The Record Card

Dech Launches

2005-11-01T20:46:00.000Z

I've launched my new blog, Dech. It's going to be on design, technology, media and communication, and it'll aim to help you out in these fields. I'll be writing it with the usual Fintan touch :D

Please unsubscribe from The Record Card and subscribe to Dech.co.uk. The new feed address is:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/dech

Thanks very much for reading the The Record Card. Bless y'all.

iMac Price Goes Up

2005-10-31T11:38:00.000Z

Well it turns out neither were correct when they gave me a price. It's £790 over the telephone (says Kevin), that's ££110 off (or, in US dollars, approximately $314159).

Joking! That's about $200. Significant, still.

I should be able to place an order by Friday. Should, given cheques and banks and stuff. Oooh I can't wait!

Educational Dosh

2005-10-30T11:21:00.000Z

If this site got sold by a 19-year-old for 1.25 million USD (what a result!), I can't wait to think how much this site will go for. Not that I'm selling it or anything. (Buster Tests is mine and I want it to stay that way for the foreseeable future).

iMac Test Drive - Conclusions in Breif

2005-10-29T21:50:00.000+01:00

With spelling-error amany. A veritable flow of consciousness.

I pestered the Apple centre in Bristol for about an hour today.
They don't have the new ones in, so I made do.
The iMac G5 20" is too big and heavy for me. Sort of. I like the 17"'s size and weight. I want to be able to take it with me to Uni, etc, so it can't be massive.
I also have issues with big screens and cursor control, especially when you're using a completely new OS.
Windowage in Dreamweaver worries me. I like the integrated, slidey approach. Having lots of mini control windows sort of freaks me out a little, but I can deal I'm sure.
Mighty mouse is rather good. Not entirely better than the trusty old MS optical Intelimouse (or whatever it's called). You have to release your left finger to right-click (or it all goes down as a left-click), and the ball in the middle isn't a ball. It's like a tic tac, fixed at the bottom. Sort of like a joystick. And it's easier to go up and down than any direction, so it work's quite nicely. Side button isn't so good. Too awkward for me. I'm unlikely to use them that much (although you never know).
Tiger is boring. Without a task, a bit like Windows, you won't be able to enjoy yourself.
Spotlight aint that fast. You have to click the little icon, the box drops down, and the default highlighted option is 'show all', so pressing enter doesn't launch/open. A google advantage, but also probably a changeable setting.
iMacs are very nice in person. They've got a 4mm (ish) clear plastic cover and opaque white rest. Nice looks.
They're a bit thick. Perhaps I'm not used to reaching behind the screen, but it is odd to do, and they're not all that thin.
Wigets can go mental if you don't get an instant response and you press F11 of whatever it is over and over again. You get the picture.
The bar at the bottom also causes some distress to the neat freak in me. He seems to raise his head every now and again (like in a minute with my room). He feels the visual clutter and changing, unorganised nature of the dock is a bit unsettling, and would like to find a way to fix it all the way along at least. Perhaps.
The 30" display Apple does is ridiculous. You have to move your head significantly to see from one side of the screen to another. Performs stunningly with a power mac, though.
The old isight looked nice. The image was quite small in reality, and I thought it would be larger (a setting? certainly wasn't 640x480 when I used it on the power mac). Great white balance, though.
I don't get a good vibe off of the mac shop keepers, even though I made off with their loot (an iPod shuffle :D).
He even said that 17% wasn't true. We'll see about that, sunny jim. Methinks your after a sale.
The smallest iBook is stupidly small. You can't do a thing on that machine. Don't buy them.
Mac minis look nice. I wish it was available for me to play with (they had a screensaver on).
I don't like the one button pro mouse, but I can get on with it.
Some parts of the iMac G5 experience did seem a little laggy. I plan to shove an extra 1Gig of ram into mine. Hopefully that will pep things up :D
Word is ug-lay.
Personally I'm looking forward to being an iCal master.
The mac can do waaay more out of the box than the PC can, but Google...
Lovely icons
I didn't win the lottery again. Bugger. Got number 5 though.
The Mac magazines in WHSmiths are now interesting!
The weirdos were out in force from 4pm today.
My rear is totally numbed by the bus, but springs back to life when I get off. Unusual.
Overall, nice. I feel less 'wow this is amazing' about apples. Certainly don't just go on hype... try them out and get a feel for it yourself.
I think I'm ready to leave the PC, although I am worried about not being able to play some games I want to.
But, I hardly ever play games on my PC now. And they port the best ones to the mac, like doom 3 and B&W 2, both of which I'm looking forward to.

wow. One of the perks of moving to a new OS is that I can really go to town with my inner geek and learn the hell out of it. It's what I think is most fun about computing, learning new things and doing new stuff. Plus, it would be nice to be totally 'up' with both systems.

Hope you enjoyed that as much as I did. I haven't actually had much of a nice day, otherwise. Missed my bus back back by 30 seconds (saw it going) and had to wait two hours. Left at 9 and got back at 6. Rubbish! Didn't even eat anything until 2/3!

Going to try it out

2005-10-29T08:09:00.000+01:00

I'm taking the Godawful bus into Bistol today to give the iMac G4 sans Front Row a try. They don't have the new ones yet, unfortunately. 40% there on the real funding now... give it a week.

So I'm going to also watch Wallace and Gromit, a film made right here in Bristol by Aardman!

Support the local economy, troops, etc.

(ps. Dech? Hosting issues...)

It's only a matter of time...

2005-10-27T23:19:00.000+01:00

(If only I had infinity white desk space.)

The Mac shal be Mine!

2005-10-27T15:04:00.000+01:00

Alright, I've decided. I'm going to go for the £900 iMac G5.

I think it's a great deal, and it's right for so many reasons. Not least because I'm going to be doing computer science and it runs unix apps, or that I'm a web designer and it's kind of the industry standard, or that I'm using video more and more and it runs it very well indeed WITH a remote.

It even comes with wireless, so I'm going to get a new router and modem after my move from AOL to PlusNet.

I'm working out how I'm going to raise the funds now. Luckily for me I've sealed two website deals which should bring me up there quite nicely, along with an AdSense payout and the returns for a website which as been done for a while now. I also expect a contribution from my parents, but that'll be a challenge!

It'll sill be a couple of weeks, though. I have to get one of these sites done fast before I can get it, and I'm sure that's going to be the Spanish property one. It's going to be interesting...

Update: I've just placed a call to Apple in Cork (lovely people always) and they've told me I get a 17.5% discount because I'm in further education! Yaaaay! That's VAT off! Whoooo! That's £134 off!

Proposed January Goal: Buy an iMac

2005-10-25T02:11:00.000+01:00

I've wanted one for soooo long.

But I want to know what you think. Should I buy one as soon as I have the dosh (I have 2 sites on the go and 2 prospective ones which would do it by Jan), or should I wait, agonisingly, until next September, paying for it with work money (quicker I imagine) and possibly using a student discount.

Christmas is round the corner, and although I can't just ask for one (O - the uproar), I can ask for a little help.

If it buy it in Jan there's no way I can get a car, but do I really want one? I have a bike (and friends with cars :D). Driving lessons might take a backseat, too...

