Archives for April 2002
Harry Potter: Ninja or Pirate? (April 30, 2002) Nick: Do you think Harry Potter is a Ninja or a Pirate? Tom: I think Harry Potter is definitely a Ninja Tom: it's the cloak of invisibility Nick: Really? Tom: but Ron Weasley is WAY pirate Nick: I would have...
The world is ending... (April 30, 2002) The fifth sign of apocalypse is here. My cousin Susanna, known throughout her youth for swearing and changing her hair colour every twenty-two minutes and for sticking things through her ears over the bath and for generally listening to the...
Davo needs a good wallop... (April 30, 2002) So he's still off wandering around Europe without me, the little stinker. He's still writing those dumb little stories about all the stupid places he's going to. Geneva. I mean. Does anyone give a damn?! Amsterdam? Feh. I've had it...
Review me already... (April 30, 2002) Go on then. Bloody review me already....
Another new Apple product... (April 30, 2002) Another new Apple product - this time it's the eMac - a purely for education model of the iMac. It's kind of a retrograde step in a way, but I suspect that it might not remain education-only for long if...
On Woomera... (April 28, 2002) Today on Barbelith: Woomera - "Woomera, a former missile testing base in the remote southern Australian desert, houses one of Australia's largest centres for detaining of refugees whilst their asylum claims are processed. Earlier this month, a group of protesters...
Everything you know is wrong! (April 28, 2002) Everything you know is wrong! Or at least fourteen things of the twenty-seven things I was asked were wrong: Take the disinformation quiz....
Find out the weather wherever you are... (April 28, 2002) You know what's weird? That after decades of weather forecasting, one of the most amazing things on the internet remains that you can check the weather forecast for any part of the world. And for free! And on the BBC!...
1st Annual Ninjas vs. Pirates Volleyball match... (April 28, 2002) Round One: Ninjas refuse to tell Pirates where game is to be held. Pirates raid Ninja coastal town, burn it down, get drunk. Ninjas sulk, hiss. Final Score: Ninjas 1, Pirates, 3. more...
On imperfect renderings... (April 28, 2002) I don't know whether this is something to be proud of or not, but I now appear to have a site that doesn't work perfectly in any browser. Sigh....
What's better? What's best? (April 27, 2002) One of the most fun and interesting little sites I've seen in ages, whatsbetter.com allows you to rate things in pairs, constructing by association a hierarchy of the best things in the universe. At the moment all your contributions are...
There is no European viewpoint... (April 27, 2002) There's a hell of a lot of simmering resentment pouring out of America at the moment towards Europe and Europeans. Large portions of the right-wing media are full of it, but it's not only there. There seems to be resentment...
Gimme your hands. Cause you're wonderful! (April 26, 2002) Oh no love! you're not alone You're watching yourself but you're too unfair You got your head all tangled up but if I could only make you care Oh no love! you're not alone No matter what or who you've...
I love the smell of Photoshop in the morning... (April 25, 2002) Another day, another piece of gloriously creative work. You know how it is. You've been there. We've all seen the creative trenches. I love the smell of Adobe Photoshop 7 for Mac OSX in the morning....
On mail-to-blog problems... (April 25, 2002) And several days after sending the e-mails to Blogger, my mail-to-blog entries finally appear. And have to immediately deleted. Of course....
On new dumb stuff... (April 24, 2002) There's lots of new dumb stuff around the site today that I assembled last night and 'made live' this morning. I'm not going to actually point you towards any of it though. I'm not sure some of it is very...
Big Issue mention... (April 24, 2002) I can't imagine why anyone would be even vaguely interested in reading this again, but I found it online in an old rather badly transcribed form and decided to make it all plasticbag.org style sparky: Matthew Ford writes Read my...
Would you shag...? (April 24, 2002) Soul-searching question of the day: Look into your heart. Would you shag the Sven Snooker Streaker?...
Ten things to do... (April 24, 2002) Rather than call someone a wanker, why not...? 1) Have a long, slow, luxurious bath! Perhaps buy some expensive body lotions or bubble bath. Make sure it's nice and hot and just sink into it! 2) Why not get a...
Three things about Mulholland Drive... (April 24, 2002) Three things about Mulholland Drive, seen last night with Mr Webb, Mrs Webb, Mr Henderson and some bloke called Tom from UMS. Firstly (of course) The Barbelith Thread. Then the (I fear superior) Metafilter thread. And finally the medium-cool Salon...
Peeping Search Tom... (April 23, 2002) You dirty so-and-so. You love it don't you... I know you do. Watching. Not typing. Oh no. Just watching what other people have typed. Mmmmm. Oh yes. That's the stuff... Watching people on kanoodle type in 'teen boy decorating'. Oh...
