Microlog: Interesting

List of inventors killed by their own inventions Thu 06 May 2010
I need say no more. [c/o Gulfstream]

Web Stencil Kit Thu 06 May 2010
I don’t know when I would ever need one of these (I’ve never designed a site on paper; just hard coding and lots of browser refreshes) but I want one.

Ten Things to Do Before This Article Is Finished Tue 04 May 2010
The New York Times asks: what’s on your life list? I sort of have one, and have already ticked off a few items. But maybe I should write it down, to make sure I haven’t missed anything.

St Paul's: A Space for Learning Tue 04 May 2010
The blog to accompany a very interesting TY architecture/environment project at my old secondary school (my cousin Sean was part of the team, too). I’m jealous; we didn’t do anything even nearly as interesting in my transition year.

Germany’s Incredible Hanging Railway Tue 04 May 2010
Mark my words: I will ride this train someday.

Wikipedia entry on proprioception Sun 25 Apr 2010
One for the ‘so that’s what it’s called’ file.

Team sets out to clear bodies from Everest's death zone Sun 25 Apr 2010
The whole idea of this just creeps me out.

An answer to the age-old question: why is doctors' handwriting so bad? Wed 21 Apr 2010
The solution seems so simple. Yet as with all simple things, it’ll take fucking forever to fix it.

Salting ice cream Wed 21 Apr 2010
It turns out, plain old salt can intensify the flavour and/or texture of many things you wouldn’t normally associate with the main course. Also: entries like this are why Kottke is king.

The Editor and the Curator (Or the Context Analyst and the Media Synesthete) Thu 08 Apr 2010
In short, the concept of curation is being corrupted by the use of the term as a fancy synonym for ‘editing’ or ‘selecting’. After all, the act of curating is about preserving things, not cutting them away. [c/o Fimoculous]

Where to turn when you can't ask the hive mind? Wed 07 Apr 2010
So nice to see there’s more to online advice than Yahoo! Answers (which really lives up to its name, come to think of it).

The 24-Hour Cycle at Clean Rite Laundromat Fri 29 Jan 2010
I love stories like this. Is there anything like it outside of the US? It’s such a contrast to my local laundrette, where I’ve never met another soul (apart from the guy who takes in the binliner full of clothes).

Kottke on Greg Allen on rotating the dishes Fri 22 Jan 2010
I’m already getting in the habit of stacking from the bottom, after noticing half of our plates weren’t used in months.

MUJI & LEGO Wed 16 Dec 2009
This is lovely. I can haz it now?

Why progress-bar traffic lights are long overdue Wed 16 Dec 2009
This is a great idea (more about it here) akin to the countdown timers for pedestrians on many traffic lights here in Dublin. Those certainly work for me — but then my mammy raised me right.

How to buy on eBay Wed 16 Dec 2009
I thought this was how everyone did it.

Khoi Vinh on the tradeoff between convenience and high-definition Sun 06 Dec 2009
“The essence of [the] argument is dead on: superior fidelity and resolution is terrific but overrated in comparison to convenience… Actually, it’s the content that really matters.” Hear, hear! Fidelity is great and all, but there comes to a point when I care less about the quality and more about the content. Actually, it’s more a spectrum of appreciation than any fixed point on a graph.

Google Zeitgeist 2009 Fri 04 Dec 2009
The annual Google Zeitgeist seems like the only time of year when us English-speaking Westerners realise that there’s a whole other world out there using the web just like we are.

Man 'finishes' World of Warcraft Fri 04 Dec 2009
I thought this was an Onion story for a minute.

Immaterials Thu 03 Dec 2009
Matt Jones of BERG describes the company’s work in the tangible-ness of intangible things. I particularly like the idea of raw data as a material to tell real stories that are ‘human readable’, for lack of a better expression.

Is modern web design too like print design? Thu 03 Dec 2009
“If I was standing in 1995 and looking ahead to 2009 and was told how all of those technical restrictions would be lifted, of what would be technically possible, I’d imagine 2009’s web to look a lot more exciting than it does. I’d expect it to look less like a magazine or a newspaper and to look more like what the web could be.” Agreed. But I think that the fact that this question is even being asked is a sign that we might see a more exciting web in the near future. The last few years have mostly been about function, about what’s under the hood. But we’ve got that sorted, more or less; now’s the time to have some fun with the web again.

Wikipedia entry on trolleybuses Wed 25 Mar 2009
I’m fascinated by trolleybuses. Probably because I’ve never been on one or even seen them in operation.

Formula 1 user interfaces Wed 25 Mar 2009
Some hot car/tech pr0n, in anticipation of the new F1 season starting this weekend [c/o Daring Fireball].

The Onion: Oh No, Performers Coming Into Audience Wed 25 Mar 2009
My greatest fear realised. And I’m going to see Cirque du Soleil next week; I swear, if they try it I’ll run screaming out of the building.

Wikipedia entry on dog communication Wed 31 Oct 2007
Fascinating reading, here. I never realised a tail wag could convey so many different meanings.

Jessica Hagy and her index cards Wed 31 Oct 2007
I concur with the Demetri Martin comparisons.

The iPod Death Clock Wed 31 Oct 2007
According to this, mine’s got less than a year left before it buys the farm. That’s not good.

The AV Club interviews Steven Wright Wed 31 Oct 2007
From last November. Steven Wright is a comedy genius, and a great performer to boot; when I saw him live a few years ago he did two-and-a-half hours straight, no breaks. That’s something.

Manhattan Elsewhere Wed 31 Oct 2007
What would Manhattan look like if it could be floated to another city? Nice work, but an even more radical thought occurs: what if any city could float? We can already reclaim land from the sea and live on soil where there was recently only water — what’s stopping us from constructing a true floating city? And I don’t mean some humongous ocean liner — I mean a giant man-made island that could be propelled from one sea to another. Rather than a Manhattan Elsewhere, how about a Manhattan Anywhere?

Meet the Life Hackers Fri 02 Feb 2007
Another piece from my year-old collection of open tabs, thanks to which a new term has been introduced to my vocabulary: ‘interruption science’.

