31/10/04
Marcus:
"Pop star Elton John says he doesn't mean to throw tantrums - it just comes with the territory of being creative".
Marcus: So that's alright then.
Justin:
This site is about pumped up Ninjas.
Marcus: Damn. Now there's no point in me doing a website about ninjas - that is the best website about ninjas ever.
dave: I feel like I have entered the fascinating world of the ninja.
Marcus:
Theworldvotes.org - register and have your voice heard about who you want to win the United States Presidential Election, even if you don't live there. I've cast my vote, and I've also said who I think is going to win (sadly, it's not the same person).
Marcus:
Adam reminded me that new South Park episodes have started showing on Comedy Central in the US. A torrent of the latest episode can be found on suprnova.org.
Marcus: And it's still funny as hell.
laura: Could you see your way to making me a new Video CD of it? pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease!
Marcus:
$250,000 has been raised for the Firefox launch campaign, including a full-page ad in the New York Times. (Via).
Marcus:
Alan Turing now has a statue at Surrey University. It's about time this great man was commemorated.
Marcus: I didn't know that he stood trial for being a homosexual and agreed to be injected with oestrogen instead of going to prison. Awful.
tim: if I was him I would have gone to prison (wink wink)
Marcus: Liar. You'd have taken the b*tcht*ts injections and just stood naked in front of a mirror all day, giggling.
Marcus:
"Over three quarters of Bulgarians have never used the internet, and 23 percent do not know what the word means". So, er, there you go. (Via).
tim: so what are you tring to reach out to the rest using the power of the web? maybe a letter campaign would work better...
Marcus: You're right - it's time to start posting the contents of this website to the people of Bulgaria. Who needs the internet anyway?
adam: Over three quarters of Bulgarians have never used the internet, and over 90% of these probably don't give a toss! The wording of this article sums it up entirely, "Internet use in Eastern Europe has grown very slowly... mainly due to widespread poverty". Hmmmm, which is the bigger story here: 77% of Bulgarians can't shop for late holiday bargains during their lunch hour, or that over 1 million of Bulgarias 7.5 million inhabitants lives below the bread line?
adam: Actually, that sparked a thought in my head: 13.4% of Bulgarians are below the poverty line, but what about other countries: UK 17%, US 12%, France 6.5%. So, we get all these bloody illegal imigrants, yet we are, by this metric, poorer than the country they came from. YA COULDN'T MAKE IT AAHHHP! (Trying to fulfill my new role as Richard Linkbunjohn)
adam: I'm just waiting for the Oxfam campaign to bring the internet to famine-stricken countries in Africa, "Just £3 a month will allow Sam to surf the web... He really wants is food and medicine, but god forbid that people should be without the internet!". Did they do these surveys in the 1950s, except "77% of Bulgarians have never watched TV!!!"
Marcus: I sort of hanker for a time when nobody at all had heard of the internet and probably had slightly more fulfilled lives for it. Or bored lives. Maybe a bit of both.
Dave: No you don't Marcus. No one does.
30/10/04
Marcus:
Demoticons: "one of my biggest bugbears is the assault and b*ggery of the English language". Comes complete with a list of useful MSN emoticon combos. (Via).
Marcus:
A compelling article (in fact, an edited book extract) that starts off with a look into the US Military's flirtation with psychic soldiers and continues into the horrors perpetrated at Abu Ghraib.
Marcus: There is a connection.
dave: That is fascinating.
Justin:
Interesting Wikipedia entry about the Miranda rights... you know the score: "you have the right to remain silent..." etc
Marcus: I like it that Miranda was originally convicted on the shaky basis of a confession and nothing else, and when that got overturned they had to use boring old witnesses etc. It's sort of like a Hollywood movie - man is convicted and eventually conviction is overturned by heroic lawyers - only without the happy ending (man was guilty all along but prosecution was a bit lazy).
Marcus:
Maze War - "the first networked, 3D multi-user first person shooter game". It came out in 1973! (Via).
Marcus: You can download it for Palm too.
justin: "Maze is the reason why nobody can claim ownership of the rights to the invention of a multi-user 3D Cyberspace and is another of the major gifts to innovation made by early net pioneers."
adam: Oh, someone will try. Like that idiot in the states who claims he owns the patent on the internet, basically just used some airy wording and the US patent office approved it.
adam: Reading that website, it goes to show that if you take a bunch of engineers and scientists, and stick them in a room with expensive state-of-the-art equipment, they will find a way of turning it into a game!
Marcus:
Apple's computer sales have fallen quite sharply, especially in Western Europe. (Via).
Marcus: I think this is actually a bit of a shame, as firstly I quite like Apple (or rather, I like their machines - I would dearly love to destroy their entire marketing department on the grounds that all their advertising is the most irritating crap) and secondly it's good to have competition between different kinds of computers - I'm not sure I want a world that has nothing but PCs.
Marcus: According to The Mac Observer's Apple Death Knell Counter, "Apple Has Been Declared Dead 43 Times Since April, 1995"
justin: I don't really think the PC can be said to be one computer anymore - almost no two are alike and since it's an open architecture it's only in competition with itself. Macs are going to be obsolete soon. Anyway, I do not predict there will be a need for more than 5 computers in the world anyway.
