Archives for March 2002
One of the most interesting (March 31, 2002) One of the most interesting conversations on the net is happening over at Powazek.com literally as we speak. Derek's a well respected community-builder and designer with a long-standing committment to the interhighweb - and he's started a rebuttal of the...
So my brother and I (March 31, 2002) So my brother and I originally bonded over The Simpsons, but now we've bonded over Jackass as well. We sat there tonight from 10pm for three hours until 2am (not a typo - work it out) looking at it with...
So my brother was thinking (March 31, 2002) So my brother was thinking about getting a Playstation 2 - and I was left with the responsibility of being as impartial as is humanly possible, while in the back of my head a voice was screaming, Why won't you...
I got some great spam (March 31, 2002) I got some great spam today - it was for naked girlie videos and pictures. It said that it had pictures of young naive girls that had somehow become captured by the evil porn business. It occurred to me that...
We take a brief break (March 31, 2002) We take a brief break from stories of Tom's weekend in Norfolk to suggest that you go and check that Yahoo haven't signed you up for an infinity of spam missives. They had me, and I don't recall agreeing to...
So I'm in the car (March 31, 2002) So I'm in the car with my brother talking to him about my mother and father and I say to him that basically my mother's a bit weird sometimes because you never know what's going to make her irritable. It's...
So I'm standing in the (March 31, 2002) So I'm standing in the kitchen with my mother and the BBC suddenly switches over to report on the Queen Mother finally kicking the bucket. And we're both drawn towards the TV for a moment, and the atmosphere suddenly becomes...
So my family have all (March 31, 2002) So my family have all gone to bed and the clocks have changed and I look up out of the window of my bedroom where I'm typing away in complete darkness with my shirt off and my iPod playing Air...
And suddenly it's Saturday and (March 30, 2002) And suddenly it's Saturday and I haven't posted for days....
Barbelith and work are occupying (March 27, 2002) Barbelith and work are occupying most of my waking hours at the moment, so I'll just apologise to the world if you're feeling neglected. Perhaps I can ease your pain with a list of all the ways that you can...
Announcing the relaunch of The (March 27, 2002) Announcing the relaunch of The Barbelith Underground - now with happy sparkly colours, a completely rebuilt back-end courtesy of Cal Henderson and a raft of mostly-functioning new techniques in community self-management that I might write up if I get a...
Fun with a lesbian (sorry, (March 26, 2002) Fun with a lesbian (sorry, L'espion) camera in and around the office as taken by Mr Matt Biddulph of makeashorterlink infamy: See if you can spot me......
Tremendous news: Popbitch godhead mooted (March 26, 2002) Tremendous news: Popbitch godhead mooted to take over The Face magazine!...
I'd just like to say (March 26, 2002) I'd just like to say a tremendous block of cheery thanks to Alan for the Air album that I received last week from my wishlist and to send a stupified by oh-so-bloody-happy face to Stuart - Ganesh on The Underground...
It may not be as (March 26, 2002) It may not be as interesting as what's on Beck's iPod - but just in case you were interested, here's a text file of everything that's on mine at the moment. We will have no clever comments. I'm nearly thirty...
A hectic weekend in London... (March 25, 2002) What a weekend - it may sound trivial, but I don't seem to have stopped moving for more than twenty minutes since Saturday morning. I've caught up with friends from University and played with their three year old daugher. I've...
Firstly go here. And when (March 25, 2002) Firstly go here. And when you've been there and absorbed the true online horror of it all, then go here and explain to me the company I keep!?...
In which everyone links to Starbucks... (March 25, 2002) It's KPMG-link time all over again. Only this time, we're talking about Starbucks. In a piece published at Backwash.com, it appears that a man who posted a link to the coffee company about how good Starbucks coffee was has been...
Flash fun from the bunny (March 23, 2002) Flash fun from the bunny that grabs your cursor. And from my dear friends at B3ta comes Britney's naked Cat-a-Phone!. Oh those scamps... I wonder which one was responsible for that idea?...
