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I have a 3kW electric kettle, and a 2kW induction hob, and I find the induction hob faster and more convenient. (My wall sockets are all 240V.)

However, I've just actually measured it, and the situation is more complex... I timed how long it took each of them to boil …

I'm dipping my toe into the world of IPv6. My home network now supports it (Thanks to AAISP), and now I've started to slowly shift my server addresses over. Inspiration from ipv6friday.

I've switched away from BT to using a VoIP number provided by my ISP. AAISP strongly encourage their customers to avoid NAT for VoIP, but I wanted to give it a try anyway. Here's how I got it working.

Update 2013/4/10: Although this NAT set-up does work, it …

Things I have learned today about soldering pipes...

1. It's not a one handed job. As a beginner, I wanted to hold both the blowtorch and the solder in my right hand. So I heated the pipe with the torch, then put it down and applied the solder. Bad idea. I …

My wife Hilde and I are just embarking on our house renovation project. It's a huge change of direction for me, I find it exhilarating and a little bit scary.

I've created a new category on this blog for the project. I'll be using it to discuss various technical aspects …

I'm going to have to choose some windows, and a window fitter soon.

Most of the windows that we want to reduce are in solid brickwork, so at least I can do the new brickwork myself. I like that idea, because it will allow me to add chamfered jambs, which …

I calculate that we'd need over 100 LED spot lights (at about 200 lumens each) to get 500 lux in the big room. That's £1000 of light bulbs! So now I'm considering fluorescent bulbs (T5) concealed behind an architrave or coving.

Altima have an all in one solution, but frustratingly …

Almost Passive House is a blog about a new build project in the US. They are obviously trying to achieve much the same thing as we are with Westacre. I found then through a Google search for lighting, but they also seem to have useful information on heat-recovery ventilation.

Ubuntu has an irritating habit of turning off Firefox's middlemouse.contentLoadURL setting. Recently, it's got even worse - whenever I turned it back on, Ubuntu would immediately turn it back off for me. So, today I finally worked out that the problem was Ubuntu's "firefox extensions" - turned that off, and finally …

I did this ages ago. I don't know why I never posted it. Anyway, here's an interactive timeline of Ancient Egyptian history.