Pointless but still - Mango.

Wil it ever be as popular as badgers tho...

Labels: Animation, Timewaste

They are watching you.....

And if you do go online, be carefull what you say.

Labels: Internet, Politics

Things are a bit strange for me at the moment. I have quite a lot of free time with this job and I'm used to chatting to people on email (it helps keep me sane). Hell, I used to spend as much time doing that as I did working (should I admit to that knowing people from work read this - oh well). Recently however I've had less and less people to chat with.

One of my best friends moved abroad a couple of years and - being the busy little social bee that she is - I don't hear much from her anymore. Which is ok as I know she has a lot on but I do miss her - even more so as the only couple of occasions I've had to sit down and chat with her since she left have had to be canceled due to her being ill.

After that I lost a couple more friends. "That was careless of you" I hear you joke but unfortunately this time it is true. Stupid things said and done.

Then just 6 weeks ago my best friend moved to America to live with her new husband. This was the woman I'd chat to virtually every day (something the 11,000 emails from her I have stored are a testament to). Now with an eight hour time difference and all the changes she is getting used to (as well as leaky pipes), I don't get many emails. Which isn't an accusations, just me feeling sorry for myself for having lost such a great email buddy.

Guess I need to find something else to do with all my free time instead. Something like this. Pointless but will keep me busy.

For a man singing a song called God hates fags, you'd have thought he'd have chosen a shirt some other colour than pink wouldn't you? Still, if you are worried that you might be led down the path of *gasp* homosexuality he has created a list of gay bands to avoid to help you.

Oh well, at least he doesn't think he's the second coming.....

I'm not entirely sure what to think about this to be honest. The message is a good one about the plight of refugees in Darfur but I'm not sure a game was the best medium to get that message across in. Although I played it for a while and learnt some stuff, so maybe it was...?

I know this is doing the rounds but it does seem the company does rank right up there on the stupidity scale.

Diebold voting machines not very secure.

Hot chicks with douchebags. Nuff said really.

If it's late and night and you've had a few drinkies, don't decide it's a good idea to start shopping on eBay or you could end up bidding on the same thing in two different auctions. Thank god someone outbid me on one of them....

Still worked out ok in the end and I now have the first four seasons (before it started going down hill in season 6) of Red Dwarf on DVD. Yay.

For the slightly depressed amongst you comes this wonderful new gadget, the electric bath duck.

"'ere mate, want to buy some Uranium?"

Around four or so years ago when my old boss died and my section was created out of the ashes (with me in charge), we were promised a lot of thing. Tools, privileges, new jobs to take on. They made it sound like a new start with great possibilites and - with the power of my new found responsibilites - I jumped in. My enthusiasm soon wore off however as it became apparent that things weren't quite as they were made out to be. The new jobs were dull, menial or repetative (transfering of 5 years worth of obituaries to a new system for instance) and the new privileges didn't appear. Excuses and promises of "Looking into it soon." were made but it became obvious the main issue was one of trust.

Fast forward a few years to a new director with 'The Vision'. The promises sounded very familiar but I sorta believed them this time. Seems once again I was wrong. The rights we applied for to be able to perform our job more quickly and efficiently were mostly rejected and again the issue seemed to be one of trust. The fact that we can do most of the stuff - albeit in a more convoluted way - and have been doing it for the last couple of years seems not to matter.

Don't get me wrong, I personally don't give a flying fox how this turns out in the end. If we get the rights, my job gets a little easier. If not, we carry on finding ways round it like now or simply palm everything off to those that can do it (and I get even less work to do). What bugs me is after being here for so many years, we are still not trusted.

Yay or nay, it matters not to me. But if we aren't trusted, I want them to at least be honest and tell me that straight out. Seems fair to me...

Maybe this would help fill my days at work with fun and excitement? For 15 minutes anyway...

Subliminal McDonalds ad. See, now you know why I don't have a telly!

(link via Bloggerheads)

Have I linked to this before? No matter, if you can't link to a genuine kangaroo scrotum bottle opener twice, what can you link to?

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it some old geezer ina really dodgy outfit?

No, it's Super Shamu.

And those kids. Evil I tells ya....

Is this the ultimate gadget for the man who grew up in the 80s? Maybe...

Update: How did I not notice the Soundwave mp3 player?

Being a Saturday night I thought maybe a beer or two was in order to go with my computer game playing so I popped out to one of the local shops. I'm packing the stuff into the bag when the man behind the checkout starts looking at me oddly.

"Can I ask you a question?" says he.

"Errr, ok?"

"How old are you?"

I almost got asked for ID for the first time in, well... ever actually! My youthfull good looks have not left me. Of course I would have been screwed if he did want some as I never have any on me.

In other news, the mice at work appear to be mocking us. Looking under the floor today I found that a lot of the poisoned food was gone but I don't think they've eaten it. Oh no, just dumped it somewhere to make room for the nests they've built in the trays instead. Cheeky buggers.

Need to loose a little weight after all that xmas pudding? Then have get a Wii.

Thieves steal 14 GPS devices thinking that they are mobile phones. Oddly enough, it doesn't take the police long to track them down....