And, I want to make use of it now if it's going to be updated in a year. I would be horrified to buy a mac, only for it to be replaced the next month. Horrified.

So I really would consider your opinion valuable.

To spend or not to spend... tis the dilemma of our society.

2l2b

2005-10-24T18:20:00.000+01:00

I just want to pass on mention of the existance of 2 Lazy 2 Blog, a blog of which I am 2 lazy 2 post to. Correct grammar? I don't think so.

Didn't win the Wednesday lottery with my luck dip

2005-10-19T23:34:00.000+01:00

Damn.

Google Mail goes official

2005-10-19T09:00:00.000+01:00

I liked Gmail, though! It's two syllables to three/four. Ahh well...

2005-10-18T16:46:00.000+01:00

It's on it's way.

The Driving Contines

2005-10-18T14:27:00.000+01:00

Well I had my second lesson the other day, and I'm still liking driving.

A little less, though. I'm not so good at controling that clutch, and apparently I do everything too fast. Driving on a proper road on the way to Clevedon was like a living nightmare, I was very worried I was going to hit other cars. Steering also seems to be getting me down. It's rather hard to come out of a T-junction and keep to your side of the road AND push-pull steer AND keep it smooth.

Damn you, GTA III!

I have it!

2005-10-16T18:44:00.000+01:00

I've been talking about it for a while, and have arrived at my new, better (hopefully) and far more public (which means I use my full name very often) blog and doodlepad.

Ladies and gentlemen, please give a round of applause for...

Dech.co.uk

It's about Design & Tech!

Oh the marketing joy!

Big letters! Colourful colours! Loud! Bang! Whoosh! Whooooo!

I own titofthemonth.info

2005-10-16T18:35:00.000+01:00

...and have done for a while.

Go on, guess how I thought I would use it.

It's not mine from tomorrow.

Oh Dear

2005-10-16T17:11:00.000+01:00

Well rumour has it Google is steps away from lauching Google Purchases, and something has just clicked.

I don't want to be extorted for Gmail! google gmail google+wallet google+purchases

Won a tenner on the lottery

2005-10-15T22:31:00.000+01:00

From 3 Â£1 lines... it's quite unlikely I know. Of course me and my brother are repaying the loan and will be reinvesting it in two scratchcards tomorrow, one pound on Wednesday's draw and four on Saturday (the big draw day).

Completely unmathematical and perhaps even (dare I say) arbitrary, but - like the adverts say - you have to be in it to win it!

What's hiding on your microchips?

2005-10-15T18:09:00.000+01:00

Driving Along

2005-10-13T12:36:00.000+01:00

Buster Tests
Result

Driving Theory
Safety
Alertness 1

100%

Yay!

I'm turned into a vegetable

2005-10-13T12:23:00.000+01:00

I really have.

I've got a cold or something similar, so my ability to do anything other than snot is severly limited.

However, something amazing, fantastic and wonderful happened on Sunday which I did want to share (and I meant to right away, but I was all up on sugar, then came the cold...)

I won an iPod Shuffle! Yay! £70 of cool electronics is no small prize, and I am extremely thankful to all the people who chipped in for it.

Why did I win this, you might ask? Well, a quick trip over to Market West will explain that to you in much more detail, but it was basically because of my Media Studies coursework (see an image from it on Flickr, the whole thing [with dodge colour reproduction for some reason]).

I got some amazing feed back from the judges and about a million photos were taken of me. My cheeks still hurt from the prolonged smiling!

My First Driving Lesson

2005-10-08T23:29:00.000+01:00

Wow. Today I had my very first driving lesson, and it was pretty much amazing.

I love driving. What can I say. I really, really had a good time. I think I progressed quite well, and I can't wait till my next one.

It was two hours and, just to put it out there, was £42 (quite average).

Great stuff. Anyways, I would like to point people to a little something which I produced today.

I've written a test for driving theory on alertness. Please do go ahead and take it and see how far you get. It would be interesting to see how you did, especially if you are a licenced driver or not.

Conservative Outrage

2005-10-07T18:42:00.000+01:00

From Popbitch:

What's happened to Conservative outrage in USA? In the first quarter of the year, there were 157,016 indecency and obscenity complaints to the FCC. But from April - June, only 6,161.

Error

2005-10-05T18:18:00.000+01:00

Sent an old email to lots and lots of people I know by mistake.

Tut.

It wasn't even mine.

Here beginuth the evils of mass 'to' entries.

Westminster Underground (watch out for the Daleks)

2005-10-04T11:20:00.000+01:00

Oh, my surprise at the new look tube stations.

Talk about Dr. Who stylings! I really like all of this station's looks, because it feels like we're actually in the 21st century! Amazing!

Shake it all about

2005-10-03T21:35:00.000+01:00

Some of 37Signal's newest work has just inspired me to add some of their own quite excellent functionality to my own website. I'm not talking about their entire applications, but rather the ease with which you can have your password emailed to you. Exceptional stuff, really.

Mission: Rebrand America

2005-10-03T21:31:00.000+01:00

No, I didn't do it myself.

Mini Review: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

2005-09-28T21:30:00.000+01:00

Oh Jon, you and your comic commentary.

This is a mini review so I'll keep it short and sweet.

I've seen clips of the show that looked very funny in the past, and apparently they weren't the best bits. This how is a good'un! Certainly worthy of more4, and I can't wait to not have to download it over bittorrent (although I probably will continue to do so, because at 200kbps, you can't go wrong).

I love the bit about God and I have to say it's a very well-rounded show overall. Not so sure about the roudy audience, but I can deal with them. I suppose they add to it.

Rating: 92%
For a daily show, by any stretch, it's an accomplishment. It's up there with Norton's openings.

Tech Tags: The+Daily+Show Jon+Stewart review TV television news comedy more4

You wouldn't explode

2005-09-28T21:25:00.000+01:00

Find out how well you could cope with just being in space.

How long till you pass out? How long till you die?

Surprisingly long, actually. And your eyeballs wouldn't pop out.

Result.physics theory space astrophysics humans death interesting

More4 Ads are Go

2005-09-27T21:13:00.000+01:00

I love Channel 4. Now I'm starting to love more4.

It's not even launched yet, but they sure have a decent bit of presence. Their raunchy 'Adult Entertainment' ad campaign hit just the right chord. They've said themselves, they've done this to attract eyes and perhaps to give a little shock to the launch.

But only today has the 'Adult Entertainment' marketing facade lowered to reveal the true nature of more4 to those who aren't in the loops.

It's looking absolutely brilliant. The idea is spot on, and I can't wait to see the final station going.

Good looking brand, too.

Tech Tags: Channel+4 4 more4 TV preview advertising marketing

12 Top Hits!

2005-09-27T20:20:00.000+01:00

Blimey.

Google & Physics

2005-09-25T18:09:00.000+01:00

You can use Google to help you with your Physics homework. Or, you can use it to work out your exact (depending on how accurate you measure your mass) GPE. That's gravitational potential energy.

First find the gravitational potential of a point on the surface of the earth, then work out your mass in kilograms, then pump it into the grand equation. It even shows you the correct unit!

Keep in mind significant figures (because 11 stone isn't exact, I should say my GPE is 4.4 × 10⁹ joules). Blimy! That's loads!

