A fundamental rule of developing web applications is “Never trust data from the outside world.”
If you don’t this can happen. Read it carefully.
In case they take it down or fix it I’ve taken a snapshot

Thanks to Donncha for the link.

Work
Another odd week this week. I think I’ve only done about half a day of scheduled work. The rest has been investigating production problems, fixing bugs, etc. All unplanned work.
Cycling
I’ve been cycling to and from Stockport train station this week as I mentioned earlier. Tonight I decided to cycle home from the office without going on the train. I didn’t really struggle, but it did seem to be hard work. It’s only 7.5 miles and it took me about 45 minutes (which is quicker than the train/bus trip I used to take), I was pretty tired at the end (the last quarter mile is uphill!), but I recovered (heart rate down, breathing normal) much quicker than I thought I would. All very encouraging. I shall try to do the same again all next week.
Weather
It’s been too hot in the office again today. I didn’t get my thermometer out, but I seemed to be much warmer than the 86 degrees we had on Wednesday. Outside it had apparently been a glorious sunny day. Jamie spent most of it outdoors today. I expect it will go away for the weekend!

Almost five days now with neither cigarettes or nicotine patches. (edit: After 28 days with nicotine patches). It has been harder the last two days. I think the 72 hours to rid your body of nicotine must be true. I did notice a difference after that time. Basically, the two times when I have been getting cravings anyway; 11am and after midnight have been particularly bad the last two days. I think I am seeing the appetite suppression effect of smoking going away. I keep thinking I am really hungry! Of course only at times when its convenient to snack! I’ve been (mostly) resisting; having fruit when I can.
Over all I think I’ve done well. I’ve still got some way to go though.

I’ve been meaning to get myself back into shape for a while now. I’ve finally started to do something about it.
Swimming
I’ve started to go swimming with Jamie on a Sunday morning. We are trying to make it a regular thing with Steve and Megan.
Cycling
I also started cycling again last week. It’s been about two years since I regularly cycled. So last week I got back on my bike. I’m starting slowly; cycling from home to the train station and back again in the evening, but will eventually build up to cycling all the way to work. It’s actually not far: 7.5 miles each way. But if I can build up to doing that everyday, I’ll be cycling 75 miles a week. That will be great for my fitness levels.
Smoking
Although I’ve not mentioned it here, some who know me IRL, will know that I have given up smoking. Yesterday was my 29th day without a cigarette and my first whole day without a nicotine patch. I think I have done really well and got to the lowest level patches quickly. I don’t have a patch on today either, and I am going to try to make it 3 full days without. I believe that it takes those 72 hours to get the nicotine completely out of your system. I have come to realise that from now on I am going to have to be ‘vigilant’: like an ex-alcoholic, I’m going to be forever one cig away from becoming a smoker again. 🙁 Actually, I did give up alcohol a few years ago (though I wasn’t an alcoholic) and I’ve had no trouble doing without. I guess because I’d practically stopped drinking anyway, when I made the decision to never drink again, it wasn’t a real problem. Smoking, however, has been much harder. I am taking it one day at a time, but wouldn’t be surprised to lapse once in a while. I know that doesn’t sound very positive, but I honestly believe it. A least I know I can stop now, so I shan’t beat myself up too much, if I do succumb.

I absolutely must post a link to this story! Flatulence Helps Fight Disease.

“British scientists say a hi-tech test focused on flatus — the pungent gas emanating from stool — is highly effective in quickly identifying tough-to-spot viral or bacterial infections of the gut.”

“While flatulence may be the stuff of jokes, the fight against dangerous gastrointestinal infections is no laughing matter.
Worldwide, over 600,000 children die each year from chronic diarrhea, most of them in poorer countries without easy access to sophisticated medical laboratories.”

“So far the technology has displayed impressive accuracy, correctly identifying the potentially life-threatening bug, Clostridium difficile, 100 percent of the time and the Norwalk virus — responsible for last year’s highly publicized cruise-ship outbreaks — 93 percent of the time. The test was also highly accurate in spotting rotavirus, a major cause of diarrhea in children.”

Hmmm… I wonder if I’ll be able to claim ‘medical research’ the next time I ‘let one go’?

I went swimming this morning with Jamie, Steve and Megan. We went later in the day than last time and the pool was much more crowded. Still the girls had a good time. Ronnie Mac’s for lunch afterwards.
Later we had a few games on the miniature pool table I bought on Thursday. It’s a pretty good table for the price, quite well made, and loads of fun!

I finished The Vanished Man by Jeffrey Deaver today. It’s another classic Lincoln Rhyme novel, suspense, plot twists, double bluffs (or in this case misdirection), lot’s of detail in the evidence gathering and analysis, and so on. It even features a Poirot-like gathering to reveal the motives and the killer. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
But… I wonder whether he is getting a little too formula; For example, about two thirds of the way through the book the killer gets arrested. He’s taken down to the police cells, cuffed and shackled. But he’s a magician, an illusionist, an escapologist! (I’m not giving anything away here) Obviously he’s going to escape! There’re lots more pages to go. And the almost final plot twist, the double (or is it triple) misdirection, it doesn’t make sense! There is no valid reason for the killer to have… listen, I can’t go into detail without spoiling the story for you, but go read the book. It is a good book, you will enjoy it. But after you have finished it, stop and think back about the double/triple misdirection, it didn’t make sense to me.
Still I have to say: Recommended!