Mind those nighties!

I read this article on the BBC website about a set of unusal accidents for which people have been admitted to hospital. These have been published by the Department of Health.

Bizarrely enough, 22 people have been admitted from "from exposure to ignition or melting of nightwear, most of them men"!.

Nostalgia Games

This site brought a tear to the eye! It has a collection of nostalgia DOS games, devised for the IBM PC during the 80s. Yes the graphics are rubbish, but some of them played well, and they sure as hell take me back.

Great examples include DigDug, Elite, Tetris, and the truly brilliant Police Quest, pictured. Compared to modern games, it's completely risible, but as the hero, you wander from Police Station to crime scene, collecting items, and solving crimes. A text adventure, but very satisfying, nevertheless.

Solar Death Ray

This site is fun. This guy has constructed a Solar Death Ray, consisting of lots of little mirrors that focus rays from the sun onto a single point. Why? Because he then wants to take a variety of objects, place them at that point, and superheat them till they melt!

Couch to 5k - running from scratch

This is something that I have mentioned to several people, and they have all asked me for a link to - so I decided to post it on my blog. The site is Cool Running, and it's a runner's resource for just about everything. A number of people I speak to would like to become fitter, and like the idea of running (more than actually doing it), so would prefer a gentler introduction, need look no further.

"Too many people have been turned off of running simply by trying to start off too fast. Their bodies rebel, and they wind up miserable, wondering why anyone would possibly want to do this to themselves.

You should ease into your running program gradually. In fact, the beginners' program we outline here is less of a running regimen than a walking and jogging program. The idea is to transform you from couch potato to runner, getting you running three miles (or 5K) on a regular basis in just two months."

Sounds good, but don't have proper shoes? Don't let that put you off .. start here

Themed fonts

This is quite good. It's a collection of fonts in the style of different TV programs, films, and bands too. All of them are free to download.

The Doors

This is a point and click Shockwave game similar to the Crimson Room. you have very few options, but you can pick things up, and make use of them within the different rooms. The object ultimately is to escape the rooms.

Bored with Music?

Want to try some new stuff? Here's a web site that showcases new music, and has links to hundreds of mp3s of such bands. In the Uk, if you supplement this with Zane Lowe's excellent Radio 1 show from 7-9 on weekdays, you get a pretty good picture of the new and emerging material for the coming year.

I regularly get bored with music. My quest for new music has been with me since I was a teenager, listening to John Peel in my bedroom into the early hours. I recently had a discussion with a friend of mine about why we should both so actively seek out more music, and it's a combination of things. Firstly there's nothing better that 'discovering' a new band. Of course, you're not really discovering them, per se. For you to have heard them in the first place, it was through a friend, or off the radio, or somewhere else. But there's something magical about hearing one track, then opening up the Pandora's Box of their debut album (made more sweet by the fact that nobody you know has ever heard of them), only to find it's a gem. You can then champion them, knowing that they're way cool, and that therefore you are, by proxy.

Of course, the down side is that they then become massively famous, because they are so good, and sometimes the appeal goes with their exclusivity. Not always though; some bands continue to be innovative, and produce more interesting albums. Bands such as the Smiths, Blur and Supergrass were once way cool, but manage to have kept their respectability with consistently good albums, whereas the likes of Oasis, Travis, REM and Suede lost a little something when they became mega.

There are some undesirable effects with this obsession. I have many more albums than I can possibly listen to (roughly 1000). This is compounded by the fact that I am getting hold of roughly 10 new bands a month, whether through internet sites such as the one above, or radio shows, or friend's recommendations. I also love live music, and try to get to at least a couple of gigs a month, thus reducing the time I can listen to the records I own. I can't see that I'll ever lose the need to hear newer material. I realise that there's an element of superficiality in championing the underdog, but you still cannot exchange the excitement of hearing something new that really kicks it, with listening to an old favourite which is like a old friend, always reliable, but rarely electric.

For the record, the things I'm listening to at the moment that are grabbing me (I realise that some of these aren't new, but they're new to me, and most people I speak to at work, in my family etc have never heard of them): Interpol, Emiliana Torrini, The Shins (pictured), The Bravery, Willie Mason, Stephen Fretwell, Bright Eyes, Superwolf, Handsome Boy Modelling School, the Kills, Iron and Wine, Patrick Wolf, Stars.

Balance Ball Chair

I go down the gym with my mate, and he has higlighted to me the benefits of Balance Ball exercises. You know, things like sit-ups, push-ups etc are all possible using a balance ball, but you end up using many more muscles, because you expend a lot of energy maintaining stability. Well, now it seems, you can now sit at your desk using a Balance Ball chair. The manufacturer's say:

"Our patented BalanceBall Chair greatly alleviates the aching back/legs/arms syndrome that come from working at a desk for hours. It employs the same BalanceBall used in your workout routine, an adjustable support bar, easy-glide casters, an air pump and a desktop guide to get you moving."

You can even perform a set of 16 exercises (as you would in a gym), as pictured here. Not sure you'd get away with a leotard in most offices, though.

