Matthew Consterdine's

I completed the Southampton Half Marathon in 1:56:01, without stopping.

I completed the Fleet Half Marathon in 1:51:22, a new personal best!

Donate to the British Red Cross.

I completed the Farnborough Half Marathon in 1:52:02.

BathTub Virtual Orchestra - Santa Baby

Since lockdown, we’ve been unable to practise in person so we’ve been keeping sharp online! In this video we’ve individually recorded each part of Santa Baby, and re-assembled them into this video.

Using Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, here are screenshots of my blog from 2018, 2019, and 2020. Can you believe it’s August?

BathTub Virtual Orchestra - Take On Me

Since lockdown, we’ve been unable to practise in person so we’ve been keeping sharp online! In this video we’ve individually recorded each part of A-ha - Take On Me, and re-assembled them into this video.

BathTub Virtual Orchestra - Cars

Since lockdown, we’ve been unable to practise in person so we’ve been keeping sharp online! In this video we’ve individually recorded each part of Gary Numan - Cars, and re-assembled them into this video.

If you want to try it, I have updated my Fractal Explorer to export fractals using PenPlot coloring. Then use potrace to convert the image to a SVG. If you want to print this specific fractal, why not download either the PNG or the SVG.

I briefly flew to Malaga.

In The Sky. On The Streets

By The Beach and Time To Sleep.

The Next Day and Buried Remains.

Hello There, a Towering Castle.

Inside Are Gardens and a View Of The City.

A View Of The Town

Ugshot. Squirrel? Cats!

Obligatory Photo. Reading Till Dusk. Giraffes.

Watching A Protest. Listening To The Drums.

In The Market

Towering Over. Cramped. Checking Out.

Flying Home, the Question is Where Next?

Not a great photo, still alive. Have an avatar generator.

Goodbye Southampton.

University is over and it’s time to start the next chapter of my life.

After what was approaching nearly two decades in education, it’s finally time to enter the real world.

I’m moving to Bath where I’ll be working for Netcraft, a company which specialises in Internet research, anti-phishing and security services.

I’m looking forward to it!

My Graduation Ceremony

Four years later, and my time at university has come to a close. I have earned my Masters. My time here is at a close. It is a bitter-sweet day. After The Ceremony everyone went outside for a year photo.

We took photos of Jet, LLoyd, Daniel, Me, Andy, and Edmund. And finally enjoyed the reception.

The last day of our trip. In the evening we fly back. Our flight is delayed so I spend the night with a friend. Tomorrow I will take the trains back home and prepare for Graduation.

We’re Off To Rent A Boat. A Paddleboat. Along The River We Go

The penultimate day. We see the metro system, a museum, and escape from an escape room.

We Explore The Subway. This Is T Centralen. We Get Off After One Stop.

Theme park number two. We board the ferry and spend the day in Tivoli.

Walking Along The South Bank. Looking On The Water. We Wait At A Dock.

A history lesson.

We Start The Day Heading To The Old Town Where We Join A Walking Tour.

A pretty relaxing day. We watch the changing of the guard, explore the city, and have a good time.

Stockholm Is Under Construction. Walking Through The Bustling Streets Towards The Palace.

We leave Copenhagen and set off for Stockholm by train. The journey is long and the day is short. We explore.

Checking Out And Leaving For Stockholm. Six Hour Later We Emerge From The Station. And Find Two Statues.

To the zoo! We see so many animals, and so many young animals. The view from the tower is pretty nice as well.

Its Me

Today we tour the city, we see a marching band.

An Early Start And A Walking Tour. Black Towers and The Oldest Street In Copenhagen

After an early start and quick breakfast, we went to spend the day in Tivoli Gardens. The day started overcast and cloudy but quickly picked up. This may have put people off as for the first few hours the queues were tiny. In a little under 7 hours we went on nearly every ride (some multiple times), talked, ate, and rested. It was a great day out. Afterwards we wandered the city and had burgers for dinner while listening to live jazz - formulating plans for tomorrow.

A Statue Of Hans Christian Anderson On The Way To Tivoli Gardens. A Grip Man In Case Of Emergency As Tivoli Is A Really Old Theme Park. Queuing For The Daemon We See A Pagoda.

After a night in Plön we depart, we say goodbye to one of our companions. Then, it is on to the train for five hours as we travel to Copenhagen. It is a long journey and after watching the scenery dart past for a while we watch some TV. Halfway through the trip our train boards a car ferry. We disembark and explore the ship. Near land we re-embark and watch The Grand Budapest Hotel for the remainder of the Journey. In Copenhagen we walk to the hostel, check in and set out to explore. A jazz festival is in town for our stay. We watch. The day finishes with pizza.

One Last Look From The Hostel Window. Hidden In The Woods. Looking Out Onto The Lakes.

It’s Been Fun But Now We Split Good Luck.

Taking a break from city visits we spend a day in Plön. After a short train ride we check in, and walk around the many lakes. Plön is a beautiful town in the middle of the German countryside. It is quite, and normally rather serene if not for the Harley Davidson festival. So many bikes. After a good walk we head down to a local Indian restaurant and have our last meal as the three of us. Ending the day we return to the hostel. Football is on and it’s coming home.

