I love this - Missy getting the attention she's been craving

From MTV.com: "You can't beat Missy's style. It's gangsta/ couture/ street/ formal/ casual and then some."
TOTALLY!!! she's the best, she's got some of the most outrageous outfits in the world - garbage you'd think no-one could possibly get away with, which she seems to hold together. She's got the personality and flair to keep people cheering through the stupidity and fluff of fashion to appreciate her as a person rather than merely a clotheshorse. Wish I had that!

The power of advertising in the Sun-Times

The power of advertising in the Sun-Times What a beautiful story - a guy proposes through a full page newspaper ad. One might think this cheesy at first, but looking at it with all the details included in the story, the time and effort involved becomes apparent and makes the idea seem touching. They're both in advertising an it just seemed to make sense:
"He placed an ad in Friday's paper. It had a big picture of a diamond engagement ring. Above the ring was her name, Sarah Sandberg. Below the ring were the words, "Will you marry me?""

as I was saying - who cares about london

"Angry Londoners Demand Answers on Power Blackout " The rest of the US may have a lot of news out of NY city and DC but they are the biggest city and capital respectively of the United States. In Britain we have a huge amount of news SIMPLY out of London. ALL national TV news is outputed from london, all government policies and statements. It remains the business capital. The US has some dreadful newspapers aas well as some good ones, but at least they have variety of location with some basic content. here we've got all the major national newspapers (5 broadsheets and numerous roughly 5 tabloids) come out of london. This gives a dreadful attention in news to London. around 15 million people live in the vast greater london area, which includes much of the 'home counties'. But there are 60 million people in the UK. Those 45 million of us, DON'T CARE about london any more. We've heard enough, don't tell me any more, it's really just NOT interesting.
goodnight

DV8

Was out last night at the gay club DV8 with some friends from work until 3:30 this morning. Then woke up at 6:30 and got into the store by 7:45. Dammit, I was the first one in! There was a male stripper at the club at around 2 o'clock who was just AWFUL. He must had been straight. He did a kind of shower scene were he used some sort of soap suds to pretend that he was in the shower. Of course it was all to music, but the problem with his act was that every so often he would just stop to cross the stage for another prop or something. It was as though he'd just forgotten where he was and needed a recap.
My voice is all messed up this morning though from all the smoke in the air there, and of course the clouds of (damn, i 've forgotten the word for it, the frozen dust stuff..... dry ice! wouldn't have helped. I REALLY enjoyed it though and I can say that fun was had by all. Makes me realise how much younger I am than most of the employees because I didn't know half of the songs they were playing until it came to something like 2:30 when they got some more recent stuff on.. ie the justin and beyonce's of this world!
HE was there... SO hot!


i wanna take you to a gay bar gay bar gay bar
(s)he was there also. one on the left=scary.. i mean, if you're going to dress like a woman, you might as well dress WELL! and the guy on the right is a door greeter. kind of freeky too that one since you can't see their faces most of the time -they've got black screen things over their faces, so if you ACTUALLY talk to them then it feels like you're talking to a odd faceless being. with red pom poms sticking out of its head.

Got my eye on someone

Why is it that stories like this are never the TOP story

"At Least 45 Dead as Bomb Blasts Hit Crowded District of Bombay"
BOMBAY, Aug. 25 At least 45 people were killed and 135 were wounded today when two powerful car bombs detonated in the heart of India's commercial capital, the police said. The blasts occurred minutes apart, the first in a crowded shopping district, the second in a small parking lot just next to the Gateway to India, the British-built monument that is perhaps the archetypal symbol of this city.
It's just horrific. But then at the same time, if this were a US bombing, would you have Bloomberg news saying, just hours after the attack:
"``Something like this just keeps in the back of your mind that the threat of terrorism hasn't gone away,'' said George Adell, director of research at Philadelphia-based Starboard Capital Management, an institutional brokerage firm. "
It seems that a large amount of American news is put out without considering the offense that it could and most probably will cause around the world. An objective viewpoint, an attempt to see how someone else would feel, would be appreciated once in a while.