Amazing! How about the GPE of a 450 kg satellite on Earth?

For the sake of grand correctness, you'll need to stick a negative (-) in front of your answer, because you have to work a lot (4.4 × 10⁹ joules in my case) to get out of Earth's pull. If it were positive, you'd be thrown away from earth rather fast. I think. I left out the negative bit in the equations because it isn't so much fun to know that.

Tech Tags: Google calculator physics education learning homework GPE gravity Earth energy amazing feature

Ordering a pizza

2005-09-25T16:46:00.000+01:00

Staying the same

2005-09-25T14:57:00.000+01:00

I've been cycling and I've also noticed I've been getting really, really hungry, and am probably eating twice as much as I was before I was cycling.

I don't want to keep on having to eat all of this sugar and fat to satisfy me, so I am about to engage in a grand scheme of eating. It will start as an experiment, and move to a regular pattern if it is successful.

Googling about, I have found recommendations that eating little and more often will keep the hunger at bay and help with your metabolism. Now, I'm the first to say that the Internet is pants and that this might go against my intuition of eating, but I already eat like this, except for the little part.

I'm going to ramp up the sessions where I am eating not so much (break time, when I get home) and eat less when I usually eat loads (dinner time). This means that I'll be getting six meals a day which are roughly the same size. I'll also have to regularly eat a decent breakfast.

I'm going to engineer them so that they cater to what I'm about to do next, for example, breakfast is going to be complex carbohydrates and some sugar (for the trip in).

I'm also going to more or less force myself to stop eating the sugary crap I do each day, the kind of crap that is abundant at my school. It simply can't be doing me any good, even if I am burning it all off.

Instead, I'm going to prepare a few sandwiches in the morning and have them at break, when I get home and in the evening (around 9pm), which is when I usually lay onto the shit.

Yes, I'm going to call it that because I want to emphasise to myself that it is quite bad.

I'll make a trip to some shop to buy everything I need a week in advance tomorrow. Perhaps I'll cycle to Budgens on the way home.

I know exactly what I'm after as far as the sandwiches are concerned; really high quality stuff, rich in seeds. There is a sort of bread you can get which is stuffed with seeds and is so moist you don't need any butter at all, so I think that's the one I'll go for if I can find it.

As for what goes in the sandwiches; I like the idea of lettuce and turkey, but I don't mind experimenting here. The simpler the better. These sandwiches need to travel.

This blog post was the result of me putting off stuff. Back to work!

My Provisional Driving License

2005-09-25T12:45:00.000+01:00

Whoop! It's finally come!

My picture is pretty good, and I even got a bit of a smile in there!

Tomorrow I'm going to phone up the local driving instructor and start taking lessons, I really can't wait!

I also have to begin to study for the exams. One of my friends randomly gave me a theory book full of questions and answers for the theory exam when I bumped into her the other day. Two problems solved there, methinks!

Whoo! I'm really excited about it now!

I am really enjoying cycling into the sixth form, though. Cycling back is like an Olympic-level work-out, but once it's over I feel extremely free to eat whatever I want for the rest of the day.

Cycling might make me fat.

Fun Europe Fact

2005-09-22T16:39:00.000+01:00

The Danish government pays for their disabled to have sex with a prostitute once a month.

Nice Cup of Tea and a Sit Down

2005-09-22T00:12:00.000+01:00

Fully deserving of a link, I just stumbled upon this site and am not quite sure how to take it.

Sure, I like it. It's probably even useful. But with fig reviews and polls on your favourite finger, you have to wonder... is it for real?

Oh yes and take a gander at some very interesting poll results:

Is the slight slump in tea sales an issue? (778 Votes)
No not really (15.30%)
I'm concerned (10.03%)
They'll be back (12.98%)
I blame the French / Americans / Govenment / etc (47.17%)
I've got a fall-out bunker and enough supplies to last five years (14.52%)

Thanks again, B3TA

2005-09-21T22:01:00.000+01:00

Blindness

2005-09-20T15:35:00.000+01:00

I've just cycled the 600+ calorie ride home from school.

It's a new tradition of mine to stuff my face with all sorts of suary bad stuff to replenish my energy a.s.a.p. (I'm exhausted, you see). Dr. Pepper plays a vital role in this.

Cue the burp which I just produced; so gassy and long it temporarily blinded me.

Yes, it really did.

Video Lovelies

2005-09-18T17:08:00.000+01:00

I'm gearing up for the filming of three adverts, part of my media studies coursework, which'll showcase educational software entitled... wait of it...'buster'!

Yay!

I've been testing out some great software, and can now share with you two lovely demos of my work so far.

The first is a kind of sneak preview into the ad, except a picture of my friend is used instead of video. Watch it here. It's quite short, so try dragging the time thingy along to see what's going on.

The second is a quick look at the heavily-rendered environment of the final screen, with the word 'buster' on display. The actual final things will looks quite different, but here you can see the style emerging. Watch it here.

I will be sure to post the final thing up after it's been marked and moderated, and I might also be making my own version specially for 'Buster Tests'.

As I develop these adverts, I'll probably also upload any cool clips I make that are worth sharing.

You'll need QuickTime 7 to watch these two clips (I love QT much more than Windows Media or Real).

Tech Tags: video media vlog download clips demo advert test trial advertisement sfx special+effects cgi digital

London's weird bus/boatmobile

2005-09-17T00:48:00.000+01:00

Yep, it's a bus too.

I just stood there shocked when it drove out of the Thames when was just standing around one day.

Talk about sensitive!

2005-09-16T21:10:00.000+01:00

Scroll down the page to see how this theatre company decided to inform the public about the death of Mo Molam, who passed away a few weeks ago.

You may laugh. [via b3ta]

Questionable Clip Art

2005-09-11T03:13:00.000+01:00

Hmm. Great stuff, Microsoft.

Is it abuse?

2005-09-11T01:50:00.000+01:00

Jobazaar get Fintanater'd.

New Orleans crisis shames US

2005-09-11T01:34:00.000+01:00

Most interesting article regarding the tragedy. Certainly read the comments and have a think.

It disgusts me to think that my 'brother and sisters' in New Orleans have been ignored and discarded by the US government like so much trash that no line the streets of this once beautiful city. I am embarrassed it took so long to get help to people only eight hours away.
Lara Tosh, Nashville, Tennessee

This article is so wrong-headed, it is hard to even begin to criticize it in a short space, other than to say it is written by an anti-Bush foreigner who has little understanding of America. Bush was right: no-one could have predicted when this devastating storm would hit. I don't blame anyone for the tragedies of nature.
David Augustine, Mendham, NJ

I completely agree with the article. What has been going through my mind this past week is that the crisis did seem political, racial, and I am disgusted. It's unconscionable that after an entire coastline was just destroyed, while New Orleans began to drown, the President was making fundraising speeches in California on Tuesday. As president, elected to serve the people of this country, why didn't he stop everything and call out the help those people needed immediately?
Lori Thoma, Reno, Nevada

Bear in mind that this is an opinionated article (and is clearly labeled as such).

I rather like blockquoting and think I'll get myself some nicer styles for the future.

