glasnt's blog of nothing-interesting-ness

20% Time no more. Recession Suppresses Innovation?

2008-12-08T10:44:00.000+10:00

An article by Maximum PC says that Google has eliminated its 20% Rule in order to help cope during this recession. The 20% Rule is that for 20% of a Google employee's time, they can work on pet projects and the like. The 20% Rule has sparked such popular Google products such as Google Reader, which is thriving with its new look.

However, could this removal of play-time in Googleplex be the start of a downturn for the company? If an engineer has an idea that could be the new way that people, say, discuss and compare baking techniques on the internet, or some other functionality, they no longer have the chance to work on it as part of the Google-kingdom. I'd hazard a guess that there would be a more structured framework and toolset working on a product inside Google-ville than having to recreate the wheel at home and try and deliver a nice php project.

I'm hoping that this empire won't turn uninnovative just because of the branding of the current financial times as recessive, even though its been in this downturn since 2007.

Google Reader Revamp

2008-12-07T10:37:00.002+10:00

As I found my gmail account a bit blue and under the weather, which later turned out to be the new Gmail themes, I thought whether the other Google products would be getting the same makeover.

Turns out they have. Google Reader now has a very slick new hairstyle, with bevel-style hide-show regions, while still retaining the nice blue scheme I've grown to love. I'm surprised that there aren't any features that I can find to change this style, but only Gmail seems to have that sort of attention these days.

However, I'm wondering where the statistics have gone from the menu bar. Other than that and having to work with feed items that are slightly larger than the old style, I can get used to this new look. I guess I have to, unless I want to try and write a GreaseMonkey script out of nostalgia.

I'm hoping Calendar gets this make over soon. With Docs and Picasa now 'steel' instead of more of a bubble look, I'll hazard a guess that it will change in due time.

Tabs are for whimps

2008-12-04T15:54:00.002+10:00

Apparently. Youtube has ditched is old blue tabs for a nice grey navigation bar. Go go Web 2.0.4a.

edit: it also seems there is now a video-length overlay in the search and related videos preview images. Interesting, and informative.

Wide Load

2008-11-25T15:20:00.002+10:00

Oh dear. It looks as though youtube has left the nice 4:3 ratio behind in favour of having a standard resolution that is widescreen..

The standard embedding won't change, as normal embedding explicitly declares a 4:3 ratio.

Nerdgasm

2008-11-20T09:11:00.002+10:00

Now your iPhone can resemble slaughtered pig.

2008-11-18T08:07:00.002+10:00

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2008/11/bacon_iphone_case_is_most_savory_gadget_protector_yet-2.html

Some day I won't be lazy and just email things.

Where'd my shadow go?

2008-11-12T13:22:00.002+10:00

In my creepy trench coat

Blue denim shirt and hipster shades

Enough of me, lets cut to my shadow

And then I'll dance under this non-descript tunnel

I can see a blind girl dancing freely

Gotta take this to banquet hall

Karaoke all alone

Frank Sinatra's Microphone

Giant windows make this place look churchy

No one here to serve last call

Finally ménage a trois

Suspenders don't suit him at all.. she's dissy

Reflecting light from big puddles

I'm so shocked there aren't homeless people sleeping

You know I started this pop-collar trend

Banquet's over but bartender's dancing

Spin a bit jump split he's very talented

Don't I look like Pete from Pete and Pete?

I really like these ornate archs

I prefer my trench coat starched

Dancing like I'm Michael J Fox with Parkinson's

This guy is such a one man show

I should go church bang these hoes

I really think this bartender snorted some Prozac

Unnecessary Bar Exit

I got braces for this grin

I'm never seen so many spins

Need more shadow

Children's parents shouldn't be mad

I don't have candy or a van

I feel better that this blind girl has a blind boyfriend

Way too many spins Way too many spins

Chain link fence

Zoom the Camera in Zoom the Camera in

Spiderman

Where'd my shadow go? Where'd my shadow go?

Here it is!

Do you think I look do you think I look

Like Conan O'Brien?

These girls think that I wanna get it on

instead I sing this song so technically I just rickrolled them or something

I think this bartender need Ritalin

I swear I think he should be on 'Star Search"

I really hope the cops don't check out this alley

Trench coasts can get me 5 to 10

Oh my God Its Dolph Lundren

I think he was the Russian in "Rocky"

He refuses to get upstaged by the ninja bartender

Apparently he chose this time

To find a cure for her blind eyes

Once again I'm Michael J. Fox

In "Spin City"

Now the sound will get real low

This denotes the end of our show

I never got to bang those hoes

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=Kr2jlCyCJBI

Gmail Video Chat

2008-11-12T11:26:00.001+10:00

http://mail.google.com/videochat

Integrated Voice and Video chat, right in your browser.

PWOAR!

Letting go..

2008-11-04T18:26:00.001+10:00

Ever want to be able to say 'Hay! This is mine, I made it, do you likey?'

I do. I like my baby. I've worked on her for 2 years, gotten out all the kinks, made her all shiny and awesome, and now, I get cockblocked.

See, I made a system. A computer system. Its very nice. People need to be trained on it. Particularly the original client. But now, when other people in geographically distanced locations to my own, I'm not good enough to provide the training. It was going to be fun. A new town, a confidence test, an experience.. but noooo.. you're a 'developer'! Sure you've done all the training, development, support, deployment etc on it for 2 years, but you're not good enough for this.

Poofaces ;_;

R.I.P. Carl Backstrom

2008-10-28T16:25:00.001+10:00

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/oct/27/two-las-vegas-men-killed-sunday-rollover-accident/

Carl Backstrom, Oracle APEX guru, died early Sunday morning in a motor vechile accident.

:(

Is my Username Taken?

2008-10-27T09:06:00.001+10:00

http://www.usernamecheck.com/

Check it!

Youtube referencing

2008-10-25T20:07:00.001+10:00

Right, not sure how long that's been in there..

but if you post a comment such as (using http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=muP9eH2p2PI as an example)

haha love tha charlie tha unicorn at 2:57

The 2:57 turns into a link that jumps to that point in time in the video.

Niiiiiiice.

Gmail Says Hi

2008-10-24T10:01:00.002+10:00

Gmail smiles!

Introducing:

Rock Lobster!

Microsoft!

Bum Rape!

and the evil genius!

Moar awesome youtubeage

2008-10-11T09:13:00.002+10:00

via Monkey Reviews

How to distract a Telemarketer

Youtube Audio Preview

2008-10-09T08:16:00.001+10:00

I love this. This is what dreams are made of.

