30/11/06
Marcus:
The Antikythera mechanism, a 2000 year old Ancient Greek analogue computer, has finally been decoded by Anglo-Greek scientists.
29/11/06
Marcus:
"Are you a fan of the practical joke? With Prankmail, you can send someone an email and make it appear as if it comes from someone else. We also show previous pranks and jokes that have been sent from this site to serve as inspiration. Good times!" (via)
Marcus: The time machine one's great.
Marcus:
In the "let's make everything nuclear powered!" 1950s Ford came up with an atomic car concept vehicle, the Ford Nucleon. Yikes. (via)
gareth: Wow, that'd be a mess. Hazmat teams at every car crash, etc.
Marcus:
Tenacious D "Pick Of Destiny" Flash game. Quite good fun, although I found it more than a little confusing. (via)
Marcus:
YouTube: Old Chris Rock gag accurately predicts OJ Simpson's (thwarted) money-making adventure, practically down to the title. (via)
Marcus:
Charlie Brooker: What if UK celebrities like Norman Wisdom and Lorraine Kelly were asked to write how they would've committed various famous murders? Also, don't miss the definition of Scientology at the bottom.
28/11/06
Marcus:
UK copyright expiration is to likely to stay at 50 years instead of being increased to nearly 100 years.
Marcus: This is awesome news and a blow against the insidious record industry trying to create infinite copyright to greedily wring every last penny out of music that belongs in the public domain.
Marcus: Although the BBC article sticks to quoting record industry figures shrieking about how unfair it all is - not even paying lip service to balanced reporting. Curious.
Marcus: You have to get to the very bottom of this earlier BBC article to discover that "the British Library has opposed extending copyright, saying it would endanger the UK's national music archive." For instance.
Marcus: Apparently "even if the artists and record groups had convinced Mr Gowers to recommend extending the copyright period the Government would have faced legal challenges for breaking with European Union Law that binds all member states to the 50-year period."
27/11/06
Marcus:
Supreme Commander (YouTube trailer) looks like the most awesome RTS game ever. I'm geeking out bigtime over this one. Look at those big stompy things that shoot everything! And the "Battlestar Galactica meets submarine meets tank" mobile base things! Ooooh...
gareth: Total Annihilation (designed by Chris Taylor, who is also doing Supreme Commander) was probably one of the best RTS games I have ever played. So understandably, I am pretty damn excited; especially for the dual monitor support.
Gareth:
A comparison of online embedded video players. They all look quite similar to me, although Youtube seems to have slightly lower resolution. Soapbox seemed to load the fastest, although that's probably something to do with that very few people are using it.
26/11/06
Gareth:
Mega64 is doing the advertisements for the 2006 SpikeTV videogame awards. The awards are absolute sh*t every year, mostly because SpikeTV attempts to make them "hip" and "cool" and use terms such as "of the hook" (I hate people who do that). What's good is the ads that Mega64 made for them: 1 and 2. It's worth looking at just about every entry in their media section, to be honest. Especially the katamari damacy one.
Gareth:
NY police kill man on wedding day. Ouch. It seems like the police were just a bit jumpy on this one. Although the article does say that "their car hit an undercover officer" (as in an actual police officer?) and then "hit an unmarked police vehicle for a second time" - so I guess things would have seemed amiss when they run into someone and then keep attempting to leave.
25/11/06
Gareth:
A really good in-depth look at the Wii. I regret to say that I haven't actually gotten my hands on one yet.
24/11/06
Gareth:
japs_are_weird++: a Japanese zoo is selling various memorabilia made out of panda poop
gareth: Reader Pak has pointed out that Chiang Mai is in Thailand, and Thailand is not Japan. My bad! Sorry if I offended anyone. Thanks Pak.
Gareth:
Ofcom is legalising the use of FM transmitters that allow iPods and other MP3 players to play through car radios. Griffin must be dancing in the streets.
Gareth:
Resilient and self-concious robotic starfish are awesome
gareth: And here's the website of one of the guys who's involved. He's apparantly done some really impressive stuff.
23/11/06
Chris:
Joss Whedon is writing more Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But as a comic book, not a TV show. Sounds interesting...
Marcus:
What would Michael Jackson look like if he hadn't had all the plastic surgery vitiligo? (via)
22/11/06
Chris:
November, by the way, is National Novel Writing Month. The idea is you write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. For the fun of it. Because you can. Because you've always wanted to. Because it will make you appear mysterious and alluring to potential partners you might bump in to at parties. And, of course, because it will make the World a better and more creative place. I know it can be done, too - because I've just finished mine.