Japan's underground photography Sun 06 Aug 2006
I’m a bit of a sucker for links like this.

CSS resources in one handy hyperlinked PDF file Tue 18 Jul 2006
Does exactly what it says on the tin.

CSS Maintenance Tip: Use a Color Glossary Tue 18 Jul 2006
Will do in future. Thanks for the tip.

iScroll2 Mon 10 Jul 2006
Might try this instead of SideTrack.

Most useful CSS related resources? Mon 10 Jul 2006
Filing this for future reference.

Smultron Sun 09 Jul 2006
Might give this a try.

List of problems solved by MacGyver Sun 09 Jul 2006
You won’t find this in the Encyclopaedia Britannica. That’s why Wikipedia rocks.

PDFLab Fri 12 May 2006
For splitting, combining and generally tinkering with PDF documents. It’s not very elegant but it works [c/o paulhammond.org].

Why is the mafia so often associated with the garbage industry? Fri 12 May 2006
The answer — money laundering, more or less — is pretty mundane and pretty much what I always assumed. But still, it’s good to know.

The Great Quake 1906-2006 Tue 18 Apr 2006
Today marks the 100th anniversary of the San Francisco Earthquake. I’ve spent the last few weeks reading a book about the event which, like Mat, I found disappointing. I gleaned a lot about the San Andreas Fault and seismology in general, for sure, but much less than I expected about the earthquake itself. Oh well. (See also: Wikipedia’s good introduction to the 1906 quake.)

Expandable Messenger Bag by Manhattan Portage Mon 10 Apr 2006
This is my new bag. I’m digging it muchly. (Delivery was quick, too: I ordered it on the 31st and it arrived last Monday — only three days later.)

Hacking the user interface through tags Mon 10 Apr 2006
“Tagging isn’t just metadata; it’s metadata you can use.” Makes me wonder if I’ve been using my tags right; rather than a form of internal navigation, they point outwards, to other blog posts, to give some context to my own.

JBL says 'buy Apple' Mon 10 Apr 2006
Man, how could I ignore this one! (By the way, he’s the WWE US champion, not the US WWE champ as the article states. Just to be clear.)

Textfiles Mon 10 Apr 2006
I can’t even describe this. Just go there and have a look around for yourself.

4096 Color Wheel Mon 10 Apr 2006
Unbelievably cool interactive colour picker [c/o del.icio.us/barryf].

Paparazzi! Mon 10 Apr 2006
An OS X utility for capturing full-length screenshots of web pages. Very handy indeed.

Urville Mon 10 Apr 2006
An imaginary city that exists only on paper and in the mind of its autistic savant creator. Astonishing [c/o Boing Boing].

The Great Outdoor Fight Mon 10 Apr 2006
I never really got Achewood before, but this story arc had me riveted [c/o Hammersley].

Send me an Odeo Sun 09 Apr 2006
Just a little social experiment… I’m not fishing for compliments, I swear.

How long would it take before a zombie's muscles were no longer functional? Sat 08 Apr 2006
Some people have too much time on their hands. But hey, you never know when you might need an answer to such a question.

Tokyo Secret City Sat 08 Apr 2006
There’s a secret Murakami-esque network of tunnels running beneath Tokyo, allegedly. Sweet.

Can you read without using your inner voice? Sat 08 Apr 2006
The answer, quite simply, is ‘no’. Bad Science’s Ben Goldacre has been cracking me up lately with his excoriation of the ridiculous Brain Gyms and the impossible crap it advises, such as ‘reading without your inner voice’. Where do they come up with this shit, and more importantly why do people fall for it?

DocuWiki Sat 08 Apr 2006
Looks interesting; might be a better fit for my WikiThesis.

Mind Hacks on eliminative materialism and philosophy of mind Sat 08 Apr 2006
I’ve had an interest in the philosophy of mind since my undergrad days. Much food for thought here. (See also: A retro ‘Chinese room’ moment.)

Divine inspiration Sat 08 Apr 2006
A phsychoanalyst muses on the muse, while some artists reveal what inspires them.

Phil Gyford's Timeline Sat 08 Apr 2006
Now this is what a styled table is supposed to look like! Impressive information design too.

CSS Naked Day Wed 05 Apr 2006
In case you were wondering where the design went.

Locating primary sources on the web Tue 28 Mar 2006
May I make a LazyWeb suggestion: somebody do this for Europe, please?

Invisible city Tue 28 Mar 2006
“Twenty-four hours in Chongqing, a megalopolis you’ve never heard of.” Surely the whole of China is virtually invisible to the West, not just this corner of it. Very enlightening. (Update 12/04: The Guardian has just posted an accompanying film of Chongqing with the journalist Jonathan Watts.)

Druid Street Mon 27 Mar 2006
Another tumblelog to add to the list. Some great photos to be found here, too.

Podcasts from SXSW Interactive 2006 Mon 27 Mar 2006
If you couldn’t make it to Austin for the annual geek-out…

Wikipedia entry for Sturgeon's law Sun 12 Mar 2006
“Ninety percent of everything is crud.” Amen to that.

First look at the Nintendo DS Lite Sun 12 Mar 2006
OMG!! I want one!!

Results from last night's Irish Blog Awards Sun 12 Mar 2006
I was going to go along; I registered and everything. But then I realised my wallet was empty. And I remembered no one nominated me. Fuckers.

Bill Gates, good or evil? Sat 11 Mar 2006
David Byrne posits an interesting philosophical quandry.

Takeshi no Chousenjou Sat 11 Mar 2006
The ‘Takeshi’ of the title is Beat Takeshi. Which explains everything [c/o MetaFilter].

Penn Jillette talks about 'Desert Bus' Sat 11 Mar 2006
Part of a legendary game from the mid-90s, which ultimately went unreleased. Maybe we’re better off for it, but part of me just bursts with enthusiasm for the idea.

Two mentions on Anarchaia today Thu 12 Jan 2006
When did I get so famous all of a sudden? It’s going to my head, I tells you!

