Airport Security

As any good student can tell you, if you have a spare 5 or 10 minutes, Shockwave.com can take them away from you. I've been waiting for Vicki to get off the phone so I was looking for some quick entertainment and came across Airport Security, a puzzle game in which you are given a list of prohibited items and it is your job to remove them from the passengers. For example, hats might be temporarily excluded, or they might not passengers with mouthwash on a flight...or, they may not let the passengers take snakes on a plane. While the game's pretty lacking, you've gotta love how understated the jokes are...just like Monkey Island...sigh

Such a cool idea!

A lifehacker article here on a system by GrandCentral which lets Americans register for a phone number and then have each call to that number redirect simultaneously to their other numbers. Even better, you can set groups and identities that mean that, say, if someone in your 'Friends' called, only your mobile rings. So cool! just imagine...in 10 years or so, Telstra may have implemented just a portion of this.

Vicki is also cool.
So is social badminton :)

Ultimate Bloggability

Here are far too many links that I've come across since last week's post:

First of all the story of Stanislav Petrov, a Soviet Lt. Col. who plausibly averted a worldwide nuclear disaster by keeping a cool head when his computers told him America was launching an all-out nuclear attack on the USSR.

From the heroic to the more sordid history of Britain, an archived sex survey of Britons taken in 1949 has just been opened and apparently that British stereotype we all know and love must have been a relatively new invention. Reuters

Next is something more handy than cool: the site PDFOnline lets anyone convert a bunch of the most common file types into PDFs for free!

Airline security has been a contentious subject lately but Israel's El Al has 'em all beat (USA Today); and apparently some airlines are going all out to get passengers to turn off their phones...including lying to them. Freakonomics

Brief summary of a humorous story: When a lady in Surrey changed the battery in her electronic car key fob she could no longer start her car, the AA guy who turned up found that the RFID chip had been eaten by the family dog, thus the solution is to now place the dog in the driver's seat before the lady can start her car.

According to a study in the U.K., the length of a woman's ring-finger is a fair judge of how good she could be at sport. Reuters

A link here to an article in the Register about a giant insect in Germany. It's pretty clearly a scrwed up shot from GoogleEarth. What's a bit cooler is the set of links to 'Related Stories' at the end of the page with all manner of satellite-spotted suprises.

And finally, for a bit of fun: this might just be the worst source of 'good' music I've ever seen.
And this is the best ad for the iPod Shuffle I've seen yet.

Memeacity

1. Holiday in Europe or Asia? Wherever it's Spring (or closest to).
2. How do you try to change a behavior pattern you don't like about yourself... whether it's chewing fingernails, overeating, smoking, or picking your nose? Haven't figured out that one yet, don't really have any beahaviour patterns I don't like.
3. Have you ever successfully completed a Sudoku puzzle? What a lame question...I guess it gives you a clue as to the average I.Q. of these meme addicts...oh wait.
4. What website do you visit the most often? Lately, Facebook; generally, Lifehacker.
5. What was your favorite thing about high school or college? Cadets ties with not having to study and still passing exams (damn uni).

Today

I've been writing this essay bit-by-bit for a couple of days now, but the world being what it is, the Internet just doesn't stop.

For a start, yet another remake is on the books. And it's another Mel Brooks original with him doing the new version. Do the numbers '86' & '99' remind you of anything? So Steve Carell is signed on (and quite frankly I think it's great that they waited until someone of his calibre came along). As for his better half, early reports have Eva Longoria of Desperate Housewives fame...but those are very early reports. So, an interactive bit: Who do you think should play 99? imdb

Completely unrelated (I wanted a picture to break this post); I had a lecture on Persian carpets today and they are truly beautiful. Example:

So International Talk Like A Pirate Day is over for 2006, but I've become a bit too attached to my piratey beard and thus, with only a slight modification (to create what I think is the most versatile facial hair ever), I have declared this thursday the 21st to be the inaugural International Talk Like A Gentleman Day. OK, it might need a little tweak, but it'll be fun while it lasts.

Late Mmadness

1. How do you eat an oreo cookie? Twist, separate, lick & munch
2. How long does it take you to eat lunch? I actually don't eat lunch too often
3. Caffeine or decaf? Neither, I can't stand coffee
4. Chicken or beef? Red meat all the way
5. Pen or pencil? Pen; I got my pen-licence and I'm damn well going to use it
6. Autumn or spring? Spring; it's Summer without the flies
7. Baseball or basketball? Watching: neither; playing: baseball
8. 'Survivor' or 'The Amazing Race?' Amazing Race; goddamn, how can so many Yanks be so ignorant?
9. Come up with one question I can ask our Monday Madness participants in the weeks to come. Beatles or Elvis?