Marcus: That's a fair point actually. Also, 640k should spread between those 5 computers just fine, with no further need for memory upgrades.
adam: I have nothing against Macintosh computers. It's just those sad, sad, lonely bastards who bone on and on about how great they are. Seriously, this guy at work has "The Macintosh Bible" on his desk, and I don't think he has been in contact with a vagina since birth. For those who are interested in how there were about a million different architectures "back in the day", this website offers some interesting information, although it is on a US slant so little in the way of ZX Spectra here.
adam: Actually, what am I saying? I bloody hate Macs! The way that Mac OSX is like any other Unix-based GUI, only without the good bits, and the way that a Mac costs twice as much as any other computer that can do the job twice as well.
Marcus: Adam, you're the linkbunnies answer to Richard Littlejohn. Or Bill O'Reilly. Minus the sex scandal.
adam: Dammit, you used to be cool, man. Buying that iPod has corrupted you, dude. You have switched over to the darkside. Before you know it, you will be trading in your Treo for a Newton, and your PC for an immasculated toy computer... With a last-generation graphics card... MY OWN BROTHER!!! GAAAAAAAGH!!! Anyway, I can't be Richard Littlejohn, I'm not a hom.
Marcus: But the iPod has a spinny wheel that doesn't spin! Anyway the Newton was way ahead of its time, with its, er, with whatever it had that the Palm already had but the Newton did first, as far as Newton owners were concerned.
Marcus: I'll never buy a Mac anyway, I like tinkering and customising too much and Apple, despite it's "Think Different" posturing has machines that are as uncustomisable and vanilla as they come.
dave: I'd rather have AIDS than own an Apple mac.
Marcus: I'm pretty sure most people would agree with you on that one - after all it'd be great to have a couple of guys to help with lifestyle organisation, speechwriting etc.
laura: I'm getting a Mac at work. Don't hate me for it, it's not my choice. Publishing companies always seem to think that Macs are better for graphic design than PCs, so it has been deemed that I need access to one. If it's any consolation I will have a PC as well......
adam: "Publishing companies always seem to think that Macs are better". These are companies whose main interest is stuff written on paper. That would be like saying "Vegetarians think Quorn is better than meat." I hope you slapped your IT department around the face and body with a haddock in retaliation.
Marcus:
Major security hole uncovered in GMail.
adam: Well, I was beginning to wonder, it has been nearly a week since someone has uncovered a "major security hole" in something... Seriously, wouldn't it just be easier to imprison all the 14-year old gimps who decide to try and exploit exploits, or "write" worms (I use quotations because there are only about two actual writers out there, the rest are just Script Kiddies who adapt the code and write their own "handle" in it somewhere).
Justin:
The lyrics to Triumph by Wu-Tang clan. I question whether these lyrics are totally correct . I hate to sound like a mincing Turner Prize lover, but this track is one of the most impressive pieces of relevant poetry I have ever heard. "I bomb atomically, Socrates' philosophies
and hypothesis can't define how I be droppin these
mockeries, lyrically perform armed robbery
Flee with the lottery, possibly they spotted me" You might need to hear the song itself. Download it from your prefered p2p program or buy it here,
adam: Didn't the Poet Laureate say something along the lines of "Rap is a form of poetry", and compare it with some of the great poets. Tatu are interesting to listen to in their native Russian, as their lyrics are, at times, very rhythmic and percussive.
29/10/04
Dave:
Scottish designer poofs in w*nk design fire horror pussy shocker.
Marcus: Tabloid newspaper headline writers need you, Dave.
tim: Doesn't say what happened to the fish does it? did it get boiled alive horribly?
justin: " As interior designers, we fully understand how devastating it would be to lose one's home and valuable possessions" - I add my support. As a 3D artist I fuly understand how sh*t it would be to lose all my possesions ina fire as well. A: this strikes me as a lame publicity stunt b: they are tw*ts. Anyway, what was the cat doing hanging around the goldfish bowl anyway?
adam: sh*t, I go to all the trouble of hiding an incendiary device in a Bum-Tickler Supersore-ars* dildo, and I would have got away with it, if it wasn't for that pesky cat... How the hell is it that you can buy a house for £100K, spend £50K on it, sell it for 151K and then next week buy a house for £250K? May I point out that of all the guys I knew at school who turned out to be gay, none of them were good at maths...
justin: I concur. As a 3d artist I am a borderline gay, and not great at maths. Ironically, I have to use maths every day, so I have learnt what I need to do. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it facetious 15 year old GCSE students. YES, you will need to use maths even if you aren't specifically going to be measuring the height of buildings for a living.
tim: not that there's anything wrong with measuring buildings for a living...
justin: I wonder though, at any time did you storm out of your maths class and shout "miss, this is sh*t, when are we ever going to have to measure the height of buildings?" mind you did you ever storm out of an English class and go "sir, this is sh*t when are we ever going to need Shakespeare?". I think I may have stormed out of home-economics and exclaimed "miss, this is sh*t, when I am ever going to have to COOK?"
adam: I used to treat art class with contempt, as I feel that art can not be assigned a grade. Ability to draw is something that people generally have or don't have, the key to art is expression and imagination. I had plenty of both, the mind was willing but the hand was clumsy. I never stormed out though. We didn't have home economics, my school was stuck in the 1950s.
