Chocolate covered Sannse

I usually say this isn't the "what I had for breakfast" kind of blog. But for once, it's going to be the "what I did at the weekend" kind.

That's because the wonderful chocolate making workshop I went to, also inspired me to start uploading to Flickr. I consider this to be one of the necessary steps for true Internet Citizenship.

I plan to upload more photos to Flickr, but maybe first I should work on my reputation as a chocoholic... maybe by visiting one of several museums of chocolate? Or by buying the world's most expensive chocolate? Or how about a chocolate bath?

I think it's about time I went on a diet.

Boom de yada

Xkcd confused me today, I had no idea of the reference. But a quick link from a friend sent me to the source... this wonderful advert for The Discovery Channel:

As another friend said, "first meme I've actually been around to see explode". Which probably means we will soon be as fed up of "I love the whole world" as we are of "Rickrolling".

But still... I do love the whole world (Boom de yada, Boom de yada)

Credit: Splarka

Buyer beware

Craig's list has got to be one of the strangest places on the Internet. On the one hand, it's simply a mundane listings site for classified ads... and yet it's also a home for the truly weird.

Like an ad offering $350 to anyone prepared to be an arch nemisis. It seems you can buy anything now, even your enemies.

Credit: Bill

Pop!

It's one of those lazy days... which generally means it's time for cute animals! So here's a dog with the strange party trick of balloon-popping:

Credit: Bill

"Anything that happens, happens"

I'm linking to another big read today, but one that's well worth looking at. It's a transcript of a talk from 1998, given by Douglas Adams.

Half way though I had one of those real moments of enlightenment... it's wonderful to read something that gives such a clear sense of surprised understanding.

The talk is also full of great quotes. I think my favourite has to be: "Without a god, life is only a matter of opinion."

Credit: Splarka

Censorship

collegehumor.com is a bit less.... family friendly... than my usual links. But with the recent death of George Carlin, it seems appropriate.

I went to CollegeHumor to find the famous "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television". And I stayed to watch this very fun censor bar dance:

Ascii Sanncii

I've been looking at ascii art generators this evening. There's quite a few out there that will take an image and generate an image... I got the best results from ascii.ws - a nice interface too.

I tried photos of a rose and a Gatekeeper butterfly, but it seems that faces work best. So here's an image of me in ascii

###*####@@@@########################*####***####**
########@@@######@@######*##**############***#****
#######@@#####@@#@###@@########**####***#*********
######@@######@@@#@#@######***********************
######@###@@@@@@@@@@#@@@@##******#****************
#####@@#@@#@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@***********************
###@@@@@@@@####@@@@@@@@@@@@#**********************
@##@@@@#@#######@@@@@@@@@@@@***#******************
#@##@#@*#####*#*#@@#@@W@@@@@*****##******+********
###@@##**#@##**#*#W@#@W@@@@@#**+*#**********##**++
@##@@@++***@#*#*#**###@WWW@W+.,...,........:++:,.,
#@@@#@**++*##*********#@@@@@#:::..:::::::.,.,,.,,:
#@@@#@**++++**+*****#***@WW@@::+:::.:::::+:,.,.,,.
@@@@***++++++++***#@##@*#@W@#:+++:::::+:::.++,:.::
@@@@#+++++++****#@#***###@W@#:*.+::::+*+.,,...::.+
@#@@+++:++*****##*#@@#*#**@##***:::+++++.,:......+
@@@@+::######**###*@#*+***@##*+*+::*+*+...*+:.:+++
#@@#++#*******+*#*###*++++##**:**++***+++*++++*+.:
+@@#++*+*@@@*#++#**+***++++#+:++****:***+#+*+:+:.:
+@@@#++*#*##**:+****+++++++@++*****#++*+**+**++.::
:*@@*+*:*#*+*::++***+++******+*#*****+++*+**+*++::
**##+:::++*+++:++**#*******+***+*******+*+:*+**.::
*+++*:::::++*:+**####******+#**#***###*****##*++::
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+++++::++**#**#**+**@#*******#*#*****#*+*##*###***
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:+***+**+++*++++++++****#**@@W@@#******#**#*####**
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*******+**:*******###*******++*##@########*****##@
+*****+***.+*****************++*#@##########***###
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#**####*#####++***********+++++:+**#######****####
##*######*###**+++***+++*+++++::+#*#*###****###@##
##*###########++++++++++++++++:::#*##*****####@@##
##*###########*+++++++++++++:::::**#***#####@##@##

