5-day forecast test week 4

For Sat 24th
Tue 20th: Sunny
Wed 21st: Sunny
Thu 22nd: Sunny
Fri 23rd: Sunny
Actual weather: Sun through high cloud
Accuracy rating: Good

For Sun 25th
Wed 21st: Sunny intervals
Thu 22nd: Sunny intervals
Fri 23rd: Sunny intervals
Sat 24th: Sunny intervals
Actual weather: Rain am, sunny intervals pm
Accuracy rating: Poor

5-day forecast test week 3

For Saturday 17th
Tue 13th: Sunny intervals
Wed 14th: Sunny
Thu 15th: Sunny
Fri 16th: Sunny
Actual weather: Sunny
Accuracy rating: Perfect

For Sunday 18th
Wed 14th: Light showers
Thu 15th: Sunny intervals
Fri 16th: Sunny intervals
Sat 17th: Sunny
Actual weather: Sunny
Accuracy rating: Perfect

I'm being asked if this series has a satirical intent. No is the answer, I'm just testing the reliability of the forecast so I can see if I can rely on it to plan indoor/outdoor activities at the weekend.

5-day forecast test week 2

For Sat 10th
Tue 6th: Overcast
Wed 7th: Overcast
Thu 8th: Sunny
Fri 9th: Sunny intervals
Actual weather: Sunny, then overcast
Accuracy rating: Good


For Sun 11th
Wed 7th: Overcast
Thu 8th: Sunny
Fri 9th: Sunny intervals
Actual weather: Sunny intervals, then overcast
Accuracy rating: Good

5-day forecast test week 1

Forecasts for Saturday 3rd
Tuesday 30th: Heavy showers
Wednesday 31st: Heavy rain
Thursday 1st: Heavy showers
Actual weather: Heavy showers
Accuracy Rating: Perfect

Forecasts for Sunday 4th
Wednesday 31st: Light showers
Thursday 1st: Sunny intervals
Saturday 3rd: Heavy showers
Actual weather: Overcast, then sunny spells
Accuracy Rating: Slight (altocumulus castellanus and large Cu seen)

(Rating scale - None, Slight, Poor, Fair, Good, Perfect)

End of the Line

This map aims to include at least one place that the Doctor or companions visited in each story. Places aren't included if

• they don't have names, or at least not names of the sort that a station might have. I couldn't see 'UNIT HQ' as a station name for example
• another place from the same story had already been included, and there wasn't any more room when the need to fit in other stories was taken into account. A good example is the omission of the return to The Moon from the Invasion stations - it would make that part of the map look horribly complicated without actually expanding the list of places visited. (And the TARDIS doesn't actually land on the moon in The Invasion anyway...). The tight loop back to Nerva in season 12 caused me enough problems as it is.

I've stuck fairly rigidly to the tube map conventions - all curves are regulation radius and there are no angles other than 45 or 90 degrees. I've even applied that rule to the angle of the links between interchanges - many of the older maps aren't so strict in that regard.

There are some features on this map that don't occur on the real thing - like lines crossing themselves, joining themselves at intersections or running parallel to themselves - but neither are they ruled out by the style guides.

The station names are a little smaller in relation to the line widths than they are on the modern maps, to make the map fit handily on a typical monitor.

There isn't a decent knock-off version of the Johnston font used in the actual map, so I used Transport, the UK road sign font, instead, as it's quite close and quite pleasing. (Trebuchet MS is quite a good approximation to the most recent version of the map font, too).

The bit that I'm least happy with is the link to the westernmost Gallifrey circle, which is much longer even than the Monument-Bank interchange used to be before the Central Line was deflected south. But I can't see a way round it without using a non-standard angle for the line.

The map derives from approximately 650 lines of descriptive code which is then processed by a fairly hefty (88K) Perl script, which outputs an SVG file.

This image is a screen shot of Firefox's rendering of the SVG file - doing it this way helps conceal most of the white gaps that the Firefox rendering engine incorrectly places between line segments. Inkscape and Opera are a bit better in this regard but not perfect. This method also means that the viewer needn't have the Transport font installed.