Sent to you by glasnt via Google Reader:

Youtube Audio Preview

via xkcd by xkcd on 8/10/08

Wow. It seems someone at YouTUBE took this comic seriously and decided to add an "Audio Preview" feature. Now you can hear your comments read aloud to you.

Of course, it's an optional button using speech synth rather than a mandatory dramatic reading, so it'll just be used for entertainment by people who haven't played with a speech synthesizer before:

But then, after a little more browsing around, I see this:

So maybe there's hope after all.

Things you can do from here:

Subscribe to xkcd using Google Reader
Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites

You know you're old when..

2008-10-07T13:28:00.001+10:00

You know you're old when your foot can no longer fit in a tissue box.

I'm totally normal

2008-09-26T10:20:00.001+10:00

In a dream last night...

There was an out of order lift, and a group of people went into it, and the doors shut, and it went up, but when it stopped it was 2 feet back from the ledge so you could get out, and there was a mantaray hanging from the roof and the team from Firefly were shooting at it. The guys in the lift were all *shock* and the lift went back down, with the lift voiceover thing saying "I told you the lift wasn't working. Ha ha ha".

See? I am normal.

Mobile Workstation

2008-09-22T16:12:00.001+10:00

http://www.dell.com/content/topics/topic.aspx/global/products/precn/topics/en/precision_concept_jumppage?c=us&l=en&s=gen

PWOAR

I think I'm reading that right.. 16GB of memory.. pretty much a server in a laptop. *drools*

Vector Magic

2008-09-18T12:56:00.001+10:00

Ever had a crappy jpeg image you want to fix up to its original shiny goodness?

http://vectormagic.com/

Fucking ace.

Are there any monsters in this story?

2008-09-12T14:19:00.001+10:00

Yes, but its ok, there is a firewall.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/default.aspx?icid=winvan

-_-

Hug A Developer Today

2008-09-12T11:39:00.001+10:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lqxORnQARw

We lead such a hard life :(

I'm sick and tired of these god damn treadmills under god damn planes

2008-09-10T13:58:00.001+10:00

http://blag.xkcd.com/2008/09/09/the-goddamn-airplane-on-the-goddamn-treadmill/

There. Sorted.

Coutndown to LHC

2008-09-10T11:38:00.001+10:00

10/09/08 7:06:05.4321

BOOM!

P-P-POWERBOOK

2008-09-10T11:37:00.001+10:00

Oldie, but a goodie.

http://www.zug.com/pranks/powerbook/

<3 Something Awful

Chrome

2008-09-02T09:02:00.002+10:00

http://blogoscoped.com/google-chrome/

Ooooh... shiny.. and cartoony.

I hope this isn't just a collection of the best of Opera, IE and Firefox into the g-Browser -_-

edit 3/09/08 - http://www.google.com/chrome

Yum! A few funny behaviours with some webpages, but its in beta, give them a break :D

L-O-L-O-L

2008-08-27T21:56:00.001+10:00

Oh I just can't wait to get home from school
So I can get online and talk with my boyfriend

Here I am online again
Stay up and wait for your IM
A cyber-date boy, here I am
I'm waiting just for you

E-cards, chats and mail direct (That's right)
Just a click and we'll connect (Oh yeah)
You're so funny, here we go! (Here we go!)
R-O-F-L-M-A-O

Less than three, you love me
Typing out my fantasy
Meet me here on IRC
L-O-L-O-L
Less than three, O-M-G
Love computer fantasy
Meet me here on IRC
L-O-L-O-L

Comic sans and Arial
Forward jokes; hysterical
Blinking .gifs that bounce and glow
Your web page is so cute

E-cards, chats and mail direct (That's right)
Just a click and we'll connect (Oh yeah)
You're so funny, here we go! (Here we go!)
R-O-F-L-M-A-O

Less than three, you love me
Typing out my fantasy
Meet me here on IRC
L-O-L-O-L
Less than three, O-M-G
Love computer fantasy
Meet me here on IRC
L-O-L-O-L

Oh I just can't wait to get home from school
So I can get online and talk with my boyfriend

Less than three, you love me
Typing out my fantasy
Meet me here on IRC
L-O-L-O-L
Less than three, O-M-G
Love computer fantasy
Meet me here on IRC
L-O-L-O-L

<3 BFM

The things you don't know.

2008-08-27T21:18:00.001+10:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmcKGcKW76M

I don't know...
- The Pirates of Dark Water
- The Critic
- Sam & Max - I think i've seen one ep, the theme music isn't ringing any bells though
- Something about a freelance social worker? wtf?
- Batman Beyond - woot, milking things for their worth :D -_-
- Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century.. again, milk.
- SMB cartoon? <_<
- Back to the Future Cartoon? :S
- Bill and TED?! FFS?!

That is, i'm turning this off *click*

Just Because I Can

2008-08-21T20:17:00.000+10:00

Google brings out another toy, IT departments stand still.

2008-08-05T13:12:00.001+10:00

Talk about gangrape.

Google Maps have released the Street View function for Australia this morning, collating data from months of camera-clad Astras hooning the streets in search of information. Now you can view a full 3D view of a lot of streets. I mean a lot. I'm talking they have a lot of rural towns covered, ffs. However, there are some areas that aren't, but a lot of the major cities are.

Check it out. Click on 'Street View' in your Google Map view today :D

Virmup

2008-07-24T20:16:00.001+10:00

Viral Muppets?

If you search youtube for this tag, you can find many a Muppet video from the last week. Its pretty awesome to see new muppets and BEAKER! YAY but what is it all about? Watch the tubes.

Floosmoozles

2008-07-21T18:03:00.003+10:00

I've never really been a cat person. But I recently met a cat that just stole my heart. Happycat is an awesome cat, but at 16 years old, he's maybe having his lick on this earth. The vet says he may have cancer, and if he does, he'll be put out of his misery soon.

Happycat we love you! ;_;

Darn you jam and your sugary goodness.

2008-07-18T07:06:00.001+10:00

I work in Australia.

Australia has a different time zone to the rest of the civilized world. Well, depending on what you class as civilized. Australia may or may not be good enough for your definition.

ANYwoo

Google Code Jam has just under 2 hours remaining. And I can't participate. And it sucks. Because the problems look totally solvable. :(

All because they made it over a 24 hour time period, but I totally missed it.

Yes, i could have reminded myself, but I didn't. I totally needed sleep last night to be up late tonight. And I totally saw this morning it was nearly already over.

