Categories
Author: pete
For a while, I’ve been thinking “wouldn’t it be cool if Google Reader could automatically generate a blogroll from my subscription list?” Obviously, I’d want to be able to choose whether each individual subscription appears on the list or not.
Well, it seems like Steve Lacey, a developer at Google, has also wanted this. And so he did it.
It’s currently only available as a JavaScript include, which goes against my usual stance of avoiding using JavaScript for core functionality, but I’m making an exception in this case. Because, for the first time in years (at least four, by my reckoning), I have a public blogroll on my site! And it requires very little additional maintenance on my part ((all I need to remember to do is add the label “blogroll” to new subscriptions that I wish to share)).
Categories
Odourometer
Where you have a choice of toilet cubicles to enter, it would be handy if there was a LED-based panel on each door to let you know what kind of fragrance exists within.
For example, a green panel would indicate that the air inside is neutral, breathable, and basically bearable. If any green panels are visible, then go for one of those.
A yellow panel would indicate that the previous occupant’s aura still exists within this room, and it’s a rather eggy aura.
Blue would be used to indicate that the air inside is somewhat chemical. This could either be due to the previous occupant’s liberal use of air freshener, or the cleaning lady’s liberal use of terrifyingly-coloured cleaning products.
If the panel is displaying a brown colour, this means that the system’s chemical analysis has determined that there is a very high probability that the bowl contains a floater.
A red panel indicates that using this room or cubicle will be a highly unpleasant experience. It is not recommended that you enter this room, unless your only alternatives are…
Certain death.
A couple of weeks back, I started to write a blog post, but I got distracted by something terribly important, and so it has been lounging in draft. It said:
> I have now been cycling to work for six weeks. And it’s awesome. I enjoy it, I feel fitter, I feel happier, it’s all good.
> But winter is coming, and I’m starting to think that it might be time to pack the bike away for a few months. It’s getting cold and dark, and wet and windy can’t be far behind. I’m not equipped for such conditions.
This evening, I discovered that dark and wet don’t go well together when you are wearing spectacles. Whereas the path is usually crisply illuminated by my pair of bike headlights, today the droplets of water on my glasses reduced everything to a blurry melange, and often I couldn’t tell where the edges of the path were.
To be honest, I’ve achieved my goal of reaching November. Anything else is a bonus. But the longer I can keep riding, the better, because there’s no denying that the regular exercise is doing me good.
Categories
Horrifying
Have you ever read the plot synopsis to a horror movie and thought to yourself “that sounds like possibly the most disturbing thing imaginable?”
And do you then find yourself wondering whether to watch the movie or not? On the one hand, a part of you wants to watch the movie, because that kind of terror can be quite exhilarating, in a way. You want to test yourself, not to see how much of a man you are, but to see how capable you are of understanding that it’s all make-believe. But then the rational part of your brain says “Hold on, once you’ve watched that film, you’re going to have a hard time thrashing the image out of your brain. Heck, it’s making you feel queasy just imagining it in your mind’s eye. Surely this is a no-brainer?”
What would you do?
*Hey, I did this last year too! Maybe it’s turning into a “thing”?!*
1: Blitz “to do” and “to buy” lists
Karen and I have a big “todo” list. It used to be a handwritten sheet of paper, pinned to the notice board, divided up into “things to do” and “things to buy”. Nowadays, it’s on a wiki, and it is basically divided up into “tasks for Karen” and “tasks for Pete”. The principle is the same.
Anyway, over the course of the year we’ve really kept on top of this list. Sure, lots of things have been added to it, but we’ve managed to keep it at roughly the same size, and there are very few items on there that have been on since the start of the year. I’m quite pleased with this.
2: Less computer time, more films
The most crucial point here was to spend less time surfing the Internet, pretending that absorbing all this data is good for me. Instead, I wanted to spend more time watching films, basking in the unashamed brainlessness of it all. I think I’ve succeeded, more or less. I’m sure that next year’s resolution will be something along the lines of “Less films, more blah”. Maybe computer games. If Rockstar released a “GTA San Andreas Stories” for the PS2 I’d be in heaven.
3: Quality, not quantity. Less reading and writing blogs
I’ve certainly managed to write less, and I feel like the quality is higher. However, I’m still reading more blogs than I need to. But it’s hard to stop myself, when there’s so many well-written sites out there.