Book Review: Dan Brown - All of 'em!

You might think it's a bit odd (and perhaps unfair) reviewing all of Dan Brown's books in one hit, but there's a reason for it. I read the Da Vinci Code towards the end of last year, and I confess I enjoyed it. What made it so interesting was not the fact that it was a mesmerising thriller, as some have said, although there is no doubt that he does understand how to keep the reader fascinated with a pacey style.

What made it interesting was all the information in it - this book purports to shatter accepted views of worldwide religions, and not only that, the author clearly did lots of research, which only lends weight to his postulations. Regardless of whether these views are valid (and there was a British documentary which manages to challenge each of the 'facts' Dan Brown offers), they make really interesting reading, and he also informs on many of the famous buildings visited in the book (Westminster Abbey, The Louvre etc).

This is what held me, the informative style. Yes, the plot is involved, and has a pace about it that makes it a page-turner. But some of his techniques underestimate his reader, so it's not a wholly rewarding read. I followed the Da Vinci Code with Angels and Demons, which again, while exhibiting some clumsy suspense mechanisms, was really informative. It was interesting to read about the Illuminati, and the great churches of Rome, but he includes some interesting passages about the apparent conflicts between science and religion that read quite well.

So far, so good. But when he doesn't furnish his books with interesting information, or consistent levels of research, the text reads very flat indeed. Digital Fortress goes that way. It covers the subject of cryptology, but instead of loading the reader with complex information, chooses to cop out, no doubt assuming his readers won't cope. So he hand-holds you through the whole book, and the thriller content isn't thrilling enough to sustain it.

So it was with a resigned sigh that I started Deception Point (you see, having read Da Vinci code, I bought all the others on a 3 for 2 deal at Waterstones!). Deception Point doesn't shy away from the information, but annoyed me because he kept repeating the same facts, no doubt convinced that we couldn't possibly remember them without his help.

It sounds like I'm pretty down on Dan Brown, but once you've read one, you've read them all. He uses the same techniques to inject the thriller 'thrill', but it's tiresome and pedestrian in reality. His plots all contain a twist, but not a cleverly worked one; in all the books the person you think is the good guy (and unquestioningly so) always turns out to be bad. Not a stretch of the imagination, is it? Secondly, something that a lead character assumes to be true will be slowly unpicked throughout the plot, until the story becomes secondary to the things that you learn throughout.

If you want unchallenging, hand-holding, Learn with Mother pulp, all these books should line your suitcase on your next trip abroad. If not, read the Da Vinci code, maybe Angels and Demons (just for the passages on Roman landmarks alone), then move on.

In order: Da Vinci Code 7/10, Angels and Demons 6/10, Digital Fortress 4/10, Deception Point 5/10.

How did we ever cope?

I read with some amusement 4 or 5 years ago about a fridge that restocks itself - it had a barcode that you could use to scan your food, and when you had finished, the fridge helped you to put another shopping list together. The problem with it, was that you had to scan the food in and out of the fridge, and you still needed a wireless device that could talk to the fridge to access your new list. It would have been quicker to attach your previous week's list to the fridge on a piece of paper and cross things out when they depleted.

Well, now devices are getting cleverer. When Dyson's new vacuum fails, you ring up the parts centre, hold the cleaner to the phone, and its internal chip sends a report down the phone to reorder the new part! (story here).That's assuming, of course that it isn't the chip that goes wrong.

Well, Microsoft seem to have joined the fray. They are currently working on an alarm clock which intelligently knows when to wake you up. You input your home location, and your work location, the time you intend to start work and how long you need to get ready, and off it goes. It checks traffic reports, works out how long the journey will take, and wakes you up at the right time.

The day I trust myself to that kind of 'help' is the day I'll be late for work, I'm convinced of it.

The Internet Pinball Database

What a cool site - pretty well holds every pinball I have ever played, including my favourite: "The Creature from the Black Lagoon" (pictured). Personal thanks to the Redan pub in Wokingham for having one of the best pinballs ever in its day, although you don't see many these days. Great graphics, cool drive-in movie sounds "Move your Car!" "Focus!" etc. Apparently, you can still buy these machines, and the site also has the ROM files, in case you ever need to replace the main card, and reburn the software.

Comprehensively geeky.

Tommy Vance RIP

Sad news in this story from the BBC about the passing of Tommy Vance, who died in hospital following a stroke. As a radio broadcaster, his main genre was heavy rock, and Tommy worked at Radio Caroline in the 60s before working for the BBC as a DJ for 15 years presenting the Friday Rock Show.

Tributes have been coming in from all who worked with Tommy, describing him as a quiet man, who once you got to know him, was a friend for life. The comments that struck a chord most with me came from fellow DJ Dave Cash, who worked with him for many years:

""He's a bit like John Peel .. he's irreplaceable, he was a total professional.Tommy was part of the group that actually cared about the music he was playing."

