Tuesday, August 26, 2003
Okay, enough for today. I will try to make one last post tomorrow, but if not I wont be back until next Monday (late). Oh for a nice laptop and a wi-fi connection at my mums house......
# posted by
The BlogMonkey @ 4:46 PM
Also been having problems with Blogshares. Was very happy with myself last night when I made a deal that should have earned me $6 billion, but only $2 billion cash made it to my account. I was a little curious, but decided to leave it till this morning to see if it fixed itself. It didnt. Was going to report it, but first made 2 more sales whilst the selling price was good. This should have got me $4 billion but oh no - my cash dropped to $250 million!!! So I'm now worth about 1/26 of what i reckon I should be. And I'm not getting very far with the admins of the game who dont seem to see anythng odd..... # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 4:23 PM
Monday, August 25, 2003
Sorry for the lack of interesting links today - I'm at home and its so much slower that I dont really have the energy to go looking for them. Besides, I've had other things that needed doing.
Whilst drunk last night - and for reasons I can't even remember now - I ran a search for an old university friend of mine that I've not seen in years. She was a really nice person and I thought it would be nice to catch up. Anyway, I found what looked like a hopefull reference to someone of the same name but kinda ran into a dead end. Tried again this morning and still wasn't getting any further until I broadened my search slightly and managed to track down an email address!
Wasn't sure it was the same person but a lot of the clues seemed to add up - like the email address being an NHS one and her having done a fair bit of medical physics in her degree - so I took the chance and emailed. Whats the worst that could happen? Guess I'll have to wait and see now..... # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 3:27 PM
The basic plot was that in the future, America is not the great nation it once was. It's ruled over by 'Mr President' who has introduced the most popular sport of all time - a race from one side of the country to the other. The point of this race is not only to finish first, but to score points as well - and points are scored by running over anyone that you can find (old people are worth most)!
There are some great bits - I loved all the doctors and nurses lining up a load of old people in beds and wheelchairs in the middle of the road because its euthanasia day at the hospital - and then the driver running over all hospital staff watching from behind the hedge instead!! Also finding out that the cause of Americas downfall was the treacherous French who ".. crippled our once-great economy and wrecked our telephone system!!". Brilliant! # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 2:19 PM
Sunday, August 24, 2003
I've updated Ralph's page with some interesting facts and stuff. Hopefully Sparky will send me a few more pictures to put up sometime!? Think I'll add a permanant link over there on the right, just to keep the Geocities page indexed and up to date (this page is getting indexed every couple of days now).
# posted by
The BlogMonkey @ 4:30 PM
For most people having a break in Cornwall would seem like a fantastic idea. Not for me tho. Don't get me wrong, I love my family and love seeing them, but I'm used to my independance and it all starts to get stressfull after a few days. Add to that my lack of mates down there, no satelite TV to watch and worst off all no internet access! On the plus side my brother will be having his first wedding anniversary (with a big party which I get to be barman at), I'll get to go to the seaside and it will be nice to see my mum and nan.
Speaking of holidays, I'm trying to decide if I should go on a proper one. Its been a long time since I've been anywhere at all, and then it was just a weekend away in a cottage. I have a friend thats just gone out to work in Japan for a year and she's said that I'm welcome to go out and visit if I fancy. Thing is I've never actually been abroad before - well okay I went on a school trip to France about 15 years ago but I don't think that counts - so I'm in two minds.
People have been saying to me for ages that I should get away. Technically getting time off and the money involved is not an issue - my problem is I have a very short attention span. Always thought it was my biggest failing. Never wanted to go away on my own cos I knew that I'd probably lose interest in whatever I was doing very quickly (it doesn't happen when I'm with other people). Maybe now's a good time to put it to the test tho? I'm (unfortunately) not getting any younger so maybe I should turn over a new leaf and get out there and do stuff?! If you think I should go, then let me know! # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 4:20 PM
Friday, August 22, 2003
Yawn - I think I've been more lazy today than I usually am. Hard to believe I know. I'm also getting addicted to BlogShares. I'm spending ages sitting on the ideas market waiting for some fresh bargains to come up. Pays off tho as I started 2 weeks ago with $500 and now have $215,000,000. When I become a billionaire I shall give large handouts to all the poor newbies. I shall be known throughout the land of BlogShares as a kindhearted individual. All shall love me!
