Life Without Toast - Sibling Rivalry

links for 2008-07-18

2008-07-18T12:30:55Z

Nuclear Blasts Show Terrifying Power

"The exact moment of detonation at Nagasaki is captured in this remarkable photograph. Notice the three people in the foreground, as yet unaware that anything has happened". Japan really is the only post-apocalyptic country in the world.

(tags: history photography nuclear japan)
Irish Slang

"Artist: person getting social security (drawing the dole)" Nice list. Most of it is there. Essential reading for anyone planning on traveling to Ireland.

(tags: ireland language funny culture)
What Medicine Owes the Beatles

"First released as a prototype by EMI in 1971 - the year after the Beatles broke up ? CT scanners started to appear at hospitals in the mid 1970s; today there are about 30,000 in use worldwide."

(tags: cool beatles science technology medical)

What Medicine Owes the Beatles [del.icio.us]

2008-07-17T15:54:28-05:00

"First released as a prototype by EMI in 1971 - the year after the Beatles broke up – CT scanners started to appear at hospitals in the mid 1970s; today there are about 30,000 in use worldwide."

Irish Slang [del.icio.us]

2008-07-17T15:43:36-05:00

"Artist: person getting social security (drawing the dole)" Nice list. Most of it is there. Essential reading for anyone planning on traveling to Ireland.

links for 2008-07-17

2008-07-17T12:30:49Z

Ultimate Dessert

Warning: May contain traces of beard

(tags: funny parody comics)
World?s Most Expensive Places to Have Sex

And coming in at Number 1: IRELAND. Because condoms are more expensive here than ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD. I'm importing mine from Shanghai in the future.

(tags: sex news ireland world statistics)
Recent Volcanic Activity - The Big Picture

The photo of Mt Augustine in Alaska is my new desktop picture. The ones from the Space Shuttle are beautiful, really amazing.

(tags: cool nature photography)

Recent Volcanic Activity - The Big Picture [del.icio.us]

2008-07-16T13:17:33-05:00

The photo of Mt Augustine in Alaska is my new desktop picture. The ones from the Space Shuttle are beautiful, really amazing.

World’s Most Expensive Places to Have Sex [del.icio.us]

2008-07-16T10:50:10-05:00

And coming in at Number 1: IRELAND. Because condoms are more expensive here than ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD. I'm importing mine from Shanghai in the future.

links for 2008-07-16

2008-07-16T12:31:31Z

Asimov's 30 Laws of Robotics

Asimovs three laws, plus a few more - "10. A robot, when given contradictory orders by two human beings, and assuming those orders do not violate the First Law, must decide which order to follow based on which human being has a deeper voice."

(tags: funny scifi literature parody robots)
Lightning Strike Caught On Camera

Not just a lightning strike caught on camera, but a lightning strike hitting the person holding the camera, caught on camera. Because I know she was unharmed, I can laugh at the screaming. :-)

(tags: crazy interesting nature video scary weather)
GRAND THEFT AUTO: CHINATOWN WARS

Coming this winter on Nintendo DS - I'm really liking the fact that the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection logo is present on the page. GTA Multiplayer on DS? No if they could just make one for the Wii as well...

(tags: nintendo gta news)

Ultimate Dessert [del.icio.us]

2008-07-16T07:18:19-05:00

Warning: May contain traces of beard

GRAND THEFT AUTO: CHINATOWN WARS [del.icio.us]

2008-07-16T05:46:58-05:00

Coming this winter on Nintendo DS - I'm really liking the fact that the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection logo is present on the page. GTA Multiplayer on DS? No if they could just make one for the Wii as well...

Lightning Strike Caught On Camera [del.icio.us]

2008-07-16T05:00:45-05:00

Not just a lightning strike caught on camera, but a lightning strike hitting the person holding the camera, caught on camera. Because I know she was unharmed, I can laugh at the screaming. :-)

Asimov's 30 Laws of Robotics [del.icio.us]

2008-07-16T04:57:58-05:00

Asimovs three laws, plus a few more - "10. A robot, when given contradictory orders by two human beings, and assuming those orders do not violate the First Law, must decide which order to follow based on which human being has a deeper voice."

Dropbox

2008-07-15T22:47:11Z

Dropbox is brilliant. I can't remember whether I signed up by asking for an invite or if someone I randomly know via the interpipes, but I received an invite in my mail the other day, and had a look at what the craic was.

