30/06/06
Justin:
Transformers the movie trailer
Marcus: Certainly provides a more acceptable explanation for what happened to the Beagle II.
Dave: Even though that teaser shows practically nothing. I am so excited it's embarrassing.
Marcus:
Essential apps for Ubuntu Linux.
Marcus: Written from a Mac-switching perspective.
Marcus: I have no idea about Ubuntu Linux, and why lots of weblog-type people suddenly think it's the greatest thing ever, and I'll keep things that way for the time being.
gareth: I've been running Xubuntu on my laptop for quite a while. It's not the godsend that some make it out to be, but it's a very solid operating system. For one thing, it's a much faster installation that Windows (one hour vs atleast two for Windows) and software (un)installation is a breeze with the synaptic package manager.
gareth: A google image search for "ubuntu logo" with safesearch turned off nets some interesting results
Marcus: Not very safe for work, that image search.
Marcus:
Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex: a classic 1971 article by scifi author Larry Niven about the dangers of Superman impregnating an earth woman. (via)
Marcus: Racy amusing stuff, especially when you consider the vintage.
Marcus: "Metropolis is shaken by tiny sonic booms. Wormholes, charred by meteoric heat, sprout magically in all kinds of things: plate glass, masonry, antique ceramics, electric mixers, wood, household pets, and citizens. Some of the sperm will crack lightspeed. The Metropolis night comes alive with a network of narrow, eerie blue lines of Cherenkov radiation."
chris: [engaging geek mode] Niven's one of my favourite SF writers - I have an autographed copy of the book which contains that short story.
chris: And he's in the Penguin dictionary of quotations with this gem: "The best advice I was ever given was on my twenty-first birthday when my father said, 'Son, here's a million dollars. Don't lose it.'"
Justin:
A global switch to efficient lighting systems would trim the world's electricity bill by nearly one-tenth. - so yeah, we could all spend a few quid replacing our bulbs with something more effecient. In the UK, you can buy LED bulbs here. - check dis colour cycling bulb.
Gareth:
A list of phobias (and there are quite a few)
Justin: I hate these - it's always a crap list of latin words in front of the word 'phobia'.
Marcus: I have phobiaphobia.
Gareth:
10 Beautiful Women Who Are Way More Intelligent Than You. I didn't know Natalie Portman had an undergrad from Harvard in Psychology, for instance.
29/06/06
Justin:
The Kid from Brooklyn - f*cking hilarious site devoted to a ranting gentleman from Brooklyn who wants to give us good sound advice such as "you gatta tell people to go f*ck themselves"
justin: His opinions on women's lib are also enlightened.
Marcus:
"A fat-busting drug that not only reduces bodyweight by up to 10 per cent but also helps to tackle other health problems such as diabetes and even smoking has been introduced in Britain."
Marcus: Pricey though.
28/06/06
Justin:
TIger Balm is good stuff - I've got a load on me right now due to a heavy session of Taekwondo last night. Also, I got kicked in the face and noticed my opponent had taken the step of applying Tiger Balm before he sustained any injuries - he even applied it to his feet.
Marcus: We're going to have to withdraw this product endorsement - Aw Boon Haw's cheque bounced. Probably because he died ages ago or something.
Dave: I like tiger balm. Buy it from fiji though. It's 50p for 2 jars.
Justin:
Some crazy clouds in Iowa
chris: Those are mammatus clouds, so I don't know why the TV station is calling them an "unnamed phenomenon." Didn't they talk to their weather people?
Justin: You're never wrong about this sort of thing - but they do look a bit different.
Justin:
The feeling of being watched makes people act more honestly, even if the eyes are not real, a study suggests.
Gareth:
How to field dress a unicorn
gareth: "No matter how many times you shot a unicorn, they're sure to stumble off into the bushes and make one last agony-filled run for the fabled gates of their pastel pink homelands"
Gareth:
java-based NES emulator. Includes Abadox incase anyone was wondering how hard it really is (I found it difficult, anyways)
Justin:
I'm not gonna lie to you - this is a video of Buzz Aldrin punching someone in the face! (right after some whinging little b*tch calls him a coward)
27/06/06
Marcus:
Online Etymology Dictionary. (via)
Marcus: ars*: "buttocks," O.E. aers "tail, rump," from P.Gmc. *arsoz (cf. O.N. ars, M.Du. aers, Ger. Arsch "buttock"), cognate with Gk. orros "tail, rump, base of the spine," Hittite arrash, Arm. or "buttock," O.Ir. err "tail." ars*-hole first attested c.1400 as arce-hoole. Arsy-versy "backside foremost" first attested 1539.
