While my niece is away on holiday, I’m taking care of her sea monkeys. I have no idea what they are, and had never heard of them before. Taking care is easy, feed them every other day and that’s it. They are apparently tiny brine shrimps, but some people think they’re from Mars. Heehee.

Mum and I went over to Sis’ place to pick up my niece, who is coming over for a night. She has my ipad but she isn’t allowed to play games on it, and out of all her immediate family, I have the most games on my iphone. So I introduced her to bad piggies, and she raced through the first level. She’s 10, it’s second nature to her.

So misuse, misintepretation and mistranslation between languages occur in all directions. I found this website with examples of poor usage of asian languages in western culture. People even send in pictures of their tattooes to ask whether they got what they asked for. A lot of surprises and disappointments when the explanation comes through in the comments — far too many of these Chinese / Japanese / Korean character tattooes are made up of complete gibberish. Or truncated words. Upside down. With missing parts. Just flinging together some random strokes, circles and dots doesn’t a word make. And it’s permanent.

One of the most unfortunate is this boy’s sweater, the character translates roughly to hemorrhoid. Oh dear.

I saw a notice on the bus that said a particular route will be advanced effective a certain date. It’s a football club that will get promoted up next season? Upon further examination, it turns out that advancement means the timetable will be extended, and there will be an extra stop somewhere along the route. I’m thinking someone’s vocabulary needs to be advanced.

Far too many examples of poor English usage that ends up being hilarious (or sad, depending on your POV). Reminds me of this “germy” bread I spotted a while ago. Some type of super word association must have gone on — it’s wholegrain breadrolls, and wheat germinates, hence germy.

I wonder what these people are thinking. Their excuse is English isn’t their first language. (Except, um, google translate.) Then again, it wasn’t the first language I learned either and I turned out okay. Shrug.

The folks at Rovio, of angry birds and bad piggies fame, are planning something nefarious. Their first tumblr post has just a gif and a place/time: Times Square, New York, October 8th, 10am EST. There’s also a hint, to head to Toys’R’Us at 8am.

Sounds innocent enough? Except it’s Angry Birds. And the image is of a figure hidden inside a jedi robe holding a LIGHTSABRE. Angry Birds Star Wars! Wow. I need to stop hyperventilating. Now why did I leave NYC again?

I went over to Sis’ for lunch, and my niece asked if I could go to see the amazing bubbleman with her tonight. How could I refuse? So I took Sis’ place so she and R can go have dinner alone.

The Amazing Bubbleman is Louis Pearl, and he’s been playing with bubbles for over 30 years. It’s very much a show for kids, and there was a lot of audience participation. Some of the kids were quite loud and not so well behaved, not unexpected really given how excited they were. My niece put her hand up a few times but wasn’t picked. Pretty amazing skills, I enjoyed the show too. Especially liked the part where the bubble travelled up a piece of string, and when he blew 10 bubbles within each other. Needless to say, we bought the bubble trumpet at a huge “show special” markup. It’s part and parcel of the experience, I think.

I bought this fantastic lego game life of george for my niece. No idea why the name, but it doesn’t matter. This is the future.

The box comes with 144 standard lego bricks and a small board with grid markings. Before playing, I downloaded the app. The app gives pictures of what to build, the idea of the game is to build the same model using the physical bricks within the time allowed, then take a picture with the iphone. Scores are based on accuracy and time.

There are different levels, single- and two player modes and we can even create our own models. I wanted to get this a while ago, and had been waiting for my US trip, the price difference ($29.99 vs £29.99 — seriously) made it worthwhile to wait. We had a lot of fun, my niece and I. She’s much better at creating models and I’m better at making according to the pics.

Traditionally the boxing day sale is the biggest shopping day of the year. This year, with both Monday and Tuesday being bank holidays, it means record breaking sales at all the retailers. I had debated whether to join the madness, I don’t really have anything to buy; may be some new plates if I see good ones. Then again, I should go out for a little bit, just so I can say I ventured outside during the 4 days for something other than running and taking the rubbish out.

Wasn’t sure where to go, so I just walked over to the bus stop and waited for the next bus. Normally #6 (to the West End) is the most frequent, but I had a premonition that it would be the 187. And I was right. 187 goes to Swiss Cottage and the O2 centre. No big department stores but there is a Habitat. I bought a box of Christmas cards there, then ambled over to Sainsbury’s. Oh yes, my big Christmas sale shopping was at…Sainsbury’s. I got sprouts on the stalk and celeriac for 30p each, huge bargain. Also got small planters, a set of table mats and adjustable spanners at Homebase. Shampoo and laundry detergent at Waitrose. Kinda boring, but useful stuff. Pretty pleased.

Coke brought north pole to us today, this truck took up residence outside the office together with singing santas and photo opportunity — note the woman with dog at the right hand side in front of the truck, the camera is just outside the frame.

Been playing wordsmith with mm. Because of timezones, we can only play during certain hours when we’re both awake, but it’s been fun. Sometimes when we’re on the phone we go through each other’s letters and come up with words. Scoring doesn’t matter. It’s just another method of maintaining ties and feeling close.

We tend to keep to simple words, but I find out that there are different rules and single words that are high scoring include quixotry and caziques. Don’t even know wha they mean.

Via digg and a bunch of sharing on facebook, here’s what actually happened to Stonehenge. Pigs invaded, angry birds to action. In other news, a new angry bird may be coming.

Squawk.

video link: http://youtu.be/bPLXwrj7i7Q

May 4th is star wars day, a play on “may the fourth be with you”. Heh.

xkcd pokes fun at the “newly” designed gawker mobile site, or well, other mobile sites. How very true. The same goes for sites that try to be location specific, like google that directs you to its Thai site when you’re in Thailand but can’t read Thai, and gawker sites are one of the worst, I can’t get into the general US site without clicking over and over again. No, I don’t want uk.lifehacker.com, I want lifehacker.com. I and I alone am the judge of which site I visit.

I think this deserves its own post. We saw diving pigs.

I’m going away with mm, and without internet till Sunday. GASP. I’m resigned to being without mafia wars, which will be a test. I’m taking the iphone, so I’ll re-play cover orange. I finished all 140 levels already. As a contingency, I also caved in and got angry birds.

Been a while since memes did the rounds, I got tagged by Car for this one, and as one of the ones who will complete this. Haha, name and shame.

Three Nicknames

1. watty
2. bb
3. [redacted]

Three Jobs I’ve had in my life

1. squint (chemist squint, not forensic squint)
2. private tutor
3. VP HR

Three Places I have lived

1. chicago
2. zurich
3. hong kong

Three Favourite Drinks

1. coke zero
2. tea
3. red wine

Three TV Shows that I Watch

1. amazing race
2. survivor
3. iron chef

Three Places I have been

1. zorbed down a hill in New Zealand
2. getting completely soaked underneath Niagara Falls
3. went skiing in July in Chile

Three Favorite Foods

1. sashimi
2. rocket
3. chocolate quinoa cake

Three Friends I think will respond

1. no clue, I don’t usually tag people
2. [see above]
3. [see above]

Three Things I am looking forward to

1. seeing mm more often since I’m only 11 hours away instead of 24
2. 2011 running season
3. macbook air

Three Things that are ALWAYS by your side

1. iphone / blackberry
2. computer of some kind
3. water

I unsubscribed to a mailing list recently. One of the reasons was members forwarding jokes and SLYT to the entire group. I didn’t think people that clueless are still allowed to roam the internets. Saw this today, and thought “yep.” There’s more at the oatmeal. Seriously funny stuff.

So for a few weeks mafia wars has been hyping this “blow up an armored truck” in celebration of Las Vegas etc. And today was the day. Supposedly at 6pm Pacific time, Snoop Dog will blow the truck up.

I’m still laughing. The production was so sub-standard — the livefeed was blurry, sound kept popping in and out, the presenter had no clue how to present. Snoop was late, and had no clue what mafia wars was. That’s not the worst. At the last second, some idiot told him he was in the way of something (another camera?) and he moved to right in front of the camera streaming the event to 100,000+ online viewers, perfectly blocking the view.

You can’t plan failure this epic.

I want to go to Turkey now to try this ice cream.

Yesterday unplggd had a survey of whether people give their gadgets names. Well, okay then.

People seem to have this urge to name stuff. According to a survey by Swinton insurers, eight out of ten UK drivers name their cars. I know mm and I (mainly mm) did when we had 3 cars between us, but I’ve always been puzzled by this. It’s a car. Why does it need a name? It’s not as if it’s gonna start responding to its name, right?

Filed under I-think-people-are-odd-but-it-could-just-be-me.

This was all over fb a few weeks ago, so I thought I’d bring it out again.

I love hunch. I haven’t used it that much to ask questions, cos I don’t have a lot of decisions such as “what should I do during my commute?” or “which space heater should I buy” to make in my life. I answer all the questions though. So last week they released the hunch twitter predictor game whereby hunch will guess the answer to a series of questions based on who you follow on twitter. It guessed pretty well so far.

So earlier we had a bunch of farmville people come to mafia wars because they had to get to level 6 and Bangkok (or something like that) in order to get a tractor (or something like that). There was an ad for mw in vamp wars but no requirement to go there yet.

The newest scam is that mw players have to play zynga poker until level 6 to get an ace in the sleeve loot. I don’t like poker. I know the rules in theory but I’ve never been interested or good at it. But I went there anyway. It took me a few tries to realise that I should be playing differently. The objective isn’t to win chips. It’s to gain experience point so I can level up. Even if I fold, I get xp for playing a hand. It took me a while to figure out that strategy, and to realise higher stake tables give more xp. I did occasionally win a hand, but it didn’t take too long to get to level 6 and leave.

I’m dreading the day when we need to play farmville or cafe world. I can understand mw/vw crossover if they do it, but those farming games are really boring for me.

I got my niece hooked on doodlejump and now it’s reached 3 million in sales. It’s very addictive.

video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2zxtDh0wlM

Who would have thought a year ago that a technology that corrects pitch which allows singers to perform perfectly tuned vocal tracks without the need of singing in tune would be the source of so.much.fun.

Here, in no particular order are: balloon boy, Kanye vs Taylor, Obama vs fly, Jon vs Kate, octomom, Sully, amongst others — in autotune. I can’t get that stupid tune out of my head, that’s because it’s pitch perfect. snerk.

Yes I know it’s scamville and addictive, but I’ve been playing mafia wars quite a lot lately. Just the simple do jobs, level up, find loot. I try to keep the wall spams to a minimum, cos I know it drives non-gamers nuts, and some of the posts are crap. I don’t care about icings and leveling up and helping friends because they give terrible boosts. Achievements and loot, yes.

I used to just fight people, but lately I’ve ventured into the hitlist. Oh, it’s fun. Once I’m stronger I’ll see about getting on the hitlist myself. Most bounties are the minimum $8000 and it’s a case of who clicks fastest cos they disappear quick. This was a rare occasion when I clicked at the right time, if only RL were this simple.

So yeah, i finally gave in and started playing mafia wars. I receive enough invitations from vamp wars players. Imagine my surprise and pleasure when I logged in and find that it’d automatically added friends who play as my mafia. So I started at level 1 with 357 mafia members, which gave me a huge advantage when I’m fighting. I got to level 8 in no time. eeeep, another addiction.

Rules: Don’t take too long to think about it. Fifteen movies you’ve seen that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes. Tag fifteen friends, including me because I’m interested in seeing what movies my friends choose. I hope you participate, even if you didn’t get tagged.

1. Star Wars
2. Lord of the Rings series
3. Casablanca
4. The Great Escape
5. My Fair Lady
6. Reality Bites
7. St Elmo’s Fire
8. Streets of Fire
9. Ladyhawke
10. Chance
11. Il Mare / The Lake House
12. X-files: Fight the Future
13. Blade Runner
14. In the Mood for Love
15. When Harry Met Sally

True to plan, I went to market days today. Not sure what I expected, but there wasn’t a market there, heehee. Instead, it’s a bit like midsommarfest only more crowded and more boisterous. Suffice it to say that market days are held at N Halsted, the same stretch where Pride takes place, to give an idea of the participants. Lots of stalls lining both sides of the street, from organisations soliciting for members, marketing by major companies (T-mobile, Comcast etc) to food and drink, craft, jewelry, clothing stalls.



I had a Polish Plate at one of the stalls — stuffed cabbage, polish sausage, sauerkraut, potato pancake, 3 perogis — at $10 not cheap, but nice tasting and filling. Better than the burgers, pizzas and fried noodles at other stalls. I also tried a Bud Light Lime, which tasted really bland, but what did I expect?

  There were several stages set up along the route, and I stayed to enjoy a couple of the bands. There was a rock band, Hag (“it’s a good word,” said the keyboardist) made up of middle-aged women who belted out 80s classics like Vacation and Gold Dust Woman. The lead guitarist was good, even though she looked like someone’s really nice mom. I also watched an Abba tribute band, and they attracted a HUGE crowd. Old and young were all bouncing up and down with the well-known tunes.

 

Again, it being boystown, and a hot day, there were plenty of, well, skin as well as more outrageously dressed individuals. Everyone was plenty willing to let me take their pictures, even posing. A woman asked if I was Press, which gave me warm fuzzy memories of GCLS.

Take a look at the full set, there are some fairly “oooh la la” pics there. The set turned out really nice. Sunny day helped, but I did buy a new MRC circular polariser, which I’m sure vastly improved the pics.

25 Songs - What’s in YOUR mp3 Player? Today at 9.50pm

Here are the rules:

1. Shuffle your iPod/mp3 player/iTunes entire music library.
2. Write down the first 25 songs that come up.
3. Post them in a note back to me.
4. No editing whatsoever (seriously).