Leaving Generator Hamburg Onwards To Plön. Inside Hamburg Hbf.

Using a special day pass, we spend the day visiting four different museums dotted across the city. Then, we enter a submarine. While it seems rather large, it is designed to fit eighty four people inside. That would be rather cramped.

Museum Number One. A Musical Display.

Visiting the botanical gardens. Seeing the sights. Wandering the Waterfront. A good day.

Visiting The Botanical Gardens and Purple Flowers Everywhere. Venturing Inside The Greenhouses.

We spend the day inside Miniature Wonderland! It’s amazing.

Sitting On University Grounds Eating Break. Unzipped.

A day of traveling spend mostly on a train. Not much happens today. When we arrive in Hamburg we check into our hostel, and wander the streets. We see a dragon.

I’m On A Train. A Deserted Platform That Time Forgot. Entering Hamburg. Looking Back At Hamburg Central Station.

Sorry about the delay, I had some really bad news recently and lost the desire to update this blog for a little while. On our last day in Amsterdam we split and rent two bikes, cycling all of the way into Amsterdam. It takes us two hours, and afterwards we relax and cycle around the city. In the evening we meet up again for an evening meal. We take the train back.

Ultrecht Station. Train Tracks.

I’m on a boat. We visit the Maritime museum and see the sights.

A Tree. From The Water.

For our second day we catch the train into Amsterdam, have breakfast by the canals, and explore the city. We wander. Our party takes a trip to Body World. Finally, we take the free ferry to the north and have some ice cream. The weather is perfect.

Inside Ultrecht Station. Looking At Amsterdam Central Station.

We traveled from Brussels to near Amsterdam, staying in Ultrecht for the night. The day is mostly uneventful, with most of it spent on the train. However, we walk along a few Dutch canals, explore the suburbs, and have dinner in IKEA.

Leaving The Hostel and Brussels Central Station. Walking Along The Avenue.

The last day, lets make it count. We walk to the Botanical gardens and split. Me and Andy decide to visit Autoworld.

Swag. A Statue. An Interesting Facade On An Empty Building.

After visiting the Atomium yesterday, we journeyed south-east towards the European Parliament. There, we saw the fantastic House of European History, the disappointing Parliamentarium, and the interesting Hemicycle. We walked back to the hostel, cooked, and rested for the dinner.

A Wall Mosaic. Suspended Street Lighting.

Day two and we were off to an early start. We ate a buffet breakfast, talked to our hostel-mates, and ventured north. We visited the Basilica and peeked inside. Finished in 1911, this modern cathedral is a marvel. Then we caught a train.

Then, off to the Atomium we went. It is huge and has fantastic views of the surrounding city. Then, we visited the ADAM museum and wandered around the Expo grounds. Most of the buildings have been long since destroyed or replaced, but the Chinese and Japanese pavilions are still intact. Or so we thought. Upon arriving in the gardens we find the Chinese pavilion boarded up and the Japanese pavilion inaccessible. Light research reveals that they were both closed five years ago as they were starting to fall apart. A shame. In the evening we cook a fry up, and play a few games of pool.

Zeppelin. The Streets and a Lamp and Trees.

Today is the first day of our adventure. After an early breakfast I set out and caught the express train to Waterloo. Then I walked across central London to St. Pancras International taking in the view on the way. At the station I meet up with my friends, chat, and catch the Eurostar headed for Brussels. We are on out our way.

We arrived mid afternoon, so after we checked into our hostel we ventured into the city, exploring the Grand Place. As places go it is pretty grand with many old and fancy guild halls from when this square was more than just a tourist attraction. Nearby is the infamous and underwhelming Manneken Pis along with several large murals.

For dinner we buy ingredients and retire to the hostel. We cook a simple pasta dish. As we now have a rough idea of the cities layout we discus plans for the next few days. Tomorrow we decide to head north towards the Atomium and see the remnants of Expo 58.

Catching the Train. Entering Waterloo.

Photos of the earth taken today by NASA DSCOVR EPIC. Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) captures images of a sunlit earth to monitor the atmosphere and the environment. View earth

This weekend, I participated in two hackathons. On Friday afternoon I took part in the Bloomberg CodeCon Grand Finals (again). Then in the evening everyone everyone went to Swingers Golf Bar. On Saturday morning I explored the city, swinging by the Tate Modern just before I left. Image courtesy Bloomberg.

Then on Saturday evening and Sunday morning I created a game for the Southampton Game Jam, the theme was transmission. Normally you have 48 hours, but I was lucky to even have 20. So I got to work, and created SnowDrift, a classic 2D platformer, using raw JavaScript no frameworks. Click on the image below to play in your browser. Overall, the weekend was busy, but fascinating. I really enjoyed it.

Recently I decided to get back into playing the flute. Years ago I learnt the flute in school, but dropped it after a year or two, so I’m (fortunately) not a complete novice.

As practicing on your own can get a bit boring I have joined the Southampton Folk Society. Here we play folk tunes, sing folk songs, and put on Cèilidhs for students. I’m not very good, but I have fun. Download the Folksoc Tunebook.

