12th july 2006
if you don't know what i'm talking about when i speak of the new 'i'm a mac, i'm a pc' ads from apple, you may have to google it first as there isn't a chance that i'm going to link to them here. i know you - the mac users anyway - are probably thinking 'typical pc user, he knows macs are better, and the ads prove it, so he's gonna ignore them', but that's not actually my issue with the ads. the reason i hate them, and i do, is this...
when i was 15 and doing gcse (that's an exam for my non-british reader) art and design, if we had this whole mac vs pc thang going on, and my teacher gave me a advertisement project to do called 'i'm a mac, i'm a pc' from apple's side, i would have created these ads. i would have a young, cool, hip, good looking, recognisable actor (ideally from some kind of recent hip hollywood comedy film that the 'kids' loved) play the mac, and then - and this is good - i'd get some middle aged, grey, geeky, boring, accountant (no disrespect to accountants) type bloke to act as the pc. i'd then write a script that was increadibly see-through. i'd make it look as though pcs can't play music, create videos, build websites, etc and that macs were soooooo cool that you couldn't create a spreadsheet on it even if you wanted to! and i'd definitly ignore the countless numbers of performance tests that have been carried out for years that invariably see the pc win, or that i can buy a pc for me, one for t'wife, and a spare one to run as a web server, for the cost of one small-i-big-m-ac. and after all that, i'd probably get a 'c', maybe a 'c+', with some comment from my teacher about 'trying harder', 'more thought', 'be original', 'less predictable', etc.
so the point of this post? (you mean i have to have a point to post something on my own site? damn) it's the fact that i do like the vh1 spoof ads.
24th may 2006
"it all started with an ebay auction for a new g4 powerbook..."
one of the funniest things i've read for a long while. it's a lllooonnngggg read - especially for the t'internet as, as we all know, none of us can be bothered to read more than three paragraphs nowadays - but i read it from beginning to end, and it really is worth it.
just hope that everything is ok with regards to point 3 on the final page. oneplayer salutes you, jeff.
24th march 2006
some superb t-shirts over at cascadingstyleshirts.com. apparently they are the "fashion home of the discerning web builder", and i'm not going to argue.
the copy is as good as the clothing. they tell us that their "asynchronous screened cotton messaging system improves user experience and ensures compliance". as for my favourite shirt, 'respect the dom':
"this is the best shirt. because people will ask you what the dom is. and you'll sort of know but you'll have trouble describing it. so you'll just sort of sneer and get defensive and act superior."
brilliant. i gotta get me one. and practice my sneer.
13th february 2006
i know bash's quote database has been around for years - i was first pointed at it in 2002 - but it's worth re-mentioning now and again just in case there are some who haven't heard of it. i think this really is one of the funniest places on the net. yeah, it's usually geeky, sometimes offensive, but often laugh-out-loud funny. i check the latest quotes once a week when i'm bored or grumpy. i'm bored and/or grumpy more than once a week, but i only use one weekly incident as a reason to visit bash.
if you want to give it a try, but can't be bothered to read through the latest, just check out the top 200 submitted quotes to read such simple beauties as:
<mage> what should I give sister for unzipping?
<Kevyn> Um. Ten bucks?
<mage> no I mean like, WinZip?
27th january 2006
cingular, the states' largest mobile phone network, have to be applauded for their balls this week. they have only gone and applied to patent smileys (or emoticons as they're known on phones)! how on earth can they do this? of course, stupid thing is, they'll probably be successful.
i remember first reading that now infamous joke thread from the early 80's where, The Register now reminds me, Scott Fahlman innocently wrote the line "I propose that the following character sequence for joke markers: :-)", not knowing that he had invented a language that would be used - incessantly - in decades time by giggling office workers and pubescent instant messenger users. if only he had applied for a patent then! (of course there are now claims that they - smilies - were around a lot longer than that).
whenever they were 'invented', i think it's ridiculous that cingular are doing this, but you've got to admire them for trying.
source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/...
26th january 2006
apologies if you've already seen this, but web 2.0 folk look away now: http://www.parm.net/web2.0/
24th january 2006
i'll be honest, i haven't really fallen in love with the whole podcast thing. maybe it's because there is so much rubbish out there that i can't be bothered to take the time to find the stuff that i might like. i also don't like the way that itunes organises their podcasts - you can only drill down as far as 'music'. not really useful if the only music you like is 18th century chamber music. i would imagine.
however, and this is a big 'however', the ricky gervais podcast has me in stitches every week. for some reason, his 'monkey news' jingle - when he really goes for it - kills me, and this week's episode's (episode 8) jingle very nearly did. i honestly couldn't breathe. i'm lauging now, thinking about it again. just hilarious. if you haven't already, you can read about it and subscribe to it on his site.
thanks for coming