This is a rather interesting article from Wikipedia, too.

Tech Tags: Katrina BBC politics Bush George+Bush

iPod Nano - Thoughts & Review

2005-09-10T19:09:00.000+01:00

Cor blimey!

Apple have replaced their iPod Mini range with something even smaller and even more expensive! Amazing!

Well... actually it is amazing.

When the size of the new device in question actually clicked (I don't think their site does a good job of that), I quickly inhaled and said the usual "ohmygod" quietly under my breath. I was surprised!

For me, this is both a good product and a bad product.

It's a good product in that it's tiny, looks great, probably works great, and is likely to fit anywhere, including the tiny pocket found on the right pocket of jeans (which will help me when finding money or glasses).

It's bad product because it's a lot more expensive that the Mini just for the same kind of space. The technology for this has also been around for quite a while; it's simply taking the mobile part of mobile phones and replacing it with better flash memory (available for ages in the form of CompactFlash 4GB cards). Now that's quite expensive, so I expect memory to be the source of cost here.

But, as I am now learning, 4 GB doesn't seem like enough. It's starting to get to me that I can't transfer ALL of my music to the 'pod, so I certainly won't be going for one of these.

No, I am waiting for the next iteration of the bigger iPod. Apple has done quite a bit with iTunes, and now they know that there are many people out there who are going to have a bigger collection that 4 GB.

If Apple can come up with a smaller, lighter version of the 20 GB, it's mine. Believe it or not, I think 20 GB it pretty much a limit for me.

But that's what I said about the 4 GB Mini just a few months ago.

Overall, well done Apple. It's yet another considered product, but I'm not quite your buyer.

Tech Tags: Apple iPod iPod+Nano iPod+Mini technology consumer review analysis thoughts

What's going on in the USA

2005-09-09T22:39:00.000+01:00

The people are starting to speak, especially Barbara and Kanye. But, alas, Michael Brown gets the sack. Sorta.

But it's not over yet.
george+bush impeach+bush katrina USA FEMA Michael+Brown Kanye Kanye+West Barbara+Bush

Driving Theory Tests

2005-09-08T20:35:00.000+01:00

This is just an idle promo for some driving theory tests I'll be putting up on Buster Tests soon. Don't read on if you're not interested.

So, as I said, soon they'll be some nice driving theory tests on Buster Tests where you can revise your driving theory ready for your actual exam. The questions will be based on the Highway Code, and they'll also be some questions concerning actual in-car practices.

Good luck with your driving theory exam and you actual driving test!

Whoo! driving driving+theory driving+exam driving+test

New idents for BBC Four

2005-09-07T17:45:00.000+01:00

Hmm, nice and fresh approach. BBC BBC+four idents TV graphics design

You're the Best, Kanye West

2005-09-06T20:52:00.000+01:00

Tell it like it is, brutha.

I've only just seen the clip of the hands-down fantastic Kanye West talking on an NBC fundraiser.

It was clear that he abandoned the auto-cue and just went all-out to say some very important words which I think evade many of the citizens of America, especially during election times.

He said "George Bush does not care about black people.", among other things.

You can download the amazing clip and see for yourself.

Is he right? Well, I see no solid evidence to the contrary. He is, after all, a cowboy. Texans don't like blacks. It's an unfortunate stereotype, but in a conservative state with history like that, you must admit that a good number of white middle-aged men will foster such views.

I personally have a very strong feeling that Bush simply doesn't really care about all of those black people dying, but is only really acting (reluctantly) because of the criticism (or chance of impeachment?)

If you happen to be a conservative American and are reading this thinking, 'how can he possibly say that?' or just plain 'what?', I would like to point out that the news you watch or read in times like this is quite unlikely to tell the important stories behind such a tragedy. On the record cast I linked to a BBC Radio 4 podcast where you can hear some of that for yourself. There's plenty of it to go around, and I do wonder how much airtime it's getting in the US. Certainly on stations like Fox News.

This whole event is nothing short of a shame, especially because it's a man-made disaster.

I will hold back for now for sake of respect, but I can see the facade of free, equal, rich America falling fast. As one reporter said the other day, this hurricane has uncovered an ugly part of America, a secret shame if you will.

However, you haven't excatly been having a good few years...

Tech Tags: kanye+west katrina george+bush new+orleans hurricane politics reporting news usa america

My New Bike

2005-09-03T23:05:00.000+01:00

Whoooo! I've gotten my lovely, fantastic, terrific new bike. It's a hybrid model, it's blue and it was built for me by a nice guy in Cheddar.

It's really worn me out just going around the area on it, and I simply can't do the hills I live on yet. My legs have been like balloons and my bum hurts a lot.

So I'm going to get some nice cycling shorts, gloves and shades ready for the Monday morning journey to Churchill. This is costing more and more, but I'm enjoying it.

One great new thing I've discovered is that now I can use the direction and strength of the wind (as seen on the BBC site) to my advantage. If it's going in the right direction, good. If not, I'll try to get a lift.

If something's not quite making sense here, it's this. I didn't get my usual free bus pass to school this summer, so I've had to buy a bike to get to school. I can get lifts, but I get moaned at for doing so.

I'll try uphill cycling a bit more tomorrow to try to get used to it. Hopefully I'll be ready by Monday.

Katrina (the slutty version of the name)

2005-08-31T21:41:00.000+01:00

I was just on BBC news looking at the Katrina damage in New Orleans which is totally terrible. That's really bad (shouldn't have built there... just look at this).

But I have to say it hasn't affected me.

Nope, not me.

I'm in the UK.

Oh, hang on... Buster Tests is down.

[rings the new support number for the first time instead of spamming the help desk]

Whore!

Unfortunately, it seems that there have been outages at my datacentre (or whatever they're called) and there's even problems with the actual Internet.

I was quite upset before the call, but once the [actually nice] man told me this I said, heartily, "alright... that's a good excuse... I'll let you off this time".

And so I did. I didn't even ask when it would be up next; it's alright if the rest of the Internet is having trouble, too.

Ahh... I can't even make technorati tags for this post :(

More4 is coming

2005-08-31T11:07:00.000+01:00

Channel 4 have done it again, solving gaps in my television viewing time I didn't even know I had.

They're about to launch a new channel called More4 on digital, cable and freeview (digital terrestrial) on October 10th at 8pm.

Great thing number one

There will be a special extension of Channel 4 news, excellent and a personal BBC replacer, which promises to bring new and challenging perspectives on events at home and abroad. Excellent; it's an early Newsnight, but I hope it's a lot snappier.

Then they'll be something called The Last Word at 11pm (past the time I am expecting to say up - I'm trying to cut down on awakenness :D) which is a funny talk show. So so, looks good.

Great thing number two

After having all the links being sent to me by Kevin and seeing lots of the bits of the show for myself on other blogs and thinking it's very funny indeed, The Daily Show by John Stewart is coming to the UK with a one day delay (understandable).

I'm really looking forward to watching this, and am frankly impressed by the one day delay. If C4 could bring shows like Lost and Six Feet Under up to that standard, I wouldn't be so scared to go on the 'net to find stuff out about them.

Great thing number three...

...would only be a great thing for someone like me. The More4 (or MORE4) logo is snappAY!