Peltzer

Speaking of Dave Peltzer, I've always read of his books, but never actaully read one. Then, in stacking about twenty million copies of them today, I managed to read the blurb on the back and became rather enthralled by the message coming across as well as, naturally, appalled by the events of his childhood. From amazon uk:
This book is a brief, horrifying account of the bizarre tortures she inflicted on him, told from the point of view of the author as a young boy being starved, stabbed, smashed face-first into mirrors, forced to eat the contents of his sibling's diapers and a spoonful of ammonia, and burned over a gas stove by a maniacal, alcoholic mom.
You want to read to see how he overcomes the awful events, deals with the struggles and pain. In a rather perverse way I suppose we want to read to simply find out how awful it really does get, to know what the events are, rather than just how he deals with them. It is like being invited into a life, books on abuse. They tell a deeply personal tale that is difficult to read and equally difficult to tell. But then we must read them to know how awful the pain is, and to ensure that it doesn't happen more. Our education in life comes from the experiences of others, the most crucial resource available. Our failings tell us most about ourselves. I would love to learn from the book 'Why children fail' for I'm sure it would help me become more concious of not giving out those signals of disappointment to children, to understand better what it occuring, and to rectify the situation more efficiently.
"John Holt explains, though examples and case studies, his insights into how children's experience of education differes radically from the experience which teachers expect or imagine. He explains how some children can go through school without apparently learning anything, and how children conform to a system which values the appearance of success (getting the 'right' answer) rather than true understanding. In doing so they use all their intelligence to avoid the appearance of failure, rather than in the pursuit of learning. This is a disturbing book for anyone who thinks they understand children or know how to teach, and is vital reading for any school teacher. "

We learn from analysis and Peltzer is scary to read, to even comprehend the pain, but it is an education worth having.

Team building

Following on from the tradition of the last week, this morning we had another team building exercise. To my surprise I was the one picked by my team of about six people to represent us. I was then coerced into eating as many smarties (like small M&M's without the nut) as possible in three minutes. With chopsticks.
I know it's not original and I know it's not grown up, but it was genuinely FUN! I didn't expect to enjoy eating what turned out to be 50 of these little things first thing in the morning, but with another 45 people cheering around the table holding six of us all struggling with the blighters, it was a bit of a rush! I don't know what it would have been like to view the scene, but there I was, in the middle of a half stocked bookstore with piles and piles of boxes around me, at a table, eating little squashed globes of chocolate, with chopsticks. The people around the table got so involved, laughing at us dumplings scratching around on plates trying to get these things into our mouths, counting how many we'd each actually achieved.
great fun.

Shopping

I think this describes me quite well. Earlier on today I was describing my style of clothing to a friend who is going to pay me back previous help by scouting out clothes for me to get - I seem to have NONE! I was typing out to her: "anything reasonably flashy yet also quite restrained" and realised that this made me sound really rather formal and a bit, well, weak. It's not meant to, just to stand out slightly rather than being a parrot amongst the pigeons.

Adult Fiction

Over the last few days I have been assigned to shelving and organising much of the adult fiction section in our new store. We have over two bays of it - categorised as 'sex' and 'erotica'. Sex is basically more scientific and grown up - read 'safe and pedestrian' - than the erotica section which tends to be lots of sex story books and photo books called, rather unambiguously, 'Panties'. The number of books on the subject makes me wonder whether the company thinks the city is a rather dirty one - where many of the people are going out to find sex books in their bookshops. I know one isn't supposed to think of sex as an issue that one should shy away from or one that a person should be ashamed of buying a book regarding, but these are not quality books. Some are good quality , and I assume the Dorling Kindersley make a rather healthy profit from their numerous Karma Sutra guides, as they publish enough of them! I didn't think of it as a chore to have to do - they're really more of a good laugh - to see what some companies do to entice readers, to attract the eye, and to see how much a mainstream bookseller can get away with. The large numbers of books by publishers such as Nexus that have girls in high boots and panties is astonishing.
The one thing that seemed to me rather insensitive was the way that Sex was positioned right before Religion as well as Abuse and Feminism. To see books such as Dave Peltzer's A Child Called "It" nest to porn books on domination is not the most appealing or sensitive situation.

Running With Scissors

Finished Augusten Burroughs' book 'Running with Scissors' about a week ago whilst on the flight back from Ireland. It's a really odd book about the author and his experiences in between something like the ages of ten and sixteen. He documents the oddities that have come into his life; the practices of his mother's psychologist's family with whom he is living. He reveals the eccentric nature of how his life has operated, how the people behave:
I will walk around and turn lights on and off, on and off. There is a panel of switches on the wall before the hall opens up into two huge, tall rooms. I will switch the spotlights on in the living room, illuminating the fireplace, the sofa. I will switch the light off and turn on the spotlights in the hallway; over the front of the door. I will run from the wall and stand in the spotlight. I will bathe in the light like a star and I will say, "Thank you for coming tonight to my poetry reading."
I will be wearing the dress my mother didn't wear. It is long, black and 100 percent polyester, my favorite because it flows. I will wear her dress and her shoes and I will be her.