Movies for the ultra-busy

This is what I need! Movie-A-Minute. All the movies I need in a form I can get though in less than a minute each!

I've been meaning to watch "It's a Wonderful Life", but now I don't need to. All I needed was the ultra-condensed script.

Seeing the sound of cellos

I remember a discussion with a friend about a bottle of yellow bath foam she had just been given as a gift. As she passed it to me she said "It doesn't smell very yellow"... I smelt it and agreed, "no, it smells a lot more blue".

I still remember the look of utter amazement on another friend's face... blue smells?!

This was association rather than actual synaesthesia, which is a condition where senses are combined so that stimulation of one sense triggers a reaction in another. The idea of hearing smells, or tasting numbers is a fascinating one... so here's a glimpse of what the sound of a cello looks like


The image is by Marcia Smilack. She is an artist who uses her synaesthesia to create photographs of reflections... watching the moving water until she hears that the image is right.

It certainly seems to work, the images are beautiful. I think this one resonates because I can almost see the music myself.

Image © Marcia Smilack.
Used with permission.

The musical cat

I want to get a theramin, and a cat, just to try this...



To hear this strange instrument being played with a little more skill, try this performance by Thomas Grillo

Credit: Bill

Quiz: from the Latin "qui es"

I have another quiz to offer today: Etymologic... which claims to be the toughest etymology game on the web.

I got 6 out of 10, which I don't think was bad for a mostly-guess. My stratergy was to go for the least likely answer. Which seemed to work.

Incidentally, Wikipedia tells us that the etymology of etymology is: "from the Greek ἔτυμον (étymon, true meaning, from 'etymos' true) and λόγος (lógos, word)." Just in case that comes up in the quiz.

When is a meme not a meme?

According to this Timeline of Internet Memes the first Internet meme was back in 1996... and the most recent is this year's Rickrolling

I'm not really clear on when a meme is a meme, some of these seem to just be popular sites. The Wikipedia article on the subject is horribly dense, and it's hard to pick out exactly what the defining characteristics of a meme are.

Personally, I'd call these "fads". Although the concept of "meme" is connected to the concept of "gene", and I swear that the hamster dance has a life of its own...

Credit: Avatar

A challenge to the senses

I've just tried the BBC's "senses challenge". I didn't do too well, just 12 out of 20, but then a lot of the questions are ones that our senses are designed to fail.

Still, I always knew there was something very wrong with parmesan.

Image by Flickr user Joaoloureiro.
Licensed under Creative Commons by-nc-nd 2.0

Fool's penguins

I've long missed April Fool's day, so I won't even try to pretend this is real... but it's a wonderfully convincing piece of work.

There's also a short video on how the effect was achieved. Yet another reminder that what we see is not reality.

The future

I want the future too. I think it might be shiny.

Credit: Nef
Cartoon © hugh of gapingvoid.com

Intuition

The stuff I usually link to is quite... instant. Maybe it's the nature of the Internet to like quick snacks of interest, or maybe it says more about my own attention span.

But today I was shown an article on "intuitive design". A longer article than I usually link, but well worth reading.

Wikis have changed a lot since I started using them. When I first hit the edit button, I got an obvious box of text with very little code. It was easy to see what change I needed to make, and how to make it.

Wikis now are much prettier, but also contain much more complicated markup. I seriously wonder if I would be where I am now if that initial "knowledge gap" had been wider.