It's basically a folder, right, that exists on every computer you use. You download the software (Mac/PC) and it sets up a folder on your machine of choice. On the Mac, it sets up it's very own spot in your "Places" in Finders' sidebar, like this:

(on Windows, it sets up a folder in 'My Documents>Dropbox')

The folders inside your Dropbox look like this:

And when you drop something into one of those folders, it looks like this:

The blue "refreshing" symbol turns to an green tick when everything is synced.

Files and folders inside your dropbox also get their very own item on the context menu, as seen here:

The great thing is that this context-menu item will only appear in the dropbox itself, not in any other folder, which says to me that this program(s) was written by someone who has a modicum of intelligence about UI design. The main item of use on the context menu is "copy public link", which, of course, gives you a URL for sharing. This option is also only in the context menu for the "public" folder, which makes things even easier to figure out.

I currently have it set up on my home machine (Mac) and my work machine (PC), and so far, it seems to be totally flawless. Drag, drop, forget. And there's a web interface too, which all syncs up with everything else, so if you're out and about and you want to show someone a photo, video or word document on but you don't have your laptop, you can show it to them on your iPhone, or iPod, or some random internet café spambucket.

Currently, there's 2GB of storage available. Not enough to back up your system and share it with the world, but enough to share some stuff here and there, and have a few things backed up on several machines (contacts, for one).

The developers seem to be a pretty decent bunch of guys too. Example: I left some feedback on their err... feedback page, something along the lines of "An iPhone/iPod Touch application would be the best thing ever. Take your time though, you're doing pretty well already*." Their reply was this:

hey matt,
the dude sitting right next to me is chipping away at our snazzy new iphone web interface, which should have all the functionality as the web interface accessible from your computer at home. there's no word on whether or not we'll pump out a full fledged app, but i'll let you know when the time comes ;)

best,
jon

They call each other dude! They must be decent.

Dropbox is currently in an invite-only Beta. If anyone wants an invite, leave a comment asking for one, and I'll send one to the email address you leave.

_{Actually that's not "something along the lines" of what I said, it was exactly what I said.}

links for 2008-07-15

2008-07-15T12:31:03Z

Frank Explains The Moon

Interesting hypothesis as to how the Moon facing a different way may have resulted in a different mythology about it.

(tags: funny web comics space)
Cornstarch, water and bass video proves conclusive awesomeness of physics

"If you ever doubted, even for a second, that non-Newtonian goo (e.g., cornstarch and water) is from a totally different (and infinitely preferable) universe, behold!" [Boing Boing]

(tags: cool science physics video)
Tumbler Autobot [image]

The best Batmobile-Transformer mashup ever (yes, I just called the Tumbler the Batmobile, because that's what it is).

(tags: cool transformers batman mashup images)
RA DIOHEA_D / HOU SE OF_C ARDS

Brilliant, astonishing, amazing. The first music video to be made without cameras, but with LASERS. This is the future people. It's been a long time coming, but we're here at last.

(tags: 3D video music radiohead lasers graphics)
School of Rock 2: America Rocks

Best film-related news I've heard all week! Assuming, of course, that the Black/White combination can work the same magic that they did last time, and the whole thing isn't just a shameless cash-in.

(tags: 2008 movie news)

School of Rock 2: America Rocks [del.icio.us]

2008-07-14T16:35:44-05:00

Best film-related news I've heard all week! Assuming, of course, that the Black/White combination can work the same magic that they did last time, and the whole thing isn't just a shameless cash-in.

RA DIOHEA_D / HOU SE OF_C ARDS [del.icio.us]

2008-07-14T12:03:14-05:00

Brilliant, astonishing, amazing. The first music video to be made without cameras, but with LASERS. This is the future people. It's been a long time coming, but we're here at last.

Tumbler Autobot [image] [del.icio.us]

2008-07-14T11:59:12-05:00

The best Batmobile-Transformer mashup ever (yes, I just called the Tumbler the Batmobile, because that's what it is).

Cornstarch, water and bass video proves conclusive awesomeness of physics [del.icio.us]

2008-07-14T11:51:08-05:00

"If you ever doubted, even for a second, that non-Newtonian goo (e.g., cornstarch and water) is from a totally different (and infinitely preferable) universe, behold!" [Boing Boing]

Frank Explains The Moon [del.icio.us]

2008-07-14T11:43:33-05:00

Interesting hypothesis as to how the Moon facing a different way may have resulted in a different mythology about it.

links for 2008-07-14

2008-07-14T12:31:10Z

I see... A city in the clouds...

