BitterDays - Just Another Webcomic

I can't decide

2008-06-22T23:13:00.004+01:00

Indeed

2008-06-21T18:30:00.001+01:00

I don't see how this would help. More aerodynamic?

2008-06-21T05:39:00.000+01:00

Here's to 150

2008-06-21T04:58:00.002+01:00

click it

It's been a while.

2008-06-21T02:14:00.004+01:00

From now on...

2007-09-17T03:36:00.001+01:00

So yes.. I still need to find a good vector drawing program for linux, but for now I'm using vista 'cause ubuntu wont recognise my second hard drive and it's pissing me off.

Chick Magnet Series

2007-09-15T22:08:00.000+01:00

Here are all three parts in one post, mainly for linkage purposes and also because they're quite spread out between other comics and people may not be able to find them:

Part 1

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Part 2

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Part 3

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Chick Magnet, Part 3

2007-09-13T16:08:00.000+01:00

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There will probably only be a few more comics from me because I'm going back to uni on Tuesday, and I wont take a scanner with me unless anyone thinks I should/wants me to continue.

The Kanye Effect, Part 2

2007-09-11T20:56:00.001+01:00

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The Kanye Effect

2007-09-10T19:29:00.001+01:00

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So for this one I decided to draw the comic background, replicate it three more times to create four frames. Then I sliced in the stick-figures I'd drawn separately.. I think it worked fairly well. Any comments on this process?

It was supposed to speed everything up, but the editing took god damn ages.. so I'm not even sure how good the joke is in this one any more I've been staring at it for so long it's just lost all it's effect on me.

The Beach

2007-09-08T00:10:00.000+01:00

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If you like these comics please tell your friends! If you have any.

Sneaky Ice Cubes, Part 2

2007-09-05T18:31:00.001+01:00

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Sneaky Ice Cubes

2007-09-04T17:00:00.000+01:00

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Wind

2007-09-04T02:11:00.000+01:00

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Chick Magnet, Part 2

2007-09-03T14:36:00.000+01:00

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This one I had to edit using Vista's crappy built in photo-manipulation tools (Paint), hope it's still readable.

And due to the advice I've recieved here and elsewhere I'm going to keep the figures expressionless. Cheers.

Madeline

2007-08-30T21:50:00.000+01:00

So, I decided to experiment with some faces on the characters to try and show more expression, and I'll leave it to you guys to decide if it works or not. Let me know. Though, I know most of you who read this site are cunts and wont bother to post, but whatever, the options there is you decide to not be an asshole.

Chick Magnet

2007-08-29T22:04:00.001+01:00

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Like A Fox

2007-08-29T21:02:00.000+01:00

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Oil

2007-08-28T18:11:00.001+01:00

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Another Hobby

2007-08-28T17:55:00.000+01:00

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Tie Troubles

2007-08-21T16:48:00.000+01:00

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The Best Thing Since Sliced Bread

2007-08-19T17:31:00.000+01:00

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Payday

2007-08-19T17:10:00.000+01:00

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Phone Manners

2007-08-18T22:54:00.001+01:00

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Why Bother? 6.45am Starts

2007-08-15T13:16:00.002+01:00

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Fart

2007-08-13T13:33:00.000+01:00

Tannoy

2007-08-12T01:31:00.000+01:00

Conspiracy

2007-08-11T11:35:00.000+01:00

Tattoo

2007-08-11T00:11:00.001+01:00

Lost Keys

2007-08-11T00:07:00.000+01:00

Inspired by XKCD's Scientists: http://xkcd.com/36/

Relentless

2007-08-09T22:50:00.000+01:00

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Energy drinks are to me what spinach is to Popeye

Chip 'n' Pin

2007-08-08T20:49:00.000+01:00

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My summer job is working at Morrison's Petrol Station. Sometimes I want to stab people.

New Shoes

2007-08-08T14:30:00.000+01:00

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Oh.. crap.

2007-08-07T23:11:00.001+01:00

I just realised that I left "Enter Shikari" as the last post on my blog for over 3 months. Lame.

Anyway, here's a comic I thought up at work. Yes, my job is monotonous and ridiculously simple; I don't need to pay attention to it. This was inspired by Demetri Martin and Randall Munroe (of xkcd). Check them out if you havn't already.

Enter Shikari - Anything Can Happen In The Next Half An Hour

2007-04-12T01:58:00.000+01:00

Enter Shikari - Anything Can Happen In The Next Half An Hour

What the hell? I've heard this on the radio a few times and thought it was ok. I download the track and it's different, I listen to it on Youtube, it's not what I thought. After properly listening to it it's like someone bent over and fired their diarrhea all over my face, after I've just got out the shower.

Seriously, this sucks ass. It begins well enough, then some asshole comes in and burps part of the song. God damn these heavy metal types, any moron can burp into a microphone, it doesn't sound good, it just ruins the whole song, and it had potential. It could have made an amazing dance tune, or turned into some nice punk/rock. Unfortunately all it lived up to was shitting in people's faces.

Rating: 2/10

Let me know what you think of the track here.

What Is Art?

2007-04-06T23:34:00.000+01:00

I wonder, can this be considered art?

Really, what constitutes itself as art these days? If I showed the picture alone, would people interpret it? If I gave the picture a meaning, a caption, a story, a purpose, would people believe it?

Could I be a genius?...

The image on the right is taken from photoarts.com/. Now the very name implies photographic art, and the end result is something so utterly crappy .. what's to stop me making some money out of this? The pearl necklace thing; no story, no background, no interpretation. It's just a blurred neck with a necklace. I think I'm doing the wrong degree.

Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip - Thou Shalt Always Kill

2007-04-06T23:14:00.000+01:00

Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip - Thou Shalt Always Kill

I heard this on the radio last night (although it's been circulating for a few days) and I quite liked it. It's simple but it's catchy, and he has a point, though I wouldn't trust someone with the name "le sac". In addition his beard is kind of weird but I guess he's making a statement with that just like he is with this song.

That's all I'm going to say about this for now, I'm off to make pasta and cheese.

Enjoy.

Rating: 6.9/10

Let me know what you thought of the track here.

Maxïmo Park - Girls Who Play Guitars

2007-04-01T18:27:00.000+01:00

Maxïmo Park - Girls Who Play Guitars

The first track on the new album from Maxïmo Park, and it's stunning. It starts out with a low buzzing sound which reminded me of Franz Ferdinand's "The Fallen", which was also the first track on their second album. Maybe just a coincidence. Anyhoo, that's about all the two songs have in common.

I personally really enjoy this track and it complements "Our Velocity" perfectly, making an excellent start to the album.

Some choice lyrics:
"Three Hundred, and Sixty, Five Days, watching me decay"
"It's her life and a life is worth living (it's her life)
it never struck her just to pause for one minute (it's her life)"

As you can tell, I'm getting really lazy with this review writing, but whatever. Maybe I'll start actually writing something worth reading later in the year. Miracles happen. Just enjoy the music.

Rating: 8.7/10

Let me know what you think of the track here.

An Open Letter To BBC News

2007-03-30T04:40:00.000+01:00

What the hell?
This is what we pay for?
Are you serious?
I don't even know what you're trying to say.
It doesn't make sense.
This fee doesn't make sense.
You don't make sense.

BBC News Online, you're making no sense.

I'd like to bring to your attention a few recent articles.
If you'd care to visit here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/6503519.stm you will notice the title immediately. Why will you notice the title? Well despite the fact that it's bigger than the rest of the text, IT MAKES NO SENSE. "Murder Accused 'Sadistic' Claim". Titles are meant to be short, informative statements that give you a clue about what the article is about. From reading the title on the BBC News feed on personalised Google homepage, I had no idea that this article was about the Welsh murder in which some guy's lover killed his wife, and that he is apparently accused of being "sadistic". So at least two words make sense in there. "Murder" does not fit, and "claim" does not fit. Now, if you look to the right of the article you will see the helpful "See Also" column. Did the person who wrote this article also write the article titled "Husband 'wanted wife dead' claim". Not to rain on this person's journalistic parade, but you do not, I repeat do not, have to add "claim" on the end of every article you write. It makes no sense in either of them.
To prove this is not a one off, here is one on the front page at the time of writing: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6506717.stm
The title says "NHS staff 'would not be patients'". To me that implies that NHS will not longer be patients if they enter hospital with an injury, but perhaps will be something else, maybe VIPs, I'm not sure what whacky stuff could be happening so I open the link. The first paragraph clears it up "Nearly two thirds of health staff would not be happy to be a patient in their own NHS trust, a survey shows." Now, that doesn't really relate to the title. How about, "NHS staff would not seek NHS care", or "NHS Staff choose private medical facilities". Maybe expand your columns a few pixels if titles have to be compressed to so many characters. At least it would make more sense.
Again, "Banking hitch delays workers' pay" from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6508791.stm
To me, this brings a visual image of a Natwest, Barclays, Lloyds TSB and others, on the side of the road with their thumbs out, hoping to hitch to Madrid or something. Surely you mean "glitch", as in a "technical glitch", not a "hitch". Surely the person writing the article should know enough to not mix up the two similarly-sounding words? No? Didn't think so.

Please BBC News, do something, anything about this. Hire a "title checker" or something, someone with some common sense who can see that some article titles make no sense. Utilise the budget that we provide.

With Regards.

The Fray - How To Save A Life

2007-03-28T19:05:00.000+01:00

The Fray - How To Save A Life

What a song. Released as a single in 2006 from the Chicago-based band's debut album from 2005, it charted in the Adult Top 40 in the US for 15 weeks.
The song is purportedly about Isaac's time in a camp for troubled teens, where

"One of the kids I was paired up with was a musician. Here I was, a protected suburbanite, and he was just 17 and had all these problems. And no one could write a manual on how to save him."

I chose to write about this song because it's bringing back a few memories for me right now, and it's also a pretty classic tune, not to mention the song talks about "somewhere along in the bitterness", I think it's appropriate.
That's it for the history etc., now onto the music. The song starts with a piano introduction, setting a solemn mood. Isaac's voice cuts in, followed by the drums, building up to the chorus which enters with guitar chords and a continuing piano accompaniment, more piano chords and a crescendo of vocals, I guess you could say it's quite moving. It depends if you're emo or not.
The vocals are almost hoarse, which adds to the effect of the song and I think it works very well.
I can't be bothered to say anything else because I'm enjoying listening to the song right now and if you yourself have put it on play then you've still good a good few minutes of listening left, so sit back and enjoy.

Rating: 8.3/10

Let me know what you think of the song here

Maxïmo Park - Our Velocity

2007-03-04T21:16:00.000Z

Maxïmo Park - Our Velocity

Damn was I excited to be going to see these guys in April, then I heard their new single.

I creamed myself.

This is probably the best track they've ever recorded, and their last album (including the "Missing Songs" compilation) was also pretty stunning. The highlight of the track, to be released 19th March, for me comes at around 2:57 on the video above; can you imagine Maxïmo Park live giving that chord sequence all they have? Awesome.

The video (as you can see) features the band playing multiple times in a white room. I'm sure someone somewhere has counted how many times each member appears, but I haven't, and I'm not going to try and find out if anyone has. It seems like a slightly weird concept but I think by the end of the video you can see it fits quite well with the speed and flow of the song, but I can't see any relation to the lyrics .. at all really.

Well I can't think of much more to say about this, I would go on about guitar riffs and driving chords and blah blah, but the song speaks for itself.