My list:

1. Left Behind — Aqualung
2. As I Lay me Down — Sophie B. Hawkins
3. Part of the List — Ne-Yo
4. I Kissed a Girl — Jill Sibule
5. Won’t You Give Him (One More Chance) — Robert Cray
6. Shining Light — 10,000 Maniacs
7. Built this Way — Samantha Ronson
8. Nothing to Lose — Michael Learns to Rock
9. Matador — David Berkeley
10. Roses and Hips — Keren Ann
11. Roller Coaster — Blink 182
12. Side — Travis
13. Falling into You — Kasey Chambers
14. You’re Tender and You’re Tired — Manic Street Preachers
15. The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite — REM
16. Complicated — Avril Lavigne
17. Goodbye, Apathy — One Republic
18. Step into My Office, Baby — Belle and Sebastian
19. Dolphin — Poe
20. Medication — Garbage
21. The Best Years — Smile
22. You’ve Got Her in Your Pocket — The White Stripes
23. I Think We’re Alone Now — Girls Aloud
24. The Choir of the Prophecy Fulfilled — Darkest Hour
25. Paradise City — Guns N Roses

I’m sure I’ve done similar memes before, but it’s been a while. And I’ve been tagged by a couple of people. So, here goes.

If you opened this, FILL IT OUT! Learn 37 things about your friends, and let them learn 37 things about you! Send back to me and to several more friends!

1. Do you like Blue Cheese dressing?
   yep, though i will only put a tiny bit, i’m not very keen on dressing


2. Have you ever smoked cigarettes?
   a few, when i was younger. now i won’t smoke one for a million dollars


3. Do you own a gun?
   yes, i have a marshmallow shooter


4. What flavor of Kool-Aid was your favorite?
   to my knowledge, i’ve never had kool-aid


5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments?
   no, why would i be nervous?


6. What do you think of hot dogs?
   indifferent


7. Favorite Christmas movies?
   christmas movies are not a tradition


8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning?
   tea


9. Can you do push ups?
   yep, though not as many nor as strong as i’d like


10. What’s your favorite piece of jewelry?
    the swarovski jigsaw necklace i bought at changi airport, mm has the matching piece


11. Favorite hobby?
    being a geek


12. Do you have A.D.D.?
    yep yep


13. Do you wear glasses/contacts?
    it’s a necessity


14. Middle name?
    HA!!!


15. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment.
    a) guilty about using the wind, missing the mbp; b) can’t believe i ate a whole mcdonalds angus third pounder with mushroom and cheese with fries and chocolate milkshake; c) good hospital visit today


16. Name 2 or 3 drinks you regularly drink?
    coke zero, tea, water


17. Current worry?
    something at work


18. Current hate right now?
    something at work


19. Favorite place to be?
    home


20. How did you bring in the New Year?
    at home


21. Where would you like to go?
    home. oh, i’m supposed to answer a location? antarctica


22. Name three people who will complete this.
    whoever


23. Do you own slippers?
    yep, flip flop house slippers and a ton of soft toweling ones from hotels


24. What color shirt are you wearing?
    navy blue


25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets?
    never tried, doubt i’d like it


26. Can you whistle?
    barely


27. Where are you now?
    in the dining room at car’s house


28. Would you be a pirate?
    no, don’t like masses of water where i can’t see the bottom


29. What songs do you sing in the shower?
    i don’t


30. Favorite Girl’s Name?
    jane, anything simple


31. Favorite boy’s name?
    jonathan


32. What’s in your pocket right now?
    i’m in shorts, nothing in the pockets


33. Last thing that made you laugh?
    something i read


34. What vehicle do you drive?
    no car yet, but if i did it’d probably be a golf


35. Worst injury you’ve ever had?
    messed up my knee in a skiing accident


36. Do you love where you live?
    i’m getting settled


37. How many TVs do you have in your house?
    two, bear in mind there’s only one of me

Link to Eliss - trailer from steph thirion on Vimeo.

here’s an elegant sound/music/multi-touch puzzle game for the iphone, eliss, currently on sale for 99c, from $2.99. Get it. [via]

I almost forgot about this. tagged by bobbi.

1. My ex…doesn’t exist.
2. Maybe I should be…more realistic about my creative abilities.
3. I love…the quiet, gadgets, mm.
4. People would say that I…am kinda weird, a little smart, and will withdraw if there’s too much attention.
5. I don’t understand…why people must always judge.
6. When I wake up in the morning…I need my tea.
7. I lost…some weight and I’m happy about it and I need to keep it up.
8. Life is full of…stuff.
9. My past taught me…we are all not all that important.

Tagged by Bobbi (a while ago), Car, Rachel.

More facebook meme madness, gakked from my cousin.

gakked from stacia’s lj.

Let others know a little more about yourself, re-post this as your name followed by “ology”.

yet another facebook meme that my cousin tagged me. But i’m not posting on that account, and i’m emailing it to mm in private heehee.

You know the drill… copy & paste into a note, change your answers, then tag your friends. Oh, and make sure you send your answers to your spouse/significant other to let him/her check!

1. She’s sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen?
   korean drama


2. You’re out to eat/what kind of dressing on her salad?
   oil and vinegar, or no dressing


3. What’s one food she doesn’t like?
   no particular food, but if it’s not fresh or poorly made she can tell


4. You go out to eat and have a drink. What does she order?
   she’s usually okay with the water or tea that is served, but sometimes she’ll join me for a diet coke or half a glass of beer if I’m having beer; for a more elaborate meal: wine or sake depending on the cuisine


5. Where did she go to high school?
   I know where, but I’m not posting it in public


6. What size shoe does she wear?
   4.5-5 (UK)


7. What is her favorite type of sandwich?
   chicken, ham and egg (oh wait, that’s me)


8. What would she eat every day if she could?
   chicken, fish


9. What is her favorite cereal?
   Alpen, museli, not too sweet


10. What would she never wear?
    a bikini


11. What is her favorite sports team?
    she doesn’t really watch sports


12. Who did she vote for?
    not american


13. Who is her best friend?
    M, Y, from school: CC, M


14. What is something you do that she wishes you wouldn’t do?
    too uptight, yell at her for no good reason, gets “darkfaced” when she’s late


15. What is her heritage?
    and another one I’m not posting in public


16. You bake her a cake for her birthday; what kind of cake?
    cheesecake or chocolate or just plain, she’ll like them all


17. Did she play sports in high school?
    not a lot


18. What could she spend hours doing?
    sleeping, watching tv


19. What is one talent she has?
    she works so hard, and is so smart


20. What’s her favorite color?
    something bright: red, white

Farhad Manjoo wrote in the NYT about managing his email inbox. Taking his cue from the great Merlin Mann 43 folders inbox zero concept, his method is simple but easier said than done. Basically we should limit our time spent on checking emails (crackberry addicts take note) and should start clearing out our inbox. Then incoming emails should be subject to the following treatment as soon as they come in:

1. reply to it straightaway
2. archive it — folders can be as elaborate or simple, as long as they’re used
3. forward it — to the correct person who will deal with it
4. hold for future action — this is the least preferred method, emails that are read and stuck in the inbox have no use

To this, I add one more: delete it. Sacrilege I know, but if it’s part of a chain that has been superceded, or is useless, or will not have any use for me in future. I delete it. Especially at work where our mailbox capacity is capped. With gmail I might archive it.

My gmail and yahoo inboxes are empty. My work inbox has about 10 emails, all read. THAT’S IT. So I think I can lay claim to one of these cool nerd merit badges.

meme #11. Tagged by Car who, together with airlines, provides me with film entertainment.

SUPPOSEDLY if you’ve seen over 85 films, you have no life. Mark the ones you’ve seen. There are 239 films on this list. Copy this list, go to your own Facebook account, paste this as a note. Then, put x’s next to the films you’ve seen, add them up, change the header adding your number, and click post at the bottom. Have fun.

( ) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(x) Grease
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest
( ) Boondock Saints
( ) Fight Club
( ) Starsky and Hutch
(x) Neverending Story
(x) Blazing Saddles
(x) Airplane
Total: 6

( ) Napoleon Dynamite
(x) Labyrinth
( ) Saw
( ) Saw II
( ) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
( ) Anger Management
(x) 50 First Dates
(x) The Princess Diaries
( ) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Total so far: 9

( ) Scream
( ) Scream 2
( ) Scream 3
(x) Scary Movie
( ) Scary Movie 2
( ) Scary Movie 3
( ) Scary Movie 4
(x) American Pie
(x) American Pie 2
(x) American Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp
Total so far: 13

(x) Harry Potter 1
(x) Harry Potter 2
(x) Harry Potter 3
(x) Harry Potter 4
( ) Resident Evil 1
( ) Resident Evil 2
( ) The Wedding Singer
( ) Little Black Book
( ) The Village
(x) Lilo & Stitch
Total so far: 18

(x) Finding Nemo
( ) Finding Neverland
(x) Signs
( ) The Grinch
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
( ) White Chicks
( ) Butterfly Effect
( ) 13 Going on 30
(x) I, Robot
( ) Robots
Total so far: 21

( ) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
( ) Universal Soldier
( ) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
( ) Along Came Polly
(x) Deep Impact
( ) KingPin
(x) Never Been Kissed
( ) Meet The Parents
( ) Meet the Fockers
( ) Eight Crazy Nights
( ) Joe Dirt
( ) King Kong
Total so far: 23

( ) A Cinderella Story
( ) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
(x) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumber & Dumberer
( ) Final Destination
( ) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
( ) Halloween
( ) The Ring
( ) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving X-mas
( ) Flubber
Total so far: 24

( ) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
(x) Practical Magic
( ) Chicago
( ) Ghost Ship
( ) From Hell
(x) Hellboy
( ) Secret Window
( ) I Am Sam
( ) The Whole Nine Yards
( ) The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far: 26

(x) The Day After Tomorrow
( ) Child’s Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
( ) Ten Things I Hate About You
( ) Just Married
( ) Gothika
( ) Nightmare on Elm Street
(x) Sixteen Candles
( ) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
( ) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
( ) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask
Total so far: 28

( ) Bad Boys
( ) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
( ) Lucky Number Slevin
(x) Ocean’s Eleven
(x) Ocean’s Twelve
( ) Bourne Identity
( ) Bourne Supremecy
( ) Lone Star
( ) Bedazzled
( ) Predator I
( ) Predator II
( ) The Fog (the original)
( ) Ice Age
( ) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
( ) Curious George
Total so far: 30

(x) Independence Day
( ) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
( ) Christine
(x) ET
( ) Children of the Corn
( ) My Bosses Daughter
(x) Maid in Manhattan
(x) War of the Worlds
( ) Rush Hour
( ) Rush Hour 2
Total so far: 34

( ) Best Bet
(x) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
(x) She’s All That
( ) Calendar Girls
(x) Sideways
( ) Mars Attacks
(x) Event Horizon
(x) Ever After
( ) Wizard of Oz
(x) Forrest Gump
(x) Big Trouble in Little China
(x) The Terminator
(x) The Terminator 2
(x) The Terminator 3
Total so far: 44

(x) X-Men
(x) X-2
(x) X-3
(x) Spider-Man
(x) Spider-Man 2
( ) Sky High
( ) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
( ) Catch Me If You Can
(x) The Little Mermaid
(x) Freaky Friday
( ) Reign of Fire
( ) The Skulls
(x) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
( ) The Hot Chick
(x) Shrek
(x) Shrek 2
Total so far: 54

( ) Swimfan
( ) Miracle on 34th street [the original]
( ) Old School
( ) The Notebook
( ) K-Pax
( ) Krippendorf’s Tribe
( ) A Walk to Remember
( ) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
( ) The 40-year-old Virgin
Total so far: 54

(x) Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
(x) Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
(x) Lord of the Rings: Return Of the King
(x) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(x) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(x) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Total so far: 60

( ) Basketball
( ) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
( ) Elf
(x) Highlander
( ) Mothman Prophecies
( ) American History X
( ) Three
Total so Far: 61

( ) The Jacket
( ) Kung Fu Hustle
( ) Shaolin Soccer
( ) Night Watch
(x) Monsters Inc.
(x) Titanic
( ) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
( ) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard
Total so far: 63

( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
(x) Hulk
( ) Dawn Of the Dead
( ) Hook
(x) Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
( ) 28 days later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
( ) Waterworld
Total so far: 65

( ) Kill Bill vol 1
( ) Kill Bill vol 2
( ) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
( ) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) The Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
( ) Army of Darkness
Total so far: 65

(x) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(x) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(x) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(x) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(x) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(x) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
( ) Ewoks The Battle For Endor
Total so far: 71

(x) The Matrix
(x) The Matrix Reloaded
(x) The Matrix Revolutions
( ) Animatrix
( ) Evil Dead
( ) Evil Dead 2
( ) Team America: World Police
( ) Red Dragon
(x) Silence of the Lambs
( ) Hannibal
Grand Total: 75

meme #10. tagged by Karinna. The rules:

• You can only answer Yes or No.
• You are NOT ALLOWED to explain ANYTHING unless someone messages or comments you and asks!