Heh, love this. A great music recipe.

(link via Worcesterfari)

This ones is for the WoW players out there.

I was debating if this should be classed under 'Arty' but I think weird sums it up better.

Geostationary Banana Project.

Guy looking for donations to help get back at Microsoft. Question is, if he does raise enough what the hell is he going to do with the box when he gets it back....

Also, if you need a special cake for someones birthday/wedding/funeral, might be best to get the message done by a person rather than computer....

Spongerbob Squarepant in China.

I'm still trying to figure out why they sound French tho....

Ah, this is what you need more of in the news (anything to get away from this whole hyped up non-story)

Police rescued by sword weilding samurai.

I say I say I say, whats the last thing you want to find on your desk at 7am!

Mouse droppings!

No, I didn't find it very funny when I got into work this morning either although it was quite amusing when I showed the plastic cup containing the evidence to a workmate who says "What, they shat in your cup?". Very considerate mice.

On a different note, I ordered something for my mum yesterday from Kalulu. Last time I went there to buy something was just over a year ago which was why I was surprised to get this email last night.

"Good Evening BlogMonkey,

Good to see you again!

Just a quick email to let you know the Ivory Dalee cardstock and photo stickers you ordered for ******** went into the post to her this afternoon, second class. We have charged your card £13.70 which is made up of £14.95 you saw at checkout less £1.25 loyalty discount from your last order with us. Thank you very much for your latest order and we look forward to seeing you again soon at Kalulu.com."

That's real customer service and I felt they deserved a plug for that.

Joost - formerly known as the Venice Project - which comes from the makers of Skype is something I'll be watching very closely. A revolution in TV they reckon and one that might solve my TV licencing issues.

Basically they are given some TV programs by whichever companies wantto be part of this. These programs are archived on a selection of servers around the world. If people want to watch a program, they use the TV like interface provided by Joost and stream it to their computer. If the show becomes very popular and lots of people are watching it, P2P technology kicks in and you download parts of it from other people watching it, thus reducing the load on the server.

Of course this means I'd only be watching archived programs rather than live broadcasted content which according to the email I got back from the TV licencing people ("If you are using the Internet to browse archived programme services websites or podcasts, then a television licence is not required.") is fine....

Yay.

Fizzy Fruit - it's real fruit that's made fizzy. I'd love a fizzy banana.....

This story about wolf hunting in Idaho just has me in a bit of disbelief really. I don't have enough info to know if the number of wolves should be reduced or not but to cull them to the point of being an endangered animal seems utterly absurd....

Someone has been watching too much Robocop...

I struggle to see the art in some of these stunts - man uses his own fat to cook meatballs.

Tom Baker Says I especially recommend the Tom Bakaroke section for his rendition of a Buggles song....

So last year you may remember I put some effort into Valentines day. Flowers, presents, dinner - the whole nine yards. Maybe even ten. This of course has a downside, namely that I have a lot to live up to this year having set the standard so high. Knew I should have just gone for a nice kiss and a Terry's chocolate orange....

I'm nothing if not a man that can be imaginative and romantic when needs be and I think maybe I've managed to set the bar a notch higher this year with a little trip here next month. Not quite on the 14th as work made that impossible but close enough. All I have to do now is find some hotels and plan what to do when there.

Of course I'm screwed next year after this.

Lookit the giant bunnies!!!

An argument over the height of James Brown results in a bloke shooting his friend. I like how the guy gets shot and then rather than go to hospital, toddles off to his car to get his own gun!

Totally unrelated, are they really considering fatty food permits?

The next US president 20 years down the line?

Duuuuude!

Wish I had talent like this (although I know someone who does).

Simpsonzu

It's un urban jungle out there so if you have a cat, they may need protection....

man won't demolish his old barn as it might upset the goblins living there. Hmmm, wonder if it would work for me as an excuse.

Me: Not coming into work today.
Work: Why not?
Me: Don't want to upset the goblins that live under my desk.

To me, last year really seemed to be the year when 'being green' hit the mainstream. Maybe it was because regardless of proven data, climate change became an accepted fact to a lot more people. All of a sudden companies saw a financial benefit in having a green policy and everywhere you looked people were touting new energy efficient products or pushing their green credentials.

Take Dell. I always considered them evil - well, when it came to fixing their computers anyway - but they are still the largest PC supplier around and their new 'plant a tree' scheme could well have a big impact. Of course there is some debate on if it will do what they intend it to do but I still think it's a step in the right direction, even if it's just because it replaces lost wildlife habitat.

For me it's still about changing peoples attitudes as much as anything else. The UK only contributes about 2% to the total carbon dioxide emissions in the world and even if we halved it, that would be dwarfed by other countries emissions so people say "Why bother?". That new 'green thinking' UK would likely be using less water and suffering less shortages in the summer though. It would be producing less waste that we'd have to find landfills for. We'd probably be using less energy and not be building dozens more power stations. We'd have probably planted large areas of new forest to replace those that have been lost over the centuries. Those are all affects that we would see.

Sad then when you see people like the PM refusing to even consider a little green thinking....

