It was all part of the November Plan. Head out of the country for a weekend for no apparent reason, with little research beforehand and no expectations. It’s a great way to travel, even if to say that I planned it that way is an exaggeration.

This year I went to Portugal’s capital city, Lisbon. After the grim summer and recent return to Greenwich Mean Time, I craved some sun and a little warmth. Sure, I wasn’t going to be wilting in the heat on the Atlantic coast but it was a good few degrees warmer than London, with sun forecast and much longer daylight hours. That I’d never made it to Portugal before was a bonus.

This weeks PhotoFriday theme is “Food” and my entry is the best kind of food: cakes.

Please also vote for my entry in last weeks challenge, “Autumn.” I’m entry number 27.

It all started ten thirteen years ago. In November 1998 I went with a friend to Amsterdam, and now every November since I have spent at least a few days out of the country.

For the record, those trips were:

• Amsterdam, The Netherlands (1998)
• Abu Dhabi, UAE (1999)
• Thailand (2000)
• Oslo, Norway (2001)
• Malta (2002)
• Charlotte, NC, USA (2003)
• Cuba (2004)
• Brussels, Belgium (2005)
• Lille, France (2006)
• Jordan and Egypt (2007)
• Lisbon, Portugal (2008)
• Vienna, Austria (2009)
• Amsterdam and Den Haag, The Netherlands (2010)

It never started as a challenge and you can’t deliberately start a tradition, but I’m keen to keep this one going for as long as I can. Even if it is a little silly.

• Latest Gromit misses out on Oscar – Yay! A new Wallace and Gromit short to show at Christmas!
• Burn-W – Pixar short that runs in parallel with part of Wall-E (which will soon be out on DVD!). Beautifully done. As always.
• Royal Society of Chemistry defines perfect Yorkshire pud – The science behind the cooking…

Autumn, this weeks PhotoFriday theme, reminds me a fading light and fallen leaves, hence this picture take in Oslo, Norway.

Please also vote for my entry in last weeks challenge, “Sharp.” I’m entry number 163.

My iPhone application, Yummy, has been on sale in iTunes for a couple of months now and, as a number of other developers have noted, after the initial launch sales figures take a significant nose dive very quickly. I’ve been trying to think of ways to increase visibility without taking too much time away from actually making enhancements to the software.

As luck would have it, I got a “free trial” of Google AdWords and thought I would give that a try. Results have been… well, not exactly what I was expecting.

• OS X Snow Leopard vs. Windows 7 – Everything you wanted to know about the next version of OS X and Windows but were too afraid to ask…
• Questions for Anyone Who Voted for Proposition 8 – Prop 8 was California’s ballot asking whether the state constitution should define marriage as between a man and a woman. Religious groups (mainly) raised enough money and support to pass it.

• Smith ID comments ‘beggar belief’ – I did wonder myself when Smith said that people couldn’t wait to get their own ID card. What do they think they’re going to do with them? Also regarding the cost: “It is already accepted there are associated costs when people apply for identity documents including driving licenses and passports such as the Post Office’s check and send service or costs for photographs.” Yes, but those documents give the holder some kind of benefit.
• Blears attacks political bloggers – Is it any wonder that “people [have] disdain for the political system and politicians” when, as Blears says herself, most MPs are ‘career’ politicians with little experience of the world that their constituents inhabit. Also (sorry, it’s only a short rant) does it not point to a failure in the system when so many people can be aganist ID cards, 42+ day detention, etc, yet the governing party repeatedly tries to push through laws for the same?
• Brits accolade for Pet Shop Boys – This kind of award normally indicates the end of a career. Hope that’s not the case this time!

• E-mail error ends up on road sign – Never use a translation that you don’t understand!
• A third dimension: Ars reviews Photoshop CS4 Extended – “With the tabbed interface, Adobe has clearly reached for the lowest hanging fruit, and it’s rotten in every way.” The new version of Photoshop is faster and with some neat new features but takes a step back on the Mac UI-wise. But I’ll be sticking with PS Elements until I win the lottery…
• Oct. 29, 1675: Leibniz Sums It All Up – Much of this was discussed in the BBC’s recent “Story of Maths” series (well worth seeing). It’s fascinating how critical getting the right notation is. Having said that, even the ‘right’ notation was too hard for me when it came to multiple integration!

George W. Bush stars in the latest (and little publicised) in the gory Saw movie franchise. In it he discovers some interesting new “enhanced interrogation” techniques and finds that getting out, with no recourse to legal representation or trial, is, quite literally, torture.