1. Kissed any of your facebook friends? yes
2. Been arrested? no
3. Kissed someone you didn’t like? no
4. Currently have a crush on one or more of your facebook friends? no
5. Slept in until 5 PM?  yes
6. Stayed awake for 24 hours straight?  yes
7. Fallen asleep at work/school? yes
8. Held a snake? yes
9. Held a spider? no
10. Killed a fly? yes
11. Ran a red light? yes
12. Been suspended from school? no
13. Totaled your car/motorbike in an accident? no
14. Been fired from a job? no
15. Walked off the job without giving notice? no
16. Sang karaoke? yes
17. Done something you told yourself you wouldn’t? yes
18. Laughed until something you were drinking came out your nose? yes
19. Caught a snowflake on your tongue? yes
20. Streaked (for you young-uns - that’s run naked in a public place)? no
21. Sang in the shower? no
22. Sat on a rooftop? yes
23. Been pushed into a pool with all your clothes? no
24. Gone skinny dipping? no
25. Broken a bone? no
26. Shaved your head?  no
27. Blacked out from drinking? yes
28. Urinated in a public place (not a restroom) on purpose? no
29. Played a prank on someone? yes
30. Felt like killing someone? no
31. Made your girlfriend/boyfriend cry? yes
32. Had Mexican jumping beans for pets? no
33. Been in a band? no
34. Shot a gun? yes
35. Donated Blood? yes
36. Been in a fist fight? no
37. Eaten crocodile/alligator meat? yes
38. Eaten cheesecake? yes
39. Parachcuted out of a perfectly good plane? no
40. Gone SCUBA diving? no
41. Bungee jumping? no
42. Ever street raced? no
43. Still in love with someone you shouldn’t be? yes
44. Think about the future? yes
45. Think about the past? yes
46. Believe in love? yes
47. Asked a Magic 8 Ball for an answer? no

Here’s another set of facebook memes. #9. tagged by Sera.

If you were in a band, this would be your first album cover. Directions:

1. Go to a wikipedia random page — the title is the name of your band
2. Go to random quotes — the first 5 words from the last quote is the title of your first album
3. Go to flickr’s last 7 days interesting page — select a photo for your album cover
4. Using photoshop or a similar program, put it all together
5. Post and tag friends you want to join in.

That was FUN!!!! I got an award winning cinematographer as band name, the last words of captain Lawrence Oates (1880-1912) as album name, and picked a picture of an abandoned room as cover. Which I played around in photoshop, of course.

meme #8, tagged by Kerry. Apparently the BBC reckons most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here.

Instructions:
1) Look at the list and put an ‘x’ after those you have read
2) Add a ‘+’ to the ones you LOVE
3) Star (*) those you plan on reading
4) Tally your total at the bottom
5) Put in a note with your total in the subject

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen x+++
2. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien [I tried, but i just can’t get through them]
3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte x
4. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling * [i’m stuck on book 5]
5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee x
6. The Bible [the whole Bible, not so much]
7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte x
8. Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell x
9. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman x
10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens x+
11. Little Women - Louisa M Alcott x+
12. Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare
15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien [see #2]
17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger x+++++++++ [:P]
19. The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20. Middlemarch - George Eliot
21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell [no, never]
22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25. The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams x+++
26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck x
29. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens x
33. Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34. Emma - Jane Austen
35. Persuasion - Jane Austen
36. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40. Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41. Animal Farm - George Orwell x
42. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown [i got may be half way, then lost interest]
43. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44. A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47. Far from the Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48. The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49. Lord of the Flies - William Golding x
50. Atonement - Ian McEwan
51. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52. Dune - Frank Herbert x
53. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen x
55. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57. A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60. Love in the time of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63. The Secret History - Donna Tartt x+
64. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66. On the Road - Jack Kerouac
67. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68. Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding x
69. Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70. Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens x
72. Dracula - Bram Stoker
73. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett x
74. Notes from a Small Island - Bill Bryson
75. Ulysses - James Joyce
76. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78. Germinal - Emile Zola
79. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80. Possession - AS Byatt
81. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens x
82. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro x
85. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87. Charlotte’s Web - EB White x+++
88. The Five People You Meet in Heaven - Mitch Albom
89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton [why these and not the Famous Five?]
91. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint Exupery x
93. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94. Watership Down - Richard Adams x [really boring]
95. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas x [though, i think it was an abridged version]
98. Hamlet - William Shakespeare x
99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl x
100. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo x [this was definitely an abridged version]

Total 28, of which most were required reading at school. Those I like I put more than one (+) and of the ones I haven’t read, I intend to finish the Potters, that’s it. I wanted to read Atonement, but after seeing the film, not so much.

I tried to look for the origin, and I think the meme grew from a 2003 search for the nation’s favourite books that resulted in the Big Read. When i said grew, there are post-2003 books in this list, so perhaps it’s morphed.

meme #7 (tagged by Stacia).

1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
   
2. Put it on shuffle
   
3. Press play
   
4. For the first question, type the song that’s playing
   
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button TWICE
   
6. Don’t lie and try to pretend you’re cool…just type it in man!
   

IF YOUR LIFE WAS A MOVIE WHAT WOULD THE SOUNDTRACK BE:

1. Opening Credits:
   She Bangs — Ricky Marin
2. Waking Up:
   Angel Eyes — Abba
3. First Day at School:
   Brighter Eyes — Mono Band
4. Falling in Love:
   Foundations — Beautiful South
5. Losing Virginity:
   Ghost World — Aimee Mann
6. Fight Song:
   The First — Tegan and Sara [wow, freaky coincidence]
7. Breaking Up:
   Cold in the Country — The Rosewood Thieves
8. Prom:
   Hello — Oasis
9. Life:
   This is the Day — Courtney Jaye
10. Mental Breakdown:
    Never Enough — Del Amitri
11. Driving:
    Outlines — Clor
12. Flashback:
    Better Luck Next Time — Scissor Sisters
13. Getting Back Together:
    Sometime Around Midnight — Airborne Toxic Event [mmm, one of my favourite songs too]
14. Wedding:
    Tai Chi — Christophe Beck [heh]
15. Birth of Child:
    Home to Stay — Josh Groban
16. Final Battle:
    Kids — Robbie Williams [ack, one question too late]
17. Death Scene:
    Andy, You’re a Star — The Killers [so nice of the Killers to show up at the end]
18. Funeral Song:
    Everybody Have Fun Tonight — Wang Chung [LOL]
19. End Credits:
    Sweet Hallelujah — Hawksley Workman [if only it were the Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley or even Rufus Wainwright Hallelujah]

meme #6. Type in “[your name] needs” in quotes into your favorite search engine and see what comes up. List the first 10 and then tag 10 or more friends.

i did “watson needs” cos watty didn’t come up with anything meaningful. So, watson needs:

1. an Invisibility Cloak [oh yes I do and I’d really really really like one]


2. Assessment Questionnaire Survey


3. to do another blog post [not after I’ve been posting crazy about memes]


4. your signature


5. a vacation [*nods*]


6. to play domestic cricket for an extended period of time


7. to stop moving her eyebrows so much


8. a censor [why? i don’t swear…that much]


9. a new agent


10. to play with more fire [now that is eyebrow-raising-worthy]

meme #5. After you have filled this out, tag people and have them do the same.

[Note: the post from Julia, who tagged me, and others numbered this list manually. I’m using html ol, and the auto-numbering shows there are only 98 things. So, i added #99 and 100 myself.]

1. Last beverage? coke zero
2. Last phone call? mm
3. Last text message? mm
4. Last song you listened to? Human — The Killers
5. Last time you cried? don’t remember

HAVE YOU EVER:
6. Dated someone twice? no
7. Been cheated on? yes, kinda, and it wasn’t a cut and dry situation
8. Lost someone special? see above
9. Been depressed? not in the clinical, needing medicine way
10. Been drunk? lol yes

LIST THREE FAVORITE COLORS:
11. black
12. blue
13. can i say black again? um, grey

THIS YEAR HAVE YOU: [I presume it’s 2009, which is tough cos it’s only february]
14. Made new friends? fb friends yes, RL friends not so much
15. Fallen out of love? no
16. Laughed until you cried? no
17. Met someone who changed you? no
18. Found out who your true friends were? no, i have very few, selective, friends
19. Found out someone was talking about you? no
20. Kissed anyone on your friend’s list? on one of my friend’s list yes of course

GENERAL:
21. How many people on your friends list do you know in real life? depends on which account. on one account i know and have met 10-15%, on my other account I know 90-95% personally
22. How many kids do you want to have? none
23. Do you have any pets? not now, i can’t see me having pets in future cos I travel so much, am scared of dogs and allergic to cats
24. Do you want to change your name? i just don’t want a name
25. What did you do for your last birthday? i had a quiet day by myself
26. What time did you wake up today? 9am
27. What were you doing at midnight last night? reading Trails Merge, Rachel please take note lol
28. Name something you CANNOT wait for? bonus time
29. Last time you saw your father? the week in january when i was home in between chicago and going to new york
30. What is one thing you wish you could change about your life? that i did more creative stuff, like spent more time and energy writing and learning photography
31. What are you listening to right now? Gram watching tv in the next room
32. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom? yep
33. What’s getting on your nerves right now? stress at work
34. Whats your real name? ha! no way
35. Relationship Status? yes
36. Zodiac sign? aries
37. Male or female? female
38. Elementary school? mcs
39. Middle school? i guess this means early secondary school? clsg
40. High school? clsg
41. Hair color? black
42. Long or short? short
43. Height? 5’4”
44. Do you have a crush on someone? no
45. What do you like about yourself? i’m really smart and i hope i’m not coming across as too arrogant
46. Piercing? none
47. Tattoos? none
48. Righty or lefty? righty wishing to be lefty (or ambidextrous)

FIRSTS:
49. First surgery: okay, this is a big secret that only my sis knew at the time, i had a lump removed from my left breast when i was around 20-21
50. First piercing: none, see #46
51. First tattoo: none see #47
52. First best friend: when i was 7, we were friends all through school and through college even though we were in different countries
53. First sport you joined: basketball since, like, forever
54. First pet: aside from some chicks when we were young, we had Tabby for 20 years
55. First vacation remembered: macau with my family and my uncle’s family, when i was may be 7? 10?
56. First concert: does Disney on Ice count? otherwise it would have been a classical concert
57. First crush: when i was 7, i had some sort of crush on the girl i sat with at school
58. First alcoholic drink: nothing specific, my dad and grandpa always gave us sips from what they were drinking be it beer, wine, brandy

RIGHT NOW:
59. Eating: we had a late lunch of white castle
60. Drinking: coke zero
61. I’m about to: start reading a book i’ve read a few times before
62. Listening to: nothing
63. Waiting to: enjoy my long weekend

YOUR FUTURE :
64. Want kids? no, see #22
65. Want to get married? in a perfect world, i’m already married
66. Careers in mind? i’m coming up to the high point of my career now, i’m global head of my function

WHICH IS BETTER WITH THE OPPOSITE SEX OR SAME SEX IF YOU’RE GBLT?
67. Lips or eyes? eyes
68. Hugs or kisses? kisses though mostly i get hugs
69. Shorter or taller? no preference, mm is shorter
70. Older or Younger? no preference, mm is younger
71. Romantic or spontaneous? romantic
72. Nice stomach or nice arms? nice stomach, since i’m on a fitness bug
73. Tattoos or piercings? none
74. Sensitive or loud? anything but loud
75. Hook-up or relationship? relationship
76. Trouble maker or hesitant? neither, but if i had to pick, hesitant

HAVE YOU EVER:
77. Kissed a stranger? no
78. Drank hard liquor? yes
79. Lost glasses/contacts? no, how can anyone lose their glasses?
80. Sex on first date? no
81. Broken someone’s heart? i hope not, have to ask mm
82. Had your own heart broken? slightly
83. Been arrested? no
84. Turned someone down? no
85. Cried when someone died? yes
86. Liked a friend that is a girl/boy (depends on your preference)? yep, but it passed

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:
87. Yourself? yes
88. Miracles? yes
89. Love at first sight? as a concept maybe, as something that can happen to me, no
90. Heaven? yes
91. Santa Claus? as in fly around on a sleigh delivering presents every Christmas Eve? No. as a story, yes
92. Kissing on the first date? no reference point, but if it’s right then sure
93. Angels? yes

ANSWER TRUTHFULLY:
94. Is there one person you want to be with right now? yes
95. Had more than one boyfriend/girlfriend at one time? no
96. Do you believe its possible to remain faithful forever? mostly yes
97. What’s the one thing you cannot live without? “me” time
98. Posting this as 100 truth? yes

ADD TWO MORE RANDOM THINGS:
99. Current exercise: running, moving onto strength training and intervals
100. Completely random: lemon meringue pie

meme #4. Strictly speaking, it’s what your itunes says about you.

Here’s how it works: 1. Open your library 2. Put it on shuffle 3. Press play 4. For every question, type the song that’s playing 5. When you go to a new question, press the next button 6. Don’t lie about the songs (they can be funny if you just leave them) 7. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged.

1. What’s my mood like right now?
   The Sound of Settling — Death Cab for Cutie
   
2. How’s tomorrow going to be for me?
   Thinking about You — Ivy
   
3. What kind of person am I?
   From a Distance — Kathy Mattea
   
4. Am I loved?
   You Make it Real — James Morrison
   
5. How can I achieve my highest potential?
   Weak in the Presence of Beauty — Alison Moyet
   
6. What should I do with my life?
   Pretty Girls don’t Cry — Chris Isaak
   
7. Is everything really going to be alright in the end?
   Loose Ends — Imogen Heap
   
8. What is my best quality?
   The Rain — Kasey Chambers
   
9. How does my social life look?
   Undertow — Suzanne Vega
   
10. What’s the meaning of life?
    Season of Hollow Soul — kd lang
    
11. What do people think of me?
    Throw Your Arms Around Me — Neil Finn
    
12. How crazy am I?
    America Town — Five for Fighting
    
13. Where will I be a year from now?
    Moments — Alex Parks
    
14. What is my fondest wish?
    Secret — Maroon 5
    
15. How did my best friend and I meet?
    Milk — Garbage
    
16. What will I dream about tonight?
    Crawl — Kings of Leon
    
17. What should I be working on right now?
    See You — Depeche Mode
    
18. What’s my mom up to currently?
    She will be Loved — Maroon 5
    
19. What did I do last weekend?
    Ain’t got Nothin’ — Oasis
    
20. Describe me.
    Run — Four Star Mary
    
21. What does my iPod say about me?
    Fool’s Paradise — Rosie Vela
    

meme #3.

