Things I did in 2004

[ewx]

In 2004 I started learning Shotokan Karate. Currently I train either two or three times a week, for an hour each time. I recently (early December) reached 6th Kyu, which is a blue belt. As well as learning a useful skill it's been good for general fitness and coordination, and I've got to know some interesting people through it.

The Shotokan Karate Association: http://www.ska.org.uk/

I've not swum much compared to last year, Karate having rather crowded that out.

I read Edward Gibbon's The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire. This is a monumentally long work, covering over a thousand years of history, written in the late 18th century. Despite being itself over two hundred years old I've found it most readable. I'm looking forward, however, to reading *shorter* books in 2005.

More about Gibbon: http://www.livejournal.com/users/ewx/267170.html

I bought an iBook, an Apple laptop. I've not owned a laptop before and this had made me an immediate and enthusiastic convert. The timing was good: Apple upgraded their product line shortly after I ordered, and I ended up getting a better machine for less money.

Apple iBook: http://www.apple.com/ibook/

I developed a software jukebox, called DisOrder. We have all our music CDs copied to hard disc and this software allows us to individual tracks, or whole albums, at a whim; to queue up a series of tracks that would otherwise require manual CD-changing; to leave the stereo on random play from our entire collection; and so on.

More about DisOrder: http://www.greenend.org.uk/rjk/2003/09/jukebox.html

I'm still working for nCipher. Earlier this year I was involved with an update to our NetHSM product, which fixed bugs and added new features. Since then I've been working primarily on design and development work for a completely new project, but also helping out with maintenance of our existing line.

More about nCipher: http://www.ncipher.com/

I took lots of photos. I'm starting to feel the limits of my current camera, so perhaps next year will see an upgrade.

My photos: http://www.greenend.org.uk/rjk/photos/galleries.html

I had very little spare time and was very disorganized in my communications. This may be expected to continue...