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# Neil Barrett

Web Tech & Security, Writing, Film & TV, Travel and more

## Sitemaps

- [XML Sitemap](https://neil-barrett.uk/sitemap.xml): Contains all public & indexable URLs for this website.

## Posts

- [Blog](https://neil-barrett.uk/blog/)
- [WordPress 6.9.2 security update](https://neil-barrett.uk/web-technology-security/wordpress-6-9-2-security-update/) - WordPress 6.9.2 is out today, and it is a security release. If you run WordPress sites in production, this is one of those updates that belongs in the “do it now” category rather than “get to it when you can”. Security fixes are rarely visible to users, but they matter disproportionately because they reduce the
- [Rocky 10 (vs Alma 10)](https://neil-barrett.uk/web-technology-security/rocky-10-vs-alma-10/) - Rocky 10 and AlmaLinux 10 sit in the same family tree, but they are not interchangeable choices. Both are RHEL-compatible distributions aimed at organisations that want the stability and long lifecycle of Red Hat Enterprise Linux without the subscription. On paper that sounds like a simple “either will do” decision. In practice, the differences that
- [Someone to watch over me: Good Motoring Spring 2020](https://neil-barrett.uk/writing/someone-to-watch-over-me-good-motoring-spring-2020/) - It's great to see that the Spring 2020 edition of Good Motoring magazine is now out and dropping on doormats across the country - still with its fully compostable wrap, of course. My piece in this edition is about Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) and how it has infiltrated many areas of our motoring lives.
- [Extras who became actors](https://neil-barrett.uk/being-an-extra-in-film-tv/extras-who-became-actors/) - For many aspiring actors, getting a job as a TV or film extra is often seen as a first step towards breaking into the industry. While it may not be the glamorous lead role that many dream of, being a background artist can offer valuable experience, exposure to the industry and the chance to work
- [Bye bye CentOS - the big Linux switch for websites](https://neil-barrett.uk/web-technology-security/bye-bye-centos-the-big-linux-switch-for-websites/) - Websites either run on Linux-based operating systems (around two-thirds) or Windows (around a third). There are around 1% of sites running on other stuff. Until a couple of years ago, CentOS was my Linux operating system of choice. It was stable, based on a commercial Linux distro and - importantly for some of the web
- [48 Hours In Venice at Easter](https://neil-barrett.uk/travel/48-hours-in-venice-at-easter/) - Ah, Venice. 118 little islands making up this unique, iconic city in northeastern Italy. It is one of those must-see places on many travel lists. Finally, this Easter, I got to tick it off mine. This was always planned to be a little Easter weekend trip. "Don't go at Easter!" many written guides exclaim, presumably
- [Gibraltar](https://neil-barrett.uk/travel/gibraltar/) - Gibraltar is a wonderful home away from home for me; I'm sure others feel the same way. It may only be 6.7 square km but they certainly pack a lot in around "The Rock", with the added benefit that there's plenty of sea around it to be reclaimed bit by bit for extra stuff. This
- [Two Continents Tour](https://neil-barrett.uk/travel/two-continents-tour/) - An action-packed four days has just been spent on a whistle-stop tour covering bits of southern Europe and a little bit of northern Africa with good friend Peter (who took the pics you see on this page). We hired a car and tried to cover as much ground as possible. Being just after the Easter
- [Rotterdam](https://neil-barrett.uk/travel/rotterdam/) - It was great to visit Rotterdam this week - the Netherlands' second city. This was pretty much a day trip but thanks to its close proximity to the UK and the speed of Eurotunnel it's possible to squeeze a nice long day trip from it. I'm pleased I found the time to ascend the Euromast
- [Geneva](https://neil-barrett.uk/travel/geneva/) - It's great to be back in Switzerland, specifically Geneva which is a big focal point for the science community, with the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN having generated so much interest recently. It's a relatively well-known fact that the big underground loop of the LHC crosses international borders; the buildings above the surface are
- [Istanbul](https://neil-barrett.uk/travel/istanbul/) - I was pleased to be able to spend a few days in Istanbul, Turkey this week. This city, often described as spanning two continents, lives up to its name with the influence of so many cultures on show. On this blog post I'm going to let the images do most of the talking but just
- [Shetland](https://neil-barrett.uk/travel/shetland/) - I have had an amazing week island-hopping and visiting some pretty unique places in Shetland, the group of islands (about 300 of them!) at the top of the UK. The whole visit was planned to be epic, starting with the journey there, taking 24 hours. Yes, the train took the strain, with an early start
- [Tangier](https://neil-barrett.uk/travel/tangier/) - Tangier, on the northern coast of Morocco. This is my second time coming here and the second on a day-trip. The whole concept seemed a bit weird (a day trip to Africa?) before my first visit in 2009, but a fairly quick ferry from Tarifa in Spain is all that's required. Travel tip: to make
- [Iceland](https://neil-barrett.uk/travel/iceland/) - A trip to Iceland is good for you - in my personal, non-medically qualified opinion - for so many reasons. From the 10am walk into the centre of Reykjavik under a totally dark sky, to the lava fields, to the Blue Lagoon spa, to the geysers in Geysir, it's nature at its best (or worst)
