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Monthly archives: September 2003
Which came first, the DVD or the pirate copy?
Whilst the MPAA and associated Hollywood studios are suing companies that produce DVD copying software it has come to light that DVD ripping isn’t the source of pirate movies on the net. As 95% of pirate copies appear before the DVD release and some aren’t even the final edit of the movie the finger is being pointed at Hollywood insiders.
Little Italy
Ancoats is one of the most important world sites when it comes to the history of the Industrial Revolution. So, if it’s done properly, it’s good to hear there’s a �65million redevelopment plan for three mills.
I scour Ancoats every few months, but I still can’t find the Bridge 5 Mill green centre. There used to be a skate park, but it has now closed. And the authorities wonder why the kids have to take to the streets.
How many candles?
Happy birthday to Johnny, who’s twenty nine (again) today. I miss Johnny, since he moved to millionnaire’s row in Macclesfield and got his own domain he hasn’t had the time for we little people. He doesn’t phone, he doesn’t write, he doesn’t even post any more (sniff).
Right now, if he’s managed to get the itinerary sorted, he should be heading for the Eastern Seaboard, due to arrive at about the same time as Isabel.
Dead Man's Chest
Ahar! and Avast! and……. stuff. And a bottle of Rum.
The 19th of September is international speak like a pirate day. Some of the recommendations in How To Speak Like A Pirate sound a bit Yoda-ish to me, but mayhap the wee, wrinkly geen man be a pirate hisself.
If ye not be addin’ “yarr” to most o’yer sentences, then ye be no more pirate than a scurvy KaZaA landlubber usin’ dialup.
Thanks to Griff
Pedestrianisation
One of Manchester’s busiest city centre streets is going to be closed to cars on Sunday. I remember back in my Critical Mass days when we were supposed to be holding up the traffic, by the time we reached Deansgate the traffic would be holding us up.
Monkey see, monkey doo
In a review of Underworld at AICN one of the three reviewers hit on an important point about movies today
…it saddens me as I slowly realize that it is not the writers, directors, actors, producers or even the studio heads that keep Hollywood afloat these days. It is the brilliant trailer editors that can make any festering pile of monkey doo look like a steak sandwich slathered in Bleu Cheese for 2 minutes and 31 seconds. “Damn, that looks tasty,” you think to yourself. And no matter how many people you meet who have tasted it that decry “BUT IT’S A FESTERING PILE OF MONKEY DOO UNDER CLEVER LIGHTING!” you still think “Yeah, whatever. Maybe I’ll like monkey doo.”
Walk! Ye little buggers!
At long last the motorist appeasing Government says it’s going to do something about the school run. The most stupid of their ideas is to stagger school opening times. This would be so that those people too idiotic to save themselves time and money by getting out of their cars can carry on blocking traffic and making the roads dangerous for other people’s children.
In tenuously related news- eating too much is bad for you. (There is some good news, however. Chocolate chip cookies are 700% larger than they were 20 years ago.)
Look after the pennies….
I’ve signed up for BitPass as a Beta Tester. If it’s good enough for Scott McCloud (who’s spent many years investigating micropayments) it’s good enough for me. I’m going to be rescanning a few pictures and going through the backups for others, to create hi-res copies for printing or wallpaper and lower res ones for mobiles. And I have big plans for later drafts of Heavensent chapters. Hopefully I should have the first products up by Friday.
Please sir, can I have some Moore?
Michael Moore has new book called Dude, Where’s My Country? due out early next month. Expect Bush, oil and Enron baiting.
Fireball
As I look into the early history of jet powered flight, I’m finding some interesting creations. Right now I’m bidding on EBay for a model of a Ryan XFR-1 ‘Fireball’, which was a dual powered plane- prop at the front, jet at the back- commissioned by the US Navy.
More info, and other dual power US planes- Convair XP-81, Grumman XTB3F-1 “Guardian”, Curtiss XF-15 C-1.
This page has a comprehensive list of jets designed and built during the war.
Mentioning sheep, again.
this quiz was made by alanna
Why am I always a geek in online tests.
Oh, oh yeah. Right.
via Flat8
It's rude to point
Team Spinneyhead knows one of the people who turned up last week to flash mob and point lasers at David Blaine (who isn’t the Messiah, he’s just a very stupid man). A difference between American and English culture is shown in Blaine’s reaction-
Laser pens have been shone at him – which reportedly caused concern because he thought they may have been from rifle sights.
And some of the distractions have been even more inventive.
Coitus Uninterruptus
Is sex addiction real? Personally, I think I’m addicted to reading articles about sex addiction.
Feel the Depth
Sharp corporation in Japan is planning to release laptops with 3D displays.
via Geekpress
Porkopolis
Cincinnati is a city built on pigs. Or something like that. To celebrate its porcine heritage, the city keeps commissioning bacon related sculptures.
The internet finds work for idle mice
On my bored travels through the internet I have found a costumed wheel-clamp vigilante. He also has his own site where he makes it clear that he’s an even bigger freak than I first suspected.
State Terror
State sanctioned assassinations have been going on for millennia, but rarely has a countries deputy leader stood up and admitted to it before the fact. No matter how evil the suicide bombers and annoying the other sides lack of acquiescence, if you break a cease fire, or make idiot statements about killing Yasser Arafat then you’re just setting yourself up for more pain. As with Bush and the ‘Bring ’em on’ statement, Ehud Olmert can make his stupid claims knowing he isn’t the one who’ll really suffer the consequences.
Technorati tag: Israel