Rating: 9.4/10

Just as a side note, their next album "Our Earthly Pleasures" is due for release on 2nd April, but was leaked on to the torrent networks today.

Let me know what you think of the track here

Bloc Party - Hunting For Witches

2007-02-07T12:28:00.000Z

Bloc Party - Hunting For Witches

Bloc Party released their new album two days ago on February 5th. Of course I've had this album for a few weeks now and have been playing it virtually non-stop since I got it. Bloc Party's debut album, Silent Alarm, set a high standard for the next album. Despite mixed reviews from critics and fans alike (with many fans saying they are "disappointed") I believe they've hit the mark again.

One of my favourite tracks has to be, as the title of this post suggests, "Hunting For Witches". This is the second track on the album after "Song For Clay (Disappear Here)" and opens with some glitchy cut and paste vocals in glorious stero that wouldn't have been out of place on Silent Alarm. You may wonder where this is going, until the driving guitar kicks in. Bloc Party at their best, for me at least.

The lyrics reflect the July Bombings and the "War on Terror", how terror is seemingly all around and the media possibly blows everything out of proportion. "Now is not the time for liberal thought" perhaps implies that the government and even the media is dictating what we should think and do, as "fear will keep us all in place". Well that's the intellectual make-up-meanings-for-what-they've-said-like-I-know-that's-what-they-were-thinking-about-English-Lit bit over with, now onto how much the song kicks ass.

The opening alone, as I've said, is enough to give this song top marks. The song builds up to the massive guitar intro, which then fades out in the chorus to let the vocal melody take the lead. The beats are kept scatty and the chords are wound tight to give the song a kind of paranoid effect .. ok enough with the English Lit.

Anyway, listen and love. It's awesome.

Rating: 9.2/10

Let me know what you think of the track here

Low vs Diamond - Life After Love

2007-01-26T07:16:00.000Z

Low vs Diamond - Life After Love
.mov download (right click > save as)

Low vs Diamond, originally called "1984" and then "Colored Shadows" (which I personally think is a much better name than the current one) are another American indie band. They've been compared to Air and Morrissey, I'd say they have a hint of The Killers in there as well and I'm tempted to compare them to Maximo Park, but I wont. It's also interesting to note that "1984" was also a band formed by Brian May before he went onto form Queen. Ok I lie, it's not that interesting, but it's a little factoid for the day.

The new name is apparently due to the band recieving a lot of "lows", and the drummer being named Howie Diamond. I think the name is retarded, but we're here to discuss music, not names. Even though it's a stupid name. Why did they pick such a retarded name?

The video is taken from some French dude who strapped a camera to his car and hurtled around Paris at 6.30am, reportedly reaching speeds of up to 140mph. It's a pretty cool, though I'm not sure it has any relevence.. but it does seem to fit with the chord progressions.

The general music of the band itself is very light on the guitar compared to others, and favours synthesisers with drums, this is reflected especially in "Stay Awake", which you can listen to on their MySpace. Life After Love favours the guitar a lot more, but it's not particularly intrusive I find.

The whole feel to the track is kind of eery, a bit dark and one of those songs that is not quite "chillout background" music and not quite "stand up and listen to me" music. It's hard to put a finger on it, but that aside, I like what they have done with the track.

Rating:6.4/10

Let me know what you think of the track here

Mika - Grace Kelly

2007-01-25T18:39:00.000Z

Mika - Grace Kelly

Mika, probably one of the hottest names of 2007 so far, exciting all the critics. You've got to admit, it's a damn catchy song, and it's not only myself that thinks so. Mika charted Number 1 with his single Grace Kelly in the UK's Top 40 Chart on Sunday 21st.

All I hear about Mika is that is a mix of The Scissor Sisters and Freddie Mercury. Well, to some extent that's true, but to be honest, the Scissor Sisters suck ass, and this doesn't suck much at all. I'm going to go more with it's just a brand of joyous pop with Freddie style vocals.

The single is characterised by sparkling melodies and a hell of a lot of harmonised piano making for something I consider more like The Feeling than Scissor Sisters.

What's nice about Mika is that he's actually good at singing. Classically trained, his live performances match those of his vocals on the actual mastered single.

Admittedly it's kind of gay (just look at the video, and listen to the lyrics ("should I bend over?), yeah, yeah he's pretty gay) but don't let that put you off, let the peadophilia put you off. "Humphry, we're leaving," says the 7 year old girl. "Kerching!"

Well, ok, ...

Anyway, overall I like this song, the video to me, doesn't really fit at all, but then I guess it's considered "arty", I don't really know what that implies but to me it implies not having to think of anything in particular so grab a prop and wave it around for a while.

Mika will certainly be a big artist this year, we'll see just how big when his debut album, Life in Cartoon Motion, is released on the 5th of February.

Rating:9/10

Absolute Genius

2007-01-25T18:28:00.000Z

Sitting here eating a bowl of noodles, contemplating the failure that will be tomorrow's Key Concepts in Politics exam because I spent all day sleeping instead of revising, I was struck by a moment of absolute genius.

Taking my previous idea of a music blog, my mind expanded on that.

A music blog .. with youtube/dailymotion/othervideohostingsitehere videos.

Awesome.

Just .. damn I'm a genius.

I know this has probably been done before, and, if it has, it shall be done again! Of course I will continue with occasional linux/scripting/humour updates, but I find these are harder to come by these days as I'm settling into Linux, and not many people are in the same situation.

VectorLinux

2007-01-24T23:01:00.000Z

I must say, I'm impressed.

I've loaded up the LiveCD Beta 1 of version 5.8. I've also already downloaded and burnt the VectorLinux 5.8 install just in case I like it enough to switch, and damn do I like it. It's like Christmas but with Easter Eggs instead of Brussel Sprouts and when you open an Easter Egg a fluffy bunny hops out and does some cool magic tricks. That's possibly the only way to describe this experience right now.

Gripes from a Ubuntu Gnome point of view:
It's slackware - so instead of apt-get, it's slapt-get, one minor change, but this changes quite a lot of the terminal commands which is a little bit annoying because you have to think about what it's changed to after you get it wrong the first time. I sure this wouldn't matter after about a week though.

Gripes from a Windows point of view:
Can't .. really .... think of any...

Gripes that affect both Gnome and Windows users:
Click and Drag doesn't work on the desktop
The buttons on the taskbar become very small when you resize the bar because it's a giant thing that takes up too much screen space when you first start

Plus Points:

Shade. I love this feature. Admittedly it's with all Xfce desktops, but it would be nice to have this in Ubuntu Gnome. I'm going to try and find a way to get this feature in my Ubuntu Gnome desktop.

Menu Configuration - You can configure the start menu to show whatever you like with the menu configuration. Likewise this menu can be displayed when you right click the desktop, this menu configuration just feels a little bit more advanced than that in Gnome.

Ease of customisation - loads of skins/icon sets etc. are already included, you can have it looking how you want with ease in a matter of, well, seconds.

It seems extremely fast. Minimising windows, even browser history seems to be faster. This is part of the Xfce desktop system, it's designed to be lightweight and fast. Anyone with a low-end PC would find their performance increased dramatically with this desktop, especially as VectorLinux is touted as the faster non-source desktop in the world.

I could go on forever listing the great points about Xfce and especially VectorLinux, but I wont. Instead, I shall simply sugget that you download the LiveCD version and try it out for yourself. Just burn the ISO to a CD and pop it in the tray, restart, and VectorLinux will boot up (provided you have CD set to be the first boot device).

Rating: A

Here's a screenshot

I'm Just A Simple Geek...

2007-01-24T18:34:00.000Z

Is it wrong that I find this funny?

DreamLinux

2007-01-20T15:16:00.000Z

So I've just booted up DreamLinux from the LiveCD for the first time.

If you decide to switch from Windows to Linux, DreamLinux might be a viable option, though there are some snags you will encounter straight away.

The first thing I noticed is the keyboard layout is American, or perhaps even Brazillian. With the LiveCD I can't find a place to change this. It's kind of annoying.

Another gripe is the Mac-Like taskbar launcher, called "Engage". At first it looks pretty cool, but after a while you realise it's really just eye-candy that prevents you from getting anything done because you're trying in vain to get rid of it. You can set the bar to autohide, but this doesn't really help anything because the windows that you want to maximise still don't go down over the whole screen. Here's a few screenshots to help you understand the problem.
Oh, and by the way, in trying to take a screen shot I encountered even more problems. HOW THE HELL DO YOU TAKE A SCREEN SHOT!? Damn, in Gnome it's just the Print Screen key, which takes the shot and asks you where to save it. XFce, doesn't seem so simple. One option is to open GIMP, the image editor in Linux, and use that to capture a screen shot. It seems fairly .. long winded.

So anyway, here's how it's supposed to look, when you're hovering over the bar, everything looks pretty, all very nice.

If you want to auto-hide the bar you can, but don't think it will increase your screen space for other windows. Oh no, the windows don't go further than the bar will allow. So I ask, what the hell is the point in auto-hide?

Then, if your windows are maximised, and you want to select something from the bar, don't think you'll be able to see the name of what you're selecting! Oh no, that would make life waaaay too uninteresting and predictable.

Also you can't click and drag on the desktop, meaning you can't select multiple icons/shortcuts unless you shift/ctrl click. Lame.

So those are the main problems I've encountered within the first few minutes of running DreamLinux.

On to the good, perhaps?
There are some nice aspects of DreamLinux.

One, for some people, might be the fact that XMMS, a media player for Linux, starts up and sits quietly in your system tray until you want to use it.

It comes shipped with Firefox 2 as the default browser.

The buttons in webpages and the desktop are more 3d and windows/mac-like. In Gnome everything seemed very flat and grey and, well, boring. XFce attempts to be a bit more eye pleasing

It comes with Flash Player 9 already installed, something Ubuntu lacks

As it's Debian based, the transition from Ubuntu to DreamLinux in terms of the terminal will be nice and smooth

It has a very Mac-Like feel to it, the skins, the colours, the launchers. Windows and Mac users would probably feel very at home with how the desktop looks

Right-click on the desktop brings up the Applications menu

Middle-click on the desktop brings up a list of open windows to switch to. That's pretty snazzy

sudo apt-get remove engage -- Ahh bliss. Windows using all the available screen space!

So that's my preliminary report on DreamLinux. Maybe with an install it would be more configurable, but as it stands from the LiveCD, I think for now, I shall stick with Ubuntu.

If you are moving from Windows and have a bit of computer knowledge, this might be a nice desktop for you, but if you've had experience elsewhere with Linux, you'll probably be slightly annoyed at the usability aspect. Although once I got rid of that damn engage bar I did calm down slightly, I'm still highly pissed off that I can't change the keyboard layout.

Rating: B-

Direction 2: Decision Imminent

2007-01-20T13:58:00.001Z

The labels feature of this new blogger does look pretty cool, I wish Flock could utilise this because I love blogging from my browser.. anyway, anyway...

So I'm still stuck on what to blog about. Sam suggested university but, to be honest, there isn't much to say .. that would basically be blogging about my life and I can't usually be bothered to write what's happened in a day. To me that's more like keeping a diary, which I'm not really into; I have testicles.

If I had my camera I'd like to do more photowork for my blog, but that's kinda out of the question at least until Easter because my camera is still in Plymouth with Emily. So .. fantastic.

