I updated my MacBook Pro with the latest Lion update and my iPad to iOS5.  This brings with it the much-heralded iCloud.  But I'm not exclusively a Mac user, so I'm not convinced it'll be particularly useful.  I don't have an iPhone (or any other phone for that matter).  I only have one iOS device, a first generation iPad (so sharing purchased apps seems pretty unimportant!).  I don't buy music from iTunes. I don't use the dreadful iTunes desktop app to manage my music - indeed I ditched a 2nd generation iPod Touch in favour of a Cowon music player to escape iTunes.  This seems to limit any real utility for iCloud.  Apparently I can:Synchronise my Mail, Contacts, Calendar and Notes.  Well, that happens already, doesn't it?  I have a variety of email accounts that I access wherever I am, either through mobile broadband or WiFi.  And my iPad notes turn up in my gmail account (which I can access on any computer).Bookmarks.  This refers to Safari, which I rarely (if ever) use, and then only on my single iOS device.  On all of my other computers,  I use Chrome, which synchronises my bookmarks to all my devices (except the iPad) - whether they be Linux, OS X or Windows.Photo Stream. No idea what this is for, it doesn't say, and my installed iPhoto is too primitive to take advantage of it anyway.Documents & Data.  Well, this might have been worthwhile for Pages, Keynote and Numbers, where I have the iOS and OS X versions.  However, since I cannot see a way to share files between OS X and iOS devices, and given that I have but a single iOS device, I cannot see what I can share these files with.  But for everything else, I don't think I can share with Linux, so any advantage over Dropbox is questionable. At least I can use Dropbox to transfer files to my iPad!Back to my Mac. Don't know what this is. Apparently this is to connect with a desktop Mac.

Back to My Mac lets anyone with an Apple ID connect remotely to their home or office Mac over the Internet and control the keyboard, pointer and file system.

Ho hum.  Only really useful for those fully assimilated into the Apple collective.  My office PC runs Ubuntu Linux, as does my home desktop PC and my Mythbuntu PVR.  I can (and do) get to these through other applications that use standard VNC protocols, using either my iPad or my MacBook, or my Ubuntu notebook.Find my Mac.  I think this is a way of tracking a Mac if it goes AWOL.  Could be useful, but I already have a third party app for this.I am rather underwhelmed.Oh, but isn't today Ubuntu 11.10 release day?

Well, here's another spectacularly geeky cartoon from xkcd:[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="319" caption="X11"][/caption]I've just been playing with the beta release of Ubuntu GNU/Linux 11.10 (Oneiric Ocelot, if I have the spelling correct), due for release this week - tomorrow if memory serves.  I had some issues with screen resolution, so this cartoon resonates with me.  If there's one thing I hate, it's trying to sort out screen resolutions that haven't been detected.Incidentally, the latest release of Ubuntu seems to me to have sorted out many of the issues I've had with the Unity desktop, and I have new-found enthusiasm for it.  Perhaps I'll write a bit more about Ubuntu 11.10 later this week

OK, as well as marking the death of Steve Jobs, today's xkcd cartoon pretty well sums up today's experience of working with Word on a MacBook Pro:[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="370" caption="Eternal Flame"][/caption]This has happened to me several times today.  It spins and it spins until  I force Word to quit.

Another glorious day as the Indian Summer continued through the weekend.  Today saw the North Bucks Road Club hill climb championship, run as usual at Bow Brickhill.  I think the residents of Bow Brickhill are used to mountain bikers congregating on Sunday mornings, but this morning was enlivened by a high turn out and even some spectators!  Presumably this unprecedented enthusiasm was in large part down to the glorious weather.Recently resurfaced (which removed the friable and frankly skittery road surface), the Bow Brickhill climb is quite challenging to race up.  To be perfectly honest, hill climbs have always seemed to me to be a particularly vile kind of time trialling.  This morning I had a bit of a rush to get sorted, as I discovered my road bike had developed a 'garage puncture' since I parked it in the garage on Friday afternoon.  I really don't know how I manage it, though Carol reckons is the big spiders jumping on the valve.Once that was sorted, it was off to Bow Brickhill, where I was surprised by the turnout.  When my start came round my heart was racing even before the off , which gives some indication of my fitness following the post-Duo cold I've been suffering from.  Afte a brisk start, the road rears up, and I started shifting down a few cogs.  Here I suffered my first jumping gears.  Not to worry I thought, just keep plugging away...the trouble is that on climbs I tend to go into 'tourist mode' rather than 'race mode', and I just eased back that bit too much!  Round the bend and the gradient eases.  I shifted up a few gears. Crash! Bang! More gear crashes!  Still, I kept what little momentum I had and headed on up the road expecting the finish to be round the next bend.False expectation!  It was round the bend after that!  I came up the last bit rather too slowly and finished just under 3 minutes.  Not a spectacular result, but I suppose at least I tried.   After a spot of recuperation (and chat with riders) it was off home to get on the the business of coughing my lungs up in private.I still hate hill climbs.Results to follow.