On padding problems in Internet bloody explorer... (March 22, 2002) If anyone can find me any kind of documentation on the differing treatment of the paragraph tag on IE for Macs and IE for PCs (with specific reference to CSS, padding and margins), then I'd really appreciate it if you'd...
Bizarrely lacking designs of our (March 22, 2002) Bizarrely lacking designs of our time Verisign can't answer the question - 'how do I renew my domain name'. This is particularly amusing considering the question they suggest you ask them......
So Amazon listmania has finally (March 22, 2002) So Amazon listmania has finally hit plasticbag.org - presenting The Best 4AD albums ever - the guitar years, by yours truly....
Like Haughey, I'm rapidly approaching (March 22, 2002) Like Haughey, I'm rapidly approaching my thirtieth birthday - and so, like Haughey, I'm fascinated by the Bill Keaggy: Age 30 project A different photo, each and every day, for his entire thirtieth year. Many of my friends have taken...
You know one day I'd (March 21, 2002) You know one day I'd like to unashamedly sing Neil Diamond's "Forever in Blue Jeans" to someone I think's pretty cool. That would rock in a really lame way. Money talks But it don't sing and dance And it don't...
So the first upgrade to (March 21, 2002) So the first upgrade to the iPod appears - they now come in two varieties - one with a 10Gb Hard disk. The interesting stuff for those of us with older, less happening machines, is that there's now a new...
Warning: Prunes and Flapjack may (March 20, 2002) Warning: Prunes and Flapjack may be astonishingly good for the constitution, but they are tremendously bad for your relationships with friends and relatives. It appears that it's not only stress that makes me fart like a global thermonuclear war....
In days to come, when (March 20, 2002) In days to come, when the world's moved on, will older men - wise and bowed with years - move their hunching fingertips and gesture clumsily to their young? "An honest day's typing for an honest day's wage - you...
For several years now, the (March 20, 2002) For several years now, the 'holodeck' - a place where 'force-fields' and holograms are co-generated to create real-as-life environments - has been a staple of Star Trek storylines. The applications of such a creation - which in theory provides a...
I never realised producing a (March 20, 2002) I never realised producing a flow-chart could be so satisfying. I've spent much of the last couple of hours producing my first Visio flowchart and there's something tremendously rewarding about the process. Turning complexity into simple choices, finding a logical...
Comic Geeks discuss a 'bris', (March 20, 2002) Comic Geeks discuss a 'bris', the jewish ritual of circumcision: "You know, they're not as valuable if they don't have the original cover"....
Breaking news: someone none of (March 20, 2002) Breaking news: someone none of you know has had a haircut. And doesn't it look nice?!...
Paul's back. I think. Which (March 19, 2002) Paul's back. I think. Which reminds me... How many bloggers can you see?...
My mother rang up this (March 19, 2002) My mother rang up this morning - she'd seen a job for a Web Producer advertised in the Eastern Daily Press - Norfolk's county newspaper (unlike the Evening News which is for dodgy left-wing city-types). The job paid badly and...
What the world needs is (March 18, 2002) What the world needs is a Google of porn. Something that unbelievably simple... Pornfinder....
In about eight hours I (March 18, 2002) In about eight hours I start a three month contract with the BBC doing something extremely interesting that I don't really want to go into detail about in a public place at the moment and which almost none of you...
Need to start a meme... (March 18, 2002) I haven't started a fucking meme in ages. It's time for embarrasing online web confessions. Today I will confess to being the man who first created the alt.fan.noah-wyle newsgroup. I rule....
A downloaded life... (March 17, 2002) As we wander around the internet, and grab and download files to play with, our computers fill with the assorted detritus of a thousand tiny urges. While cleaning my computer I found a folder called 'unfiled' which contained images that...
