31/03/07
30/03/07
Dave:
New free gps locator, put in your spouse's mobile number and you can track them!! (thans beck)
29/03/07
Dave:
We haven't had an argument for a while and Justin seems to be lurking around a bit more these days, so here's this. A white Tory MP goes to a party dressed as Nelson Mandela. There is outrage. What do we think?
tim: I'd like to kick this one off by saying that justin is wrong... before he's even said anything
Marcus: Political correctness gone mad, you couldn't make it up, etc.
Marcus: Although he's a councillor not an MP.
Marcus: Half of me suspects that he's a racist moron and probably pranced around the place gleefully giggling to his racist mates, "look at me! I'm a darkie! How wonderfully absurd!".
Marcus: The other half agrees with the article commentors who point out that by the same logic a white person dressing up as Michael Jackson (or Rory Bremner as Trevor McDonald) is similarly racist. It's all down to perceived intentions really, isn't it?
Dave: I once dressed up as Papa Lazarou from The League of Gentlemen. There was nothing racially motivated about it, it was a villains party. However, some of the looks I got walking down the road were pretty special. Then at the party, I found myself standing next to a black guy at the bar who gave me a look I have never seen before, then I realised why. He said "Let me guess... you a jazz singer" I (obviously) said "no no no, I'm the guy from League of Gentleman". He hadn't seen it. I was slightly embarrassed. He wouldn't let me buy him a drink.
justin: I think I will answer this question with a question: is this man being racist?
zanna: How about these kids dressed up for Halloween. Isn't the second comment referring to 'you white people' more racist?
Marcus: No, I'm pretty sure the moron teenagers prancing around going "tee hee hee look I'm a black gang member! And black people looted New Orleans!" is more racist.
28/03/07
Dave:
The Blogosphere (yuck), is going a bit mental at the moment because a famous blogger started getting death threats.
Marcus: I issue death threats against everybody involved with linkbunnies all the time and nobody raises an eyebrow.
justin: There are crazy nut loonies making threats on a daily basis on the internet - the thing is to ignore them, not play "female victm".
I say: come back when someone has killed you & placed pieces of broken mirror behind your eyes to make you look alive and then we'll talk.
I say: come back when someone has killed you & placed pieces of broken mirror behind your eyes to make you look alive and then we'll talk.
Dave: What rock did you crawl out of? Do you not care about your job anymore? Or do they now let you spout misogynist hate on blogs as part of company policy?
zanna: Weirdos on the internet? Who would have thought it? I get so much rubbish emailed to my myspace profile and hotmail account. I don't really want to say it but I think I'm with Justin on this one.
tim: broken mirrors? been there, done that....
justin: Marcus - I think someone without the faculty of reason may have hacked Dave's account.
Dave: So if people send death threats they should be ignored until they act!? Why should it be ok for people to incite hatred and threaten people on the net and not in real life!!
Marcus: Reading the article, the threats and images used were rather unpleasant and disturbing. But at the same time - I do think the whole thing has been blown waaaay out of proportion. Blogger receives unpleasant death threats. Gets upset. End of story.
Marcus: Sometimes the think-alike Righteous-Indignation-O-Meter of the... nggggh... "blogosphere" is rather tiresome.
Marcus: BTW, Justin's seemingly psychotic comment about mirrors behind the eyes etc is a humorously-intended (I hope) Red Dragon reference. Although it may also be his hobby.
justin: Well, you have to put these things in perspective. Death threats over the internet are pretty much meaningless - sad internet losers will be doing it until humanity itslf is wiped out by a more motivated alien race. Additionally, they are also pretty anonymous and difficult to police.
"I am afraid to leave my yard.
I will never feel the same. I will never be the same. "
Slightly melodramatic really. So I think it comes down to how serious you take it really - and this woman obviously takes them too seriously.
"I am afraid to leave my yard.
I will never feel the same. I will never be the same. "
Slightly melodramatic really. So I think it comes down to how serious you take it really - and this woman obviously takes them too seriously.
Justin:
Classic Batman quotes ahoy! - like these on lecturing Robin
batman: All music is important, Dick. It's the universal language. One of our best hopes for the eventual realization of the brotherhood of man.
27/03/07
Marcus:
Prototype of a mobile phone with a built in digital projector.
justin: This is what I have been waiting for all my life. However, I'd like to posit the idea that my ars* would be just as much a "prototype projector" if it was photographed and then that photograph was edited to look as if volumetric light was shining out of it.
zanna: Where is your edited photo of your ars* being a projector then? Perhaps we should have some kind of competition where people think of other amusing objects which could be turned into projectors?
