Harry's Blog

Just wanted to say - no I haven't disabled comments on the site. But due to a lot of spam recently I've switched the system to only let registered users comment.

It only takes moments to register (hit the login link at the top of the page) and you can then comment to your heart's content. Make sure you register with a real email address though as you'll have to validate your registration.

Don't worry, I will never sell anyone your email address.

I've got a new website. Me and some of the other writers that have been shat upon by AATec (owners of Boomtown.net) have got a new videogames blog on the go. As we're ex-Boomtown we've cheekily called the site Boomtown X.

Do check it out. We've been working hard on it the last week or so.

We're about to start a new year so I thought I'd try a new look for the blog. Hope you like it.

I'm going to change the stock images in the header for some of my own once I've got some free time.

Today I've made a slight change to the organisation of the site. I've merged the Photography and Grumpygamer blogs.

From now on Grumpygamer is where all my waffle about toys, games, gadgets, cameras and the like will appear.

And to start the new merged blog off I've written a brief review of the Cowon S9 32GB personal music player.

I'm working on a new science fiction story and have decided that I'm going to post it here in episodic form. While ultimately my goal for the various books I've started and not finished is regular publishing - I think some episode tales here online is in the best tradition of novel writing.

I also think it's a good way of being encouraged to release the next part. Today though I'm not going to start with a full chapter. Instead I thought I'd bring you the opening page of an as-yet untitled new work. I hope it whets your appetite for more.

The following serves as the story's opening and I'm sure, the ideal blurb for the back cover...

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Most of my first time visitors don't get what they're after when they arrive at harryneary.com. Judging by the statistics from Google they are most likely fundamentalist nutjobs looking for evidence that dinosaurs didn't exist and God created the world in six days.

Alas what they find is me taking the piss of their stupidity. No doubt this post will add to the Google confusion. Look folks, the Earth is billions of years old and humans are descended from a common ancestor to today's apes. It's a fact. You looking for lies about it makes a mockery of the commandment about bearing false witness.

Other popular posts include nonsense about Bagpuss, wildlife programs and a rant about the witch McKeith. Anyway, without further ado here is the list of the most popular posts on the site this month:

1. That's Not My...
2. Master & Commander Sequel?
3. We've Been Streetviewed
4. What is a Dadda Cheese?
5. Dinosaurs Didn't Exist
6. The Perfect MP3 Player?
7. Bagpuss - The Chocolate Biscuit Episode
8. Annoying TV Personalities
9. Dear Barclays Bank
10. The Wussification of Planet Earth

And no, there's still no sign of that Master & Commander sequel.

Regulards will know I've been changing the look of the site over the last few days.

This current theme is one I rather like.

But what do you think. Do you like this look for the site or did you prefer the previous one.

The reason I like this design is that it allows me to add interesting content down at the bottom of the site.

I've about to upgrade to the new version of the blog software. So if I never see you again, it's been nice knowing you.

Update: Well that seemed to go okay didn't it?

If you look at the site's category list you'll see a new addition today - Members Only. You'll only be able to see these posts if you're a registered user of the site and I've made a you a member of the blog.

So if you want to read these posts do make sure you login.

As you might expect these are the rants that aren't for public consumption.

I have no idea if any of your registered reprobates intend to actually use it or not.

But The Snug is back, see? It's there in the top-right menu.

So those of you registered to post entries might like to actually do so.

Otherwise just read the rich history of nonsense contained within.

My beloved wifey did say she never saw the point in blogging. But yesterday something rather strange happened. She wrote two blog posts in the same day.

How things have changed.

Do pay her blog a visit and encourage her to keep at it. Her early blog posts suggest that ultimately she's going to get a lot more hits than me.

My Mrs has gone and got herself a blog of her very own. One wonders if that means she'll post more than three times in a year.

We shall see. Why not go pay her new website a visit.

His and her's websites, enough to make you sick, eh?

Crikey it's been a huge day of changes here on the site. As you may have noticed the site is now harryneary.com not cartmel-bar.co.uk.

Why the change?

Well the old name has been less relevant for some time now. When originally set up this site was the home of our university reunion stories and mostly a place for uni friends to converse.

This is no longer the case.

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...at how many people read my little blog. Surely you've something better to do with your day. But no, my stats hover around one thousand hits most days.

But what brings you here?

I know friends and family read the site, but that's only going to count for a handful of visits. So too the number of people who read this blog after having a nosy Google of my name to see who their curate was marrying. Again numbers there would be too insignificant to alter my stats.

There's the legacy of the tragic events that befell my family in early 2007. I'm a member of various online communities that supported me during a difficult time - and they would often visit this site and communicate with me using it. Many of those are likely to have bookmarked this place.

In many cases though I expect much of my readership comes from people who have no idea who I am. Instead they Google searched on some topic that brought them here.

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