Marcus: So there you go.
Justin:
Common errors in English usage (bookmark this one!)
gareth: People who make these sort of mistakes drive me mad
Justin: There's a lot of mistake there. Never made one of them?
Gareth: Well, I'm sure I've made some of them - they still annoy me a lot though.
Justin:
The True Story of American Soccer - From The Thinking Fan's Guide to the World Cup. and The Capitalism of Soccer
Justin: I'd really be interested to hear what our American and Canadian friends think of football, so if you're reading, why not drop us a line (email link to the right) and let us know? Hopefully we can publish your comments.
Justin:
A snake with the ability to change its colour has been found in the rainforested heart of Borneo.
Justin: For the record - I hate snakes. What are they? long tubes with a mouth at one end. They don't do anything productive.
Gareth:
Netgear Ships 200-Mbit/s Powerline Router. Pretty nice, especially considering the benefit of routing to rooms where you have no ethernet ports (and don't want to string ethernet all over the place)
Gareth:
Irony is good - The Pirate Bay has had a police report filed against it by the Swedish Maritime Administration
26/06/06
Marcus:
Japanese 3D animation of a huge meteorite hitting the Earth. (via)
Marcus: I don't want to spoil the surprise, but it's possibly the most depressing thing I've seen all day.
justin: I think the Japanese are well into that sort of thing - post explosion stories, like Akira. I think the nuclear bombs affected their national identity quite a bit.
Gareth:
Hashapass: generate secure passwords from two variables (a description of sorts and a master password)
Dave:
Do marketing execs make you cross, do they make you feel sick with rage? Well read this. It will make you feel worse.
Chris:
You know how it is - you go and stay with your Mum and Dad and wake up on Sunday morning to find the town's full of Daleks...
Justin:
Pagan Poetry and Prose (via Something Awful)
Justin: Cripes - this one is making me gag - and she's written 278 others.
Justin:
I was just trying to explain to a colleague that the Yukon in Canada was nicer than Southmead in Bristol, UK and I hit upon what looks like it has to be the greatest holiday you could want to go on.
Gareth:
This is probably the most surreal thing I've ever seen
Justin: It's a bit crazy.
Marcus: This sort of thing always makes me want to accuse the authors of drug usage, but perhaps I'm being unkind - they could just be a bit psychotic.
gareth: You can't forget about the psychotic drug users either
25/06/06
Justin:
WWII color guncam footage: Recently declassified guncamera footage from Allied aircraft in the European Theater during WWII.
Marcus:
New definition: "faux-K" - pretending to be okay about something when really you want the other person dead.
Marcus: As coined by myself and Justin last night re: various revelations about myself and women that he and other people have fancied through the past decade.
justin: Yeah, I was 'fauxkay' about Marcus' continual betrayal and raping of everything I hold dear.
Marcus: 
Marcus: It's not my fault!
justin: Here's one of me at Marcus at Phoenix 96.
Justin:
Afro Ninja Back Flip - this is one we've all probably seen before, but worth seeing again as it's bloody funny.
24/06/06
Gareth:
I want a techno privacy scarf (good for privacy while using mobile devices in public places)
Justin: Yup, you'll be knee-deep in fanny in no time with one of them.
Marcus:
100 Awesome Music Videos. (via)
Marcus: All playable on YouTube. There's some good choices, some interesting choices, and some downright crappy gangsta rap.
justin: I notice Boards of Canada is up there. Also, I do like Bone Thugs n Harmony's 'Crossroads' track - I find the black death/angel/baby scene strangely poignant as well - but it is 12.30am on a Saturday night and I am stuck inside doing work. I don't know what the f*ck I'm talking about.
23/06/06
Marcus:
As if us bikers didn't have enough lethal things to look out for as it is: "Motorcyclist killed in rush-hour lightning strike".
gareth: I'm surprised that was possible, with the rubber of the tires not allowing the bike to be grounded?
Marcus: It was an insanely powerful bolt that a few inches of rubber wouldn't do much about: "the lightning blasted a 4-inch-deep hole in the highway and sent chunks of asphalt hurtling across the highway."
Dave:
What happens if you apply for the management job at a famous football club with your only experience being the awesome Football Manager video game?
Dave: Sorry, I forgot to credit my good friend Tom Hines for forwarding me this link. If you would like to contact him his email address is here.
Marcus:
XHTMLized: "You design. We transform it into XHTML/ CSS." (via)
Marcus: I had a similar idea once myself.