Justin:
I think the fact that 100,000 civilians have died in Iraq (even if it's only half true) puts paid to the idea that "history will judge" either bush or Blair good leaders for invading Iraq, even inspite of their being no WMD.
justin: Face it - no WMD, twice the number of people killed that Saddam got around to killing, and still there is torture in the prisons!
tim: Have army, will invade somewhere
justin: In some twisted way, it would be nice to believe that a UN lead (or mandated) coalition force could go to some far flung trouble spot in the world and use our collected might to stabilise an area in order to create a doorway for peace. It could be argued that is our moral duty. In the case of Iraq, that clearly did not happen.
Marcus:
Do you want to see the first official teaser poster for Revenge of the Sith? Of course you do. (Via).
Marcus: There's a bigger version here.
dave: I can't help but find that exciting.
Dave:
Scientists are studying brains to see what the difference in Republican brains and Democrats is.
Marcus: +/- a few billion neurons?
Marcus: Interesting article.
adam: About 40 IQ points? I don't care anymore. Their political system is more backwards than our "first past the post" system.
justin: I read somewhere that if it came down to a tie, the two canditates had to play a version of the playground game in which school girls clapped each other's hands and sang a complicated rhyme. In contested east coast states, they must also be engaged in an '8 Mile' style rap contest.
Laura:
Oh my god I cannot gush enough about how entertaining this website is. I want a rep to call me at work now so that I can play all the sounds at them instead of actually having to talk to them. Here's a little something special for all the Bo' Selecta Trisha fans out there........
Marcus: I have had it shouting out "riiiice!" quite a lot . In varying levels of urgency.
laura: Getting it to shout "RIIIIICE!" In my office provokes a fit of the giggles from several people.
dave: That makes me feel a likkle bit better.
laura: I think I may have to record it only my mobile, so that whenever I get a text my phone goes "RIIIIIICE!"
Marcus:
"US scientists have taught a monkey to feed itself using a robotic arm and the power of thought".
richard spence: Did it immediately start flinging faeces at them?
Marcus: Rumour has it the monkey has latched on to using it for the other thing that monkeys spend a lot of their time doing - simian self-pleasuring.
Marcus:
The Guardian has lots of RSS feeds these days.
Marcus: If you're not using RSS, I'm not saying you're a Luddite Neanderthal or anything, I'm just slightly ashamed of you and think you smell a bit "unusual". And you should learn why RSS helps you grow big and strong.
Marcus:
"Internet search firms are 'parasites' that will eventually kill growth in the online publishing industry". (Via).
Marcus: Says a guy from The Economist: "Google says it has the answers, so users will go to the top page result and it doesn't matter where that is. The brand is secondary in the user's mind".
Marcus:
Internet Vets for Truth hosts 20 video clips spelling out a pretty comprehensive anti-Republican message. There's stuff from Fahrenheit 9/11, Eminem's new video Mosh, and more. You can download the Quicktime movies directly, or via torrents. (Via).
adam: I was all up for it until you said "Quicktime". I want an unbiased view, not the one of a bunch of gay macintoss users. Quicktime? ars*-time more like. To the tune of "If you're happy and you know it": "If you have one button on your mouse, please kill yourself..."
:
Damm sorry I missed this putting Michael Moore and Richard Littlejohn on a chat show together... inspired
Marcus: You can watch the full programme from a link at the top right. Should make interesting viewing!
dave: It was pretty interesting. But also just furthered my view that Micheal Moore is a penis.
adam: I dunno, I watched it and at no point was Michael Moore wearing a roll-neck... When I say "I watched it", I saw about 5 minutes of it when I was channel hopping between episodes of "Cops kick ass video show" on Bravo.
28/10/04
Marcus:
FontBrowser is a Flash web app that lets you quickly preview all the fonts currently installed on your system, using example text and resizing in real time too. I don't know how it does this without getting any kind of permission but it's very handy. If a little scary, security-wise. (Via).
Marcus:
Grand Theftendo: Grand Theft Auto III comes to, er, the Nintendo Entertainment System. (Via).
Dave: "Purely a project of my spare time" Oh Brian, I bet you have so much of this.
Marcus:
Plug-in loyalty smart cards are coming to Sky Digital subscribers.
adam: I've got Sky! But I won't be getting no stinky loyalty card. I pay them for a service, they give it to me, I'm happy, people don't get hurt. Eeeeeeeverybody's 'appy.
Marcus:
Some novel Halloween costumes for kids, my favourites being "Western Hostage in Iraq" and "The Littlest Prisoner at Abu Ghraib". (Via).
adam: If I have any of the little sh*ts coming knocking on my door before Sunday night they are getting lectured on "the commercialisation of pagan festivals, and their irony in the modern Anglobalised world.". If they knock on Sunday they get the response of "neither". Be warned, I am keeping a box of eggs by the door so any "tricks" shall incur retaliation.
Marcus: Good call. Although hand grenades would be more effective.
Dave: Come on you grouches!
The little kiddies are just doing what society tells them to.
Marcus: No, they're just greedy little whatsits. If they come anywhere near me they will feel the full force of a Howitzer I have strategically located on the roof. Or I might give them a few fizzy cola bottles or something. Depends what mood I'm in. I'm highly mercurial.
adam: Definitely greedy little sh*tes. Maybe it isn't their fault, it is their parents for allowing them to do this. Like we might not go to church on Christmas day, but we were brought up knowing the meaning of Christmas. The same should be true of people "celebrating" Pagan festivals. I wouldn't go round Jewish people's houses and demand things for Hannukah. In fact, Eid is coming up, why don't we all visit a Muslim and demand treats on their doorstep? It's legalised begging. I just think it is ironic that the least pagan country in the world does the most for Halloween.