Oh well, yet another year before Google discovers my coding prowess. *sigh*

BumpTop

2008-07-16T06:54:00.001+10:00

I recently received an invite to the beta version of Bumptop (bumptop.com)

Its not too shabby. :D

The day the tubes got blocked.

2008-07-15T12:32:00.001+10:00

Simultaneous failures with fibre cables and high order transmission card failures have caused all Optus and subsidiary ISPs to have networking failure from about 8am this morning til just minutes ago.

More information can be found here: http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1013997#r1; http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/07/15/2303837.htm

Lively life.

2008-07-09T09:18:00.001+10:00

Oh god, this looks hot.

A google-based 3d world, reminant of Second Life, but with the functionality of being able to build your own rooms. Like a 3D habbo, to use the term.

*downloads*

http://www.lively.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YbwfOucET8

How to break the internet.

2008-07-07T14:47:00.001+10:00

Take a popular internet media (e.g. xkcd)
Create an object within this environment refereincing an internet community (e.g. Wikipedia - 'Wood')
Fans of internet media try and recreate the reference in the net-culture (e.g. Wood in Popular Culture)
Fans of internet community and fans of internet media fight to the death over the item of recreation (e.g. Wood, Semiprotection).
..
Profit.

A compilation of youtubeination

2008-07-06T20:22:00.002+10:00

Star Wars Floppy Disk

Crazy Aboriginal Orders Fast Food

How can I drive in a car full of... radios?

Setting off a red light camera on foot

Powerset to be Assimulated?

2008-06-30T16:35:00.001+10:00

I've always liked Powerset. It encorporates search with AI semantics to deliver a context-specific result that its quite awesome.

However, it seems the borg may be buying out Powerset for $100 million.

This is annoying, because this software could have major implications in the field of search engines, where Google is currently the king. With MS's previous history of paying people to use live search, its interesting times ahead when the company who has just lost BIll Gates to retirements starts its aquiring spree again to try and get ahead

Oh would you look at that

2008-06-22T22:45:00.001+10:00

This blog has been going for 2 years and 2 days.

Some day, it may actually contain content of some merit.

Until then, I give you..

Danny
http://youtube.com/user/gradualreport?ob=1

Kayak across the Pacific Ocean

2008-06-05T19:35:00.002+10:00

I'm sure this was coded to be funny.

Remember the days when you miraculously were told to appear in one country after driving off a jetty in another?

Well, you can kayak from Washington to Sydney, apparently. Its only a few thousand kilometers..

Youtoooob?

2008-05-28T15:58:00.001+10:00

Anyone else notice that 'Adult Only' youtube videos have no age verification if they are embedded in a page?

Aerofallosov

2008-05-21T22:00:00.001+10:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haRZxPw0JYg

OCAU salutes Admiral for Multiple Sclerosis

2008-05-14T13:02:00.007+10:00

OCAU salutes Admiral for Multiple Sclerosis (Ok and maybe photos of his wife in a bikini)
Break the Cycle

Wednesday May 14 2008

WHEN Kristofer Dick and his newly wedded wife Cecilia Egan put down their names to support awareness and raise money for Multiple Sclerosis, they didn't anticipate the response they were going to receive.

What started as a promise to the forum members of Overclockers Australia for one honorable man to provide many with pictures of his wife running in a bikini has mutated into a fund raising Frankenstein. Kristofer (who uses the online handle of 'Admiral') was/is quoted in the thread as saying:

"If OCAU members can collectively donate $1000 to the 'team' that my wife and I have, she'll do the run in a bikini, as long as it's not raining or ridiculously cold."

With Kristofer being a regular contributor to the OCAU photography forum and keen amature photographer, members of the computer enthusiasts website are going to expect nothing short of supermodel quality snaps.

With funds slowly dribbling in, one forum regular decided to up the online stakes and throw down the gauntlet claiming:

"I'll donate $50 if you post a picture of you getting out of the pool, wearing a bikini.

I'll bump it up to $75 if you hold a sign saying 'Goose1981 (the online handle of the member) gives the best cuddles'."

This would be the catalyst to what would explode into a fund raising frenzy as Admiral invoked the Toxx Clause. The clause stipulates that since he said he would do [x] if you achieve [y], so long as [y] is achieved, he has to do [x] or he will be banned. Goose1981 in consideration donated a generous sum of $100 to the Multiple Sclerosis fund binding Admiral to bikini wearing, sign hoisting, watery grave.

Understandably, by this stage the thread had successfully raised its fair share of attention. So much attention in fact that another member who goes by the handle CHiMPY, decided that a personal donation of $500 should be enough to keep Admiral out of a bikini, pleading:

"I have donated in an effort to keep Adsy's clothes ON..

Nobody needs to see that. Trust me people."

With the original target of $1000 obliterated in nothing short of 24 hours, and the opportunity to continue raising money for a wonderful cause the collective group of online delinquents knew that this could be milked for all it was worth. One of the female members who goes by the online handle Ma Baker, expressed sympathy for Admirals wife having to do a 16km run in her bouncing beach best. Ma Baker felt it would only be fair that Admiral should stand by his lady and take the plunge together.

The stakes were raised again, with Admiral bellowing to the masses that should the target of $2000 be met:

"I'll do the run in Speedos, and both of us will paint some OCAU coloured racing stripes and logos on ourselves."

Since that time the donations have been rolling in, with the total at this stage at approximately $2555 within 48hours. With each dollar, new and ingenious methods of ultimate embarrassment have been suggested including:

* Auctioning off parts of skin for temporary advertising during the 16 km run. (Confirmed!)
* Pink speedos. (Confirmed!)
* Body paint and racing stripes. (Confirmed!)
* A Mankini.

Admiral was recently quoted:

"That's beyond anywhere near what I thought I could raise, I honestly didn't think that we'd get close to $1000 initially, this is just incredible. Everyone here deserves amazing praise, to get an online community donating so much towards such a good cause really says a lot about the calibre of the members here.

Time to secure those pink speedos..."

With the evil minds of embarrassment ticking over in the online community, only time will tell what dastardly acts of humiliation await, but at least Admiral and his wife can sleep easy knowing that it's all for a good cause!

You can help out the cause by donating by credit card or debit card here and check out all the shenanigans as they unfold here. Donations over $2 are tax deductible.
Multiple Sclerosis is a disease of the central nervous system, affecting over 18,000 young Australians, and many more world wide, please give generously.

Details of the run which will be held in Sydney and Melbourne on Sunday the June 1 can be found here.