Gareth:
Use this string of three tones to fool telemarketers' dialers into thinking your number is disconnected
Gareth:
These screencaps of Mac OSX Leopard are interesting, whether real or not - it seems to be really well-intergrated with XP. That live switching feature looks pretty damn nice. Note the Apple About menu even shows the XP servicepack.
22/06/06
Marcus:
1000 Arten ein Bier zu öffnen: oh, those wacky Germans and their desire to list every possible way of opening a bottle of beer with an improvised opener. (via)
Marcus: A Google Translated version sort of works - good enough to understand the descriptions on the side menu, anyway.
Gareth:
The BumpTop structures files and programs as 3d cards with weight that you can shuffle around and move about the desktop.
gareth: Looks cool, but what use can it serve?
Marcus:
A 1979 animation made by John "Pixar" Lasseter as a student. (via)
Marcus: Cutesy anthropomorphic lamps abound.
Gareth:
According to FoxNews, WMDs have been found in Iraq (and as far back as 2003)
Justin: I'm not sure that this is really news to be honest. Haven't they been finding old degraded shells all over the place? it's not the smoking gun they have been looking for.
Marcus:
A pedal bike with a drive shaft instead of a chain. Cool idea.
gareth: If these had been around when I was ten or so, I'd have shreded far less pants
Marcus:
"Insurers have withdrawn the cover on their virginity taken out by three sisters in the event of the second coming of Christ."
Marcus: "The cover was meant to pay for the cost of bringing up Christ if one of them conceived immaculately."
Marcus: ...k...
gareth: Interesting way to get child support I guess?
Marcus:
YouTube: Jay Z, Linkin Park and Paul McCartney in a three-way at the Grammys. (via)
Marcus: The segue into "Yesterday" starts at about 2:25, with Macca's appearance soon afterwards.
Marcus: Left me feeling dirty under my skin for some reason.
Marcus:
The Devil’s Guide to Google. (via)
Marcus: "1. Start a spam blog with Blogger.com. Use Google News to send automated email alerts on any conceivable high-paying topic to your Blogger’s blog-by-mail address."
Marcus:
Gawker Clips: YouTube videos featured on Gawker Media blogs (like Screenhead).
Marcus: No RSS feed though, unfortunately.
Justin:
You know, I am really getting into Rise of Legends on the PC - I recommend it. It's the most imaginative game (RTS) I have played in ages. Wiki
Dave:
Article by Boris Johnson on trial by media, raises some good points.
Justin: Ironically enough written for the Telegraph with an added attack on The Mail - but still a good point none the less.
Dave: Anything that attacks The Mail is good by me.
Dave:
Anyone for tennis!? Keepy uppy flash game, my top score so far is 48, but I don't think I'll ever repeat it.
Justin: 84! haha - I found a system. Also, I suggest settign the quality toggle to 'low' - makes the update smoother and the collision detection better.
Gareth:
Intel's Core 2 Duo seems set to blow anything AMD has right out of the water
gareth: water under the bridge
hexus: If this were boxing, the Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 would be Lennox Lewis, the Athlon 64 FX-62 Bernard Hopkins and the Intel Presler E.E 965 Ricky Hatton. They all punch their weight, but some punch a lot heavier than others.
Gareth:
Bill Gates' piracy confession
justin: Interesting that Gates tries to differentiate (at first) between what he did and theft. A link from the comments points to a court ruling that copyright infringement is not theft.
21/06/06
Marcus:
People's Daily: "China has made important contributions to the cause of human rights, and it will continue to make efforts to promote all human rights".
Marcus: This link comes to you courtesy of our new Chinese-language site linkbunnies.cn - "Approved web stuff for industrious comrades".
gaReth: indeed
Marcus:
Masturbatory Stats Update: linkbunnies.org is currently getting anywhere around 200,000 hits per month, shifting over 1.2GB of data every month (most of which comes from our RSS feed), and has somewhere around 6,000 unique readers.
Marcus: Time to start appending horrendous flashing poker adverts onto the end of each post so we can rake in the $$$.
Marcus: Also, I notice that unlike BBC News, people in China can see us. Hello Chinese people! We haven't yet decided whether to use this visibility to denounce the various naughty acts of your government, or collaberate with them in order to seal up some kind of Far East linklog business opportunity. Watch this space.
justin: Chinese people: You have not be accused of reading a non-sanctioned linkblog, YOU /ARE/ READING A NON-SANCTIONED LINKBLOG!
Dave: 200,000 a month!? All of a sudden I feel self-conscious.
