Wednesday, June 29, 2005

more wine please waiter


in Cyprus it's




I'm probably -

  1. tipsy
  2. asleep
  3. burnt
  4. all the above


Wish I'd made a poll for that now !

Tuesday, June 28, 2005

new Rich Text Editor for MSN Spaces

Some of you will be already aware of the new RTE released yesterday . If not , here's an excellent article by Overdo including some points on use with Firefox .

I've amended my articles on using Firefox with Spaces to bring them up to date .

Watch it !

So you think you're going to have fun , fun , fun on this holiday .

Think again !



2 days to go

Okey , dokey . Leaving on Wednesday - a million things to do . No , actually a lot more than a million things to do . Still , small person already has her suitcase packed . Excellent .
Ah , that's better. My keyboard's been wobbly for about a week now , couldn't understand it and thought the desk had buckled with the extra summer heat - just twisted it straight again ( the keyboard , not the desk ) .
So , in answer to the questions from previous entries -


Sunday, June 26, 2005

US national debt clock .. watch it go !!



Click here and if you're American try not to panic .

Friday, June 24, 2005

I can smell the sea from here ...


Ahhh , the feeling of sand in your toes , the hot sun on your back and the sound of waves gently rolling in - a holiday approaches . I'm getting prepared for my first overseas holiday in a year - well overdue . Taking Mini-me so should be fun . So much to get organised and packed not to mention work . Going out tonight for a piss-up ( sorry , meal ) with friends at a bring-your-own restaurant . Hangover tomorrow , child-minding , shopping , washing . It ain't gonna work ! Going to be really busy for the next few days .

In the meantime , as you're already here , please take the time to fill in some of the polls on the top right list .


I'm taking a portable version of Firefox with me on an SD card / USB drive so might try to blog when I'm gone , might not .

Take care .

Thursday, June 23, 2005

stopping junk mail - the letterbox sort

What's even worse than junk spam mail is it's unstoppable older brother , the sort that slides slug like through your letter box each morning , demanding to be opened and read , claiming or feigning an over inflated sense of self importance . If you're like me you'll get much more of this rubbish than the real thing . I resent the time and energy it takes to open and digest them , the bad feelings it gives me at the start of the day and the sheer waste of resources .

It is possible , however , to have this substantialy reduced through an organisation called the Mailing Preference Service .

A simple 5 minute registration allows the central databases available to businesses that mailshot to named individuals to be amended to exclude you , other members of the household or those who have lived at that address previously .

It can take 3 to 4 months to work through the system and won't stop all junk mail but will stop those bloody Reader's Digest competition communications . How I regret buying 1 stupid f ing book many , many , many years ago . I once wrote to Reader's Digest and offered to send them MY shit - literally - in exchange for the shit they were sending me , it only worked for a short while.


CLICK HERE FOR WORLD NEWS

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

Rachel Stevens checks your nuts

I used to fancy Rachel - sort of "girl next door" thing going on - not stick thin , you know , a bit of meat on her rump . Can't sing for shit , but nice videos .

Anyway , she's fronting up a campaign to help increase cancer awareness in men and to this end has made this short flashplayer video .


Glastonbury Music Festival 2005

The U.K.'s largest annual music festival takes place this weekend . Headline acts from all spheres of popular music take to the stage over 3 days .

Listen to or view live webcasts of some of the acts appearing on Friday , Saturday and Sunday .

Further info

Big words

Sometimes learning big words like helicopter is very tiring .


Tuesday, June 21, 2005

cold feet and faking orgasms

Oh well , ladies . Looks like the game is up .

Scan spots women faking orgasms


Must remember in future to make sure prospective partner is wearing socks ......

Monday, June 20, 2005

automatic RSS feed display in Firefox

No sooner am I blagging on about "live bookmarks" in Firefox and how handy they are and I come across a fantastic extension that's probably even better .

It's called "RSS panel" and can be picked up here .

What it does is automatically check a page for an RSS feed . If it finds one it places a thin banner neatly in the top left of the web page - see pic 1 .

The banner can be rolled down to reveal all of the page's entries ( see pic 2 )- i.e. lists , photo albums or whatever . It can also be dragged and dropped on the screen to suit .

Now , this extension is just the dog's nadgers - works on all pages and does it all behind the scenes without any input necessary from you and it's small and pretty .

You've just gotta try it !





Sunday, June 19, 2005

Father's Day

Here in the U.K. it's Father's Day .

This is only my 2nd year being on the receiving end so it's still new to me . But just like birthdays and Christmas it seems pretty much like any other day .

Thanks to Father's Day I am , however , sporting a new John Rocha shirt and I'm about to go a visitin' my own father with my daughter ( she and the car keys will be some distance apart - if you don't know what I'm talking about read the previous few entries ) .

One thing that has been dawning on me for some time now is that I love my daughter more than I've ever loved anyone else or am ever likely to . Seeing how she looks in my eyes , her trust and confidence in me , her protector , that's the REAL present today .

Friday, June 17, 2005

profanisaurus- MSN Spaces censorship

Much has been said in various Spaces about censorship by MSN of certain words . Some folks have even had their Space shut down . As an alternative I thought perhaps this might be a solution - the Profanisaurus from Viz . Mostly made up slang or alternative terms to substitute for swearing . For non-U.K. readers Viz is an irreverent comic for adults - very widely read .
There are two ways to access it which give different angles .