Credit: Brian

The digital toy shop

Zefrank.com is a site I've been meaning to explore more for a while. There is a wealth of interesting things to play with, from pretty toys to classic games to... well... the strange stuff.

Somehow it all reminds me of a wonderful old-fashioned toy shop in Cambridge I used to visit as a child. With each tray and shelf holding another shiny thing to explore.

The flower above was created using his flower maker, and I was rather pleased with it. I wanna look at the train sets next!

Kitten compensation

I'm very keen to keep up with this experiment of an (almost) daily blog... but life, and Wikia, can make that hard...

So, in compensation today, I give you.... a overly cute kitten!

Photo by Avatar. Licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0

Two legged dogs

A picture in the last issue of Fortean Times of a dog with no front legs intrigued me. The dog was said to have been born with just two legs, and to walk ably on its hind legs.

I wondered at first if the image had been manipulated, but it seems it's not the only able two legged dog out there. There's also Faith, who also lacks both front legs.

But Dominic the two legged greyhound seems even more impressive, because he has only one front and one back leg. And yet it doesn't seem to slow him down at all:

Bless...

Personal crowd

I talked last year about personal space and how the social rules for keeping your distance carry over into virtual worlds.

But this image of a Japanese wave pool, and the related YouTube video, graphically show the variations in social rules in different cultures. The idea of choosing to be in a pool with that many people is highly disturbing to my English notions of necessary personal space.

With the Internet being such a cosmopolitan place, I wonder how much these cultural variations in social rules affect us. It's not something I've noticed clearly, although I have certainly noticed that online the rule tends to be "tolerate difference, or go make a niche"

Image: © kilian-nakamura.com, used with permission.

Issues of trust

I read Fortean Times magazine cover to cover every month. But I hardly ever look for similar content online.

And I think this picture of a ghost in a hospital illustrates why. It's a stunning image - if it's genuine. But who can assume that with the quality of image manipulation out there.

Slooow down Bob

For an unusual product that I won't be trying, how about "Drank" - the "anti-energy drink"

This is the exact opposite of all those stimulating caffeine drinks out there. Instead it's designed to calm you with melatonin, valerian root and rose hips.

I know a lot of all-night IRCers who could probably do with this, but I think the last thing I need is a soporific

Credit: Splarka

Pointless website No.291

You've got to love the Internet. Especially the way it provides a place for everyone, no matter how small and obscure their passion.

The usual reference for this is Rule 34: "If it exists, there is porn of it." But I don't think you have to reach for the Barney-the-Dinosaur-and-cranberries porn to show the wonder of the InterWeb.

Case in point: catsinsinks.com

Yes... this is a site about cats. In sinks. Seemingly endless images of felines hogging the bathroom.

"If it exists, there is a website about it."

Image by Pschemp of Wikipedia. Licenced under the GFDL

I'll write this one tomorrow

Procrastination. That seems like a good topic for the day... in fact, I have to admit it would be a good topic for most days.

So what's out there of interest on the subject of "procrastination"? Well, trying out the latest version of Wikia Search, it gives Wikipedia as the top result. That seems fitting, I spent several years using Wikipedia as my favourite tool for procrastination.

Which leads nicely to the second result: StructuredProcrastination.com. This is the idea that the way to beat procrastination is to avoid tasks by... doing different tasks.

That almost makes sense. But I'm still not sure that I will be able to persuade myself that photoshoping Uma Thurman into a photo of Hitler and Mussolini is not the best way to avoid writing a report.

xkcd revisited

I think it's about time for another visit to xkcd. I was tempted to talk about the latest strip - reading it was one of those "exactly!" moments. My dreams are often so vivid and detailed, and yet dissipate so fast...

But a friend reminded me of this one:


And it seems I'm not the only one who thought "now I'd love to do that in real life".

Credit: Splarka
xkcd is licensed under a Creative Commons License