Krakow visit - Auchwitz

Whilst in Krakow we went on the tour around the Auchwitz concentration camps. Not what you'd call a barrel of laughs but that's not really the point of it. It was a very moving experience to realise you were walking around an area where numerous thousands of people were put to death simply for not being perfect Germans (it was not just Jews sent here, also Russians, Poles, Romany gypsies, homosexuals etc.) .

You might not be able, gentle reader, to visualise the scale of this operation. By visiting the site and being stood in front of displays which contain just a fraction of the suitcases, spectacles and childrens toys which were brought to the camp by the 'visitors' really brings it to life.

By visiting the Birkenau sitewhere most of the prisoners were housed you can not only see the dehumanising conditions they were subjected to, but also the incredible size of the camp (approx 1 mile long by 1 mile) which they were cramped into.

Krakow visit - Prince Charles

Whilst wandering round the Jewish Quarter during my recent visit to Krakow a large crowd of spectators was viewed crowded round a cluster of police vehicles. Naturally, curiosity got the better of myself and my chum so we went to enquire what was going on.

"Charles and Camilla have just gone into the Synagogue" we were informed.

"Oh" we thought, "lets hang about then and cheer like good royalists".

As a result, I managed to capture a couple of snaps of the heir to the throne which I thought I'd share with you.

Digital TV switchover

The analogue TV signal is due to be turned off across the country between now and 2012 to be replaced by the digital signal.

For anyone who is unfamiliar with digital TV it is a means to get another stash of cash out of you to purchase a receiver box, then, once you have one, spend the next 20 years trying to get a consistant signal out of it. Unlike the analogue signal, if you do not have a sufficiently strong signal, you get nothing. Gone are the days of squinting at a snowy picture to try and ascertain whats happening, and believe me, it's even more difficult following the plot of Midsummer Murders when all you can see is "No Signal".

And God help you if you don't have a roof mounted aerial. I currently have an indoor aerial, located on my windowsill, which has 2 signal boosters on it and by simply putting 2 large boxes in the vicinity of the receiver box and aerial has caused the loss of about a quarter of the channels and rendered a further quarter to intermittent breaks in the signal.

And, to compound the problems, by attempting to arrange the aerial to improve the reception, it fucks ups the reception of the analogue signal.

So unless someything happens to strengthen the signal, it looks like, due to the removal of the analogue signal and the inconsistancy of the digital signal, that the 2012 Olympics will be watched by only those in strong sgnal areas or who have Sky.

Anyone would think that Rupert Murdoch has some kind of influence over the government of the day. Surely not...