- [Getting work as a Supporting Artiste](https://neil-barrett.uk/being-an-extra-in-film-tv/getting-work-as-a-supporting-artiste/) - Once you're registered and signed up with some Supporting Artiste / 'extras' agencies, you will hopefully start to get offers of work. Here's what to expect and what you can do to help secure work. Depending on the agency, job offers usually arrive via email, SMS or phone call. A number of agencies I
- [Signing up to Extras Agencies](https://neil-barrett.uk/being-an-extra-in-film-tv/signing-up-to-extras-agencies/) - If you've decided that you want to become a Supporting Artiste and enter the world of film and TV as an 'extra', here's some useful advice for you. Firstly I'm going to look at some the information you need to have to hand, then I'll get into the process of choosing agencies, followed by the
- [Glasgow](https://neil-barrett.uk/travel/glasgow/) - Scotland's largest city of Glasgow, on the banks of the Clyde, was a great place to be in for the day. The view out of the aircraft window showed the extent of the beautiful wintry landscape which got better and better the further and further north I went. One of the great thing was the
- [Puerto Rico](https://neil-barrett.uk/travel/puerto-rico/) - Puerto Rico is a wonderful island in the Caribbean. A US territory, it has a rich culture and way of doing things all of its own. I really love how the Caribbean island culture takes a slight steer from its US influence but is very much its own thing. Just a short domestic flight away
- [Miami](https://neil-barrett.uk/travel/miami/) - Miami is an excellent place to visit and has something for virtually everyone. Its Art Deco heritage is very much worth exploring, with - I think - the largest collection of such buildings in the world. In a fortunate but unplanned turn of events, I was there during the annual Art Deco weekend which sees
- [Key West](https://neil-barrett.uk/travel/key-west/) - I really enjoy visiting extreme points on the map and this is one of the big ones for me. Key West sits at the end of a breathtaking drive from the city of Miami along the Overseas Highway - Highway 1 - traversing the Florida Keys. Not far from Mile 0 - the end of
- [Gibraltar at Christmas](https://neil-barrett.uk/travel/gibraltar-at-christmas/) - Gibraltar is one of my favourite places and I couldn't help but take the opportunity to go back there again this year. This is a quick post because I just wanted to share with you the surreal, fantastic sight of Santa on a cherry picker sorting out the lights himself. Great to see the task
- [Belfast](https://neil-barrett.uk/travel/belfast/) - Since 2012 when the Titanic Belfast experience opened I have wanted to see it and finally I got the chance to take a look, combining it with a quick look around the city which I hadn't done for a long time. The exhibition, which you could call an 'experience', is really worth taking a
- [Os de Civís](https://neil-barrett.uk/travel/os-de-civis/) - Welcome to Os de Civís, a notable place by nature of its location. The village is part of Spain - mainland Spain, not an exclave or island - but it can only be reached by vehicle from another country. That country is Andorra and the village's unique position next to it makes it quite interesting
- [Els Límits / Le Perthus](https://neil-barrett.uk/travel/els-limits-le-perthus/) - The clue is in the name... this is a unique place on "The Borders" between France and Spain. Although only part of this urban sprawl is Els Limits; the other part is Le Perthus. These two towns are joined at the hip, that hip being the border which runs through part of the main street.
- [Llívia](https://neil-barrett.uk/travel/llivia/) - A little bit of Spain surrounded by France, Llívia is a town that never got handed over in 1659. The Treaty of the Pyrenees handed over a number of nearby villages to France but for various reasons Llívia wasn't part of the deal. Its status has stayed the same to the present day. Nowadays of
- [Liechtenstein & Zurich](https://neil-barrett.uk/travel/liechtenstein-zurich/) - I like microstates. The European ones are in beautiful locations, there's always some notable things you won't find elsewhere, each one is there because of some interesting history and there's always a really curious mix of people drawn to them, for various reasons (which may or may not be tax related). Liechtenstein - a double-landlocked
- [EuroTrip: Day 0](https://neil-barrett.uk/travel/eurotrip-day-0/) - Welcome to my European driving trip, visiting virtually every Western EU country and hopefully a handful of Eastern European nations over the course of two and a half weeks. I already have a head start - I went to Ireland for a wedding in July and I live in the UK so that’s two. I’ve
- [EuroTrip: Day 1 part 1](https://neil-barrett.uk/travel/eurotrip-day-1-part-1/) - I’ve just completed the first leg of the trip – an incredibly quick 1 hour 10 minute trip from Ebbsfleet International in Kent to Lille Europe in France, via the new ‘it took us decades longer to do it, but we got there eventually’ high-speed rail link. It’s definitely worth the wait. Ebbsfleet International is
- [EuroTrip: Day 1 part 2](https://neil-barrett.uk/travel/eurotrip-day-1-part-2/) - Right then, the first day’s gone well. Starting where I left off, I found the car. So, bags loaded, on-board computer changed to English, radio set up, km count reset to zero (very important!) and off I go – once I find my way out of the multi-storey car park with very tight corners, left-hand
- [EuroTrip: Day 2](https://neil-barrett.uk/travel/eurotrip-day-2/) - A relatively short journey today (compared to days to come) takes me across the border to Germany. I stopped at the border and took some pictures. There is a service station here and they’ve drawn the border around it. The Dutch side (north of the motorway) contains the shop and restaurant and the other side