It's a clever design that I expect will have a lot of movement to it. Not sure about the thin text, but I hope their idents will be quick and cooool.

Lyme Disease

2005-08-30T22:35:00.000+01:00

After being bit by a tick a few months ago, I was interested to hear what Points West (our regional news programme) had to say about a new revelation that three people have been infected just down the road, the first in fifteen years.

Lots of scaremongering, no advice on how to protect yourself WHATSOEVER.

So I send this:

Did you consider dispensing ANY advice on how to protect yourself from tick bites, or even where the ticks are more likely to be on the Mendips?

Really, I would have thought that if you tell people to be cautious of ticks, you'd also give people a little advice to work with.

I really was expecting something to follow up on the fact that Lyme Disease exists around here.

I really wouldn't be surprised if you've put people off from walking outside now.

I do expect a prompt reply to this.

Yeah. That'll show 'em. I wonder if they'll reply?

Petrol Prices in the US

2005-08-30T22:11:00.000+01:00

I just watched a news report on the hurricane in the US.

That's a real sad situation. They were talking about how it might affect petrol prices, and they said it might even hit 45p a litre.

If that is some kind of high price of petrol in the US, and the country have been moaning before at a presumably lower price, you need to get a grip!!!

We pay 90p + a litre. It's high, but no one complains. It's quite heavily taxed, but that's a good thing, and the majority of drivers don't give out about it!

Ugh. There's so much more to this but it just makes me angry so I'll leave it.

I'm having one of those days

2005-08-29T14:18:00.000+01:00

Laaaaaandan and the Yankie Grub

2005-08-27T20:39:00.000+01:00

Alright well I?ve spent the day feeling like a long streak of cabbage, but I really want to get this post written and read.

I have had two major culinary discoveries over the past three weeks. They are all ones I wouldn?t have counted on being so great, or even happening at all. But they have and I?m sure one has changed my life.

Firstly, Kirspy Kreme. Well, what can I say? The Tescos in London stock them. Prominently. They look fresh. I had one from the Tescos in Trafalgar Square. I got the chocolate one covered in white icing, which looked exceptionally nice and quite different from any one I had ever seen.

It was really, really nice. I ate it while walking to Waterloo station (across the bridge). My only worry here is that, although I was walking and it might have been the exercise, I could feel something going on with my heart. It wasn?t love; it was more in the way of a coronary.

I think I had two of those in total over the two weeks, the second from a Tesco in Piccadilly, which was a bit of a find.

So in conclusion, it was nice but clearly bad for you. No more than one a week, but one a month is still probably pushing it.

Onwards and upwards to Subway. Recently, Subways have been opening up all over the place. They?ve even had adverts for them, and McDonalds and Burger King seem to be getting in a bit of a tissy over all of this sandwich nonsense, so it?s all the rage in their own advertising now.

I?m not going in to much detail here, but they are well nice. Chicken Teriyaki with cheese, lettuce and tomatoes with the onion sauce. YUM YUM YUM!

Had about four of those over five days. There?s one in Weston and I think they?re my new McD?s. Even though I realise that they?re likely just as bad as whatever McDonalds sell, but at least you can get something healthy and simple from them.

Yes, I can actually envisage myself having another one next week when I visit Bristol to take a look at the next piece of Hollywood comic trash.

Hmm. I feel much better now. That must have been bad to bottle-up or something.

Ahh Home

2005-08-27T07:59:00.000+01:00

After three long weeks of being relatively nomadic, I'm back 'ome!

But I'm not as happy as I should be. My rooms has been moved about, some furniture stolen for use in my Brother's room, which means that all the stuff which was on the shelves is now... disheveled.

You knew that was coming.

So basically I have to reorganise and rethink.

I also have a metric tonne of podcasts and blog posts to get through. I'm sure my iPod can't take it, but we'll have to go slowly.

I have loads to blog about (exciting, non-tech things) but I'd like to wait until I can write a post properly. Food, glorious food!

Minutes after being home my friends poped over and asked me if I wanted to go down the pub. I was so traumatised by the room dishevelment, I went. A lot.

Now my head hurts! Damn carcenagens.

Google's Desktop Search TWO

2005-08-23T21:20:00.000+01:00

Google have just released the second version of their desktop search, and it's bloomin' fantastic!

They really have outdone themseleves here! It's great to use, seems very light and flexible, and extremely powerful. The new way the search works is fantastic, although I think it needs a little working on. Results aren't always that good (Google good), because your hard disk isn't the Interweb, and it isn't all nicely linked together with magic links that give context to content.

There are two amazing 'bigger picture' things to think about now.

Firstly, it takes a major bite out of Apple's OSX Tiger release's marketability. Spotlight on Tiger looked really great, and Apple were the only ones to have such functionality. But now you can have it on the PC, and it works amazingly fast. Perhaps it's not quite perfect yet, and I'd like to be able to launch more programs from this search bar, but it's there.

Secondly, it takes a major bite out of Microsoft's Windows Vista release's marketability. The Longhorn sidebar which didn't really appear to do much in all of those screenshots is now not so special, and it's going to have to do something amazing to beat the Google version (with which it is going to be cometing directly).

Ohh, the excitement. It's like a geek's soap opera. You slaaaaaaaaag! google desktop search review apple microsoft tiger windows vista

Hello Hello?

2005-08-23T21:13:00.000+01:00

Isn't that a good question?

Well, I was at Comic Relief for two weeks, having a ball and working on the designs for the Dubble site. I think I caused some problems, but it was for the best (trust me :D).

Now I'm holidaying it up on the lovely, sunny/rainy Isle of Wight. I'm staying at my Uncle's house and I'll be going into the nice town of Ryde tomorrow on the bus. I spent a pleasant day on Sandown beach today and got a bit red. I'm going home on Friday, which is when normal service will resume.

I've been taking loads of photos over the last few weeks, so expect at least some nice ones.

One thing which has totally ruined my holiday and perhaps robbed me of a good deal of money (a few dollars, perhaps) has been the mistreatment of my websites by my host, ScotReg. I always held them in high regard, but it's a bit of a disaster when you pay for something and your account gets cancelled. I had a little fit over the data, particularly the Buster Tests users and the Buster Studies articles, but I think it's alright. Nevertheless, as I have said before, it's a total nightmare when your site goes down. Really bad.

Oh, and I have been keeping sort-of-up-to-date with all of your blogs etc. Sorry if I haven't commented or my email replies have been super-short. It's because I wasn't in an ideal location to reply fully (work, or with family peering about). I'll probably do a little review when I get back and make sure I'm up to date with everything.

Anyway, I've had the time to bang out this post and another on something which I was quite excited to find out about. Read on, my friends...

AS results in

2005-08-18T13:41:00.000+01:00

Take a look at BBC News and you'll find loads of news around this year's exams.

I can happily announce that I have gotten an A in Mathematics and Media studies. The rest of the results are not publishable :D (email me if you want to know)

Internet Technology for Learning

2005-08-17T16:08:00.000+01:00

I'ev just written an article about how students can use Blogger to record their media studies productions. Does anyone see any other web applications that can be used for learning/studying type things?

The start of the end?

2005-08-15T15:47:00.000+01:00

Run for it...