Another option is blogging about new toys, and I don't mean Barbie. Maybe gadgets I want to get, or new distro's of Linux which have caught my eye. Something computer based maybe .. but then there are already millions of blogs like that which are doing a much better job than I could. It's a shame I don't really have a speciality I guess.

Damn I'm so...un-unique, and un-unix.

So anyway, I'm currently downloading another Linux Distro, this one is called DreamLinux and I recommend anyone interested in Linux to at least visit the site. I'm currently using Ubuntu, based on the Gnome desktop, DreamLinux is different most noticeably in that it is based on XFce. So yeah, I'm currently downloading the LiveCD version of that, and will get back to you when I decide whether I like it or not, and whether it could ever replace Ubuntu. I just hope DreamLinux doesn't have a gay community.

Direction

2007-01-18T11:03:00.000Z

Well I've just finished my first exam, Economics, and it didn't go too badly, but not as well as it could possibly have gone. The revision I did in the library with Sean and Phil deffinitely helped, and I think I would have faired much worse without their help, and jokes.

Anyway, so that really had nothing to do with the main point of this post, I just added it for substance. Sexy substance. Hot and juicy, saucey substance with a cherry on top. Why does the cherry always have to be on top? Why can't the cherry be in the middle, or underneath? Maybe 'cause the cherry is almost always underneath first time it wants a change after that and goes on top...

So yeah, main point of the post, I'm thinking about taking the blog in another direction, updating it more often, and changing the content to something specific. My initial ideas were a music blog, I can't really think of anything else .. so if there's anything you'd like me to blog about let me know. I know it's probably only going to be Sam who reads this post at the moment because I havn't spread the word enough about the blog yet, so Sam, what do you think?

technorati tags:music, blog

Blogged with Flock

Oh The Days

2006-12-21T17:42:00.000Z

Listening to the old DOY podcasts, which can be found on Sam991's site here, brought back a lot of memories of all the fun times we had making them, and also, how freakin' awesome we were. Seriously, we should have gone mainstream..it would have been an instant hit. I believe Karaoke Tom is an original, our jingles were top quality and the games we made up were a first .. such as "Classroom Catchphrase". A classic.

I'm thinking about maybe making some more podcasts. I know we had the idea of Four Cocks and a Microphone, but that ended up being two cocks .. the other two failed to get theirs out. Ashamed of it or something. I dunno.

So, would anyone be interested in doing a whole new podcast project? Let me know.. or I'll do it alone, and you don't want to hear that.

Oh, and if anyone thinks a podcast is the worst idea ever.. well any input is welcome.

technorati tags:DOY, Dan, Owns, You, Podcast

Blogged with Flock

He's Back!

2006-12-13T17:07:00.000Z

And Black.

Well maybe not-so-much black...

So I have nothing better to do right now because I've finished all my work, I can't go and hand it in because the departmental offices are closed on a Wednesday afternoon, and I feel like being creative. I woke up at 3.30pm today...missed my two hour computing skills class but hey.

So in two days and a few hours time I shall be home! Quite looking forward to it, but I really need my parents to go and see a car and buy it so that I can get out the house when I get home .. see I'm going home, but I don't actually want to spend that much time there.

I'm looking forward to some luxuries when I get home..such as doughnuts...crisps...not having to cook or wash my own clothes... oh man it's going to be so sweet. All three weeks of it. And then of course there's New Years in Bideford. Oh yeah!

It's starting to feel a bit more like Christmas, though I imagine it will feel more like it when I get home and it starts snowing. And it will snow...trust me it will snow.... It always snows at my house. I have a picture of it last year, but it's on my Nokia and I have no way of getting it over to my PC at the moment because I think I lost my USB Bluetooth. Ah well. I'll get one this year on my Panasonic DMC FX-01 which Emily better remember to bring back from Plymouth!

I just checked Tim's blog as I was updating mine, and his post was pathetic. I guess it probably took him as long to type his as it's taken me to type this; according to Dave I have "Crazy Typing Fingers". I'm not sure if that's a compliment or not. Anyway, Tim, your life is better than mine? I shall subtly laugh and move away. Like I do when most people make absurd comments around these places. I spoke to Simon the other day, he's one of the really really quiet guys in our house, never says a word to anyone...never smiles..never goes out...nothing. So I said "Hey Simon, do you know my name?" He replied "...........no." I walked out subtly laughing. And by that I mean I walked out in drunken histerics.

So yeah... hopefully I'll have time to update with something more meaningful in the near future, but until then... Go Fuck Yourself, San Diego

technorati tags:University

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Dance Monkey, Dance!

2006-09-19T02:20:00.000+01:00

This is pretty much how I've viewed the world for a while. Sure this short clip is funny and all, but it's also pretty sad. We worry, we stress, we're scared, we're happy .. but not for long. We try to fit in with everyone else but at the same time we hate and exclude others around us. What's that about? We're pretty screwed up. That's why it's best not to worry about anything .. I try, it's hard, and it doesn't always work. I think I should start a new society or something .. for people who don't worry about anything and can just be happy .. just make yourself happy you freakin' mule and stop worrying about mince.

And I don't want to get into any debates about God or gods etc. so just shut up right there.

And yes, I know this is a very choppy Michael Moore shove-it-in-your-face-so-much-you'll-believe-it one-sided argument, but whatever. Maybe I'll counter it in the next post.

technorati tags:What, We, Are

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You Know Me Well

2006-09-12T18:12:00.000+01:00

Hit Play

You Know Me Well

Well, I didn't have much to say but I like this little player so I thought I'd say something anyway. Enjoy.

9/11 - Didn't See It Coming

2006-09-12T14:13:00.000+01:00

So yesterday marked the 5th anniversary of what has been the largest terrorist attack of modern times. I've believed, however, for a long time that the attack was dreamed up and carried out by the American Government. No, I'm not a conspiracy nut, I don't live in a cave on a mountain, and I don't have long fingernails or straggling hair.

If you want to know why I believe this then the best place you can look is here
That is Loose Change 2nd Edition and goes through the main points which seem a little suspect about the attacks. Well, more than just a little suspect.

So before I go onto another rant about how the Government blew up the towers I'm going to introduce you to a new theory which I was thinking about the other day.

Is America Fit To Lead The War On Terror When It Can't Even Spot The Biggest Terrorist Attack In Modern History?

Think about it rationally. 3000 people dead. Two planes hijacked and flown low over New York City. America, supposedly the most technologically advanced country in the world with highly capable defence systems is unable to spot two 747s flying off course, low, and heading towards the Twin Towers?

Now, what if this was a missile? What if North Korea had secretly launched a nuclear warhead. Would they have detected that? How could they possibly miss these two planes? Remember that it was not just one plane that hit the towers. It was two. So after the first plane hit, were not the forces alerted? Infact, they were alerted before the plane hit the tower. At 08:37am The FFA notifies NORAD that the plane is heading for New York, off course. Nine minutes later NORAD scrambles two fighter jets. The fighter pilots are not told where to go, or what to do. At that same time the North Tower is hit. Seven minutes after that the fighter jets are airborne, but are ordered into military air space off Long Island. So, America can't coordinate anything in a hurry, we've learned that much, and they can't forsee (from their amazing intelligence which told us Sadam was planning to nuke the world with weapons of mass detruction) any attacks. Their intelligence failed in the long term, their contingency plans failed in the short term. Overall, America failed big time. And yet, dispite this failure they are LEADING the fight against terror?

Ok so we've established that the USA failed in all possible sectors concerning the first attack. Now there's the second attack.

Did they not think to check for other aircraft which may be astray? Well, the miliatary did nothing. The fighter pilots were off Long Island, great help .. so at 9.03 the second plane strikes the South Tower. At the same time the military is notified on the hijacking. Five minutes later the Military Commander decides to send figher jets over Manhatten. Seventeen minutes after that Combat Air Patrol is set up over Manhatten.

With the Pentagon attack, similarly, there seemed to be a lack of intelligence, but I think I've emphasised this enough already.

So, think about it. The USA's intelligence was unaware of the terrorist attacks until they happened .. are they really fit to be leading the war on terror? Is Britain going to continue to blindly follow? Does America even know where it's going?
No, Yes, No. Simply. We're screwed.

technorati tags:9/11, Terrorist, Twin, Towers, America, Is, Gay

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A Podcast Thingy - There Was A Time

2006-09-11T02:07:00.000+01:00

Hit Play

Alright so this is some sort of podcast blog thing that I mashed together; background music courtesy of Sam

This little player is pretty cool so if I do more of these in the future every new post should also contain a link to the old podcast thingies. You'll know which one is latest because it should be on top, and the title of the post will relate to the title of the audio clip.

I want to see Lucky Number Slevin again...

technorati tags:There, Was, A, Time

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Steve Irwin is Dead

2006-09-04T14:42:00.000+01:00

For real.

The 'Crocodile Hunter' got stung in the chest by a Sting Ray (the second person ever to die from this) while he was filming another documentary. Those things have barbed tails coated with venom. They're docile creatures who only attack if they feel threatened .. I'm guessing Mr Irwin was trying to poke him with a stick or something.

If anyone believes this is a hoax they should probably first check the news, if you havn't seen it already, and then take a look at the Queensland Police Service website.

We've taken the piss out of him countless times, with his cries of 'Crikey' and 'Look at that beauty'. Give it a few years and we'll be taking the piss out of the way he died. Probably 21 years as that is the time allowed for a tagic event to still be tragic before jokes can be made about it. Steve Irwin featured on South Park (obviously not him as all celebrities are impersonated) in an episode that saw him shoving his thumb up the assholes on animals in an attempt to piss them off.

technorati tags:Steve, Irwin, Crocodile, Hunter, Dead, Sting, Ray

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I think I may have a problem...

2006-09-03T14:11:00.000+01:00

Ok, so there's this test that you can do to determine how fast you type, find it here: http://labs.jphantom.com/wpm/

Now I'm hoping, just really hoping that someone can beat the speeds I've got..

I've done it a few times to find my highest word per minute and characters per minute rates.

word per minute ... with 4 mistakes, I know I could get faster if I could cut out the mistakes. They're usually silly ones like I'll type "thos epeople" instead of "those people". It's just a matter of my thumb being too fast for my left index.

Characters per minute, over 650.

I'm a bit worried, I think I may be a nerd. And there's that looming threat of carpal tunnel syndrome... Really, my hands already shake.

If anyone can beat this let me know. I'd feel better about myself then.

technorati tags:Typing, Fast

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The Big Raw Onion Challenge

2006-08-30T03:41:00.000+01:00

It was an onion to top all onions.

Seriously. It smelled a little bit rotten too.

I'd already won £4 of Lisa's tips. The challenge after that was to eat this whole onion, raw, in one minute. I didn't think I could do it, but the prospect prize of the rest of the tips, £12, was too much for me to pass up on. If I'd combined that with my tips, and my winnings already, I would have gone home with £57 that night.

If I failed to complete the challenge I stood to lose the tips I had already won from Lisa with them going back to her.

So I took the challenge.

Yes... I failed miserably. I came out of it £4 poorer, with a burning nose, an urge to throw up, and 4 mouthfuls of onion in my gut.

So I challenge you ... take up the "Big Raw Onion Challenge" today. Can you do it? Remember, it has to be a big raw onion or it's not a challenge.

