• 4670The latest on the Hewlett Packard 4670 scanner:

    I emailed the CEO and Prsident of Hewlett Packard, Mark Hurd, from their website to ask them to update the drivers for this wonderful scanner, so that I can use it again with my Apple Mac. I had an email back from Customer relations asking for a few more details. Actually I was surprised. I thought I’d get a, “Sorry, this product is no longer supported,” email if I was lucky.

    Then this morning I received a phone call from them. They explained that the machine was out of warranty so if it was broken I would have to pay to get it fixed. I told them it worked fine on windows (although not with their scanning software – I had to download the Gimp to make it work.)

    So later I got a technical guy phoning me for further details. I don’t think he knew the product really and didn’t quite understand the problem. But I ws quite impressed that they took the time to phone at all.

    The scanner is quite unique. I imagine they stopped making it because it is easily misused and they probably got loads of people asking for their money back after their kids had dropped it on the floor. But it is quite brilliant for scanning things that are not sheets of A4 paper. You place the sscanner on top of the thing you want to scan and, as you can see through it, you can line it up just how you want it.

    Looking at forums online, it has a great and passionate following. all of whom can’t them them to work with modern macs. The drivers were written for Power PC chips and macs are now intel. If the software were made to run on Rosetta, that would help. It’s not an old machine and if they built a replacement, I would upgrade. But they don’t, so I have to make do. As they don’t make a replacement, I feel they should still support it, especially as it was heavily marketed at the Apple Mac user.

    I know stuff gets old, but if you are not going to make a new version, please let us keep our old scanners going, HP. It would be criminal to have to throw away a perfectly good machine. at least can we have third party TWAIN drivers? It’s the chip change that is at the bottom of it all.

  • cakesinthestaffroombrianmosesIt might be a bit suspect to go round taking photographs in school staff room toilets, but I had to get a picture of Brian Moses’s poem, Cakes in the Staffroom, that had been lovingly posted on the wall of the Robin Hood School Staff Toilet .

    This poem is the absolutely truth. There must be something about teaching that makes you crave cake and sugar and cream!

    I was treated to a lovely buffet lunch in the staff room, which culminated in the cakes, which had been baked by one of the staff, who’s name I forgot to get. ( I really am not a journalist.) Hidden under all the cream were sponge rolls, mini black forest gateaux style cupcakes and fruit jelly tarts. Scrumptious was the only word. All beaten by hand, no electric mixers involved, and in was obvious. The sponge was so light.

    My darling wife tells me you can’t make a cake by hand as well as you can my electric whisker, but I know differently. Once I made a Victoria Sponge Cake that I still dream of. All beaten by hand with a wooden spoon. I wish I knew what I did right that day. I do know that we have a useless oven that couldn’t cook a cake evenly if it tried. That doesn’t help.

    Anyway. The teachers went quite gooey when the cakes came out, and became quite animated when wine was mentioned, so I can say categorically, that Brian Moses has got teachers taped!robinhoodcakes

  • maypoleI had a wonderful day yesterday at Robin Hood School, Kingston Vale. I didn’t get a picture of the school. I was tired and forgot at the end of the day. It is a wonderful example of a 1950s school. I can imagine the original children lined up for their cod liver oil and orange juice before sitting around a sun lamp for five minutes to get their vitamin D. The very name of the school evokes the period. England was a little obsessed with Robin Hood and Chaucer and all things Olde Englande at the time.

    Tucked away in the corner of the gymn is a maypole! Beutifully made of what looks like beech, with a turned top – a real piece of craftsmanship and again, evocative of the time the school was built when England was full of historical pageants and a return to folk roots. I wonder what other interesting things lie hidden around the place? The Stage is wonderful, all curved lines and spirally staircases. On one wall outside, is a stone carving which looks as though it could be an Eric Gill or by one of his followers. Again, forgot to take a picture. I’m not a good Journalist. The school was in a beautiful setting. You would think you were out in the country.

    robinhoodmurallistIt was the school’s Arts Fortnight, organised by the tireless Deputy Head, Julie Smith. My name was added to the impressive list of authors and illustrators, who have previously visited the school, that is painted on the Arts Fortnight Mural that grows each year. It reads like a who’s who of children’s books. I feel honoured to join the list. You may notice Ricky Rocket floating along underneath one of Anthony Browne’s gorillas.

    The children had certainly done their homework on my website and seemed to know more about me then I did! Many thanks for a great day.