The Da Vinci Code

I think this is such a wonderful example of british wit, the Judge in the Da Vinci Code case included in his 71 page ruling on the case an acrostic which was spotted and broken to reveal an obscure reference. read more here

Nice little game

I just had to post this, I know some of you will have seen it before.

The norwegian catapult.

Instructions are in "foreign" so here's a brief explanation.

Hold down the space bar and an arrow wagles back and forth for the amount the rope is pulled back. Release the space bar at the point you want.

Do the same for the angle of the stopper bar of the catapult.

Once in flight, use the <- and -> arrow keys to stop yourself from tumbling (it gets worse as you begin to slow down)

If you see a pink starry cloud press the ^ up arrow to get a boost (you have to do this in the cloud)

When you get close to the ground press the space bar again to open your parachute (it won't open if you're tumbling to much or too close to the ground!)

And finally, try to beat my best score so far of 1,223,224 metres, post your highest scores here.

Have fun.

Crap Day

Well it was, I buried my great Uncle Jack (he would have been 96 and we cremated him actually) and funerals always get me down.

We tried to boost morale by doing the quiz at our local, and lost out by one measly point, and we should have known the answers to the two we got wrong, we just weren't co-ordinated enough in the thinking dept. for obvious reasons, see above.

I knew my uncle well, but not well enough, he was always a figure in the main fanily picture, I knew he had lead an interesting life, but it was only during hs eulogy that I discovered that, for example, he had been seconded for top secret work in WWII creating and printing maps on silk for clandestine use. So much I'd forgotten about him, and so many memories lost now forever.

I wish I'd known him better, and I knew him well enough that I will miss him.

John (Jack) Regan, Requiescat In Pace Domini

The Bleedin' Obvious

OK, please, someone out there must know. How the fark do I get on the gravy train doing stupid research? I mean some one got funding to prove that people get more drunk at the weekends!. I'm sorry, but I want a piece of the money pie that funds these stupid things, I welcome suggestions as to which obvious questions I can answer? Maybe "is the sky blue" nope been done.

Come on people, give me some ideas as to what to study, and tell me how I can get thousands of pounds to research it.

Online comics

Saw this on woolamaloo and thought it was worth repeating here. The Vortex Chronicles is shaping up as quite an interesting read, the author Christopher Cocking has done a few strips already, and promises regular (weekly, Mondays) updates.

Each strip is accompanied by a short paragraph or two, and it paints an interesting picture of a future where corporations effectively rule the world and have established a rigid caste system so everyone "knows their place". I won't say anymore, I'll just let you read it.

New development in Laser Eye Surgery

Having worked in the optical industry a few times, and of course being very short sighted, I have always been interested in and considered the possibility of Laser eye surgery, but it was expensive! Now, thanks to these guys at Lasik @ Home it looks like I could afford it.

In fact it looks so cheap I wonder if they need a UK distributor?

Childish and Puerile

So now I have your attention

This park, in America has such a great silly name, please also note the address listed on the right hand side of the page.

Well I laughed.

The "new look" Roundhay Park

A little bird (PB) told me Roundhay Park had been done up with new features etc. so we had to go see.

Sure enough, there's now a fountain in the little lake, which was impressive, although it was so windy it was sometime being blown almost flat!

Believe it or not this photo was taken in full daylight, but into the sun for quite a dramatic effect.





Further round, the gorge which used to be an overgrown mess has been neatened up, and new paths and a bridge built to make a pleasant walk, the paths split, but pick the right one and you end up at the castle.







Just a view looking back up the gorge. They had the decency to keep it looking a bit wild.

Very odd

These two web sites are a bit odd, Especially the "Planning a Visit" page of the lifeboat museum.

Millingdale Ice Cream

Leamington Spa Lifeboat Museum

update 18-4-06
Some people havn't click yet as to why I posted these two sites, read the disclaimer if you missed the point, then go read them again, it's all I'm saying for now.

Money for Old Rope really.

Nuclear Power, No Thanks

I know, i'm using a very old slogan, more than 20 years old for sure, but then, there are still sheep farmers in Wales who are restricted from selling their sheep to market because of the Chernobyl disaster. At the time I was actually living in North Wales, and an activist friend of mine told me his school had had all the geiger counters confiscated by the authorities, he also claimed he had managed to get hold of one and tested the radiation levels on the highlands and found significantly higher radiation than the .gov wanted to admit to.

Anyway, I ramble, but if you want more in depth info about the sheep farmers who STILL can't sell their sheep because of radiation, click here.

And when some one asks you if you want nuclear power, JUST SAY NO!

Tags
nuclear
Chernobyl

Vampire slaying

I don't know how long e-bay leave up bought items, but this Vampire Slaying kit just sold for $1000. It might have been removed if you come to this entry a little late.

There is a possibility though that it might not be a genuine kit, but actually a 1920's fake similar to the one mentioned in this blurb about the Mercer Museum.

Still, it's worth taking a look, and the descriptive text is quite interesting as well. (Update, I grab a couple of pics before they get removed.)

I survived

After, perhaps foolishly, volunteering to be a reader at Church I have had my debut. Passion Sunday no less which involved doing the Gospel as a three parter with the Parish Priest and another reader.

I was told afterwards I looked a little nervous, I felt worse I think, and, very nicely, I was told by one friend that he would never have guessed it was my first ever go at doing the readings.

I get the feeling un-volunteering will be a little more difficult, but once a month is not such a bad thing, it looks like I will always be paired with someone, and at least, unlike the quiz, I have everything written down already for me.

Don't cry for me, Windows users! Security will never be yours.

This I had to comment on, apparently, one of Microsoft's Security people has gone whining to the press about how hard it is to clean up infected windows boxen. (more here as well)

Perhaps if they'd bothered more about security in the first place and not on "new features" and trying to deliberately embed things like MSN, Media Player and IE into the windows kernel so they cannot be removed, it wouldn't be so hard.

It's hard to feel sorry for the company which has by policy for so many years ignored decent security measures and which has systematically, and on occasion illegally, stomped on any innovative competition. Oh and I love the way he tries to blame user error for the majority of infections, he's right, but for the wrong reasons.

I'll stick with *nux, it's not invulnerable, but it IS more secure, and implements a better security model, even straight out of the box. (with the possible exception of a couple of tweaked distro's that will remain nameless)

I'm in the Guardian

I e-mailed Leo Hickman who writes the "Ethical Living" column on Tuesdays with some comments about shaving, as he'd said he was writing about it this week. To my suprise he has decided to use some of what I said in his article "How Should I ... Shave". I assume this will be in the print version as well. I'm now wondering if I should go buy a copy just "because" or would that be ego tripping to much? Having said that, what is more ego tripping than writing a blog and assuming people want to read my witterings? <G>

The Doctor sings, and other news

I think I've told a few people about this, but it bears writing down for posterity, some enterprising person has taken samples of Tom Bakers voice (from BT's voice text service?) and put them together to music. The Doctor Sings is worth a listen.

I think I mentioned some time ago that the BBC are making a new Robin Hood series, there is an update here about it, I think it looks like it'll be worth a watch. One of the writers is Paul Cornell who wrote the excellent Father's Day episode of Doctor Who.

Speaking of which, this is older news but I haven't mentioned it so far, there are trailers and a "Tardisode" available on-line to view on the BBC's Doctor Who site, assuming you havn't already seen the trailers on the BBC yet. The "Tardisode" I don't think has been broadcast, or at least I havn't seen it yet!

And finally, The Simpsons Movie has finally been comfirmed for release next year, although I do get the feeling whoever wrote that article has never seen the show!