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Saturday, July 20, 2002


Patent Stupidity Part 431

A company called Forgent in Austin Texas are now claiming it holds a patent that covers JPEG compression technology. Håkon Lie, chief technical officer of Opera reckons the Patent does not apply:
"I would encourage people not to pay up if they are asked to. We have done a technical evaluation of this patent and we don't believe it applies. What it tries to do is patent Huffman coding in combination with runlength coding and we believe there's plenty of prior art for that before 1986,"
Story here, and here,

posted by Andy Buchanan at 6:20 PM



Strike a light! Cockney Rhyming Slang Dictionary

Oh my lawd! Ever wondered what those cheeky dock n' key chaps were talkin' about? Well now yew can find aaaht because I've found dis lovely online Dicshunary. Lumme!

posted by Andy Buchanan at 5:53 PM



Friday, July 19, 2002


Another reposted classic....

It's Friday, so time to revisit our old friend Peter Pan.

posted by Andy Buchanan at 6:53 AM



Thursday, July 18, 2002


Tube Chaos

So the tube strike started at 8pm yesterday, but I got to the train station in plenty time. And this morning was mostly fine, a long walk but the weather was nice. The thing I didn't expect was the 20 minutes it took me to get off the train at Kings Cross, get outside and fight my way through the milling crowds of clueless idots. My question is: if these people had no idea what to do when they got there, why did they bother going?

posted by Andy Buchanan at 12:51 PM



It's not everyday

It's not everyday that someone tells you, you look like Lorenzo Lamas. Just as well really, because I almost died of shock. Luckily I realised the opining person was clearly insane.

posted by Andy Buchanan at 12:46 PM



Wednesday, July 17, 2002


TopStyle!

I've been prototyping new designs for my websites using XHTML & CSS (Almost happy with them too!). This site already has some nods in that general direction. Anyway I thought I'd just post a quick rave on the new v3.0 of the Topstyle Pro CSS Editor by Nick Bradbury the original author of another of my (previously) favourite programs, Homesite. TopStyle v2.5 was the "dogs bollocks", so I'm not exactly sure how I could categorise the new version, maybe it's the "cats whiskers"?, "pigs curly tail"?, "monkey's spit"?, "giraffe's trousers"??... "Kylie's bum"? or maybe it just "Rocks!". Whatever.. If you need a CSS editor, look no further. Three thumbs up and lashings of creamy Devon custard! (Also the Topstyle blog has some cool CSS links)

posted by Andy Buchanan at 8:17 PM



Noseybonk!

[via Junklist] For those of you with an unhealthy interest in anagrams,jigsaw puzzles and/or an (un)healthy interest in Janet Ellis may remember the kiddies TV show "Jigsaw" and such names as Noseybonk, Pterry, Biggum, The O Men and Jigg.....this page will bring it all back.

posted by Andy Buchanan at 7:50 PM



Dear Mrs Deceased

Egg have apologised to a widower after sending him a letter just after his wife had died, starting with the line, Dear Mrs Deceased...

posted by Mark Matheson at 3:24 PM



Muppets with Aids

Sesame Street in South Africa will shortly have an HIV infected muppet...you just can't say "what next?" enough

posted by Mark Matheson at 3:20 PM



UK Government at it again...

Blair is still pushing for ID cards despite all previous claims otherwise. We're calling it an "Entitlement" card now. Wolf in sheeps clothing? Here's Privacy Internationals ID Card FAQ.

posted by Andy Buchanan at 12:37 PM



Test this, sucker!

This is a genuine psychological test. Try to answer this without looking up the answer on the web...

It is a story about a girl. Whilst at the funeral of her own mother, she met this guy whom she did not know. She thought this guy was amazing, so much her dream guy she believed him to be, that she fell in love with him there and then...A few days later the girl killed her own sister.

Question: What is her motive in killing her sister?

If you want to mail me your answers, do so here, I will post the answer tomorrow...

posted by Mark Matheson at 11:22 AM



Tuesday, July 16, 2002


Fantasic Book

Bookcover

I've been chewing through 1-2 books a week for the last 10 or 11 months, but this is the first time I've felt it necessary to comment on anything I've read. Carter Beats the Devil by Glen David Gold is by far the most enjoyable book I've read in at least the 10, 11 months perhaps even years. Hats off to the author for a witty intrique that kept me rivetted for a whole week. If you haven't read it I insist you do so NOW!

posted by Andy Buchanan at 8:15 PM



Fanny Batter

Unattributed newclipping via email:
newsclipping
[plain text version]

posted by Andy Buchanan at 8:05 PM



Monday, July 15, 2002


This is one of the funniest editorials I have ever read...can anyone answer the age old question, Why do Porn Stars Swear So Much?

posted by Mark Matheson at 8:23 AM