Can You Revive an Extinct Animal? Wed 11 Jan 2006
A good long piece from The New York Times, focused on the attempt to revive the quagga, that throws up a lot of interesting questions.

Why is there an entire web page devoted to Iron Maiden album covers with SpongeBob SquarePants inserted into them? Wed 11 Jan 2006
Why, indeed.

New tumblelogs Wed 11 Jan 2006
Two new tumblelogs to enjoy. (Not at all to be confused with this site, which is merely tumble-esque.)

Time travel with the London tube map Wed 11 Jan 2006
I’m linking to this if only because I love the fact that there are people out there who care about these things.

VRMAG Wed 11 Jan 2006
Online magazine featuring 360-degree panoramas from around the world. Filed here for exploring at a later date.

Bring me your AIBOne Tue 10 Jan 2006
This article was all it took for me to dream of having my own AIBO. Now if only they were Mac compatible, like the new Lego Mindstorms…

Wikipedia entry for Photic sneeze reflex Sun 08 Jan 2006
It’s a real condition! After years of thinking I was the only one…

Renzo Piano on Paris, peripheries and progress Sun 08 Jan 2006
The notes on peripheries are particularly thought-provoking. I can see the same problems in Dublin’s peripheral sprawl, where giant shopping malls have sprung up, taking the place of true community centres of commerce and interaction in the satellite towns, in a half-hearted effort to patch up the mistakes involved in their conception.

Ambient Findability: Talking with Peter Morville Sun 08 Jan 2006
The more information we have to deal with — and believe me, the volume is growing at a near-exponential rate — the more necessary it will be for this information to be ‘stored’, tagged and thereafter located. And that’s even just thinking of sources of news. I’m looking forward to reading Morville’s book sometime this year for his ideas and theories on the subject.

Interview with Tim Berners-Lee Sun 08 Jan 2006
I lost a lot of respect for Mark Lawson after seeing the broadcast of this. I mean, if Gutenberg were alive today should he have sleepless nights over the printing of Playboy or Mein Kampf or whatever? Lazy, lazy thinking.

Pacific Mall Toronto Sun 08 Jan 2006
Next time I visit TO I’m so checking this place out.

Paul Graham on good and bad procrastination Sun 08 Jan 2006
I personally don’t believe there is any such thing as good procrastination, but I do abide by the principle of ‘everything in moderation’. Related: ‘Procrastination Nation’ on NPR.

weblog conversation Fri 06 Jan 2006
Data visualisation used to discover why bloggers join specific conversations in multi-author blogs.

Yahoo! Answers Fri 06 Jan 2006
It’s hopelessly clogged with bullshit, and Ask MetaFilter is better anyway, but it might be worth exploring if you have the time or the patience.

Everybody needs a personal "status" page Fri 06 Jan 2006
Yes we do. I’ve got my own status page right here. I try to keep it up to date.

Inventor of the web finally catches on to this blogging lark Tue 03 Jan 2006
Consider this link a thank-you.

Searching for a fresher taste Tue 03 Jan 2006
Bobbie Johnson invetigates Yahoo!’s investment in Web 2.0. All the cool kids work for Yahoo! now; it’s the new Google. Or something.

The Hive Mind: Folksonomies and User-Based Tagging Tue 03 Jan 2006
An intro to the phenomenon for those unfamiliar. Filed here for future reference.

Structured Blogging Tue 03 Jan 2006
“Structured Blogging is a way to get more information on the web in a way that’s more usable.” If you want it used, that is. (There’s more discussion here) [c/o Subtraction].

Those Year-End Listing Blues Sat 31 Dec 2005
The A.V. Club’s Noel Murray has had it with lists. Sort of.

A Day in the Life of a Reference Librarian Sat 31 Dec 2005
Is it weird that I find the idea of this job very fulfilling? [c/o The Shifted Librarian]

Falling back to earth, alone Sat 31 Dec 2005
In 1960, Joe Kittinger shot up to 30km above the Earth in a high-altitude balloon. Then he jumped. Remarkable.

A Rocket To Nowhere Sat 31 Dec 2005
Maciej Ceglowski’s thoroughly researched, damning indictment of the state of the US space programme. Immensely readable, even for those with less than a passing interest in things astronomical. (Be sure also to read his recent follow-up piece, Meanwhile, Back In Space.)

chil.us Thu 29 Dec 2005
A project examining Chicago’s status as a global city, placing it in context with America’s other major metropolises. Be sure to check out the photo-slices. [c/o del.icio.us/fakeisthenewreal]

Hong Kong In Motion Thu 29 Dec 2005
“Photographs of cities can convey something of the texture of the sidewalk, and certainly do a good job conveying skylines or monumental spaces. But it’s harder to capture the flow of a city.” Steven Johnson gave it a go, anyway.

Merlin outlines his txt setup Thu 29 Dec 2005
I’m used to my one big text file for now, as it’s just enough for my needs. But if I need something bigger, to cover more aspects of my life, then this system looks like it’s worth a try. Endlessly resourceful, our Merlin.

Wikipedia entry for Getting Things Done Thu 29 Dec 2005
Amazing how quickly this all took off. Gotta credit Merlin Mann with some of that.

Web Browser CSS Support Thu 29 Dec 2005
Very handy to know [c/o Stylegala].

ToneTester: A Macintosh application that tests hearing Wed 28 Dec 2005
Turns out I have a left-pitch offset of -0.15 semitones. Good to know.

Five fake Brian Wilson songs from the mid-70s Wed 28 Dec 2005
Including the old favourite, ‘French Fries in My Beard (Make Me Happy, But Sometimes Very Sad).’

Reith Lectures 2005: The Triumph of Technology Wed 28 Dec 2005
The Independent’s Nicholas Lezard says the broadcasts were boring, so I’m happy enough to read the lectures instead. When I have the time.

Countries of the world, resized by population density Wed 28 Dec 2005
And you can make it out of Lego, too.

Wikipedia entry for Parkour Mon 12 Dec 2005
The kids in the US mid-west call it ‘extreme walking’, if I remember correctly.

