With only a month left to go to Christmas, and christmas carols and decorations rampant in shopping centres, I thought it might be a good time to add a few Christmas themed Calvin and Hobbs comic strips. Despite the fact this is an Australian blog, analytics shows most our readers are actually in the US of A, and they actually might have snow for christmas (as opposed to sweltering heat waves). I also apoligise for the lack of updates, I’ve been really busy and I’m working on another web project that is taking up a lot of my time.
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This is a great little site. I for one have stumbled across some halarious toilet graffiti in my time, as people bored in a public urinal have decided to relieve some of their boredom through poetry. This site collects them all and makes them easy to read. Some of my favourites include:
Sticks and stones may break my bones,
but whips and chains excite me,
So… throw me down,
and tie me up and show me that you like me.
Don’t beam me up Scottie, I’m having a Sh
Mary had a little sheep
and with that sheep she went to sleep
But it turned out to be a ram
and Mary had a little lamb
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I love google news. It makes getting all the latest news really easy as it aggregates all the latest information together on one page. Google however, is very slyly tracking what news interests people. On the whole I see nothing wrong with it, however it is done in such a hidden manner.
When you go to google news, mouse over any of the links to a news article, and have a look at what the hyperlink appears as in your status bar…
Nothing wrong with that. It appears the article links directly to the news website. Herein lies the problem. The link however does no go to that location. Press your mouse button down on the link, but don’t release. You activate a section of mouse down javascript that causes the page to change the link. Normally this happens so fast when you click and release that you don’t notice.
The new URL effectively allows google to monitor what you are reading, it may help them personalise news, but in my opinion it’s done in a way to sneaky way.
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Crop circle investigator and expert Colin Andrews is auctioning off two decades of research materials, including more than 35,000 photos with negatives, 650 VHS tapes, Excel databases, more than 3,000 books and publications, and lots more crop circleana. Andrews is broke. Bidding on eBay starts at $250,000. From the auction listing:
Andrews states that after 2 decades of intensive investigation and having witnessed some powerful experiences himself: "I am sure this is one of the most profound phenomenon of our time and I share the view held by some of the worlds nature loving people, like the Hopi Indians, that "Mother Earth" is crying and is in serious difficulty. She requires massive and urgent assistance of all "Brothers" in all places. Universal energy interactions may be at work and the interface between two dimensions register spectacular patters of great meaning and such depth as man can yet imagine."
Be aware that this collection also contains documented evidence suggesting paranormal activity, high strangeness, or "fringe" activity. Among the items, you will find 20+ years of research projects and results, some never before disclosed. These cover a wide range of topics, including:
* Magnetometer Surveys
* Plasma Balls
* Brainwave experiments
*Altered mind states and the healing effects of crop circles on the human consciousness.
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AMSTERDAM, Netherlands – A sparrow knocked over 23,000 dominoes in the Netherlands, nearly ruining a world record attempt before it was shot to death Monday, the state news agency reported.The unfortunate bird flew through an open window at an exposition center in the northern city of Leeuwarden where employees of television company Endemol NV have worked for weeks setting up more than 4 million dominoes in an attempt to break the official Guinness World Record for falling dominoes on Friday night.
Only a system of 750 built-in gaps in the chain prevented the bird from knocking most or all of the dominoes over ahead of schedule, "Domino Day" organizers were quoted as saying by the NOS news agency. The bird was shot by an exterminator with an air rifle while cowering in a corner. The organizers are out to break their own record of 3,992,397 dominoes set last year with a new record of 4,321,000.
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You may have noticed some downtime over sandstorming in the past few days. I’ve been trying to migrate the site to use AJAX, and its a long and buggy process. AJAX (Asyncronous Javascript and XML) embodies what Web 2.0 is all about. Web 2.0 is all about ‘the web as a platform’. Essentially, its about turning the web into a platform that allows you to do things that previously required a program. AJAX allows for the updating of page data without refreshing, and for you to drag and drop pieces of a web page just like a windows desktop.