Marcus:
Matt Stone's memo to the film studio regarding getting approval from the MPAA for South Park: The Movie. (via)
Marcus: "P.S. This is my favourite memo ever."
Marcus:
How Marlon Brando's face was remapped in 3D for new dialogue in Superman Returns (Quicktime). (via)
Marcus: This obsession with reanimating famous (but inconveniently dead) actors for new roles is a bit weird, though.
Marcus: See also.
Justin:
The script for the final episode of Dungeons and Dragons, the 80's kids show. Plus some notes by it's author.
Justin: I've heard loads of people actually claim they've seen the episode where they make it home - but clearly they are talking jive.
Marcus: According to TV.com, the last episode aired was called The Winds Of Darkness - and nope, they didn't find their way home.
dave: This show used to make me so cross. Everytime they got the chance to go home, they wouldn't. Usually because of the whining little horse. AARRRGH. It made me mad.
justin: Sorry, as per the notes, it's the script for what should have been the final episode.
Marcus: Just confirming what you said: they never made it home due to the show getting axed. Bwaah! No! Uni! etc.
Dave:
Government steps in for poor kids that got scammed and missed out on a World Cup game. Awwww.
Justin: Anything to get some good press after incidents like this.
20/06/06
Gareth:
This guy has put a mac mini in his Prius, and can control it through the touchscreen. I'm impressed.
Justin:
The new World Cup rule: take off your trousers, they're offending our sponsor - Pinched from Chris's blog
19/06/06
Marcus:
Free up space on your Mac with Disk Inventory X. (via)
Marcus: Some good tips involving iPhoto and GarageBand too.
Justin:
A humiliated cat completely shaven apart from its little booties and its head.
Justin: A cat that looks like Hitler.
gareth: Wow, that Hitler cat made me laugh out loud
Justin:
ISAAC Hayes may not have quit "South Park" at all - or at least not willingly. More on this interesting rumour here
Dave: I guess we'll find out in time won't we. I can imagine that if Trey and Matt have another chance to have a go at Scientology they will, they might see this as that oportunity.
Gareth:
Abadox is apparantly a very difficult game
Dave: Canadians have a too much time. Imagine if you actually bought that game!
Dave: That is kind of painful to watch. I love how cross he gets about there being pterydactyls in space.
dave: OMG Check out his follow up post.
18/06/06
Gareth:
Explosions on the moon are not anywhere near as exciting as you might have previously thought
Marcus:
Best 80s kids' cartoon ever: Turbo Teen!
justin: I remember this - I have tried to mention it a few times to people but no one remembered it. From my distant days in Canada watching Saturday morning cartoons.
Marcus:
Interview with Thom Yorke in today's Observer.
Marcus: His new solo album "The Eraser" is one of the finest recordings of recent times.
Marcus: On refusing to deal with Tony Blair for the Friends of the Earth gig: "I was being manoeuvred into a position where if I said the wrong thing post-the meeting, Friends of the Earth would lose their access. Which normally would be called blackmail.'"
Marcus: "This is what Thom Yorke, conscious rocker, is like. He's more confused student than celebrity spokesman. More pub ranter than soundbite-spewing talking head. He's more like most of us, in fact."
Justin:
Improve Everywhere - a social engineering super-happy-fun clever group that organise happenings, such as a fake U2 rooftop concert
Marcus:
ThanksNo.com - direct people to it who send you crappy e-mail forwards. Or invitations to join yet another social networking community. Or whatever.
Gareth:
A list of things that have happened during Duke Nukem Forever development. In short, basically everything.
gareth: I especially like "Things that have taken less time than Duke Nukem Forever's Development"
Dave: So when IS it coming out?
Marcus:
Awful Commercials: "Ads ridiculed. Lives ruined". (via)
Marcus: Also: lots of 1980s TV ads.
Marcus: All of this is American stuff, by the way.
Marcus:
The Unfunny Truth About Scientology. (via)
Marcus: Which may or may not have been responsible for this cease and desist from the litigation-happy psycho people.
Marcus:
Lots and lots of photos of some completely showing-off balloon sculptures. (via)
Marcus: Beats the hell out of my "snake" balloon animal speciality, anyway.
Dave: You need to fix the link, This is my favourite.
17/06/06
Justin:
Beyoncé Ambushed by PETA at Nobu
justin: How hard can it be for AOL to write a decent video videwer that doesn't need ActiveX but also works properly?