25/03/07
Zanna:
Don't forget the clocks changed last night everybody!
Marcus: Luckily I have technology that remembers for me, or I would unquestionably have been late for work today. And it's Tuesday.
24/03/07
Zanna:
Post boxes across the US are to be dressed up as Star Wars robot R2-D2 to celebrate 30 years since the release of the sci-fi series' first outing. Here is the link from USPS.
23/03/07
Justin:
Check out the Culture Show interview with Squarepusher on Squarepusher.net - his list of fans is amazing - plus the performance on a bass guitar in the Spanish style is amazing. Also text interview here.
chris: Why on Earth does the website insist on playing music at me when I'm trying to listen to the video it's also playing at me at the same time? Shoot their web designer!
chris: And, speaking as a player, as for the bass playing - meh. Try this one: Stuuuuuu!
Dave:
Please sponsor my friend, she's raising money by walking on fire! All donations will be appreciated.
22/03/07
Justin:
Not eating enough fruit? Forgot to feed the fish again? Need a little help keeping your New Year's resolutions? HASSLE ME!
21/03/07
Marcus:
Javascript to detect available fonts on a computer. Handy for when I inevitably redesign every last element of linkbunnies in Futura. (via)
Marcus:
Ratatouille Movie Trailer: YouTube US version, different Japanese version (direct WMV link).
Marcus: I instantly felt that familiar surge of forehead-slapping moron-hatred the second the main character said "I live in Paris, France".
Marcus: Thanks to Pixar for filling me in on the geographic location of Paris! What with the cliché'd accordion music and the background shot featuring a prominent Eiffel Tower I was in serious danger of assuming this movie was set in Paris, Nevada! With hilarious consequences!
Marcus: And why are all the rats and the main human character American-accented whilst the waiter has a Peter Sellers comedy French accent?
Marcus:
Gathering semen from an elephant is, rather surprisingly, a rather unpleasant and dangerous task. (Thanks - I think - to James).
Marcus: "One guy I know got a black eye from being hit by an elephant’s penis."
justin: You said "rather" too often in that. What with also saying "gather" - I just dont know what to think any more.
Justin:
Pirates of the Carbibean part 3 trailer.
zanna: I couldn't find the trailer on your link but here it is on youtube.
Marcus:
"Online music store CD-Wow has been found in contempt of court for selling illegally imported cheap CDs in the UK."
Marcus: Record companies are total f*cking w*nkers. Good. I for one wish to give as much money as possible to impoverished record companies. Reasonably-priced CDs are the devil's work.
justin: We in the UK are constantly being f*cking rippped off. Jesus. I wish there was a morepowerful pressure group for things like this.
20/03/07
Chris:
SpaceX are hoping to launch their Falcon 1 space vehicle at 4pm Pacific time (which, with the clocks already having gone forwards in the US works out at 11pm GMT, I think.) There'll be a webcast available on their site to cover the launch. Keep your fingers crossed - I really hope it works this time.
Marcus:
The top ten most expensive cities in the world. London is in fourth place and number one is a surprise.
chris: I guessed correctly - but on the other hand I have visited the country quite a bit. Slice of pizza and a pint of lager each for three people? Sixty five quid...
justin: Eh? no way? Jesus. No wonder they are being charged so much by English "human performance improvement" companies for crap products!
Marcus:
The Darjeeling Limited is Wes Anderson's new movie and it's just finished shooting in India. Yay! (via)
Gareth:
Balls!: (is a game where you attempt to) stay on the blue box as long as possible
Marcus: That has the makings of being horribly addictive.
19/03/07
Marcus:
Wii Sports high scores. I haven't played for a while but am hovering at around 1900 for Wii Tennis - where you can get points taken off even if you win a match by a small margin (bastards).
Justin:
Twittervision - amazing. A map of the world showing random people's "Twitter" entries, their pictures and their locations. A godlike view of the world - a bit like being one of the angels from Wings of Desire.
Marcus: I started using Twitter a while ago, then discovered that nobody else I knew used it. Which kind of made the whole enterprise a bit pointless. A bit like when I was enthusing about weblogs six or seven years ago and got a lot of blank looks.
Justin:
On the subject of Germany - I saw The Gecko on Saturday night in Mr Wolf's in Bristol. Amazing band. I was lucky enough to hang out with them for a while on Sunday in Bath as well. I recommend taking a listen to their stuff.
Gareth:
Musicovery is another one of those wizzy web radio thingies, complete with genre selection and a really cool relational diagram.
Marcus:
BBC: "Playing computer racing games may make drivers take more risks on the roads in real life".
