On 13 May 1787 11 ships sailed from Portsmouth, to establish the first European colony in Australia; it also marked the beginning of prisoner transports to that continent. It is known today as the First Fleet in Australia. from wikipedia

5 years ago, on this day, I arrived in the UK from Australia. I'm off to steal a loaf of bread..

You'll have heard of the Digital Economy Bill: it introduces powers to cut your Internet connection if you're caught illegally downloading films, music or software. It does more than that. It takes your photographs from you, too.

Until now, if someone found one of your photographs and wanted to use it commercially, they couldn't without first asking you. Clause 43 changes all that by allowing the use of “Orphan Works” - photographs, illustrations and other artworks whose owners cannot be found.

Clause 43 says that if someone finds your photograph, wants to use it and decides that they can’t trace you, they can do whatever they like with it after paying an arbitrary fee to a UK Government-appointed “licensing body”. You’ll never know unless you happen to find it being used in this way, in which case you might be able to claim some money.

There’s more. Clause 43 also introduces “Extended Collective Licensing”.

This means that if someone finds your photograph and can trace you, they still don’t have to contact you for permission to use it. They can go to a UK Government-appointed “collecting society” and ask them instead. They’ll pay an arbitrary fee and be able to do whatever they like with the photograph. Your photograph. Again, without asking you first.

At, least, so we think - because the Bill leaves much of this undefined, unclear and to be dealt with by secondary legislation based on “consultation” that the Government can ignore. Can you imagine what this would mean if we were talking about cars rather than photographs?

Mal has made some crocheted earrings. Keep her busy by buying them from etsy.com!

www.etsy.com - Malwinki

I mean, the UK, but it may as well be Russia, it's cold enough.

After 34 hours and 17 movies watched in transit, Mal and I arrived yesterday to drizzle and sleet.
I don't know what day it is. I don't know what time it is. I do remember where I live and work though so all is not lost.

A very close friend of mine turned 30 last weekend. Since he doesn't really like birthday parties yet still wanted to do something to celebrate, he went to Barcelona with Malwina.

It was bloody fantastic.

The weather was only 10-15 degrees warmer than London but the sun was out for all 3 days and I've come back with a tan, sunburn even! We spent time sun-baking on the beach, eating Spanish food, drinking lots of cerveza and whisky con coca cola, wandering the town checking out Gaudi's gaudy architecture and other random stuff. It's amazing what some sun and a scenery change will do! Thanks Mal!

You're not getting our money you scumbags. Trying to book a trip to Spain for my birthday.. online check-in this, £30 for checking in bags, non-EU citizens have to pay extra..

Your procedures are a fucking shambles and I'd rather and now WILL spend my money elsewhere.

What am I ranting about? Read about Ryanair's Online Check-in Scam.

Ryanair Sucks

ryanaircampaign.org

www.ihateryanair.co.uk

My Aristarco EMA 75 coffee grinder is finally at home.

Professional coffee grinder with a 1 kg. hopper capacity, adjustable coffee doser from 4.5 gr. to 8 gr. Grinding production per hour up to 8 kg. It made of painted light alloy with grinding wheel in special steel of 64 mm of diameter. In the automatic model the grinder starts to restore automatically the grinded coffee level into the batch as soon the coffee fall to the minimum quantity.

Dimensions (W,D,H) W=200 D=400 H=550 mm
Input power 230V~50 Hz
Power 380 W
Revolutions per minute 1400 r/min.
Grinding flat blades diam. 64 mm.
Colour Metal gray
Total weight 12 Kg

Aristarco Spare Parts

www.guardian.co.uk - Australian bushfire death toll its worst ever

www.telegraph.co.uk - 'Black Saturday' worst blaze in country's history

Live Victorian Bushfire Maps



While we have the heaviest snowfalls in 18 years, my thoughts are with those who are suffering or have lost property or loved ones to the bushfires in Victoria.

Activist comedian Mark Thomas draws up a map of Britain that reveals the places the government and the establishment do not want the public to know about, disproves the claim that the government is an 'open' institution, and looks at the secret democracy that Britain really is. (Channel4, 2002)

Previous tale of Gaggia dismemberment here.

Happy Donkey sorted me out with a new 3-way solenoid valve (which didn't look like it'd fit but it did) and the Gaggia machine was rebuilt..







Wicked! I now have a Gaggia Baby D to sell and the Gaggia Classic arrived today except it has a smashed water container! Nooo! Will see if Happy Donkey has a spare..

Mal and I made coffees today. Can't believe I held off on getting a machine for so long and now I have three..

VB from LFGSS kindly supplied me with his faulty Gaggia Baby Class coffee machine.

No water was coming from the group head(?) although everything else was working as expected. Forum chatter about this machine indicated it either needed a descale or it needed a new pump.

I read Robert Harmon's information about Gaggia maintenance, bought my self a syringe from Boots and some citric acid-based descaler from Waitrose then descaled and cleaned the unit as much as I could with no change. Using the syringe I made sure the pump was correctly primed. No change.

So, I assumed it was a faulty pump and before Christmas I ordered a replacement Gaggia pump from Happy Donkey: happydonkey.co.uk - gaggia spares
It cost £34.88 including postage.