Gareth:
Topless girl on a beach spotted reading a book on unix - how often does that happen? NSFW, obviously. (via)
16/06/06
Gareth:
List of control schemes for the Wii. It's looking pretty awesome!
gareth: No mention of the most important use: lightsaber mode
Justin:
Carnegie Mellon Researchers Teach Computers To Perceive Three Dimensions in 2-D Images
justin: Oops. Well, it's so good it deserves to be seen twice.
Gareth:
How to make the best paper airplane in the world
gareth: The name is a bit misleading. If it were actually the best one in the world, it'd do your evil bidding
Marcus:
Parallels, the virtual machine for Intel Macs that lets you run Windows, Linux and possibly Sinclair Spectrum BASIC, has now been released as version 1.0.
gareth: It's nitpicking I know, but the actual name is Parallels Desktop. Parallels is the name of the company.
gareth: Parallels Workstation, for both Windows and Linux, is pretty awesome too.
Marcus:
"Making hit music into a science: A computer program has been developed that the makers claim can dramatically increase your odds of scoring a hit."
Gareth:
Bill Gates is "reordering his priorities" (read: retiring)
gareth: Why is the craziest looking of all the top Microsoft guys the one in charge? (hint: his name starts with a S and ends with teven Ballmer)
15/06/06
Marcus:
The Citroen Transformer car robot goes ice skating. (via)
Marcus: I'm not big on linking to adverts, but this is cool.
Marcus:
"An artist's sculpture has been rejected by the Royal Academy of Arts which has instead opted to display the wooden support it was put on."
Marcus: What I particularly love about this is that, rather than admit its mistake, the Academy is insisting that they just like the plinth better.
Marcus: What did we learn about art today kids?
justin: Well, the horse of conceptualism has now finally been flogged to death.
Chris:
Well, it's official: Billie Piper is leaving Doctor Who at the end of the current series.
justin: Why is she leaving Dr Who?
justin: Because she wants to! Because she wants to!
Marcus: Why you gotta crack that obvious joke so loud?
Marcus:
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have created a program that enables a computer to produce a 3D model from a single 2D photogaph. (via)
Marcus: Worth noting that the results are "simple 'pop-up' 3D models, like those one would find in a children's book", but it's still damn impressive.
Marcus: You can download the progam (Windows and Linux) here.
Marcus: You'll need something called Matlab though, and it looks like you have to pay for that.
Marcus:
Running Windows XP on an Intel Mac: Parallels versus Boot Camp comparison. (via)
Marcus: I bought a Mac Mini with the intention of using Boot Camp, but have since grabbed a license for Parallels - it's a much more elegant solution.
Gareth:
The FBI Miami Shootout was a hell of a mess.
gareth: The wikipedia article gives a more summarized viewpoint (and is much easier to follow)
gareth: This article is probably the most concise and readable article of the three
gareth: Jesus, it took Platt 12 hits to die (and even then, it took him several minutes)
14/06/06
Gareth:
"FEBE allows you to quickly and easily backup your Firefox extensions. In fact, it goes beyond just backing up -- It will actually rebuild your extensions individually into installable .xpi files. Now you can easily synchronize your office and home browsers."
gareth: Windows only at the moment though :(
Marcus:
How to win friends and influence people with a LiveJournal.
Marcus: "Do take quizzes... how can anyone know the real you unless they understand that of all the Pokemon, you're Charizard?"
Laura: Eugh, I hate those picture meme things, they do nothing but clog up your friends pages with menaingless tat. Clearly, I lose at LJ.
Marcus:
Eskiv: use the cursor keys to avoid the blue ball and reach the grey square. Every time you do this a new blue ball appears. It gets hard very quickly. (via)
Marcus:
If you don't laugh your ass off at the Lord of the Rings voiceover clip currently doing the rounds - you're wrong.
Marcus:
"Peanut Gallery allows you and your friends to have a movie theater experience live, in real-time, over a local Bonjour network or the internet." (via)
Marcus: "You and up to 7 guests can enjoy video or audio from local files, your .Mac iDisk, or the World Wide web, complete with pre-rolls, intermission and Core Video-Powered theater-like visual effects."
Marcus: Shame it's OS X only. Hopefully a Windows version will get developed.
Marcus: Although in many ways it would seem to electronically facilitate the sort of crass antics that Americans apparently love as part of their cinema experience (as opposed to just watching the damn film).
Dave:
The Fifa World Cup is underway and it's brilliant! However probably more interesting for you uber geeks is RoboCup 2006
Marcus:
Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminal leaning-forward trick, and how it was done. (via)
Marcus: The patent makes for fun reading too.