The Ultimate List

2006-08-27T13:04:00.000+01:00

Please let me know if you know different from this list:

As of Tuesday 2.30pm
Coming for SURE:
Dan
Simon
Alice
Emma
Emily
Sam
Tom
Sarah B
Gav
Tim
Helen
Tibbs
Claire (not staying)
Rachel
Darren

Coming but uncomfirmed:
Mark
Catherine
Indi

Not responded:
Kate
Olivia
Hannah
Matt

Not Coming:
Cheryl
Madikay
Evans
Sarah J
Pirrie

technorati tags:Edgehill

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This Reunion Thing

2006-08-26T14:12:00.000+01:00

Ok I'm at home ill so I'd thought I'd make a list of things left to do for this reunion.

1. Make sure everyone who said they're coming is coming. This means ringing round .. damn it.

2. Figure out who needs lifts. So, who wants to get a lift with me? I'll come pick you up in the morning and you can help set up. That means you, Sam and Simon.

3. Find some tents.

4. Figure out toilet facilities

5. Figure out how we're going to get music over there.

6. Find out what time people are coming and decide whether it's worth having the bbq at the beach or across the fields, because some people might be arriving late and they probably wont be able to find the beach.

7. Make sure everyone knows directions. I've got an idea of tying something onto the sign that points to my house so you can't miss the turning down my lane. Maybe the curtains I stole from the staff room ;)

8. How do we keep the beers cold!? HOW!? Maybe find some crude form of ice bucket.

That's about all I can think of for now. If there's anything you think needs addressing .. let me know.

technorati tags:Edgehill

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I SERIOUSLY HATE CITY LINK!!

2006-08-21T11:32:00.000+01:00

So the guy tells me I'll get my packge on Monday.

The track hasn't been updated by 11.30am so I ring up. The woman says she's not 100% sure and rings the Exeter branch. They say that they couldn't find the package in the morning and only found it an hour ago after all the trucks had left. FUCK THEM ALL. Now they SHOULD be delivering it tomorrow, and if not, I'm am going to go to Exeter and whip some postal service ass.

technorati tags:City, Link, Suck, Ass

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Dantonbury?

2006-08-20T09:01:00.000+01:00

I don't know why it's called that really, but I'll go with it.

Here's a list of who's coming, not coming, and who's yet to be invited or who has been and hasn't responded yet...

People who are coming:
Dan
Simon
Alice
Emma
Emily
Sam
Mark
Tom
Sarah B
Gav
Tim
Claire
Rachel
Catherine
Helen
Indi

People left to invite:
Kate
Steve
Tibbs
Darren
Matt
Lucy?
Annalisa?
Frid?

People left to respond:
Sarah J
Olivia
Hannah
Pirrie

Not Coming (Gay):
Cheryl
Madikay
Evans

The question marks are because I don't know if inviting them will lead to other's not coming...we want to maximise the number of people at this reunion .. so if it means sacrificing an invite for one person in order for 10 people to come .. so be it. Let me know if you think some should/shouldn't be on the list aaaand if you can, invite those who havn't yet been invited, and ask those who havn't yet responded. And let me know so I can update my list. I feel like Santa.

technorati tags:Edgehill, Reunion, Dantonbury

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Marrrriiiiaaaaa you gotta see her

2006-08-20T08:53:00.000+01:00

I hate City-Link. They came on the 17th, but no one was home. They didn't leave a card; they should have done that. They didn't deliver the next day, the guy at the depot I spoke to seemed to think they didn't usually do that, but from my experience they have always done that whenever I've ordered from them and no one has been here the first time. So because I didn't get a card I didn't realise they wouldn't be coming the next day (Friday). I saw on their site track that the parcel had been returned, I checked it Friday while I was home and I didn't see it had been dispatched so I was pretty pissed off. When I got home Saturday morning and found it hadn't been delivered I decided to ring them .. I'm sure they employ stoners. Anyway, they guy said the earliest they can deliver my camera now is Monday. Fuckers. At least someone is going to be here whether it's myself or a parent. And the City-Link stoner seemed to think the driver would need my phone number .. perhaps they didn't come to my house at all and just gave up because they're too retarded to follow road maps and signs. Or because they're a bunch of pikeys.

Did I tell you about Mushu? He doesn't have aids. Seriously.

I can't believe they called a kid's film's dragon Mushu.

Mushu is not only a type of Chinese soup, but can also be used to mean acts of foreplay, or in general, engaging in acts of a sexual nature with a member of the sex which you are attracted to.

"I got mushu from your mum last night."

"I want some mushu"

"Mushuuuu!"

technorati tags:City, Link, Mushu

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Car Insurance .. and other woes

2006-08-14T07:29:00.000+01:00

When I say "other woes" I really just put that there so that I could say "I don't have any other woes" and rub it in your face that I only have one problem. That's right; one. Not ninety nine. That makes me better than Jay-Z and therefore a hiphop legend.

So yeah, trying to get car insurance until I go to uni, which should be the 26th of September. But the thing is .. I don't even know if I'm going to get into university until the day after my renewal is due. That kind of sucks ass. If I am going to uni I need insurance for about a month and a week, we'll call it two months. I've found that on More Than I can get insurance at £17 a month on a basic level ... that's all fine and dandy, but, if I want to cancel my insurance before the end of the one year period, it's going to cost me a massive £55. So that would mean I'm paying roughly £95 for what is, in effect, 5 weeks of insurance. £19 a week? For insurance? I don't think so. Based on a 51 week year, at £19 a week, it would cost me £969 to insure my car. This past year my insurance cost me £360 - that's £7 a week. So, why the hell should I have to pay almost three times as much (on a week-by-week basis) for insurance, when I now have one year's no claims bonus? It just doesn't make logical sense. Maybe I should start my own insurance company and insure myself for £0. Then if I do ever crash I can pay with the money I saved by not paying for insurance every year. Or something.

If anyone knows of a company that will insure me week by week or month by month without a cancellation fee .. for my sake, let me know! Preferably by Wednesday.... or at least Thursday.

technorati tags:Car, Insurance

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I used to be so funny...

2006-08-13T03:45:00.000+01:00

Maybe not funny, but I was something.

I was looking over all my old articles a while ago, and a few of them are actually pretty funny. And I was pretty good at photomanipulation. I found one picture where I changed the words "Send A Card To Tony" to "Send Anthrax To Tony". Pretty clever. At least I must have thought so at the time. Then there's my article about how much kid's drawings suck. It actually made me laugh 'cause I'd forgotten what I'd written and how good it was.

So that made me think ... I'm a damn good writer.

The end.

Or is it?

So yeah .. more old styleeee articles to come perhaps, if I can find the right motivation.

Something that's pissing me off at the moment is human nature .. like those gay ass emotions that wont quit. Well they quit .. for a time, then something sparks it all .. then you're fucked for another week while you try to think of anything but what you're thinking of. And what the hell is the point in that? Why can't I think what I'm thinking? Because what I'm thinking will ultimately depress me because I'm thinking I want something that I can't have .. so why the hell does the human body and brain do that to itself? Why does the body knowingly depress itself? What the hell is my brain trying to prove to itself .. that it can survive pain and conflict and a lack of oxygen? I think that must be the answer .. and if it is .. I'm pretty sure that makes me God .. or at least a super hero.

The real end.

Or is it?

Yes .. yes it is.

technorati tags:BitterDays, life, superhero

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Dates for your Diary

2006-08-09T10:46:00.000+01:00

Ok, everyone needs to keep the 17th free and the 30th free.

Here's why...

The 16th is my 18th Birthday, but it's a Wednesday - not a great going out night really. So Thursday .. Quigs is open a bit later and drinks are cheaper, plus Q Club is open. It's also results day. So after results I'm going to the pub and inviting everyone to join me. Then we stay out until everywhere in Bideford is closed. I figure that gives us a good 13 hours drinking.

For the 30th I'm going to try and organise a big "Edgehill Reunion" with everyone (or those that can/want to come) we were with from L5th to U6th. This will be held (hopefully) at my place, in a field, with tents, booze and music. We should have a bbq on Duckpool beach in the evening then head back to mine. It will be bring your own booze and bring your own food. BYOBAF? Something like that. And it's a no non-edgehillian thing - that is, no boyfriends and girlfriends if they never went to Edgehill with us lot ... so yeah, no boyfriends and girlfriends. Or parents/brothers/sisters/pets/children/uncles/aunties/cousins/toys/glass doors.

So yeah, keep the dates free, and spread the word. The more people the better!

technorati tags:18th, Birthday, Quigglies, Party, BBQ

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Comfort In Sound

2006-08-08T10:06:00.000+01:00

technorati tags:Feeder, Comfort, In, Sound, Edgehill

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Lucky Number Slevin

2006-08-08T10:05:00.000+01:00

So tonight at work I managed to watch two entire films. Remember people, I was paid for that. We got some Pringles and Maltesers and a few cokes, and watched one of the better films I've seen in a while; Lucky Number Slevin.

I'm not going to ruin the plot for anyone who hasn't watched it yet, but I will say that the plot is pretty damn good. The beginning starts sort of in the past .. then it goes further into the past, and then comes back. You've got to pay close attention to the beginning; you wont understand it at first, but by the end of the film everything will be clear. I bet you can't figure out the ending before it happens .. you're just not prepared for it.

I wont say too much but the way that Slevin is seen by the audience through most of the film 'till the end is what tricks us .. we believe that Slevin is who he says he is because he never says anything otherwise, to anyone .. not that we see anyway.

So yeah .. a good film over all.

technorati tags:Lucky, Number, Slevin, S7evin, Film

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For Those I've Not Spoke To In A While

2006-08-07T03:03:00.000+01:00

So at the moment I'm learning to speak Mandarin and Arabic, working hard at the chinese restaurant every night and raking in just under £7 an hour thanks to those beautiful tips, and trying to get fit again by running in the mornings.

Mandarin Chinese is, dare I say it, fun to learn. Learning? Fun? That's right. Well I find it fun anyway. Trying to talk to the chef's in their native language is quite fun .. or funny at least. At first I asked them if they spoke "Mandarin" or "Cantonese" in English. The one who speaks a bit of English didn't understand so I said "errr.. "ne hoi shoire putongwa ma?" (that's roughly how it's pronounced) and he said "huh? putonghwoi!?". I replied yes and he said "yes yes putonghwoi!". The other chef doesn't speak a word of English so I don't think he had a clue what was going on but he was smiling along cooking a chow mein anyway. Maybe he just enjoys smiling to himself .. who knows. So yeah, I taught the English speaking chef that "The Common Language" (putonghwoi) is called "Mandarin" in "Yiymone" (English). I think I need to work on my tones more, but he got the jist of what I was trying to say at least. The reason I'm doing this is that one day I'll hopefully return to Hong Kong and tour China. Of course in Hong Kong they speak Cantonese, but Mandarin and Cantonese are supposedly similar, so I shouldn't have too much trouble getting around in Hong Kong when I visit there.

Arabic is coming along very slowly. I can say about 5 words, where as with Mandarin I could probably hold a very simple conversation about what language people speak, and how people are health wise, after an hour and a half of work. Maybe it's because I'm using different systems to learn each language. Arabic I'm using "Rosetta Stone" which utilises the microphone for you to mimic the person speaking. The program measures a bunch of vocal stuff and tells you how accurate you are. It can be fooled though and I don't think it's highly reliable. Plus it's done on pictures, so I don't really know what I'm saying in English. I could be saying "Father", or I could be saying "Man". I don't know. Either way it seems to be a much slower learning process. The reason I want to learn Arabic is that I'm currently looking into a job in MI6, or The SIS. I'm guessing that a lot of the work would be based in the middle-east, due to them being fucked up and wanting to attack us and all. They prefer if you have a second language, so why not make my fourth language Arabic? Then I'll be able to do the job I want.