- Break the Cycle

See a geek run around Sydney in pink speedos

2008-05-14T12:34:00.001+10:00

Ok, well, maybe not something you'd want to see, but here's the gist.

Admiral, a moderator of Overclockers Australia, originally posted a request for people to sponsor his hot wife to walk the 16km course of the Sydney MS Walk. Catch is, if he raised $1000, she'd do it in a bikini.

24 hours later, his donations have reached the $2000 mark. At this stage, Mr and Mrs Admiral will be completeing the funrun in swimgear, he in speedos (maybe pink), her in a bikini, with both of them covered in dark blue and orange, the OCAU colours.

This is where we need your help.

The next target is $3000. We need donations, and suggestions on how Admiral can humiliate himself further. This is all for a good cause, and there will be many many pictures of this event. The run is on June 1st, so there is only a few weeks to get your donations in.

http://sydney.mswalk.org.au/?Admiral <-- DONATE!~

Juicy Juicy Green Grass

2008-05-04T13:23:00.001+10:00

I don't know about anyone that actually reads this blog, but I loved Peter Combe as a child. And seeing as though I totally missed his tour last time, I want to go this time!

Peter Combe @ the Zoo

Google up his Myspace Profile for shows in your area.

May 10 - Fair Game Stop

2008-05-03T22:39:00.001+10:00

(Copypasta from brisanon.org )

In Anonymous' continuing efforts against the Cult of Scientology, Anonymous is holding its fourth global protest. Taking place on May 10th, it will be aimed at exposing the tactics used by the Cult of Scientology to silence its critics and media investigating the cult.

The Brisbane chapter of Anonymous will be marching through the streets of Brisbane in support of this message, and members of the media and the public are welcomed to join in with us.

Fair Game Stop will be a parody on the name 'Fair Game' and thus a 'Game' and 'Computer Game' styling will be prevalent.

When: 10:30am to 3pm May 10

Assembly Point: Post Office Square - Assembling at 10:30, speeches at 10:45 and marching at 11.

Marching to: Brisbane Square, along Elizabeth Street.

Marching back: 2:30pm to Post Office Square again, along Adelaide Street, with speeches etc.

Bring:

Masks
Flyers
Signs (No wooden sticks please)
Something game related (Games will be played on the day)
Food/water
A fun attitude

Re: ButtMachine

2008-05-03T19:53:00.001+10:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHlDfejCHkc

ButtMachine.

Butt butt butt machine.

That 1 Guy is currently touring as a supporting act for Karnivool around Australia.

That 1 Guy is awesome.

That is all.

Iron Man? Fuck Yeah!

2008-05-02T06:54:00.001+10:00

Yep Iron Man is awesome.

Seriously. I didn't like Transformers *that* much, but Iron Man was AWESOME

No spoilers here though. Tough :P

One hint though: there's stuff in the credits.

International Day Series

2008-04-28T21:09:00.001+10:00

I found this list of 'International Days' on Facebook. Not really official, but meh. I'm organising a nice dinner on the 24th.. I wonder who doesn't show :P

5/1/08: International Band T-Shirt Day - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=8831299265

5/2/08: International Air Instrument Day - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=24209380135

5/3/08: International Cinema Day - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=8621574589

5/4/08: International Rock Band/Guitar Hero Appreciation Day - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=27314715920

5/5/08: International Salsa Day - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=9922836902

5/6/08: International Poke Day - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=9987366199

5/7/08: International Fake British Accent Day - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=9182706876

5/8/08: International Mountain Dew Day - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=11414226875

5/9/08: International Be Sexually Inappropriate With Your Friends Day - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=22975092752

5/10/08: International Silly String Day - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=9485051381

5/11/08: International Condiment Day - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=24761635415

5/12/08: International Powerthirst Day - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=11098686909

5/13/08: International Smack An Ass Day - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=9096198157

5/14/08: International ...In Bed Day - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=9796155786

5/15/08: International Gum-Chewing Day - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=9304042235

5/16/08: International Sexual Act Day - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=11388380865

5/17/08: International Whipped Cream Day - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=11623756642

5/18/08: International Photograph Your Day Day - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=26780550182

5/19/08: International Sexican Day - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=9509139789

5/20/08: International Sexual Innuendo Day - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=11811831753

5/21/08: International Tickle Day - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=24009085102

5/22/08: International Gluten-Free Day - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=13978280711

5/23/08: International Bagel Day - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=11392029324

5/24/08: International Videogame Marathon Day - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=9816682827

5/25/08: International Vegetarian Day - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=9831577466

5/26/08: International Humorous T-Shirt Day - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=22514138864

5/27/08: International Zombie Day - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=11659019993

5/28/08: International Spontaneous Orgasm Day - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=9102689499

5/29/08: International Are You Nervous Day - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=9409152599

5/30/08: International Blame It On _____ Day - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=9640253841

5/31/08: International National Foods Day - http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=21934528240

Optimus Maximus Keyboard - Now Available on Think Geek

2008-04-24T08:51:00.002+10:00

.. for the tidy sum of US$1,589.99

And no shipping outside the states...

*twiddles thumbs until its cheaper and available in Aus*

http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/input/9836/

Facebook Chat!

2008-04-23T18:48:00.001+10:00

The bar bounces! It totally does! It is awesome.

Hehhe..

*bouncey bounce*

Blog of an ACM ICPC Codemonkey - Wrap Up

2008-04-11T10:07:00.001+10:00

Well, what a few days that was. We are on our way slowly back to the land of Vegemite and Kanga Bangers. However, some final wrapping up.

The finals was an awesome atmosphere. We arrive at our tables to be greeted by an animated version of John from IBM telling us to NOT TOUCH ANYTHING. The count down to the start of the contest begins, and its under way. It was really amazing watching all these guys from all over the world coding hard and fast. The time flew by so quickly. We got one problem out in around 180 minutes, with several others still trying to be completed. 2 minutes remaining, and we are so close to getting a problem out (Problem B). We ran a whole lot of console debugging stuff, trying to work out this little thing that's stopping our problem running correctly. Then they start counting down. We can't access the system, its frozen. (Go go unprioritised cpu cycles for gui in Fedora). So Ctrl Alt F1 - kill process. No.. lets stall on that too. The contest is finished, we have a computer doing some sort of setup in console. We broke it :(

Anywoo, we still got the one problem out, albeit an hour slower than NZ (we were working on another uncompleted problem first). So NZ are region champions, and we all had a lot of fun.