From inside the BBC... (April 23, 2002) It's weird being inside the BBC when something like this happens....
Upgrading Movable Type... (April 23, 2002) In a frustrating hour at work in which I couldn't really do what I needed to do because I hadn't got the application that I asked for many many weeks ago, I decided to upgrade to Movable Type 2.0. And...
Diary of the Plague Years... (April 23, 2002) Diary of the Plague Years, Day Five: After much careful analysis I can only note that the mysterious semi-liquid is gradually thickening as the days pass, congealing and becoming more solid. And as it does so, my consumption of cold-cure...
"Blake's Seven" Books... (April 22, 2002) Reasons not to read any Blake's Seven books (as written by members of the original cast - no matter how cool they might have been): Barbelith....
Trabaca redesigned once more... (April 21, 2002) It used to be the staple of weblogging content - the announcement that someone (a friend / a company) has redesigned their site. Then everyone used to run over and point and critique the site in question and have a...
Responses to a small note... (April 20, 2002) VITAL: Read the responses to A small note from a patriot....
K10k is back... (April 20, 2002) K10k is back and it's as futuretech and tiny-fonted as ever. Watch as it makes your connection shudder with tiny pixel-goodness. Shiver as your browser struggles to render it. Be awed at its ridiculously high quality. Miss the tiny animated...
Today I have a stinking (April 20, 2002) Today I have a stinking cold. I had it yesterday as well. Last night I felt like someone had drained my soul out of my feet. I had nightmares all night as well. But I can't remember any of them....
One of the things that (April 20, 2002) One of the things that I talked about in my interview for the role of community producer at the BBC - a job that I didn't get, by the way - was about how the BBC was perfectly placed to...
This is almost impossibly close (April 20, 2002) This is almost impossibly close to an idea I once had and have never implemented. Mine was dirtier though....
Cut and Paste Culture: Ok (April 19, 2002) Cut and Paste Culture: Ok - this is interesting. Or at least I think it's interesting. Or more to the point, I find it interesting. Anyway - I have these two gorgeous computers on my desk - one's a stunning...
I'm sorry, but really. What (April 19, 2002) I'm sorry, but really. What the hell is Google Answers all about?...
Thoughts on the fronts of (April 18, 2002) Thoughts on the fronts of men's trousers: Many trousers seem to me to be designed to work a little like cod-pieces. The rucking at the front is designed to give an impossibly ridiculous cock-like peak that clearly ISN'T cock, but...
Does this, or does this (April 18, 2002) Does this, or does this not, look like the Best Desktop Ever. There are benefits to this current job....
I went to see a (April 18, 2002) I went to see a studio flat today in Marylebone - probably it will be outside my financial limits, but it was astonishingly nice. Semi-separated kitchen and studio with lots of power-points and a long corridor down the side of...
Overheard this morning - a (April 18, 2002) Overheard this morning - a woman confuses 'backwards-compatible' with 'reverse-engineer', and I wonder - should you have a license to use words as oneupmanship weapons? [Edited to add - could I possibly start a whole new Sarah Jessica Parker inspired...
Can someone explain to me (April 17, 2002) Can someone explain to me how I'm still at work at nearly eight in the evening, pissed on Pimms, working on templates for an internal work process interface for a project designed to make the BBC the best place in...
"Dance for me disco monster! (April 17, 2002) "Dance for me disco monster! Dance!"...
Another goodbye to Davo... (April 17, 2002) So tonight I said goodbye to Davo for the third time in three days, and it was just as difficult this time as it was all the others. I can't imagine anything I want less than for him to leave...
Tied to the tracks of the Cluetrain... (April 16, 2002) In which at midnight after a long day at the office, Tom attempts to explain why the transformative effect of the internet on society is not necessarily immediately transferable to business or culture...
New toy! (April 16, 2002) Oooh. Aaaah. I've got a new toy at work....
Largest collaborative structure... (April 16, 2002) So I finished reading Emergence about a week ago, and it's fall of all this conversation about ants and the ways in which they collaborate with one another in order to form huge functioning units, without any of the individual...
Shamanism in a nutshell... (April 15, 2002) Today on Barbelith: Shamanism in a nutshell (2): "Shamanistic practice has an incredibly vast range of applications including, business, warfare, prosperity, employment, children, love and friendship, all designed maximise the health of the spirit. JanFreya investigates. "...
Blutac is smurf-poo... (April 14, 2002) Blutac is smurf-poo. You heard it here first....