Adam:
Addendum to my earlier post, here is a protest to Nathalia Edenmont. Look at her. Is that not the smug grin of one who loves themself, twice, in the face, every night? I must say, the Dutch description of her, "kunstenares", seems more apt than the English translation! I am surprised the Swedish don't have an RSPCA equivalent dealing with this.
adam: AND she's ginger.
Dave: I'm lost for words. I totally agree with you Adam. What a c*nt. I pity her.
Marcus: "Art arouses thoughts and poses questions that are necessary".
Marcus: Yes, questions like "what the f*ck do you think you're doing, twisted mad animal murdering 'artist'?"
laura: Hey, nowt wrong with bring ginger. All depends if you use the force of the ginger for good or bad......
andy: reminds me of a twisted version of 'fingermouse' if anyone remembers that...
Adam:
Remember the crazy woman who painted with her own hell-mouth spew? I.e. menses? Well, at least she wasn't harming anyone or anything. This evil devil-wh*re, however, has decided to take Hurstism to a whole new level of "oooh, aren't I a shocking radical artist" f*ck-up, by murdering mice, cats, birds, and apparently all manner of animals, in order to create "art". No, these are not modified images. In fact, the gallery that displays the evidence of her criminal abuse of animals is adamant that this is art, and it is moral and legal. It uses the usual argument of "well people eat meat"! Yes, they do. The animal dies to feed the person. It is nature, albeit on a factory-farmed mass-produced scale. What Nathalia Edenmont does is akin to murder. It has been said elsewhere that for one work of "art" she beat a cat to death with a stick. Now how can you justify that? If she must insist on necrophiliart, why doesn't she buy cadavers from a vet or animal shelter, where the animal has been put down due to ill health? Because she is too selfish to consider the feelings of others, especially animals, and must go to bed every night feeling smug because she thinks she is shocking the establishment. I hope she gets raped in both eye sockets by a goat.
justin: I don't see why she needs to kill more animals in order to prove that we are hypocritical about killing animals. After all she has no qualms about doing it, so in a way, she is being hypocritical about our moral standards anyway. I'm confused and have had my thoughts provoked.
Marcus:
Yoda farts in Revenge of the Sith. Just so as you know.
Marcus: (Although apparently this might well just be for the gag reel).
Marcus:
Reporters Without Borders announces this year's worldwide index of press freedom. Mainly Scandanavian and Northern Europe countries are tied for first place, with the UK weighing in at 28 (we're as free as that?!). The US is at 22. (Via).
Marcus:
How to make friends by Telephone - a 1940s etiquette booklet. (Via).
adam: Absolute class! As I see it, the key problem in corporate Britain today is phone manners. As it says in the booklet, "inquire if it's convenient for the person you call to talk... you wouldn't break into a conference". The number of times I have been in a meeting, and someone's mobile has started ringing, they answer with "Can I call you back?" but the person ringing them OBVIOUSLY thinks they are more important and starts talking regardless. Best one I saw was when another guy whipped out his mobile, held it up to the face of the person on the phone and starts singing "Flash! AAAH! Saviour of the Universe!" In front of 25 people. It shut him up, I can tell you!
Dave:
In an awesome football / music crossover, GLC design a football strip for their favourite club.
Marcus: Ken Livingstone's talent knows no bounds.
Laura:
Republicans call for Michael Moore's arrest in Michigan because he is trying to encourage people to vote through offering clean underwear and noodles as an incentive to register.
Marcus: Those whacky Republicans.
Marcus:
Hobbit bones discovered on Indonesian island.
Marcus: One anthropologist says "it is arguably the most significant discovery concerning our own genus in my lifetime".
adam: Ah, genus. A word you don't hear very often. Reminds me of biology lessons back at school: Kingdom, Phyllum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species. Our full title is of course "Animalia Chordata Mammalia Primates Hominidae Homo Sapiens" In other words: animal, with backbone, mammal, a primate, a bipedal ape, man, a modern human. We are the only homo's alive today (stop sniggering!), but if they do find that "homo floresiensis" is still alive somewhere in the jungle, this will be an immense revelation. Think about it, a 'new' sentient species, here on Earth. It could totally screw the current idea of society and equality. Do we give them human rights, or animal rights? Evidence suggests they are more intelligent than chimps and communicate verbally. If we give them human rights, do they attain the right of suffrage? What about inter-species relations? It is highly likely that cross-breeding would be possible, and sooner or later would occur. Or would we all just treat them as "harijan", untouchables.
Marcus:
Head Over Heels 2. Once upon a time there was this brilliant game on various 8-bit home computers and it was called Head Over Heels. Somebody else obviously loved it too because they have remade it on the PC as well as providing the original versions for download. I am very happy.
adam: All I need now is a remake of "Dizzy".
Marcus: You can get that from remakes.org. Look under the 2004 competition.
Marcus:
Radio 4's John Peel tribute as a torrent. (You'll need to have an account with UKNova to get the file - but it's an excellent UK TV and radio torrent resource and fully worth the 2 minutes this takes).