I am a camera Mon 12 Dec 2005
From The Guardian a few weekends ago; an article on moblogging that doesn’t once mention Flickr. Strange, that.

Bricksmith: Virtual Lego modelling for the Mac Thu 08 Dec 2005
Christmas just came early!

Printing a Book with CSS Wed 07 Dec 2005
I had a feeling print typesetting wasn’t much of a step up from web markup; this is the proof. Excellent stuff.

Sesame Street Encyclopedia Wed 07 Dec 2005
Plus a direct link to my all-time favourite, Telly [c/o K10k].

TransFormers costumes that actually transform Wed 07 Dec 2005
Fantastic! I wonder how many of these we’ll see at Hallowe’en next year?

Open Source Mac Wed 07 Dec 2005
With some more links to open source software here.

Riffs: Your Social Recommender Wed 07 Dec 2005
I wasn’t sure what this was at first, since there’s so much going on on that front page. But I guess it’s the digital equivalent of bursting into a room full of strangers and asking whether or not they like something. Nice idea.

Secret of bees' flight revealed Wed 07 Dec 2005
So that’s how they do it.

'Shorthand' tips for handwritten notes Wed 07 Dec 2005
Some good non-shorthand notation for practical use here. But they’ve got Pittman wrong: a pencil isn’t required, it’s just easier for most. The way I write shorthand I can’t tell the difference between the weights of my lines, and besides after a certain level of practice it’s not supposed to matter.

RIAA Bans Telling Friends About Songs Wed 07 Dec 2005
The sad thing is that, like the five-blade razor, this might well turn out to be true some day.

The Walker: Texas Ranger clip Conan O'Brien was afraid to show Wed 07 Dec 2005
But he showed it anyway. And I thank him for it. (For supplemental laughs, watch this MetaFilter thread fold in on itself as people take the piss out of others trying to explain the joke. God, do people really need instructions for everything?)

Meet The New Blog Sun 04 Dec 2005
It’s official: short-post blogging is the new black.

Odeo finally launches its browser-based podcast recorder Sun 04 Dec 2005
It sure took them a while. I’ll try it out some day.

Peter Lindberg on stimulating diversions Wed 16 Nov 2005
I often find myself spinning off on tangents, my thoughts seeded by others’ thoughts and ideas. Always thinking, always evaulating and interpreting and striving to understand.

Barry Frost on SuperGlu Wed 16 Nov 2005
I owe Barry a link since I pretty must stole his homepage design for my new look.

Hong Kong walk signal Wed 16 Nov 2005
Dublin traffic light signals are similar, but the sound patterns for green and red are more distinct.

Anarchaia linky-love Sun 13 Nov 2005
Sorry about that Christian, I don’t check Technorati very often. Thanks for the mention!

Perry Bible Fellowship archive Sun 13 Nov 2005
Not familiar? Oh boy, you don’t know what you’re missing. (Read The Guardian’s feature on the strip for some background.)

London Topological Sun 13 Nov 2005
Exploring London’s clandestine underworld — which is something Dublin is sadly missing, at least on this scale.

Play Risk using Google Maps Sun 13 Nov 2005
I’ve never played Risk… Didn’t have much of a childhood, did I? [c/o MetaFilter]

iPod audiobook/podcast tip Sun 13 Nov 2005
Ah! Finally I can save place on my iPod while listening to 3-hour-plus downloads! That’s my in-flight entertainment sorted.

XHTML: Differences between Strict & Transitional Sun 13 Nov 2005
I’ve got so many elements to change to make my code strict, I don’t think it’s worth my while. But I’m filing this here anyway, for future reference.

Semantics in the Wild Sun 13 Nov 2005
Interesting article on informal semantic metadata in web code, as opposed to just semantic usage of HTML tags, which is something I’ve tried to implement here. Just my little contribution to the Semantic Web. [c/o SimpleBits]

The end of One Big Text File Sat 12 Nov 2005
I don’t know. I see what he’s doing there, but I’m happy sticking with my Big Text File for now. The key, I think, is to not use it for archival, but only the stuff you intend to work with. Anything else can go in a folder as a separate file, just like you’d do if it was hard copy.

Camino v1.0.1 Release Notes Sat 12 Nov 2005
Camino was my browser of choice before I upgraded to Panther and got hooked on Safari. I’m very tempted to switch back.

Macintosh Web Browsers, Past and Present Sat 12 Nov 2005
So many! Who woulda thunk it?

Goodbye, 38 Routemasters Fri 11 Nov 2005
I never did get a chance to ride on one. Sure, times change and things evolve, but London’s losing a big part of its character.

Voltron gets served Fri 11 Nov 2005
Our version of Cartoon Network sucks so badly compared to this [c/o elsewhere.subtraction.com].

Rabid vampire bats kill in Brazil Fri 11 Nov 2005
Now that’s a headline!

Guide to Modular CSS Fri 11 Nov 2005
I had a set-up somewhat like this for the last design, and I’m trying something new for this one too. Keeping a separate file for colors will make swapping any changes much easier.

Footnotes and Textpander Tue 11 Oct 2005
Filing this for future reference.

Web Developer's Handbook Tue 11 Oct 2005
This is the mother lode.

National Geographic's WildCam Africa Sat 01 Oct 2005
Real-time video from a watering hole in Botswana, and the single coolest thing I’ve found online this year. I’ve only been watching for ten minutes and I’ve already seen an ostrich, an elephant and a crocodile having lunch! Oh boy!

Typetester Sat 01 Oct 2005
A cool web app for comparing screen fonts.

CSS Techniques Roundup Sat 01 Oct 2005

CSS3 Multi-Column Module Sat 01 Oct 2005
Lovely. Browser support will be coming along any year now.

Rock Paper Scissors, times 25 Fri 30 Sep 2005
This one’s for Markham. As if 15 times wasn’t enough for you. Fucking hell!

Lifehacker's guide to weblog comments Fri 30 Sep 2005
All seems pretty sensible to me.