Rules: place an (x) by all the things you’ve done and remove the (x) from the ones you have not, then send it to your friends (including me).

Things you have done during your lifetime: ( ) Gone on a blind date
(x) Skipped school
( ) Watched someone die
(x) Been to Canada
( ) Been to Mexico
( ) Been to Florida
(x) Been to Hawaii
(x) Been on a plane
(x) Been on a helicopter
(x) Been lost
(x) Gone to Washington, DC
(x) Swam in the ocean
(x) Cried yourself to sleep
(x) Played cops and robbers
( ) Recently colored with crayons
(x) Sang Karaoke - including back up singing
( ) Paid for a meal with coins only
( ) Been to the top of the St. Louis Arch
(x) Done something you told yourself you wouldn’t
(x) Made prank phone calls
( ) Been down Bourbon Street in New Orleans
(x) Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose & elsewhere
(x) Caught a snowflake on your tongue
( ) Danced in the rain
( ) Written a letter to Santa Claus
( ) Been kissed under the mistletoe
(x) Watched the sunrise with someone
(x) Blown bubbles
(x) Gone ice-skating
(x) Gone to the movies
( ) Been deep sea fishing
( ) Driven across the United States
( ) Been in a hot air balloon
( ) Been sky diving
( ) Gone snowmobiling
(x) Lived in more than one country
(x) Lay down outside at night and admired the stars while listening to the crickets
( ) Seen a falling star and made a wish
( ) Enjoyed the beauty of Old Faithful Geyser
(x) Seen the Statue of Liberty
( ) Gone to the top of Seattle Space Needle
(x) Been on a cruise
(x) Traveled by train
(x) Traveled by motorcycle
(x) Been horse back riding
(x) Ridden on a San Francisco CABLE CAR
(x) Been to Disneyland
(x) Truly believe in the power of prayer
(x) Been in a rain forest (a temperate rainforest)
(x) Seen whales in the ocean
(x) Been to Niagara Falls
(x) Ridden on an elephant-This does not include the Flying Dumbo ride!
( ) Swam with dolphins
( ) Swam with sting rays
( ) Been to the Olympics
(x) Walked on the Great Wall of China
( ) Saw and heard a glacier calf
(x) Seen a glacier
( ) Been spinnaker flying
( ) Been water-skiing
(x) Been snow-skiing
(x) Been to Westminster Abbey
(x) Been to the Louvre
(x) Swam in the Mediterranean
( ) Been to a Major League Baseball game
( ) Been to a National Football League game
( ) Found and lost the greatest love of your life
( ) Kissed a total stranger
(x) Raced another car

meme #2. First, it’s not “senior” year it’s the Upper Sixth, and it’s not “high” school it’s secondary school — this meme is way too american, but what the hell.

The rules: fill this out about your SENIOR year of high school! The longer ago it was, the more fun the answers will be!! FORWARD with name of high school and graduating year in the subject box.

1. Did you date someone from your school? no, I had no concept of dating then
2. Did you marry someone from your high school? no
3. Did you car pool to school? driving to school wasn’t, isn’t allowed
4. What kind of car did you have? see above
5. What kind of car do you have now? none
6. It is Friday night…where are you? home
7. It was Friday night…where were you then? home
8. What kind of job did you have in high school? *confused* i was at school, why would I be working
9. What kind of job do you do now? chief excel officer
10. Were you considered a flirt? no
11. Were you in band, orchestra, or choir? no
12. Were you a nerd? no, i played sports
13. Did you get suspended or expelled? no
14. Can you sing the fight song? we don’t have a fight song
15. Who was/were your favorite teacher? Mr R for Maths, Mrs W for chemistry
16. Where did you sit during lunch? refectory
17. When did you graduate? 198x
18. What was your school mascot? we don’t have mascots
19. If you could go back and do it again, would you? no
20. Did you have fun at Prom? we don’t have prom
21. Do you still talk to the person you went to Prom with? see above
22. Are you planning on going to your next reunion? no, though last time i was in town, i went over to take some pictures
23. Do you still talk to people from school? no
24. What are/were your school’s colors? maroon and white

There’s a bunch of memes going around facebook that I got tagged. Here’s the first one.

The rules: copy the list and replace the one-word answers with your own. I did it like one of those tests that you answer the first thing that pops in your head. Tag people that you want to see their answers.

1. Where is your cell phone?  charging
2. Your significant other?  8000miles
3. Your hair? black
4. Your mother? home
5. Your father? home
6. Your favorite? mac
7. Your dream last night? blank
8. Your favorite drink? zero
9. Your dream/goal? hide
10. What room you are in? dining
11. Your hobby? dork
12. Your fear? people
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? done
14. Where were you last night? PT
15. Something that you are not? extrovert
16. Muffins? carbs!!
17. Wish list item? porsche
18. Where you grew up? london
19. Last thing you did? dinner
20. What are you wearing? black
21. Your TV? crated
22. Your pets? never
23. Friends? some
24. Your life? tiring
25. Your mood? fit
26. Missing some one? mm
27. Car? chat
28. Something you’re not wearing? shoes
29. Your favorite store? supermarket
30. Your favorite color? black
31. When is the last time you laughed? today
32. Last time you cried? months
33. Who will resend this? dunno
34. One place that I go to over and over? bed
35. One person who text me regularly? mm
36. My favorite place to eat? home
37. My favorite food? japanese
38. My favorite person? mm

bb guest blogger Charles Platt has been making charts.

mmmcharts.

This one I love. A visual representation of relative population density.

To create this chart I turned to the CIA Factbook, where I looked up the populations of various nations and then divided this number into their land area (excluding lakes and rivers) to get the number of square feet available per person. I represented the results in squares that are all drawn to the same scale.

It’s an average, of course. Many countries have areas of low population density (like mountains etc) and the vast majority of the population live in urban cities. Still, a good chart.

And one that suggests I am soon to trade up by a huge factor when I move to Chicago. Huh. I doubt I’d be getting an apartment 20,000 times larger.

via techcrunch, a neat little web 2.0 game — try to recognise as many web 2.0 sites by their logos. Some are instantly recognisable, but some are more tricky and some i’ve never heard of. And in true web 2.0 fashion, the site is facebook connect enabled.

i got 23/34, which is as many as i could have expected.

via the awesome john hodgman, an awesome Little Big Planet creation. Makes me want to buy a PS3 just to play this game. Not sure what is LBP? Watch the amazon trailer.

I never watched it’s a wonderful life but I understand it to be Christmas related, and not to make wishes you didn’t mean.

This flash animation was originally at itsawonderfulinternet but the website seems to have gone. I found it elsewhere and videograbbed it.

It’s one for the Christmas season.

The silly tumbleweed is one of our favourite smileys. And now some enterprising people have created the instant tumbleweed (via mefi). [click the button]

Things have been hugely stressful lately, for both mm and I. Work work work. We’re both tired, irritable and want nothing more than being able to leave the office behind and catch up on sleep.

Or may be, we need to take our aggression out on … something, somebody.

I remember reading about this on giz — remote impact - shadow boxing over a distance. The idea is to punch the living daylights out of your opponent in the form of a shadow projected on a giant vertical mattress. Heh, not just punching — you can hit, kick and even use body blows.

It’s like Street Fighter, only for real.

The name isn’t punchy [groan] enough and the narration in the video lacks violent passion, but hey, I’m sold.

via mefi, pride and prejudice told facebook newsfeed style. It’s funny as hell, I grinned like an idiot reading it. Funny bits further down:

Lydia Bennet and Kitty Bennet joined the group 1,000,000 Strong Against the Officers Leaving Meryton!

Mrs. Bennet joined the group Widows of Men Killed in Duels.

via kottke, mcsweeney’s break down 50 years of popular songs intoone simple sentence.

The Beatles “I Want to Hold Your Hand” — I want to do it with you

Led Zeppelin “Whole Lotta Love” — I want to do it with you

James Blunt “You’re Beautiful” — I want to do it with you

Frank Sinatra “Strangers in the Night” — I’m drunk and I want to do it with you

Patsy Cline “Crazy” — I want to do it with you so much I’m going fucking nuts

Kate Bush “Wuthering Heights” — I’m an 18th-century fictional character and I want to do it with another 18th-century fictional character

I’m, um, sensing a theme here. Writers of pop-rock music seem to have one thing on their mind.

via bb, a weird, strangely mesmerizing, out of senses…flash platform game by the name of I made this, you play this, we are enemies. The creator, Jason Nelson, who tells us “don’t try to get it”, calls it,

an artwork/game/digital poem/world of scribbles and ideas from the back of my brain, way-way back in a storage room for contextual whims

Cory Doctorow calls it

brilliant and terrible all at once

Broken down, it’s basically a flash platform game using famous webpages as background and incorporating random words and graphics. But I think it’s more than that, just like poems are more than just a collection of words. Or graffiti spray paint. It has attitude.

I freaking love it, the freak that i am.

gakked from candleshoe, which shows how infrequently I’m checking lj, cos she originally got this from zhyan, who is on my friends list. Anyway, there were a couple of missing questions, and I managed to google them, and found an even longer meme that contained some of this meme, but not the last part. Man, this is complicated, I’m sticking with shoey’s version.

1. How old will you be in 12 months?
   why do memes always have to start with a personal question? The answer is no


2. Do you think you’ll be married by then?
   no


3. What do you look forward to in the next 3 months?
   looking forward to, and dreading: moving to Chicago


4. Who was the last person you called?
   SC, to organise my farewell lunch with people at my old company


5. Who was the last person to call you?
   mm, it’s so easy now


6. Do you prefer to call or text?
   text


7. Do you have any pets?
   no


8. What were you doing at 12am last night?
   sleeping


9. Parents separated/divorced/married?
   married


10. When is the last time you saw your dad?
    at my niece’s birthday almost 3 weeks ago


11. What happened at 11:00a.m.?
    at work


12. How many states have you lived in?
    one


13. How many cities/towns have you lived in?
    four


14. Do you prefer shoes, socks, or bare feet?
    outside: shoes, inside: slippers


15. What was the last thing you ate?
    fruit salad of apple, papaya, blueberries and persimmon


16. Favorite ice cream?
    vanilla


17. What is your favorite dessert?
    apple crumble


18. What is your favorite TV show?
    amazing race


19. What kind of jelly do you like on your PB & J sandwich?
    grape, I suppose — pb&j doesn’t feature in my diet


20. Do you like coffee?
    no


21. How many glasses of water a day do you drink?
    just water, may be 2-3. including all the liquids, around the 8 required


22. What do you drink in the morning?
    tea


23. Would you rather kiss someone with or without a tongue ring?
    since I’ve only kissed one person in my life, and she has no tongue ring, i have no comparison


24. Do you sleep on a certain side of the bed?
    yes, the middle


25. Do you know how to play poker?
    in theory yes, in practice no


26. Do you like to cuddle?
    mm likes leaning on me, does that count?


27. Any plans for this weekend?
    haircut, shopping in preparation for Chicago, lunch with mm on sunday, running


28. Do you eat out or at home more often?
    at home


29. Have you ever drank?
    not until I was in my 30s, there was a period when I drank a lot, but now may be wine or beer occasionally


30. Have you ever been in an ambulance?
    I think once, can’t remember, when I fell over and broke my forehead at school, that was when I got my stitches


31. Do you prefer an ocean or a pool?
    pool


32. Do you prefer a window seat or an aisle seat?
    window although my last trip I opted for aisle cos they were BA club world seats and the window seats face backwards


33. Do you know how to drive a stick shift?
    yes. I’m not gonna make a driving stick joke


34. What is your favorite thing to spend money on?
    gadgets


35. Do you wear jewelry 24/7?
    i don’t wear jewelry


36. Do you speak any other language?
    yes


37. Can you roll your tongue?
    yep


38. Who is the funniest person you know?
    can’t think of anyone now


39. What is the main ring tone on your phone?
    


40. Do you still have clothes from when you were little?
    no


41. What is the color of your bedroom walls?
    white


42. Do you like overly sensitive people?
    i’m not sure if i have the patience


43. Are you single?
    supposedly no, but to all intents and purposes yes


44. Who is the best hugger that you know?
    my niece


45. Do you believe in love at first sight?
    no. i want to, but i’m not convinced it is possible and definitely i can’t see it happening to me


46. Is there something you want to tell someone?
    to people in general: go away


47. What brand of shirt are you wearing?
    an old X-files t-shirt, the colour and label has since faded


48. What do you think about the person you got this from?
    calm, witty, knows what she wants from herself and life. i wish i had more time in London last week so i could have gotten in touch and meet up


49. How many kids do you want to have?
    none


50. Do you have a good relationship with your parents?
    yes


51. Do you wanna change your name?
    oh yes. unless absolutely necesary i don’t use my name, i can happily live in a world without a name


52. What did you do for your last birthday?
    i stayed home and had a quiet day


53. What time did you wake up today?
    before 6am, either jetlag or stress


54. Name something you CANNOT wait to do:
    RETIRE


55. What is one thing you wish you could change about yourself?
    be less impatient


56. Which hand do you like better?
    i’m right-handed but wish i were left-handed


57. What are you listening to right now?
    nothing. i was watching Rachel Maddow’s podcast earlier


58. Have you ever talked to Tom?
    heh, now this is when i think this comes from myspace. tom, don’t forcefully add yourself as my friend


59. Have you ever donated money to a good cause?
    yes


60. Least favorite month?
    july, cos it gets too hot


61. What’s the last piece of clothing you borrowed from anyone?
    i don’t borrow clothing, the last piece would have been years and years ago from mm, probably a shirt