The book is a fast read. It just tells you those aspects of life that seem relevant, sparing spurious detail about the places where events happen, just articulating enough to allow the reader a glimpse into the grime of the situation. When I started reading the book I didn't look a the author's name really, so it took me about five minutes to find out whether this person trying on their mother's dress was in fact male or female. Man, it made me laugh when I found out.
I think the main quality of the book is the way Burroughs manages to throw phrases out that catch you, to make one think 'ok, here we go again'...
The fact that the Christmas tree is still standing five months after Christmas is extremely disturbing to everyone in the house. But we all feel someone else should be the one to remove it. It is somebody else's responsibility. And in most everyone's mind, that somebody is Agnes.
But Agnes has refused to remove the tree. "I'm not your slave," she has screamed again and again. She will straighten her Virgin Mary candles on the sideboard, sweep the carpets, wash the occasional pot, but she will not touch this tree.

real photography

following a link from Alaina's livejournal through suicidegirls.com I got to a link to inconduit.comwhich appears to be a photographer's hastily recreated image site. It contains some poinant images - most of them not being of a 'beautiful' nature, but more that they have an interesting grunge to them. They have a sort of reality of life to them - scenes you could see everyday on the street but don't have the skill or luck to capture for eternity on film.

Fox loses arguement

Hilarious article on CNN (a relative rarity) concerning the big hubbub surrounding Fox's suing of Al Franken for alleged copyright infringement for using their tag line 'Fair and Blanced' in a humorous way in his new book's title: Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: a Fair and Balanced Look at the Right.
It's a real dig piece:
"U.S. District Judge Denny Chin, after listening to about half an hour of oral arguments, said the lawsuit was "wholly without merit, both factually and legally."

The 377-page book, which originally had a late September release date, went on sale Thursday. It has reassumed the No. 1 position on Amazon.com's bestseller list.

Fox objected especially to its cover, which displays the "fair and balanced" phrase in its subtitle and an unflattering photograph of the news channel's most popular host, Bill O'Reilly. It argued that the cover layout "is likely to cause confusion among consumers as to the origin and sponsorship of the book."
"Floyd Abrams, representing Franken, said that under the First Amendment, "a book is allowed to criticize a holder of a trademark and mock a trademark as well."

Abrams said the big word "lies" over the photo was a signal that the cover was "obviously tongue-in-cheek."

"There is no way a person not completely dense would be confused by this cover to think that Fox is accusing Bill O'Reilly of being a liar," he said. "There is nothing confusing about this." "
Love it

rushed off feat

and it really is a hurculean one. I'm swamped by the fact that at the moment i'm getting in from work at like 9 o'clock. grabbing some dinner talking ot people for a few moments, trying to catch like the 10 o'clock news, then gradually wasting time away (doing nothing useful) - ie clearing UP from the meal - until it's the point where exhaustion hits. i've been stacking shelves a huge amount for the last few days - in the last 4 1/2 (monday - the start - until friday) days we've basically stocked the whole store with books and cd's. Lots of work. eg yesterday (thursday) we stocked 240 computer and travel books. hell
one of the few things i've learnt so far is that i've got really puny arms and that lifting hundreds of really heavy sql course books REALLY tones/trains your arms.
they're tired now

New job

Just finished my second working day - for the first time in a paid job (big step!). I'm working at Borders in Birmingham and we're setting up a new store in what's called the 'bull ring'. The pic left is the new Selfridges department store that's opposite the Borders store, and actually looks like that - lots of what look like silver buttons on the outside edge. It's been really fun so far doing what's called the 'Sort'. Basically we're completely stocking the store. In the last two days we've shelved 50 pallets of books - now that's a HUGE number - working 10 hours each day. I can't imagine what it was like for the Singapore store when Borders open their first store there and ALL the stock sold out on the first day. Someone would have been pissed.
More tomorrow

how personal sms reviews pan hollywood

an article in the LA Times from sunday discussing the impact and method of sms messaging (only just now really impacting the US) on Hollywood movies. Europe has been largely insulated from this phenomenon because of the long lag time between US and UK release - those dissed in the US aren't seen as much here also because the European press picks up on American public dislike. In Hollywood however, where the opening weekend is king, they're finding that it's becoming harder to buy these crucial few days with an all-out marketing onslaught. One text message to a group of people (easier than 20 phone calls) could spread to hundreds in minutes. Link to story
"Fatima Bholat stepped into the summer sunshine, fresh from the darkened theater where she'd just seen "The Hulk." It was opening day, and the 16-year-old high school junior had rushed out with her younger brother to see director Ang Lee's moody take on the big green superhero.

Now she wanted to tell her friends all about it. She whipped out her silver-and-blue T-Mobile cell phone, pressed a button and did something that strikes terror into the hearts of studio executives:

She tapped out a message telling her friends exactly what she thought of the movie — and the verdict was brutal.

"In the old days, there used to be a term, 'buying your gross,' " said Rick Sands, chief operating officer at Miramax, referring to the millions of dollars studios throw at a movie to ensure a big opening weekend. Widely released movies this summer dropped off an average of 51% between their first weekend and their second, according to Nielsen EDI Inc., a box office tracking firm. Five years ago, the drop-off averaged 40.1%."