Sorry, getting carried away. Anyway, the pub and sweet, sweet beer will soon be calling me, so that's all for now. # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 2:49 PM
Thursday, August 21, 2003
Okay, I'm sure we are all familiar with Friends Reunited, well, along similar lines is Shags Re-acquainted. Not wanting to sound cruel but some of the pictures on that site make you wonder why the person would EVER want to get back in touch with that particular shag!?
# posted by
The BlogMonkey @ 1:46 PM
This page is worth a look tho. Syberpunk gives a glimpse into the strange world of the Japanese culture. For instance these Gameboy shoes are a little odd to say the least. But I do quite like the ear alarm shown on this page - genius idea!! # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 10:28 AM
Wednesday, August 20, 2003
Find out how good or evil your website is with the Gematriculator (this one is 43% evil in case you are wondering).
# posted by
The BlogMonkey @ 11:47 AM
On a very similar theme you have BananaSlug. This one lets you search for whatever you want, but adds a random word to the search. The idea is you might find some of the more obscure pages relating to what you are searching for, rather than just those that would be listed top in a Google search. You also get to choose what sort of random word it is - something from Shakespeare, a world city or just a word from the full dictionary. # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 11:31 AM
Tuesday, August 19, 2003
Some Words of Wisdom. So true...
# posted by
The BlogMonkey @ 1:11 PM
Then we have the plight of the snow leopard and of the coral reefs, plus an article about recycling. And these are just from the last few days.
Still, sometimes there are things to be more cheery about, such as the possible return of the Tasmanian tiger. Be nice if the good outweighed all the bad tho.... # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 10:51 AM
I'll let you figure out what its about. # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 9:59 AM
The September 11th PhotoBlog is one persons project to get people to photoblog their lives on that day - too see all the different lives, cultures and communities that are out there. Seems like an interesting idea (plus a link might get me a few hundred shares on BlogShares), so go have a look or better still link to him yourself. # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 8:41 AM
Monday, August 18, 2003
New link added to my blogs list, its the Friday Fishwrap. From that page (which I'm still looking thro) comes The Electric Big Bang Swing Machine. It may get a permanant link when I have a better chance to scour it and find out how often its updated. So much to do, so little time....
# posted by
The BlogMonkey @ 12:53 PM
Being serious, I think it is only a matter of time before someone does try this. All the debates about cloning that go on, thats the least of our worries. And there is no way to stop it, no matter what laws are passed someone somewhere will try it. The future could well be a scary place, but maybe more interesting in some ways too....? # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 11:15 AM
Update: Even Word documents could tell someone a lot about you. Admittedly I knew about the hidden info, but never really considered what it could mean. # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 10:27 AM
Actually I was thinking about hiring those sumo suits you can get for our next party! # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 9:54 AM
1) Try and organise my time (and hence time spent blogging) more effectively so that I can do my job better. Lack of motivation has seen my work suffering recently. At the same time however I should get of my arse and look for a new job!!!
2) Try and get Ralph the top result in a Google search for him. Give him a jump start into the IT age...
3) Get fit (again). Been slacking recently - stopped running, skipping odd swims - and I could tell when I went swimming this morning.
I think thats it for now..... # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 9:37 AM
Anyway, like I said it was a good weekend. On Friday I finally went round to see little Ralph Edward Conybeare Merrifield. You forget how small babies are, and he's also soooo chilled out. I got to hold him for a bit and when he was given to me he opened one eye slightly - squinted in my general direction as if to say "eh, do I know u? Ah never mind..." then went back to sleep. Its like me after about 5 pints.
