7th of March 2006
I win!
Our Workmates Lovely Argyle Style Cardie, 100% Acrylic (sic) Looks like I won this item! :) I'm still waiting to hear what charity I have to make payment to though...
6th of March 2006
Let's Make A Deal
I found this earlier. In a nutshell:
You are on a gameshow called "Let's make a deal". You are presented with 3 doors. Behind one door is a million pounds, behind the other two there is nothing. You are allowed one choice of door and one only. You make a choice but, before opening your chosen door the gameshow host says "I'll open one of the other doors for you which I know is empty". And he does. You are now given two choices:
1. Stick with your initial choice.
2. Change your mind and select the other closed door.
The question is this: Is there a good reason to open the other door instead of your first choice?
I'm pleased to announce that I worked this out (yes, without looking at the answer before you ask). I don't want to make it too easy for you - just think about it for a moment and, when you want the answer, click here.
2nd of March 2006
New Domain
LoweyBlog now has a domain name! It's only a forwarder (I aint made of money you know) but will do nicely. You can now find LoweyBlog at
If you want to get in touch by email then I can now be reached at
m "at" t t l o w e "dot" c o "dot" u k (I'd like to see the automated email address harvesters work that out)
...but my olde Gmail address will still work just fine.
1st of March 2006
Windows' File Context Menus
I've spent ages today trying to find how to add my own context-menu entry into the Windows Explorer shell. It's shockingly simple, I don't know why the web sites out there have to over-complicate it so much. Here it is in simplified form:
Create a registry entry at
HKCR\*\shell\<unique name>
Where <unique name> is something meaningful to your app, eg "backup". Set the default value for this key to whatever text you want to appear in the right-click context menu for files. Eg. "&Back this file up" (the & defines which character will become the keyboard shortcut on the menu)
Inside of this key create another key named "Command", eg:
HKCR\*\shell\backup\Command
Set the default value of this key to the path to the program you wish to run. You can also use certain parameters such as %1 (the name of the selected file) or %L (the name of the folder the file resides in). Eg
c:\program files\backup\backup.exe "%1"
This works great for me except for one strange thing: When I select multiple files and click on my newly created context menu item it, for reasons unknown, spawns a freeware hex editor I installed the other day. What the...?! Anyone know what's going on there?
HTH
28th of February 2006
Aww Herro Doggeh!
Meet Tina. She's a rescure dog living in the Dogs Trust centre in Newbury. Liz sponsored her for me :) We're going to go and visit her when we get the appropriate paperwork through the post.
Isn't she cute? :D I've got a picture of her on my desktop and everyone at work keeps asking me if she's mine. If only :-/
26th of February 2006
Anyone Going To Aber?
To Aber or Not?
I got a letter from the Comp Sci department about a reunion gig. I'm still unsure whether I want to go or not, I haven't heard from any other people on whether they are going or not. Thus, until I hear from any people who are definitely going, I currently have no plans to head back to Aber.
To Aber or Not? - Darkpro.co.uk
Damn you Saad, you beat me to it! I was going to write almost exactly the same thing on here! An Aber-meet would be cool, if a decent number of cool, hip, down wid'it types are going. However, I'm a little unsure about the £22 "banquet" in Penbryn. I've eaten in there before, and none of the food I experienced could be classed as fit for a banquet. Maybe we could all go but then go to The Agra instead of the "banquet"?
25th of February 2006
Lowe Out
That was what was written in the muck on the back of a white van that cut me up the other day on the A34 filter lane that leads onto the A339 into Newbury.