'More obvious than Fox - but still Fair and Balanced (c)'

Excellent analysis today in the Guardian, concerning the partisan nature of British newspaper reporting of the Dr. Kelly-'sexed up' row.

To read the Mail and then the Sun is to believe that Hutton is chairing two different inquiries. Most Mail headlines find a way of blaming Campbell ("Double damning of Campbell", "Damned from beyond the grave"), while most Sun headlines exonerate him ("Round one to Campbell") and are angled against the BBC ("Bullied by the Beeb"). While the Mail has extracted from the evidence every bit of praise for Kelly and every criticism of Campbell, the Sun has performed a similar task to ensure that Kelly is viewed in a poorer light, Campbell in a better one and that the real culprit is Today's defence correspondent Andrew Gilligan.

The differing portrayal of Gilligan's evidence was marked, with each paper highlighting the bits that suited their agendas. It proved him a liar, according to the pro-Blair Sun; it proved that Campbell has subverted our media, said the anti-Blair Mail.

£100 Million in gold coins found off coast of Georgia

Treasure hunters believe they've found the largest treasure haul ever with the discovery of The Republic, a ship which set sail from New York to New Orleans in 1865 with 200,000 gold coins on board. Each would have been worth $20 at the time, but between $6-9,000 today. News report The find is the result of a 10 year long investigation, resulting in the appearance of a rudder, paddle wheel and numerous glass bottles lying one third of a mile down on the Atlantic's ocean floor.

Stripper takes of clothes - and skin!

A performer in the New York International Fringe Festival, Ksenia Vidyaykina has performed a piece called "Trapped", a dance piece which tells of women being alone, restricted and forced into difficult choices. Shed dances, peeling away a chiffon toga, and then it seems, some of her skin as well. Link to image The Russian's performance is one of 204 shows in the largest ever NY Fringe Festival. Apparently she wanted to show "the guts and beauty" in peeling away her layers.

Update on Rob Lowe

Apparently he's doing this because Arnie has "injected new energy into California politics"
Right........
He's looking much more 70's now too, no more Mr. Sam Seabourne.
Plus, and excellent article by Mark Borkowski on how Arnie came into the political arena:
"When the world learned of Arnold's intention to run, it did so - of course - via a tried and tested showbiz route. No great fanfare. Just a casual mention on the Jay Leno show."

(Former) West Wing Actor helps Arnie

Actor Rob Lowe Joins Schwarzenegger Campaign "Lowe's job would entail the coordination of endorsements and other forms of support for the campaign by celebrities.

Republican political consultant Allan Hoffenblum said Lowe, 39, also could help Schwarzenegger in appealing to younger, independent voters who might otherwise sit out the election.

"It's about time he's hired somebody under the age of 70 to advise him on his campaign," Hoffenblum said. "Younger people tend to be much more libertarian, much more tolerant on social issues than the older voters, so (Schwarzenegger) may be signaling something there." "

HoustonChronicle.com - Doctor decapitated by faulty elevator at hospital

HoustonChronicle.com - Doctor decapitated by faulty elevator at hospital:EEeeeewwwww poor guy!
A woman who also works at the hospital was on the elevator at the time and witnessed the accident, police said. Because of the malfunction, she was trapped on the elevator for 15 or 20 minutes before firefighters were able to reach her, police said.
Poor woman

Unboilable microbe signifies possible hot origins of life

Guardian Story A microorganism that lives near super-heated cracks on the ocean floor can survive at temperatures of up to 121 Degrees C = 266 degrees Fahrenheit, making it the hottest bug on earth. Basically this bug, revealed in Science on Friday can live in REALLY hot conditions DEEP under the ocean floor where this super heated water - heated by the earth's core heat - rises up and provides energy for the bug to live. Previously they've found massive worm like creatures around these hot spots, but this is the most heat tolerant microrganism scientists have, as yet, found.
"It has been the dogma in microbiology for 120 years that that temperature would kill any living organism," said Derek R. Lovley, a University of Massachusetts microbiologist who was the senior author of the study.
It's not actually clear (to me) how long enduring this bug is, as the Guardian's (above) article says it can withstand 121 for ten hours, whilst the Environmental News Network says just one hour. I think I'll go for the one hour - a) 10 hours seems unlikely, and b) the ENN story has LOADS more detail - details of where the strain is from - the Juan de Fuca Ridge. I 've even heard of that before!! I'm so pleased. Supposedly these bacteria or whatever live really well because of the sulfur and iron that emenates from the rocks nearby:
"Lovley said Strain 121 uses iron oxide in the vent streams to metabolize organic molecules. In effect, the microbe uses iron in the same way that surface-dwelling organisms use oxygen."
How confusing. They quote a guy from washington university, whislt the ridge is off Washington State - nowhere NEAR St. Louis. Everyone wave to St. Louis>!!!