On the back of a frankly lacklustre season, we (Team Grumpy, a.k.a Gerry and Robert) were uncertain how things would go for them at the 2011 edition of the Duo Normand, the 30th time the event has been run (and the 8th in which Team Grumpy has competed). As usual, signing on was a bunfight in a large marquee in the centre of Marigny. On the day, we successfully dodged some quite heavy showers by decamping to the Sport Bar for a coffee while we waited out the worst of the showers.

Well, I joined Google+ while in France.  Which has resulted in a strange blend of English and French in by Google+ page (Franglais?).  Anyway, until I build up enough contacts in my circles, I see tumbleweed blowing.  The interface is clean and easy to use, far less cluttered than Facebook.  I picked up a link to this xkcd cartoon (amusingly, via Google+).[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="428" caption="Google+"][/caption]

Carol has caught a cold. Naturally enough, this has led to galloping hypochondria in me - though I do feel a little bunged up - not good preparation for the Duo Normand. So we both felt a bit under the weather (in contrast, today was the finest weather of the trip so far - very sunny and warm all day) as we set off in the car for Le Molay-Littry, where we planned to leave the car before pedalling off for Port-en-Bessain Huppain. This was a town that we'd always passed through rather than investigated in its own right. Actually it has a fine working fishing harbour which bustles with activity. We stopped there for Moules and frites. Also we picked up a pair of almond croissants for later consumption.Trundling west along the coast, we stopped briefly at the Omaha Beach military cemetery, always a sobering sight, particularly when you see the long list of names of soldiers whose bodies weren't identified. There's a profusion of Omaha beach related places along the cast road, ranging from small museums to collections of miscellaneous WW2 hardware to campsites and pizzerias. It's a bit hard to identify where to actually get down to the beach.Further along the coast, we stopped in Vierville sur Mer where the Omaha beach landings began. It's an astonishing long beach with a few people sunbathing, seagulls standing around, and with a banked set of duns on which holiday homes perch, punctuated by the occasional relic of the German 'Atlantic Wall'. We paused here for a bit, to eat the almond croissants. It was pretty hard to imagine such a peaceful scene was the site of such ferocious fighting during the D-day landings.Turning inland, we passed an enormous iron bridge brought by the D-Day forces. It wasn't obvious whether it was used in the actual landings or later in the campaign - in any event we couldn't stop for a proper look as we were being chased up a steep climb by traffic. On the other hand, incoming traffic was all slowing to have a good gawp.From there it was a pretty straightforward ride back to Le Molay to collect the car. An excellent day's ride, with lots of time to pause for the sights (and smells!) of the Normandy countryside.

Again, two rides today. First off, Gerry and I rode round the main part of the Duo Normand course (slightly over 25 miles). Quite good, though I felt rather lethargic to start with. Much cow muck on road. A brief rain shower caused serious muck spattering!Back to house via one of the Cerisy La Salle boulangeries. Had sandwich lunch before nipping out on the tandem to explore lanes around L'Abbaye d'Hambye. The abbey was closed (as usual). Many very steep (though short) climbs. La Baleine with the Krill restaurant (complete with baleen whale on signpost). Back via Roncey and Notre Dame de Cenilly.

After a bit of a late start (around 11am), headed off on the tandem through lovely green and lush countryside to Agon-Coutainville, where 3 course lunch was had [whelks; skate (R) turkey (C); creme brûlée]. Returned to the house by a slightly different route.