We came, we saw, we lost. Image courtesy Dorota Filipczuk.

So this year, I started playing Quidditch as part of Southampton QC. After a bit over a month of training, our club entered two teams into the Southern Cup where SQC1 won the upper bracket, and SQC2 (My team!) came second out of the lower bracket. It was a an amazing experience. I figured I should share some photos courtesy of Enrica Biasi.

As a chaser, I wear a white headband. Chasers focus on the quaffle, passing between themselves, aiming to score a goal. Defending our hoops from an enemy chaser. Charlie, our keeper, is wrapping them.

On the offensive, we push as a team, trying to score a goal.

Dodging out the the way of the bludger. If it touches any part of me or my broom, I ‘fall’ off my broom and need to return to the hoops! Lining up before our finals. The teams are united.

A team huddle, to prepare for the match to come! Our keeper Charlie, driving the quaffle down the pitch and scoring. It was a close match, with both teams in SWIM (Snitch When It Matters) for last few minutes. We were up, but if either team caught the snitch (30 points) they would win the game. Minutes after the snitch entered, it was caught, by the Falmouth Falcons winning them the game 70* - 60.

Then it was time for SQC1s final vs Werewolves. Everyone there was watching. It was a good game, both teams played amazingly. SPOILERS: SQC1 win 140* - 90. View the full Southern 2017 Brackets.

It was an amazing experience, I’m so happy that I could compete in a semi-national tournament a month into training. Since then, I have stuck with the team, and am excited for whichever tournament comes next. Looking back, I really needed a haircut!

Magnifique!

A Jison, DnD-style dice roller. Type then it will automatically roll. Supports arithmetic, keeping high/low dice, and fudge dice.

Usage

npm install fantasy-dice [-g]

roll 4d6h3

echo -e "var dice = require('fantasy-dice');\nconsole.log(dice("4d6h3"));" > dice.js
node dice.js

After our trip to , we spend some

This year I returned to New Zealand. Last time, I explored the country on a road trip, this time, I explore the North Island, and spend time with family.

Auckland

Whitianga

Cathedral Cove

Waiheke

Auckland

This week I had the pleasure of competing in the CodeCon Grand finals at Bloomberg’s London headquarters. While unfortunately I didn’t do that well, visiting the headquarters and exploring London was great fun. I didn’t take any pictures inside the event, I thought I would share a few photos taken on during my trip.

The day after the competition, I left the hotel and set of through the city. The Museum of London was nearby, so I checked it out. While there it started raining and a rainbow appeared. Then, a quick walk lead me to St. Paul’s.

While, crossing the Millennium Bridge I took two panoramas of the Thames. Unfortunately the day was overcast, and so the pictures are rather gray.

Finally ending my trip inside the Tate Modern where I saw Abraham Cruzvillegas Empty Lot filling the Turbine room.

Wunderbar!

This week I start studying MEng Computer Science at the University of Southampton. A new adventure begins!

After a couple years using a terrible, old HP laptop, I decided it was time to build my own computer. After completing a computing GCSE, creating games, and studying electronics, I had decided I wanted to study computer science and needed a computer to match. With advice from reddit I chose components, then successfully assembled it piece by piece.

It is with a heavy heart, that I must wish goodbye to my Minecraft server. A declining player-base, low staff interest, and lack of funds have lead to their final closure. It is sad, but everything has an end, and the time is now.

Continue reading for a gallery of screenshots, most taken in multiplayer.

Cornwall is nice and peaceful. A view of the beach. The Tate St. Ives. Soaring kites.

Here are two paintings of mine using acrylic on canvas.

Both are inspired by places and photos in my local community.

The woodlands. The high street.

It is complete! I hiked in the New Forest, volunteered at Sue Ryder, achieved a blue belt in Karate, and improved my photography.

Walking along Hengistbury Head

Exploring to Monuments, Monet’s Garden, Mont Saint Michel, and more.

This year I went on a road trip from the bottom of the South Island, all the way to the top of the North. It was a great trip. I got to see some amazing places, spend time with relatives, and overall I have a fantastic time.

Route

This is the route. From London I flew to Singapore, stayed a couple of days, then flew to Auckland. Then I boarded a plan from Auckland to Wellington, and then from Wellington to Queenstown. In total, that is well over a day of flying, and considerably more when you consider how long you have to be in an airport before an international flight. When combined with the twelve (ish) hour time difference, that’s a hell of a lot of jet lag. But the holiday was just beginning.

From there I travelled up the South Island towards the Cook Straight where I boarded a ferry. Once disembarked, I travelled from Wellington to Auckland where I concluded my time in New Zealand. It was an amazing experience.

To conclude the journey, I boarded a flight from Auckland to Singapore where I was to relax on Sentosa Island for a few days. And finally, the last flight back to London. It was all over.

And an aerial shot showing the lush greenery, mountains, and emptiness of New Zealand. In total the country has a population of around five million. This is less than London, but larger than Berlin or Paris. Maps courtesy of Google Maps.