The "Butt-Crack Narc" who snitches on you

The Seattle Weekly has an article this week about whom exactly it is that turns you in to the cops for your pot growing:

As a general rule of agriculture, says Seattle attorney Jeff Steinborn, "If you are going to grow dope, it's best not to tell anyone about it." That's especially important in Washington, one of the top states for indoor marijuana grows and busts—almost all of which are sparked by tips from informants you had figured to be friends, visitors, or relatives. They include the Butt-Crack Narc —plumbers, dryer repairers, or maybe one of the furnace guys—who comes to your house, spots your dinky marijuana grow, and calls the cops
"Steinborn maintains that cannabis is not a dangerous drug and extreme measures to enforce dope laws are unjustified. In Washington, he says, where marijuana is the state's No. 1 one cash crop, a $5,000 reward awaits those who turn in marijuana farmers. But "I don't know of any rewards that encourage people to turn in murderers, rapists, or child molesters," he says. "It's all truly unfair. Tell me of any comparably minor crime where they take your home and car as well."

He says almost all indoor marijuana cultivation cases begin with anonymous tips. There are few figures, but the Kitsap County Sheriff's Office, for one, says the majority of its pot busts—50 grow operations in 2001—are the result of tips from citizens. That includes several instances of pot gardens planted on state Department of Natural Resources land, spotted by hikers who called in the troops. King County Sheriff's Sgt. Kevin Fagerstrom says the department averages up to six tips a month including e-mail, mostly from neighbors witnessing heavy foot traffic at a nearby residence. "We do not actively recruit these tips; we simply let peoples' conscience guide them," Fagerstrom says. Tipsters include a teenager who turned in his parents. He "was concerned about their well-being and called in the tip for us to bust the parents' grow op," says Fagerstrom. "That caught national news attention." "

Funny, as I was reading the article my opinion shifted from understanding how someone might turn their parents in, such as on health grounds, to complete INcomprehension. I can't believe that someone might do that - though they might disagree with the action itself, the growers aren't peddling it on to anyone else and hence it only affects them. What's the long term goal?

This book sounds amazing!

The corner deli is the refrigerator for the girl on the go.

Jami Attenberg moved to New York from sleepy Seattle in the late 90s and quickly discovered how difficult it is to carve out a niche for yourself in the city that never sleeps. Sometimes the only community you can call your own is in the store on the corner. Amongst coffee and cigarettes and sandwiches-to-go, she began to discover the secret to life in the big city can be found in the small details. The girl behind the counter who remembers coffee orders. The guy who recognizes hangovers and knows how to help. And, of course, the neighborhood drug dealer who delivers. In one of the most densely packed cities in the world, happiness frequently comes down to just a handful of people.

Jami Attenberg's writing defines life in New York City with clarity, depth, and humor.
Deli Life is 32 pages with a full color cover and comes wrapped in wax paper with a pickle on the side. It was designed by Geoffrey Long.


plus, I love the fact that it says on the right hand side of the page - as a way of enticing you - 'these books don't suck' and then goes on to list more books from the company. Funny place it seems.

They could put it in the offline version too!

I've been reading stuff from them recently:Metropolis Magasine, and really liking what i've been getting. There was an great piece on the Best chain of supermarkets and their falling down facades (designed to be so), one on the 'new' Aeron which is (thank god) cheaper this time around, and a great article on cubicle carpeting and how to make it 3D. Unfortunately i've found that for my roughly $10 per copy - it comes out every two months - I don't get a lot of what the put out online,whilst I do get a HUGE number of advertisements. This month felt thin on the ground - as though they were clutching at straws for something to put in - to fill out the pages - hence a TEDIOUS article about teaching design. It's a really superb read most of the time, but why don't they put things like their Urban Jounal into the print edition. I don't have time to check out the magasine and the web page to find out what's different. They need to demarkate and show me what's new for me, the subsrciber who actually puts coins in the their pockets. Tell me in the magasine "hey, we've got a LOAD more stuff this month that we couldn't fit in, but REALLY want you to see. Check it out: www.blahblah.com. They've got a great article right now on a magasine called Flair that was around in the 50's, which I don't see mentioned anywhere in the magasine. It's a shame because it makes them look amatuer whilst you know that they're not - they must spend huge amounts on art directors for all the flashy flash animations that pop up, and also spend huge amounts sponsoring all the conferences they put their name to (good to know my hard earned cash is going to something 'useful' to me!).
Whilst this hasn't been the best way to sell a magasine to you, but it's certainly an interesting one despite annoyances.

