A shot of JD

I love that this is on the first page of results for a Google...

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 11:47:56 +0100

I love that this is on the first page of results for a Google Image search on “sun”.

Full text of an angry letter written by food critic Giles Coren to his sub-editors at The Times...

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 10:30:00 +0100

Full text of an angry letter written by food critic Giles Coren to his sub-editors at The Times...:

…because they removed an indefinite article (“a”) from one of his pieces.

Part of me wants to hate him for being all self-righteous and up himself over something that is, in the whole scheme of things, really minor. And he does come across as a bit of a cock in this letter. But at the same time, I appeciate how annoying some un-thought-through editing can be (oh, woe is me, I have such a hard life).

I always appreciated guidance and constructive criticism, but when editors (very occasionally) miss the point it can be mighty annoying. I remember a piece I wrote for my 6th Form magazine where they changed my title of “Universitas Solas Nobilitas?” (a hugely witty pun on our school motto) to simply “Universitas Solas Nobilitas”. I felt like I’d been violated. (There’s a quote for White Whines if ever there were one).

But Coren, if you’re going to get all uppity over grammar and scansion, at least use capital letters on your first person singular pronouns. ;-)

My mate says The Wire is simply the greatest TV programme ever made...

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 17:01:08 +0100

My mate says The Wire is simply the greatest TV programme ever made...:

I’m reblogging this post at the request of my good friend and colleague Pursehouse, who says:

please reblog the post i’ve just done :) you have people following you and it might help start the revolution!

I’ve yet to be convinced by the show myself, but whatever keeps him happy…he might stop talking to me on my lunch break otherwise.

The Wire is simply the greatest TV programme ever made, and all my British counterparts are missing out on it and watching Naval Crime Scene Investigation(?!) instead…

WHEN WILL YOU ALL LEARN?!

You can ever collate some of the best crime writers of all time and get them to tell you just why you should be watching it and people will still ignore it.

Ah well, I suppose one upside of this is that when i stumble upon someone else who loves the programme as much as I (which basically means anyone who watches it) then we can have a rather enthused conversation about why Stringer Bell is one of the finest literary characters of all time.

Better than the Fail Whale :-)

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:54:25 +0100

Better than the Fail Whale :-)

"This is why I know it’s still early in the development of the internet, because people still talk..."

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:17:38 +0100

“This is why I know it’s still early in the development of the internet, because people still talk about internet companies.”

- Jeff Bezos of Amazon (via petervidani)

Spam subject line du jour

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:39:04 +0100

“Nazi toddlers ruined my birthday”.

Osama loves laughing. Channel 4 “has set two people off...

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 09:52:57 +0100

Osama loves laughing. Channel 4 “has set two people off in search of 500 people named ‘Osama’ to find out what they love. The goal of the project is to discover the sunnier side of Islam”.

Jonathan was intrigued to read about the Google Street View car coming to Liverpool http://tinyurl.com/5ayb96.

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:51:32 +0100

Jonathan was intrigued to read about the Google Street View car coming to Liverpool http://tinyurl.com/5ayb96.

"What viable ideas lie undiscovered in the space between a digital photo frame and a computer running..."

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:50:27 +0100

“What viable ideas lie undiscovered in the space between a digital photo frame and a computer running Firefox?”

- Paul Graham on the idea of simplified browsing

Facebook has started legal action against rip-off sites like...

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:16:49 +0100

Facebook has started legal action against rip-off sites like this Chinese one, Xiaonei.com

"I have always believed that writing advertisements is the second most profitable form of writing...."

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 22:08:43 +0100

“I have always believed that writing advertisements is the second most profitable form of writing. The first, of course, is ransom notes…”

- Philip Dusenberry (via simko)

What if there were no stop signs… and a major corporation was...

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 10:45:24 +0100

What if there were no stop signs… and a major corporation was charged with inventing one? (via notcot)

Great video, but I don’t think this is just a “major corporation” thing; I’ve worked on student projects that were just as bad. Any time you get multiple people with different agendas working towards a goal, the purity and simplicity of the original idea will become hugely diluted.

FACT: 81.5 percent of all e-mails sent in June were spam

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 10:27:58 +0100

FACT: 81.5 percent of all e-mails sent in June were spam: Wow.

"I think it’s axiomatic that a new form — and I view YouTube as a new form of video entertainment —..."

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 10:06:54 +0100

“I think it’s axiomatic that a new form — and I view YouTube as a new form of video entertainment — will not ultimately use the old forms to monetize.”

- Eric Schmidt, Google CEO

Nauseously Optimistic. Well, I try to be.

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 02:29:04 +0100

Nauseously Optimistic. Well, I try to be.

I know everyone reads (and blogs) xkcd, but looking through the...

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 02:22:50 +0100

I know everyone reads (and blogs) xkcd, but looking through the archives I couldn’t resist posting this one.

A Wordle of what I listen to most according to Last.fm (click...

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 02:13:00 +0100

A Wordle of what I listen to most according to Last.fm (click for full-size version). Great idea, Travors.

No surprises for anyone who knows me really, although I do think this only shows the more conventional side of my listening. But I would say that…

Selling with DIPADA

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:30:41 +0100

Talking to older and wiser people at work learns me stuff…

Definition - Define needs and wants.

Identification - Identify your products/service with needs and wants.

Proof - Prove that your product/service satisfies needs and wants.

Acceptance - Gain acceptance for the proof.

Desire - Gain desire for product/service.

Action - Close that sale.

"The archetypal example [of dread] is the example of the experience one has when standing on a cliff..."

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:55:00 +0100

“The archetypal example [of dread] is the example of the experience one has when standing on a cliff where one not only fears falling off it, but also dreads the possibility of throwing oneself off. In this experience that ‘nothing is holding me back,’ one senses the lack of anything that predetermines you to either throw yourself off or to stand still, and one experiences one’s own freedom.”

- Wikipedia on Existentialism (via inky)

The classic Albert Camus quote “Should I kill myself, or have a cup of coffee?” is a great case of this.

Death Cab for Cutie...

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 02:07:14 +0100

Death Cab for Cutie...: …were “mostly boring with the odd flash of melodic brilliance” at their Manchester gig tonight :-(