600 barrels of loot found on Crusoe island Wed 28 Sep 2005
There be treasure! Just a shame, says I, that it’s a week too late for Talk Like a Pirate Day. Yarrr.

Online Oblique Strategies Mon 26 Sep 2005
“Make a blank valuable by putting it in an exquisite frame.” Ahem.

Kenny's Bookshop closes its doors Mon 26 Sep 2005
A real shame. I went there last January with Benitha; it’s a fine establishment. We need more places like this, not fewer.

Google Talk is live Wed 24 Aug 2005
So this is the big surprise everyone’s been talking about. Shame there’s no Mac client, but I’ve got the IM set up through Adium. If anyone wants to chat, I’m macdara(dot)conroy(at)gmail(dot)com.

Making Sections In Text Files With SubEthaEdit Mon 22 Aug 2005
Invaluable advice, inspired by this article (also noted at 43 Folders). My current system involves three .txt files — one for blog drafts, one for linklog stuff, and one for thesis notes — which I could well see merging into one mega-file, yet for the time being keeping them separate but using LaTeX syntax has made navigating my notes so much easier.

Evangelical Scientists Refute Gravity With New 'Intelligent Falling' Theory Mon 22 Aug 2005
Gravity didn’t make that apple fall on Newton’s head — the Flying Spaghetti Monster did it!

Wikipedia entry for the Flying Spaghetti Monster Mon 22 Aug 2005
See also: Touched by His Noodly Appendage

Devo Middle School Mon 22 Aug 2005
The only place for all you spudboys and girls. I hope you get a flower pot hat at graduation.

What motivates citizen reviewers? Mon 22 Aug 2005
Lots of ideas to get my head around here.

PHP Manual Mon 22 Aug 2005
I’m going to learn this some day, I really am.

The Comprehensive LaTeX Symbol List Mon 22 Aug 2005
Filing this for future reference.

Elephants storm Zimbabwe resort Mon 15 Aug 2005
“A team from Zimbabwe’s National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority is trying to find out why the animals seem to be moving closer to people’s houses.” You want to know why? I’ll tell you why — they’re trying to get away from being shot at in the national parks, that’s why!

Victor Meldrew in the stars Wed 10 Aug 2005
I don’t believe it!

Podcast of the BBC's Reinventing Radio presentation at ETech 2005 Sun 07 Aug 2005

Yummy! Personal PDF Library Sun 07 Aug 2005
It’s like del.icio.us, but for PDFs. Now if only they could do something about the downtime…

Learn to Program (with Ruby) Sun 07 Aug 2005
Something else to read when I finish my thesis.

JSAN: JavaScript Archive Network Sun 07 Aug 2005
A comprehensive resource of JavaScript goodies.

Nvu: The complete web authoring system for Linux, Windows and OS X Sun 07 Aug 2005
Looks great, but you get what you pay for.

Obscenities Uttered by Jesus Christ Sat 06 Aug 2005
“Holy Mom, mother of me.” Ha!

Brian Eno on Working with Strict Structures Sat 06 Aug 2005
Eno speaks the truth. One could write an entire thesis on how limits foster creativity. Not me, though; I’m busy with my own one.

Electron Band Structure In Germanium, My Ass Sat 06 Aug 2005
Boy am I glad my thesis hasn’t turned into something like this!

Talk Digger Sat 06 Aug 2005
Handy tool for checking linkage across multiple tracking services. Could do with some better icons, though.

Robust CSS Drop Shadows Sat 06 Aug 2005
I’ll definitely be experimenting with this.

Idiot Toys Sat 06 Aug 2005
A gadget blog with a sense of humour. Excellent!

Amputator Sat 06 Aug 2005
Nice. Requires template edits to set it up, but it’ll save me the trouble of hand-coding the bloody things.

Astronomers detect '10th planet' Sat 06 Aug 2005
Seems like these discoveries are happening all the time now. For a name, Matt Webb suggests the distinctly un-Roman-god-like ‘daes’. Also: Farewell Pluto?

Although I Like a Good George W. Bush Joke as Much as the Next Guy, Some of Them Seem Gratuitous and Mean-Spirited Sat 06 Aug 2005
“Did you hear that Bill Clinton hired a new intern? It turns out that his old intern had to go home and spend time with her family after her brother was killed in Iraq.”

Internet companies that should have been bigger, but weren't Sat 06 Aug 2005
I think Blogger did pretty well, actually. But they didn’t adapt fast enough to deal with their popularity, and targeted the service towards novices at the expense of their older, more experienced users.

About Going Solo Sat 06 Aug 2005
Some of these tips apply for freelance journalism, too.

GIGANTICIDE Tue 02 Aug 2005
It’s a bit like Schott’s, but not quite. If you read it you’ll see what I mean.

Star War: The Backstroke of the West Tue 02 Aug 2005
Long time ago in the faraway galaxy…

Did Penn Jillette invent the Aristocrats gag? Tue 02 Aug 2005
It’s been pretty much confirmed that he didn’t… but I wouldn’t have put it past him.

Mat Honan on Apple's mounting security concerns Tue 02 Aug 2005
And so it begins…

Legal Guide for Bloggers Tue 02 Aug 2005
I haven’t read this yet. I really should.

Space shuttle to get critical fix Tue 02 Aug 2005
This comes after Nasa announced that they’d been “playing Russian roulette” with their shuttle crews since launches began 24 years ago.

The Non-Exciting, Non-Adventures of Han and Chewie Mon 01 Aug 2005
“No Chewie, those were my sandwiches.” Ha!

Make the Web Mobile With IYHY Mon 01 Aug 2005
Very handy tool. See, for example, how this site looks stripped bare.

Bursting the magic bubble Mon 01 Aug 2005
How the audience lets itself be tricked by magicians.

Steve Bell's cartoons Mon 01 Aug 2005

Introducing: Yacht Rock Mon 01 Aug 2005
Thank Jebus for Channel 101. Where would we be without House of Cosbys?