JPG Magazine's OWT!

2005-08-15T09:37:00.000+01:00

Whoooo!

I gats a front page spot!

Check it out!

Quick Update

2005-08-12T13:05:00.000+01:00

Well I'd just like to say sorry for no posts over the last week, I'm not really able to post that much.

I'm working with a charity here, next to where James Bond works! Amazing! See MW for details.

I also took the tube the other day to the place the Brazilian got shot, but I didn't know that's where it happened untill I saw a camera crew shooting (pun! ahahaha) a report from the very spot. Rough area.

Scholastic or something will be printing one of my pics in an article about Flickr.com and students. I think they're some US thing so I don't know if that's big or not. Will someone tell me?

Going to an exhibition with the New Media crew this afternoon. Have a nice weekend all!

p.s. Don't forget to sign up with Buster Studies admin and if you feel the slightest hint of an article coming on, write it down. I'll edit, expand and publish it for you (and credit, link and buy you something nice if it does well).

It's ready!

2005-08-05T23:34:00.000+01:00

Wow! It's only took 400% longer than I thought it would, but Buster Studies is now basically ready to go!

It even comes with a new article about managing your time. Please do check it out and the fancy comment display system!

Bearing in mind that these are better if you're a student...

I'm especially happy about my lovely new set of three document icons. These are crisp and clean and were actually fun to make. Blimey!

I'm suffering from some suspicious adverts at the moment which I'm not entirely happy about, but hopefully that problem will fix itself. Hopefully :)

Getting On My Nerves

2005-08-05T18:25:00.000+01:00

I have received an email to my Hotmail account a good few times from different people I know personally, containing an array of images of US soldiers being nice to children, group hugging, holding small babies, petting kittens, etc. in Iraq.

I can't tell you how tempted I am to send just one picture of a dead Iraqi in reply to these emails. I mean, I really am very tempted to do so. Really. I am. I could do it any moment now.

But I resist...

An Organic, Delicious, Healthy, Smoothie.

2005-08-05T11:17:00.000+01:00

As part of the Online Potluck day, I'd like to share with you a very nice formula for making a really cool drink. They're lovely on hot days, and are quite straightforward to make.

Firstly you need to secure your ingredients: blackberries, strawberries and a pot of raspberry Organic Yeo Valley Yogurt (450g). Firstly, I understand getting that particular brand might be a problem, so you can replace it with whatever pot you like, but keep it light, natural and good for you. Blackberries and strawberries are best bought from farmers markets. Leave them to ripen so they'll be sweeter when you come to make the smoothie. Make sure they're washed and cleaned out, remove the green bit of the strawberry and put in the freezer four hours before making the smoothie.

Now to be honest the ratio of my ingredients changes with the availability of the fruit, but I would say add a small handful of blackberries, a small handful of strawberries and about half of the 450g yogurt will get you a decent portion. You can also just throw all of it in and save some for tomorrow.

You can use either a big blender or just a hand one, mash up the fruit first just so it's pulpy, and then add the yogurt and blend it all up. Make sure it's very well blended before serving neatly as shown.

Clean up before you drink it to be able to enjoy it fully. Also, enjoy it in the sun.

Tech Tags: recipe healthy organic smoothie

And For My Next Trick...

2005-08-04T17:17:00.000+01:00

I've been thinking quite a bit lately about how I could expand Buster Tests into something more. I want to be able to cover more ground and I don't want to have to rely on just the exam season rush for ad income.

So I've decided to start a new blog (well... I'm going to think of it as more of a magazine) specifically for the audience at the doors.

I'm working on it right now, it's 5.20pm, and I plan to have the template and WordPress engine installed and running by tonight (11pm?).

You can watch the live development of this new project, named Buster Studies.

Big Fish?

2005-08-03T20:02:00.000+01:00

There's a cool little logic compo going. The problem is old but the challenge is new; so tonight I'm going to see how far I can get with this one.

Update: Oh well - couldn't quite do that one. It was waay too late and my brain just couldn't handle it :D I would have made a program for it if I had the skill...

Procrastination

2005-08-03T18:43:00.000+01:00

I'm researching an article I'm writing for Buster Tests on procrastination.

I'm looking for how you deal with it, if you do at all. Do you recommend any good websites? Tips? Techniques? Anything like that would be great. Just leave it as a comment on this post if you like! I'll make sure you're credited and all.

Thanks!

NatWest issues new cash card Mr. Dick Head

2005-08-03T18:03:00.000+01:00

Today The Sun is reporting how Chris Lancaster, who banks with NatWest, was sent a new cash card showing his name as "Mr C Lancaster Dick Head".

What exactly did Chris do to upset the bank so much? "I know I've been overdrawn a few times and got a few £30 charges but I've done nothing to deserve this," he reasoned.

Poor guy.

I had better watch out.

Via The Register.

Software: The Regex Coach

2005-08-03T17:26:00.000+01:00

Regular expressions are a pain in the vagina.

It's a uphill battle for me to write one, and even harder to find a decent one that will work in PHP.

You can use The Regex Coach, a brilliant bit of software, to see how you're doing in real time.

It's free and easy to use. regex regular+expressions php

How to hack a lift

2005-08-03T14:46:00.000+01:00

Hacking Elevators 101

Summary: if you want your life to go from where you get in straight to where you want to go, press the 'close door' button and your destination floor button at the same time. You won't stop for anyone else!

Can't wait to find one, now!

Simple Adsense Tips

2005-08-03T14:35:00.000+01:00

This great article has moved!

Read the Simple Adsense Tips by Fintan Darragh on Dech.co.uk.

Article is straight after the jump.

Microsoft Tests Personal Home Page

2005-08-03T13:31:00.000+01:00

Over at start.com, Microsoft have been trying out a kind of personalised start page which is strikingly similar Google's Fusion.

Microsoft have also been keeping an MSN Spaces blog, very bloated, which keeps people up to date with start.com's development.

While the code and layout used by Microsoft here is strikingly similar to Google's method, I'd like to point out that there are only so many ways of doing this kind of thing, and such ideas have been around for ages. Neither one of the two are really innovating, but I think that Microsoft's attempt is superior. For example with the MS attempt you can add or remove columns and minimise 'windows'.

Interestingly start.com isn't branded with Microsoft or MSN logos, only a link or two. Is this a new minimal design strategy?

I use the Google page and think it's alright - nothing is particularly special about it because I prefer to go to a specific website which has more detail. Well... I use it, that is to say I don't actually use any of its features and just have it as a home page. It's grown well in the last few weeks, though.

Tech Tags: microsoft msn start.com google homepage home

Kindy, If You Please...

2005-08-03T03:38:00.000+01:00

Would those of you who enjoy taking a gander at my photos pop over to the Flickys and give me a vote?

Just tap in my name...
F-I-N-T-A-N.

Thank you :D

Selling Internet Services to Teenagers

2005-08-02T21:43:00.000+01:00

Teenagers might be well aware of what the service of a mobile phone network is, but how can we be sure they understand what an internet service is, and what it means for them?

It may not seem an issue, but in the quest to make Buster Tests as likeable as possible among its fifteen- to sixteen-year-old audience, a special approach must be taken to make the website seem as useful as it is.