Marcus:
Genetically engineered hypo-allergenic cats are now a reality. Tip of the "consumer products" genetic modification iceberg? You bet. (Via).
27/10/04
Marcus:
Collect Britain is an awesome site containing virtual tours, exhibitions and collections taken from the British Library. (Via).
Marcus:
Hulk Rampage - Rampage-esque Flash game where you get to play The Incredible Hulk and smash up buildings. Which is kind of fun. (Via).
Marcus:
I saw a full-size replica house inside an art gallery today and it really was rather weird.
tim: yeah I got your text, its a proto-surrealist exploration of the boundaries of outside and in, forcing us to reallocate out beliefs in a system turned on its head. and its simply dreadful
Marcus:
George Bush's re-election site is blocking non-US visitors. What kind of thanks is that, coming so soon after his campaign has recieved the considerable political weight of linkbunnies.org?! (Via).
Marcus: The BBC points out you can still access the site via an alternative numeric domain address.
Marcus: Lucky we can still access the site - otherwise I wouldn't be able to learn that "John Kerry does not have a plan or vision to fight and win the War on Terror". And not only that, but Democrat terrorist Kerry does Nazi salutes - look!
adam: He's George Dubya Bush, and he approved that message. Apparently. And also, looking at the menu on the right hand side of his webpage, "W stands for Women"! Well done George! Now, what letter does "Lost but still came to power" start with? See, this is why you need a monarch, imagine what would happen if Blair and Howard ended up in a hung parliament, without Mrs W. to sort them out.
:
I've a horrible feeling I am going to be a fiver down.....
laura: Technically speaking, if Dubbya does what he did last time and simply claim the White House for his own in spite of losing the election, then you'd actually win the bet.
dave: Let's face it. Bush is going to "win" even if he loses. Florida is the major swing state and it's controlled by his brother. Jeb is not going to let Georgie lose. I also reckon that as soon as Bush "wins", he'll start trying to change the law so that he can campaign for a 3rd term.
tim: good point... sounds like sound dictatorship policy... and as this IS a link site and this post doesn't have one, can anybody find a site comparing the careers of dubya with a nutter third world dictator? idi amin or mugabe or somebody
Marcus: "Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has accused US leader George W Bush of behaving as though he is God, with UK Prime Minister Tony Blair his prophet". It's not quite what you wanted but it's good Mugabe fodder nonetheless.
tim: 'Mugabe slams 'political God Bush'', quite a ambitious move by everyone's favourite mad uncle-dictator, does he even expect bush to care who he is let alone spell his name?
Dave:
It's about time we faced the facts...
Dave: By the way, these forums are a pretty much inexhaustable source of knowledge and power.
Dave:
Marcus' suggestion that we purge all voters with an IQ less than 130 got me thinking. What's my IQ? (The BBC test said 108, but that was ages ago and I've abused my thinkplace lots since then) I can't vouch for the test because I haven't done it yet. Will do it at lunch and post results...
dave: It's not an IQ score but I got 23/30 on this test. If anyone cares.
Dave:
Glastonbury is naming the New Bands Tent after John Peel. Fitting.
Marcus: That's a great idea.
Marcus:
The new series of Battlestar Galactica has begun on Sky One in the UK - over two months before it airs on SciFi in the US. You can pick up torrents on suprnova.org.
Marcus: (Actually, it began last week, but I forgot to mention it at the time).
dave: Is it any good? A colleague of mine likes it, but I'm apprehensive.
Marcus: Tim and I both love it. It's daaaaaark. Imagine a more reality-grounded Star Trek that was really daaaaaark. A typical plot might feature a Cylon attack with Commander Adama and crew having to decide whether to save a ship containing orphans with leukemia OR save a ship containing cute little puppies and kittens. And then BOTH ships getting blown up by mistake. And it shows you the orphans, puppies and kittens just sort of spinning around in space. Dead. And then something even more daaaaaark will happen.
Marcus:
A robot built out of Lego which can win the first level of Super Mario Bros on the NES. The world needs more of this sort of thing. (Via).
dave: Excellent. Let build one that can do the first level of Altered Beast on the Megadrive.
Marcus: Woaaah, slow down soldier. Let's not run before we can crawl. I think we need to do this gradually - maybe level one of Shinobi on the Master System.
Marcus:
A scrolling table made in CSS and Javascript, which is probably useful for something. (Via).
Marcus:
How to dance like a Goth. Learn moves including "My Artificial Hip Joint", "Ow! I Cut My Wrists!" and "Stuck in My Coffin". Because dancing like normal people is like, so, superficial, you know? (Via).
Dave: Don't deny your roots. Remember the Agincourt?
Marcus: It's there in the pits of my subconscious memory, gnawing away. Also, I might be going back there on Friday, God help me.
adam: I went to see Cradle of Filth, and it was cool because they had naked chicks lezzing up on stage. The three of us were the only people not wearing black in the whole of the Astoria, but I felt a lot more comfortable than I would have done dressed as a goth in the company of chav scum.
dave: Despite their blood drinking hateful reputation goths are usually softly spoken nice young boys. I remember seeing Marilyn Manson at Brixton Academy, the atmosphere was incredible and the people were so nice. If a little odd.
26/10/04
Marcus:
BoingBoing endorses Kerry for President.