Online Papers in Philosophy Mon 01 Aug 2005

On Hamburgers Mon 01 Aug 2005
Last month I made burgers just like that, too. But I used ketchup, not mustard. Next time I’ll use mustard. Dijonnaise, maybe. I love dijonnaise.

Electronic Games of the '80s Mon 01 Aug 2005
I had Caveman when I was younger (the Tomy version). It lasted well into the ’90s, too… They don’t make ‘em like they used to.

Philosophomon Mon 01 Aug 2005
I like Descartle. Needs more work, though.

Throwing Tables Out the Window Mon 01 Aug 2005
Tables will always be a necessary evil for certain layouts until IE bites the dust or starts supporting universal standards. And that’s never gonna happen. Still, it’s nice to dream…

Story of a street Mon 01 Aug 2005
I love stories like this.

Manhattan Portage Bags Mon 01 Aug 2005
I need to get me a new bag soon. These look nice. Expensive, though.

Blog Day is coming Mon 01 Aug 2005
That’s 3108. Get it?

How To Fix An Underexposed Photo Sun 31 Jul 2005
Note to self: take more photos so I might actually have use for tips like this.

How to style a restaurant menu with CSS Sun 31 Jul 2005
Or style anything else, for that matter.

Quick start your design with XHTML templates Sun 31 Jul 2005
Filing this for future reference.

On making mistakes Sun 31 Jul 2005
Very true. There’s a real stigma about trial-and-error, but that’s the essence of creativity.

Scientists predict brave new world of brain pills Sun 31 Jul 2005
Modafinil scares me. It’s the amphetamine of the 21st Century.

Technorati: A New Public Utility Sun 31 Jul 2005
It’s certainly going that way. Who would have thought folksonomy would take off so fast?

The "Vinegar Boy" Saga, as told by Aaron Sat 30 Jul 2005
This guy is my new hero.

Online PDF converter Sat 30 Jul 2005
Handy for short documents if you don’t have PDF conversion built-in.

Turn a Zip case into a Hipster PDA Sat 30 Jul 2005
Very nice, but probably more trouble than it’s worth for me.

Create Gapless CDs and AAC Files with iTunes 4.9 Sat 30 Jul 2005
Filing this for future reference.

GoDaddy? No, Daddy Thu 28 Jul 2005
With this coming after the Gitmo controversy, I think I’ll be taking my business somewhere else when the time comes.

How the housefly evades ambush Thu 28 Jul 2005
Funny, I always thought it was because their ocular senses are faster than ours.

How to make enhanced podcasts Thu 28 Jul 2005
Filing this for later reference.

Architecting CSS Thu 28 Jul 2005
Filing this for later reference.

Ten CSS tricks you may not know Thu 28 Jul 2005
I have the strangest feeling I’ve linked to this before.

We Have Liftoff, Baby, Yeah! Thu 28 Jul 2005
Oh dear, that’s an unfortunate photo.

On the CIA's evil genius, Dr Sidney Gottlieb Thu 28 Jul 2005
Fucking hell. This is precisely why you should never trust authority.

Caring for Your Introvert Thu 28 Jul 2005
I don’t really need this, since Benitha feels the same way as I do. Isn’t it great when you’re compatible?

Putting for the Fences Thu 28 Jul 2005
Miniature golf reportage — this is great! I’m starting to like the New York Times again.

Mice gang up on endangered birds Mon 18 Jul 2005
At this rate, killer rabbits won’t be far behind.

Philosophy Tilt-a-Whirl Mon 18 Jul 2005
He’s not very fair to Wittgenstein (who rose considerably in my esteem knowing that he spent much of his time at Cambridge watching westerns at the cinema). And I don’t agree with his offhand dismissal of Derrida, but I admit his work is better talked about than read.

Warm Planet Mon 18 Jul 2005
My buddy Mat’s new blog, keeping track of this important issue. (Read this post to see why he’s doing it.)

Mammatus clouds over Hastings, Nebraska Mon 18 Jul 2005
These are creepy. It’s like some sort of horror movie chemical gas attack.

Building a weblog engine with Ruby on Rails Sun 17 Jul 2005
I know feck all about programming, but this stuff looks remarkably powerful and easy to learn.

The Hall & Oates Test Sun 17 Jul 2005
Let me guess… you’re an Oates?

WorldEar Sun 17 Jul 2005
A device to provide ambient sound connections between cities in multiple time zones on public transportation. My only reservation? Public transport might be too noisy for this to work without headphones.

Mellel -- The word processor for Mac OS X Sat 02 Jul 2005
Might be handy for writing my thesis, if I don’t decide to set it in LaTeX instead. Also, you’ve gotta love their honesty in the reviews section.

Secrets to creating Wordpress themes Sat 02 Jul 2005
Cornerhost upgraded my hosting plan this month, giving me a couple of mySQL databases to play with. So I might just migrate to Wordpress one day, if I can get to grips with the PHP.

Some printable paper rulers Fri 01 Jul 2005
You never know when you’ll need something like this.

Kids drawings as lush paintings Thu 30 Jun 2005
These gave me the giggles. In a good way.

S5: A Simple Standards-Based Slide Show System Mon 27 Jun 2005
Screw Powerpoint! We should all be using browsers from now on.

Simple templating with PHP Mon 27 Jun 2005
I should redo the Furnace website with this system. It’ll make managing it much easier. (I’d use MT but I don’t want to pay for a licence.)

Blogumentary maker squares off with a ranting loony Wed 22 Jun 2005
If there’s anything I hate more than summer humidity, it’s ranting loonies.

MetaFilter moans about Matt Webb Wed 22 Jun 2005
Is this what we’ve come to? That we can’t write on our own blogs without some jackass complaining we’re not up to the standards of the New York Times or something? Jeez…

Character entities for XHTML Wed 22 Jun 2005
So I don’t forget it.

Google Advanced Operators Cheat Sheet Wed 22 Jun 2005

Ebooks for your iPod Tue 21 Jun 2005
I’ll have to give this a go.

The Daily Show on the Michael Jackson verdict Mon 20 Jun 2005
This will be the only item about the Michael Jackson trial you will find here.

