Wiki Wars
If you haven’t seen this: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:LEW, then you really should! It’s Wikipedia’s lamest edits, a collection of short stories about some of the lamest arguments ever to break out on Wikipedia… How wide is the Death Star? Should there be an illustration of the Invisible Pink Unicorn? Is the symbol in the C Sharp logo a hash or a musical sharp symbol?
…the WikiNerds edit it to the death.
Nike+ Running Shoes (divide by pain)
Following Rob’s lead I got a Nike+ and some shoes to put it in this weekend. I took it for an eight hundred meter jog this evening and am still feeling the pain now! It’s been years since I got any formal exercise:
The trainers are really good, after wearing skater’s trainers for seven years it felt like I was running around in socks! The only thing that spoilt the experience was the surly treatment I got in the Nike store. The people working in the shop really didn’t want to help me… or even bother trying to pretend that they might. So I went to John Lewis instead - where the shoes were cheaper and the service much better. I’d strongly recommend any one else to do the same.
The device itself does exactly what it says on the tin and for £19.99 I can’t complain at all (well except about the service in the Nike store…)
La Fée XS Absinthe Française
A long time ago I posted about La Fee launching a range of expensive premium absinthes that contain a triple serving of Absinthe’s infamous active ingredient, but I never got round to writing a review of them…
I’ve been drinking absinthe since 2003 when I discovered that it was still illegal in Amsterdam, which is no longer the case I believe. We were on our way to a museum when one of my party stuck up a conversation with a magic mushroom dealer who was promoting his wares as the only way to see van Gogh’s work as the artist saw it, due to the ‘drug’ whose influence it was created under (absinthe) being illegal. This very friendly drug dealer went on to say that one of things he enjoyed most in the UK was a glass of absinthe. Now the irony of this wasn’t lost on me and on my return to London I started to look into this rather legendary drink.
My first bottle was an original recipe La Fee, purchased from the world famous Gerry’s Off Licence on Old Compton Street in Soho, which is a must if you ever find your self in that neck of the woods. So a few years and a few more bottles later, what would my return to the La Fee brand bring? It couldn’t be worth £60? Could it?
Well the answer is… Yes! Yes! and Yes! The first thing that surprised me was how pleasant the smell and colour were, my strongest memory of that first bottle was it’s unnatural atomic green colour and bitter smell… I’ve included some pictures I took while I was adding water below, as you can see the neat absinthe looks more like white wine (the way it should) and turns a pale white once louched. The taste was, again, really nice - I would normally say absinthe is an acquired taste and even today I still find the odd glass where I have to make an effort to finish it… but not here! La Fée XS Absinthe Française is worryingly drinkable! As to the triple thujone content, well the whole hallucinogenic thing is a bit of a myth, although I did find my self coming up with a few verses of a song… but that could very well be the power of suggestion!
So in conclusion, if you have £60 to spend on Absinthe then I’d highly recommend it - if not then remember there is nothing more decadent than wasting money, well, that and a glass of absinthe!
Call Of Duty 4
Can’t wait! I’ll buy a Play Station 3 if necessary…
I Resign! (dot com)
This remains one of my favourite pre dot com boom sites.
When I decided to quit my last job my manager was standing at my desk talking at me about changing my schedule once again… it was at that point that I realised that I really didn’t want to work there any more.
While he was still talking at me I popped open a new browser window and typed in www.i-resign.com. I clicked on through to the templated resignation letters and filled one in, there and then, while my boss was obliviously stood there telling me how something something… I nipped across to the printer as if I was still carrying on a conversation with him, signed and put the letter in an envelope. The whole thing probably took less than two minutes. I waited for our conversation to end and as he walked back to his desk I called after him “Oh, hang on - this is for you…” and handed him the envelope. As he read the letter it quickly dawned on him that this was the thing he’d just watch me print out… to give him his dues he did see the funny side. He handed me the letter back and said we’d talk about it later.
Good times…
ABCe Interact
Last night I took a break from my holiday to attend ABCe’s Interact evening with Rob at London’s Namco. The evening was an industry get together with a few speakers and more importantly free booze ‘n bumper cars!
The evening started with the three ‘industry’ speakers, fortunately all with a ten minute limit! The first two were fairly clichéd - complete with the old “Digital Natives” vs. “Digital Immigrants…” hey - I could quote Rupert Murdoch and be called an industry expert too you know! However the last guy, who if memory serves, was from the Guardian Online (although it is entirely possible I’m making that bit up) was very interesting. What stuck out in my mind was his idea that the internet is in some ways actually moving society backward - the written letter (albeit the electronic letter) replacing the phone call as preferred method of communication and that hundreds of thousands of people who have never contemplated stealing pick and mix are now pirating music off the net. He also talked about how the MySpace profiles of our future polititons are currently being written and promptly archived for prosperity. I won’t comment on these ideas here - but I will say that they were fairly thought provoking.
The rest of the evening was great! We had exclusive free use of the whole lower level of the Namco centre… complete with: Pool… Daytona Racing… Time Crises 3… House of the Dead… Virtual Skiing… Laser Bowling… Tennis… That Weird Dancing Game that Rob likes… and best of all: Bumper Cars!
As the evening progressed and the free booze flowed all of the questions from the dawn of time that have plagued man were answered: Can one man bowl in two lanes at once? What about backwards bowling? Blindfold bowling? The answer being: Given enough beer, anything is possible!
More photos here.