I tried holding a conversation on the internet with a French person the other day, and to my suprise, I could understand quite a lot of what he was saying. Although I only speak un peu de Francais, what I have learnt from my time at Edgehill has mostly stuck with me. Hell, I can even remember the opening paragraph to my GCSE French oral. Maybe I'll try brushing up my French skills at some time in the future, perhaps when I'm more competent with Mandarin. It can't hurt after all.

So work is going good too, not much else to say. We did get prank called for the first time ever today though. It was someone trying to do that bit off "Dude, Where's My Car?" where the Chinese woman is going "aaaand theeeeeen? And then? AND THEN? AAAND THHEEEEN?". They didn't pull it off very well 'cause they were just screaming down the phone and I couldn't really hear what they were saying. I wasn't sure if it was Tong Fong trying to get our food order for next week, so being the competant worker I am, I passed the phone over the Moira, who told them to call Bideford and then hung up. If I was fast enough I would have replied with something witty from the film in retalliation. To tell the truth I wasn't quite with it for half the night. I have the sweetest job in the world. It's easy, it's sometimes fun, and I get to watch films when it gets quiet. Plus free food and drink.

In other news, I almost crashed again today. Well, almost crashed for the first time; the other times I did actually crash. Some twat decided to pull out right in front of me. He realised he wouldn't make it and stopped leaving me to slam on the breaks and skid around him. It was the sexiest skid ever, and it scared the hell out of Moira. The guy pulled away before I had chance to get out my car and wave my hands around and shout a lot, which was a shame. So yeah, I saved Moira's kneecaps 'cause she was in the passenger seat and would have been the one getting smashed. I think I deserve a medal or something.

My sleep pattern is fucked up and I'm eating like I'm anorexic or something. Seriously, two meals in three days can't be good for you. And they wern't even meals - a portion of chips and barbeque spare ribs. I dunno, I'll sort myself out soon.

Anyone that wants to go for a drink sometime give me a call/text/email/msn/bebo/comment .. it's always good to catch up. And always good to drink.

Also, I urge you all to download Flock so that you can keep track of all the photos your friends upload. It's really nifty...honest! I'm going to install bluetooth again soon and tranfer all my phone pics, and take more, so that should make for some interesting (maybe) viewing.

Comments welcome! .. infact they're expected. Like tips really.

technorati tags:Life, Update, Mandarin, Chinese, Arabic, Travel, Running, Drinking, Work

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General Musicalities

2006-08-03T05:18:00.000+01:00

This reminded me of a video Tim showed on his blog a while ago featuring OK Go in the back yard, dancing. This is also Ok Go... dancing on treadmills. The song is "Here It Goes Again".

Does anyone else hate "Smile" by Lily Allen? Does anyone else wish she would just die?

Seriously, I hope I never have to hear her damn song again. It just encourages women thinking they're all so great and they can do whatever they want. Here's a news flash for you women, especially with their men. I don't even know what she sings about but she makes this guy cry then laughs at him? What the hell lady? Bloody Nazi. Women like her should get off their high horses. They're not special, they're just arrogant and annoying. They think they can do anything ... tough break bitch, women can't do everything men can do. I'd like to see you try and get into the penis modelling business. Yeah, damn right you better shut the hell up and get off the radio, the TV, the internet. Everything I value .. she's infiltrated it all .. it's all ruined. Everything. All I need is a guillotine. And some sleep. Currently I've been awake for over 37 hours. I think it's going to end up being over 58 hours awake before I get some sleep. Damn it.

Anyway .. back to the music. Scott Mills has said that this song will be the first song played for the dance at weddings in years to come. Anyone heard it? It's called "No Strings" by Lola. Let me know what you think, and if you find a video of it (not the dance remix one) please post it. There is a copy on her site, but I can't be bothered to try and rip it right now.

technorati tags:Lily, Allen, Smile, Music, Ok, Go, Dancing, Treadmills, Radio, Lola, No, Strings

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Trying to enlarge the Flock

2006-08-02T06:52:00.000+01:00

Latest release at time of writing: Flock 1.7.4.1

Not many of you will have previously heard of the new browser "Flock". It's based on the latest Mozilla Firefox code (so it has the same security updates etc, can potentially utilise the same extensions and feels the same as the 'fox), but it's not a rip of the code. If you havn't tried Flock, I recommend you do so. You can download the latest release here.

Alternatively you can download the latest nightly build (they do a new build every few hours, without any really noticeable implementations, just code changes and bug fixes) here

So what's so great about Flock? We all know Firefox is a great browser and certainly revolutionised the web, what's Flock got to offer that Firefox hasn't? Sam told me that he wouldn't even consider downloading Flock because Firefox does everything he wants from his browser, that is, store his favourites, and he wasn't interested in anything new unless it could give him a blow job. Admittedly, Flock can not give you a blow job. But don't let that put you off, Flock has many great features that Firefox doesn't incorporate, and hopefully this post will open your mind a bit and encourage you to give Flock a chance. I know it's not for everyone because it offers stuff that some people don't need, however, it's known as the "Social Browser", so if you use the internet, the chances are Flock has something to offer you.

When you first start Flock you get what looks like Firefox with a fancy new skin and search box, and a couple of extra buttons on the toolbar. These are the photo and news buttons. I recommend that you customise the toolbars to add "Favourites" on there as well, for easy access. As of yet they havn't added favourites to the sidebar (something which is awesome with the All-In-One Sidebar extension). So let's explore these new items.

Photo Sharing
More and more people are taking photographs these days, and keeping track of them all can be a real hassle. If you have a Photobucket or Flickr account, or even if you don't, the Photobar is some great work. If you have one of these accounts you can upload your photos through Flock using the uploader. The uploader lets you edit the filename, description and size, chose the folder and crop or rotate any image from your PC or the web, just drag and drop it into the uploader or chose it through the file browser. The photos you set as public will then be shared with the world.

It should be noted that Flock in the future will be providing more photo services, and infact they will have an open API so that virtually any provider can interact with Flock's photobar.

To view someone else's photos you don't even need a Flickr or Photobucket account. You can either search for a username by clicking on "View Another Person", or if when you however over a photograph you see this symbol in the bottom left corner: it means that photo is hosted on either Flickr or Photobucket, and you can hover this to show:
(Alternatively the button will show up in the right side of the Location Bar)
Once clicked it will bring up that person's Photostreem in the Photobar for your browsing pleasure. You can then add them as a favourite by clicking the star which you can see at the top left of the photobar. This will add them under your "Photo Favourites" list, and you will be notified when they add more pictures, another section will appear saying "New". In addition the photobar button on the main toolbar will display an orange coloured circle on it to tell you that there is unviewed content. This is the same for the News Reader.

Feed Reading
Flock can automatically import your live bookmarks (and all your bookmarks) from Firefox if you chose, so don't worry about that being an inconvenience; it really isn't. The news button on the toolbar will have an orange circle on it if you have unread items.

You can easily add new feeds by clicking on the button which appears in the location bar when a feed is available. This is perhaps best shown by the news reader tour on the Flock website. Flock comes ready with a bunch of feeds already installed which can be kept or easily deleted depending on your personal preference. It's safe to say that this certainly works better than Firefox's method, and if Live Bookmarks are important to you in Firefox, the Feed Reader in Flock will seem like heaven to you.

Favourites Toolbar
The favourites toolbar is displayed, like in Firefox, below the location bar. However, Flock's version is a little different. As you can group your favourites into categories, the favourites toolbar lets you select which category of favourites to currently display on the bar. This is done using a little drop down feature, as you can see from the following pictures - click on them to enlarge them.

Here you can see that the collection "Favourites Toolbar" is selected.

When the arrows are clicked it brings up a drop-down screen. This shows all the collections that are in place in the favourites manager, which we will get to soon. As you can see there is a "From Firefox" collection, which is all my bookmarks imported from Firefox. You can create any number of collections and switch between them easily on the Favourites Toolbar. In this case I will chose Firefox and Mozilla Links to switch to.

And as you can see, Firefox and Mozilla Links is now displayed on the favourites toolbar.

This means that the favourites toolbar no longer has limited space, you can have as many bookmarks as you want on there, just a click away!

Favourites
Favourites has been vastly improved in Flock, and there are many, many new features. Along with the favourites toolbar in the Favourites Manager. This is easily reached if you place the "Favourites" button on the toolbar, or you can go through Favourites > Manage Your Favourites

With Flock you don't really need to organise your favourites unless you use a lot of organised collections to display on the Favourites Toolbar. This means that you can favourite anything you like. How do you favourite? It's so simple, you just click on the blue star at the start of the location bar, it changes to orange, it's now a favourite. If you double click the star you can save and tag the page. Tagging allows for a more powerful search. For example, you could run through a bunch of pages and tag them "Unread" along with whatever else you want to tag it with. Then you can use the search function in the Favourites Manager and search "Unread" to bring up all the pages that you tagged with that - then you can read a page, double click on the star when you have finished and change the tag from "Unread" to "Viewed" or something similar. You also have the option to add a description for the page, and share it if you wish.

Flock currently offers favourites sharing services such as Del.icio.us and Shadows, so you can see how many other people like the stuff you like, or something, I don't really get the point to these favourites sharing accounts but I have one none-the-less. If you don't want to share your favourites with everyone you can just store them locally, as with Firefox, or you can chose "Share with my other Computers", to share with other PCs that you use when you have Flock and these services enabled - it will download them onto the new PC for you, so you don't have to worry about exporting and importing anything.

When you star a page it adds it to the favourites library. The library holds all your bookmarks, and each bookmark can be optionally placed in a collection, or two, or three, or however many you like. If you click on a collection it brings up only those bookmarks in that collections, it's a bit like a search. These are the same collections that act on the Favourites Toolbar.
To add a collection it's a breeze. Simply click "Add Collection" in the bottom left of the browser, and enter a name for it, then you can drag and drop bookmarks into that collection, or Star and Tag them - remember you can chose to add as many collections as you like, and add any bookmark into any number of collections.

The favourites manager incorporates a search, found at the bottom of the manager in the centre. This search is much like any other library search - you have the full library, you type in a keyword, or keywords, hit enter, and the appropriate items from that library are then shown. Perfect. No need to categorise everything into folders - tags do the work for you.

Another option which I recently discovered when playing with Flock is hitting Ctrl + i. This is probably experimental, and brings up "Bookmarks" in the sidebar (not sure if this is true if you do not have the All-In-One Sidebar extension). Right click on a bookmark (or create one if you do not have any there) and select properties. You'll see options for "name", "location", "keyword", "gestures", and description", and an option to "load this bookmark in the sidebar". Now you may be wondering why this is there - if you go to a search engine, e.g. www.google.co.uk, and right click in the Search Box, you'll see a drop down list. In this drop down list there is an option to "Add a keyword for this search". If you do this, you can add a keyword such as "Google", and then when you type "Google This is a search" into the location bar you will come up with this result. Pretty cool. I know there was this keyword in Firefox, that's why I was trying to get it in Flock, because I use it a lot. However, the way they've implemented it means that you can go to any search engine, and add any keyword, e.g. "gimage plants" would take me to Google Image, searching for "plants".
Heck, it doesn't even have to be a search engine. I use Quintessential Media Player and seeing as I use the forums a lot, I added a bookmark for the forums in this "Bookmarks" section. Under the properties section I added the keyword "qmp" and directed the bookmark at the forums main page. When I type "qmp" in the location bar it goes straight to the forums. There's also the option of adding mouse gestures. I added the gesture 'Left Right Left' to open the qmp forums. You can chose new or same tab or window. This feature used to be pretty buggy, with the gestures being removed on browser restart, but that problem seems to be fixed in the latest releases. There's no telling how much time this feature could save people.