New Morning News Sun 19 Jun 2005
I prefer the old one, to be honest. Though that javascript nav bar at the bottom is pretty swish.

Help Cameron graduate by filling out his blog survey Fri 17 Jun 2005
I did my bit; it really does only take about 10 minutes. Must get cracking on my own survey, what with that thesis I have to write and all.

Darth Vader on Wheel of Fortune Fri 17 Jun 2005
It only works if you’ve got audio on your computer. I know, it’s so gonna get old in a few weeks, but why not milk it for all it’s worth while we still have time?

The More You Know, The Less You Remember? Sun 05 Jun 2005
So Homer Simpson was right after all: everytime I learn something new it really does push some old stuff out of my brain.

The Guinness Lifestyle Diet Sun 05 Jun 2005
I think Markham would appreciate this.

The lifecycle of bloggers Sun 05 Jun 2005
I’m almost ashamed to say I’ve been through most of these stages. But not #13. As Anil rightly says, “nobody’s ever been fired for blogging.”

eBay Ireland Sun 05 Jun 2005
I registered with eBay years ago, but I’ve only just bought something through ‘em.

United States of NOOOOOOOOOOO! Sun 05 Jun 2005
This is funny if you can remember back like two or three years ago.

Scientology Losing Ground To New Fictionology Sat 14 May 2005
“Scientology uses strictly scientific methodologies to undo the damage done 75 million years ago by the Galactic Confederation’s evil warlord Xenu—we offer our preclear followers procedures to erase overts in the reactive mind. Conversely, Fictionology is essentially just a bunch of make-believe nonsense.” Oh The Onion, what would we do without you?

Freecell for Mac OS X Sat 14 May 2005
I’ll need to learn how to play this. I only know one version of patience and it’s different enough from this to matter.

Creation of Black Hole Detected Wed 11 May 2005
I saved this one to my ‘blogfodder’ folder a day or so before Kottke and everyone else beat me to it, so I’m posting it anyway.

Self-referential aptitude test Wed 11 May 2005
I haven’t got a fucking clue.

Oberkampf Wed 11 May 2005

Toilet Bowl Restaurant Tue 10 May 2005
Those kooky Taiwanese! What will them crazy fools think of next?? (Related: The Power of Poo)

How to sit at a computer Tue 10 May 2005
When I get around to setting up a home office, I’ll need this.

THIS IS FUN TO MAKE A BLOG ON THE COMPUTER WEBSITE Mon 02 May 2005
It’s what the internet was made for.

The Acerbic Wit of Lewis Black Mon 02 May 2005
If you don’t know who he is, well, he sorta looks and kinda sounds like that Mike Wilmott guy who hangs out with Rich Hall. But he isn’t.

SA commuters vent their anger Mon 02 May 2005
Not the first time that’s happened there; they burned down a train station a few years ago, too. And having first-hand experience of Pretoria’s public transport system, I can understand their frustration. I’m surprised it hasn’t happened here yet.

Motion induced blindness Wed 20 Apr 2005
Very cool. Would this have any significance in terms of drivers’ vision, perhaps?

RideAccidents Mon 18 Apr 2005

Podcasts from Etech 2005 Mon 18 Apr 2005

Overheard in Dublin Sun 17 Apr 2005
An homage to Overheard in New York, perhaps?

VideoLAN to disappear? Sun 17 Apr 2005
They have to kill everything that’s good in the world, don’t they?

Untitled (Art History Notes): $25k starting bid Sun 17 Apr 2005

The Thumb-sized Heart of TK the Cat Fri 15 Apr 2005
I’m not embarrassed to say I cried when I read this.

Riding the rails from Helsinki to St Petersburg Fri 15 Apr 2005

MGM leaves its private web directories open to the public Fri 15 Apr 2005
Speaking of MGM, their movie channel was added to my basic cable this week. The only noteworthy thing to say about it is the wildly inappropriate scheduling of 18-cert films well before the watershed. If it was a subscription channel, that would be different. But it isn’t. I don’t mind hearing ‘fuck’ on TV before 9pm, but I don’t think the majority would agree.

I've Got Something in My Front Pocket for You Wed 13 Apr 2005
This, dear reader, is why I love South Park. (You know I wouldn’t be surprised if this turned out to be a real Noel Coward tune, too.)

Metafor: Visualizing Stories as Code Wed 13 Apr 2005
Something worthwhile from the Media Lab for once. Not like that stupid Clocky.

Jack Schofield interviews Flickr's Stewart Butterfield Tue 05 Apr 2005
I wonder what Wittgenstein (he of the language games) would make of the whole tagging-slash-folksonomy phenomenon…

Quicksilver tips and tricks at 43 Folders Tue 05 Apr 2005
Quicksilver is such an amazing idea and so easy to use that it’s a wonder Apple didn’t think of it first.

Become the Idlewords.com macropatron Tue 05 Apr 2005
Injoke alert!

The Guardian's April Fool's Day Quiz Fri 01 Apr 2005
Nine out of nine: perfect score! I ain’t no fool, yo.

Hybrid CSS Dropdowns Thu 31 Mar 2005
Something for the summer redesign, maybe.

Developing Dashboard Widgets for OS X Tiger Thu 31 Mar 2005
Doesn’t look very difficult at all. Just time consuming for someone like me. And of course I’d have to upgrade to Tiger, which I don’t see happening for a while.

On the Internet, 2nd (and 3rd and...) Opinions Thu 31 Mar 2005

Pupils 'do worse with computers' Thu 31 Mar 2005
Another one for the ‘I coulda told ya that’ file.

Take Photographs In CCA? At Your Own RISK! Thu 31 Mar 2005
Arf!

What's the weather like in Dublin? Wed 30 Mar 2005
Miserable few days ahead. Bugger. (Good link, though.)

Ceefax.tv Wed 30 Mar 2005
It’s completely searchable and clickable, too. Fantastic.

FreeMind Mon 28 Mar 2005
I don’t like the way it slapped a folder into my user root directory, but it may yet prove useful enough to earn my forgiveness.