Marcus: However, here at linkbunnies it's Bush all the way. You see, much as I'd like to trust the people of America's judgement when it comes to not re-electing lunatics, I've got this horrible feeling that Bush will win. And if there's one thing I've learned in life, it's always back a winner, no matter how sinister yet curiously inept they might be.
Marcus: Also, I have a bet running with Tim that if Bush gets in for a second term, I win £5. Don't let me down Americans! A fiver is at stake.
Marcus: Americans are of course welcome to stage equivalent bets on Tony Blair coming back into office when we have our own General Election next year.
adam: So all I have to do is steal £5 off Marcus and Bush will lose? Thing is, losing didn't stop him becoming president in the last American election...
adam: Also can I propose that our version of Operation Clark County relies on encouragement from the yet-undiscovered "Oogawooga" tribe of darkest Amazonia? Only they probably know more about UK politics than the majority of our electorate? Seriously man, take away the right of suffrage from anyone who hasn't been to university or can prove to having a decent level of intelligence. Then we can vote on the destiny of those pesky Gammas, Deltas and Epsilons, without them having any ability to decide our fate. We Alphas then vote on the important subjects, Betas on the more mundane but still worthy. Natural order is restored. And I get some soma at last. Wouldn't the world be a better place if people had paid attention to these utopian novels of the mid 20th century?
Marcus: Compulsory euthanasia for anybody with an IQ under 130 would be wise too. Also, I reckon these little red LEDs should be implanted in everybody's palms, and then when they turn 30 the lights will start to flash and the citizen should report to a local government agency immediately for "reprocessing". It's been a long-held dream of mine.
Dave: IQ under 130? Come on. No one is that dumb. Ok, I'm sub-90 but that's ok, I voted for Bush.
laura: Marcus, I'm appauled at you. How could you place a bet on Bush winning? Mind, looking at the intelligence of the people who wrote the letters to the Grauniad in you earlier link post I wouldn't be surprised. Thinking about it actually, if he DOESN'T win, yet manages to get into office again through cheating, lying and scheming, does that mean you lose the bet?
Marcus:
The iPod Photo is real and pictures are now available. Basically, it's a colour screen 4G iPod that can also display photos from a thumbnail gallery. Battery life is a bit better too.
Marcus: You can use a composite TV-out to display photos on a TV, too. I have to say I am somewhat under-awed by the whole thing.
adam: Oooh, photos? That's way more advanced than all the other players that do video! Perhaps Apple can astound us all in a few years by bringing out "Pong" a year after we all have our holographic virtual reality systems installed. If they are still around.
Marcus: I'll have you know the iPod already has Breakout built in. It's the future, man!
tim: nerds
Marcus:
Apple's black and red U2 iPod. It looks ugly. And why U2? An aging middle-of-the-road rock band wouldn't be my first choice for limited edition branding.
Dave: Looks rank, but don't diss U2.
Marcus: U2 suck! Nyah nyah nyah nyah nyah. Nah, they're "alright". But I don't really see the appeal.
Marcus:
A list of some John Peel-related stuff as tribute to the great man:
Marcus: An archive of free and legal MP3s of songs played by John Peel on his Evening Session show.
Marcus: John Peel's page on the BBC website. Currently features RealAudio streaming of the last Evening Sessions he recorded.
Marcus: What is a Peel Session?
Marcus: A brief biography with a couple of photos and some MP3 clips of old radio show bits and pieces.
Marcus: The John Peel Sweet Eating Game.
Marcus: Wikipedia entry on John Peel.
Marcus: Lyrics to Teenage Kicks by The Undertones, the song Peel said he wanted played at his funeral.
Dave: The BBC obituary. He was the last of Radio 1's original lineup. Amazing.
Dave:
sh*t. John Peel is dead at 65.
dave: Sad news. Even at the age of 65 Peel was at the fore front of music. He will be sadly missed. :(
justin: Cripes - I was just about to post that. I have been listening to an MP3 of one of his radio sessions today. He did a service to fans and music makers alike.
Marcus: I can't believe it - this really does have a sense of unreality about it. Somehow I thought he would more or less live forever. Only 65 too.
laura: Utterly shocked.
Marcus: Sorry to be a name-dropping git but when I met him at Glastonburies 97/98 he really did seem like a genuinely nice chap. I remember a bunch of guys came up to him with a demo tape and he chatted to them for a bit and promised to listen to it. And you know, I bet he did. I don't think anybody else could ever pull off being an amiable middle aged man presenting a Radio 4 suburban programme like Home Truths and simultaneously be a cutting-edge DJ responsible perhaps more than any other for influencing the direction of modern music. A quintessentially British hero through and through.
Dave: He came to watch my housemates play music in a sh*thole pub in the ars*-end of Norwich.
:
I was looking through uninteresting news, and I found out that you surrey bastards swiped our stuff! This means WAR
Marcus: You move to Bristol - suddenly their flight simulator moves to your old home of Weybridge. Coincidence? I think not.
Marcus:
9 Songs, a new British film that contains 35 minutes of real sex, has passed the censors without cuts.
Marcus: "It was a question of intent. The intent of a sex film is sexual arousal. That is not the intention behind this film".
Marcus:
The Mozilla Foundation is having a drive to raise funds for a full page ad in the New York Times to celebrate the launch of Firefox.