There's a much-linked article at (March 17, 2002) There's a much-linked article at the New York Times at the moment about the future of music-delivery and media - and it basically argues what I've been arguing for quite a while - that it's the Value-Added aspects of music...
Jason has linked to a (March 17, 2002) Jason has linked to a very handy web presentation on simplicity which I can thoroughly recommend all web creatives to investigate....
Six Months That Changed A (March 17, 2002) Six Months That Changed A Year: "Julie Burchill: How I liberated Kandahar with the news that Tony Parsons is a bastard." Terror Marches Backwards: "October 19th: Blair announces support for the US intention to bomb during Ramadan but confirms that...
My first Exquisite Corpse has (March 15, 2002) My first Exquisite Corpse has been posted. My slice is the third one. I was terrified when I sent it in that it would be embarrassingly bad, but it's come together quite well. I feel quite self-satisfied, suddenly......
Daypop's new Wishlist tracker is (March 15, 2002) Daypop's new Wishlist tracker is a genius idea, but also - presumably - quite a profitable one! It's a shame that it seems restricted to Amazon.com customers, rather than the UK audience - but then again that does leave a...
How can it be true?! (March 15, 2002) How can it be true that the word atheist can be considered too offensive for a car number place? How can anyone justify that? The retrograde push in liberalism, science and popular politics in America is really beginning to alarm...
Every day I get more (March 15, 2002) Every day I get more and more aware that when I go to bed there are never any English webloggers left on AIM. In fact there are seldom any East Coast Americans left either. They're either out for the night...
My favourite suggestion of the (March 14, 2002) My favourite suggestion of the day so far comes via brainsluice (again) and is based around me using this banner and my Barbelith Paypal donations scheme to fund not only my own colonic irrigation - but perhaps also the rest...
I think I'll post one (March 14, 2002) I think I'll post one thing today that's not related to colonic irrigation. Just the one. Then we can all go on with the poo-fest. Today's game of the day is Make your own mugshot - if you fancy seeing...
You write a few things (March 14, 2002) You write a few things about colonic irrigation and you end up getting sent huge links to huge images suggesting what it might be like. Thanks again Davo.......
From the amount of links (March 14, 2002) From the amount of links that my thoughts of colonic irrigation have generated around the net - each one basically amounting to a tacit or explicit do it - I can only assume that either you're all really curious as...
I went to a drink (March 13, 2002) I went to a drink for Meg's birthday last night and Davo took lots of pictures - and I look kind of crumpled in most of them. A good evening was had by most, except those poor individuals who had...
"Speaking of happiness, you never (March 12, 2002) "Speaking of happiness, you never thought of mine.... Mentioning loneliness, I feel lonely all the time.... Speaking of Davo, he's in a Noozlelandish magazine..."...
On Ben Afflect, Matt Damon, Colonic Irrigation (and me)... (March 12, 2002) Ever since I read that Matt Damon and Ben Affleck indulged in anal action (I think it was when I was working at TCN), I've been fascinated by the spectre of colonic irrigation. I remember that scene in LA Story...
There are times when I (March 12, 2002) There are times when I honestly believe that to find out about my life you'd be better reading Brainsluice....
Thanks to Luke for this (March 12, 2002) Thanks to Luke for this one - he's pointed me in the direction of a transcript of an interview between Richard Littlejohn - dubious right-wing journalist - and Will Self - dubious left-wing intellectual. My sympathies are of course heavily...
How depressing - now we're (March 11, 2002) How depressing - now we're all going to have to make our sites work properly in Mozilla. How dreary....
I've only just noticed, which (March 11, 2002) I've only just noticed, which probably makes me the second worst person in the world after the inventor of spiders, but Prolific.org has redesigned - and it looks amazingly fresh......
Buffy: Every single night, the (March 10, 2002) Buffy: Every single night, the same arrangement I go out and fight the fight. Still I always feel this strange estrangement. Nothing here is real, nothing here is right. I've been making shows of trading blows, Just hoping no one...