Slate

I've been enthralled by Slate over the last few days, having just gotten around to reading any of it. It's really a stunning array of work - like a proper newspaper but for the internet world and taking advantage of the speed and added linking advantages that the 'net provides. The coverage of the Edinburgh festival has been superb, whilst the featurettes about the Presidential candidates for 2004 have been superb. These political snippits mean I don't have to wade through the numerous articles detailing every last part of the the candidate's campaign, but can gain some kind of digested view, meaning that I actually DO find out about them, rather than just becoming too bored by their apparent sameness. It's not that i didn't TRY to read Slate before, but normally, for some unknown reason, the pages take about 10 minutes to load. I kid you not - they really do, and that's if they load at all. And this is with broadband. So when the excellent article by Fred Kaplan about Bush's much lauded Missile Defense Program came through perfectly, I was thrilled. More so of course with the content of the piece which is a thorough picking through of the technical impossibilities that the program has shown up. Read it here.

British Government considered assassinating Idi Amin

The UK's former foreign secretary Lord Owen has revealed he suggested assassinating Idi Amin when he was in government. The former Ugandan dictator died of multiple organ failure in hospital in Saudi Arabia on Saturday. Lord Owen, speaking on Radio 4's PM programme, said his proposal was seen as an outrageous suggestion.
"I'm not ashamed of considering it, because his regime goes down in the scale of Pol Pot as one of the worst of all African regimes", Lord Owen said.

Nintendo Emulator

AWWWW - just browsing the net and found this little gem of a site where a guy, a real fan of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (! - I know, some peope still ARE - !) has got a whole load of Nintendo games that can be emulated onto the PC. This brings back so many memories of playing Super Mario Brothers in my 65 (and holding) year old neighbour's back room, suffering the stale cigarette smell for the fun of playing games that my parents would never buy because they weren't interested in spending money so that I could 'waste time'. Thank god SOMEONE did, otherwise I would have never learnt how to be a slacker. It's here: Nintendo Emulation. I also love the little disclaimer thing (s)he's got there:
Due to legal reasons, it is requested that you only download games of which you own a copy. Downloading a game you do not own is a copyright law violation.

Blackout in New York

It's been an interesting few days observing from afar the thoughts of the American public regarding their blackout experiences. There've been some really interesting collections of links on different sites and weblogs - espcially these one evalu8, a vancouver based site, a boingboing discussion forum FULL of links, Suburban Peril, Gothamist, and of course the NY Times. I know their page will disappear in a few days, so here's a little highlight:
"Telephone service was disrupted, especially calls to and from cellular phones. Most of the problems, telephone company officials said, had to do with heavy use. Officials said the trouble was compounded by power failures at some cellular transmitters. Cash-dispensing teller machines were also knocked out, so people who did not have cash on hand could not buy flashlights, batteries or other supplies.

The power failure exacted a variety of tolls in Michigan and Ohio, tying up the freeways in Detroit, forcing the cancellation of minor league baseball in Toledo, Ohio, and sending Jennifer M. Granholm, the governor of Michigan, into emergency meetings without the use of lights or computers.

In Times Square in New York, billboards instantly went dark and the city was left without traffic lights and the usual sounds of rush hour. Volunteers directed traffic with mixed success. Some stores in Manhattan closed as cashiers fumbled with registers that no longer toted up purchases. The Metropolitan Museum of Art emptied out, but not before some art lovers had pulled flashlights from backpacks and purses and trained them on paintings.

In a city still jittery from the Sept. 11 terror attack, some people worried as they tried to find their way home. "All I could think was here we go again — it's just like Sept. 11," said Catherine Donnelly, who works at the New York Stock Exchange.

Mr. Pataki said he had ordered the National Guard to assist state and local authorities, but New York City officials said the Guard's aid was not necessary.

Police officials in the city said they first responded as if the power failure had been the work of terrorists, and with the concern that the city was suddenly vulnerable. Heavily armored officers were sent to likely targets and emergency command operations were begun in every borough.

The officials said that the city was mostly calm in the first hours of the blackout, and that every precinct in the city had moved to control traffic at critical intersections.

By midnight, though, the police reported several incidents of looting and bottle throwing in Lower Manhatan and Brooklyn.

So there was no air conditioning, no television, no computers. There was Times Square without its neon glow and Broadway marquees without their incandescence — all the shows were canceled. So was the Mets game against the San Francisco Giants at Shea Stadium. And there was a skyline that had never looked quite the way it did last night: the long, long taut strings of the bridges were dark, the red eyes that usually blink at the very top not red, not blinking.

As the lights came back on, officials estimated that 10 percent of the city's households again had power by 10 p.m. About that time, power was also restored in Newark and Buffalo.

"This is a very, very slow deliberate process, and you have to be very careful how you do it, or you will have the whole system fail again," said acting superintendent of New York State police, Wayne E. Bennett.