62. Who’s getting on your nerves right now?
    people from work


63. Most visited webpage?
    here, my greader, flickr


64. Would you help your best friend fight if he/she is losing?
    i’d help her fight regardless


65. What’s the worst day of your life?
    i’ve been quite blessed so far *fingers crossed*


66. Have you kissed or been kissed by anyone in the past week?
    i kissed mm in the lift, in the lift lobby and in my office today — but this is highly unusual


67. Do you disagree with a lot of things going on in the world?
    yes, too many cooks. too many incompetent cooks. too many generals and not enough foot soldiers. too many big egos and not enough doers

LASTS
1. Last cigarette: not cigarette, the cigar at Zurich Oktoberfest in 2001
2. Last beverage: water
3. Last phone call: mm called me to say she was ready for lunch…at 4.30pm, it’s been that sort of day
4. Last text message: sis, when we were meeting up at the yacht club
5. Last CD played: LOL let’s modernise shall we? last playlist on itunes was the running one for…running
6. Last bubble bath: at one of the hotels this year
7. Last time you cried: mm made me emotional at home a few weeks ago, i don’t want to go into why
8. Last meal: our 4.30pm lunch, i had noodles

List FOUR people you can tell pretty much anything to:
[i struggled with this one, because i don’t have anyone i can tell anything to. certain people know a lot about certain aspects of me, but nothing about other aspects]

Have You Ever:
1. Dated someone twice? no
2. Been cheated on? kinda
3. Kissed someone & regretted it? no
4. Fallen in love? yes, we were so very in love so very long ago
5. Lost someone? yes
6. Been depressed? yes but not in the clinical sense
7. Been drunk and thrown up? yes, thankfully only twice

Name SIX things you did in the past three days
1. running
2. walked home from the office today in lieu of running
3. brought breakfast (ham & egg sandwich) and lunch (chicken pasta) to work
4. set up a large scale webex for next week, which i will host
5. completed the paperwork and made appointment for my US visa
6. researched high quality earphones for my ipod

List THREE favorite colors:
1. black
2. blue
3. um, black

List TWO things you want to do before you die:
1. go to Antarctica
2. write a book, a proper book not fanfic

In 2008 have you:
1. Been to school? no way
2. Made a new friend? a bunch of work friends — my chicago team members
3. Fallen out of love? no
4. Done something you swore never to do? signed up at facebook
5. Laughed until you cried? yes, but i can’t remember the occasion
6. Met someone who changed your life? no, not unless i count the manager who asked me to go to Chicago
7. Gotten close to someone? no
8. Found out who your true friends were? i know already

What do you think of:
1. Bush?
   so many things to say about Bush, which can be summed up by an exasperated sigh and shake of the head
2. Gay Marriage?
   probably warrant a separate, more thoughtful post. I just want to paraphrase a comment i read in the San Francisco Chronicle, where the commenter looked forward to the day when being gay is as big a deal as being left-handed

Sometimes I’m posting non-stop on food, or macs, or music. These couple of days, it’s been memes. Huh.

This one is a few months old, and I can’t trace its origins. The heading is the dialect meme, but it’s really to do with which version of English you most commonly use. Despite globalisation of the language, I find that it takes less brain power for me to use British words, there are American words I never get.

1. A body of water, smaller than a river, contained within relatively narrow banks.
   stream


2. What the thing you push around the grocery store is called.
   shopping trolley


3. A metal container to carry a meal in.
   lunch box


4. The thing that you cook bacon and eggs in.
   pan, or if I want to be more specific a frying pan


5. The piece of furniture that seats three people.
   sofa


6. The device on the outside of the house that carries rain off the roof.
   gutter


7. The covered area outside a house where people sit in the evening.
   balcony, or if on the ground floor between the house and garden it’s the conervatory


8. Carbonated, sweetened, non-alcoholic beverages.
   soft drink


9. A flat, round breakfast food served with syrup.
   pancakes, but thin ones not thick American ones


10. A long sandwich designed to be a whole meal in itself.
    bap. I know the answer is supposed to be sub, but that for me is short for either a submarine or a substitute


11. The piece of clothing worn by men at the beach.
    swimming trunks or preferably please have them wear surfer dude shorts


12. Shoes worn for sports.
    sneakers


13. Putting a room in order.
    tidying up


14. A flying insect that glows in the dark.
    firefly


15. The little insect that curls up into a ball.
    I have no idea


16. The children’s playground equipment where one kid sits on one side and goes up while the other sits on the other side and goes down.
    see-saw


17. How do you eat your pizza?
    um, knife and fork


18. When private citizens put up signs and sell their used stuff.
    garage sale


19. The evening meal.
    dinner


20. The thing under a house where the furnace and perhaps a rec room are.
    basement


21. The thing that you can get water out of to drink in public places?
    water fountain

gakked from some random LJ — you know when you’re clicking on the search page and you look at someone’s lj and then you look at their friends’ lj and you repeat the process? Anyway, some of these questions are the same as yesterday’s.

1. One of your scars, how did you get it?
   gall bladder removal operation


2. What’s on the walls in your room?
   the poster of bibaushi primary school by shinzo maeda


3. What does your cellphone look like?
   nokia 6300


4. What music do you listen to?
   mainstream indie. okay, that’s an oxymoron


5. So you know what time you were born?
   9.15am


6. What do you want more than anything right now?
   to retire and write


7. Who do you miss?
   mm


8. What’s your middle name?
   no. I mean, that’s not my middle name, like I’d tell anyone my name


9. The best TV show ever created.
   amazing race


10. The last person you talked to?
    mm, not including the taxi driver on the way home


11. Do you get scared in the dark?
    if I do, I snap myself out of it. I can’t afford to, living alone and all


12. The last person to make you cry?
    mm


13. Your favorite cologne / perfume?
    none


14. What kind of hair/eye color do you like on the opposite sex?
    um, why must it be opposite? anyway the answer is I have no preference


15. Would you rather be smart or funny?
    smart


16. Coffee or energy drinks?
    tea


17. What is your favorite pizza topping?
    mushroom, ham and [small voice]pineapple[/small voice]


18. If you can eat anything right now what would it be?
    fresh uni, fresh japanese seafood


19. Who is the last person you made mad?
    probably mm


20. Do you speak another language?
    yes


21. What was the first gift someone ever gave you?
    I think I was 2 or 3 years old, my lovely great-aunt gave me smarties


22. Do you like someone?
    yes


23. Are you double jointed?
    no


24. Favorite clothing brand?
    anything casual


25. What is your dream car?
    merc suv or a convertible mg. if I were realistic I’d say golf


26. What color is it?
    silver for the merc; green for the mg; tornado red for the golf


27. What’s your favorite kind of exercise?
    basketball


28. Would you fall in love knowing that the person is leaving?
    yes. with technology and ease of travel nowadays, it’s not a deal-breaker


29. What is the best way to tell someone how much they mean to you?
    by actions


30. Say a number from one to a hundred:
    28


31. Blondes or brunettes?
    no preference


32. What is the one number you call often?
    mm


33. What annoys you most?
    lateness


34. Have you been out of the US?
    um, I don’t live in the US


35. Your weaknesses?
    impatience


36. Tater tots or fries?
    roast potatoes


37. First job?
    research chemist


38. Ever prank called someone?
    no


39. What were you doing before you filled out this?
    reading


40. If you could get plastic surgery what would it be?
    get rid of all the excess fat and bits


41. Why did you fill out this survey?
    no clue


42. What do you get complimented about most?
    smart and organised


43. What would you do if alcohol became illegal?
    doesn’t bother me


44. What do you want for your birthday?
    new mbp


45. How many kids do you want?
    none


46. Were you named after anyone?
    apparently my dad got my name off a character in a book


47. Do you wish on stars?
    no


48. Which finger(s) is/are your favorite?
    *lost* why?


49. When did you last cry?
    last weekend


50. Do you like your handwriting?
    yes, though it’s small and almost illegible


51. What is your favorite lunch meat?
    ham on the bone


52. Any bad habits?
    don’t like people


53. What is the most embarrassing CD on the shelf?
    80s love song compilation


54. If you were another person, would you be friends with you?
    I’d try, but give up cos I never know if I’m liked or just tolerated


55. Have you ever told a secret you swore not to tell?
    don’t think so, I don’t even tell non-secrets to anyone other than the person who told me


56. Do looks matter?
    yes, but it isn’t necessarily beautiful vs ugly — different people have different tastes


57. How do you release your anger?
    I don’t. it’s a problem


58. Where is your second home?
    teh interwebz


59. Do you trust others easily?
    no, but once I do, I do


60. What was your favorite toy as a child?
    all of them, I grew up in a toy shop


61. How many numbers are in your cellphone?
    lots


62. Do you use sarcasm?
    suuuuure


63. Do you know anyone famous?
    not really


64. Have you ever been in a mosh pit?
    no


65. What do you look for in a guy/girl?
    compatibility, smartness, someone I feel comfortable with


66. What are your nicknames?
    at work they call me Dr [name]


67. How many pairs of shoes do you have?
    20+


68. Do you un-tie your shoes when you take them off?
    only if i can’t get them off untied


69. Were you upset about Steve Irwin dying?
    sad for his death and family but not sad that he won’t be on tv anymore


70. What’s your favorite ice cream flavor?
    vanilla


71. Are you lazy?
    yes to the nth degree


72. What are your favorite colors?
    black, blue


73. What is your favorite band?
    difficult to name one: dcfc, starsailor, thirteen senses, ivy…and for oldies fleetwood mac


74. How many wisdom teeth do you have?
    all of them


75. Do you want everyone to answer these questions?
    like who reads this website anyway


76. What are you listening to right now?
    silence


77. Last thing you ate?
    chicken and squid ink pasta


78. Last person you talked to on the phone?
    mm


79. What’s the first thing you notice on the opposite sex?
    hair


80. Favorite thought provoking song:
    radiohead’s creep


81. Favorite thing to hate:
    people


82. Favorite drink:
    coke zero


83. Favorite zodiac sign
    aries


84. Favorite sport
    basketball


85. What is your hair color?
    black


86. Eye color?
    brown


87. Do you wear glasses?
    yep


88. Siblings?
    yep


89. Favorite month?
    april


90. Do you like sushi?
    god, yes


91. Last thing you watched?
    amazing race


92. Favorite day of the year?
    whenever I don’t need to go to work


93. Are you too shy to ask someone one?
    yes


94. Summer or winter?
    winter


95. Kisses or hugs?
    sigh. if only


96. Relationships of one-night stands?
    relationships, sigh


97. Who is the most likely to answer these questions?
    no one


98. Who is the least likely to answer these questions?
    no one


99. Create your own question
    photography or writing?


100. is anyone in love with you?
     i think so, I hope so

This meme was posted by devilmiyu, the bigwig at the lost in shadows lj community — the group where participants of the online vampires game hang out.

1. Are you currently in a serious relationship?
   yes. sort of. The serious bit is true but if you judge relationship by the things you do within the relationship, then I don’t know what the answer is


2. What was your dream growing up?
   something boring like a teacher


3. What talent do you wish you had?
   ambidextrous, invisibility


4. If I bought you a drink what would it be?
   diet coke, or a beer if we’re feeling alcoholic


5. Favorite vegetable?
   as the main ingredient: asparagus, artichoke, courgette; as an ingredient in a dish: tomato; salad: rocket


6. What was the last book you read?
   book 5 of the Kristin Ashe mystery series by Jennifer L. Jordan [sidebar: I was one of the winners in a casual writing competition and as a prize Jennifer is sending me book 7, which is coming out this month]


7. What zodiac sign are you?
   aries


8. Any Tattoos and/or Piercings? Explain where.
   no


9. Worst Habit?
   impatience


10. If you saw me walking down the street would you offer me a ride?
    only if you looked like you needed a ride


11. What is your favorite sport?
    basketball


12. Do you have a Pessimistic or Optimistic attitude?
    increasingly pessimistic


13. What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me?
    pool resources like food and water, offer support if you look like you’re panicking


14. Worst thing to ever happen to you?
    I lost control of the brakes and the car slid backwards; if it weren’t for the door jammed against the car next to mine, the car and I would have fallen over a steep slope


15. Tell me one weird fact about you.
    100% introvert


16. Do you have any pets?
    no


17. What if I showed up at your house unexpectedly?
    see #15. I’d be friendly but wondering why you’re here and hoping you won’t stay long


18. What was your first impression of me?
    helpful, in control


19. Do you think clowns are cute or scary?
    I find them stupid actually


20. If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be?
    go back to my college weight


21. Would you be my crime partner or my conscience?
    probably neither, I won’t get involved


22. What color eyes do you have?
    brown


23. Ever been arrested?
    no


24. Bottle or can soda?
    bottle


25. If you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it?
    it’ll go into my investment portfolio


26. What’s your favorite place to hang out at?
    my room


27. Do you believe in ghosts?
    sometimes


28. Favorite thing to do in your spare time?
    read, play on computer


29. Do you swear a lot?
    not really


30. Biggest pet peeve?
    people who are late


31. In one word, how would you describe yourself?
    smart


32. Do you believe/appreciate romance?
    I want to, but I’m quite disillusioned about the whole thing


33. Favorite and least favourite food?
    favorite: seafood, sashimi, ham; least favorite: anything in the onion / spring onion family


34. Do you believe in God?
    yes


35. What do you like about me? Least like about me?
    I don’t know you well enough, but I appreciate all the work you’ve done for the group and the game


36. Favorite music artist/band/group?
    hard to pick one; dcfc, starsailor, thirteen senses, ivy…and for oldies fleetwood mac


37. Favorite movie of all time?
    star wars


38. What TV shows do you watch on a regular basis? Why?
    amazing race and survivor cos I’m a secret reality tv junkie; a bunch of travel and food programs cos they’re totally enjoyable to watch


39. Paper or plastic?
    I bring my own shopping bag

Your result for The Commonly Confused Words Test… English Genius

You did so extremely well, even I can’t find a word to describe your excellence! You have the uncommon intelligence necessary to understand things that most people don’t. You have an extensive vocabulary, and you’re not afraid to use it properly! Way to go!