Gareth:
Youtube: Jesus Christ: The Musical NSFRPWSH (Not Safe For Religious People Without a Sense of Humour). Thanks, Toon!
gareth: His name really is Toon. It's Dutch. Isn't that awesome? I know!
Zanna:
Donald Rumsfeld taking questions from the press.
chris: That really did make me laugh out loud. Very nicely done.
21/11/06
Marcus:
All the James Bond title sequences. (via)
gareth: Goldeneye is definitely still my favourite.
Gareth:
BMW has debuted their (partly) hydrogen-powered 7 series
Gareth: Wired on a test drive of it
Marcus:
Is OS X Leopard going to sport an all-new Vista-killing look 'n' feel? The Mac blogger smart money says yes. (via)
Zanna:
Scientists believe they have worked out a formula to calculate how "beer goggles" affect a drinker's vision.
Marcus:
Times: "The British stiff upper lip is costing thousands their lives by deterring them from seeking help when they are having a heart attack."
Marcus:
Was Bobby Kennedy shot by a CIA assassination squad? The evidence is reasonably compelling. Video. (via)
gareth: I strongly believe that the CIA is behind any and every mysterious murder in the past 100 years.
Marcus:
SWFUpload: "Upload files via Flash to get the Flash-upload dialog goodness." (via)
Marcus: One for the web geeks.
Gareth:
After a firestorm of criticism, News. Corp. said Monday that it has canceled the O.J. Simpson book and television special "If I Did It."
Gareth:
"Are streets without traffic signs conceivable? Seven cities and regions in Europe are giving it a try - with good results."
20/11/06
Chris:
Mmmm, Microsoft are really talking up the new release of Office. "Mr Capossela said their research showed that the vast majority of users adapted to the new interface very quickly. 'The people who take longer are the die-hard users; the expert Excel user,' he said." Right, so all the power users are screwed? That's really gonna persuade 'em to upgrade...
Zanna:
The Businessbib allows you to look perfectly put-together in a fraction of the time it takes to boot your computer.
Gareth: The Flickr set of the creation process is an odd one
Marcus:
Engadget's Wii FAQ, usefully covering questions relating to usage of the console rather than tech specs.
Marcus:
Celebrities as Star Wars characters is the latest Worth 1000 Photoshop contest. (via)
Marcus: My favourite is George Foreman.
19/11/06
Gareth:
These mac ad spoofs` are pretty funny
Marcus: On the subject of which: a linguistic and cultural translation of Japanese "Get A Mac" ads. Ostensibly similar, but in reality very different to the US ones. (via)
18/11/06
Gareth:
A new way to multiply
gareth: According to reader Simon, it actually isn't a new way to multiply, as it's used in school (presumably in the UK). My excuse is that I'm in Canada (then again, that's my excuse for anything)
Gareth:
I'm not sure who are more pathetic, the people waiting outside a store for a week for a PS3, or the people robbing them
17/11/06
Gareth:
Some very beautiful and unique photos. I don't speak Russian, although the words don't seem especially important.
Marcus:
Snopes: Did the "they're gonna taste great" Frosties kid commit suicide or die of cancer, or something?
Gareth:
"Villagers in Diuri in Gaya district in Bihar are flocking to offer prayers to a congenitally disordered child - with eight limbs, four hands and four legs."
16/11/06
Gareth:
Youtube: Dice stacking is impressive
gareth: this one is more impressive, but has even more annoying music.
Dave: This has impressed me, I found this one.
Marcus:
YouTube: collection of Harry Enfield's Mr Cholmondley-Warner spoof 1950s public information films.
Marcus: Frightening Diseases Of The Mind, Methods Of Self Defence, The Conjugal Rights Guide (my favourite!), Christmas Tidings and The Working Class.
Gareth: Heh, funny stuff. I like the Methods of Self Defence one.
Zanna:
Women: know your limits.
Marcus: Bah.
gareth: I guess it's more okay now that a woman has posted it.
zanna: I searched for it before I posted it since I had a felling someone would have already done it and it came back with nothing. I think Marcus has fiddled with the search to make me look silly...
Marcus: It's because I've trained the search engine to obey only one master - me. It lies about search results to everybody else.
gareth: I've found that using google and searching only linkbunnies.org works quite well.
15/11/06
Marcus:
Reuters: Two Canadian university professors have been given the go-ahead to smoke all the cannabis they want. Note to reactionary right-wing indignant types: yes, it's all because of pesky human rights legislation. (via)
Marcus: "The government grows the drug in an abandoned salt mine in Flin Flon, Manitoba, and sells it to authorized users at C$5 ($4.40) a gram."