Search
You've already seen the Favourites Manager search function; now meet the "Web Search" function. Don't let the name fool you, it's much more than a websearch. So much so that it could even make your favourites manager search redundent depending on your browser usage. To best show you how it works, I did an example search for the term "Google". As you can see, when the pointer is placed in the search page the Magnifying Glass icon changes to the Google Icon - that is because Google is my default search engine. You can change this setting by going to "Search Preferences".

As you can see, the search doesn't just search the web. If you want to do that, you can simply hit "enter" after typing your keyword and it acts the same way as the Firefox search. But there's more, if you want it. As you type the window you can see here pops up, displaying Local Favourites, Local History, and other sites to search. I typed "Google", so Flock searched my favourites for all the sites I have that contai the word "Google", either in description, tag, url, or name. It also did the same for my history, searching the name and url of every page I've visited that's stored. Flock only shows the first 4 options from each one, but there's an option to "View All", if you so wish. The fact that "Google Mail - Inbox" is displayed twice isn't a bug; I do actually have two different bookmarks called that.
The search elsewhere function will search whatever you click on. You can chose which search engines to display under the "Search Elsewhere" heading by going to the Search Preferences. You can add any of these search engines; they'll probably add more in the future, but I think you'll agree...that's more than enough! To keep the list clutter-free you can chose how many, and which ones to display on the list, from one to all of them. They're displayed in alphabetical order, as you can see.

Blogging
What an idea! Blogging from the browser with such ease. Flock currently supports blogs hosted by WordPress, TypePad, Movable Type, LiveJournal, Drupal and Blogger, whilst also supporting blogs that use the APIs Movable Type, MetaWeblog, Blogger and Atom. It's a breeze to set up - all you have to do is go to "Accounts and Settings" and follow the instrcutions. Alternatively I believe you can go to your blog, log in, and Flock will realise that you can add this as a Blogging Account and ask you if you want to. It's just too easy to blog with Flock. There's a standard editor and a source editor, so whichever way you like to do things, you can. You can easily switch between them using the tabs at the bottom of the editing window. When you're finished simply hit "Publish", chose the blog to publish too, select "New Post" or "Replace Existing Post", add tags if you so wish in the Tags box, select whether you wish to visit the blog after posting and whether you want to add "Blogged With Flock" to the bottom of your post (see mine), and hit Publish again .. bingo, you're done. The spell check option has the American dictionary set as default, but it's quick and painless to download your preferred dictionary - just chose "Download More". You'll be taken here and you can chose any of the dictionaries listed to install.

As you can see there is "The Shelf", a sort of snippets bar (more about this further down) available in the blog editor. This means that dragging and dropping anything you previously saved for blogging about later is quick and easy. The photobar can not be displayed, but you can bring up the photobar in the main browser window and drag and drop from there if you wish. You can also drag and drop images from webpages.

The blog editor stays "Always On Top". Hopefully this will be optional in future releases because it does bug me a bit when I want to go back to the webpage behind what I'm typing - I can't click on the page in the background, I have to minimise the blog first.

There's also a notification options. It comes ready with Technorati.com, but you can add other services and chose whether or not to "Always notify web services of my new posts". In addition you can add tags, which display as you can see at the bottom of this post. It's easy to add tags as you can see from the screenshot.

The Shelf
The Shelf is another great feature from Flock that goes very well with the Blog Editor as mentioned earlier. Don't ask me why it's called "The Shelf" because I don't know, but it's probably something to do with it holding stuff that you can easily view, put on and take off. Just click the button that looks somewhat like an envelope but could be a clipboard: , and the shelf opens up. You can drag and drop text or images to it, or create your own snippets by pressing, suprise suprise, "Create Snippets". As you can see in the image, it's really, really simple. It's great for blogging because, for example, if you see an image you want to use later in your blog post, you can drag and drop it to the shelf for later use. Similarly, if you see an article with something interesting written in it, you can select the text, and drag and drop that to the shelf as well!

That was going to be it for this post, but then...

Whilst writing this blog I discovered yet another feature. If you have an image in your clipboard, for example if you take a screen shot, and you are using the blog editor, you can press Ctrl + V (insert) and it will bring up the "Quick Uploader" for you to upload the image to your account. Once done it adds the code to your blog. It's like they've literally thought of every little detail.

So there you have it, Flock is certainly a great browser, perfect for Web 2.0. It's got so many features to offer almost anyone, old or young, whether you want to keep up with your friends' photos or share your own, blog easily or keep better track of your news and favourites .. almost anything is possible with Flock. Despite it being in beta stage, I still recommend you try it out, it's pretty stable. You might wanted to consider getting this extension first - Session Manager - it will restore your crashed sessions were Flock to crash .. remember, it's not quite perfect yet, it is still a beta .. but it's pretty damn close.

technorati tags:Flock, Firefox, Change, Favourites, Search, Blogging, Toolbar, Shelf, Snippets, Tags, Browsers, Web, 2.0

Blogged with Flock

Random and Stupid for Today

2006-07-31T03:04:00.000+01:00

Oh the days of Night Rider. I always enjoyed that program when I was younger. I feel pretty damn old right now. Still, not as old as the Hoff. Hey Tim, how would you like a hot cup of Hoffee? Yeah I thought so.

So Mr Hasselhoff has made himself a new song - "Jump In My Car", it's pretty weird when you first watch it, with the really, really poor animations and backgrounds .. but then .. it's funny. It's a pretty funny song .. especially when he says

"Little girl I wouldn't tell you a lie"
"I know you're gaaaay!"

haha. Ok so they say "your game" but it sounds like gay, which is pretty funny. So yeah, I'm bringing Hoff's musical talent to the masses. No need to thank me, masses.

Next up will hopefully be a comprehensive guide to the Next Generation browser: Flock.

I Want A Wii

2006-07-28T04:22:00.000+01:00

Seriously, I really, really want a Wii.

I think that the Wii is going to be pretty cool, and at an estimated £150, it's not too pricey, which is my main concern about an Xbox360 or a PS3 .. hopefully the games will be pretty cheap too.

Many people are concerned about the Wii's controllers.. those people just haven't looked at the actual controllers yet. God damn those are some cool controllers. I love them. I wish I could marry them. On a beach. At sunset. With a pink backdrop shimmering across the deep blue waters.... Anyway, the controllers are wireless, utilising bluetooth technology. They can be used up to 10m away from the console. What's so good about that? Nothing really .. what is good about the controllers is the fact that they have motion sensors. Want to play a driving game? Grab the 'remote' controller, turn it on it's side; now it's a stering wheel. Want to play tennis? Use the controller as a bat! The 'nunchuck' controller has an alaogue stick and Z and C buttons. This reminds me a lot of the N64, which I also loved .. but we lost touch and moved on.

Speaking of the N64 - the Wii will be able to access 20 years worth of Nintendo titles for download... but not just Nintendo titles, I believe there will be other console titles as well, such as Sega. That gives Wii an amazing advantage over the PS3 for example - it's virtually launching with a massive library of classic tites that Sony simply cannot match on release. Pricing is believed to be similar to that of the Xbox360 downloads.

Nintendo seem to have learned from their mistakes with the Gamecube, which was, let's face it, a total failure. Hopefully the Wii will have some more great titles like the N64 did, but be able to compete with the new titles released for the PS3 and Xbox360. It's going to be backwards compatitble and support both 12" and 8" discs.

I sound like such a nerd..but I havn't had a console since the days of the N64, so I'm quite looking forward to console gaming again. PC gaming has been fun, but I don't have the money to keep upgrading so I can play the new releases... so that kinda sucks. AoM is the only game I play on the PC any more .. but that game does kick some serious ass.

It's a shame that the Wii will use Opera as it's browser - If there's a way to change the browser, I'd go with Flock, simply for the access and sharing it allows of almost anything.

So that's what I'm saving for .. or maybe I'll ask for it for Christmas from Santa. I could be a sexy addition to my uni room .. except I wont get in. Damn it.

------

And on another note; can everybody please clear their diaries for August 17th - results day for A2. It's the day after my 18th and I think it would be cool if we all went out for a drink in Quiglies that night (open till 1am, drinks are £1.50), to celebrate our successes, our failures, and my birthday. We could even bring the teachers - that way missing out on this thing on Saturday wont be so bad ...

technorati tags:Wii, Nintendo, Console, PS3, Xbox, 360

Blogged with Flock

The Guy With The 50cc Is Hard...

2006-07-28T00:45:00.000+01:00

This is the funniest shit I have seen all evening! Hey mum, I can fllllllyyyyyy!

technorati tags:roundabout, moped, kids, being, dumb, flying, spin

Blogged with Flock

Get Into The Paris Hilton

2006-07-27T04:10:00.000+01:00

Waste two minutes of your life. Go on. Do it.

technorati tags:Paris, Hilton, Hotel, News8, dot, org

Blogged with Flock

I Pity Those People In India

2006-07-16T18:36:00.000+01:00

Some Indian Traffic..

technorati tags:Traffic, India

Blogged with Flock

Flock It

2006-07-16T12:53:00.000+01:00

I'm Flocking that shit. Right now.

Adblock Plus's Easy Filters suck. They block my banner.

technorati tags:Flock, Blog, Shit

I can't be bothered anymore

2006-07-02T16:03:00.000+01:00

I'm giving up for a while. A few reasons. Can't be assed to explain.

Laters.

About Time For An Update?

2006-06-28T00:01:00.000+01:00

Well, if you insist.

All my productive energy is currently going into making bits for the podcast, so at least that's something you can all 'look forward' to later in the week, when my internet finally starts working properly.

We've got a tonne of noise on the line, so phone conversations are impossible, and the internet connection is very temperamental and keeps cutting itself off every few minutes. It's almost as if the internet has become emo.

Yes I know that was pretty lame.

So this BT guy comes out to fix it on Monday morning, he finds out that the fault is underground ... it took him about an hour. All he had to do was whip out his machine thing. So he couldn't fix it because he said he was a "joiner" and it needed an "underground engineer". Hooray. I asked him when these underground engineers would arrive and he said "later on this afternoon or early tomorrow". Unless they were moles and arrived underground, they didn't come. And if they were moles...they didn't do a very good job because it's still screwed. So we ring up BT and they say something alone the lines of "hahaha suckers we're getting money off you for no service, we'll milk it a few more days and send some underground engineers out on Thursday". So that's like 6 days it will have taken them from when we first informed them of the fault. At first they didn't believe that we had a fault. Despite the fact that they couldn't actually hear us properly because of all the noise on the line. It was ridiculous. Then they blamed our internal wiring... The joiner guy found the fault to be 120 metres from the house. BT suck ass, and they're all a bunch of liars. I seriously hate monopolies. Except Tesco. God bless you Tesco. Come to Bude. Please.