On Saturday was my little uni reunion - was seven of us in the end. Did a little nostalgic tour of our old halls of residence then sat around in my back garden for a bbq and some catching up. Also learnt a couple of important things.
a) Women can become highly addicted to Bopit in a very short period of time.
b) NEVER play against a team of women when playing Pictionary, they are just too good. There seems to be some sort of weird feminine intuition that allows them to know exactly what someone else is drawing - no matter how crap the picture is. One person will draw a couple of lines and a squiggle and someone will instantly shout "The Titanic". Its scary, it really is. Maybe I'm just bitter cos us lads never managed to get off the starting square in either game we played....
Was nice to see everyone tho and pictures are already available here. # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 9:07 AM
Friday, August 15, 2003
While I remember, I did find a blog while mucking around on BlogShares last night that I want to link to. The page in question is Breakup Babe which in the words of the young lady herself is "The self-pitying yet witty rantings of a broken-hearted, boy-crazy, 30-something writer girl on the move (and on the prowl)."
# posted by
The BlogMonkey @ 10:16 AM
I can't believe its been that long actually. Think what they say about time going by faster as you get older is true! Damn I feel so old.
Anyway, I have a bath that is in desperate need of a good cleaning to go and attend to - followed by a huge pile of dirty dishes. What fun! # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 10:13 AM
Thursday, August 14, 2003
Okay, being very bored I decided to work out exactly how much my sections total lack of productivity is costing the university each year. Based on a generous figure of the four of us doing 9 hours of actual work in total a day (its probably less and closer to 7) you find that based on our average hourly wage, the uni are losing about £36,000 a year on us!!!
I'd like to point this out to the big bosses sometime, I really would. # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 2:55 PM
Rant over - feel a bit better now. Now on with looking for a new job! # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 9:50 AM
And just for completions sake, a tool and instructions for removing the virus is here and the MS security patch is here. # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 9:07 AM
Wednesday, August 13, 2003
Okay, before I forget I must just say congratulations to my good friends Mark and Lee who - on Monday 11th August at 9.27pm - had a baby boy. Little Ralph and mum are both doing well. Hopefully I shall go round to see them all soon (give 'em a few days to settle in first tho).
Just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.....
Update: Mark did email some pictures round, but some people may have only received one of them. So for the rest of you - and anyone else that just fancies looking at a little baby - all four are available on this page. # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 3:25 PM
Not sure my workmates will be impressed if I start taking my t-shirt of and wrapping it around my head tho.... # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 1:51 PM
The second that I 'may' put on is Mettakappa. This is a blog by Gino Tocchetti that focuses on weblogs themselves in what he term a 'knowledge ecosystem'. Its split into quite a few sections that deal with different aspects of blogs. I've not looked at it all too deeply and think it may be a little heavy for the average blogger who just wants amusing links or life comentary - plus he keeps switching to Italian every now and again - but the serious blogger may find it useful so I'm going to keep my eye on it for a while....
All this has started to make me think about my own blog. To start it really was just a dumping ground for links and a place where my mates could keep up with what was going on in my life (not that there is much) and as such I didn't want it to be well known. Now tho there are a few sites that are linking to me and I guess its nice to feel that my efforts are being seen by more than the couple of regular readers I know I have and the dozen or so that probably only check back once a week or less. Still, don't want to become too popular - not sure I could take the pressure!!
# posted by
The BlogMonkey @ 9:21 AM
Tuesday, August 12, 2003
Ever fancied trying something different? Bored of the same old food and drinks and want to try someting a little more exciting. Well, why not try a tasty MeatShake! As the MeatShake franchise says - "Taste the Secret"
Make mine a Pork Shake please with a portion of Mighty Meaty Freedom Fries on the side! # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 10:53 AM
7. I will coordinate the state’s unemployment and jury systems, so that anyone who applies for unemployment will instantly be called for jury duty. This will save California state and local governments millions of dollars, because we won’t have to pay for jury duty. It will also relieve those with jobs from the stress of serving on lengthy juries.
But then again maybe some of the ideas are not so good....
4. If I’m elected Governor, I will wire the Governor’s Mansion with live web cams in every room. We will create a pay site, and all money collected will go toward reducing the deficit. Californians will get to see their government in action - literally! (Also, we will have people from around the globe helping to pay off our debt, so it doesn’t all fall on the shoulders of Californians.)