Web 2.0 is increasingly incorporating social bookmarking. I love digg. Digg is a website where anyone can submit news, which all go into a queue. From there users ‘digg’ the stories they like and the most ‘dugg’ stories make the homepage. The site is experiencing incredible site growth, yet is based on sich a simple idea, let the people have the content they want. Let people choose what they want. Go and check digg out. Another great site utilizing ajax is the google start page. You can drag and drop content, add live feeds, add weather and tons of other cool stuff.
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The term "Shotgun" refers to the front passenger seat of an automobile. "Calling Shotgun" is the act of claiming the position of Shotgun for one’s self. As this position is the most coveted of all positions when riding in a car.
As a owner of a car (especially at college), I have witnessed many arguments about the position of Shotgun. To my enjoyment I have discovered the “official” rules of shotgun and calling shotgun, complete with everything needed to handle any problems that can arise during the nomination for the position.
It is HIGHLY recommended that anyone who has people calling shotgun on a regular basis, print out the guide and keep it in the glovebox of their cars. (It is incredibly helpful for future reference. It also has the history of shotgun and some other amusing points about the rules involved.)
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We want to do a CameraMail article, just like this one. Hows it work and why do we need your help?
- We package up a disposable camera, and post it to your address
- The package asks all postage workers and anyone who comes across it to take a photo
- When you recieve the camera we ask that you get the photos developed and get them to us
- We post the experiment online
We don’t care where in the world you are, provided you aren’t in Brisbane, Australia. All its going to cost you is getting a disposable camera developed, and you’ll be given credit at the end product! Intersted? Email me here!
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Every week there is something that gets people online all over the world fired up. Last week… Jack Thompson… this week… Sony and Rootkits. Now for anyone whos been living under a rock for the past week, let me give you a run down. Sony has started including new software on their music cds. Now in the past this crappy add on software has had to be installed before you could listen to music, but sony is now taking it even further. The new software installs without you having any idea. There is no screen telling you a percentage remaining… or a screen asking where you would like to install it too… it simply silently installs itself on your computer. It stays there until you take the cd out of… wait… no it stays there for pretty much forever. Worse still, Sony say they don’t care. Even security experts are struggling to remove it. Lets take this one step further. Whenever you insert a sony CD into your computer you agree to their EULA (electronic user licence agreement)… these are the things you always click accept to whilst installing and just keep on going. Well you should read your sony one… because you are signing away the following rights:
1. If your house gets burgled, you have to delete all your music from your laptop when you get home. That’s because the EULA says that your rights to any copies terminate as soon as you no longer possess the original CD.
2. You can’t keep your music on any computers at work. The EULA only gives you the right to put copies on a "personal home computer system owned by you."
3. If you move out of the country, you have to delete all your music. The EULA specifically forbids "export" outside the country where you reside.
4. You must install any and all updates, or else lose the music on your computer. The EULA immediately terminates if you fail to install any update. No more holding out on those hobble-ware downgrades masquerading as updates.
5. Sony-BMG can install and use backdoors in the copy protection software or media player to "enforce their rights" against you, at any time, without notice. And Sony-BMG disclaims any liability if this "self help" crashes your computer, exposes you to security risks, or any other harm.
6. The EULA says Sony-BMG will never be liable to you for more than $5.00. That’s right, no matter what happens, you can’t even get back what you paid for the CD.
7. If you file for bankruptcy, you have to delete all the music on your computer. Seriously.
8. You have no right to transfer the music on your computer, even along with the original CD.
9. Forget about using the music as a soundtrack for your latest family photo slideshow, or mash-ups, or sampling. The EULA forbids changing, altering, or make derivative works from the music on your computer.
There is still one simple way to get your music from sony without any crap. There is in fact still one way to get your music without it installing spyware on your computer. I’m all for buying CDs, I’m buying almost one a week at the moment… but if you want your Sony music without the crap, your going to have to illegally download it.
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In 2001 Apple released a new product they called the iPod. They had promised to release something revolutionary, and instead they brought a new mp3 player to a overcrowded market. Its hard to imagine 4 years later that the iPod has brought Apple back into the mainstream, lifted their PC sales and now holds 75% of the mp3 player market. You would never ever believe it based on the reactions on the macrumours forum after the release of the first generation iPod:
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