- [EuroTrip: Day 3](https://neil-barrett.uk/travel/eurotrip-day-3/) - With Hamburg visited, it was on to the next destination. Heading north from almost the top of Germany can only mean one thing. After an hour an a half of driving, I reached the gateway to Scandanavia. This is the main point to enter this vast Northern European land by road and I’m so pleased
- [EuroTrip: Day 4](https://neil-barrett.uk/travel/eurotrip-day-4/) - A walk around Malmo, again a nice Scandanavian city, and a stop-off for a coffee reminded me how lucky we Brits are that most people in shops in the cities abroad speak English. Without this we’d be lost. It’s often said that we are a bit lazy because we know we’ll get by with a
- [EuroTrip: Day 6](https://neil-barrett.uk/travel/eurotrip-day-6/) - Two more trips into Eastern Europe today. The first was to the Czech Republic and I decided to go completely away from the motorway and take an hour and a half long drive (each way) from the Autobahn, through the countryside, to my destination, Bayerisch Eisenstein, a lovely German village set inside a great landscape.
- [EuroTrip: Day 5](https://neil-barrett.uk/travel/eurotrip-day-5/) - Two places visited today. The first one was quite exciting as it was my first trip into Eastern Europe. So, I visited Poland, crossing a long-spanning bridge into the East. This was the first big border crossing I’ve seen – just a few years ago these would have been guarded, with passport and vehicle checks
- [EuroTrip: Day 7](https://neil-barrett.uk/travel/eurotrip-day-7/) - Went to Vienna city centre for a few hours and basked in the baking hot sunshine. This is a very historic city and seems to have two big bits to its history – religion and the arts, particularly music of course. They certainly build things big over here – the cathedrals, the musems, even the
- [EuroTrip: Day 8](https://neil-barrett.uk/travel/eurotrip-day-8/) - We spent the day exploring everything Salzburg has to offer. The city is set into the mountains and it’s easy to see why it became the inspiration for so many musicians, artists and of course those hills were very much alive in The Sound Of Music. The weather wasn’t too great, but there is so
- [EuroTrip: Day 9](https://neil-barrett.uk/travel/eurotrip-day-9/) - Well into the mountains now, the first trip of the day was south to Italy and to the resort town of Bolzano / Bozen. Again, the drive itself was great as it involves lots of twists and turns as the Autobahn – and then the Autopista – worked its way through the mountains of the
- [EuroTrip: Day 10](https://neil-barrett.uk/travel/eurotrip-day-10/) - I’ve wanted to visit Switzerland for a long time – it’s always held a certain mystery for me. In the middle of the European continent, but not part of the EU at all; several official languages, mainly depending on which bit of the country you’re in; and always known as a neutral country – does
- [EuroTrip: Day 11](https://neil-barrett.uk/travel/eurotrip-day-11/) - After a late night last night, it was time for a lie in this morning and also the maps needed updating on my phone for navigation – the memory card was full of pictures and other maps so that France and the other remaining countries could be put on there. These needed downloading, so it
- [EuroTrip: Day 12](https://neil-barrett.uk/travel/eurotrip-day-12/) - We went to Marseille city centre for brunch by the sea. The city is quite standard – quite run down in places, in fact - but when we reached the area by the marina it all changes again. Helped by the baking hot, Mediterranean sun, this bit of town was very enjoyable to look at,
- [EuroTrip: Day 13](https://neil-barrett.uk/travel/eurotrip-day-13/) - ‘Barcelona Reus’ Airport, it’s called. It’s over an hour away from the city – still that’s budget airlines for you. This was the point where I had to say goodbye to my wife. It was a shame that she couldn’t stay for longer but I’m glad she shared the middle part of this epic journey
- [EuroTrip: Day 14](https://neil-barrett.uk/travel/eurotrip-day-14/) - This morning I had a quick look around Bilbao, a cosmopolitan major Spanish city which includes the Guggenheim museum and a train station with a massive stained glass piece of artwork. I have been here before – and there’s been grey skies all day today – so I stayed to have some morning tapas and
- [EuroTrip: Days 15-17](https://neil-barrett.uk/travel/eurotrip-days-15-17/) - This is the entire weekend in one update – one which I thought would be relatively uneventful compared to the rest of the trip but I was proved very wrong…. I woke up fairly early on Friday determined to make an early start to the journey to Paris. Even though it’s the same country, it
- [EuroTrip: Day 18](https://neil-barrett.uk/travel/eurotrip-day-18/) - So, this is it. The last day. But not without another country to visit. Luxembourg. There’s not much to write really as although it’s a small country, it’s got towns and a capital city. However, the capital, Luxembourg, is always very nice to visit because it’s very efficient and they’ve managed to get a lot
- [EuroTrip: Postscript](https://neil-barrett.uk/travel/eurotrip-postscript/) - Well, I did originally write that I was going to work out how much it all cost, that whole Europe trip thing. And I did... sort of... Card statements took a while to come in and there were so many different transactions (every time I passed a tollbooth, there was another one - and that
- [Why do it? Benefits of the unique role of an SA](https://neil-barrett.uk/being-an-extra-in-film-tv/why-do-it-benefits-of-the-unique-role-of-an-sa/) - So, you're considering becoming a Supporting Artiste - an Extra - in film & TV. (Well, maybe you're not - but that's who this post is aimed at.) On the one hand, "showbiz" is seen by many as glamorous and exciting; on the other hand, the last couple of decades has allowed those not