I bet they send the wrong type of engineer again today.

Erm, I forgot..

2006-06-19T17:47:00.000+01:00

God Damn These People Piss Me Off

Really? What's this about? There's hundreds of Mentos + Diet Coke videos. They're everywhere. The mentos goes in, the coke comes out. Nothing new here, nothing special. So why does it piss me off? Firstly, the bloody god damn camera angle. What's with that? Why not hit the ROTATE BUTTON when you put it on the PC? Too much for you damn woman? Yeah, that's what I thought. You seemed a bit simple minded when you laughed at the coke 'explsion'; worst laugh ever. It's like a cross between a crying baby and a hiccup. What's with the "wooo"? Nevermind it being totally delayed, it's loud and unneccessary. Please shut the hell up.

I don't know where I'm going with this any more I forgot what I was writing about when I got hungry.

Nevermind.

I Got Something Right!

2006-06-18T18:24:00.000+01:00

So today saw my first correct prediction of a final score in the world cup, in the Brazil - Autralia game.

In case you don't already know the score:
BRA 2 : 0 AUS
So yeah, I guess that's something to be proud of, not that it will help at all with any part of my future life, in any way. Oh well.

So last night I was up till 7 or 8am revising history. Finally finished it then slept till 12.30pm. Since then I havn't done a whole lot .. I've tried to revise for English Lit, but it's so damn boring. I swear to god there is nothing more boring than "The Tempest". Ever. I've been reading it all day and I'm only on Act II.1. Jesus. I suck.

I've just found out that there was a 2005 version of "The Tempest" made. So why the hell were we watching shit from the 70's full of naked people and imagery which is understood by no one. Not even the director. God damn it. Seriously, the versions of "The Tempest" that we saw in college were weird .. one consisted of a little kid on a swing pissing into a swimming pool with random people in for about 3 or 4 minutes solid. What sense does that make? Why wasn't the director arrested? Questions which shall never be answered..

On an upside I've discovered that mint flavoured hot chocolate and coffee go together quite well. I suppose it's a mint mocha. ... Ok I googled it, and suprise suprise it's already been done. Nothing to patent today then.

Damn you Caffe D'Vita

In other news the Pilot episode for the podcast is out today. Head on over to fourcocks to download it, or find out what it's about.

Now Korea are playing France. My prediction:

FRA

2 : 1

KOR

We shall see.

Good luck for exams tomorrow anyone that has them, and if you don't, screw you hippy. Get a job.

Treasure The Rest Of Your Days

2006-06-17T22:51:00.000+01:00

Seriously, this isn't another crappy post about emotions, I swear!

Just one more week of exams left, I can't wait, once it's over it's 36 hours of drinking, getting Madi a woman, and then probably some sleep. After that .. well I've got the whole summer to enjoy life and do whatever the hell I want. First things first I need to sell my car and get a new one. Arlo pointed me in the direction of the Citroën AX gt, which seems pretty cool I'll probably go for one of those or something similar. Something with a bit more power than my Metro, but with the same class, of course.

Song of the Day
The Red Hot Chili Peppers - Hard To Concentrate

Reason For Choice
Well, the final stretch of exams are up on me, and god damn do I find it hard to concentrate. Seriously, I'm up for the rest of the night trying to get in as much Tudor history as I can, then tomorrow I've got to try and revise for my English Lit exam; I havn't even read half of one of the books. Fantastic. What's more it's closed book which makes it worse. Then there's the unseen part of it which we all fail on every time we do a practice paper. It might be ok, most likely it wont be, but what can I do? Drink lots of coffee is the answer so far.

Other noteworthy lyrics in the song:
All I want is for you to be happy.
time has come to deviate
I find it hard to motivate
And finally you have found...Yourself.

So I've still got two units to revise for before Monday, and it's now 11pm Saturday night. I'm pretty much screwed, but what can I do. Stay up all night I guess. Well, here goes nothing.

Remember, if you're bored, check out fourcocks.blogspot.com, add any comments you wish to the blog, or visit the contributors. We'll read everything that's sent to us. If you wish to advertise with us (for free at the moment, make the most of it) then just leave a comment or email one of the team, preferably myself or Sam991. If you have a band and which us to feature one of your songs (or two, or three...) or merely give you a mention and a plug then let us know as well.

Good luck revising everyone, or if you're not revising then in whatever you do, good luck. If you've found it hard to concentrate in the past and have any tips..please share them. God knows I need some help. Smoking helps for a while .. at least it's relaxing .. but the effects don't last long I'm afraid. Damn it.

The Prototype Is Out!

2006-06-17T05:43:00.000+01:00

ok, the prototype for our podcast is out, it's not great, it's entirely Sam, and we'll have a full episode (the pilot) out shortly, a few days I'd estimate. Hopefully. I'll update at some point later in the day, this article was mainly just to point out that The Late Show With Four Cocks and a Microphone is now live.

Please check it out at www.fourcocks.blogspot.com. That's the official site for the coming podcasts, hope you enjoy it! If you like it, or even if you hate it, spread the word, tell your friends, your mum, your dad, your neighbour, your goldfish, everyone. They'll all want to know. If they don't wanna know, why not take a sadistic persona and tell them anyway, just to see their grief... yeah.

*Tom and Tim, upload some stuff to the place I emailed you about.*

People In Love Get Everything Wrong

2006-06-15T00:01:00.000+01:00

Love's tough. Not just on those in love, but on the people around them. They don't want to watch, put your tongue away mister, save the slurping for somewhere private. Like your own room.

Remember that love is precious and shouldn't be taken lightly. When you're in the situation cherish every moment, when it's gone you'll think back and long for the times you had. We may make the mistake of taking love for granted, it's the biggest mistake of all. It seems almost inevitable though. It's human nature to be complacent at times. Don't become deluded with love. If someone doesn't love you back then get the hint, move on, you'll find someone new if you stop being caught up on something where there will be no reciprocation. Ever. There are plenty of people who will love you if you give them half a chance. Love doesn't come easily, but lust does. Take heed of the two and don't get caught up in lust thinking it's love.

This is getting a little too gushy for me, so I'm going to stop talking about love now. Hey oh. Snow. Homosexual hobo. Sheriff Lobo. It's a no go. It always will be.

Don't ever try too hard. If you try too hard it means just that; you tried TOO hard. Take it easy. Life isn't a game, but that doesn't mean it can't be fun. You can pretend life's a game. Enjoy yourself. Never think too hard. Don't take anything for granted.

Take the good times with the bad. When you're sad, be happy that something can make you that sad. For you to feel sadness there must have been something good before hand, or you wouldn't feel sad. It's like giving a child a toy, and then taking it away; they'll cry. If you don't give them the toy in the first place they will not cry. Life is the same. The sad times make the good times that much more special, so don't get down about them. Love life. Life's a lot more fun when you like it rather than hate it.

Song Of The Day
The Feeling - Never Be Lonely

Reason For Choice
People in love get fast and foolish...
Why should I be sane without you? ...
People in love their hearts get eaten ...
I'll never be the same without you ...

What's That Coming Over The Hill?

2006-06-14T00:43:00.000+01:00

Well, another day of revision, or pretending to revise begins. I've been thinking tonight how weird it is that I can touch type, and type so fast. Maybe I should have got a life when I was younger and not spent so much time on MSN, but then, as we're moving into a PC-based technological age, surely it can only have benefitted me; carpal tunnel syndrome aside.

Recently I've been thinking how dramatically my life will change over the coming months. In September I'll be leaving home, whether it be for university or for another country. I'll be making new friends in a different place, as though my life will be starting fresh with a clean sheet. This means I can, in effect, reinvent myself. That's going to be pretty sweet. I might reinvent myself as Josh Hartnett because he's rich and everyone seems to love him.

Predictions for Today's Games
Spain 2 - 0 Ukraine
Tunisia 2 - 1 Saudi Arabia
Germany 3 - 1 Poland

Podcast
For any one who is interested, a new podcast will soon be coming to your ears, courtesy of Sam, Tom, Tim and myself. The pilot will hopefully surface by the end of the week, so keep checking back for more news. If you would like to contribute, leave a comment or email myself or Sam

Song Of The Day
The Automatic - Monster

I made this one myself and uploaded it to YouTube. They haven't released a video yet, and there are limited pictures of the band, so I've used just three. Anyway, enjoy the music. I shall be doing this more often with newly released/unreleased songs.

Reason For Choice
The future is uncertain, we don't know what's going to be around the next corner, or indeed, over the hill. It could be something like a puppy dogs, candy and fireworks store, or it could be a monster. Who knows. As I work towards my exams (well, I say work, I mean sit and think about how screwed I am), it shows how uncertain my future is at the moment. Everyone's future is uncertain, whether it's about to be determined through education, sport, love or something else. Don't take what you have today for granted, tomorrow could be monstrous, and it could all be gone.

Objectives Are Not Always Benignant

2006-06-13T21:50:00.000+01:00

It seems like we go through life wanting more. We can never be satisfied with what we have. Why do we do it? The want of more only brings frustration when objectives cannot be obtained. We want technology, we want to be advanced, we want respect and knowledge, we want love, we want companionship, we want status, power, money.

And for all this, what do we actually need? We need only air, water, and food. We don't need Coca-Cola, we don't need Mars bars.

So, is it wrong to want more? Surely not, it's human nature. Should we give in to this want of more? Perhaps not, but then perhaps wanting something that is unobtainable can be a virtue. Setting goals to achieve, even if they are out of reach, will provide inspiration to better oneself. However, surely setting goals which are unobtainable can lead to frustration. If we set targets which are too high we will ultimately be disappointed when those targets are not fulfilled. Perhaps it is best to know one's boundaries, perhaps it is not. Perhaps it is best to not be defined by limits and always aim to perform better next time. Perhaps it is best to set targets that can be obtained in order to achieve a feeling of greatness.

Do we even know our boundaries? Indeed, do personal boundaries even exist? How far can we be pushed?

Love Is Just A Lyric

2006-06-13T10:27:00.000+01:00

Well I survived yesterday, I guess that's a plus. Maybe. Kevin predicted my death in a 3-car crash at the bottom of Northdown Road. Suffice to say it's yet to happen.

I got home about 9.30am and I don't really know what's happening, I've had such little sleep in the past few days I think I just need to ... I can't remember where I was going with that.

Ever have that thing where you get a text message but you're too tired to read it so it takes you about 10 minutes 'cause you're trying to pry your eyes open, then you read it and fall asleep? What's the point in that? You don't remember it as well in the morning, and you've wasted 10 minutes of your life. Why not just wait until the morning to read it? Maybe I'm just retarded.

Song Of The Day
Keane - Is It Any Wonder?

Predicted Highlight of the Day
Getting to sleep tonight probably. Oh, hopefully Brazil will be an inspiring site to watch. I can't believe it's possible to watch football almost continuously from 2pm till 10pm. That just kicks ass.

Predicted Lowlight of the Day
Realising I don't actually know how to revise for my next English Lit exam. How do you revise for a closed book comparisons exam? I don't know, maybe it will come to me in a moment of inspirational genius. Probably not.

Yesterday in a Sentence
Dude, that was some fucked up shit right there.

Care to Explain?
Maybe later.

a.k.a. No.

Hmm

2006-06-12T07:48:00.000+01:00

Everyone let me know how your day goes,mine's either going to go really well, or really badly.