Overall winners were St. Petersburg University of IT, Mechanics and Optics, with the following regional winners:

Asia	Tsinghua University
Africa and the Middle East	University of Cape Town
Europe	St. Petersburg University of IT, Mechanics and Optics
Latin America	Universidad de Buenos Aires
North America	Massachusetts Institute of Technology
South Pacific	University of Auckland

Also, congrats to MIT for coming in a close 2nd.

Full results: http://icpc.baylor.edu/icpc/Finals/v2/default.asp?page=results

The final celebrations were fun, with the Raspini Brothers jugglers and a hypnotist entertaining the crowd. The hypno guy was weird, he was making the people on stage do silly things, but I don't need any encouragement to be silly.. so it didn't work on me, and I got kicked off the stage early :( Meh

A big shoutout to the teams from U of Florida, U of Illinois and U of Auckland: you guys are awesome!

I would totally like to go again next year, but unless I help out as an assistant coach, it won't happen. I graduated last year :) So well done everyone and I hope to hear good things from this years regionals and next years world finals :)

Blog of an ACM ICPC Codemonkey - Contest Day 4 - The World Finals

2008-04-10T05:47:00.001+10:00

Results are currently unofficial, but St Petersburg has taken out first place, and Auckland U has taken out the South Pacific regional title on time.

Oh god oh god!

2008-04-09T22:04:00.001+10:00

Contest starts in 2 hours.

Oh god oh god!

Blog of an ACM ICPC Codemonkey - Contest Day 3 - Opening Ceremony, Practice and Hot Springs

2008-04-09T09:56:00.002+10:00

Opening Ceremony: Overall Gist
Work in Canada. You guys are awesome. Help the Canadian economy. Work in Alberta. Work for IBM.

Practice Sessions: Overall Gist
Lets try and submit a wrong answer. Then fix the code and submit the correct answer. This will give you a better understanding of the system. Only submit a solution to problem X based on your team number.
Result: Uni's submitting answers to every question. Clarifications flying around, with no real answers. And HTML markup in Java (I'm still trying to work that one out)

Hot Springs: mmmm...

(Yes, my post today is very in depth. The final is tomorrow, and I need sleepage. I shall expand if I feel like it)

update: go go the all girl rockband team "(.Y.) \m/ \m/"
Yes, that was our name. :P

Contact has been made.

2008-04-08T14:30:00.001+10:00

There are two teams in the South Pacific region - the Australians and the New Zealanders. Who ever wins out of the two teams win the region and a pretty plaque.

And I'm setting next to two of the NZ team members in the 'cybercafe'.

It smells of mutton.

Blog of an ACM ICPC Codemonkey - Contest Day 2 - IBM TechTrek + Activity

2008-04-08T11:55:00.001+10:00

We had a 2.5 hour presentation from some of the best minds in the IBM business. There was a representative form Extreme Blue and other such projects. Then, the real fun (not that listening to business talks isn't fun). Columbian Icefields. It was really really pretty, but really really cold. I ended up trying to swim in the snow up to the glacier, but failed. There is video. I will not be releasing this to the public :P

But yeah, seeing the rockies and standing on a glacier was cold but magical.

Tomorrow is the practice runs of the contest. We all need to be decked out in our team t-shirts and such. Then in the afternoon, a short activity - the Banff Hot Springs. Twill be interesting. Sub zero temperatures in togs. Mentos Ice anyone? >_>

Blog of an ACM ICPC Codemonkey - Contest Day 1 - Post-registration

2008-04-07T13:18:00.001+10:00

Who would have thought a group of geeks would be antisocial?

Well, they weren't :P

Registration was fun, as in "Lets all line up and try not to bunch up so we can get papers and stuff organised, but fail". Meh, but we are all sorted now. We get to took forward to a trip to the ice fields tomorrow (reminder: rug up warm). Speaking of warm, we each scored an IBM jacket/beanie/scarf/mitten set. And a stuffed animal. Pic attached is my beaver.

Blog of an ACM ICPC Codemonkey - Contest Day 1 - Preregistration

2008-04-07T09:34:00.001+10:00

We checked into the hotel (Fairmont Banff Springs) today. Its nice and castley, and it has all the amenities. Since we don't need to do anything until 6:30 (an hour ish from now) we walked back down to the town and had a scout around. McDonalds in Canada is the same as in Australia - tasteless. Although the waste recepticals are automated and say 'Thank you' when you put your rubbish in them. And the post-mix machine has iced tea in it. And the salt packets contain sugar (dextrose). In our adventures we found a Dollar shop, and a radio shack. I also found JOLT cola at the Safeway (Woolworths). Its an energy drink that is 695ml of caffeinated goodness. 140mgs per serve apparently. Tastes good too. I've heard that is an awesome drink, and its true. We haven't found any caffeinated Mountain Dew though. They only sell the caffeine-free variety here, like in Australia. The Americans will just have to keep it to themselves :P

This post's picture is an image of the jolt I purchased, taken from the bridge over the river in Banff.

Blog of an ACM ICPC Codemonkey - Day 3? Meh... Day -1 Contest

2008-04-06T13:11:00.001+10:00

Its the day before registration at the ACM ICPC Finals. We are in Banff. It was snowing and stuff still. Very very cold. I bought a beanie :)

Today's picture is a end of aisle display at Safeway in Banff. It was filled with Maple Syrup products. However, what's even more awesome is the french translation on the products - "Sirop d'erable" (Syrup Terrible? Encreable!)

brb, snowangels.

2008-04-06T01:42:00.001+10:00

kthx.

Blog of an ACM ICPC Codemonkey - Day 2.. sorta

2008-04-05T12:30:00.001+10:00

Day 2 - Techncially

We arrived in LA ok, found our way over to our bags, through immigration, customs etc, run over the carparks to Terminal 2, only to be told by Air Canada we had missed our connecting flight. Again. This is not 45 minutes before the thing has to depart. Also, we are told that the seats were not booked on the flight from LAX to YYC (Calgary). Apparently e-bookings that Qantas do take 24 hours. Tosh. Anywoo, we are told to run to the gate quick sticks. Fine. Run to the boarding pass checking point. Wait. Run to security. Wait. Take off shoes, wait for trays etc. Get through checkpoint. Run to gate. See the gate isn't even started boarding yet. -_-

So yeah, we are totally in Calgary now, ready for sleep and our bus to Banff tomorrow. Happy times.

Blog of an ACM ICPC Codemonkey - Day 1

2008-04-05T10:29:00.001+10:00

Day 1 – The day that occurred twice. Friday April 4^th.