Update: Dear God it gets worse. Wouldn't mind watching it tho.... # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 9:09 AM
Monday, August 11, 2003
Just found BlogShares whilst on my interweb travels (I really have done no work today). Its a virtual stock market based on blogs. Now its taken me a little while to even find any blogs suitable to invest in, but I think I've finally managed it. Even signed this page up on the site - so I should get 1000 free shares as it belongs to me. Now just have to wait and see how I do.
What? It keeps me occupied! # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 3:19 PM
Seems its getting a fair bit of publicity so you never know, the man may get his wish? Check out his website - My Date With Drew - for the trailer and links to some good articles about the story.
And the morale of the story is kiddies, take chances and follow your dreams.... # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 1:48 PM
Maybe I am beautifull....... # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 1:00 PM
This was the weekend that Summer Sundae was held at De Montfort Hall and I went along for a chilled out day on Saturday. I was accompanied by my chums Myles and Lisa, although most of the Conybeare clan was also present later in the day - including the 'as far as I know still pregnant' Lee (tho I did get a phonecall at 11:30pm last night that I couldn't be bothered to answer cos I was in bed, and the number was not available when I checked this morning, so I am wondering....?).
Anyway I'm getting side tracked. The weather on Saturday was very nice - in fact a little too nice as the sun was beating down for most of it. Luckily we got a nice spot in the shade and spent the day drinking beer, eating ice cream and watching the fairies. As for the bands, well, here is a brief rundown of what we saw....
Praha 7 were a little mixed up for me. Didnt seem to be able to make up thier mind what sort of music style they were, so ended up a jumbled mess of everything.
Rodrigo Y Gabriela are an accoustic guitar act - this was good cos the latin mood was perfect for chilling out in the sun too....
Laura Cantrell - Folky stuff. Was okay I guess.
Longview were not offensive but really not my taste
Chumbawamba only had a couple of songs I liked (I Get Knocked Down and Timebomb) and were maybe a little too political for me, but certainly entertaining to watch.
Alabama 3 were the reason I wanted to go in the first place. I wont bother trying to describe what sort of music it is - its the sort of thing you just have to listen too - but it seemed to go down well with the crowd and I really enjoyed it. Some bloke (in a skirt) even got on stage to propose to his girlfriend half way thro. Ahhhhhh...
Gotan Project were the last act to play and I wasn't sure I was going to like it. But, it was actually pretty good, and they came out for at least 3 encores I seem to remember. Was a good way to finish the day.
So all in all a good day and one I hope to repeat next year. Good job I missed the thunderstorms that happened on Sunday....
# posted by
The BlogMonkey @ 9:51 AM
Friday, August 08, 2003
After my post on Wednesday, it seems Smelly Water has now reached number 78 in a Google search for 'Thames Water'. Keep watching.....
# posted by
The BlogMonkey @ 2:16 PM
A flash mob is basically a random group of people that turn up at a random time and place to do random things because...., well just because it seems amusing for 100 people to turn up outside a library and stand on one leg for 5 minutes or something. For example this is a blog about a flash mob in Boston where people crowded into a card shop, and when asked by anyone why they were there, just told them they were looking for a card for a friend.
These days where most people have access to mobile phones and email etc. its getting easier to organise them very quickly. I can imagine that more and more poeple will start to turn up as the phenomenon gets more wide known and widespread. This guy has a blog that keeps track of the various mobs that are starting to happen around the world.
It reminded me of a story I read by a bloke called Larry Niven called Flash Crowd. In the story, teleporters had become the normal form of transport. It described what happened when a small disturbance at a shopping centre was shown on the news. More 'gawkers' and newspeople transported in to see what was happening, which drew in more people followed by looters taking advantage of the growing crowd. In the end so many people were coming in that no one could get out and a huge riot ended up taking place. Personally I thought the story wasn't that great as it didn't seem to have much of a point or end up going anywhere. Still, its easy to see some comparisions to flash mobs - except that we dont have teleporters of course! But text messaging and walking a short distance is not that much slower..... # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 8:49 AM
Thursday, August 07, 2003
According to this I'm 46% gay.....
