http://me.robotik.co.uk/index.php Copyright 2010, Michael Michael en-US SPHPBLOG 0.4.8 http://me.robotik.co.uk/index.php?entry=entry100529-175938 here for the garden planter Instructable... It turned out pretty well. We've planted some carrots on the window sill and when they emerge from their soily womb, they'll be transferred into the planter...

]]> http://me.robotik.co.uk/index.php?entry=entry100529-175938 Michael Sun, 30 May 2010 00:59:38 GMT http://me.robotik.co.uk/comments.php?y=10&m=05&entry=entry100529-175938 http://me.robotik.co.uk/index.php?entry=entry100428-142259
Robotik has never really had a purpose other than being a place for me to play around with HTML, PHP and SQL. I want to change that, and I'm going to concentrate on blogging things that I make and places that I go.

I'm planning on building a planter out of old decking on Saturday. I'm going to document the process for an Instructable too - it's been too long!]]> http://me.robotik.co.uk/index.php?entry=entry100428-142259 Michael Wed, 28 Apr 2010 21:22:59 GMT http://me.robotik.co.uk/comments.php?y=10&m=04&entry=entry100428-142259 http://me.robotik.co.uk/index.php?entry=entry100106-091821
Loads of people came to admire the igloo and take photos with their kids - it was worth the effort to make people smile! Unfortunately, the wall needed a bit of repair when three annoying teenagers sat in it after dark (17:00!) and kicked their way out. It survived the attack though and we're going to pour water over it tonight which will hopefully freeze. It's supposed to be between -3 and -8 centigrade so that should keep it solid for a few days! (smile)


The igloo! It's about 2m by 2m and I can get in and move around easily.



This one was taken just before sunset. ]]> http://me.robotik.co.uk/index.php?entry=entry100106-091821 Michael Wed, 06 Jan 2010 17:18:21 GMT http://me.robotik.co.uk/comments.php?y=10&m=01&entry=entry100106-091821 http://me.robotik.co.uk/index.php?entry=entry091128-115121
Anyone who was previously too far away should be expecting more visits imminently... So get the kettle on.

]]> http://me.robotik.co.uk/index.php?entry=entry091128-115121 Michael Sat, 28 Nov 2009 19:51:21 GMT http://me.robotik.co.uk/comments.php?y=09&m=11&entry=entry091128-115121 http://me.robotik.co.uk/index.php?entry=entry091128-114437
Blackbeard (the server, not the pirate) has raised it's ugly head and is roaring. For those in the know it's an Intel SE7520BD2 board with 2 dual core Xeon 2.8Ghz procs, 4GB RAM and 4TB storage. It's running Ubuntu Server 64 9.04 and it's destined for a MythTV install at some point in the future, but until then it is going to serve me files on a silver platter.]]> http://me.robotik.co.uk/index.php?entry=entry091128-114437 Michael Sat, 28 Nov 2009 19:44:37 GMT http://me.robotik.co.uk/comments.php?y=09&m=11&entry=entry091128-114437 http://me.robotik.co.uk/index.php?entry=entry091128-114014 http://me.robotik.co.uk/index.php?entry=entry091128-114014 Michael Sat, 28 Nov 2009 19:40:14 GMT http://me.robotik.co.uk/comments.php?y=09&m=11&entry=entry091128-114014 http://me.robotik.co.uk/index.php?entry=entry081008-165252 Five Things Thailand owes me:
- A finger.
- A couple of thousand pounds.
- A video camera.
- A Swiss army knife.
- Plenty of bribes.

Five Things I Will Miss:
- Friends: Barry & Ying, Jolie, Sa, Dtar, Noi, Tik and P'Nong.
- Wet room showers.
- Personal bidet spray guns instead of toilet paper.
- Going out at any time of the day or night and never being cold.
- Girls on motorbikes.

Five Things I Won't Miss:
- The driving.
- The Police.
- Drunken ex-pats telling you how much they hate Thailand.
- The two unspeakable ones.
- The rats, the cockroaches and the dogs.]]> http://me.robotik.co.uk/index.php?entry=entry081008-165252 Michael Wed, 08 Oct 2008 23:52:52 GMT http://me.robotik.co.uk/comments.php?y=08&m=10&entry=entry081008-165252 http://me.robotik.co.uk/index.php?entry=entry080913-022148
Quick on Manu's heels, Rick and Dustin, my mates from Brighton arrived. We did the same kind of things and Erawan got our business again. We went out kayaking the next day and then the lads left for Ko Samui. That's where the adventure began for me...