4: Make more music
My actual resolution set a much more specific target, which I am not going to print here, for reasons of my own. Suffice to say, I have failed to meet this target in the most magnificent manner possible, despite having revised it downwards twice during the year. Some things just aren’t meant to be.
5: Stop being afraid of strangers
Who are you? Get away from me! Argh!
6: Keep writing with my pen held properly
Back story here. Towards the end of last year, I started making an effort to improve my grip. Basically, this resolution has been an unquestionable success. I now hold a pen like a normal human being. This is so fucking awesome.
7: Less nostalgia
Another success. I used to dwell on the past, thinking about all those good times that passed me by in the blink of an eye. But now I realise that one day, I’ll look back on today (or hereabouts) and wish that I hadn’t wasted so much time being nostalgic. There was the threat of a vicious cycle there, but I’ve managed to break it, and now I am able to appreciate every moment as it happens.
8: Be a leader, not a follower
Hahahahahah.
9: Stop worrying about other peoples’ blogs. Their spam comments, botched templates and missing alt-tags are their own problems
Tick.
10: When someone sends you a link saying “Click this, it’s really funny/cute” then don’t, because it’s just that sneezing panda yet again.
As mentioned here. Haven’t seen the sneezing panda since.
11: Get some exercise
12: Get a project
Had one, but it went away again. I’m not sure whether that counts as a success or not. I should have been more explicit in my statement of the resolution (ie, “Get, and keep, a project”).
13: Improve posture
*Straightens back.*
Uhm… yes.
14: Don’t be so crap at making new friends. Actually, just see #5
Marginally better. But I’m still very bad at this whole “small talk” thing. Maybe I should see this as a strength, rather than a weakness.
15: Learn a bit of Polish
When we were contemplating a short weekend away in Warsaw, this seemed like a very worthwhile resolution. But then we changed our plan and decided to go to Center Parcs instead, so the resolution seemed less important. Still, I’d like to learn some Polish one day (I’m a quarter Polish, by the way) so it’s still something that I’d like to do.
16: Don’t keep getting up from the table in the middle of meals
On Karen’s request (though I added it to the resolutions list voluntarily). I am getting better at this, but I’m not yet perfect.
17: Take time in conversation
By which I mean, don’t just blurt out any old nonsense. Stop, think, come up with an intelligent response. This doesn’t really sit well with #14, as small talk needs to be relatively rapid-fire, so I don’t think that I’ll be able to do both. If you take too much time coming up with a carefully-executed reply, you tend to find that your audience has walked away. Meh, their loss.
18: When on the phone at work, replace “Cheers” with “Goodbye” and “No problem” with “You’re Welcome”
A bit more formality is probably appropriate in this environment. This one was quite a recent addition to the list, so will probably be carried over to next year.
Categories
Toadstool
UPDATE: It’s a Amanita Muscaria
This is what my commute looks like these days.
I think I may have opened a can of worms. I recently decided to stop keeping every photo that I take. Previously, I would take 100 shots of the same subject, with the intention of keeping the best one, but then I’d keep all 100 anyway.
But now I seem to have gone to the other extreme. Upon uploading the contents of my camera to the computer, I will go through the photos of various subjects, decide that none of them are worth keeping, and nuke the whole lot. I can’t decide whether I’m doing the right thing or not.
Last month I upgraded from a point-and-shoot digital compact camera to a DSLR. I still use the old camera (Pentax Optio S30), but the new one is my main camera (Nikon D40). It’s made me realise how much more I have yet to learn about photography. Perhaps this is why I’ve been deleting so many photos lately – because my expectations of myself have soared, and my talent is now lagging behind.
Ultimately, I don’t think it matters whether I keep the photos or not. I’m taking lots of photos, I’m looking at them on a 19″ screen, I’m figuring out why they suck, and hopefully learning from that. Just think, back in the old days, people used to have to spend a fortune in camera film to get through this larval stage.
> Parents in England may be warned if their children are found to be overweight, under government proposals.
There used to be a (admittedly somewhat flawed) system in place for dealing with childhood obesity. It was called “peer pressure”. But that was deemed to be too cruel, so it was outlawed, and surprise surprise, kids started getting fatter. Now the government want to send letters back to the parents that say “YOUR CHILD IS OFFICIALLY A LARDARSE. FEED IT FEWER PIES.”
There is quite clearly no way that this could possibly have unintended consequences.