# posted by
The BlogMonkey @ 12:25 PM
For instance, less well known is that Garry Coleman (of Diff'rent Strokes fame) and porn king Larry Flynt are also running. Then there's porn star Mary Carey (I looked to see if she had an official campaign site - but no luck) and a billboard model named Angelyne.
Course it seems likely that Arnie will win easily. Could this be his first step to becoming president of the US.....? # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 9:55 AM
Today is a special day tho as 7th August is the day that little Bob - the small person currently residing inside the lovely Ms C - is due to make his/her first appearance in the world. Course , if he/she is anything like his/her dad and is running on MMT (Merrifield Mean Time), then they are not likely to make an appearance for a little while yet......
# posted by
The BlogMonkey @ 8:46 AM
Wednesday, August 06, 2003
I'm sure we are all enjoying the sunny weather!! Just some things to think about tho. Firstly sont forget to wear sun cream. Also here are a few tips for staying healthy in sunny weather.
And wouldnt it be nice if we could all get the day off cos its sunny!? # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 9:36 AM
Currently I dont think the page has been indexed by any search engines, but I'm curious to see how high it can get in the results for a search for Thames Water if it gets enough linkage......
I'll keep you posted. # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 7:27 AM
Tuesday, August 05, 2003
I'm sorry, but this game just looks sooooo lame. Who would want to play Kin-ball if one of the official team colours is pink!?!?
# posted by
The BlogMonkey @ 10:34 AM
# posted by The BlogMonkey @ 10:10 AM
- Bladder pressure and frequency of urination
- Low backaches; shift in center of gravity; waddling
- Fatigue, irritability, and much, much more!
Hmmmm, tempting.... # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 7:11 AM
Monday, August 04, 2003
Okay, after my ickle doggy link earlier, I decided to have a little look around the Guiness World Record website and found some very bizarre stuff - which of course I shall share.
What about the longest ear hair, or maybe the woman with the worlds longest beard. A woman that can pop her eyeballs. The worlds hairiest family?
I could go on but that will do I think.... # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 12:58 PM
As a result I am feeling pretty tired, and very achey - the trip down by train was a nightmare, and the one back wasn't much better. Would you believe the train being 15 mins late into Leicester meant that I finally ended up arriving in Evesham over 2 hours late!! Wish I hadn't had to get up soooo early this morning too......
Anyway, on with work. # posted by The BlogMonkey @ 7:52 AM
Friday, August 01, 2003
Now I was out the other day with a friend of mine - playing pool (she's very good) - and she mentioned 'furries' to me. I kinda looked blank and she explained what they were. I was intrigued so decided to do a little research of my own today on the interweb. Tis most interesting and I thought I should share.....The first thing I noticed was how hazy the definition of a 'furry' was. The best site I have come across so far that does a good job of describing furries and the culture of furdom is this one. It describes the general definition of a furry as someone interested in animals - a pretty wide ranging definition. Nowdays tho its more commonly used to describe people that like anthropomorphic animals (ones with human traits) such as those in the Jungle Book and Wind in the Willows - although as far as I can tell the term is also applied to the characters themselves (Baloo is a furry for instance). The entire thing falls under the definition 'furry fandom' or 'furdom' for short.
The main bulk of the group centres around furry art (art depicting anthropomorhic animal characters), stories, comics and roleplaying. Many of these people will create an online persona relating to a particular animal type and some will carry this into real life.
For some people it is a religious thing - like the native American indians and thier beliefs about people and animal spirits. For others its more for fun! The practice of dressing up as an animal is known as 'fursuiting', although those that do so for more sexual reasons are known as furverts!
So there you go, a crash course into furdom. Of course there's much more when you dig deeper - such as the language of furries (yiffing is a term much used but one which I shall let you look up yourself). And I've not even mentioned plushophiles and thier plushies (stuffed animal toys) - again something you may want to investigate.
I was just amazed to find this whole area that I'd never even been aware of before - the interweb is truly a wonderfull place.
