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

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...

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

Your face, our balls

This is one where the video has to speak for itself...

There is more on this at faceball.org.

My only question now is who in the office do I most want to smack in the face with a beach ball?

Credit: Doug