Yay for planes. I'm on a Qantas flight at the time of writing this, on my way to Los Angeles. Yeah.. I know what you're thinking. "Weren't you supposed to be going to Canada? You know, where this thingy is supposed to be?" Yeah well, tell Qantas that. We got up at 3 to meet a cab at the university at 4, to drive to the airport to be there for a 6:30am flight to Sydney. Our bags were checked in, there were hugs and kisses, and we said we'd see you save and sound in Calgary. That all went well, but, we go to gate 24 at around 5-ish and wait for our flight. 6am rolls around, and there's an announcement. "Attention passengers – the Qantas 6:30am flight to Sydney is now departing from gate number 21." Right, lets just walk up the terminal a bit. 10 minutes later we cross the terminal into another wing to Gate 21. Boarding is shown to be in 5 minutes. This is at 6:10. 6:30 comes around.. boarding is now at 6:40. 10 minutes later.. still 10 minutes til departure. Announcement "We are just waiting on the catering company, we apologise for the delay". Yay! We are going to be in Sydney late because of cornflakes. Wheeeee.

Anyway, we finally board at 7:20, and get in the air soon after. Our connecting flight at Sydney was to depart at 11am. We arrived at the airport just before 10, then had to wait to get from the domestic terminal to the international. Fun. Buses. We find our checkin point only to be told "Hi! Yeah.. you've missed the flight". The time is now 10:20 ish. Yay. "So when's the next flight to Vancouver?" "Oh, same time tomorrow.". Oh happy happy joy joy. Let's mosey on down to the Qantas service centre to sort this out. A few other people have missed the flight to Vancouver as well. They are offered accommodation in Sydney overnight, and a seat on the Saturday morning plane. We however, are offered a flight to LAX, then a connection from LAX to Calgary. Great! No seriously, yay. No sarcasm here. We've missed the flight to Vancouver, but going via LAX with a 2 over change over time (the same time as we had in Sydney, but that didn't turn out too great now did it. [Yes, that *was* sarcasm]).

Overall this means we *should* get into Calgary mid-afternoon on Friday their time, which means we don't need to cancel any hotel bookings. We should still be right. So it's now 2am Eastern Seaboard time, we are running a bit ahead of schedule, but I can't sleep (like you can on planes. I could, if I wasn't excited and if it wasn't only like 8 or 9pm Brisbane time or something.) Anywoo, they are serving breakfast in a few hours, and then we land and have to race around immigration, customs, get our bags from international, then get over to domestic, find air Canada, check back in for our connection to Calgary, and board the new plane – in less than 2 hours. This is going to be interesting.

Oh and in case you were wondering, we were actually waiting on the catering company. After Qantas deemed the original aircraft to Sydney unfit for use. And the replacement was found unfit as well. Apparently something to do with the tyres? (But we all know, a plane doesn't really need tyre to take off :p ) So yeah. We nearly got overnights in Sydney (hi wankers!) but now we should be on schedule. Teehee, my laptop's the only ambient light at the moment, should switch it off. I wonder if they have any good comedy on the in flight entertainment... ooooohh. Chasers and summer heights high! Excellent.

Lipra Loof round up - Google

2008-04-01T10:34:00.002+10:00

http://www.google.com.au/intl/en/gday/index.html

Google Australia has introduced a new feature, enabling you to search
content on the internet before it is created.

From the FAQ: http://www.google.com.au/intl/en/gday/faq.html

Q: Wait a second. I live in the US. Does this mean I'm now 2 days
behind Australia?
A: Yes. Yes it does.

________________________

http://youtube.com
All the featured links on the homepage are.. rickrolls!

________________________

http://mail.google.com/mail/help/customtime/index.html
Following the timetravel trend, you can now email the past!

________________________
http://www.google.com/virgle/index.html
Oh, and Virgin and Google are combinding to form a company that will send people to go and colonise Mars. No big.

Phew.. false alarm

2008-03-31T13:17:00.001+10:00

I saw this above feed in Google Reader just before.

Initally I thought Ben Croshaw was discontinuing his Zero Punctuation
videos. But, I think (read:pray) its just the feed for these videos
that has been discontinued.

We'll have to wait til Thursday to see if another video goes up.

*makes offerings to the god of video gaming*

Brb, banned.

2008-03-31T06:57:00.001+10:00

The internet is serious business, kids.

Don't post rickrolls on OCAU.

It gets you a 7-day ban.

brb, banned.

xkcd forcasting

2008-03-28T13:59:00.001+10:00

Wednesday's comic will not render.

.. think about it.

Rick Astley, king of the 'Rickroll,' talks about his song's second coming

2008-03-26T18:56:00.001+10:00

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/webscout/2008/03/rick-astley-kin.html

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

What a day

2008-03-14T10:19:00.000+10:00

I have cake.
I have easter chocolate.
I have free coca-cola.
I am organising drunken board-game goodness for this evening.
My bosses are away.
There will be a pub lunch.

..

But the OCAU forums are down.

Life is ironic.

10,000 B.C. - From the people that brought you Epic Movie

2008-03-10T09:29:00.001+10:00

This movie is hysterical.

Neanderthal war movie + evolution theory + mammoths building the pyramids in the middle of the desert + walking from snowy mountains to jungle to desert to cario in a few days + the story of moses + a blind guy wearing glasses + noah's ark.

Oh wait.. was it supposed to be a action flick? I thought it was comedy >_>

No heavy petting

2008-02-28T13:25:00.001+10:00

Ball pits are awesome.

[xkcd Blag]

This is why Randall is the best human. I'm sorry, darling, you aren't the best of everything. There is microbe. He is the best. But you are the best human, so that's ok too.

*hands out 2nd place trophy*

I think I'm offically a geek.

2008-02-25T15:38:00.001+10:00

New xkcd out 35 minutes ago: http://xkcd.com/388/
xkcd forums on said comic: http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=18893
(duplicate threads-

http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=18894
and http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=18895 )

Randall's comment on the sheer volume of discussion of the comic:
http://blag.xkcd.com/2008/02/25/fruit-opinions/

Look at the OP of the thread.

Also: Watermelons and bananas were originally vertically aligned in
the hard column.

Can you translate this at all?

