T seems like the clouds reduced the heat somewhat, so 35 degrees felt more like 30 and we didn’t find apples today, only berries. Lots and lots of the latter.

We brought about 2 KG of premium seeds with us to feed the birds and taught the young kids to feed the birds, not to chase and scare them. Rianne gave fistfuls of seeds to about 6 young children, who learned that the birds are “friends”. It was a lot of fun, so we’ll come back there again on Sunday.

It’ll be a lot cooler in the coming few days. I got some strong tan throughout the day today and it felt like I was near the beach. How long before the sixth and seventh heatwave?

ast night I experienced the eclipse or partial eclipse. Here in the UK there were only moments of darkening, so at around 6 or 7 it felt like the daylight had come to an end. Not too long afterwards the sky was bright and it looked nice again. Maybe by pure chance this was a very good day to watch an eclipse, at least here in Manchester.

There’s some coverage and photos nearer to the ‘epicentre’:

• Parts of Spain plunged into darkness as eclipse moves across Europe

  Parts of Spain were briefly plunged into darkness on Wednesday as a solar eclipse that began in Iceland and the Arctic progressed across the continent. It was the first total eclipse to be seen from mainland Europe in two decades. Read our blog to see how the event unfolded.

• What can we learn from eclipses?

  A total solar eclipse will sweep across northern Spain on August 12 in one of Europe’s most anticipated astronomical events of the decade. From the Sun’s corona to animal behaviour and human emotions, these rare celestial events continue to provide scientists with valuable insights more than two millennia after they were first observed. Head of Space Science at the Centre National d’Études Spatiales, Olivier Joie-La Marle, shares further insights.

• A Special U.S. Navy Squadron Photographed the Last Total Solar Eclipse in Spain in 1905

  Three American warships were sent to Valencia to capture pictures of the sun’s corona with a high-definition camera that would cost over $34,000 in today’s money.

remember starting my Ph.D. in 2003 when GNU/Linux was small and many challenges persisted (e.g. a Web that expected MSIE everywhere). We now look at around 10% market share for GNU/Linux – something many of us have dreamed of for decades.

Now a major goal is to teach people about Software Freedom, not just “Linux”.

HEY say people choose pets that are like them or that pets become more like their owners (seldom vice versa). Maybe there is some “natural selection” in the mix (like selective breeding for a process favouring “domesticated” traits).

In the case of Bot and Bot’s Friend (our birds of choice), it seems like they’re very much like me and Rianne. Their character (low temper, polite) seems similar. As for “Sleepy”, she needs more training. Maybe she’ll get there eventually.

This afternoon we plan to go feed about 100 birds. There is a terrible drought and it affects them.

have just published this article that brings us closer to the 150-part milestone. I am very eager, almost excited, to be exposing this truly nasty and shady (secretive) industry of extortion. We’re going to change the system for the better and help prevent more bloggers being victimised.

They basically reposted what ABC had published hours prior:

omorrow in the afternoon we’ll go visit the Stadium Store, where there was recently this meetup with 4 players. We don’t plan to buy anything, it’s just on the way to the park where we feed birds and pick up apples, though only if any are ripe and reachable.

Tomorrow it’s meant to be extremely hot, hence unpleasant indoors.

Friday we have some more fancy plans, aside from fun in the sun. So far this vacation has been lots of fun, very successful and also productive in general (when online I write a bit).