Before the war here, communications were by radio and telephone. The system in the settlements was of a series of coded rings. If you heard your code, then would pick up the phone and hear the words broadcast along the telegraph wires. The radio messages were broadcast so anyone could listen in; the doctors surgery hour made this compulsory listening for all. Privacy before the Google era was also not an option.

Mobiles are now in every pocket and hand. Telegraph poles, once vital, lean drunkenly with their old ceramic isolators, and sad trailing wires. This infrastructure, once so cutting edge, has gone. I will miss the song of the wind in the wires and I wonder, where will the little birds perch in the future.

The internet speeds increase every year, but they are still oh so slow. 2Mbs is the fastest, but like car fuel consumption, this is a fairy story. BBC iPlayer does not work for me — even with a VPN¹

You have to prepare for the cost — 10-20 times that of the UK for 5% of the speed.

TV here has come on leaps and bounds. You can choose BBC or ITV with a time delay, so that the One Show is on at 7pm here ie 3-4 hours after it has been broadcast in the UK. Unfortunately, there is no Channel 4 so there was no tv coverage of the Grand National²

In addition to this, there is Falklands Islands TV— you must catch this. If you miss the program which has 2 editions per week, then you can buy the DVD.

We have Sky News; broadcast live. There are no adverts on this; instead, it cuts to the weather forecast around the world.

This is good value (it is free) but suffers from British Forces Broadcasting Services cutting into the schedule for half hourly news bulletins. The BFBS news is interesting, but I do wish we had the choice of deciding to continue with Sky or BFBS.

No Sky commercial channels here (I am told that importation of satellite decoder boxes is illegal here³

The infrastructure must be improved for the commercial prosperity of these islands. The way forward has to be a big fat pipe of fibreoptic cable between here and Montevideo — all you can eat internet, fast upload and download, and streaming video services such as Netflix have to be the way forward⁴

A species on the risk list — endangered

A farming community that has seen its population of humans crash after the 1982 war.  The population of Camp has fallen drastically and continues to haemorrhage people. Fewer and fewer people are supported by farming. Sheep are the main crop, but the land is bare. It can only support livestock when spread over many hectares. The grasses are nibbled down to crewcut length and the bones of the earth gleam through. The tussock has mostly gone. The wild life still remains — seabirds and sea mammals. The small birds, so evident on Carcass are fewer and live in the Diddle dee.

The species at risk on this island — Man.

The new prosperity of Pebble must lie with its main resource — wildlife. Rewilding of part of this island and increased visitors who will pay for a high quality experience must be the future

Going back in time

The basis of the prosperity of the Falklands has always affected life here.  Originally based on wild cattle which were landed from passing,ships, the first crest depicted Captain John Davis’s ship Desire and a wild steer.

The crest was later changed perhaps to reflect the importance of harvesting the abundant wildlife and a Sealion appears together with the Desire. A further change in the crest in 1948 from a sealion to a sheep was made, to reflect the new source prosperity and the dominance of the wool industry on these islands  A good choice then, but it sends the wrong message now. Tourism is a growing business. Sheep are harming not just the land of the Falklands but also its image.  Man made fibres are preeminent in the clothing industry for sporting and leisure wear. Wool will be in the future reserved for the premium market — this will be in the form of fine wools such as Merino. From a staple of clothing for centuries, wool will be a luxury item.  Synthetic breathable microfibre synthetics are cheaper lighter and perform better ¹

If the main business of theses lands is to be reflected on the flag then it should change to include  a fish or a squid on the crest now. Maybe  in future years an oil rig should take pride of place.

Go back to your roots and celebrate the gift of nature that the Falklands have been granted.

No one wants to visit the Falklands to see the sheep! ²

I say bring back the Sealion crest from the 1920’s.  The sheep has had its day. 

Ebooks and DRM vexes me. I originally thought that DRM or Digital Rights Management was all about copy protection. Wrong. It seems to be about locking your purchases into the one eco system. Most of us move around over the years; in my case from IBM to Acorn BBC B to Acorn Risc, then to Vaio PC then to Mac and now iThingy with IOS. I cannot read the first ebooks I bought on the PC. They are lost to me. Some sort of garbling of the words occurred in the files and then the proprietary software would ungarble it. Sadly, Microsoft dropped Reader and as my PC is long trashed, my books that I paid good money for are just garbage.

A better system used by another company was to use my credit card number as the password. I have been able to retrieve these files and now have removed the DRM. So I can now read my old books.

DRM is also present on Kindle books. Amazon uses a proprietary format that is not used by any other firm. They say that there is an app for all machines but you are still beholden to this company for access in the future. I thought that I owned the books I bought — is that the case?

You cannot sell, lend etc etc an ebook; you can with paper books

Amazon also deleted a copy of a book that people had bought from their Kindles. Did they ask for permission — no.

There are programs to get rid of DRM from .azw files (the Kindle format)

You then have control over your books. Catalogue them with Calibre, add metadata, change the cover, select short passages to allow quotes. You now own them, can make backups, add them to collections and if you like to collect authors' signatures, you can use Skitch to obtain them and replace the cover with the personalised variant.

Sadly, the way around DRM on iBooks no longer works.

This means that I cannot read my iBooks on the fantastic Marvin.

I like to organise my books the way that pleases me. I wish to have all my books on the one app. Why should I have books scattered around my ipad?

I have also gone off iBooks as my go to standard eBook reader. Why?