Mr. Bloomberg said the subways had been evacuated safely and that he believed the rescues of people from stuck elevators had gone smoothly. But one woman, after having walked down 18 flights of stairs at a Midtown office building, collapsed and died as passers-by, rescue workers and paramedics tried to save her.

As the afternoon dragged on with no lights and no word on how soon subways and trains might resume service, some hiked home. Others filled bars. A Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant on East 14th Street near Avenue B gave away ice cream, one scoop to a customer. The Haagen-Dazs shop near Union Square had a "power outage sale," selling cups and cones for $1 apiece.

Drivers, benefiting from suddenly very essential radios, flashed news bulletins to people in the street. "It's a major grid, and it's out from Toronto to Ohio," Sharon Dennis told a throng that had gathered around her green Ford Taurus on West 34th Street shortly before 6 p.m. "They say they don't know how long it will take to restore power."


Especially worrying to me is the idea that this could just as easily happen here - the company that owns the power station that (supposedly) sparked it off - called Niagara Mowhawk- is Britain's own National Grid Company. The BBC News yesterday was quoting Newcastle University Professor Ian Fells, and energy 'expert' saying that the UK system was perhaps going to have as many as 21 weeks in January and February in which the company may not be able to "meet their obligations" - ie provide power. This is up from the estimate of 7 weeks this year when the possibility of power outages were expressed, and that's a LONG period - half the year!
What I enjoyed hearing about was the camaraderie that was abound. People sleeping on the streets, running a hose outside with glasses for people walking by to have a drink from, dancing in the streets. Just the number of people walking was impressive in the NY TIMES photos amongst others. At times in London I've wondered how few people you really see around - as there are supposedly around 4 million in central London alone. This shows what happens. With our 'modern' mass transit systems, people get from A to B so quickly that you can at times hardly notice they're there.

l'Occitane

As i was saying before, I was inspired by Alex to look at some of hte things that I use in my life - the product line detail. I decided to look up something that I'd bought recently from a the London branch of l'Occitane. I got this oil that does a frothy thing when emulsified (read:mixed) with water. You put a few drops on your hands, mix it around w/ a few drops of water and bingo! you've got a lather. It's really nice because it's a kind of everyday thing - it doesn't need LOADS of it to work and it's not THAT expensive. It makes you think 'quality' because it does things like listing the chateau (read:farm) from which the olive oil orignates. It's nice.
So I was looking at this product online and thought I'd check out how much they charge for it over in the US compared with the British £13. Now i bring up the US and the UK pages for L'Occitane and it strikes me that in the US they're actually trying to SELL something whereas it looks like in the UK they're just trying to put people off the company. It's strange - have a look. US= nice and fancy and just kind of like their stores. UK= simple and tired, looking as though they're a tiny company with maybe one location and not really making much of an effort.
I don't like not being valued

dates

for some reason Blogger is screwing with the dates of my posts, saying that today's posting has been in fact published on the 20th of July, something I'm SURE isn't the case. Initially the possibility of the fault lying in my tweaking (read: messing around with) the page's CSS template might have caused the problem, but there's no real inidication of that being the case. I don't know, there might be something more in the documentation online, but who knows as there doesn't seem to be anything at the moment. Darn.

Lush

Lol - On Monday I'm going to buy THIS, and THAT, and what looks like a lump of feaces but isn't. Here's to lunchbreaks! Yum!
I was moved onto this thought line following a short peek at the page of alexis: alexthegirl.com. She's a funny bunny, but the idea of having a sort of documentation of your whole life's products is an intresting idea. You have to be pretty certain that other people really care about what type of toothpaste you use and what kind of mouth condition it's really good for. But then, I read it.

iPod movie

Even so many months after its launch onto the market, this quicktime movie about the apple iPod still gets me enthralled. The apparent difference between Apple and so many other tech companies is the class about which they go about things.

Dell just appear dull and formulaic by comparison, whilst other such as hp appear to merely by following behind in the long trail of apple's footsteps: from Trendsetters.com
"Since everyone in the PC market is forced to compete with Dull, er Dell, most tech gear looks good only in a dark closet. But HP CEO Carly Fiorina apparently decided she needed something to match her Dale Chihuly art collection, so now we have the Scanjet 4670 ($199). That see-thru window, made of scratch-resistant polycarbonate, lets you see those dirty pictures while you’re scanning! Carly, I have this ugly file server, could you please..."

Whilst the new HP stuff does look amazing, it does give the impression slightly that it is a follower to Apple. Of course I say all this whilst remaining a hypocrite since I use no Mac products nor intend in the near future. I don't think though that this removes the ability for me to admire them from afar and wish that those companies I do interact with would act somewhat more like apple. Good for HP though really, they're moving away from Comaq's tedious grey image and starting to create a brand image for their products that IS more innovative. Naturally it's not all real - most of their sales still come from grey boxes and servers, but this doesn't stop the superb Public facing product development that makes most people think of HP.
Anyway, I just wanted to say that the iPod is amazing.