2008-02-20T18:50:00.001+10:00

Stablez posted:
Glasnt hasnt prepared yet for dis sectret thread battle.
Want a toy attractings bad boys Its all good in the hood.
OCAU is about what not to do or do.
did you mention a poo. Who's druling, time wasters, come see the thread dats waked watch yur back, its da attack. Could be a kid i say. dont tread in my shoes to be continued just listen to his blues lets call it a truce.
Youll turn out blue, the enemy srikes back iam reversing disn thread hijack
Rock city funky, tell the monkey there 103 keys on my keyboard dat you can throw at me anonomously jelously.
Eye behind the lcd, bring it on. ill spray you all wid my tom be'arch g up ear drum ocau bums dat take me as a fool you cant bring down my ocau mule.
Then interact dis. couldnt you give it a miss please put in disc and eat my limp weaknes.
Num lock check dont tell me glasnt about da ocau pecken order today is a good day peasnt glasnt hasnt avanced past my trance white rabbit carrot.
Learn not to disfunction. Automaticly returned replys pushing dis juncion.
Dont mention agg to bring it on. Droping bombs, this is top secret function
It aint bad youv been had, its a shame these replys are not that bad.
Iam digging for gold, can you handle the presure, hear me call on you.
I feed on yur attention. run wid me so far 450 hits yopull have to admit.
I hope this thread aint mention on the minds of the geed up advertiser fibz.
Yes iam scotty. Iam wiser pumping adrenalin going thru my heart you spoken.
I got a bigg apetite ill keep on token lets put back together your unbrocken twine kids dat are representen, can you hear da future of the smart mind.
Let me drop another nerve gas potion, let me get yur devotion yur slow.
Like an ocau scrap barran arrow target hoe. Overclockers mind this goti electrononomous mobo seeker psu overdraw bot flow soldier i told ya sold.
dats got g up wid big yups dat want me to shut up but draw da glocks oops i got on num lock can you take on this 500+ block stock LS9 diff stiffner.
Man turn off yur lan its da d.i.m.e.i.s.m plan dat wont come close to being banned i make things happen your just not gunn clappen wot happened
Supercharged lS9. Dare to enter my mind dont twind rewind youv been had take time off work smurf step to the keys, send you amusing battles to swap me curfew dat are the radical few dat cum close but not close an enough
Pass the joint. I put yur wrist out of joint next in afect bewarned iam not the man you follow.

is the ram oc'er leader.
Represent k.o boeeee. I KNOW THANKX 4 DA SHOW.
Low tide.

What you expect wall i will never know.
Da ocau forum is hecticly over loaded with consumers advise myo trick yur just lice be nice or exit so you should by scripts with hi tech info spice
My pc is a eater with tenticles dat will put you in a blase say what.
Nock nock, Little mouse run down the clock.
Weet di your been had wot i pinchy oc co- operate wid me weet di.
You wanna be non chooser lyric abuser wannbe 45nm cpu juice truce you loose

...huh?

Microbe is the best!

2008-02-18T14:05:00.001+10:00

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=2770945

He is a miracle of modern science!

Next raid

2008-02-11T14:15:00.001+10:00

http://youtube.com/watch?v=BclRd-E9dTM

Part 2. 15th March. Be there.

(Troll for locations, probably same as last time in your local raid)

Collection of Links of Raids

2008-02-10T22:57:00.001+10:00

Flicker - Brisanon Pics
Flicker - BrisFags08 Pics
Youtube - BrisRaid08 Video
Something Awful - Raid discussion + updates
Safran and father Bob - Trtiple J - Anon vs Scientology (12mb)

Enturbulation.org - Raid Media Thread
Enturbulation.org - Raid - Brisbane Australia Thread
Enturbulation.org - Headcount Thread (estimated)
Something Awful - Raid Media Thread

Collated History of Events Leading up to raid, and individual raid information

So, there was all these weird people in the city today..

2008-02-10T20:45:00.001+10:00

.. they had all these masks on and whatnot.

UPDATE: http://www.flickr.com/photos/23701709@N08
Ha, Raids.

Comical Irony

2008-02-04T15:37:00.001+10:00

I'm trying to do this, after having this happen, which lead to other reenactments of xkcd comics (that were drawn after the occurrences in my life).

How can I forget? These feelings keep resurfacing given certain stimulus around me, and its killing me inside.

Help.

CopyPasta

2008-01-29T22:00:00.001+10:00

Ok Ok.. I have to document this...

Selekta of OCAU posts a thread (here) about a silly question, or an attempt to be funny. It gets onto Reddit (here) and makes the front page (see attached).

Selekta goes off to 4chan in search of e-glory (from IRC convo), only to have this SA thread show up in the original OCAU thread.

Selekta is famous.

/selekta waits for Bash quote to be accepted.

Anonymous vs Scientology, 24012008 1800 - 7 hours later, in 100 words or less.

2008-01-25T15:52:00.001+10:00

Anon + chan members are DDoSing scientology.org and other sister sites, however, Scientology.org is using DDoS protection from Prolexic, which involves working out what is DDos and what is actual server hits by visitors, and something about an alternate IP. There's an IP that redirects to the actual site: scientology.org's IP directs to the actual site, so if you flood scientology.org, you get blocked. But, they've worked out the underlying IP for the site, and are now trying that. Also, if the Prolexic guys don't remove their defense by 8am our time tomorrow, anon will DDoS prolexic.

EDIT: 10th Feb. 11am-3pm. Brisbane Square. Expect us.

Heath Ledger Dead

2008-01-23T08:31:00.001+10:00

Heath Ledger has died of a suspected overdose at 3:30pm New York time. That is 6:30am Brisbane time. TMZ reported the story at 4:40pm (7:40am EST), it was submitted to Digg at 4:50pm (7:50am EST), and became popular at 5pm (8am EST). Its now 2 hours after the event happened. Already wikipedia is going mental (as it does), 2500+ people have dugg the TMZ story on digg, and news is spreading fast.

R.I.P. Heath. :(

Youtube to iPod

2008-01-15T09:07:00.001+10:00

*drool*

Its probably fake, but I've been wanting something like this for a long time. According to leaks that may or may not be true, iPods will be able to view downloaded YouTube videos for 'later offline viewing'. iPhones and iPod Touches are able to stream directly from YouTube already, but it isn't that hard to update the FLV player in these systems to play offline downloads from YouTube. This is something I knew was happening. I was going though my own collection of FLV downloads including some favorites of mine, and I am throughly looking forward to being able to view these on my iPod Nano on the train of a morning to make me happy :)

Truly Brilliant

2008-01-15T09:00:00.001+10:00

This blog has changed from being a Google-Fanboy blog to a xkcd-fanboy blog. But I don't care, Randall is awesome. He is a brillant man and I shall document his awesomeness all I want.

