday we spent the day down there, and were joined in the afternoon by Dan and his girlfriend Kate. We stayed until sunset, sunbathing, eating spanish omelette, drinking cold tinnies, dipping in the sea and playing frisbee, before heading back to the flat for grub around 9. Time for a quick shower then it was out on the town! Last night we discovered that one of the main 'late night' spots is about a 15 minute walk from the flat, and we ended up playing table football in some bar around there at 4am. Bit tired today, I'll be honest.

Djanira is buggering off to Madagascar for six weeks on Tuesday, as base-camp manager for one of BSES' expeditions. I shan't pretend I'm very happy about it, but it will be a great experience for her and brilliant for her CV. Once she's back she'll be able to start looking for a job! So I'll be living on my own for a while, time to complete Final Fantasy XII on the PS2, get back on my skimboard (the little summer med ripples are just about rideable) and start remembering how to ride a bike - I have found some cool 'street furniture' around the olympic port, and there's a natty little skate park right on the beach, with a spined double mini-ramp (i.e. two quarter pipes with a spine in the middle), which seems to have a really relaxed vibe between skaters, BMXers and rollerbladers (agressive grrrrrrrr). I haven't ridden a park for years though, so I need to get some lines sorted before I turn up during 'rush-hour' on a 26" bike, hopefully a couple of quiet morning sessions will increase my confidence.

Also, speaking of work, it looks like I'll be starting a new job soon, working 15 hours a week to complement the 18 hours or so that I do at the moment for UCL. More news of that in the next installment, when everything's a little bit more confirmed. Keep your eyes peeled!