1. through the Profanisaurus Index - see the word , try and work out the definition

2. through Viz


Readers are actively urged to submit their real or made up slang alternatives to profanities for inclusion .


Well worth a look for some "amusement" time .

Let's see MSN detect these .

passing the MENSA test - part 3

Are you sitting comfortably ? O.K. . Then I'll continue .....

As I evaluate all the options I notice the smile slide off her face , the corners of her tiny mouth turn down and her eyes begin to well up . She realises all is not as it should be and taking one hand off the key instinctively reaches out towards me ...........

I'm in deep shit . I've got a frightened ( already tired and hungry ) baby about to go into mini-person meltdown , stares from onlookers with the prospects of asking the supermarket staff for something to break into a car with ( THAT won't make them suspicious - " security ! , SECURITY !! " ) and then a broken window imminent .

O.K. Mimi - push the button , darlin' .

Push the button ,darlin' .

Darlin' , push the button !

Not a blink . The first tear overflows from her eye and trickles down her cheek . She sits paralysed by events . My throat gets tighter and drier .

It's O.K. Mimi , press the button with your thumbs . Your thumbs .

She clicks the same blue and white button . LOCK , LOCK , LOCK . This isn't going to work .The black button is stiff . I sometimes have trouble with it myself . Even if get her to push can she push it hard enough .

Press the black bit .

No , the black button . Move your thumbs .

There ! Press that button . Press hard . Press hard , darlin' .

CLUNK .




Thank-you God - I've learned my lesson .


Thursday, June 16, 2005

" Our survey said ..... "

Part 3 will be along soon .

During the interlude patrons are requested to take a moment to complete some fun polls and surveys in the aptly named " current polls " list to your right .

Thank-you .

passing the MENSA test - part 2

Where was I ? Oh yes ....

I close the passenger door first then hear a familiar clunk on closing her door - her little face , mouth wide open in a toddler smile , peering out at me as she holds the key in both hands - her little thumbs pressing the middle blue and white button .............

I am sooo fucking stupid .

In a split second a million thoughts stream through my mind

- why am I such a dick ?
- I knew this would happen !
- how do I get the door open ?
- I'm in a car park - others will know I'm a dick .
- I have nothing to break the glass .
- if I go back to the supermarket to get something she'll cry .
- it's a company car , my employer will know I'm a dick .
- if I explain to her where the open button is I might get lucky
- but ... if she drops the key I'm fucked .
- are her tiny thumbs strong enough to push the black button bit ?
- does she know what black is ?


My mind's done more calculations in the blink of an eye than Deep Blue did to beat Kasparov .

As I evaluate all the options I notice the smile slide off her face , the corners of her tiny mouth turn down and her eyes begin to well up . She realises all is not as it should be and taking one hand off the key instinctively reaches out towards me ...........

Wednesday, June 15, 2005

passing the MENSA test - part 1

O.K. . So I'm picking up my daughter from the child minder and as it's my brother's birthday next day I decide to call into a supermarket and do some well thought out , not-last-minute-at-all , birthday present shopping . Get him a birthday card from his only niece ( who is afraid of him - bogus 70's moustache I think ) and a lottery ticket as a present - you know the score . Having done said shopping and planned dinner I put my daughter in the child seat . My hands are full of bags so she takes the key . I put the bags on the front passenger seat , she sits behind so 2 doors are open . I close the passenger door first then hear a familiar clunk on closing her door - her little face , mouth wide open in a toddler smile , peering out at me as she holds the key in both hands - her little thumbs pressing the middle blue and white button .............

I am sooo fucking stupid .

Saturday, June 11, 2005

favourite Spaces updated live in Firefox

If you've arrived at this entry via an internet search involving Spaces and Firefox you'll find a series of entries about Firefox and MSN Spaces in a list accessed from the home page of my blog.

If you use Internet Explorer or Avant Browser ( a multi-tabbed "skin" for I.E. ) the term "bookmark" will mean nothing . It's Firefox's version of a "favourite" . Except in Firefox you can do something really useful with bookmarks in MSN Spaces .

If you use Firefox ( or after you've downloaded it from here ) when you browse a Spaces page you'll notice a symbol on the right of the status bar . This is the RSS symbol . Rather than explain what RSS is just hover on the symbol and the tool tip should say " add a live bookmark " - in other words " add a continually updated favourite " in I.E. speak . Left click on this symbol and it will add the Space as a bookmark ( it will save it as a folder ) but save each blog entry , list , photo album as individual pages .

The handy part here is that you will save a whole site in one go and it will be automatically updated in real time behind the scenes so all you have to do is right click on the bookmark and you can " open in tabs " all the blog entries etc .allowing you to see every blog post and it's comments in one go in Firefox's multiple tabbed pages . If you do this for each Space you regularly read then the most up to date pages will always be instantly available through your bookmarks sidebar .

You can test it on this page so that you can refer back to the instructions if you need to .



Am i becoming a Firefox evangelist ?

Friday, June 10, 2005

some more everyday essentials

We're all so tech savvy nowadays , aren't we ? Well , a bit anyway . Enough to get us complacent and into danger . Sometimes we just don't know how to get the best from our new technology .

Here are a few sites that I've found useful for this'n'that .

computer hardware or software help

everything you need to know about digital photography / your camera

sending files up to 100MB

test your firewall