Gareth:
And also from Russ, but it deserves it's own post: the definitive guide to football chants. Thanks again, Russ!
Gareth:
From reader Russ: If you've ever wanted to make a fake google "did you mean so and so" page, then gooogIe search is for you. Thanks, Russ!
Gareth:
Microsoft has bought Mozilla, and they are releasing Microsoft Firefox 2007
gareth: The trailer is on youtube here
Marcus: Awesome! I'm formatting my Mac OS X partition to Windows just so I can run this! Microsoft pwns!
14/11/06
Justin:
Ladies and gentlemen, thanks to an overwhelming response to that hotlink advertising my showreel I now have a nice new job back in Bristol. Unfortunately, however, it takes up a lot my of time and I can't sit around surfing the net all day like I did at my last job, so I won't be posting on linkbunnies for the forseeable future. Sorry! I know you will continue to be entertained by the others and I look forward to resuming my normal service when I get the time. In the meantime, here is a picture of the dock I get to drive along every morning on my way to the office. Here is what I drive on.
Please mark your emails "Sexual abuse for Marcus" until I am ready be be abused again.
Please mark your emails "Sexual abuse for Marcus" until I am ready be be abused again.
gareth: Have a good one!
Gareth:
Missile Game 3d (very original name) is a pretty addictive flash game in which you fly a missle down a tunnel with a bunch of rotating disc obstruction thingies. It made me a bit dizzy eventually.
Marcus:
The Register: "Students and workers queued for three hours in Bristol on Saturday after a malfunctioning cash point started handing out twice the amount of money people requested."
Marcus: "The machine in the Clifton area of Bristol dispensed £20 for every £10 withdrawn."
Marcus: Says the Royal Bank of Scotland: "'We have a record of all the people who made withdrawals from the machine during this period and any discrepancies will be followed up this week.'" Spoilsports!
Marcus: No word as to whether the Bristolian linkbunnies (Tim, Justin and Chris) have skipped off to Barbados with the cash.
tim: now they call me el presidente! the god with hands made of gold!
Marcus:
Stand clear of the wh*res: Guerilla art project in protest at the 2012 Olympics displacement of Kings Cross denizens. (via)
13/11/06
Gareth:
A nice rant/look at the Zune music pricing scheme, which, as some guy on digg put, is rec*ckulous.
Marcus:
The International Brotherhood of Rogues, Scoundrels, and Cads.
Marcus: "If your idea of a good time is risking life and limb to defend a maiden's honor (as long as the possibility of profit or nookie is in the bargain), then you're our kind of guy."
gareth: I love how they have faux wood panelling on their website.
chris: Much more interesting was the sort of organisation I imagined after misreading the above as a brotherhood of rogues, scoundrels and *cats*...
tim: heheh, I got called a cad on three occassions last saturday night- do I qualify?
Marcus:
Site news: It never ceases to amaze me when I poke around the linkbunnies web stats and find out all the excitingly exotic places people are coming from just to read our weird little corner of the web.
Marcus: So a big hello to all our readers in (in no particular order) Peru, Sri Lanka, Iran, Barbados, Vietnam, Guinea, Ecuador, Bahrain, Mongolia, Senegal, Nepal and Nicaragua.
Marcus: Also hello to the dozen or so people using Lynx to read linkbunnies (which hopefully means I haven't made a complete balls-up of making the site degrade gracefully).
Marcus: We experienced a huge surge in growth last month. Not entirely sure why, but our rate of growth is actually becoming mildly disconcerting. In a good way.
gareth: Wow, Lynx? You people are pretty damn hardcore.
gareth: I also just had a look at the google analytics analysis, and I realized I had no idea what the vast majority of the info means. So here's my take on it.
Marcus:
Charlie Brooker: Thinking of getting your teeth whitened? Well don't. Keep them brown.
Marcus: "Ever bitten into a choc ice with sensitive teeth? Take that sensation and multiply it by 10. Then imagine it lasting far longer, and occurring without warning."
Marcus:
YouTube: Battlestar Galactica gag reel. Apparently compiled between the miniseries and season one, the best bit is at the end when Edward James Olmos as Adama makes a phonecall to Edward James Olmos as Castillo in Miami Vice. (via)
gareth: A much longer one (with a damn table in the way)
gareth: Ah, here's one of the first one where it's the actual gag reel uploaded, rather than a clip of filming the screen it's played on.
Marcus: You win this time.