YARRR!

[preach]Well me hearties, today be the day for salubrious celebration in the name of saving our fair planet. For those of ye who don't know, global warming is directly attributed to the decline in the number of pirates, so it is, on this day each year, that thousands around the world join together to spend but one day as a pirate. (evidence)

Of course, this may not be the orignial reason for such a celebration, but it only adds to what is, quite frankly, an already awesome excuse for drinking and other merriment.

I be feelin' ye may be needing the backstory as to why 'Pirates are so much cooler than ninjas' so here it be. 'Tis rather long-winded and even a bit boring at times, but here it be nonetheless.

Why did people become pirates?

Many people who became pirates did so to escape their menial jobs in London, the Royal Navies, or the Caribbean colonies; some were criminals already and decided it was all or nothing; and of course, some were escaping persecution. It appears some were also doing it for revenge. According to this (which admittedly could be a bit suss), significant numbers of pirates were Jews seeking to wreak vengeance on the Spanish Crown for its support of the Inquisition. Some were pretty good at it too apparently.

City of the dead

I had never honestly wondered about the number of cemeteries in New York, but there was an interesting footnote link here, titled The Cemetery Belt: Why does Queens have so many cemeteries?. It turns out, that with the passing of a state law in 1847 that allowed burial as a commercial enterprise. Thus, from the 1850s to the early 1900s, more than 35 000 bodies were transferred to Queens from churchyards around New York. The massive increase in immigration led to a lot more deaths...

By 1852 there were 50 burials a day in Calvary, half of them Irish poor under 7 years of age,

...and the skyrocketing costs (up to $10) caused all sorts of problems.

Interesting numbers: There are currently 29 cemeteries in Queens; four of which are Catholic, three Protestant & 14 Jewish.

Here's the original link. (Be careful of pop-ups)

Pirates' Eve

Fer any o' ye wanting to be spreading the word about tommorow, here's a poster fer ye. (I can't figure out how to put the PDF up here so email me for it).

Star Trek's Weakest Link

In a slight divergence from my growing Pirate-mania, I found an awesome site with a wmv of a Weakest Link episode of Star Trek stars. With Robert Picardo ('The Doctor'), Levar Burton (Lt. Cmdr. Geordi), John de Lancie (Q & Q2) & Armin Shimerman (Quark) it's already cool, but of course there's also William Shatner (Captain Kirk) and also Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher) (blog) who chose the EFF as his charity!

There's also Roxann Dawson (B'Elanna Torres) and Denise Crosby (Tasha Yar) but I find it hard to get excited about them. Thank god there weren't any of the actors from that abomination Enterprise, but surely they could have dragged up Leonard Nimoy, Nichell Nichols or George Takei. Ah well, it's good fun anyway.

Here's the orignal site and here's a direct link to the file (or give me a blank cd or USB key next time you see me) (it's a 32MB download).

Crazy biologists

I've just been watching the ABC and a sory about a marine biologist looking to study leopard seals. Yeah, we've all seen this before, except that this guy just jumped in the water, with a half-tonne, ferociously territorial seal right next to him. his only protection a wetsuit and a camera. Balls of steel!

More piratey goodness

Here is the National Geographic Society's take on Blackbeard for all the kiddies. One of the best pirate stories there is really. Especially the fight of how he came to his end.

The most imaginative music video ever

This is a band called OK Go with their music video for 'Here We Go Again'. It's showing on VideoHits, Rage etc at the moment. A (I guess) British band relasing their first album. Obviously a small budget but congrats are in order for a great use of that budget.

Pirates warm-up part II

On the offical Talk Like a Pirate Day website, there's a list of pirate pick-up lines including:

"Avast, me proud beauty! Wanna know why my Roger is so Jolly?"

"That’s the finest pirate booty I’ve ever laid eyes on."

"That’s some treasure chest you’ve got there."...and even

"Pardon me, but would ya mind if fired me cannon through your porthole?"

There's even lines for wenches, such as:

"So, tell me, why do they call ye, 'Cap'n Feathersword?'"

"That's quite a cutlass ye got thar, what ye need is a good scabbard!"

...and the most reliable line for a girl in any situation:

"You. Pants off. Now!"