Marcus:
Wired magazine's Creative Commons album looks like something worth supporting. Some cool artists on there.
Marcus: Somebody's already ripped the CD and made a fully-legal torrent available for download. (Via).
Marcus: It's not bad, considering it's completely free.
Marcus:
Ian's Shoelace Site - zillions of shoelacing techniques. (Via).
Dave: Dear oh dear. Has it come to this? Stealing my posts from 2 months ago. Marcus, I really expected better from you.
Marcus: It looked kind of familiar, but I thought the other one was about ties or something. Doh.
dave: You are a bad bad man.
Adam:
Just watch it... With sound, by the way.
Marcus: Quite funny, but I think casting Kerry as the Emperor is a little rich.
Marcus:
A hatchet job on Britney Spears performed by what I can only describe as Graham Norton in dog form. (Via).
laura: Marcus, I'm beginning to question your sexuality if you're starting to post links like this.
Marcus: I'm thooper. Thanks for athking!
adam: Isn't it meant to be Brian the Dog's gay cousin? From Family Guy? Certainly similar anyway.
Marcus: I thought so too.
25/10/04
Adam:
Correspondence of an almost Wildean wit. Not sure who has been following this, but The Grauniad had been running an interesting programme called "Operation Clark County": the idea of this was that Europeans write e-mails (chiefly British) write e-mails to people in Springfield, in Ohio, asking them to use their vote wisely. Now, quite understandably many Americans weren't too happy with this and the link takes you to a collection of some of the choicier responses... I am puzzled though: what is the American fascination with our teeth? I don't know anyone with nasty teeth. In fact a lot of Americans have rubbish teeth from all the sugar and soft drinks. Yet still I have had an American tell me "You have really nice teeth" in a surprised tone. Perhaps I should have said "And you're not morbidly obese!" Anyway, enjoy. And there is a chocolate medal for the person who spots the one response written with intentional irony. Not "You would all be speaking German...". Which is of course ironic in that the official language of the US would have been German (back in the 18th century) if it wasn't for the English.
Marcus: The Register reckons the whole thing was a bit of a disaster for The Grauniad.
Marcus: "Guardian US vote wheeze down in flames". Probably not their finest hour, it has to be said.
laura: Yeah, I remember in alt.flame a couple of years ago the yankeedoodles were flaming us Brits (namely myself, Marcus and Justin) for having bad teeth cos of the lack of fluoride in our water. Personally speaking, I like the idea that I don't drink fluoride. I think there's just enough of it in my toothpaste to do me grand. Admittedly, they were so low on thevolutionary scale that I think that was the only thing they could flame us for.
Marcus: A lot of Britain does have flouride in the water, too.
dave: I've been thinking about posting these links for a while. A friend of mine sent me the original plea and I laughed and laughed at what a retardedly bad idea it was. But he did it anyway. Did I laugh at the responses the Guardian got. Laugh!? I nearly sh*t. Stupid self-importantant stuck up Guardian reading nonces. It's made me decide I want Bush to win on November 2nd.
adam: I do appreciate that it was a daft idea, after all I wouldn't like it if the Washington Post sent me an e-mail from some random yank asking me to vote for the Lib Dem's because it will do them a favour. But I would at least come up with something a little more highbrow for my response. Not "Hey, don't do this, cos y'all (sic) have bad teeth.". But seriously, does anyone know of any pre-Austin Powers references to Brits having bad teeth? The Simpsons didn't bring it up until after AP.
adam: Oh, and an American woman once told me "You have such wonderful teeth for an Englishman!". By the way, saying "And you have a face like a bag of slapped tw*ts" really isn't appreciated over there. Perhaps the simile is confusing, I dunno.
dave: It's a standard American insult to the English.
Dave:
George Bush's Royal Rampage.
adam: Great fun!
Marcus: It's like Time Crisis - but with Heads of State!
Marcus:
"Big Brother builds 'Truman Show' village". (Via).
Marcus: "There will be a forest, a town square complete with shops and a church tower, schools and businesses. Contestants will, it is hoped, live there for years; falling in love, going to school, even getting married. The producers hope to lure in businesses to employ them, teachers to teach them and doctors to care for the sick."
laura: Okay, am I the only one who thinks that's going a step too far?
24/10/04
:
this site has all the ingredients of being one of the most surreal sites I have ever seen, and it looks serious too! my personal favourite is the kid tackling jesus. There is so much gag potential here it's painful...
jusrn: Taking Jesus down. The hard way. I think the martial arts one is quite mad, but the gymnastics one opn the start of page three is a bit scary. I wonder if there is an inspirational series for nonces with Jesus smiling over their shoulder as they approach kids for grooming. I also don't get the skiing one either - why wouldn't Jesus appear in clothes befitting what he was actually doing - wearing a lose desert robe whilst whipping down a mountain at 40 miles an hour in the snow can't be very holy.
dave: There are a number of hilarious things about that site. Firstly, the Ballet and the Gymnastics statues are borderline paedophilic. Second, all the kids have ginger hair!