18/03/07
Marcus:
YouTube: Barnes & Barnes' Fish Heads.
Marcus: Über-bizarre 1980s surreal music video. The catchy song begins at 2:18.
Marcus: "Fish heads, fish heads, roly-poly fish heads, fish heads fish heads, eat them up, yum!"
Marcus: It's like somebody force-fed They Might Be Giants huge quantities of bad brown acid then teamed them up with David Lynch and whoever writes the songs for Sesame Street.
Marcus: And that one half of Barnes & Barnes is Bill Mumy, who was Will Robinson in Lost in Space and one of the bald bone crest dudes in Babylon 5.
justin: I believe Mr Scruff has a cover of that Fish Heads song.
Gareth:
Seed Magazine has published a massive relational diagram displaying how the different fields of science relate to one another.
15/03/07
Marcus:
LondonFreeList - lo-fi but awesome listings for all kinds of free (or nearly free) events coming up in London.
Justin:
Step By Step: Battlestar Galactica VFX
chris: Interesting stuff. Although you'd think that someone who worked in visual effects would be able to spell "flare" correctly, wouldn't you?
gareth: I miss the space battles of season one.
14/03/07
Marcus:
YouTube: Help Tha Police. Just in case you haven't seen it, here's Adam "& Joe" Buxton's amusing child-friendly version of NWA's sweary track about law enforcement.
Gareth:
"Police in India's western state of Gujarat are to try out new fragrant, light-weight uniforms to see if they make them less sweaty and smelly."
gareth: "Three different fragrances - jasmine, rose and citrus will be incorporated into these uniforms." Hilarious.
gareth: Although I'm curious if anyone has suggested deodorant?
chris: There was an interview with clothes designer Tim Jasper in the Guardian on Saturday. Apparently the travel clothing company Rohan are developing a business suit with a material containing silver that is intended to stop you getting smelly. Silver has bactericidal properties, so it kills the germs that cause the smell. .
Marcus:
Oops! "A large wall mural by 'guerrilla artist' Banksy has been mistakenly painted over by a council's graffiti-removal contractors."
Marcus: Some might say that this "early work" rather resembled your bog-standard garish grafitti mural, and that might have been why the contractors made the mistake.
13/03/07
Marcus:
Neatorama: 30 Strangest Deaths in History. (via)
Dave: FFS!
gareth: I especially like the drowning at a lifeguard party.
Gareth:
Wikileaks is "developing an uncensorable Wikipedia for untraceable mass document leaking and analysis"
Gareth:
Apparantly R2D2 mailboxes are being churned out for a celebration of Star Wars' 30th anniversary
12/03/07
Marcus:
BBC: "Incest: an age-old taboo".
Marcus: Incest is legal in France and the Netherlands, and you can even marry your half brother or sister in Sweden.
Marcus: Reading this article is likely to make your skin crawl and induce mild nausea (unless you wear denim dungarees and have an affinity with the banjo).
Marcus:
BBC: "Israel has recalled its ambassador to El Salvador after he was found drunk and naked apart from bondage gear."
Marcus: "He was able to identify himself to police only after a rubber ball had been removed from his mouth."
Gareth:
Apparantly quite a few big-time comedians (Robin Williams, Dane Cook among others) tend to steal jokes from fellow comedians. Which I guess isn't really all that shocking when you think about it, but it's an interesting read nonetheless.
09/03/07
Marcus:
"Vampire hunters" have driven a stake through the heart of the late Slobodan Milosevic. (via)
08/03/07
Marcus:
The Voco Clock is the world's most awesome alarm clock - be gently awakened every morning by the dulcet tones of Stephen Fry and nearly 50 different wakeup messages. (via)
Marcus: The story behind the alarm clock.
Dave: Double post? ;)
gareth: It's weird, they both have slightly different descriptions. I think this can mean only one thing: Marcus has been bodysnatched.
Marcus: Oops, I did a correction booboo. Fixed.
gareth: This is all a coverup.
07/03/07
Chris:
If you play Counterstrike, you might want to get a map for it that I heard about today: Fawlty Towers. I can't think of a better setting for grossly excessive amounts of gunfire and explosives abuse.
Dave: Are you Key logging me? I downloaded that today after seeing it on Screen Wipe. Then I come here... BAM. Freaky
06/03/07
Gareth:
Youtube: The Reagans display their surprising enthusiasm for drugs.
Nancy Reagan: Cocaine makes me happy.
Gareth:
Velociraptor attack is the 3rd leading cause of death for men age 27-29. However, everyone must think about the implications of velociraptors: young and old, men, women and transgendered persons.