In his latest awesomeness, he has devised a way to attempt to make an IRC channel's signal-to-noise ratio (actual content vs 'lol omg rofl' crap) increase by various methods. He has documented here how he has made a IRC channel bot mute any one who says anything someone has already said, using previous IRC logs as a reference. That is, you cannot say commonly used sentences such as 'lol','wtf','all your base' etc. By using existing low signal-to-noise ratio logs as a basis for the filtering, and a exponentially increasing punishment system (muting for exponentially increments with a half-life decay over time), a IRC channel can have active intellectual conversation without the crap troll feces.

Its sheer brilliance. I wonder if we can get it implemented on #overclockers... hhmmm..

Died in a blogging accident

2008-01-13T00:03:00.001+10:00

+1 google hit.

I'll admit, I searched for this at 3:01pm yesterday afternoon (12 midnight New York time, when xkcd is released). The only hit was a myspace page, and its cache. The Google Trends screenshot is amazing for a webcomic to have so much reach on the (geek) community. Randall Munroe, you are fantastic. =]

[xkcd comic: Dangers]

< /3 Facebook - Part 2

2008-01-09T14:34:00.001+10:00

Well.. 13 hours had past when I realized that I sent that initial email through the lovely Gmail 'Send mail as:' function, which doesn't actually get delivered as being from the email address specified (the one I signed up on Facebook under), but my gmail one. So I sent off the email again from the correct email account.. and got a response not 15 minutes later.

Hi Katie,
 
Your account was disabled because you took repeated actions that could be construed as spam.  For instance, it is a violation 
of Facebook's Terms of Use to repeatedly send the same message or to make the same post.  Facebook prides itself in protecting  
users from spam, and we take this standard very seriously.
 
However, after reviewing your situation, we have reactivated your account, and you should now be able to log in. Please refrain 
from sending the same message or repeating the same post, as further violations of our Terms will result in  
your account being permanently disabled.  
 
Please also be aware that when a warning message appears on your home page, it will generally be displayed for 24 hours.  
It can be displayed for longer, however, if you continue to perform these actions.  We appreciate your cooperation going forward. 
 
Thanks for your understanding,
 
Rufus
User Operations
Facebook

Cheers Rufus, I can now have my fish back :)

Also, apologies to those who may have thought I deleted them from my friends list, as I had disappeared entirely from their midst. All friends will now find I have returned, unless I actually did delete you, in which case tough luck ^_^

< /3 Facebook

2008-01-08T20:50:00.001+10:00

I'm just to quick for their outdated system.

Twas trying to make a message out to all the people of similar names to me, but apparently I was messaging awful fast, and therefore must be spamming. I no longer exist in profile form, tagged in photos, as an officer in groups, as a *member* in groups, or as a friend in some cases.

I no longer exist.

So I contact the gods of the Facebook..

Hi Disabled@Facebook.

My account was disabled. I was using the 'Send Message' feature to contact other people sharing my name, in order to congregate into a group of people with the same name. However, according to my systems, I was messaging awful fast.

What rituals must I perform in order to regain my account and my aquarium fish?

Thanking you muchly.

<3

Commentary will follow this short break.

Inconsistencies

2008-01-07T10:35:00.001+10:00

I A M L E G E N D.
Scene with the movie line quoting.
As Smith leaves the room with the movie running, the sound being heard does not match the movie being played on the television screen.

Booyah! Inconsistency!

My Suggestion: if you see I A M L E G E N D, walk out after Samantha dies. The movie turns to poo after this point.

Digital Advertisements

2008-01-04T09:36:00.001+10:00

I've got to say, although the digital advertising boards you see in shopping centers - you know the ones, 1.5x0.5m wide screen portrait screens with animated ads being displayed - can get annoying, not to mention very very pixelated and low quality animations, Microsoft gets a good deal with them. Every single one I see breaking is running XP. It takes up to 2 minutes for the system to recover from a BSoD, and in that time M$ is getting free advertising space for its logo and brand on the loading screen. Sure its usually displayed in the wrong orientation, but its that subliminal advertising that can make or break - a lot - a company.

Closer

2007-12-27T14:30:00.001+10:00

Now that we have this on the market, this can come a little closer to existing :)

Youtube Bubble-search

2007-12-22T18:22:00.001+10:00

Try maximising the next YouTube video you watch, and click the funky new 3-bubble icon near 'play'. You get a nice interactive display of related videos. Nice.

xkcd + google -> pwar!

2007-12-21T10:04:00.001+10:00

Dear Mr Munroe.

Please come to ICPC World Finals '08 and speak there.

kthx. :)

Facebook Friends - Lists now available

2007-12-20T12:11:00.001+10:00

Now you can group your Facebook friends into lists. This makes it much easier to find that friend you are looking for :)

Umm. gah?

2007-12-19T12:37:00.000+10:00

"Oh hai! I can advertize on teh FaceBook, vote for me!"

Yes. I'll vote for you. Just so I can see you diaf. If i cbf'd. Go coyoa.

Facebook Status: Missing: 'is'

2007-12-14T05:31:00.001+10:00

Facebook has removed the 'is' from the Facebook status. This happened only a few hours ago, according to posts on the Remove the "is" from the Facebook status (Official Facebook Petition) .

I wonder if it will be removed again... just like the thumbup/cross on the homepage, where you can hide/show items of a certain type..

NSFW WTF (C)?

2007-12-11T13:00:00.001+10:00

Fark.com has filed to trademark the acronym NSFW (Not Safe For Work) [Link to US Trademark Office]

[ Wired Story]

I'm waiting to see 4Chan copyright pedobear.

Fuck you Randall Munroe

2007-12-10T16:59:00.001+10:00

Why are your comics always so right?

[Link 1] [Link 2] [Link 3]

Gmail Chat upgrade

2007-11-29T12:31:00.001+10:00

Gmail Chat can now handle group chat, as well as emoticons. New emoticons too! Go upgrades!

[From Gmail Blog]

Search Engine for Videos - MIT

2007-11-27T11:23:00.001+10:00

MIT have a Lecture Browser, which allows keyword searching for video and audio of lectures.

Apart from the mandatory RealPlayer format, it is a very ingenious application of speech recognition and searching services.

[From Technology Review]

Get Creative. Can Do. Rock On.

2007-11-26T10:57:00.001+10:00

Sorry, they told me too.

The Chasers Decides - Week 2 (28/11/2007)

2007-11-25T22:29:00.001+10:00

Watch out for the above satire on this weeks Chasers :)