I made an error in setting the wrong synch parameter between my ipad and itunes while away from home. iTunes then promptly deleted all the books from my iPad; 1000+ .

I still had the files on my portable hard drive, but then had to resynch them back to the iPad. Guess what? Some covers and metadata did not transfer; my preferred order of books in the bookcase was lost and I lost (yet again) my highlights and annotations in my books.

Enough was enough. My frustrations were similar (but of a lower level) to those that prompted my move from PC to Mac. So I jumped to Marvin (the name must come from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy) — it has a brain the size of a planet! ¹

My workflow:

• add the book to my wishlist on the Kindle store in Amazon
• wait until the price has fallen to below the cost of the paperback version
• buy the kindle edition on Amazon
• add to Calibre
• add metadata, fix cover and add to collection
• send to iPad Marvin app
• lie back and read book on the sofa

The days of running out of books on holiday are long gone. If you read all the books on your ipad then the Kindle store is just a few clicks away.

Come on Apple, get rid of DRM as you did for songs.

Walking to work yesterday. Passing down Dean Street ¹ over my head soared a turkey vulture. I'm sure it was the one that was waiting for me to peg out while climbing what must be the steepest hill in Stanley².

This majestic bird rode the winds, with terminal wing feathers splayed as it swooped and glided. Its mastery of the air is superb.

My heart soared with this bird. Such a good way to start the day

Stanley observations

Life just strikes you as being different from home. I walked across a grass verge with long uncut grass. What was different here is that I did not step in dog poo. Nothing here to dismay you when you have arrived in the house at home only to discover that you are the bearer of really bad news on your shoes. Very few dogs here, just cats so no mess. Most dogs are working sheepdogs. Therefore no mess.
As much as I like dogs as pets, inconsiderate owners do make life a mess in the UK.

Peat
I did wonder why a lot of the sheds here seemed to be built poorly with lots of gaps for the wind to whistle through. The wind does the final drying of the peat as it slips though the gaps. Most sheds though are now empty of peat and just serve to contain the usual junk we all keep just in case

Jehlum
After many a year as a local landmark, the Jehlum is disintegrating. In fits and starts — with each storm, more is gone.

Elephant Seals

Our 2nd day on Carcass. A warm welcome to the home of Rob & Lorraine the day before. Chilean Cabernet Sauvignan at dinner and then talking with our fellow guests and hosts until late in the evening.

We forget what island life involves. All supplies must be landed on the island aside from sheep and cattle (and here, milk). That includes electricity. The wind lands on the island and turns the turbines. Only the basic power needs are produced by wind, the diesel generator provides the muscle. The vagaries of the wind are smoothed by battery storage, but if the shearing shed graders are not switched off, then the power will die in the late evening. Washing machines are for the daytime, but charging the iPad is ok at night.

So, fully charged, we were off to the elephant seals. Lorraine drove us out to the northern tip of the island just past the airstrip. We could smell them before we could see them. A powerful (and nauseating) stench arose from the slumbering giants. Something had crawled inside and died. Perhaps it was the sloughing skin that they shed every year, or was it just related to halitosis from both ends? Rumbles, farts, belches and gurgles came from all directions.

Images of Saunders
Memories now, but a nice way of celebrating our time in the west is to share.

PS the Trypot is no longer used.

A patch of paradise

What a welcome! A smoko was in full swing. Tea, coffee and more calories that can be good for you were gracing the table. The mist was being burned away, Johnny Rook was being vocal on the back step and the scent of honeysuckle as we walked through the garden was an olfactory ambush.

Boots off, feet up and to relax before lunch.

Do visit Carcass Island. The food is to die for and the comfort is that of an oasis in a harsh world.

Leopard beach

No leopard seals in recent years, but their prey ie penguins, in abundance. A gentle bimble along the landrover track, and then … a staggering vista. Tussock grass as far as the eye could see with clumps across the narrow neck of this island. A scene truly from Jurassic Park. I could just imagine dinosaurs roaming between these ancient looking plants.

No dinosaurs, but Penguins; Magellanics and Gentoos in their hundreds. Porpoising in the water, riding the surf into land or running down the beach, they are in their element. Fat babies or should I say adolescents, stand around with their peers, shedding fluffy feathers into the wind. A mad wedding celebration with confetti feathers scattered to the southern ocean winds.

Carcass Island

The farthest inhabited island on the NW edge of the Falkland archipeligo — our next call. The day dawned gloomy, but the mist was not as thick as a peasouper — perhaps a consomme?

A French cruise ship pulled into the south bay and inflatables drove to the beach. Guides wearing antarctic red cagoules came ashore. We were in muted greys, Barbour sage green and Meindel boots. I think we blended into the landscape; they stood out.

Our landrover arrived and we returned the 10 miles to the settlement — a journey of over 1 hour as the Defender crawled over rock falls and then trundled across Diddle-dee.

The settlement had been sunny the afternoon before and the day was shaping up to be bright.

The Islander plane bounced down, disgorging among others, my colleague and friend of old, Norman Binnie, the surgical advisor to the islands, now off on a bit of R&R down at the Neck of Saunders.

Fog banks were reported out at the Jasons and Carcass was fog bound. Our FIGAS pilot peered out of his window, flew wavetop low and hugged the coast of the islands. I spotted the settlement on Carcass, but other details were blurred by the fog.

The plane banked around the top of the island and dropped onto the grass strip. Another safe landing and Rob (the owner of Carcass was there to greet us)

His sheep were to be shorn, and Daniel a fellow passenger was the man for the job.