## Pages

- [Home](https://neil-barrett.uk/) - Official website of Neil Barrett, with details of TV & film work, web tech consulting, writing, speaking and travel stuff.
- [#TubeOfTheDay](https://neil-barrett.uk/tube/) - Celebrating the capital's iconic transport network and making the London commute fun / more fun. A tube train is nominated each day to be Tube Of The Day. It's tweeted by @tubeoftheday and shown on this page. If you see it - tweet using #TubeOfTheDay.
- [Writing](https://neil-barrett.uk/writing/) - Bringing to life over 20 years' IT and global travel experience with compelling features.
- [Travel](https://neil-barrett.uk/travel/) - The world is amazing. Sure, it’s got a few issues… but the places themselves and most of the people are fantastic. I really like to explore it and I try to take some pictures and write about it whenever I can.
- [Speaking](https://neil-barrett.uk/speaking/) - As well as speaking to media, events and other groups on technology matters, for over a decade I’ve been a chair, MC or presenter at numerous ceremonies and other events in a number of countries. It’s a great privilege to welcome guests from the stage and guide them through proceedings.
- [Web Tech & Security](https://neil-barrett.uk/web-tech-security/) - For over 20 years I’ve worked alongside a wide range of clients to develop, maintain and secure their presence on the web. My work goes back to the days of dial-up and over two decades it’s evolved into a comprehensive consulting service.
- [Film & TV](https://neil-barrett.uk/film-tv/) - I’m a professional film & TV Supporting Artiste (SA) known by some as a background actor or extra. It’s a great privilege to spend some time each month working in this highly-disciplined, unique industry and I have huge respect for everyone involved, working hard for long hours to inform and entertain millions.
- [Global map of stuff](https://neil-barrett.uk/map/) - Here’s my Global Map of Stuff. I try to geotag relevant blog posts so that they show up in here. This page allows me to map out my travels and other notable posts.
- [Get in touch](https://neil-barrett.uk/contact/)

## Categories

- [Web Tech & Security](https://neil-barrett.uk/category/web-technology-security/)
- [Being an Extra in Film & TV](https://neil-barrett.uk/category/being-an-extra-in-film-tv/)
- [Travel](https://neil-barrett.uk/category/travel/)
- [Writing](https://neil-barrett.uk/category/writing/)