Marcus:
Google Earth now offers historical maps too. Pretend it's still the 18th century! But with computers! (via)
Marcus:
Make your own spam friend, from whom you can then pretend to receive unsolicited adverts for h3rbal V1agr.a. If you're bored with real spam or whatever. (via)
Marcus:
The Simpsons Movie trailer. (via)
Marcus: The "still in crappy 2D" gag is a rip-off of the South Park movie trailer.
Marcus: Providing an ironic counterpoint to Simpsons Already Did It.
12/11/06
Marcus:
Chinese immigrant labour was exploited recruited by businessmen to queue up and buy PS3s during the frenzied Japanese launch day. Heartwarming. (via)
Marcus:
BBC: The world's most dangerous road.
Marcus: "Further down the road we passed a spot where a set of fresh tyre tracks headed out into the void. They told their own story."
Gareth:
Elton John would like all organized religion banned, as he believes it stirs up hatred towards homosexuals.
Marcus:
Another iTunes smart playlist tip from Jason Kottke: this one plays music not heard in a while, and not recently skipped.
Marcus:
How to "fix" TV shows like Lost. (via)
Marcus: In summary, turn them into two-series max efforts with the plot worked out from beginning to end beforehand. This is so people don't lose interest due to perpetual red herrings thrown in to keep the plot going indefinitely.
Marcus: Personally I think Lost is still going strong, but possibly I'm in a minority there. And who's to say that lots of stuff won't be resolved soon and it will suddenly turn into a different kind of show (minus the mystery)?
gareth: I'm still waiting to find out what the hell the smoke is.
Zanna:
Fish School. Train your pet fish to perform cool tricks! Swim through hoops, jump, limbo, eat from your hand - even play soccer. Guaranteed fun for you AND your fish. This is NOT a joke.
zanna: I am simply amazed at what fish can learn. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes! - Bill, PA
Zanna:
Teachers 'bullied by online grading'. Rate My Teachers, which was founded in the US five years ago, is growing in popularity in the UK.
The UK version of the site now features 454,000 ratings for 95,000 teachers at over 5,600 schools. I found my old school on the site, it hasn't been rated too badly.
Marcus: I found the school I work at. It only lists three teachers, apparently at random, as there are no ratings to go with them.
Marcus: Creepy website. People would soon be up in arms if there was a "Rate My Fellow Office Workers".
Laura: I found my school on there too, and am greatly confused by the presence on there of a teacher who left quite some time ago. Also, only one person has rated anyone, and it's obviously a girl, as the male head of PE got top marks. If only there'd been a mark for 'most swooned over'.
Gareth:
Youtube: "One never knows when a homosexual is about"
Marcus: That's just over a minute's worth of distilled retro homophobia paedophilephobia; the full ten minute version is here.
Gareth:
Comparison of XP and Vista sounds. If you want the mathematical formula for it, it's XP + fairy = vista.
11/11/06
Gareth:
"New Zealand's high school students will be able to use "text-speak", the mobile phone text message language beloved of teenagers, in national exams this year, officials said." I'm embarassed just out of association with this people, in that we're both human.
zanna: lol.
Gareth:
Google Video: Fainting goats are hilarious
gareth: I have to admit, it seems like something good ol' Darwin would have taken care of centuries ago.
Gareth:
A nice video (and explanation) of a laptop battery exploding. The guy's voice is a bit like a golf commentator, but other than that it's pretty good.
Marcus:
Photo: Best doormat ever (if you're somebody who has to think twice about whether you've packed the basics when you leave the house). (via)
10/11/06
Marcus:
43 Folders: some decent (if obvious) power user iTunes Smart Playlist tips.
Marcus: More tips. The ratings tips down the bottom are excellent (how to get stats to see which high-rated songs you're skipping and which unrated songs you play a lot).
Marcus:
Contribute to a list of English Icons. (via)
Marcus: Of the "quintessential part of English consciousness" variety as opposed to "small clickable pictures on your screen".
Marcus:
Wikipedia: Domo-kun.
Marcus: Because I've always vaguely wondered what these things were called.
Marcus: 
gareth: They look like killer toast to me.
Marcus:
Wikipedia: The rules for "calling shotgun". (via)
Marcus: "On long journeys the tallest or widest passenger gets the shotgun rights automatically."
Marcus: In your face, everybody I know!
Marcus: Er, because I'm tall, not grotesquely obese.
Marcus: Yet.
zanna: If only you'd known that on all those trips in Newquay when we made you go in the boot...
Marcus: Well, that one time. And it was more of an exercise in "you are all a bunch of pussies, enjoy your puny human seating all squashed together while I philanthropically demonstrate how rock I am" than being coerced into doing it.
Zanna:
I'm refurbishing my flat.
