The latest ReedDesign website went live today. It’s a total re-design for the Socialist International Women – nearly 300 pages in three languages.

Socialist International Women is the international organisation of the women’s organisations of the socialist, social democratic and labour parties affiliated to the Socialist International.

Went to the Tate Modern with friends today. I have to say that I really hate what they’ve done to Gilbert Scott’s old Bankside Power Station building. They’ve totally ruined the proportions by sticking what looks like a line of port-a-cabins on the roof. And the way the galleries are curated is just bizarre. But as we were on our way out there was a mass invasion of the turbine hall by people dressed as pirates from Captain Pugwash who proceeded to lie on the floor making the shape of the Black Pig.

We also looked at the Robert Morris: Bodyspacemotionthings interactive installation which was great fun – much less po-faced than all that art-with-a-capital-A.

While we were having coffee I took some photos from the balcony which I stitched into a panorama – not bad considering the photos were taken on my camera phone.

I’ve added a PDF showing Windows Alt codes for some of the more frequently used characters to my HTML Character Entities page.

Let me know if you find this useful.

This used to be a £265 custom made Blue Moon Exile UL.

Two blokes the size of houses with two boxer/bull terrier crosses one on a harness, one not. I was trying to keep the UL in the air in about 1mph wind with the dog chasing it. I shouted to the bloke ‘if I land it will the dog attack it’. He says ‘no’. I land and you’ve seen the results. The bloke refused to pay, in fact I thought he was going to start a fight – and he really was big, think nightclub bouncer on steroids. This happened less than 20 minutes ago and I’m still shaking!

Anyone who cares about such things might like to sign the ‘Keep Dogs on Leads in Public Places’ petition.

Well, I’ve just ordered a new inkjet printer (HP D5460) not because I need one – my old inkjet still works fine – but because it’s cheaper than buying a new set of cartridges for my old one. The upside is that it’s a much higher quality than the old one, which I’ve had for nearly four years. The downside is; what do I do with the old one? Any suggestions welcome.

…from Michael Smethurst of the BBC (PowerPoint presentation via SlideShare entitled ‘Designing for you least able user’).

All you need to know about getting listed with Google – and other search engines. There’s no rocket science here, just good practical advice.

I had a long play with the Google Earth API over the weekend and created a UK Kite Sites page (and a Google Maps version just in case anyone can’t install the plug-in).

I met a guy on Clapham Common yesterday who I noticed taking some photos of my Blue Moon Exile. He sent me a few and I thought they looked very pretty and he said it was OK to share. Turns out he’s a film/video director, so no wonder he has a good eye. His company’s got a great name, too - Rubberductions.

Round 10 of the Virtual Freestyle kite flying competition is now under way with the largest ever field of entries (28) from nine different countries. You can see my entry for this round in the kites section of this site. It was filmed by Dave (popeye) Hearn – another entrant – at Epsom Downs Race Course a couple of weeks ago when we had a rare bit of good weather.

ReedDesign has just produced a new colourizer for Kite Related Design’s Fury.

The colourizer has a built-in ordering system which means no more screen grabs to show which colours you want on your custom designed kite. Just click the button and your scheme will be sent straight to Carl ready for production.