Update:
I've worked out how to pull the unit apart and found the pump. It was a complete bitch to replace this pump!
With the new pump fitted I tested the unit and exactly the same thing happened - no water came out of the head but the steam wand still worked. DAMN!!! It wasn't the pump. Waste of time and money.. but now I'm even more determined to fix the unit!

Update:
I've now stripped the Gaggia right down and think I've found a blockage.. the copper tube inside the boiler, that dumps into the head, doesn't let air through. I can't see any valving between the top of the tube and the head (under the screen) so methinks this is the blocked area. Now to try and clean it out..

Update:
Right.. this machine is in about 400 pieces.. there weren't even that many in the Gaggia schematics. ;)

Anyway, it's not the boiler's copper pipe->grouphead arrangement, no, it's more complex than that. The blockage appears to be in some kind of blue electronic valve thing which controls the water FROM the boiler TO the head and from the boiler to the drain pipe. Is this the OVP? The Over Pressure Valve? Help!

It looks like Part 27 - "DM1645/001 - solenoid valve" in here:
partsguru.com - ER0182_Rev01.pdf

I've found spares here.. "DM1645/002 or 1152/002 Elektrovalve 120V"
partsguru.com - gaggia classic DM1645/002 or 1152/002 Elektrovalve 120V

So, after completely pulling the machine down last night and doing a bit of testing and some internet reading I have a good idea of how they work now, I know how to customise the Over Pressure Valves to produce better shots and I now know which part has failed. All I need to do now is fix/replace the solenoid valve and then I will have two working machines (or I'll ebay the fixed one to pay for a grinder :)).

The culprit.. C.E.M.E 3-way solenoid valve..


toomuchcoffee.com - gaggia classic OPV issues

coffeesnobs.com.au - gaggia pressure

ruizs.org - gaggia baby pressure adjustment with OPV valve

Grange Controls Ltd. are the sole UK importer for the Italian-made C.E.M.E solenoid valve (5316VN1) I need.

They don't stock it though. They do stock the coil but not the valve itself. If I can find a multimeter to test the coil then I might buy one from them but they have a minimum order of £20 (since they usual deal in bulk) + £2.50 post + VAT.

Now I need a multimeter to be sure it's the coil and not the valve itself.. In the meantime I've bought a Gaggia Classic off ebay and I'm waiting for it to arrive..

Update:
My workmate Chris wanted a multimeter so I walked to Maplins and bought a UNI-T 50II for him and then used it to test the solenoid coil.

It showed the coil has resistance, which, in my limited understanding of basic electronics, means that it's not completely trashed. This in turn means the problem might be in the 3-way valve itself. So, citric acid bath for it tonight to see if that makes a difference.

The Gaggia store in House of Fraser on Oxford St. don't answer their phone so I called Gaggia UK's head office and I'm waiting for a call back from their service department. Kev here suggested they are all on a coffee break ;)

Similar issue with 3-Way Valve reported here...

"If all the vibration from your big fat UKLA pump shakes your machine around enough over the years, the little 14mm nut that holds the coil of your 3-way solenoid to the brass valve body will become loose. If it gets as loose as mine did, it is enough to prevent the 3-way valve from actuating fully. The solenoid just moves ever so slightly on the valve body. This slight movement is enough to screw up your shots.
Pull the reservoir filler funnel off, then take a wrench and lock that thing down and all your "clogged boiler" woes will be gone. No parts to order, no need to take apart your machine."

3-Way Valve Hows and Whys

How to Backflush

Unit the Large Hadron Collider fires up and destroys the universe :)

www.scitech.ac.uk
wikipedia - large hadron collider

I have a cold and a problem with trackback spammers. I have killed off the TrackBack spammers but the cold lingers.
South Beers and a Pendulum gig might kill it or me. One of us has to go though, that much is certain. Weekend Cycling = 10k. Balls.

Technorati Profile

Thanks to Richard at work I now have my very own Powerball, just like the one OWA had a laugh with way back when.. Office Powerball. It is still the coolest and most addictive office toy I've seen. I was quickly back into the 10,000 rpm range but no further. I now have a sort hand/arm from "power balling" :) You really need one of these.. your life is empty without it..

Top Speed: 11076 (11256 still to beat)
Endurance: 4851 (First go and I beat my OWA record of 4705!)

Lawrence isn't the only one with new training equipment. Behold!



It works (unlike many of the reviews indicate). Some more tweaking and soon perfect(ish) cappucinos will flow in my own house! Sweet.

How PC is that? "Happy Holidays" Ha! I've been in Inglund too long.
Enjoy your xmas and your nye. I'm off to Polska with Malwinki for a few days.
When I return I will have a new bike (and most likely a serious vodka hangover).

It's not enough that we have to pay £130 license fee just to watch TV.
It's not enough that the BBC keep the richo's in management but sack the reporters.
No, they want to charge me twice as well! Fkn morons.
They can take my money without blinking an eye but now I have to wait for a refund form to claim the excess back.
Keep an eye on your bank statements people! (end rant)

Sleeping Pills!