Take The Commonly Confused Words Test at HelloQuizzy

This is so addictive. Make sushi and serve customers. link.

What I’ve been playing for a few weeks is Fairway Solitaire. The solitaire part is simple. The golf part provides a structured gameplay. Players advance through courses by reaching the goal set that round, for instance earn $5,000 or end the round at +5. Par is the number of cards left when the stock card pile runs out.

The early rounds are fun and quite easy. I’m still at the middle rounds and kinda stuck. The thing about these addictive games is you go back and try again and again.

ETA: I got stuck on Cherry Lakes, a middle level that needs a par of +5 or lower to advance. I’ve played it for 2 days and no luck. So I have to resort to finding a workaround. Grey Alien Games gives a straightforward hint for Windows. But they can’t reveal one for mac although they give a hint on how to get the hint.

A little of detective work, and a little understanding of how mac apps work did the trick. First we need to tell the Finder to show all hidden files. It’s a Terminal command. Then right click on the application to show package contents, and continue digging down till we get to the data folder. Edit (duplicate and save first!) CourseList.csv in the same way as the PC instructions.

Mixing it up with the cocktail chemistry set. UrbanOutfitters via cribcandy.

No work today cos of a typhoon. When I woke up it was raining hard and the wind was very fierce. It’s a rare occurrence that the warning was kept on all day. I spent the day reading and playing online jewel quest. It’s the same 4 games repeated but it’s fun enough. I got over 500k points, and only a particularly difficult game bombed me when I got to 624k, thwarting my attempt at a million.

gakked from shoey’s lj, a bunch of geeky quizzes. Ironic that it’s actually an online dating site but who cares, the quizzes are fun.

79% Geek 

The only disappointing score is How Addicted to Apple cos I haven’t upgraded to Leopard, I don’t have an iPhone yet and I only have 1 iPod.

77%How Addicted to Apple Are You?

via bb.

Oh dear. I pity the poor restaurant owner. Not sure if this is funnier, or Chinglish.

[The Chinese characters say “restaurant”.]

This is a few weeks old, but I was looking around Gina Trapani’s scribbling and found this. So freaking funny.

I sliced a large chunk of the fingernail off my left index finger about 2 weeks ago and it’s been in bandages since then. The nail fell off last weekend so at least that discomfort is gone. It’s only when the finger is disabled but not fully out of commission that I realise how much I use it. I use my hands a lot. I eat with my hands a lot too. And judging from the way I eat chilli crab — getting sauce on all 10 fingers — I eat messily.

I read about these trongs on the chicago tribune over the weekend and they seem to be perfect. These plastic grabbers fit over thumb and 2 fingers and are designed for eating wings, ribs or any hand-heavy food. Just slip them off to grab a drink or something else without sauce or food bits getting in the way. Pretty neat.

At $5.99 for a pack of 6 they’re a bit expensive though. I’d expect them to be disposable.

via dooce. Happy, almost orgasmic, response are to be expected from anyone who has gone through the LooLoo experience. Auspicious, because I’m off to Tokyo tomorrow (even though this is a Korean commercial).

Based on the most emailed post at here is the city news this week. Pop songs as powerpoints. Hee.

And now I have Rick Astley in my mind non-stop. Argh.

(I moved it after the cut cos it’s driving me nuts.)

On the topic of birthday and looking at the surely oversweet cake that Caterina Fake posted for flickr’s anniversary, gizmodo today posted the ultimate question: is getting caked a good omen for gadgets? According to Brian Lam, giz’s editor:

no one makes a gadget cake unless they love the gadget

hmm. Surprising how baking and gadgets come together. It doesn’t take long to google: kindle cake | wii cake | iphone cake | ibook cake and a whole bunch of geek cakes celebrating engadget’s birthday. Basically I could find whatever gadget, comic and geek-related cake I could think of.

This is a pretty old digg which I’ve had bookmarked for ages. Apparently Hema is the Dutch equivalent of Target and this was a gimmick page. No matter, it was fun to watch. I took a screen video of it even.

I hate chain and forwarded joke emails with a vengeance. I’m afraid to say that any friend or acquaintance who sends me these will themselves vastly marked down in my opinion of them. If I can get away with it, I usually tell them never to send me such emails ever again. Why am I so rude?

1. It’s a waste of my time to have to read and delete the email
2. I don’t want my details to end up in some spammer’s email box — I have no control over the action of the other people on the recipient list

So anyway I got one of these emails from an ex-colleague today. I was less stressed about it cos it came to my work mailbox. Some of it was actually funny. But I will practice what I preach and not forward to anyone. Instead I’ll post them here.

Here’s a couple of links I’d saved during thing-a-day month.

how glasses affect your image — via digg, how adding glasses seriously affect how one is viewed.

Danish police don’t know no iMac — via boing boing, the police visited this blogger’s home accusing him of using a stolen credit card to buy stuff online. He explained he has an open wifi connection. That’s not the funny part.

We moved into my roommate’s room.
She has an original iMac.
“We have your roommate’s permission to confiscate her computer,” the Ichabod Crane one said.
“Whatever,” I said. They had already assured me that we would get our laptops back that afternoon, so I figured the damage had already been done. Ichabod started rooting around under her desk.
“Where’s the computer?” he said.
“On the desk. That’s the computer,” I said.
“No, the computer.”
“That’s the computer, dude.”
“That’s the screen.” He had lapsed into the voice you use when you explain to your 6-year-old cousin how the toaster works. “I mean the compuuuuuter. Understand?”
“Dude. That’s the whole computer. Right there. The blue object the size of an armadillo.”
“No. Where the daaaaata goes. The computer part.”
“That is the computer. For Hell!” Danish swear words aren’t as satisfying.
“So that’s the entire computer, right there?”
I was standing there with a look on my face like I was watching a dog walk on its hind legs.
“New technology, huh?” he said.

Remember, the original iMac came out in 1999.

via mefi, an interesting and simple to make optical illusion.

Instructions: stare at the black dot, don’t look elsewhere. After 20 seconds the image will shift. If you don’t shift your gaze it will appear to be in colour, but as soon as you look somewhere else it goes back to black and white.

The instructions are very straightforward.

1. open the original colour image in photoshop and create a duplicate layer
2. select the bottom layer and do image —> adjustment —> desaturate
3. pick a 50% grey from the colour palette
4. select the top layer and do edit —> fill; use foreground colour, mode = luminosity; opacity = 100%
5. still on the top layer image —> adjustment —> invert
6. make a new layer and draw a black dot in the middle
7. save as jpg
8. delete bottom layer and save as a second jpg
9. either create an animated gif or follow instructions to make a mouseover effect

I did an even more fun standalone page where you can control how long you look at the negative image, then you mouseover to flip to the actual image.

Why yes, I know that bionicles are meant for 7-16 year olds and I’m … not 7-16. But I got these, and they were fun to make!!! The blue one is Takadox and the red one is Kalmah. Hee.

I photoshopped them against a vaguely threatening robot computer evil face background I found on google images. The shadows are photoshopped too.

I love sharpies. mmmm. They’re colourful enough to disguise my poor drawing skills. Well, it’s only a doodle, not supposed to be the Next Big Turner Prize.

I discovered filler. Like most small flash games it’s oh so addictive. The idea is to make large filler balls (by holding the mouse button) while avoiding the small bouncy balls. If the bouncy balls touch the filler ball while it’s being made, the filler ball will become like a balloon and burst. To advance to the next level you have to fill at least 66.6% of the screen. The online version has 30 levels so by the time you get to 30 the bouncy balls are everywhere.

Oh, the video screen capture is by screenflick, formerly known as screencast.

via engadget. As Macworld expo looms nearer, here’s a little flash game to get us in the mood. The blurb:

Imagine being Apple CEO Steve Jobs.
Imagine getting ready for this years MacWorld Expo keynote presentation.
Imagine having to collect all the insanely great Mac, iPhone and TV Stuff you are going to present at Macworld Expo without revealing it to industrial spies and journalists.
Try the game that lets you experience what it feels like to be Steve Jobs just before your Keynote presentation.

It should be an easy enough game, but I suck at it. Steve Jobs I’m not.

The newest leisurewear kid on the block is uniqlo from Japan. The name is a typo of unique and they sell quirkily plain stuff with no logos. Good quality, easy to wear clothing at a very reasonable price. A more mass market version of Muji clothing, I think.

Interesting approach to marketing too. The uniqlo grid is a pointless flash games where you create, move, rotate, divide, combine or remove different coloured uniqlo blocks on a grid. You’re also playing against other people who also happen to be wanting some sort of brainless activity. It’s pretty colourful. via mefi.

It’s been a long time, but I was trolling around the twop forums over New Year’s Day catching up on TAR, Survivor and Kid Nation. Then I went over to the rec room and checked out the pixel challenges. There was one for “Blank and Blank go Blank” and since I’ve been almost overdosing on watching food programs lately I made one:

I would have added one of Ramsay taking his shirt off (he seems inordinately fond of taking his shirt off and putting a chef’s jacket on, on tv) but I couldn’t find a good one.

I’ve been playing this flash quiz for a week or so, ever since I saw it on kottke. It’s basically put the flag on cities or landmarks within the time given. Most times I get it in the rough area — the map is so small you need to be very precise. With a specially difficult location, I’ve been known to get it in the completely wrong continent.

via bb. In some parts of the online universe this innocuous looking Christmas tree ornament may be considered NSFW and offensive.¹ Seriously.

Heh, at least it’s not Two Girls One Cup. That one is truly the lowest of the low. dis.gusting.

¹I really hate to pervert the innocents. The design is inspired by the goatse internet meme. My suggestion if you don’t know what it is, do not look it up — your eyes and brain will thank you.

I have a million things on my mind but sometimes I’d just like to spend a few minutes not using my brain and playing a casual game.

For my October game club I got azada, an eight-level puzzle game with the same type of graphics feel as the mcf games. It has all sorts of brain teasers like mazes, connect 3, soduku and what I like best — finding and using objects in different rooms. We are given more than enough time to complete the whole level. Some of the puzzles take a over 5 minutes but some can be done quickly. My record is 8 seconds for a matchstick puzzle. I finished the game already, 3 or 4 times.

On the topic of games, I came across a parody time management / sim game where we have to successfully run a McDonald’s store. There are 4 sections we have to juggle — the farm where soy and cows are kept, the feedlot, the restaurant and headquarters. The options are “realistic” — genetically engineered soy has to be used to get more cows, growth hormones and animal waste have to be added to the feed to make the cows grow faster, and there are options at HQ to corrupt politicians and spin marketing messages. It’s all very McCorporate.

The other games on the makers’ site have the same serious tongue-in-cheek satire that will surely make mainstream politicians and Bible belt residents quiver in their plaid boxers. There’s Operation Pedopriest, where you’re a vatican official trying to keep the lid on the activities of certain priests; there’s a couple of decidedly nsfw ones like queer power [NSFW!!!!!] which basically has 2 players who …

well, you figure out the rest while I go play color junction.

In my enthusiasm in playing with the electronic bubblewrap game, I forgot to mention that there’s a flash alternative. This one is quite old, apparently going back to arpanet days though it’s unconfirmed. Click on the image to play.

Japan is known for its gadgets and games. I had one item on my shopping list — if I saw it I’d buy it, if I didn’t I would have left it till next time. First reported on bb, it’s the puchi puchi electronic bubble wrap toy from Bandai. The premise of this tiny game is to replicate the feel and sound of popping bubble wrap. After 100 pops the device will emit a special sound — door chime, dog barking or supposedly a woman moaning in ecstasy.

I looked for it in Shinjuku but no luck. Today we were in Ginza and I looked at the toy store where it was prominently displayed next to the cashier. ¥819 is about $7.20.

Okay, I admit it. There’s no point to this game. But like most people I like playing with bubble wrap and this one has the potential to become addictive.

via mefi, a non-flashy flash game with a twist. freerice will donate 10 grains of rice for each word that we get right. We advance up word levels — with increasingly difficult words. It’s not hard to get to the early- and mid-forties but it gets harder from around 47.

10 grains of rice is nothing, but the gimmick seems to work. The site is funded by “big” advertisers and the revenue presumably pays for the rice. Even if it is a minute amount, it’s a game that has a purpose. Why not?

The comments on mefi is interesting, with people posting their scores (only high scores of course). But a point was raised about how unintrusive the ads are. No pop-ups, small but distinctive, placed in an eye catching position yet not in-the-face. Kinda impressive.

If you have a spare minute, go play. Every little helps, and you’ll learn new words in the process. What’s to lose?

via space monkeys, a short strip they call “And Metrosexuals have sex with large cities”. Snerk.

via bb, LucasArt finally announced the Star Wars wii game. It’s every would-be Jedi’s dream come true. The wiimote is perfect for a lightsaber, and the nanchuck will be used to control the Force. Really, I can already feel the wiisaber in my hand, together with distinctive hum and vibration.

The actual design of the wiisaber attachment hasn’t been released but here’s a mockup which needs to be viewed while playing what I recorded when I was playing around with macsaber last year.