There's nothing much else to add, I'm off to take my first A level exam this morning; two solid hours of concentration with no break. Damn it. I havn't revised for half the paper but you know, should be ok, I've revised more than anything I've ever revised for on the other half ... we'll see. I don't really want to think about it more than I have to.

Life Is My Friend ... sometimes.

2006-06-11T00:23:00.000+01:00

Song Of The Day
Especially In Michigan - The Red Hot Chili Peppers
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| Click Here |
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Opens in Default Streaming Client (e.g. WMP)
So I know that's two songs from Stadium Arcadium in a row, but it's a damn good album, and it's a damn good song for the day.

Did Yesterdays Predictions Come True?
Kind of; England kicked ass, not as much as I expected them too, but Sven's subs sucked, and the ref forgot his glasses.

I got to have a cool pint in the Waterfront, wasn't very relaxing because people kept bumping into me, but still, it was good.
And my lowlight didn't happen which was good, I got plenty of sleep at the cost of revision, and work was really, really quiet. I've worked out I'm getting paid more than I used to as well which was a nice suprise. Today I worked 6 hours and got £28, which is about £4.66 an hour. I'm sure I used to get £4 an hour. I should still get paid more ... I don't think that business would have made it through the first year without me. Honestly. All the other employees suck ass. Literally. They suck my ass. It's so fresh and clean now.

Now for today..

Possible Highlight of the Day
Going to sleep, probably. I think today is going to be pretty rubbish. I'm about to sleep now, wake up early, revise till evening, go to sleep again. Fun fun. Oh, eating will be a bonus.

Possible Lowlight of the Day
I think the whole day is going to pretty much be a lowlight.
Maybe the lowest point will come when I start crying in the corner. I'm not going to have done any poetry revision at all for this exam. Fan-fucking-tastic.

Whatever.

Tim: Accept the invite for the new project management.
Tom: Do a damn advertisement.
Tim Tom and Sam: We need to think of advertising strategies before the release of the first show.
Everyone else: Don't worry about that bit.

England Play Today!

2006-06-10T00:06:00.000+01:00

England play their first game today, I doubt I'll be updating at any later point in the day, so I might as well do it now.

For the rest of the post click "Read More..."

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Song Of The Day
The Red Hot Chili Peppers - Snow ((Hey Oh))

I couldn't find a proper version, this is the best quality live one though.

Possible Highlight of the Coming Day
Relaxing in the Waterfront with a cool beer and mates watching England kick ass.

Prediction for the Coming Day
I'll get drunk, get fired, but England will win 3-0.

Possible Lowlight of the Coming Day
Work is really busy and I havn't had any sleep.

Now for more revision. Everybody loves Othello. At least Edexcel seems to. I don't know what's up with that really, it's a book. Shakespeare wasn't even all that great, but I shan't rant on it now. I've got notes to make, books to read ... and we still don't have any coffee or red bull.

Oh yeah, Lowlands is back on. Sweetest news I've heard for a while. 16th-22nd August 2006 is going to be one massive blur punctuated by plane flights I reckon.

Tom, you need to get an advertisement to me.

Also, see here if you're interested in podcasting or getting some free airtime. We're looking to become the next big thing in podcasting ... or something similar. I give it 3 weeks for the first full episode, so get your promos in now!

The Begining of a New Trend

2006-06-09T19:01:00.000+01:00

Sam991 has already done something like this so it could work on here, especially seeing as I don't have much to write about.

Song of the Day
Feeder - Seven Days In The Sun

Highlight of the Day
Predicted Germany would win 3-2, then they won 4-2. I don't feel gutted about not betting.

Prediction for Tomorrow
I'll go to work drunk after watching England at the pub .. then get fired.

And yes, there's more to read...

Why not take some time out to visit an advertiser? Sam991 is pretty cool, slightly homosexual, and definitely gay. He blogs on all sorts of stuff so if you're bored take a look. If you want to see your site placed here in my next article just email me or leave a comment.

Ok that's it.

A Turn For The Worst

2006-06-08T23:14:00.000+01:00

Ever had one of those days where you want to pull an all nighter, you've run out of coffee, need some red bull and your best mate has just told you that he can't come on holiday on your birthday to a festival in Holland with an awesome lineup? Yeah I like to relate to my readers.

And god damn it am I pissed off right now.

Maybe tomorrow will bring better news, like the all nighter is over, I've bought some coffee and red bull and my friend can now come. Maybe...

My Dinner

2006-06-06T18:00:00.000+01:00

This is my dinner. I have got to be the best judger of portions ever.
Notice it's taller than a spindle of what was 50 dvds.

Damn it I love life. Nothing beats a massive meal after a heavy day revising in the sun. Nothing. Maybe sex. Nothing else. I challenge any of you to cook a meal bigger than that and eat it. Yeah that's what I thought, go and cower in the corner. Pussy.

Update: 18:29 - I finished it and I'm still hungry. There must be something wrong with me.

Still on the subject of leaving

2006-06-05T22:31:00.000+01:00

Click it for a full size version. Go on. Click it. You know you want to.

Anyway, I want pictures of Saturday night! Did anyone take any? I Helen and Emily have some... I'll try them, but anyone else?

what the hell?

More Leaving and Other Fun

2006-06-02T13:43:00.000+01:00

Wow. Best week ever. I swear. It just doesn't get better than this. This is my second time home since Saturday and I'm only here for 2 hours then I'm off again. I think I wont have slept in my own bed for over a week. I've learnt a lot of stuff this week and I'm now 'socially accepted'. Ha. Anyway, Madi, Kevin and Kenneth have been great putting me up for a week, Saturday night was fantastic and I must say that the BBQ was better. It really was. Especially the dirty dancing afterwards. We watched the Valedictory service on DVD (copies available by request just ask) and Alice recorded us all singing "Shine Jesus Shine". Jebus. And Tom is my new favourite black man.

Sorry Madi.

So yeah, that's a very quick summary of my week. Tonight we're inviting Claire and Amina over to finish the food. Hopefully we will finish it, though I doubt we will. And I need need £15 to cover the cost of the BBQ, I've recieved £10 already I need another £15 then I will have paid £15. People who havn't paid I'm going to get you....Emily, Rachel, Gavin.. etc. Oh yeah Tom, if you read this and I don't tell you otherwise, come to Skern at 3pm tomorrow and bring English and History. We'll decide what to do then - I have work at 4.30 so if we start at 3 we'll get more time in. And I dunno who's going out this Saturday because of exams, if you're up for it let me know. That's all for now, I probably wont be home again until Sunday ...

So Hard To Stay, So Hard To Leave

2006-05-27T12:10:00.000+01:00

8 years at Edgehill College is now behind me. I'll only be in school for a few more days; for my exams and Prize Day. Then that's it, the end.

The Valedictory Service went well, not as planned, there's a lot that could easily been done better, but it can't be changed now. My speech was fairly good I didn't screw anything up thank god. You can find a copy of my speech with the powerpoint presentation here.

The complete slideshow at the beginning of the service was made by Gavin, so I don't have that available for upload. However, I do have all the pictures in the slideshow and more, and I've zipped them all up for you so you can download and browse them at your leisure. Find the links below.

I've got to say I'm going to miss Edgehill. There have been a lot of crap times, but I'm going to miss all my friends a hell of a lot. It's weird to think that I'm going to be starting uni (hopefully) in September, and I'm not going to get to see them again. Alex will be gone before July. I've had a lot of great times with my friends and I'm gutted that we're all going to be going our seperate ways. I've got used to the people at Edgehill, I know how I can act around them and I know how they behave. I guess it's the closeness that's always hard to let go of in any relationship. I have no doubt at uni that until I make some good friends I'm going to want my old friends back badly.

Tom said it best when he said "You guys are my friends for life and I love you all". I can say with confidence that I'm going to miss mocking things with Tom and Alex. I'm going to miss Tom's sense of humour, his lack of effort in lessons. I'm going to miss Alex's way of twisting everything you say in a humorous way. I'm going to miss Emily's stories and her dilemas. I'm going to miss Helen's cleverness and arguing with her in lessons. I'm going to miss Tim being a fool. I'm going to miss taking the piss out of vegetarian Catherine. I'm going to miss Rachel being stupid and just 'not getting it'. I'm going to miss Gavin pretending he wasn't screwing Hannah in the toilet when he'd been in there for 15 minutes with her and we could see them through the window. I'm going to miss Madikay and his legendary dancing, his accent, his hats and his driving. I'm going to miss Kevin when he doesn't understand stuff and puts on that blank face. I'm going to miss Alex and his sleeping in all his lessons. I'm going to miss Johnny being gay. I'm going to miss Lok and his tights. I'm going to miss Jay and his weird eyes and lack of effort. I'm going to miss Kenneth looking like a mole. I'm going to miss Jacky and his "laaaaa". I'm going to miss taking the piss out of David's lack of English. I'm going to miss Crystal and Pheobe never saying a word, ever. I'll also miss Sam not coming in to school for weeks at time. I'm pretty sure I've forgotten some people so obviously I'm not going to miss them at all...?

So that's it. Tonight we're all going out to celebrate the end of an era in Westward Ho! and Bideford; hopefully I can get some pictures of that if people bring cameras.

Spread this page around to the people of Edgehill, and if you were there, leave a comment. It's a memories page.

Now for the downloads:

Tim and Tom's Pictures

Dan's Pictures

My Crappy Speech and Powerpoint

More pictures to come later.

Leave your mark and memories on this page; comment.

Madikay is my new hero

2006-05-24T20:55:00.000+01:00

Madikay is the black guy falling over on the left of the picture as I dived in. I was aiming to be in the most pictures possible. In some of them you can just see my thumb, but that's enough. This one I just took a dive.
So yeah, Madikay is my new hero. Not to be stereotypical, but he's a natural dancer. And a charmer. He charmed me alright. My heart was won from the moment he said "Hello, my name is Madikay" in that sexy accent of his.

It makes me melt.
Like butter.
Or ice cream.

Gav likes ice cream, as you can see. He also likes particle physics and monotony, probably. I dunno. Which brings me back to Madikay. You should have seen his dancing. He was smooth. He's so good he's replaced Will Smith as my "all time favourite black man". We all formed a circle, which sounds pretty lame but it wasn't. People danced in the middle and we mocked them, then Madikay did some awesome break-dancing which consisted of him getting on his hands and knees, putting his head on the floor, and falling on his ass. It doesn't get better than that my friends. He was so far gone but we won't mention what else he got up to...

So in conclusion, vote for Madikay, he's cool, small, and he makes the ladies drool. And the men. Especially Tim. Mmmm.

Requesting: Pictures Of The May Ball!

2006-05-20T22:50:00.000+01:00

If anyone took any please send them too me/bring them in to college!

I will hopefully be able to create a very, very cool powerpoint presentation with the collections for Valedictory. Of one's I've seen I've already got some great ideas.

NB: for Next Update - Madikay is my new hero.

Firefox Users!

2006-05-18T22:00:00.000+01:00

If you are using both Firefox and Adblock then read on! If you're using Opera then stop. If you're using IE then none of this affects you.

Ok, some images, for some reason, might not show up if you use adblock. There's some filters that for some reason have started blocking some of my images, even though they're part of my site. Click on adblock in the bottom right of your browser window, and in the top right corner of the window that pops up you'll see something that says "whitelist this page". Check the box, and change "list" to "site". Then you're done. Lovely.