Still windy a.m. Went for brief walk up to Cerisy La Salle for some food. Back at house, decided to go out for short bike ride in the environs of Cerisy La Salle and Notre Dame de Cenilly. Rather good, different roads than usual. Encountered a line painting crew emitting solvent odours.Later, out for regular training route with Gerry on time trial bikes.

Only brief notes just now, due to flaky internet access!Very windy today, with occasional showers (remnants of one of the american hurricanes, apparently). Slept late, then out to do shopping. It was clearly not a day for going out on the tandem. Discovered french supermarkets close at noon on Sunday. Eventually went to Villedieu where bought baguettes and an apple tart.Back to house where cooked dinner (butternut squash risotto) and awaited Gerry & co.

Just quick updates, internet access flaky!Packed a.m. then drove to Portsmouth. Despite stopping for lunch, we still arrived very early (2h early, around 3h after leaving the house).A very smooth crossing, despite the rising winds. Interesting "Ocean Nature Documentary" with no sound. Sun over Normandy as we approached Cherbourg.As we were first on the ferry, we were first off, and zoomed off southward. Took less than 1:30 to reach the house, which is between Cerisy la Salle and Notre Dame de Cenilly.Unpacked, bite to eat, checked weather forecast, not good. And so to bed.

Well, it appears that the latest in Nadine Dorries' attempts to limit women's reproductive freedom got pretty short shrift in Parliament (The Guardian).  From the Guardian's live blog:

What does it mean? On Twittershortly before the vote took place Labour's Chris Bryant posted this:I suspect Nadine Dorries has done more harm to social conservatism on abortion than anyone in 25 years. Hurrah!Really? It is certainly a terrible defeat, perhaps even a textbook example of how not to approach a free-vote, conscience issue. Dorries tabled what appeared at face value a relatively technical change, and yet she ended up losing the support of her government, a large section of her party and even the co-sponsor of her amendment (Frank Field).But this wasn't really a decisive encounter in the culture war; it was more a case of Westminster ganging up on one of parliament's easiest targets. (Which is why the PMQ's exchange earlier was significant. When your own party leader treats you as a figure of ridicule, you are in trouble.) Does this really tell us much about the balance of power between social liberalism and social conservatism in Britain today? I doubt it. The only lesson that really stands out is that, if you want change legislation on a contentious issue, don't ask Dorries to take the lead.

I don't suppose that will stop her attempts to limit abortion rights.

Over at Posterous:Once again Nadine "70% fiction" Dorries falls short on telling the truthYes, the Tories do want to lose the NHS

VeloNews has an article saying that a report in Gazzetta dello Sport says an investigation into disgraced cyclist Riccardo Riccò's mysterious collapse earlier this year was indeed due to a self-administered blood transfusion  (Probe reveals Ricco self-transfusion – report).  Having spent this weekend reading David Millar's excellent account of his fall from grace into doping, and his subsequent rehabilitation (Racing Through the Dark: The Fall and Rise of David Millar), it's just so depressing seeing someone who is quite probably a very talented athlete take themself so close to death.

In all the furore over the Dorries-Field attempt to restrict women's reproductive rights, I believe that it's important not to lose sight of the fact that this reflects a mere handful of amendments to therather larger legislative effort, a bill to reform the National Health Service.More over at Posterous...