Cal, interviewed... (April 14, 2002) He's the god who coding my crap ideas up and called it Barbelith and the god behind many of today's leading web projects (some secretly - some not so secretly). And now he's been interviewed. I present Cal Henderson....
Googlematic AIMbot... (April 14, 2002) Of course it was all my idea. There we were on the interhighweb - chatting (as is our wont) about his plans to make something truly wonderful using nothing but green paint, tin foil and the leaves of a banana...
What is Blogroots? (April 14, 2002) Trailer campaign: What is Blogroots? [Left-to-right: Hourihan | Bausch | Haughey]...
Things other people accomplished... (April 14, 2002) Are you feeling adequate today? Not too many crushing self-doubts? Able to look at yourself in the mirror without collapsing? Then what you need is Things Other People Accomplished When They Were Your Age. Guaranteed to make you realise how...
Long bony finger-wagging... (April 14, 2002) During my short life, I have not found many reasons to want to go around Meg's house and smack her on the back of the knees while wagging a long bony finger at her. But I think this picture may...
Matt: gninrom doog. Tom: ayeh... (April 13, 2002) Matt: gninrom doog. Tom: ayeh Matt: ?neht thgin tsal gnibbulc tuo og uoy did Tom: sey Matt: .keew gnol a neeb s'ti .derekcank gnikcuf .htimsremmah ot kcab tnew dna godtoh a tog i Tom: elihw a rof decnad dna zratspop...
E-mail to Blog... (April 13, 2002) Did you know you can now post to Blogger (or at least Blogger Pro) via e-mail?...
Is there anything good on the web? (April 12, 2002) It has been mooted recently by a lot of your more fashionable pundits that the web just isn't as interesting as it used to be. I had this discussion with Matt Webb just the other day, in fact. He swore...
Mork and Mindy Mork calling (April 12, 2002) Mork and Mindy Mork calling Orson, Come in Orson. This is Mork calling Orson - complete with cheesy music....
Plague Bored by life? Wish (April 12, 2002) Plague Bored by life? Wish you were dead? Live in London? What a shame you didn't live there in 1665 when you could have been one of the 100,000 people killed off by the Great Plague. Channel Four have all...
Jim Bowen 2001 If you're (April 12, 2002) Jim Bowen 2001 If you're British and in your mid-to-late twenties or above, then Bullseye star Jim Bowen probably occupies a very very special place in your heart. Particularly if - like me - a weekend stay with your grandparents...
Online Community Report Are you (April 12, 2002) Online Community Report Are you a community builder? Are you interested in the latest revenue models for online communities? Well ok, so tht's a bit of a long-shot. I think it's interesting......
The History of the BBC (April 12, 2002) The History of the BBC It might not be the most astonishing looking site but for those less familiar with the mighty organ of the British media it's an incredibly useful place to start getting informed. I did quite badly...
Am I unpleasant or not? (April 12, 2002) I'm thinking about a new and completely unpleasant feature for plasticbag.org - based around the 'meet' functionality at hotornot.com. Basically I signed up for this ages ago and occasionally get an e-mail in saying that someone wants to meet me....
Ev on Weblogs... (April 12, 2002) Ev interviewed: "Well, writing a weblog is, in essence, simply writing. So most of the rules of good writing apply -- clarity, articulateness, conciseness. That doesn't mean it can't be casual, or quirky, or unconventional in style. But those who...
Conversations about community... (April 10, 2002) One of the best conversations on the web at the moment about community development is taking place over at MetaTalk at the moment. It's about how to handle the burgeoning size of Metafilter and it's particularly interesting to me, because...
On finishing "Lord of the Rings"... (April 10, 2002) On Saturday I finished 'Lord of the Rings' for the first time. I started reading it almost exactly ten years ago and got about one sixth of the way through it before deciding to 'have a bit of a break'....
Stolen images in the paper... (April 9, 2002) Well of course the big news of the day is that although I'm not actually one of the people in this advert, at least I know a fair share of them [found here! oops!]. According to the advert they're exactly...
The thing I'm most looking (April 9, 2002) The thing I'm most looking forward to reading about on the internet at the moment is Bart's thoughts on London. It was very entertaining meeting him, although he looked a little shell-shocked most of the time. But I'm dying to...
It's probably quite poor quality (April 9, 2002) It's probably quite poor quality behaviour to spend your two-minutes' of silence frantically typing. But it was the only moment in the morning when I felt I had any time at all to get anything done. Does that make me...
It's terrifying really - it's (April 8, 2002) It's terrifying really - it's terrifying that it could take as little as three weeks of sporadic updates to halve the traffic a site gets. Halve! You lightweights. You quitters. I don't know why I bother writing all this guff...