Now revised to show a rail symbol for Cranleigh Halt.

(Acknowledgement: The aeroplane glyph is adapted from the airport symbol on Wikimedia Commons, and the rail symbol also comes from there.)

For future updates see the EotL page.

May not whiten teeth

I notice that it's now been revealed that the 'trick to turn teeth white' spam was discovered simultaneously in the US and UK. Yes, at the exact same time 'a mom' found a way of whitening teeth for under $10, an all-British 'mum' found a precisely similar method which cost under £5.

What're the odds eh?

'Welcome to the Russell T Davies Who Emporium sir.'
'Thank you my good man.'
'What can I do for you, sir?'
'Well, I was sitting in the public library on Thurmond Street just now, skimming through The Ark In Space by Ian Marter, and I suddenly came over all eager.'
'Eager, sir?'
'Yearning.'
'Eh?'
'I wanted to watch some facking Doctor Who didn't I?'
'Oh, I thought you were complaining about Murray Gold.'
'Oh, heaven forbid. I am one who delights in all manifestations of the cacophonic muse.'
'Sorry?'
'I luv your music!'
'So he can go on playing, can he?'
'Most certainly. Now then, some Who please, my good man.'
'Certainly, sir. What would you like?'
'Well, how about a little wit?'
'I'm afraid we're fresh out of wit, sir.'
'Oh never mind, how are you on escapism?'
'I'm afraid we never have that at the end of the week, sir. We get it fresh on Monday.'
'Tish tish. No matter. Well, stout yeoman, four episodes of mind-expanding ideas, if you please.'
'Ah. They've been on order, sir, for two weeks. I was expecting them this morning.'
'It's not my lucky day, is it? Er, chillingly suggestive horror?'
'Sorry, sir.'
'Original monsters?'
'Normally, sir, yes. Today the van broke down.'
'Satire perhaps?'
'Ah! We have satire, yes sir.'
'You do! Excellent.'
'Yes, sir. It's, er, it's a bit crappy.'
'Oh, I like it crappy.'
'Well, it's very crappy, actually, sir.'
'No matter. Fetch hither the satire and contemporary reference! M-mmm!'
'I think it's a bit crappier than you'll like it, sir.'
'I don't care how fucking crappy it is. Hand it over with all speed.'
'Oh...'
'What now?'
'It's three years out of date sir.'
'Is it.'
'Yes sir.'
'Likeable characters?'
'No'
'Alien planets?'
'No'
'Historical stories with a sense of time and place?'
'No'
'You do have some Who, don't you?'
'Of course, sir. It's a Who shop, sir. We've got .....'
'No, no, don't tell me. I'm keen to guess.'
'Fair enough.'
'Ah, how about references to historical and literary figures?'
'Well, we don't get much call for them around here, sir.'
'Not much ca- it's one of the most popular attributes of Who!'
'Not round here, sir.'
'And what is the most popular attribute of Who round here?'
'Subtle contemporary cultural reference sir.'
'Is it.'
'Oh yes, sir. It's staggeringly popular in this manor, squire.'
'All right. Okay. Have you got any, he asked expecting the answer no?'
'I'll have a look, sir ..... nnnnnnooooooooo.'
'It's not much of a Who shop, is it?'
'Finest in the district, sir.'
'Explain the logic underlying that conclusion, please.'
'Well, it delivers sir. You haven't asked me about lasting appeal, sir.'
'Is it worth it?'
'Could be.'
'Have you- SHUT THAT BLOODY INCIDENTAL MUSIC UP!'
'Told you so.'
'Have you got any lasting appeal?'
'No.'
'That figures. Predictable really, I suppose. It was an act of purest optimism to have posed the question in the first place. Tell me: have you in fact got any Who here at all?'
'Yes, sir.'
'Really.'
'No. Not really, sir, not a scrap. I was deliberately wasting your time, sir.'
'Well, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to shoot you.'
'Right-o, sir.'
BLAM