Cool pic from Canberra

With all the essaies that I should be writing now, it just makes sense that I should be caught procrastinating. However, as always, there are awesome things on the Interweb.
This pic, taken from Telstra Tower was used as a Wikipedia 'Featured picture'

NASA uses spatulas in spacecraft repair

Reading an article on the repairs and upgrades to the International Space Station, News24 reported that the only screw up was when a nut, bolt and washer were lost when the veteran astronaut, Joe Tanner, fumbled them in his gloves...apparently it's happened before...many times...the last time, they lost a 35cm spatula. wtf? Just have to trust they know what they're doinghere

On an unrelated note, I found a wonderful video of Colbert as a pirate which is the start of a good warm-up to International Talk Like A Pirate Day.

Memeable Monday

1. How long have you been blogging? Two years since I popped my blogging cherry.
2. How many times have you taken a break from blogging? A couple, when the Internet is out of reach.
3. How long is the longest you've gone, so far, without posting on your blog? Maybe a fortnight.
4. How many fellow bloggers do you keep in touch with, through your blogs, on a regular basis? Four, on the left.
5. Have you ever met, in person, a blogger on your blogroll? Yes.
6. How often do you update/change the 'extra' stuff on your blog? Not too often, I've found my Internet niche and I like it.
7. Do you think you'll be blogging for years to come? Guess so, with the amount of weird stuff that happens around the world there's bound to be some worth filtering.

Meme catchup

Monday Meme from last week
1. Which holidays (if any) do you consider more as a day off from work, than anything else? Labour Day and, increasingly, Easter - it used to be a great family weekend but these days just a relax. Oh...and of course Canberra Day.
2. Which 3 holidays are most celebrated in your family? Australia Day & Xmas/Boxing Day
3. Do you have an organized filing system at home? Yes...virtually, I don't have much physical stuff that needs filing.
4. Do you clip coupons for groceries? If so, do you remember to use them? If not, why? No.
5. How many magazines do you subscribe to? None.
6. Do you play any computer games on a regular basis? If so, which is your favorite, and why? Civ3 all the way baby!
7. Have you watched any movies worth recommending, lately? V for Vendetta and the Matador (Pierce Brosnan , Gerg Kinnear & Hugo Weaving are all awesome!)

Music Meme
I had a bit of trouble seeing as I can't sort my tracks in this detail (mainly due to the fractured state of my filing system at the moment) So here's my effort.

Total number of tracks: 3582

Sort by song title:
-First Song: #1 Crush - Garbage
-Last Song: You've Made Me So Very Happy - Blood, Sweat & Tears

Sort by time:
-Shortest Song: 0:01 Wilhelm Scream Recording (Unknown original actor)
First what-I-think-is-a-complete-song: 0:11 Sneakalude - Basement Jaxx
-Longest Song: 53:49 700 Hobo Names - John Hodgman & Jonathan Coulton

Sort by album:
-First Song: I Don't Know What I Can Save You From - Kings Of Convenience (Album: Acoustic Chill)
-Last Song: We Are Alive - Paul Van Dyk (Album: Wild 12)

Top 10 Most Played Songs:
I have no idea how to do this - but seeing as I generally pick my next song, here are my top 10 most-common choices (though in no real order).
Keep It Coming - B.B. King & Heavy D
The Election Night Special - Monty Python
Jimi Thing - Dave Matthews
Touched - VAST
Steal My Kisses - Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals
Lola's Theme - Shapshifters
99 Red Balloons - Goldfinger
Summer Jam - The Underdog Project
Mistaken - Save Ferris
Gabriel - Lamb
Search ....
"sex", how many songs come up? 5
"love", how many songs come up? 151
"you", how many songs come up? 244
"death", how many songs come up? 8
"hate", how many songs come up? 3
"wish" how many songs come up? 8

So that's the catchup on the memetic goss


As for other stuff:
* What on Earth do people find entertaining with Australian Rules Football? The most boring sport in the world after curling and toe-wrestling (Yes, equestrian dressage is a better use of time)
* The Australian countryside continues to amaze me with it's beauty

* Oh, and Madeline - stop stealing Nat's catchphrases.

Not a great post, but it's something

I haven't found much interesting stuff lately, but the story that Macca's in the U.K. has had to yield to hedgehogs is kinda funny. Apparently hedgehogs were getting stuck in the tops of McFlurry containers 'unfortunately' littered around and starving to death. Thankfully however, after 5 years of "significant research and testing" (wtf? what kind of research?) MickeyD's has reduced the size of the hole. Unenthusiastic 'yay!'. Save those hedghogs! Reuters