I was rooting around in my vegetable patch with the intention of digging up some nice new potatoes for lunch when <clang> my fork hit something.  I dug into the dirt and pulled out this object. It was covered in mud which I have since washed off, but does anyone know what it is ? Feels and looks like brass but is warm to the touch. It has lots of symbols carved into it, anyone make any sense of it ?

I was incredibly lucky to be online at the right time and managed to buy this beautiful raygun designed by Greg Broadmore and sculpted/customised by Dave Tremont at Weta. If you haven’t heard about these marvels of mechanical ingenuity, I implore you to visit http://www.wetanz.com/holics/index.php?catid=4

Update 23rd June 2009

So, today I finally received the computer I ordered on the 14th April. I also a couple of days ago received the refund that was ‘processed’ on the 3rd June. Glad it’s finished, but I still would never order a computer from Dell again. Fool me once, shame on.. shame on you. You can’t get fooled again.

Update on the 16th June 2009

Well, it seems that Dell aren’t too keen on me complaining about them taking my money on their forums. They deleted my post for the 3rd time. Apparently “Your post contains language that we believe to be harassing, unlawful, or otherwise objectionable“. There are no swear words at all in it but just in case, I have replaced ‘Damn’ with ‘Dang’.  I’ve now reposted my complaint and will continue to do so until I receive my money back from Dell. No doubt they will ban me from using their forums ! http://en.community.dell.com/forums/t/19280036.aspx  More…