One of the services behind Buster Tests is the Revision List. This takes the user's results from a test, and based on questions that the user got wrong, puts specific points onto the Revision List.

This might not seem all to clear to some of the Buster Tests audience, so to make Revision Lists stand out and appeal to the user, they are 'sold' as a product, as opposed to the service they are. We can't be sure they understand what exactly is it, but we can try to show it to them in a form they might recognise.

This is done by the Revision Lists icon, a visual identity which makes the software appear like any other tangible product which is being sold over the web. Follow this up by a firm placement on the front page, a clear 'free' icon and the general presentation of a cheery product, and the existence of Revision Lists are much clearer.

The visual approach is also much wiser when marketing to teenagers or children of any age; it takes the weight off of the brain and allows the service to appeal to simple desires. Additionally, it isn't hard for the user to register for the Revision List. Clicking on the advert on the front page takes the user straight to a short and simple registration page, which can also be filled out with little thought.

Tech Tags: selling marting internet services teenagers websites icons images revision gcse theory buster+tests

I nearly had a bit of a heart attack...

2005-08-02T21:15:00.000+01:00

...when I found out that my world famous picture of Buster was the most interesting one of January 23rd 2005.

I have at least three great pics on that day, and that is quite simply because it was the day I signed up and unleashed all of my best onto Flickr.

Take a look at the calendar for surrounding images.

Update: Oooh it looks like I'm second on the 16th June 2005, too. flickr photo buster dog interestingness

Apple's New Pip

2005-08-02T19:33:00.000+01:00

Well, well. Apple's only done it again and made another device which looks like a tampon and is packed with functionality.

Good for Mac users. Now go and pay your $49.apple mouse mightymouse mighty+mouse

Publish Your Results (again)

2005-08-02T17:45:00.000+01:00

Phew. I've just spent the last couple of hours engineering a new little feature inspired by Firemind which allows people who take a Buster Test to publish their results on their blog.

It's fun, free and painfully flexible. It wasn't easy to make this work, but I'm quite sure it's bulletproof. It even decays sort-of-gracefully. Dunno about Safari, though :D

I had to try loads and loads of techniques to make this work. The one I ended up using is the least obvious, and is simply the result of playing with the code over and over and over again. As far as I am concerned, that's how one learns to do something well, and there's nothing wrong with loosing time to such things.

I was just about to publish this article when I found another problem, and became quite the stressy Bessy for half an hour while I tried to solve it. This better work! Update: it didn't, and suffered from an IE bug. Agh! Well, I redid it and think it's nearly sorted now. Long test names do it in, though.

So try a test yourself (click on the test title shown below to do an easy one) and see for yourself. web design development css bulletproof engineering tests

Buster Tests
Result

GCSE Physics
Waves
Light & Sound

73%

Simple Chemistry

2005-08-02T10:43:00.000+01:00

Alright, this is probably quite a good measure of how good you are with science generally.

Guess the elements (well... try not to guess if you can help it!)

Firemind's Podcast.

2005-08-02T10:34:00.000+01:00

I wrote a nice long article about this, but Firefox crashed. So I'll keep it simple:

Firemind has a podcast which you can subscribe to. itunes podcast feed subscribe

Ananova's Corrections

2005-08-02T10:15:00.000+01:00

Being a fast-paced news agency, you're bound to make some mistakes eventually.

How about Mariah Carey not flashing her breasts in Germany (it was an incident with a shoulder strap!).

How about Frank Skinner not being a rapist (silly misspelling...)

How about Bill Clinton not doing ads for clothing in China?

I dare say that all of these mistakes are far more exciting than most news relating to these people. news mistakes

The Hippy Festival is Coming - the "Big Green Gathering"

2005-08-02T09:40:00.000+01:00

Just to inform you ahead of time, the Big Green Gathering is happening just up the road from me this week, and I'll be there to photoblog some of the groovy action.

I've been told what in particular to expect, and I'm looking forward to it. We've even got a car pass from someone who supplies them with food. Great!

hippy hippies green festival gathering

The Cult of Getting Things Done

2005-08-02T09:08:00.000+01:00

What's the rush?

I'll admit, Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity is a rather good book, but not for everyone.

If you are in such a stress over what to do, and you have a real job (not like myself who just has a tonne of spare time), I can see some real benefits. In fact, when I start working wherever I'm quite likely to employ some (not all) of David Allen's advice.

He's obviously got the experience here. gtd getting+things+done david+allen book

Accessibility at the Odeon

2005-08-02T09:05:00.000+01:00

The whole accessibility craze which has swept the 'net has had, as far as I can see, one very good effect on Britain's cinema-going population.

One word: Odeon. Their website was utterly, utterly shambolic, enlisting various DHTML and JavaScript widgets to try to create a cool, slick interface. But it failed, miserably. Their old interface, which is still available today and is presented as the main version of the site, just doesn't work. It won't go anywhere in Firefox, and is purely a pain to use in Internet Explorer.

But not to worry. Matthew Somerville started by creating an accessible version of their site himself. Odeon didn't like this at all, and despite Matthew's site being perfectly legitimate, they forced him to withdraw it.

After lots of badgering, probably by many web designers who just couldn't stand the sight of the site (like me), Odeon have given in, in the form of a published a simple, text version of their cinema listings. Praise be!

It's fast, easy to use and tells you exactly what you want to know. Precisely what Odeon should have aimed for to start with.

But, I suppose, well done to them for actually thinking about how they represent themselves online, even if they were being shouted at to do so.

Remember: no website is better than a bad website. The frustration that was caused by this site might have lost Odeon loads of custom over the past few years. It's intenet antimarketing. It's always best to play it safe when it comes to something like this; make the information as easy to find and use as possible, and if possible in a way where no one can possibly go wrong. odeon cinema website accessibility

Don't Say The "E" Word!

2005-08-02T01:03:00.000+01:00

I'm always mindful of this one. Far more than any other word, in fact. It's the "E" word, and it just ain't any good.

Which is fitting, really. The word "evil" is being used more and more in the mainstream media and those in power. Deliberate or no, this word is a highly divisive one.

Take a look at the media you consume to see how regularly the word 'evil' is used and what for. Are they reporting news here, or are they providing opinion? Do they make it clear what is news and what is opinion? Do you trust them? evil media impartiality critisism

Odeon's Advertising

2005-08-02T01:00:00.000+01:00

I was disgusted to sit though 25 minutes of advertising after paying more than £4 (about $7 USD) to see the Fantastic Four.

Why should I have to pay to see a movie which is supported by advertising?

A message to those in the film distribution business: one or the other. Either:

we pay to see a film with no advertising, or...
we see a film supported by advertising for free.

It's wrong to have it both ways, and quite demeaning to the audience in my opinion. odeon advertsing film industry

Review: Kanye West - College Dropout

2005-08-01T23:08:00.000+01:00

He's got a great name and a great voice.

There are three tracks that particularly stand out - Jesus Walks, Slow Jamz and Through The Wire. I'm sure you would have heard them at one point or another if you spend any time consuming mainstream media.

He's a producer of music, so he's done a lot of work for other people in the R&B genre.

