Daily Archives: March 15, 2006

Wallace worth more than Grommit!

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Honestly! According to BBC Online,

Oscar-winning Aardman Animations has been given £4,000 to replace the Wallace prop lost in a warehouse fire.

The company has also been given around £2,000 for a canine Gromit prop as part of an undisclosed insurance payout for the damage to the Bristol premises.

It got £100,000 for the Chicken Run pie machine lost in the fire last October, which was caused by faulty wiring.

Insurer Norwich Union says it based the sums on the cost of “reinstating” the props and not their market value.

Cheapskates!

Technolust

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The Editor of a leading Indian newspaper came to visit us today. Like me, he’s a full-blown gadget freak. Unlike me, he travels a lot — and therefore spends a lot of time in duty-free shops. (He also has more money.) He was quietly flaunting this exquisite device — the iMate Jasjar. (Who invents these names?). It’s beautifully made, has a good QWERTY keyboard and gives excellent Web access. The only problem is that it runs Windows. And costs £649.49 on Amazon.co.uk. Sigh.

London panorama

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While waiting to give a lecture in a room on the 10th floor of a central London building, I amused myself taking photographs through the windows. This was stitched together from two shots. The poor quality is partly attributable to reflections from the glass.