Be carefull when you watch the Scientology orientation video unless you want to become one of them. I especially like the last few minutes (considering the first part seems designed to bore you into joining) which contains lines such as:

"You are on the cusp of your next trillion years, which you could spend shivering in darkness..."

"You could walk out this door and never mention scientology again. But that would be stupid. You could jump off a bridge or blow your brains out..."

No hard sell there then. Cracking stuff. :)

So what do we all think of the new iPhone? I think "Apple reinvents the phone" is a little untrue and as for "Your life in your pocket", well I sure hope I never sad enough that my whole life revolves around my mobile...

Tis pretty tho and comes with some very neat features. I'd almost want one if it wasn't for the $499 price tag. As it is, I'll stick with my four year old phone for now. Hopefully it will last a couple more years and by then the phone will likely have evolved again....

Or is it? Silent ringtone.

Don't let your guard down, 'they' are everywhere.

Plus, Bill Gates busted

I'm bored of this week. Why isn't it Friday already!

If you want a little cheering up like me however, try listening to the 'next big thing' (apparently). Grace Kelly is a cheery song indeed.

Tip top over and out.

You'll never look at a ladybird the same way again...

I haven't been down there since the start of the year but I shall be looking to see if my local Morrisons has a plasic bag recycling bank. Even though I reuse mine and refuse one when I can, you still can't help but accumulate a large pile of all sizes.

I think I may be taking things a bit too far when I start feeling guilty about throwing away the tin foil wrappers from chocolates (and take them home to recycle). Or maybe not...?

Computer games are evil and dengerous. They make you go crazy and stuff. It's true I tell you.

Now you'll have to excuse me, I need to go get to level 36 on City of Heroes.

"I kill you! Mwhahaha!!"

My day of fame at Feedster is over it seems - did get me sixty five new visitors tho. Hello to anyone popping over from The Local Paper as well.

I see everything....

In case anyone is wondering why I haven't switched to the new version of Blogger yet, well it won't let me. Least it gives me chance to back everything up before I do.

Funny moment of the day - finding someone banging on my door at work half an hour after the building had closed. He'd obviously been in a meeting upstairs and just come down to find the doors locked. Upon showing him to the door he says:

"Yes, I did see the button saying 'push to exit' but was reluctant to push it..."

Gah, and there ws me hoping he'd fall for our cunning trap and drop the 1000lbs anvil on his head....

Ever get one of those Excel spreadsheet quiz things where you have to guess the bands or whatever. Now you can annoy amaze your friends by emailing them a never ending supply. I had fun doing this one where I got about 80%. Sad, I know....

(link courtesy of Miss C)

I've not posted enough gadgets recently - something I should remedy really. It;s not like there isn't an endless supply of amazing/crap ideas out there.

This is perfect for keeping my beer cold when I'm playing computer games!

Hmmm, now I want a beer when I get home. Which reminds me of a dream I had last night where I won a six foot high stack of beer....

It's in French but I don't think that matters - Jet-Man.

Weeee.....

This is safe for wrok, but only if you have the volume turned down - The Pants Whisperer. Lots to see and do so look around.

This is not so safe for work - Treasure Chests.

What, I was keeping to a theme....

What I did not need prior to my first day back at work after the Christmas holiday was fire alarm in my building going off at 4:06am this morning. Of course I did what everyone should do on hearing a fire alarm - closed my bedroom door, put a pillow over my head and kept a vague ear out for a fire engine as I tried to get back to sleep.

Seems I'm 'Feed of the Day' over at Feedster today. I know not why. Wondered why my traffic was on the increase.

*Waves at Feedster visitors*

Need a calendar for the new year? What about vintage sci-fi babes?

Take a look at what's going on in Dubai. I want to visit Dubailand!

"Just one more question" - the art of Peter Falk.

Probably would have been more helpfull if I'd posted this before all the xmas and New Year celebrations but still. Apparently diet mixers get you drunk faster.

Absolutely nothing to do with the above but useful to any teenage boys that might be reading - how to hide an erection.

A bit like Spiderman (if Spiderman had no real control of his limbs that is).

Bored at work (not that I'm back at work for a couple of days yet myself)? Watch a few of the 50 Greatest cartoons.

Ok, still can't decide if this looks good or bad.

Transformers Teaser Trailer.

After a period of extreme laziness - the sort that see's me drinking black tea for a couple of days as I can't be bothered to go buy some milk - I'm thought I should post some stuff. Quick roundup.

Most amusing holiday memory - Hearing the real anguish in my workmates (vaguely coherent) voice after he tried to drink his way through £100 of free drinks on a bar tab for our work xmas do but failed and had to leave - good try tho Bonus.

Most annoying thing - An advert for Sainsburys on the radio that encourages you to go buy a whole new set of pots and pans from them as yours are probably a bit dirty after all that christmas cooking. Ok it's a small thing but that really is such a wastefull attitude and it bugged me.....

Most eye opening moment - watching two blokes trying to video their respective wife and girlfriend snogging on a bit of a drunken New Year bet thing.

Oh yeah, happy 2007 everyone.