Marcus: The $900 Siamese Twin Zombiette is my favourite.
gareth: Heh, the thought of zombified siamese twins had never occured to me. Genius!
Gareth:
Socrates meets Jesus. NSFRC (Not Safe For Religious Conservatives)
gareth: I guess you could have the C stand for something else, but I'll leave that to the imagination.
Marcus:
Global Orgasm Day. Have an orgasm on 22/12/06 and think about world peace instead of whatever sick internet porn you normally look at, you filthy little grubber. Because world peace is erotic. Or something. Possibly I'm missing the point. (via)
gareth: "
WHY? To effect positive change in the energy field of the Earth through input of the largest possible surge of human energy a Synchronized Global Orgasm. There are two more US fleets heading for the Persian Gulf with anti-submarine equipment that can only be for use against Iran, so the time to change Earth’s energy is NOW!" I don't understand the train of thought there, but oh well.
zanna: 'Who? All Men and Women, you and everyone you know' Sounds like fun to me!
Gareth:
From reader Tom: Footage of that idiot with the firework up his bum. Thanks Tom!
Marcus: I've stripped out the website gubbins if you just want the pure streaming WMV link: here. I have to say I did chortle when the screaming flames leaped out of his grainy buttocks.
Marcus:
Make your own analogue binary wall clock. (via)
Marcus: I have an LED binary clock. Yeah. I'm a geek. But it looks cool anyway.
Marcus:
BBC: The perfect comedy face.
Marcus: Ricky Gervais: "All these years I assumed my global success as a comedian was down to my acute observations, expert directorial rendering and consummate skills as a performer.
Turns out it's because I've got a fat girly face."
Zanna:
Subject a foe or celeb to a callous session of saws, drills and knives, Saw 3 style... The Hoff is on the list of celebs you can torture!
Marcus:
Indian tax-collecting eunachs.
Marcus: Indian eunachs (hijras) "usually earn their living by turning up uninvited at weddings, births and other major family events and singing until they are paid enough to go away."
09/11/06
Dave:
Why are some people so stupid?
Marcus: "He suffered a scorched colon and is now recovering in hospital..."
gareth: I'd like to blame alcohol, but that only disrupts inhibitions - the base desire to do something so silly is already there, it only takes alcohol to allow them to do it. Darwisim at work? No idea, really.
Gareth:
Danger 50,000 Zombies! with Nick Frost and Simon Pegg, of Shaun of the Dead fame (and apparantly also released the same year)
Laura: I could have sworn I posted a link to this back in August, but I didn't, oooops. I am a bad linkbunny.
Marcus: You did.
gareth: Damnit! Well, it's funny enough to be posted twice.
laura: Well, that's odd. I looked for it and couldn't find it. Ho hum.
Gareth:
Chris's Franchi SPAS12 Shotgun Pages: this guy is a bit worrying, he has a pretty comprehensive list of every game/movie a SPAS12 shotgun appears in.
Dave: "What about Aliens, which I just saw last night? Well, it is true that the "30 mm grenade launcher" on the bottom of their machine guns is made from a SPAS -- the whole metal heatshield is turned around backwards, the forward grip cut in half, the barrel sawed off, and a hole cut in the heatshield for the shells to eject. "
What. A. Freak.
Dave: Crapping Christ. Look at his homepage!
gareth: Ow my eyes. :(
Marcus:
Microsoft is to give Universal money for every Zune it sells. This doesn't set a good precedent. (via)
Marcus:
Season Shot: bored with normal shotguns? Kill wildlife by shooting flavours at them. No, this is not a joke. (via)
Gareth:
Google Accidentally Sends Out Kama Sutra Worm. Reminds me of that apple thing just a bit ago.
Gareth:
The Onion: The Politicans have won again (damnit)
gareth: My favourite part is probably that the graph has an "other" category.
08/11/06
Marcus:
Stikkit looks like it could be a useful online PostIt note app. I love tapping notes into this sort of thing, and being able to access them from any computer would be handy. (via)
Marcus: Although a PDA is handy for this sort of thing, Stikkit also "watches for appointments, to-dos, people, bookmarks and more, magically extracting and organizing the important details." Will have to see how clever it is at doing this.
Marcus: It also has all the usual Web 2.0 stuff, like sharing notes and using tags.
gareth: I give it about 30 seconds before Google buys them.
Dave:
I've got my first 2 referrals for my free Xbox (con). I've also got my first DVD from LoveFilm. So if anyone fancies helping out please feel free.
Gareth:
Zango fined $3m for adware use. Great, although the money could have gone to a better place.