Marcus:
Maps of the world with the size of countries being artificially altered to represent their prevalance in different categories - such as war deaths and toy importation, to name but two. (via)
Marcus: And Worldmapper, the original source of these maps and more.
Marcus:
Coffee doesn't really pick you up in the morning if you're a regular drinker - it just gets you back to normal.
Gareth:
Google Video: End Day is a documentary turned drama presentation of 5 possible disasters. The wikipedia page gives a nice summary.
05/03/07
Marcus:
Best of Craigslist: "Vasectomy: $400. Speechless look on her face: priceless" (via)
Marcus: Misogynist gets one over on misanthropic baby-baiter.
justin: Sweet. Incidentally, I am that baby's father.
04/03/07
Marcus:
Damn Interesting: Clever Hans the Math Horse.
Marcus: "Hans' cleverness hinged on his ability to have an up-close, unobstructed view of the person who knew the correct answer."
Marcus:
Terrific image of Saturday's lunar eclipse as seen in the UK. (via)
Marcus: The BBC has a great user-submitted gallery.
Zanna:
Finally I can have my very own flying monkeys.
gareth: A friend of mine has one of these. They're pretty much the funnest thing ever and dogs love them.
Justin:
The Onion: Lesbian Identity Ends Abruptly Mid-Junior Year
justin: "If it's true, that would imply that there is some aspect of collegiate revolutionary Marxist-feminist lesbian identity that is, in some way, less than completely genuine. And that's something my most heartfelt convictions will simply not allow me to accept, at least for the next few semesters, anyway."
03/03/07
Justin:
Are you plagued by tangled cables on your mp3 playing device of choice? well - check dis youtube video of how to prevent it. Inspired.
02/03/07
Gareth:
Switzerland "accidentally" invades Liechtenstein
gareth: Thanks to reader Mark for pointing out that Sweden and Switzerland are definitely not the same thing.
tim: can't help but feel there are some speech marks missing from this- Switzerland "accidentally" invades Liectenstien- sounds much better
gareth: Done and done.
Gareth:
Tourist Remover does exactly what you think it would do: it destroys all tourists.
gareth: Well, actually it allows you to easily remove random passersby from a collection of photographs of the same thing. But that'd be cool too.
Gareth:
Ryan vs Dorkman 2 is probably the most epic and well-choreographed lightsaber battle I have ever seen.
gareth: Here's a direct link to the divx version, so you don't have to install that divx webplayer crap.
Marcus:
Ok, so a few days ago, we were having this big thing about the number 23 and Fibonnaci and so on, and reader Toon has sent this interesting (if a little brain-melting) exploration of Phi and the Fibonnaci sequence, which I will now post here in full lest I get something wrong and hurt myself with sharp numbers.
Toon: "I don't know how often you guys check mail, so this might well look like I need something better to do. And that'd be absolutely correct; I'm bored as hell.
Toon: Anyway! I find the whole discussion you're having on the number 23 very interesting myself. And it's even more interesting that you
mentioned the Fibonacci sequence and the golden section. It just so happens that I wrote my "end of high school major coursework" (I don't
have a name for it in Dutch, so the discription will have to do) about that very subject.
Toon: I basically spent over 6 months of my life studying those two things, and seeing where and how they occur in nature, art, photography and
even music. The site you linked was one of my major sources. It was definitely my number one internet source. I can't remember exactly how much that site explains, but you'll find that the golden section is in fact the limit of the ratio of the subsequent Fibonacci number. This link is important, I'll come
back to that in a second.
Toon: E.g.
1 / 1 = 1
2 / 1 = 2
3 / 2 = 1.5
5 / 3 = 1.666...
8 / 5 = 1.6
...
28657 / 17711 = 1.61803399
46368 / 28657 = 1.61803399
...
? / ? = 1.618033988749... = Phi
1 / 1 = 1
2 / 1 = 2
3 / 2 = 1.5
5 / 3 = 1.666...
8 / 5 = 1.6
...
28657 / 17711 = 1.61803399
46368 / 28657 = 1.61803399
...
? / ? = 1.618033988749... = Phi
Toon: Phi (capital P) being the golden ratio, with phi = 1 / Phi = 0.618033988
Toon: Also, Phi = 1 / phi = 1 + phi. That makes phi a curious number in
mathematics, much like the relation e ^ (i * π) = -1 is curious. But
it has these interesting properties because of its very difinition:
P(P - 1) = 1.
Toon: Now, let's look at Phi and phi in nature. This is simply the case because a lot (A LOT) of growth involves some form of spiraling, and
the most effective spiral packing is to have the next leaf (or whatever else) be as big as the previous two together. This means the
Fibonacci series is involved, and so also Phi. There's nothing mystical or mythical about that, it's simply nature being efficient as
a result of millions of years of evolution.