It's hard for me to write about something I know little about, but I will say that this guy is quite talented, and that those three tracks in particular are excellent. kanye+west college+dropout music review album

India launches its first cheap PC

2005-08-01T22:05:00.000+01:00

Well done to them. I hope this project lives up to their expectations, and India is brought even further into the computing world. pc economics india poor

Review: Charlie and The Chocolate Factory

2005-08-01T21:05:00.000+01:00

More exceptional film making from Tim Burton and company.

Charlie and The Chocolate Factory is the best film I've seen all year. It follows well in the footsteps of Burton epics such as Edward Scissorhands, rich in visual detail and full of powerful storytelling.

When I saw the film I was in quite a grumpy mood, but the film is such a powerful one that both sad and funny parts of the film are brilliant.

Issues of poverty and loneliness are dealt with quite skillfully by Burton, and the comic edge of the film, which is a great part of the picture, is truly sharp. One acronym: LOL.

The film got a good number of laughs, cheers and sighs from the audience as far as I could tell (although they weren't my first concern), but I thought everything was hilarious, and was surprised that a good deal of the jokes and entertaining nuances included in the film weren't grasped my most people. I'm talking about very subtle things, where simply the choice of shots is clearly deliberately meant to be funny.

Charlie and The Chocolate Factory seems to have a mixed sense of Internationality. Despite being set in some industrial English town, the currency is dollars, and both American and German currency is used. I was a bit annoyed by this at first (just get it right, ya?), but I think since many countries use dollars as a currency (not necessarily the US), and the film contains a very broad set of characters for a children's film, it's quite alight.

Depp preforms excellently, with a fresh and bubbly pace.

In fact, all parts of this film are brilliant. All actors pull their weight nicely, Burton directs masterfully, Elfman composes with his usual flair and the CGI and cinematography is excellent.

Go and see it while it's at the cinema. Your inner child will love you for it, and you will emerge refreshed.

Tech Tags: film review charlie chocolate factory charlie+and+the+chocolate+factory tim+burton johnny+depp danny+elfman cinema

Blogging for Money

2005-08-01T19:24:00.000+01:00

I've tried this before, but I've been reading a lot about Adsense and making money on the Internet lately, and want to give some techniques a try.

None of the things I'll be doing are devious or questionable, but we'll see how it goes.

At the moment, because the demand for academic websites is pretty much non-existent, Buster Tests is getting no traffic whatsoever. The Record Card is getting waay more than Buster Tests, so I think I'm going to focus my efforts here for a while.

Essentially what I plan on doing is writing a decent length, generally exhaustive article on one of a range of issues (news, technology, cooking, etc.) which pander to my interests. I'll try hard to make these informative, and certainly interesting. In return I'll be placing an ad block below each individual articles, which will hopefully contain relevant ads which people will want to use. Let's see if I can get more traffic to The Record Card and then out through those ads. This will involve search engine optimisation of articles and ruthless tagging. Forgive me if things get nasty, but this is an experiment and I doubt I'll be able to keep it up for long.

You, my faithful subscribers, will be treated to no ads. I also won't be limiting the content in the feed, because I disagree with that. RSS advertising pisses me off.

I need to take Buster for a walk now, and while I do I'm going to think up something nice to write about.

Good evening.

How to make the best paper aeroplane in the world!

2005-08-01T17:46:00.000+01:00

Really excellent guide. Spend the time doing it, perhaps while listening to a podcast.

Why the US wants to end the link between the Earth and the Sun

2005-07-31T13:18:00.000+01:00

I can see where they're coming from, but I simply don't agree it's worth the hassle. Making sundials obsolete is not progress.

If your navigation system causes two planes to crash because of a one-second error, you have worse problems than leap seconds(!)

Walk into the painting

2005-07-30T12:52:00.000+01:00

Cinematic Saga

2005-07-30T12:45:00.000+01:00

I went to see the Fabulous Four the other day (more later), but something unfortunate happened.

The woman who served me my obese drink didn't put it's cap on properly.

As I sat, liking the film very much, I went to take a drink, tilted it only slightly, and managed to have a staining amount of coke pour over my lovely yellow simpleton top.

I went straight to Gap in search of something cheap to buy that could replace it immediately. Nothing reasonable. River Island was my next choice. I'm not joking when I say they couldn't GIVE their clothes away. Sale prices, shirts down to £5, everything. All horrendous. Protochavware.

But I did find a nice little Quicksilver top for £12, green (my favourite colour) and tasteful. Success!

I REALLY wish I could do that!

2005-07-29T23:29:00.000+01:00

Incredible.

Maxwell's Sliver Hammer

2005-07-29T23:22:00.000+01:00

An animation of one of the Beatles' least liked songs. Very good.

High Speed Shots

2005-07-29T23:08:00.000+01:00

The New Fonts are Here

2005-07-28T20:20:00.000+01:00

Is the slight slump in tea sales an issue? (778 Votes)
No not really (15.30%)
I'm concerned (10.03%)
They'll be back (12.98%)
I blame the French / Americans / Govenment / etc (47.17%)
I've got a fall-out bunker and enough supplies to last five years (14.52%)

The Record Card

Dech Launches

iMac Price Goes Up

Educational Dosh

iMac Test Drive - Conclusions in Breif

Going to try it out

It's only a matter of time...

The Mac shal be Mine!

Proposed January Goal: Buy an iMac

2l2b

Didn't win the Wednesday lottery with my luck dip

Google Mail goes official

The Driving Contines

I have it!

I own titofthemonth.info

Oh Dear

Won a tenner on the lottery

What's hiding on your microchips?

Driving Along

Buster TestsResult

I'm turned into a vegetable

My First Driving Lesson

Conservative Outrage

Error

Westminster Underground (watch out for the Daleks)

Shake it all about

Mission: Rebrand America

Mini Review: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart

You wouldn't explode

More4 Ads are Go

12 Top Hits!

Google & Physics

Ordering a pizza

Staying the same

My Provisional Driving License

Fun Europe Fact

Nice Cup of Tea and a Sit Down

Thanks again, B3TA

Blindness

Video Lovelies

London's weird bus/boatmobile

Talk about sensitive!

Questionable Clip Art

Is it abuse?

New Orleans crisis shames US

iPod Nano - Thoughts & Review

What's going on in the USA

Driving Theory Tests

New idents for BBC Four

You're the Best, Kanye West

My New Bike

Katrina (the slutty version of the name)

More4 is coming

Lyme Disease

Petrol Prices in the US

I'm having one of those days

Laaaaaandan and the Yankie Grub

Ahh Home

Google's Desktop Search TWO

Hello Hello?

AS results in

Internet Technology for Learning

The start of the end?

JPG Magazine's OWT!

Quick Update

It's ready!

Getting On My Nerves

An Organic, Delicious, Healthy, Smoothie.

And For My Next Trick...

Big Fish?

Procrastination

NatWest issues new cash card Mr. Dick Head

Software: The Regex Coach

How to hack a lift

Simple Adsense Tips

Microsoft Tests Personal Home Page

Kindy, If You Please...

Selling Internet Services to Teenagers

I nearly had a bit of a heart attack...

Apple's New Pip

Buster Tests
Result

Buster Tests
Result