This rings true for me; in the same way that any bedroom music fan listened to John Peel into the early hours of a school night, so we used to listen to Tommy present the Friday Rock Show. With a trademark gravel voice, and a genuine knowledge and love of rock music, Tommy engendered greasy long-haired denim-clad biker boys everywhere. If it weren't for Tommy, we would almost certainly not have seen as many school mates with the following names biro'd onto their army surplus rucksacks: Tygers of Pang Tang, Girlschool, Judas Priest, Saxon, UFO, Anthrax, Dio, Diamond Head, Slayer, Queensryche, Raven, Nazareth, Venom (somebody stop me!!!)..

Rest in Peace Tommy

Hitchhiker's Guide Game

The BBC have represented the text adventure game for "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" here. It's great fun, and there's even a hints section, for when you get stuck, and want to smash up your monitor!

It takes me back to the days when I owned a ZX Spectrum, and used to play text adventures, because the graphics were rubbish. My favourite, and by far the most popular was the Hobbit. Today's hysteria over Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy was nothing compared to the views on this game. There's a good nostalgia site called the Good Old Days that remembers the game fondly (and you can even download it).

In fact, there's quite a large web community for text adventures, but if you want to try a couple out, you could always try a few Infocom games at this site.

Pimpzilla

"Pimpzilla is a theme for the browser Firefox. It's also probably the most tacky & overdone piece of GUI design out there, aimed solely for true internet-connoisseurs. If you are into fur and lots of bling, this is the theme for you."

Google Fight

This site is quite good, it allows you to take two search strings, and enter both into a GoogleFight. In other words, which ones get the most search results in Google.

I tried Cats .v. Dogs, and of course, dogs creamed it.

I trien men .v. women, and of course, women won!!

Live Simple

This is an ebook focused on reducing complexity in your life, and simplifying the whole affair. The author describes it thus:

Are you facing the need or desire to simplify your life? You might be newly laid off, retired, or a student, homemaker, or entrepreneur who has to make do with less. This ebook can help you restructure your life. Or perhaps you have decided that your current profession, although well paying, is unfulfilling. In this case, you could simplify your life so that you could pursue your more desired, but perhaps much lower paying, way of life.

In my life, sometimes I feel that things just seem too complicated. They're not of course, I've just let things slide, or transform themselves into something that I've lost sight of, or a perspective on. For instance, my house is a three-bedroomed house that I inhabit alone. The spare room is my computer room/study. In it I store all of my computer stuff, my 'worky' books, and also a filing cabinet that contains all my bank statements, official documents (birth certificate, passport, medical card etc), and payslips etc. When I get regular statements and bills through the post, because they are all paid by Direct Debit, generally, I don't have to worry about them. I occasionally look through them (not religiously though), and then once opened, they need storing in the filing cabinet. What I tend to do is place them on the in-tray that I have sat on top of the filing cabinet. Slowly, the room gets more untidy, and the top of the filing cabinet may contain several months worth of unfiled documents.

So other things happen in my life; you know you need to fill in your tax return, you need to renew you car tax etc. Both these things require presenting docmuents proving you're insured to drive your car, or that you earned a certain amount the previous tax year. But you leave it and you leave it, and by the time you need these documents, the room is pretty untidy, and finding these sheets of paper is a chore. So, in the case of the tax return, you leave it and leave it. The room gets more untidy, you leave it a little longer. And so on. Suddenly, I've progressively let my garage get cluttered too, so finding anything is a chore. My recycling has built up too, a few little DIY jobs are now several little DIY jobs, and I see no headway in any of these things.

I don't feel that I'm snowed under, but it doesn't help me to feel in control of things, because in a minor way, I'm not. But in a boom-bust sort of way, I tend to address these things thrice annually, when they drive me nuts.

The book can help with this sort of stuff. It gives you a set of simple steps tht you can follow to help address these things in a sensible order. It is all common sense, and therefore something we can all work out for ourselves. But we don't do it often enough. On the subject of self-help books, I am normally the first to be fairly cynical, because they're always way too obvious. But some people struggle with these things more than others. While I cite a small example that I deal with in my own way, some people would be made literally nuts by all this. The millions of days lost to British industry through stress is often because poeple feel they have too much going on to feel in control. This could be the book for them.

Luminous Landscape

This is a great website by Mike H Reichmann on all things photography.

There's also a contributor called Mike Jonhstons who does a weekly Sunday essay, and I really like his writing style. In this article, he talks about why the word "pro" in photography terms is a kind of Holy grail, highlighting the differences between pros and amateurs, thus:

After having thought about the matter for two decades, here are the first principles of what actually, in my opinion, distinguishes pros from the the rest of us: They shoot a lot more. They edit a lot better.

There is also a whole section on the site with tutorials on taking better shots on editing digitally with Photoshop, for example, some assignments to entuse you, and of course, some of his photos, like the one above.

43 things

A great site showing all the things that people want to do right now. The philosophy behind the site is this:

People have known for years that making a list of goals is the best way to achieve them. Why is that? First, getting your goals in writing can help you clarify what you really want to do. You might find you have some important and some frivolous goals. That is OK. You’ve got space for 43 Things on your list. Not every one of them has to change the world (but save room for the ones that might).