This event was one that we'd been targetting for some time, as it offered an opportunity to ride a 2-up time trial a couple of weeks before the 'big one', the Duo Normand.  The preceding evening saw classic Team Grumpy preparation, a large Thai dinner in the local Thai restaurant washed down with lashings of energy drink.  We must be getting a bit used to this dietary assault as we had no ill-effects (for a change).The Norlond '10' was being run on the F12/10, which uses the A505 Leighton Buzzard bypass, turning at its junction with the A5.  On arriving at the HQ, we had a chat with some of the tandem riders. who were off in front of the 2-up teams, at 1 minute intervals (the 2-up teams were riding at 3 minute intervals) and then set up the bikes and went off for a warmup.  Because we were near the start of the field, we had the opportunity to warm up on the course.  This was good, as it gave us a good feel for how the wind (which was rather stiff) would affect the course.  It turned out the return leg was definitely the harder leg, so we decided to take shorter turns for that leg.  It was also useful to gauge my body's response to effort: I had been suffering from quite a bad cold for the best part of two weeks which had kept me off the bike.  In fact, the worst I felt were some twinges in my legs which cleared by the time I started the event.We lined up at the start, in our usual starting formation with Gerry poised to lead off.  I exhorted him in front of witnesses not to look over his shoulder after he started, and for once, he didn't!  Somewhat disturbingly, I was in a bit of  a high gear for starting, so a gap quickly opened, but it closed quickly as I horsed the gear round.  I was at the front as we approached the Billington roundabout and for once we sailed through with no interfering traffic - indeed I stayed on the tri-bars.We powered off towards the turn, taking turns of about 1-2 minutes.  This was a quick leg, with a stiff tailwind assisting us.  I was surprised at how good I felt, and our changeovers seemed very smooth and professional.  Up the ramp to the turn and a gap opened up, but only briefly, we were together coming out of the turn.  Heading back was indeed tougher with a stiff headwind, but we responded by keeping the turns short.  Gerry exhorted me to take shorter turns, but all I could make out was a seemingly inarticulate and strangled shout.Back to the Billington roundabout again, and once more we got through without traffic problems.  I shouted to Gerry to go all out to the finish, which was by now in sight (I dare say all he heard was a seemingly inarticulate and strangled shout!).  Getting to the lne, I was annoyed to see a motorcyclist blocking the timekeeper's line of sight, so I bellowed out our number.We finished with 22:15, not a bad time in the conditions.  We'd caught a team for 6 minutes and were the fastest 2-up team (but the only all-male team, so that's not too important).  What was hugely encouraging for the upcoming Duo Normand 2-up, is that we both rode really well as a team, which highly effective changeovers.  Indeed some spectators later commented that we were riding so tightly that when seen oncoming we looked like a single bike.  All in all, a very encouraging race.  And just what we needed in the run up to 'the big event'. 

Nadine Dorries' thinly disguised attempt to limit terminations seems to be running out of momentum as an understanding of its implications and motivation spreads (Anti-abortion bid in disarray as critics rally | World news | The Guardian).  Some statistics relating to terminations in England and Wales have been published by the Guardian (Abortion statistics for England and Wales: see the latest breakdown).Excellent news.  Now let's display the same attention to detail where the wider aspects of the Health and Social Care bill are concerned.  Does it endanger the NHS, as the BMA suggests?

Via the National Secular Society comes this appraisal of Nadine Dorries' plans aimed at restricting women's reproductive rights (Nadine Dorries’ abortion proposals – Fact and Fiction | National Secular Society).The key issue here is the use of the word 'independent'.  Dorries uses it as 'independent from the abortion providers', but knowing full well that the bodies she seeks to use for offering advice are anti-abortion organisations (and generally religiously motivated) intends Parliament and the public to misinterpret this as 'independent" in a more general sense.In this article, the National Secular Society has provided a detailed synopsis (with links) as to why this set of proposals are so thoroughly objectionable.It's interesting to note parallels between the devious language usage here and that used by American creationists - 'Teach the Controversy', where there is no controversy save in the minds of the cloth-eared creationists.  There's a constant strain of dishonesty apparent in the way that those motivated by christian beliefs seem to try and influence policy.