I was playing Club Penguin for my niece. She’s too young to play on her own so I was supervising her. Club Penguin has been described variously as an MMORG for kids, myspace for the braces generation, or IMHO Second Life Lite Lite Lite. She has a free membership only, which allows her to waddle around the icescape playing games to earn coins. Chat is restricted because really, she’s too young for chat. The good news is that Club Penguin takes potential infiltrators very seriously and has strict language filters for chat.

I’ve avoided getting involved in Second Life because I know I’ll become obsessed. I go to myspace for music but I don’t find any appeal in having 300,000 friends. But I like the look of Club Penguin. Like diner dash and the casual games I’ve been playing, it’s a nice and safe environment providing there is adequate supervision.

Sigh. I wish I really were 12 years old.

I’ve been playing Diner Dash all day. It’s a game that came out like over 3 years ago and I’ve only just found it. I subscribed to the same publisher as Ravenhearst, for $6.99 a month (min 12 months) I get one game — meaning I will end up with at least 12 games. They call these casual games, I suppose as opposed to hardcore games like WoW, GTA, Doom etc.

It’s a time management game where planning and the ability to multi-task is important. The player is Flo who runs a diner. The aim is to serve the different types of customers, get the target amount of money and get to the next level.

I finished, three times actually. The trick at later restaurants is the keep a long line at the podium (returning as often as possible to keep the waiting customers happy) and control the sequence of actual diners.

It’s addictive alright. There are 2 sequels, eeeep.

No need to elaborate.

I got a new toy.

I finally broke 7000 in desktop tower defense. Okay it’s only normal mode, but it’s without juggling. Same grid as I’ve been using recently, but I managed to send waves very early and upgraded most of my towers to level 5 before the late bosses arrive. Total 7002, woot!

I left my cellphone at home today, realised it just as I got to the bus-stop in the morning. But I didn’t go back home to get it.

I didn’t miss it at all; and when I got home I didn’t have any missed calls. So how do I score in terms of cellphone addiction?

Are You A Cellphone Addict? Congratulations, according to our experts, you scored : 17% which makes you Not An Addict Good news,you are not addicted to your cellphone. In fact we are not even sure you own a cellphone. Maybe you have a phone phobia. Are You A Cellphone Addict

I have a cellphone, I want a new one (cos this one I’ve had for 3 years) and I use it occasionally. But I think I have some sort of phone phobia. I don’t like it when the phone rings, I hate voicemail with a venom, I have Do Not Disturb on my home phone and I only give out my cellphone number under duress (home phone = family and close friends only).

I never answer unless it’s a number I recognise, and even so I miss hearing it ring most times. Which makes me hard to reach. I mean, I’m usually at home anyway but I’m still unreachable. May be it has something to do with the 100% Introverted score I got in this MBTI test I did recently.

Yep, Everybody and their best friend and upstairs neighbour are playing Desktop Tower Defense.

It’s deceptively easy and highly addictive. Enemies called creeps try to get from one side of playing area to the other and we have to construct towers to try to stop them. Kinda like Lemmings, boy that’s a blast from the past. There are different types of towers shooting different types of ammunition, with different costs associated. The towers can be upgraded so their damage increase.

I got stuck at easy level for a few days, even though I read about other people’s comments and figured the trick is to herd the creeps into long, narrow mazes and shoot at them inside a focused attack area. I couldn’t visualize both left to right and top to bottom and would inevitable lose lives, then get frustrated.

Took me a good 3 days to crack it. Initially I used a diagonal pattern and managed to score in the 5,000s. But dealing with the flying creeps was always the problem, I didn’t get money quick enough to extend the building towards the middle of the grid to catch the flyers. Then I switched to a more conventional maze system and have been getting into the mid-6,000s. There’s also the trick of sending the next wave early, to get more bonus points. The next thing to learn is juggling — selling and moving towers — but I’m not good at that.

 
Key: Pe = pellet, Fr = frost, Da = dart, Sq = squirt, Sw = swarm

The game is so popular, someone set it to music on youtube. No surprise.

I hardly bother with these quizzes nowadays, but how could I resist this one?

You Are a Mac

You are creative, stylish, and super trendy. You demand the best - even if it costs an arm and a leg.

Car took this, and graciously gave me permission to upload to youtube.

Haven’t played geography olympics for a long time. And now there is a new flash world map game. They even use the long and proper name of a country, so it’s important to distinguish your “Republic of Korea” with your “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea”. Oh, and I discovered I suck at African, Latin American countries as well as the newer Eastern Europe ones.

First of all, you need to have a little understanding about the mindset of people who work at investment banks — I think they arrange for arrogance and supreme self-belief to be blasted through the air-conditioning so it goes directly into our lungs.

The City has been giggling at two stories lately, and now it seems they may be converging.

First is the story of Lucy Gao, an intern at Citigroup in London. She was organising her 21st birthday bash and sent an email to her guests regarding procedures to attend said bash at the Ritz. Among the advice:

Advise 1: It goes without saying that the more upper-class you dress, the less likely you shall be denied entry.
Advise 2: Photos will be taken between 10pm and 10.30pm, and these will be distributed when processed, therefore you may want to be well-groomed! (wink)

Guests are also allocated preferred arrival time, presumably so that the doormen at the Ritz won’t be overwhelmed with gorgeous young things. Any guest experiencing difficulty in getting to the Ritz (oh gosh, how hard is it to jump in a taxi and say “The Ritz” to the cabbie? They’ve all got the Knowledge) may call Ms Gao’s PA, who will be available between 8.30 and 10pm.

Okay, back up a second. She’s an intern. I’d hate to see her when she grows up to a full-fledged Associate. She later claims that the email was a joke. Probably, but I won’t be surprised that some of it was serious.

The second story is that of Yale student Aleksey Vayner, who sent a 11 page CV as well as a video to UBS in search of a job. The video, in the style of the Office, has him being “interviewed” and extoling about successes and how “impossible is nothing.” He is also shown lifting weights, serving a tennis ball at 140mph, ballroom dancing and cracking open half a dozen bricks using a karate chop.

It’s so preposterous that you can’t help applauding the kid for trying. It was meant as a joke, but it falls flat somehow, and he’s now the laughing stock of the Street. To give him credit, he was trying to stand out amongst the thousands of wannabe i-bankers, but as Forbes magazine said, “Vayner’s video would be great if he was applying to write satire for The Onion. But for banks, it’s a flop.”

So now, the Biggest Rumour of them all, that “Lucy and Aleksey are getting married.” Check out the invitation to the wedding party. If you believe it, you’ll believe anything. Heehee.

Was a link in cnet today, Steve Jobs dressup game. Get him out of those black turtlenecks! The original, and the possibilities.

I’m still playing this legend of the green dragon door game. I’ve slain the green dragon once, and been returned to level 1, but with some retained powers.

What’s neat about this game is that the site owner can customise the settings and invent names for places. They can also customise the monsters and how they attack us brave adventurers. For instance, being attacked by a mac!

Other villains include: Spike who attacks with Screaming Apoligist Fangirls, or in a nod to The Chosen, Rabid Chosen Fan who attacks with Entitled Pushiness. I guess it’s JetWolf getting back at us, heehee.

Another addictive flash game. (click on the image)

“You are Jimmy Olsen. Try to get some good pictures of Superman for tomorrow’s edition.”

I remember the days of zork and police quest. Games were simpler then, but no less addictive. We can still play these oldie games, I’m glad someone thought to keep them alive.

There was a time when I played a game of vampires every day, though it was kinda boring and involved moving around and drinking blood off humans. It was a nice distraction for 15 minutes.

I’ve just started playing a new version of legend of the green dragon on JetWolf’s site. It’s really fun, fighting these monsters, though I’m only at level 2. Even better is I can torment other undead if I end up dead. Since the dead is resurrected, there’s no worry about dying. I’m also supposed to fight other players to get bonuses. Problem is I hate doing that, grrr.

I’m still trying to find an OSX version of Bandit Kings. It’s so ancient (1989, man) it must be available as a download nowadays, hee.

This is funny, though I understand why the it’s upset the kiwis. Australia’s Channel Seven accessorised the All-Blacks doing the traditional haka before a rugby match with handbags. This was to promote the channel’s coverage of the upcoming Tri-Nations Test between the All-Blacks and the Wallabies in Christchurch. It refers to an incident when former captain Tana Umaga broke up a fight by hitting fellow All Black Chris Masoe over the head with a woman’s handbag.

NSFW for very naughty language.

By now, everyone should know that I have a mac chip embedded in my head. So it may come as a surprise that I laughed my socks off at this mac parody. May be it’s reminiscing at the days of switching. Or the old system sounds. Ahhh, sosumi.

Blue screen of death

Here’s another one, a bunch of others, more, animated versions, Will Farrell, and even Han Solo.

I got this from a link on the Official Buffy & Angel Fanfiction University LJ community. Leave your name in the comments and:

1. I’ll respond with something random about you
2. I’ll challenge you to try something
3. I’ll pick a colour that I associate with you
4. I’ll tell you something I like about you
5. I’ll tell you my first/clearest memory of you
6. I’ll tell you what animal you remind me of
7. I’ll ask you something I’ve always wanted to ask you

There’s a #8 — If I do this for you, you must post this on your LJ, but I’m not making it a requirement here.

Heh, I don’t even know if I’ll get a response, I don’t think more than 3 people read this website.

gakked from Jeanne’s LJ, with changes from LJ to cater for the website.

1. What does your weblog name mean?
   it’s from a poem I wrote a long long time ago.
2. Elaborate on your default photo?
   it’s a random rotation of 12 photos I’ve taken over the years. The randomness is generated by a script.
3. Make up a question.
   who?
4. What’s your current relationship status?
   we’ve been together a long time. we were apart for a while. we don’t live together. we are both going through a period of deep introspective thinking.
5. What EXACTLY are you wearing right now?
   a plain grey t-shirt, black indoor shorts and slippers.
6. What is your current problem?
   stomach upset from the week in India.
7. What do you love most?
   my own space, the quiet.
8. What makes you most happy?
   slodges of time to do what I want to do.
9. Are you musically inclined?
   no.
10. If you could go back in time, and change something, what would you change?
    study computer science instead of chemistry.
11. If you MUST be an animal for ONE day, what would you be?
    an owl.
12. Ever have a near death experience?
    does being in a couple of quite scary car accidents count?
13. Name an obvious quality you have.
    organized.
14. What’s the name of the song that’s stuck in your head right now?
    whatever’s playing on my iTunes.
15. Who did you cut and paste this from?
    Jeanne’s LJ.
16. Name someone with the same birthday as you.
    Francis Ford Coppola.
17. Have you ever vandalized someone’s private property?
    nope.
18. Have you ever been in a fight?
    nope.
19. Have you ever sung in front of a large audience?
    only as part of a choir.
20. What is the first thing you notice about the opposite sex?
    heh, nothing.
21. What do you usually order from Starbucks?
    soya latte.
22. Has anyone ever said you looked like a celebrity?
    someone said I look like Marcie from Peanuts.
23. Do you still watch kiddy movies or TV shows?
    not really. nothing against them but I don’t watch a lot of tv anymore.
24. Did you have braces?
    no.
25. Are you comfortable with your height?
    an inch or two extra won’t hurt, but generally it’s okay.
26. What is the most romantic thing someone has ever done for you?
    mm leaning on me.
27. Do you speak any other languages?
    yes.
28. Do you have a crush on someone on your weblog?
    huh? how do you crush on someone on your weblog?

I wonder if this is an urban legend or if this is for real.

James Blunt has been one of my top musical discoveries this year. High, You’re Beautiful, Tears and Rain, Cry and No Bravery (actually all 10 songs) have heavy repeat business on my playlists. He doesn’t feel like someone whose debut album was only released late last year.

Which is why when I read articles that he sold his sister on ebay, I don’t know whether it’s a publicity stunt or not.

He was supposed to have asked for bids for a “damsel in distress needing a knight in shining armour” on ebay, so that his sister could get to a funeral in Ireland. The winner whisked her to the service in a helicoptor and she is so sold [*groan*] on the winner that they have been dating for 18 months.

Blunt plans to sell his second sister soon. Though why he can’t use part of the dosh he’s getting from record sales I have no idea.

So bizzare.

From metafilter.

In the vein of mildly pointless but vastly addictive flash games like crimson room and grow cubes, here’s one where you build a city using 18 building blocks. The order that the components is deployed is used to calculate the ultimate cityscore. Play cityscape.

I takes shorter time than SimCity and is less teeth-grindingly frustrating as the grow cube. I’m up to 36/60, I’m a town now. I need to work it out better.

Needless to say, there’s a walkthrough.

Via metafilter and digg.

What if Microsoft redesigned the iPod box. Alternative link to wmv file, and as another grrrr comment in Redmond’s disfavor when I first downloaded the wmv at the second link (youtube was down) it forced me to install Windows Media Player and attempted to hijack all my media files, plus it put shortcuts all over my desktop and menu bar without my permission. grrrrr again.

The consensus is that this is so true. The simplicity of the Apple design vs the clutter and overinformative parody MS design is another example of the differences between the two companies. The spoof MS design isn’t bad, it’s just extremely boring and corporate and definitely lacks the coolness factor.

I’m watching it again. It’s so funny and addictive. I’m so easily amused, especially if it: a) pokes fun at MS and b) reinforces my Apple love.

Remember how I don’t usually write about adult toys? Here’s something new, and eco-friendly too! Blame xeni.

sherlock sent me this flash game ages ago, I just found this again recently. So darned funny. I wish I could have all these stupid quotes. Oh wait, I can.

“Too many OB/GYNs aren’t able to practice their, uh … their LOVE for women all across the country.” Snerk.

My highest score is 9, though I usually linger in the 2-3 mark. Apologies to Republicans … if you find this offensive you might wish to dig deeper within yourself to find the hidden sense of humor that has to be inside you … somewhere.