Toon: Bee hives use hexagons for the exact some reason: efficiency.
Toon: The golden section is sometimes used in art and photography. This has to do with where the eyes first focus on a rectangle. This was originally approximated as 2/3rd, but was later said to be phi by some people intrigued by this number, but the only thing you can do with phi in art is create and efficient spiral. Any other percieved uses are arbitrary, and the 2/3rd approximation will do you just as well.
Using phi or Phi extensively in art will not lead to a more beautiful image, and will instead in general just look awkward.
Toon: As far music involving phi, there's only one case of a musician using phi (I'd have to go look up which one) and it was completely arbitrary (he was messing with the number in his notes). No other songs, instrument or anything else involves phi.
Toon: I guess the main point of these ramblings is that phi appears in nature because it is efficient, not because it is "special", and trying to give meaning to phi outside of efficiency and mathematical tricks is not a good idea."
Marcus: Phew. Many thanks for that Toon, it makes for interesting reading.
justin: I am aware of the reason why the spiral ratio is used in nature - I'm not trying to suggest it is mystical. Nor am I trying to suggest that 23 is 'mystical'. "Mysticism" is a bit of an insult in these cases - however, as far as Marcus is concerned, you are simply obsessed by numbers and that invalidates anything you have to say. Also, I disagree that the only thing you can do in art with phi is create a spiral. Architects have used it for centuries and it's considered a harmonious form... you could say it's completely arbitrary, but sometimes what we consider beauty is based on succesful ratios and there is a precise formula - eg. here.
also, I thought traditional western muscal scales were derives from the ratio (with one or two changes). Here. So maybe it might be worth looking into some more eh Toon?
Marcus: I think Toon perfectly highlights a rational explanation for the occurrence of the numbers 2, 3 and 23 in nature. However, I view any individual's anecdotal observations claiming an increased significance of any number cropping up more than it should ("synchronicity" events etc) with suspicion and a likely sign of number fixation.
toon: To Justin's response which links to http://goldennumber.net/: I would just like to say that that site also claims that Phi can be
used to predict stocks (http://goldennumber.net/stocks.htm) and
appears in currency exchange (http://goldennumber.net/forex.htm). 'Nuff said.
toon: Like I said, I had to do research for a school project, and I did come
across pretty much every site that has some information about Phi or
the Fibonacci numbers. The only places where Phi undoubtedly appears
is in spiral growth and mathematics. Any other appearances are
approximations with hugely varying accuracy, and in art they are
mostly arbitrary.
toon: You and I will never agree on this thing :P In my opinion, this is no
different than seeing Jesus in a peanut or a burnt piece of toast.
toon: P.S. I don't mean to be insulting, but this kind of thing gets of my
nerves much like religion does, and it's sometimes hard to conceal my
very vivid feelings about the subject.
justin: Hmm, gets on your nerves eh? sounds like you and the religious both have the same problem when it comes to objectivity. But Toon, just because that website is featuring stocks and currency exchange doesn't mean everything else it says is wrong. It sounds like they are collecting together information - but then, the same can be said of the Monte-Carlo equation, which I use for global illumination rendering, but which can be used for all sorts. Including, I believe, crowd movement and finance.
so don't be so quick to dismiss it. You saying phi's use in art as arbitrary merely opens up a whole other can of worms.
toon: Looks like we aren't done with this yet ;P First of all, me and the
religious don't "have the same problem when it comes to objectivity".
There is no objective proof for the importance of Phi outside the two
things I mentioned. Let alone the number 23. The religious tend to
believe in something unprovable, but me, I happen to *not* believe in
something for which there is no solid evidence.
toon: Monte Carlo is "a class of computational algorithms for simulating the
behavior of various physical and mathematical systems". 23 and Phi are
both numbers. I fail to see the similarity.
toon: I think it would be best to agree to strongly disagree on this now,
before we start comparing people to worse things than the religious.
Though, speaking about religion, this does feel a bit like discussing
the existence of some sort of god.
justin: Agreed. Altough, the reason why I mention ed Monte-Carlo is because as a "system" it is also used to predict the flow of money... and you used that argument as a reason to discredit Phi.
Marcus:
Professor Stephen Hawking is planning to float about next month, thumbing his nose at Newtonian concepts like "gravity".
01/03/07
Marcus:
Sprout is a fun little "solve the puzzle" game with lovely picturebook graphics. (via)
Laura: I played it last night, was fun and midly distracting for about 15 mins.