Clocky Fri 25 Mar 2005
Oh my fucking God. Where do I begin? There’s no visible clock, for starters! This, ladies and gents, is the kind of thing on which the Irish Government spent millions of taxpayers’ money before they pulled the plug on Media Lab Europe a few months ago.

Doogie Howser, M.D. was the first blogger Thu 24 Mar 2005
This is nothing short of brilliant!

Folksonomy notes from Etech 2005 Wed 23 Mar 2005

Chump change Wed 23 Mar 2005
Here’s a gem for you: “[50 Cent] is no big shakes as a rapper, but as a lyricist he’s a disaster. He can’t do metaphors - at one juncture he claims to have the dancefloor ‘hot as a tea kettle’ - and his idea of humour involves referring to fellatio as ‘licking the lollipop’. He can’t even insult people properly … He calls Fat Joe fat, which, given that he already calls himself fat, seems unlikely to sting the very core of his being. Fat Joe himself is hardly among hip-hop’s rapier wits - his wildly varied oeuvre includes Shit Is Real, Dat Gangsta Shit, We Run This Shit and Shit Is Real Part 2.”

Bill Bryson answers your questions Wed 23 Mar 2005
I never did listen to the live lecture I linked about before, so this will have to make do, until I ever do.

Oblique Strategies for Mac OS X Sat 19 Mar 2005
(By way of the fertile mind of Brian Eno.) How could I say no? It’s free! And I might even use it.

The Onion's Irish-Heritage Timeline Wed 16 Mar 2005
Ha ha ha, and all that.

Drag and Drop Images and Layers Fri 11 Mar 2005
Just when you think you’ve seen it all…

Google News now customisable Fri 11 Mar 2005

Bill Bryson Lecture Tue 08 Mar 2005
I hope I remember this. I’m still only half-way through the book, but I’m enjoying it very much.

Blogger fear in Apple leak case Tue 08 Mar 2005
I’m not sure what to make of this. You can’t go making wild accusations with ‘anonymous’ sources as your only evidence, but these sites in question were reporting responsibly (providing information of public interest, at least to that segment of the public with an interest in technology) and not doing anything different than what a mainstream publication would do (PR embargoes be damned!).

Yahoo! Netrospective Thu 03 Mar 2005

Office Space, starring the Superfriends Thu 03 Mar 2005

Squashed Philosophers Sun 27 Feb 2005

Names for new Saturn moons Sat 26 Feb 2005
I remember reading something about these months ago, but for some reason I didn’t keep track. Will wonders never cease?

Free Mojtaba and Arash Day Tue 22 Feb 2005

Wittgenstein's Dictionary Sat 19 Feb 2005
I’ve had a book on Wittgenstein and the Philosophical Investigations on my bedside table for three years. One day, I’ll read it.

How to maintain notes using Gmail Sat 19 Feb 2005
Apparently this is an ‘old school’ trick, but seeing as Gmail has been around about a year, that doesn’t make sense. But anyway. This could be adapted to maintain almost anything. I’m already using it to keep separate folders for notes, links and large documents.

The Theory That Self-Interest Is the Sole Motivator Is Self-Fulfilling Sat 19 Feb 2005
Well, I coulda told ya that.

MacInformation Sat 19 Feb 2005

London Map Downloads Wed 16 Feb 2005
A very handy resource.

Altered HIV Attacks Mice Tumors Mon 14 Feb 2005
This makes be both hopeful and creeped out at the same time.

Folksonomies Tap People Power Mon 14 Feb 2005
I’m thinking of a way to tag my posts here that fits in with the look of the site, and isn’t too much of a hack.

Greg knows how to romance a lady Mon 14 Feb 2005

An introduction to the Kyoto Protocol Sun 13 Feb 2005
If you look at the ‘global greenhouse’ infographic linked at the end of the page, you can see how poorly Ireland is doing.

Project Manager Leaves Suicide Powerpoint Presentation Sun 13 Feb 2005
“When Ron started deleting all of his old files last week, I thought he was worried about another hard-drive crash. I never imagined he was, you know, preparing.” Priceless.

Hokkaido installs musical roads Sun 13 Feb 2005
Why is it that the Japanese always come up with the best ideas?

What If... Sun 13 Feb 2005
See? There really is more to the internet than weblogs.

The Moleskine Multi-Tab Hack Sun 13 Feb 2005
I’m using my Moleskine to keep track of my dissertation progress — citations, notes, etc. — so something like this might come in very handy.

Crazy shoppers cause stampede Thu 10 Feb 2005
I shouldn’t have to say this, but IT’S ONLY BLOODY FURNITURE!

I got myself a new watch today Mon 07 Feb 2005
It’s great! I don’t want to take it off!

Wikipedia entry for 'Folksonomy' Wed 02 Feb 2005

The Sound of Data Tue 25 Jan 2005
It sounds better than you might think.

The Apple Store Of The Future Tue 25 Jan 2005
What a great iDea ;o)

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Making driving seem more dangerous could make it safer Wed 08 Dec 2004
It seems like this is what they’re trying to do with O’Connell St here in Dublin, but will it work?

Audio of the RTÉ Science Lecture for 2004 Tue 07 Dec 2004

The New York Times marks the 20th anniversary of string theory Tue 07 Dec 2004

Japanese robot to chat lonely elderly out of senility Wed 01 Dec 2004
I don’t know whether to be happy or scared witless.

Dolphins save swimmers from shark Tue 23 Nov 2004

The Jean-Paul Sartre Cookbook Sat 20 Nov 2004

'Original' great ape discovered Sat 20 Nov 2004

In Defense of Posthuman Dignity, by Nick Bostrom Tue 16 Nov 2004

Profanity Adventures Tue 16 Nov 2004

Behold, the Gematriculator Sun 14 Nov 2004

Home Alone? How Content Aggregators Change Navigation and Control of Content Sat 13 Nov 2004

More on Homo floresiensis Thu 11 Nov 2004

130-year-old Chinese fire put out Thu 04 Nov 2004