I have sold the bike to a guy down on Ko Lanta. It's a good 1000km from Kanchanaburi and a bit too far to ride. You can take bikes on the train so after negotiating the train strike it turned out I needed to make a 100km trip to Ratchaburi and then get the train down to Trang. Ko Lanta is 100km at the other end.

I am currently in Ratchaburi in the loudest internet cafe in the world, jam-packed with Thai teenagers playing LAN games. It's an experience! It has been raining all day and the trip from Kanch to Ratch was not the most pleasant, but it was fun! I got pulled by the fuzz and played the dumb foreigner - it's benificial to learn when to show off with the Thai and when to just act the Englishman. I was safely on my way (with no fines!) after spending 20 minutes comparing Thai Police ID cards with my driving license, and having them all laughing at my passport photo.

I pulled into Ratch and proceeded to give myself and the motorbike a shower with a bottle of water and a pack of tissues, much to the bemusement of the local motorbike taxi posse. I asked them where to get food and they pointed to a restaurant across the road. It was huge when I got inside and I was the only one there so I had five waitresses all fussing over me. I'm now waiting for the train at 2037 having arrived a little bit early (4pm), but it's better safe than sorry.

Once I hand over the bike tomorrow I'm going to meet Rick in Ko Samui and make my way back up when they leave on the 22nd.]]> http://me.robotik.co.uk/index.php?entry=entry080913-022148 Michael Sat, 13 Sep 2008 09:21:48 GMT http://me.robotik.co.uk/comments.php?y=08&m=09&entry=entry080913-022148 http://me.robotik.co.uk/index.php?entry=entry080827-020831
Anyway the guesthouse we eventually checked into, the Khiang Khong, was 350B a night (about 5 pounds) and it was pretty good. We could see the Mekong from the balcony. There had been flooding there and more was expected, the Mekong was really high and some structures on the banks were already underwater. A lot of the businesses in town had sandbags layered outside and some had even built temporary breeze block walls around the front of their shops that you had to step over to get in.

Nong Khai is very small, but as a border town for Laos it does have quite a lively tourist area. Down by the river there are some amazing restaurants - we ate in a Vietnamese restaurant called 'Daeng'. I would never have tried it had I been on my own, but Dew had eaten Vietnamese food before and persuaded me that there would be lots of vegetarian food. She was right! We ordered a selection of vegetables, noodles and sauces and made them into little parcels using flat rice noodles that looked like lasagne layers. It was really nice and we watched the sun set over Laos on the opposite bank. After dark the place looked really cool with paper lanterns everywhere.

The next day, we sorted out Dew's border pass. The ASEAN nations have an agreement to allow easy movement of their citizens between other ASEAN countries. Dew has not got a passport, but she could travel on her Thai ID card with a border pass. She got a three day entry for about 50p at the Nong Khai town hall.
We crossed the 'Friendship Bridge' by bus after going through Thai border control. They won't let you walk across the bridge, but the bus is only 15B. On the opposite side I had to sort out my 'Visa on Arrival'. I thought it was going to be difficult, Laos is a communist regime, officially named the Lao People's Democratic Republic and is a fairly repressed nation in terms of political freedom. It turned out to be very easy - the border guards were friendly and it was no hassle at all to get in.

To be continued...]]> http://me.robotik.co.uk/index.php?entry=entry080827-020831 Michael Wed, 27 Aug 2008 09:08:31 GMT http://me.robotik.co.uk/comments.php?y=08&m=08&entry=entry080827-020831 http://me.robotik.co.uk/index.php?entry=entry080825-194610
Please rest assured that if I ever need either a taxi ride, smokey-smokey or 'a lady', I will not hesitate to ask you. Basically, my point is, you don't need to ask me any more.

Thanks,

Michael]]> http://me.robotik.co.uk/index.php?entry=entry080825-194610 Michael Tue, 26 Aug 2008 02:46:10 GMT http://me.robotik.co.uk/comments.php?y=08&m=08&entry=entry080825-194610