Someone at work sent me this. Yep, the whispering game is in force, full force.

Another sniggle-worthy entry. Again from citynews.

The best optical illusion like, ever. If you stare at the image below long enough, you should see a giraffe.

Bonuses were announced today, hence the rich banker joke. From here is the city news.

A rich banker and his wife are having dinner at a very fine restaurant.

A stunning young lady comes over to their table, kisses the banker, says that she’ll see him later, and walks away.

The wife glares at her husband, and demands to know who it was.

“Oh,” replies the banker. “That’s my mistress.”

“Well, that’s the last straw,” says the wife. “I’ve had enough. I want a divorce.”

“I can understand that,” replies the banker. “But remember, if we get divorced it will mean no more shopping trips to Paris, no more wintering in Barbados, no more summers in Tuscany, no more BMW in the garage and no more yacht club.”

Just then, a mutual friend enters the restaurant with a very attractive young female on his arm.

“Who’s that woman with Giles?” asks the wife.

“That’s his mistress,” says the banker.

It all goes quiet … “Ours is prettier,” she finally replies.

Seven Types of Intelligence - Which is yours?

I’m pretty pleased at this result in a silly grin kind of way. Except, um, I don’t like debating.

Other personalities — spatial, musical, kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, logical. I’m mildly surprised I’m not one of the last two.

Jilly tagged me for this over at LJ. Ground Rules: The first player of this “game” starts with the topic “5 weird habits of yours” and people who get tagged need to write an LJ entry about their 5 quirky habits as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose the next 5 people to be tagged and list their names.

1. The tv must be turned off at a certain channel.
2. No one is allowed to step on the area rug in the dining room. Of course they’re already shoeless, shoes are not allowed inside the apartment.
3. Clothes are classified as indoors and outdoors. Indoors clothes cannot be worn outside.
4. I pick out the vegetables and eat them first even in a mixed dish like a stew or fried rice.
5. All bottles, jars, cans etc must have their main labels facing out.

Who to tag? I don’t have 5 readers. Sad isn’t it. mm, terra — if you’re reading this, feel free.

via boing boing (where else?), a counterscript to use on telemarketers

My usual reaction to telemarketers is “where did you get this phone number?” followed by a diatribe on how I did not give permission etc. That’s on a good day. On a bad day I’d swear at them, then hangup.

So this new method, of asking them questions, like having them spell their name, ask about how much they earn, do they get dental plan … is cunningly hilarious, as are the comebacks when they get upset.

I wonder if I’ll have the patience though. I think I’ll end up reverting to my usual rude-o method.

terra sent me this a couple of weeks ago, but I couldn’t get it to play properly on PB1 (old Quicktime) or the dell (now this is strange … probably graphics card). So I did a view page source (sorry, t) and stole, um, saved the file. No wonder, wmv, grrr. Converted to quicktime, it should be easier to play now. 3.02 minutes.

This is confirmed, it’s not a series of photos stitched together. The display was the 2004 Christmas version from the home of Carson Williams of Mason, Ohio, consisting of 16,000 lights that were controlled via a software called Light-o-Rama.

The music is called Wizard in Winter, from The Lost Christmas Eve by Trans-Siberian Orchestra. It is transmitted via FM and people are advised to tune into a particular frequency on their car radios when they visit the display.

Apparently making spectacular Christmas lights is a hobby shared by a few other people.

The latest news is that Mr Williams had to shut down his 2005 display as it was causing traffic congestion. I guess his neighbors were relieved, but it was impressive while it lasted.

Technical note: I wrote up how to embed a quicktime movie in the technical section. Tested on Safari, Firefox (Mac & PC), IE5 (Mac), IE6 (PC). Needs the more recent versions of quicktime and modern browsers. If you don’t have the latest browsers, you should think about getting firefox. Seriously. Also, I find I have to disable adblock in firefox.

I should be posting about serious news-y stuff, not getting sucked into another quiz. grrrr.

Which cartoon stereotype are you? Gosh, I’m so surprised at the result.

Can’t remember where I found the link, probably metafilter, someone’s Greatest internet moments:

From one web page to the next, I saw people proclaiming this as one of the greatest music videos ever made.

From low morale, a series of flash animations about one mediocre office worker’s struggle with work. A bonus extra animation, set to an acoustic version of Radiohead’s Creep, is so, pardon my french, fucking brilliant. I can’t stop watching.

Watch it, NOW.

via metafilter.

A surprisingly addictive hangman game for Halloween. It’s pretty easy and another good excuse to not go to bed. The smartass comments get on my nerves after a while, finally it was the non stop music that bored me. Fun ending though, I went “good riddance!” when the skeleton got hanged.

Another amusing article from here is the city news.

Throwing A Sickie - Your Excuses

According to a new survey undertaken for website CareerBuilder.com, 35% of workers in the US throw a sickie when they are perfectly OK. 20% of the 1,600 polled said that they called in sick just because they didn’t feel like going in to work. 10% admitted that they bunked off work fairly regularly.

Detailed below are some of the more imaginative excuses for not rocking up:

‘My cat unplugged my alarm clock’

‘I had to be there for my husband’s grand jury trial’

‘My curlers burned my hair and I had to go to the hairdresser’

‘A hitman was looking for me’

‘I was spit on by a venomous snake’

‘I forgot to come back to work after lunch’

‘I tripped over my dog and was knocked unconscious’

‘My bus broke down and was held up by robbers’

‘I was arrested as a result of mistaken identity’

But the winner goes to - ‘I was sprayed by a skunk’.

I spent like 4 hours updating my list on 43 things. In all honesty I had the old list on twinkler and received the email in January that 43things proper had launched. It only took me what, 10 months to get back to it.

Naturally my old list is gone, so I have to create a new one. The user interface isn’t as user friendly as I want — I can’t see the most popular entries, it take too many clicks to navigate, I can’t do mass delete or update on my list items and the re-ordering should be more intuitive drag and drop.

I tried using the script they provided to import it to the sidebar, but they use an ul, and the items are indented. Just didn’t look good on the page.

Did more digging around and found some interesting tidbit about an alleged conspiracy involving robot co-op (the parent company) and amazon. Luckily the great Jason came to the rescue. Oh, all that happened way back in February. Geez, bb, catch up.

I’m a little unsure about the social network aspect. Like I find 23 other people who want to buy a new camera, do I contact them and swap notes? I mean, we probably live in different countries, have different criteria and besides I know exactly which camera I’m getting. The cheers and mutual encouragement aspect might work, but there are so many other social networks and communities out there already.

They’re doing something new, 43 places. I’m playing round with it, can’t decide if a country or city a place. Like should I put New Zealand as a place I want to visit, or drill down and use Queenstown, Franz Josef and Rotorua etc?

From orange haired boy, this is the week of boobiethon.

At first I thought, oookay it's another crazy exhibitionist endeavour by, well, crazy exhibitionists. Then I read the intro more carefully and from what I gather this is how it works:

1. There are people submitting photos of their boobies to this site.
2. The same people, and/or other people, look at these boobies. I'm sure there's ogling and drooling.
3. In return for looking at these boobies, people are encouraged to make a donation towards a breast cancer charity or the Red Cross.
4. Donations of $50 or more will get a password to view a page with uncovered boobies.

The main page is graphics intensive and loads slowly, I'm happy with the sampler page already. What I find confusing is how the donations work. You have to go to the respective charity's site, make the donation and make note of the url of the receipt, then email that to the people at boobiethon. I know Paypal sucks commission, but it would have been the easier way, I wonder if that's why the donations are only at $5,000-odd.

I'm still thinking about it. Of course the whole boobiethon site is MT powered, so I'm biased already.

From Here is the City News, which I get at work. It's usually full of serious financial news, but occasionally its tongue is firmly in its cheek.

Memo To All Firm Employees

It has been brought to our attention that some individuals throughout the firm have been using foul language during the course of normal business conversations with their co-workers.

Due to the high number of complaints from our more sensitive employees, this type of language will no longer be tolerated in the office.

We do, however, appreciate the critical importance for staff to accurately express their feelings in discussions with fellow employees. With this in mind, we have come up with a 'Try Saying' list of phrases, in order that staff can exchange their ideas in an effective manner without offending their colleagues.

Try Saying - 'Perhaps I can work late'
Instead of - 'And when the f... do you expect me to do this ?'

Try Saying - 'I'm certain it isn't feasible'
Instead of - 'No f...in' way'

Try Saying - 'Perhaps you should check with....'
Instead of - 'Try telling someone who could give a sh.t'

Try Saying - 'I wasn't involved in this project'
Instead of - 'It's not my f...in' problem'

Try Saying - 'He's not familiar with the issues'
Instead of - 'He's got his head up his ar.e'

Try Saying - 'I'm a bit overloaded at the moment'
Instead of - 'F... it, my bonus will be cr.p this year anyway'

Try Saying - 'You want me to take care of that ?'
Instead of - 'Who the Hell died and made you boss ?'

Try Saying - 'He's somewhat insensitive'
Instead of - 'He's a pr.ck'

Try Saying - 'Perhaps you need a coach'
Instead of - 'You don't know what the f... you're doing'

Please note that staff who do not adhere to these guidelines will be told to clear their desks and f... off.

Thank You,
Human Resources

It has come to our attention that some members of staff are making politically incorrect comments to fellow employees, and even business contacts. Detailed below are some general guidelines in this matter, together with a short-form 'dictionary' of politically correct sayings.

Staff are asked to assess the group of people you're speaking with and at least make some effort to gauge who might be offended by what.

If employees insist on cracking jokes, please select jokes which seem appropriate for the group at hand. Avoid racial, ethnic, se.ual or any other types of humour that may make certain audience members feel uncomfortable. The firm will no longer accept the often used excuse that your immediate line manager was the one who told you the joke in the first place.

Staff are asked to make an extra effort to be politically correct around people you have not met before, especially potential new clients and future employees of the company.

Politically Correct Dictionary

Please note that you should not describe an employee as 'lazy'. The person concerned should be referred to as 'motivationally deficient'.

Someone does not 'fail' - they 'acheive a deficiency'.

A colleague is not 'dishonest' - he or she is 'ethically disoriented'.

Please do not use the word 'wrong' - try 'differently logical'.

Instead of 'ugly', try saying 'cosmetically different'.

For 'unemployed, say 'involuntarily leisured'.

Other examples are:

'Dead' - 'living impaired'.

'Spendthrift' - 'negative saver'.

'Ignorant' - 'knowledge-based non-possessor'.

'Unsophisticated' - 'socially malformed'.

Some of our male colleagues have complained of being referred to in a politically incorrect manner, and staff are asked to adhere to the following:

A male member of staff does not have 'a fat beer gut'. He has developed a 'liquid grain storage facility'.

He does not 'sleep around', he is merely 'horizontally over-generous'.

He is not a 'cradle snatcher', but simply prefers 'generationally differential relationships'.

He does not 'stink', he suffers from 'hygiene aversion syndrome'.

He is not a 'groping perv.rt', but merely suffers from 'compulsive hand movement disorder'.

He does not tell 'endless, boring, unfunny jokes', but is simply 'humourly over-confident'.

He doesn't 'eat like a pig', but has 'reverse bulimia'.

And finally, staff should be respectful when speaking to female colleagues too.

Please note that a female staffer is not a 'moaner', she is merely vocally appreciative'.

She does not have 'brea.t implants', but is 'medically enhanced'.

She is not a 'nag', she simply becomes 'orally repetitive'.

Thank you for your co-operation.

From kottke via boing boing.

As if storing sandwiches and frozen food isn’t enough, you can now get giant ziploc bags that are 2 feet wide. Supposingly you can store clothing and stuff, but I can’t get the image of self duplicating food items out of my mind. Like the soap suds spilling uncontrollably out of a washing machine, or brussel spouts that breed, eeeeep!

Another personality test, to see if I’m a nerd, geek or dork. According to the test:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.
A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.
A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.

And my score?

PURE DORK 43 % Nerd, 43% Geek, 60% Dork

You scored higher than 13% on nerdiness
You scored higher than 59% on geekosity
You scored higher than 95% on dork points

It’s not as though you were some whiz-kid in school. Oh, sure, you probably did okay in some classes, but were probably awful in others. Certainly most people thought you were smarter than you thought yourself to be. And it’s not that you have some overriding passion, like computers or Star Trek that sets you apart for the crowd, though you likely share some interest in some of those sorts of things. You just like to be yourself, and want to express yourself for who you are.

And, really, there’s nothing wrong with that. Being who you are often invites scorn, and so it’s a difficult thing in a world that rewards conformity. Be proud of your dorkiness, for often it’s just another word for individuality. (I’d vote for you!)

Congratulations!

Got this flash game, crimson room from sherlock yesterday. Apparently there are 13 objects to be find in order to escape from the room.

If you found:
0-6 items, your IQ is very low, total idiot
6-8 items, Low IQ, u r an idiot
9-10 items, u r normal
11-12 items, your IQ is high, above the average.
13 items found and get out of the room, there are less than 4000 people in the world can do it.

Clue : 1994

I managed to get 12. She found it frustrating, cos she’s not as dorky as me. I ran through it on the phone with her.

Apparently there’s a sequel. Haven’t tried it out yet, cos I want to try to solve the first one. Googling “crimson room solution” gives a lot of links, but I’ll resist, for now. :)

Was talking with my chat buddies today about video games and the topic of D&D naturally turned to RPGs and text-based games. Oh, remember the zork days? I can hardly remember the game itself, except that it was so much fun. I can’t do the Quakes and Dooms nowadays, too much info and graphics to absorb, but zork and infocom games? They rule.

In other news I came across online disc golf, it’s addictive.