What did I do? :(
24th of February 2006
Ultimate Showdown
The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny
Old Godzilla was hopping around
Tokyo City like a big playground
when suddenly Batman burst from the shade
and hit Godzilla with a Batgrenade
Godzilla got pissed and began to attack
but didn't expect to be blocked by Shaq
who proceeded to open up a can of Shaq Fu
when Aaron Carter came out of the blue
and he started beating up Shaquille O'Neal
then they both got flattened by the Batmobile
but before it could make it back to the Batcave
Abraham Lincoln popped out of his grave
and took an AK47 out from under his hat
and blew Batman away with a rat-a-tat-tat
but he ran out of bullets and he ran away
because Optimus Prime came to save the day
this is the Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny
good guys, bad guys, and explosions as far as the eye can see
and only one will survive, I wonder who it will be
this is the Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny
Godzilla took a bite out of Optimus Prime
like Scruff McGruff took a bite out of crime
and then Shaq came back covered in a tire track
but Jackie Chan jumped out and landed on his back
and Batman was injured, and trying to get steady
when Abraham Lincoln came back with a machete
but suddenly something caught his leg and he tripped
Indiana Jones took him out with his whip
then he saw Godzilla sneaking up from behind
and he reached for his gun which he just couldn't find
'cause Batman stole it and he shot and he missed
and Jackie Chan deflected it with his fist
then he jumped in the air and did a summersault
while Abraham Lincoln tried to pole vault
onto Optimus Prime, but they collided in the air
then they both got hit by a Care Bear Stare, oooh
this is the Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny
good guys, bad guys, and explosions as far as the eye can see
and only one will survive, I wonder who it will be
this is the Ultimate Showdown...
angels sang out in immaculate chorus
down from the heavens descended Chuck Norris
who deliver a kick which could shatter bones
into the crotch of Indiana Jones
who fell over on the ground, writhing in pain
as Batman changed back into Bruce Wayne
but Chuck saw through his clever disguise
and he crushed Batman's head in between his thighs
then Gandalf the Grey and Gandalf the White and
"Monty Python and the Holy Grail"'s Black Knight and
Benito Mussolini and The Blue Meanie and
Cowboy Curtis and Jambi the Genie
Robocop, the Terminator, Captain Kirk, and Darth Vader
Lo Pan, Superman, every single Power Ranger
Bill S. Preston and Theodore Logan,
Spock, The Rock, Doc Ock, and Hulk Hogan
all came out of no where lightning fast
and they kicked Chuck Norris in his cowboy ass
it was the bloodiest battle the world ever saw
with civilians looking on total awe
and the fight raged on for a century
many lives were claimed, but eventually
the champion stood, the rest saw their better:
Mr. Rogers in a bloodstained sweater
this is the Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny
good guys, bad guys, and explosions as far as the eye can see
and only one will survive, I wonder who it will be
this is the Ultimate Showdown...
this is the Ultimate Showdown...
this is the Ultimate Showdown...
of Ultimate Destiny
Music/Lyrics - Lemon Demon
Animation - AltF4
Hosting - Weebl's Stuff
Pure class :)
23rd of February 2006
War Of The Worlds
We hired War Of The Worlds from BlockBusters the other day. It's shit. It's got to be one of the shittiest films I've ever seen. I felt no attachment to, or sympathy with, the main characters; everyone in the film seemed to be a complete moron; and I wanted the aliens to wipe the whole fucking world out. The plot made very little sense: Setting it in modern day was the biggest mistake, and it got worse from there onwards.
Having read the book and listened to the Jeff Wayne musical version, I feel like this was a big steaming shit on them all. I'd really love to listen to the '50s American radio broadcast. From what I've heard of it, it sounds fantastic.
Snow!
It's snowing here :) I hope it lets up a bit before I drive home though :-/
Car Misbehaving
The car's been acting up a bit lately. Every time I got to a certain set of lights in the morning, the engine would drop its revs to about 400rpm before the automatic choke would kick in and send the revs hurtling up to 2000rpm, eventually settling back down to 1000rpm. I was telling Liz's Mum's partner about this and, right on cue, it did it and then completely cut out. My Dad suggested it could be the air filter needing a change, so I got a new one and grappled with the filter box (it's in a stupid position on my Astra) until I got the little fucker in. The next day I fuelled up in Sainsbury's and, as I left, it decided to rev at 3500rpm while I was driving around a sharp bend...
But anyway, since then it's been running fine. It could be that the fuel injector was blocked by some crap that had got in through the air filter box, and has since been dislodged. Who knows? I've also got a new set of sparks plugs for it and will be fitting them this weekend, which will give me the opportunity to take a look at the old ones and see if there are any clues there.
15th of February 2006
Tired
I feel like I've not slept in months. I've got to show someone around the building at work today, I'm going to be like a zombie or something.
*Yawn*