Furthermore: March 2005

March 29, 2005

Excel Trick - counting lists of things

Probably there’s some neat built in way to do this, but I don’t know it if there is. Suppose you have a list, which may contain multiple copies of each item in it. You want to know how many of each there are.

ie, suppose I have a, b, a, c, b, a, d, c, b - how many of each thing do I have?

Okay, put all the items in a column, then sort it, so that all the a’s are together, all the b’s etc. Call that column A. Now in column B, put a 1 in row 1, then starting at row 2, use this formula: IF(A2=A1, B1+1, 1) - fill down to the end. The successive cells in the column will count up from 1 to however many of each thing you have.

Ah, but how can you extract the highest numbered item of group of identical items easily? Simple: column C - use this formula: IF(B2

March 28, 2005

Things to Come

I feel slightly nervous writing about what I’m planning to write about, but maybe it will give me some impetus to actually get on with it. Let’s check back in a month and see what I’ve managed to do:

• pensions - I’ve just managed to turn my mass of work and personal pensions into something I actually understand, so I figure some notes on what I did might be helpful to a few people.


• redundancy consultations - I was made redundant from a software company in late 2003. I was an employee representative in the consultation, and while there are things I’m not allowed to say about the process, a lot of what I learnt generally would be useful to people dumped into the same situation.


• Options, Futures and Other Derivatives - I’m in two minds about this - my idea is that as I do the exercises, I should blog them. It’ll give me an incentive to actually do them. Or will it just make me nervous? I’m going to give it some thought.



• Site design - I want to tweak the design a bit - I want a right hand column into which I can push my delicious entries. I know it’s only a template away, but it might take me a while to get round to it.

March 25, 2005

Knee Problems

I’ve been having some trouble with my right knee for several weeks now. It aches just on the inside of the joint when I’m running, and it persists after the run, which made me worried about doing too much with it.

I’ve been to the doctor and she said there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with it, so after a bit of rest, I’ve started running again with a knee support. I suppose I should be grateful that I’ve had about 10 years without any injuries, but it’s still annoying when something that’s become such an important ritual in my life is suddenly threatened without there being any apparent cause as to why the knee should suddenly start playing up.

March 20, 2005

Wimpole Hall

We went to Wimpole Hall yesterday. Didn’t see the Hall itself, but we saw some of the grounds, which are beautiful, and we visited Wimpole Hall Farm which was a big hit with eldest daughter (3). They have lots of animals to pet, and it was a really nice day out. It’s about �15 for 2 adults + 1 child 3 or over to do the farm. You have to pay separately for the Hall itself, or I think you can get an inclusive ticket.

My only gripe: if the weather’s nice, bring your own food - the restaurant was very overpriced and not much good at all. Apart from that, we’ll definitely be coming back to do some of the walks, and probably see the farm again.

March 8, 2005

For Sale / Free

I’ve got a few things I want rid of:

high chair - good condition, it’s just a bit big for our house and doesn’t fold down much. If that’s not a problem for you then you are welcome to it - free to good home.

Big collection of 2000AD comics. Everything from prog 2 to about prog 750. I think there’s one missing. The early ones are variably well preserved, but all readable. More recent ones (about 400 onwards) are in good nick - �50 ono. These are at my parents’ place, so if you are interested, let me know, and I’ll go up there and bring them back here.

I’ve also got annuals from 1978 to 1991. Make me an offer.

Interzone - issue 27 to 176 (maybe one or two gaps). �50 ono.

If you’re interested in anything, email me: matt at this domain.

March 3, 2005

Amazon Yellow Pages and Keyhole

I love sites that let you zoom into maps or aerial photos, even better are the ones where you can navigate at street level such as the late, lamented DizzyCity.

Anyway, to fill the gap left by DizzyCity, Amazon are now doing Yellow Pages for some of the big US cities. For instance I was pretty impressed with this Yellow Pages link to New York which shows the part of 8th Avenue where the Incentra Village House Hotel is (stayed there last time I was in New York). I think it’s pretty amazing the way you can walk up and down the street. They cover SF and some other places too.

Over at Google, if you have broadband, you can download a trial version of Keyhole. It’s like having a geographical globe you can zoom right into. Coverage is better for some places than others, but I was impressed with it as something to play with - I can imagine the educational value for instance.