I don't often blog about political issues here, but I'm finding the illiberal and frankly unjust policies of the Tory government too much to bear at the moment.  And, yes, I regard this as a Tory government since their LibDem partners seem particularly passive.Nadine Dorries, MP for Mid-Bedfordshire, has long desired to eliminate as many terminations of pregnancy as she possibly can.  She has repeatedly relied upon misinformation and untruth in her campaigns (see for example this, this, this, and this).  Her latest gambit is to file an amendment to the Health and Social Care bill due to be discussed in parliament next week.  This amendment seeks to require women seeking termination to receive 'advice' from a body distinct from the termination provider.This is couched in language that on the face of it seems reasonable.  But it's only in digging deeper that the serious flaws in the proposal become clear.  The advisory groups envisaged by Dorries are principally those with an anti-abortion agenda.  You can read more about the lies deceit and ignorance being spread by these groups in this Guardian article: Abortion: pregnancy counselling centres found wanting.  Naturally, those in favour of a woman's right to choose over her reproduction are up in arms over this amendment.  It would seem from a later Guardian article that the depths of duplicity in this amendment may have finally sunk in to Number 10: Downing Street forces U-turn on Nadine Dorries abortion proposals ( though see below: Dorries has claimed this is untrue).  In my view, this ghastly MP is not making these proposed amendments through any desire to help women, but rather through a deep-seated objection to terminations.  This is shared with Frank Field, an MP with a long history od such objections.I suspect Nadine Dorries is now feeling her PR advantage slipping away.  She's now been posting increasingly hysterical articles on her 'blog'.  Her blog, by the way, doesn't permit any commenting and in any case is 70% fiction according to her.  This is the latest, posted Wednesday, 31 August 2011 at 23:45 [Blog articles at blog.dorries.org have a habit of disappearing once the author realises her foot is well and truly planted in her mouth, so I pasted the text below.  Its current URL is this. Emphasis in bold is mine]

For those who have read this in the Guardianhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/31/downing-street-uturn-abortion-proposalsas has just been confirmed on Newsnight, Downing St has denied the story.If Downing Street were going to do anything, does anyone seriously think they would give it to the Guardian first?No, obviously, but Evan Harris would.The truth behind the story is probably slightly more menacing, more menacing even than Evan Harris.Bear in mind this amendment is to offer women the option of independent counselling, delivered not by the abortion provider, not by a religious organisation, but by one of the 80,000 BACP professional counsellors across the country who are prohibited at present from working with pregnant women.It’s just an offer, they don’t have to accept it, however, those who have doubts and need help may do and if they do, then so be it, surely it is their choice?Rumour has it that Evan Harris, abortion and assisted death zealot, is applying huge pressure to the office of Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister. That would be the no longer an elected MP Evan Harris.  It would appear that he believes he has immense influence on Government policy, more influence than elected Liberal Democrat MPs even.I am led to believe that this story in the Guardian originated from him.I am quite sure that the office of the DPM would like to have a little more information about what the public thinks before it tried to apply pressure on No10 to put the brakes on an amendment which has such huge support amongst women. When I say women, I don’t include those who write for the Guardian, obviously. Nick Clegg may also like to hang fire awhile and see what else pops up in the papers over the next few days. I can assure him, it will be far more interesting than anything Evan Harris has to say./blockquote>Isn't this a bit strong?  And in any case, Dorries is economical with the truth when she says 'independent'.   She is also wrong to claim that abortion providers seek to make profit from terminations.  I note a blog article (Abortion Amendments to the Health & Social Care Bill) at the Conservative Women's Organisation blog concludes with this:

You still need two doctors to authorise a termination. Both of them weigh up the patient's decision and will only sign if they believe that she has come to the decision independently and has considered all other choices - they would be negligent if they didn't.Instead of making abortion physically and mentally harder for women in the UK, we should be looking at prevention and education - and by this I do not mean we need to teach graphic details to 13 year olds and give lessons with condoms and bananas. Parents need to take a bigger part in the education of their children and talking about sex appropriately when they're young is the best way to de-stigmatise it.The fact is that the health and welfare of women would be affected in a bill that doesn't mention termination once in its 420 pages.I urge every MP, woman or man, on whatever bench, to allow women to choose for themselves. I urge every constituent to contact your MP to get your voice heard.VOTE AGAINST the 3 amendments and do not allow the government to introduce any other comparable legislation.

As a final note, despite the appalling Dorries and her vile amendment, it's important not to lose sight of other issues around the bill as a whole.  Some commentators have observed that it may well lead to the complete breakup of the NHS.Update:  Despite Dorries' assertion that "as has just been confirmed on Newsnight, Downing St has denied the story", the BBC is reporting (David Cameron 'won't back abortion advice change') that

David Cameron "cannot support" an attempt by a Conservative MP to change the rules on the advice that can be offered to women seeking abortions.The PM's office said he was sympathetic to Nadine Dorries' view that women should be offered independent advice.But he was concerned the planned amendment to the Health Bill would prevent abortion providers like Marie Stopes from giving counselling as well