Talking to god

had a lovely discussion with my grandmother this evening about leeds university, ireland and my extended family. She's a really wonderful lady and a (geographically distant) tower of strength in my family. It's great talking to her because she gives the impression that she understands and at least sympathises with your point of view. She finished our phone call however, with a rather saddening note. "Say your prayers won't you" she said "wha, um, pardon" I managed to stumble out "You will say your prayers won't you this evening?" I had to respond with a blank to her, felt I 'had' to lie. I hate to do it but I said "yes, ok, of course". I don't know whether it's the idea that she wouldn't like me as much if she knew I had no belief whatsoever in god, or whether I'm trying to shelter HER from some of the pain of realisation that you haven't in fact passed on one of the leading figures of your life to those generations following you - those who should most of all be instilled with your wisdom.
Perhaps I will say my prayers tonight, just for her.

First Ever WHALE-FART Captured on Film!

funnily enough, I'm sure they all REALLY rushed over to try and get as close to the scene possible.

The researchers claim this is the first photograph of a minke whale letting one go in the icy waters of Antarctica. It was taken from the bow of a research vessel.

"We got away from the bow of the ship very quickly ... it does stink," said Nick Gales, a research scientist from the Australian Antarctic Division.

However, the episode did not detract from their mission, which was to collect DNA from whale dung and attach satellite tracking devices in the first research of its kind to track where the creatures go and what and how much they eat.

Already some incredible stories about whales are emerging.

One pigmy blue whale wearing a satellite tracking tag was found to be returning to a former population off southern Australia which was thought to have been hunted to extinction by Russian whalers.

"Every piece of this research is surprising," said Dr Gales.

Amazing article, which touches on some of the other aspects of whale life - just how little we know about them. They're so huge, but until recently have been extremely difficult to track. Again from the Australian press.

P-2-P network reports record companies to the OFT

"Grokster, the US music-swapping network that came to prominence in the wake of Napster's collapse, has turned the tables on the major music labels by reporting them to the office of Fair trading." (here in the UK)

The site claims record companies are guilty of "unfair business practices and restraint of trade" by refusing to discuss ways in which they could legalise its service.

"It's clearly a cartel in violation of competition laws. We've tried to negotiate with the record labels. They leave us no choice but to protect consumers and ourselves from these grievous practices," Mr Rosso told trade magazine New Media Age.

The OFT said it was investigating the claim and had asked Grokster to provide further material to back up its claims.

I love this, the record companies are getting a taste of their own medicine - threat of looming disaster, uncertainty and fear... Perhaps the threat of action against them may help persuade them to change their behaviour. On another note, perhaps the Guardian will also stop 'reporting' the p2p phenomenon in such a blatantly one sided nature. Their reporting to date, with little featurettes about the major 'threat' to the labels has been frankly embarassing. This from a daily subscriber to the print edition.

good luck Grokster

Iceland back to their old tricks

It seems it's that time of year again - time to boycott all things Icelandic:

Protest over Iceland's whaling plans

god I hate that.
The other day in the harbour of the town where we were staying in Ireland - Mullaghmore, in county Sligo, a local fisherman was telling me about how they get dolphins as well as blue and sperm whale just around there, that they might be fishing for their monkfish or lobster and just in the distance they'll see one of these colossus of the sea doing their thing.... and the Icelandic government claim that the depopulation of the fish in the north sea was because of the few WHALES that are left. Good lord.
Uh, I hate that.

from the Australian paper the 'Courier-Mail':
The Courier-Mail

THE United States has slammed Iceland's plans to resume scientific whaling this month and warned that although technically legal the hunt could result in US sanctions.

"The United States is extremely disappointed with Iceland's decision to begin a lethal research whaling program," deputy State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said.

He noted that Washington had been trying to convince Reykjavik for months, not to follow through on its stated intention "to begin killing whales" after a 14-year moratorium.

"While Iceland's program is technically legal under the (International Whaling Convention), the United States believes that the lethal research on whales they propose is not necessary and that the needed scientific data can be obtained by other well-established non-lethal means," Reeker said.

"The taking of whales will likely trigger a review of Iceland's lethal scientific whaling program for possible certification under the Pelly Amendment which provides for a range of US responses, including trade sanctions," he said.


Please let's hope they DO impose sanctions. For the first time they might actually be useful and propotional - rather than the US's reaction to Vietnamese
Catfish last month which was just insane.
The Icelandic people need, in my view, to have an indication that the rest of the world really does NOT support this kind of move to killing whales and whether that's consumer boycott or active federal trade sanctions, either is FINE with me!