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Senator Stevens obviously knows a lot about the Internet. Apparently, "it's not a big truck", it's actually "a series of tubes". His arguments against net neutrality (opposing the right of anyone to be able to pay for higher priority in routing) are "well informed". Definitely worth listening to the end: Senator Stevens Speaks on Net Neutrality | Public Knowledge
And once you're done with that, listen to the remixed version.
This article showing "space images of the UK sweltering" demonstrates how hot the UK has gotten over the past couple of weeks. According to the BBC site, we are now as hot as the sun. Compare this image of the UK:
With this image of the sun from NASA:
In fact, I think the UK looks slightly hotter.
BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Space images show UK sweltering
Weather on the sun
This guy's got every move in the book, plus a few more: YouTube - Solla Solla Enna Perumai
For your information, that great Solla Solla clip who is travelling at the speed of light around the net was originally taken from the site http://foxybronx.free.fr = go there to enjoy lots of other weird movies in the same groovy genre…
posted by 
: July 23, 2006 12:12 AM
Thanks for the link! It is indeed wondrous to behold, and I had no problem downloading Solla Solla Enna Perumai from that site.
posted by 
Karl Bunyan : July 25, 2006 7:38 PM
thanks for the moves
posted by : August 14, 2006 2:49 AM
yo man thanks
posted by : August 14, 2006 2:50 AM
Six of us took part in the Capital to Coast cycle ride from Esher to Hove on 16th July 2006. The participants were:
For anyone who didn't sponsor us yet, the easiest place to do it is on Justgiving, and if you sponsor Mick by following that link then Bloomberg will double the amount (up to a maximum total of £1000).
It was an excellent event and we think we averaged 12.7 mph over the 60.1 miles we cycled, making a time of about four and three quarter hours. We actually took about seven and a half hours, owing to the number of times we stopped and how long we spent at the rest points. It was mainly down to laziness. We stopped at 13 miles (unofficial stopping point) and had sticky cakes, 20 miles and ate a load of the free stuff on offer, including Mars bars and very cheap but entirely satisfactory crisps, 30 miles and had a caramel slice and more of the other junk food, at 40 miles I had some very good Danish pastries, and by 47 miles I was too stuffed to think of any more 'energy' food going in my mouth. Except for the dry roasted peanuts I'd brought with me. Then at about 50 miles, at the bottom of Devil's Dyke, for a last-chance snack and water break.
It does look like we've raised a fair bit of money for the charities involved, and my company sponsored the team too. We haven't added it up yet but I think it's going to be between two and three thousand pounds between the six of us.
Here are some photos:
Team photo:
Chris had the first (and only) puncture of the group very early in the day - about 5 miles in. Unfortunately, the marshalls didn't know a great deal about bicycle repairs...:
It did mean that Mick got to pose with a Harley (the marshall's vehicle of choice):
If you stand with your hands on your hips it looks like you're being useful:
13 miles, time for cakes. Just like they have on the Tour de France:
Neelesh riding along:
Team photo at the first official stop:
Everyone cycling in a well-behaved line:
The healthy living three. The link between smoking and cancer may not have been proven beyond all doubt but there is a definite link between smoking and walking up hills:
Neelesh on his way into the second official stop. Neelesh was sporting the most high-tech gadgets including clip-on shoes, speedometer, a fancy bag that clipped under his seat, a special top, and gloves.
Mick on his way in. Mick's training for the event consisted almost entirely of buying a bike:
Chris followed:
James didn't look entirely overjoyed to be cycling:
Kathryn working hard. This is an important part of any triathlon:
A semi-group photo from the second stop:
Chris knows where it's starting to hurt:
Some doubted whether the outlay for my cycling shoes was worth it but these pieces of specialist equipment stood me in very good stead. They also made sure I didn't have to carry another pair of shoes:
Mick on the move:
Mick slightly less on the move:
James is pleased to be over half way:
The third pit-stop:
James was very keen to get on to "Devil's Pike" as he seems to be calling it. Watch the video (8meg).
Kathryn cruising along:
Another stop at forty miles by which time we really couldn't eat much more junk. (At this point we would like to thank suncream for making the event possible):
We did take advantage of the very last stop at close to fifty miles, at the foot of Devil's Dyke:
And we all look like we've got plenty of energy for getting up that hill:
At the top of Devil's Dyke I managed to park my bike in the president's spot:
Kathryn was the second to the top:
Neelesh was close behind, having also cycled all the way up:
Then James who was probably weighed down by his army helment:
And Mick turned up with Chris not too far behind (but too far to be in a photo):
The last group photo before the finish line:
The view towards Hove from Devil's Dyke. It was fantastic weather for the event:
Kathryn on her way to the finish line:
The finish line photo:
A very well received beer after the ride:
All of my photos can be downloaded here (about 50meg). This includes the video.
Capital to Coast
Download photos and video (50 meg)
I'm going to be cycling to Hove on Sunday as part of the Capital to Coast event to raise money for a few charities. Should anyone feel like sponsoring us then you can donate online at Just Giving, or just get in touch and send a cheque if you'd rather not do it online.
So far I think we've got well over a grand between the six of us in the Puntourist team, and there's a chance we can get Bloomberg to double up some of the donations so there's even more incentive to stick a tenner in.
Just Giving - The Puntourists
Capital to Coast
Bulldog's customer service is pretty awful, and so is their service in general (classic the other day: I ring up and am greeted by someone in technical support telling me that they're experiencing technical problems but if I ring back I may be able to get in touch with someone at their end who wasn't. It took 4 attempts). But the picture above is one of the pages that redirects you around your account - catchy name, eh?