I've just finished reading Fahrenheit (March 10, 2002) I've just finished reading Fahrenheit 451 and there was a part of it that just made me shiver because to me it felt so apposite. I posted it up on Barbelith for discussion. I'm expecting that some people won't find...
Another shock discovery. First the (March 10, 2002) Another shock discovery. First the universe turned out to be really dull, now someone has finally realised that sex is a bit crap too. Is there nothing gripping left in the world? Jesus. Start a weblog already. Everyone else bored...
So it seems a gay (March 10, 2002) So it seems a gay gene runs in the (alleged) resemblance - Pop Idol Will Young has come out. I don't know why he felt the need to make this kind of statement - but more interestingly I don't know...
Inspired by this mad post (March 9, 2002) Inspired by this mad post (for which I can only say that the reason is that people get uncomfortable when they have to think of gay people actually having sex as opposed to decorating their spacious apartments), I present: Top-Ten-Traits-You-(ie....
On the zeitgeist(s)... (March 9, 2002) I love pages that keep track of search requests on the internet. Pages like Lycos' Top 50. These give you a real insight into the community of the internet's most obsessive interests. And of course the most interesting thing about...
Breaking news: Universe even more (March 9, 2002) Breaking news: Universe even more boring than we all thought. The universe, it transpires, is much like the wallpaper in my bedroom at my parent's house in Norfolk....
Too many doctorates in the (March 9, 2002) Too many doctorates in the air at the moment - which shouldn't annoy me but does because I feel jealous even though I know I made the right decision to leave mine. Probably I'm freaked because I don't seem to...
The most astonishing thing about (March 9, 2002) The most astonishing thing about being without Blogger for a day is not that I was frustrated or annoyed, but that I found myself writing vast selections of little notes and thoughts to Barbelith and Haddock. It seems clear -...
How nice it is to write for print... (March 9, 2002) The best thing about writing something for a print publication is that you get this wonderful chunky piece of solid matter to look at when it's finished. Yesterday through the post came the 2002 edition of the Time Out London...
If you hadn't guessed from (March 7, 2002) If you hadn't guessed from a brief visit to his site, Cal is colourblind. Hey - what can be said - I have no sense of smell, he doesn't know how to co-ordinate. We all have our crosses to bear....
Thanks to the anonymous punter (March 7, 2002) Thanks to the anonymous punter who bought me a copy of Moulin Rouge off my wishlist! It's very much appreciated, whoever you are. If only I could find some way of translating plasticbag.org into a way to pay my rent...
Ok - I'm in the (March 7, 2002) Ok - I'm in the middle of a big deadline at the moment, so all my thoughts are necessarily truncated. But still - the biggest thing in my head at the moment is my father. He and my mother got...
my %guy; $guy{type} = 'underwater guy'; $guy->control_sea; kill $guy, "10 million pounds of (March 7, 2002) my %guy; $guy{type} = 'underwater guy'; $guy->control_sea; kill $guy, "10 million pounds of sludge from NY and NJ"; foreach my $monkey (@monkeys) { $monkey->gone(heaven); } $creature{sky}->suck_into_hole; $sky->put_in_hole; $ground = 'not cold'; if ($ground ne 'cold'){ burn $everything; next $turn; $mine->too; } foreach my $monkey (@monkeys) { $monkey->gone(heaven); } $joe->rock($me); if ($man == 5) { if ($man == 5) { if ($man == 5) { $devil = 6; } $devil = 6; } $devil = 6; $devil = 6; } if ($devil == 6) { $deity = 7; $deity = 7; } foreach my $monkey (@monkeys) { $monkey->gone(heaven); }...
A while ago I linked (March 6, 2002) A while ago I linked to an article about old TV shows having new opportunities for product placement because of the potential for digital alteration before rebroadcasting. But it seems that this is only the beginning of the 'touching-up' of...