Adam:
What in the name of Reginald Dixie?! Whilst perusing ebay, ogling various musical instruments (very tempted to buy a 'cello), I came across this rather optimistically-priced Hammond organ. Unfortunately no one has, as yet, placed a bid. But with 4 days left to go, anything could happen... D'ya reckon he had his finger firmly on the "0" key whilst he submitted this one?
dave: Unfortunately that's how much they go for these days. Looking for something cheaper, try this.
adam: I was actually looking at that thinking "not bad for an original strat!". Of course, I wonder what happens when someone bids for it? Non delivery? Of course, a mate of mine had his friendship sold on ebay for £22,. I just checked, and the b*gger has pictures of all his mates on his website, except me... thus my secret identity is protected! MWAHAHA!!!
22/10/04
Dave:
This is related to the post below, Kevin the Spaced Penguin! I love this game. Watch your time vanish...
Dave:
How wierd I was going to post some Garfield stuff and you already had. It's not the same, not by a long shot. But it's garfield related all the same. What I'm saying is I didn't see your garfield thing and then go and find this. I was looking at this independently of you and now i'm linking to it. Got it? Two mutually exclusive unrelated events. A coincidence. Anyway, here's a nice little garfield flash thing where you give the ginger pussy coffee and he goes mental. Great.
Marcus: In a further spooky related incident, I have been drinking a huge amount of coffee today.
Marcus: Well, I'm on my third cup, which is a lot for me, anyway.
Marcus:
Gravity Launch - a brain-taxing and addictive game where you launch a rocket and use the gravity of the Earth and Moon to loop the rocket around and hit strategically placed target flags. (Via).
Marcus: I'm stuck on round 5. You have to hit three targets and I'm managing two, with the third a near miss.
Marcus: Thrust is set to 7.208 and angle to 43.993, if it helps.
Marcus:
A del.icio.us extension for Firefox, which I will probably use once I figure out if it's worth tying linkbunnies into del.icio.us.
Marcus:
Microsoft PowerPoint and the Decline of Civilisation (RealAudio format and via, er, my mum).
Marcus: A BBC Radio 4 programme that I'm really interested in listening to, mainly because I just spent four weeks teaching PowerPoint to a whole bunch of 12 year olds. Have I inadvertently ruined their future?
Dave: Yes.
dave: (although they can probably do that themselves with the crack and guns)
Marcus: Ah. I taught them how to use crack and guns too. Well, they had to make their presentations about something.
Marcus:
"Boots considers selling sex toys".
Marcus: Lovely.
Marcus: Coming soon: Superdrug announces its plans to stock gimp suits and nipple clamps.
laura: I bet they don't label them as sex toys, I bet they get called "massage devices" or something else suggestive but supposedly discreet.
dave: Could be in the shops by Christmas. Do you think they'll make it into the Gift section?
Dave: LOL Here you go mum... It's a Black Mamba
laura: Dave, that is both sick and wrong.
dave: Tell me you didn't laugh.
Marcus: Laura's right - you've got it completely wrong. Any mother would clearly want a King Kong Dong, not a Black Mamba. Get it right next time.
laura: Marcus, you sound like you're an expert in the field on buying sex aids for mothers. Any hand tips for us all?
laura: just realised how potentially wrong sounding my typo was, HANDY, NOT HAND. *shudders*
Marcus: Sicko.
Adam:
On a Star Wars theme
Marcus: Tee hee!
dave: Genius - I'm going to spend all my spare time looking for funny Star Wars cartoons.
Adam:
Detonating a nuclear device within the Chico city limits results in a $500 fine. As the Linkbunnies "dumb laws from stateside" correspondent, I was perusing the above site (by the way, Chico is in California if you want to look that one up, along with "no person under the age of 18 may buy a wax container"). Other laws worth noting are "It is illegal for a man to beat his wife with a strap wider than 2 inches without her consent."... thank goodness for my 1 3/4" wife-beating strap... And in San Francisco "Persons classified as "ugly" may not walk down any street." YES! FINALLY! SOMEONE HAS MADE MINGERS ILLEGAL! Although being gay capital of the world, I would guess the standards are pretty high, sailor.
Marcus: Having linked to a similar site the other day, I repeat my previous scepticism about how genuine some of these laws are.
21/10/04
Marcus:
"Americans who sign up to Votergasm can pledge to withhold sex from a non-voter for up to four years until the next presidential election in 2008".
adam: What if you don't have a partner already? Do they offer some kind of service to put you in touch with an equally patriotic voter of the opposite (or same) gender? Or is it like when you forget your gym kit at school, and they supply you with a rather uninviting old droopy kit that has been used by hundreds of people before you? And is generally several sizes too big? And you have to take home for your mum to wash afterwards?
Marcus: You're right - they really haven't thought this through at all, have they?
tim: and if you are single and don't vote, does that mean no masturbating?
Marcus: Thank you ladies and gentlemen, Tim will be here all week.
Dave:
Chewbacca is getting his own TV show.
Marcus: "Chewbacca will have a milquetoast sidekick slash band-leader in R2-D2, whose job it will be to chortle, whistle, and bleep at inane comments and to punctuate bad jokes with brief musical riffs".
Marcus: Love it.
adam: Did you know that "Chewbacca", when said to someone who speaks Japanese, means "big idiot"? Funnily enough, this is nowhere on the web, but I noticed it whilst reading a Japanese phrase book. Chew means big and Bacca means idiot. Hairy bastard.
Dave:
Funky new wireless watch for Marcus to buy.
Marcus: What a fetching shade of Nuclear Blast Orange, too.