Grotesque Bat Likes Grotesque Twat! (April 8, 2002) You can view the absence of posts over today as shocked silence after having some mad bloke's statement that the Queen Mum liked Ali G hideously confirmed. Grotesque imagery. Oldest of all old beligerent crones liking the least pleasant, least...
Perl sings "Monkey Gone to Heaven"... (April 7, 2002) I'd just like to apologise to Russell of use.perl.org for posting his adaptation of 'Monkey Gone to Heaven' on plasticbag.org without attributing it to him. I don't know whether he'd be delighted or horrified to know that it had been...
One Hundred Moderation Actions?! (April 7, 2002) Ouch. Early morning alarm when I go to Barbelith and discover that there are over one hundred moderation actions that I'm supposed to investigate. One hundred. One hundred. It is a relief to know that if I don't do them,...
Guess who's coming for dinner... (April 6, 2002) Guess who's coming for dinner. Actually he and I and Davo et al are wandering out for meals and sightseeing over the next couple of days. Very much looking forward to it....
On Jewish men and Gentile men... (April 6, 2002) Extracts of an AIM conversation between Dan Brilliant (Jewish, Straight) and Tom Coates (Gentile, Gay) about the merits of Mr Noah Wyle - a conversation that swiftly descends into smut. Tom has just declared (once more) his love for the...
I'm a fish... I have no potatoes... (April 6, 2002) One of the best things abour working with geeks is that they understand the value of the ludicrous metaphor. Think of it this way: You're building a community site for the BBC, and you have to explain the process of...
Subtle, huh? (April 6, 2002) So there's a guy at work who's twenty-two. He's really nice, he's good fun. But for some reason he hasn't twigged on the whole 'Tom is a big homo' thing. In fact I don't think any of them have. Now...
Queen Mother Rises From The Dead... (April 6, 2002) It's a shame when parodies have to be taken down, it really is. I mean, I work for the BBC, so I can completely understand why they felt that the Queen Mother Rises From The Dead parody was inappropriate, but...
Big in Japan and Russia... (April 6, 2002) So every so often I check my referrers and I see a great big block of them come from a site I've never heard of, so I'll go and check 'em out. And almost every single time they're actually links...
Oh Faulty Gaydar... (April 5, 2002) My gaydar has always been completly useless, so it's perhaps no surprise that I did remarkably badly at the b3ta gay or straight quiz. It's extraordinarily good fun - and it may tell you something you never expected about Jeremy...
It isn't right, it isn't fair... (April 4, 2002) "It isn't right, it isn't fair, There were no spaces anywhere.... I think that hydrant wasn't there..."...
Accessing my file... (April 4, 2002) Are you desperate to know more more, ever more about your humble narrator? If so, then you could always check out my file at haddock.org......
There's a few really interesting (April 2, 2002) There's a few really interesting debates ongoing at Barbelith at the moment... From the working classes involvement in political struggle, the function of the prison system, queer voices etc, etc. And of course there's always going to be the odd...
It's not going to be (April 2, 2002) It's not going to be up long, so you should probably go and look at it soon - Queen Mother rises from the dead!...
Today I am muchly loving (April 2, 2002) Today I am muchly loving the cheek of the awesome Firda and her highly entertaining and completely head-destroying Blogger-parody. And if that bores you, then there's always discovering how Google uses pigeons to rate a page's relevance....
When you start work at (April 2, 2002) When you start work at the BBC you are given a temporary pass. They take a really unpleasant photo of you with the world's cheapest digital camera and edit it so that it makes you look like you're gurning, then...
iBooks are beautiful, but some (April 2, 2002) iBooks are beautiful, but some people miss the various colours that you could make them and pine for something a little more extreme than the pearly white that is currently in vogue. And then again, some people aren't content just...
Riotbeard action... (April 1, 2002) Rumour abounds on the net that Mark from Riothero.com has grown a beard. If you have evidence of this, e-mail immediately....
AOL buys Blogs: "You can't (April 1, 2002) AOL buys Blogs: "You can't really put figures on this," one executive told The Register, "but we think we have 78 per cent of the libertarian news blogs, 91 per cent of the ClueTrain Manifesto fan sites, and 59 per...
After a weekend in Norfolk (April 1, 2002) After a weekend in Norfolk I've been attempting to get some greater sense of personal and cultural history by researching the history of the village of 'Belaugh' where I grew up. This is what I've found so far... You'll have...
Factfile: Belaugh, Norfolk (April 1, 2002) I'm collating all the information I can find about the tiny Norfolk village of 'Belaugh' where I grew up, as part of my ongoing attempt to get some sense of personal history and where I fit into the world both geographically and personally...