Oh and if you want (March 6, 2002) Oh and if you want to know what I did on Saturday night, then go and read up about it over at Brainsluice. He leaves out how precisely grumpy I was all evening. That's why he's my best friend....
The last couple of days (March 6, 2002) The last couple of days have been fairly strange exotic beasts - the job disappointment as ever knocked me for a loop for a good twenty-four hours. It's always difficult to be rejected, I think, and I wonder if anyone...
One of the funniest transition (March 5, 2002) One of the funniest transition pages I've seen in forever - Might Big TV is now Television Without Pity......
Sing it with me, children... (March 5, 2002) Sing it with me, children... When are you gonna come down? When are you going to land? I should have stayed on the farm. I should have listened to my old man....
I'm having a minor moment (March 5, 2002) I'm having a minor moment about an article on the BBC's news site which is very interesting and everything, but also completely 'give away the twist why-don't-you'-ish. The article is about the next Harry Potter movie, which makes me think...
A good article on the (March 5, 2002) A good article on the state of the American music industry: Looking Grim at the Grammys. I don't know how long it's going to take contemporary culture to figure out, but fragmentation is the new monolith - cultures are separating...
I'm going to say this (March 5, 2002) I'm going to say this quickly and get it over with. I didn't get the Community Producer gig at the BBC, I am gutted. If you want to make me feel better about it then buy me something....
Here's an interesting link from (March 5, 2002) Here's an interesting link from a couple of months ago - Jakob Neilson and the BBC Front Page. The BBC redesigned their front page a few months ago, shortly after Neilson released his book - which included an analysis of...
Mr Morgan cannot sleep at (March 4, 2002) Mr Morgan cannot sleep at the moment, so at half-past-one in the morning we met up for a walk around Maida Vale. We broke into Paddington Recreation Ground and talked about Lego and looked through his camcorder at nearby buildings...
Ok - I'm not going (March 3, 2002) Ok - I'm not going to go into detail about my job interview on Friday, except to say that my friends over at Barbelith certainly played their part in trying to get me a job, while in the process... well...
Proselytising for the computing age (March 3, 2002) Proselytising for the computing age - Why OSX is the future!...
The future is Mac Porn... (March 3, 2002) The future is Mac Porn. Don't say I didn't warn you. I stared salivating as soon as I saw the pictures. You can sometimes feel your heart-rate speed-up too. Weirdly I don't think I have this reaction when looking a...
Everyone else is linking it, (March 3, 2002) Everyone else is linking it, so why can't we? Today's completely lifted link is The Man Project - a stunning and (apparently) simple looking piece of animation which resembles those cross-section models made by slicing up dead people. The most...
The only must see thing (March 2, 2002) The only must see thing on the net today seems to me to be Sparky's flat - frankly it's stunning and I want it, but more to the point it's also incredibly well captured in multiple photos. New Boyfriend, gorgeous...
News Shock! Prince Philip mad (March 2, 2002) News Shock! Prince Philip mad old racist bastard! World reels in surprise....
A really good article on (March 1, 2002) A really good article on community development includes this paragraph: "In order to succeed, a virtual community has to have an affinity -- the answer to the question "what would draw these people together?" It has to present a user...
Q: "Why are you wearing (March 1, 2002) Q: "Why are you wearing that stupid bunny suit?" A: "Why are you wearing that stupid human suit?" Brrrr. Creepy.......
Another interview with the BBC... (March 1, 2002) My interview this afternoon is at four o'clock at the BBC - I'm scared out of my mind, but really quite excited as well. I have all of Barbelith pulling off a piece of chaos magick for me this afternoon...
Thanks to the wonderful people (March 1, 2002) Thanks to the wonderful people at Haddock.org, I have finally found a sport that I can get behind. And it is a sport. It's definitely not some homo-erotic thing marketed to a very specific niche market. Oh no. Nothing unsavoury...