This set of stats gives a true picture of the World Cup: World Cup 2006 - OnTheBall statistics.
Of particular interest:
World Cup 2006 - OnTheBall statistics
I've never known where the euphemism of 'Number 2' meaning 'a poo' came from, but a theory came into my head the other day when I saw one of those toilets with a split-button flush - the ones with a small flush and a big flush. The small flush had one dot on it and the big flush had two dots. Could I have discovered the source of this fragment of our colloquial language? I hope someone knows...
No.
Those toilets were only invented a few years ago, whereas that saying has been around for decades.
If anything, it is probably derived from Cockney rhyming slang.
posted by Sophie Holt : November 10, 2006 1:14 PM
perhaps.... but I do like the theory all the same!!
posted by : July 06, 2007 11:43 PM
The World Cup has come to an end, and although England didn't do too well I have the consolation prize of winning our office Fantasy Football league:
| Pos | Manager | Team | Week 5 Pts | Total Pts | League Pos | |
| 1 | Mr K Bunyan | KEEPY UPPY | 66 | 278 | 22018 | |
| 2 | Mr K Ozficici | GUIDED BY TURKS FC | 62 | 223 | 56011 | |
| 3 | Mr D Beale | THE MIGHTY OS | 0 | 182 | 77354 | |
| 4 | Mr N Grimshaw | DAMP CATS | 28 | 180 | 78172 | |
| 5 | Mr J Bebbington | SPONGECUP WORLDPANTS | 16 | 177 | 79332 | |
| 6 | Mr C Sainsbury | SAINSBURYS SCORERS | 4 | 123 | 90821 |
I went into a sulk after the England 1/4 final match and didn't even think about football until the (poor) final yesterday.
Suprised I did as well as I did, considering.
posted by Bealers : July 10, 2006 10:45 AM
I've never come across this site before, but I gladly have now. It contains some amazing examples of coding, although I still think I've come across many as bad in daily work.
After much Googling, reading, hacking, downloading applications and generally fiddling about, we finally got a USB key to put up the correct autorun prompt when you put the key in the port. i.e. put the application you want to run at the top, and not list a load of files and folders to open. It is:
In autorun.inf you want:
[autorun]
action=My presentation
icon=icon_file.ico
open=executable_fil.exe
And that seemed to do it. Maybe everyone knows how to do this already and just didn't tell me, but it definitely didn't work without the 'action' line. Okay, the executable still has to be picked from the list of actions, but it appears at the top so it's fairly obvious.
It's been a struggle to find the password this week, and I certainly wouldn't go to the expense of buying The Telegraph. But I've found it at last. For the last few World Cup games, it's GLORY.
We went to Germany for the first week of the World Cup. There wasn't an England game on in Hamburg (it was all booked long before the draw came out) but it was a great laugh anyway.
Strange street art that was everywhere. Each statue was painted differently:
Hamburg town hall (I think):
We visited the remains of a church where only the tower had been left standing. (I presume because, ahem, we bombed the rest at some point):
The spire was still complete and you could take a lift to the top of the stone structure:
The view from the top was quite impressive:
The other tall building that was open to visitors, St Michel. The outside was more impressive than the inside, but the surrounding area was a great place for rubbish souvenirs:
Inside the lower levels of the tower of St Michel:
The view from the top of St Michel:
Another view from the top of St Michel:
Some nearby modern architecture:
Darren, in front of St Michel:
More whacky sculptures, this time some giant chairs that we couldn't resist trying out (this is Darren):
My go in a chair:
A huge statue in one of the parks around Hamburg, apparently of Bismarck:
Me standing in front of Bismarck, which gives an idea of just how big it is.
This was about as close as I dared get to the edge:
Darren, in front of Bismarck:
At the big screen on the edge of the town centre there were stalls for every country in the World Cup, plus a few others:
There were plenty of places to sit before the match started:
A few hours before Germany were set to play Costa Rica in the opening game, and the 'entertainers' on the stage were making a valiant effort at keeping the half a dozen people who were wandering around 'entertained':
By kick-off, the place was pretty full:
Germany beat Costa Rica by four goals to two, and the crowd goes wild:
A sea of Germans on their way home:
Someone so excited by the victory they crashed their car (or it could have been a coincidence):
Balloons that were generally floating above Hamburg:
A view across the lake back to the centre of town:
Another odd piece of street art, distinctly remiscent of The Muppets in my eyes:
Darren got into the spirit of things:
I hadn't realised what a big sea port Hamburg was (not surprising since before I went I didn't particularly know where in Germany it was):
This is the entrance to the Elbtunnel which runs under the main river through Hamburg. Cars used to drive up to these entrances and go one at a time into a lift:
From their they're taken down and then drive out at the bottom:
Then through the tunnel and into another lift to get out the other side. It's only open to cyclists and pedestrians now, and is nice and cool on a hot day:
There isn't much at the other end of the Elbtunnel, unfortunately, except the view back:
We went canoeing, and this is the 'up all night' crowd briefly before capsizing:
And this is them after capsizing, looking none the worse for it it has to be said:
Capsizing didn't put them off. Note the wake that the boat is leaving indicating a distinctly backwards direction of travel:
Our canoe was more civilised as we had Ray fending off crocodiles and the like:
One of those 'try and take a photo of yourself' shots. Could be worse:
Another church I came across:
One of the canalside warehouse type buildings:
This hook was hanging down about six stories, which seems very uncharacteristically careless for the Germans:
What happens when connected buildings are half-demolished:
My last beer in Hamburg (with Joe in the background):
At Hamburg airport, on the way back home:
Darren Beale's photos from the same Hamburg trip