The view from the top of the tallest man-made structure on Earth.

(tags: architecture cool photography dubai)

WestPierPano2 [Flickr]

2008-07-13T16:24:12-05:00

Matthew Verso posted a photo:

WestPierPano [Flickr]

2008-07-13T16:21:02-05:00

Matthew Verso posted a photo:

I see... A city in the clouds... [del.icio.us]

2008-07-13T07:32:02-05:00

The view from the top of the tallest man-made structure on Earth.

links for 2008-07-12

2008-07-12T12:30:55Z

Help A Bald Brother Out

Larry David calles for a cure for cancer, to increase the quality of life and amount of sympathy sex for naturally bald men.

(tags: charity comedy funny video)
Xo Morpion by Peleg Design

Probablt the coolest ornament you'll never own.

(tags: cool furniture design)
Irena Sendler

The story of how a woman who saved 3,000 Jewish people from the Nazis in WWII was denied her rightful Nobel Prize by Al Gore and a slideshow.

(tags: europe history WWII)

My Favourite Street In Dublin

2008-07-12T11:35:55Z

My Favourite Street In Dublin, originally uploaded by Matthew Verso.

My Favourite Street In Dublin [Flickr]

2008-07-12T06:35:32-05:00

Matthew Verso posted a photo:

links for 2008-07-11

2008-07-11T12:31:11Z

Join the Muff Diving Club

There?s a town called Muff in County Donegal in Ireland. And they have a diving club. They also have t-shirts.

(tags: funny ireland geography humour irony)
SIMON?S BLOG: Super Spacial Bonus

"a personal thank you for all the phenomenal support and delightful outrage engendered by this whole saga" (the US version of Spaced, which didn't happen, thank God).

(tags: cool scifi homage SPACED)

links for 2008-07-10

2008-07-10T12:30:50Z

Muppets July 4th Viral Video

Absolutely f**king HILARIOUS patriotic film from Jim Henson's fluffy friends [/Film]

(tags: puppets funny american video)
Christian the Lion

Read the story and smile, then watch the video and cry. Probably the most heart-warming story I've ever seen on the internet. Genuinely brilliant.

(tags: cool nature africa video)
Let?s Dance

Put on your red shoes, and dance the blues.[GraphJam]

(tags: funny graph images)
Planets and Fire by Moonlight

A nice bit of planetary alignment

(tags: 2008 astronomy space photos)

links for 2008-07-08

2008-07-08T12:31:18Z

The Web is Agreement

Great poster. High-resolution scan available. [via http://golez.net]

(tags: art maps mashup poster)
Techno Kittens

This could very well be the cutest kitten video ever made. WITH TECHNO!

(tags: cute cats video youtube)
As price of fuel soars, so does a dirigible renaissance?

I'd much rather travel by airship than by plane. Maybe not long-haul though.

(tags: technology aircraft interesting)

links for 2008-07-06

2008-07-06T12:30:39Z

catnip toy broke...

...but it?s cool... it?s aaaall cooooll...

(tags: funny lolcat photo)
Ugly Bug Faces

STOP PRESS: Bugs (or "insects", as we call them in the civilised world) are ugly.

(tags: gallery images nature)
Video Art by William Lawson

Utterly insane art videos, which vary between beautiful and hilarious.

(tags: art video)
SimplyNoise.com - The best free white noise generator on the Internet.

What it says on the tin.

(tags: audio tools)
3 Robots That Move Just Like Animals

Interesting choice of title, considering there's actually 4 of them. Very, very cool. I, for one, welcome our bio-mimicking robot overlords.

(tags: cool robot video nature)

Cankles

2008-07-05T14:23:23Z

In relation to Babs' post from earlier today, here's a photo of her offending cankles:

This is what happens when you don't

Take some aspirin

Drink plenty of water

wear flight socks

stroll around every so often

When you're on a long-haul flight.

I'd say lesson learned.

The Rest Of Australia!!

2008-07-05T12:51:49Z

So I left Mission Beach sorely disappointed at my cancelled Skydive but onto bigger and better things!

I went to Magnetic Island, nice place, nice weather, nice kayaking, it was fun, met some cool peeps, was sort of bored and then left again to go to Airlie Beach to go on a Whitsunday Islands Sailing adventure. My boat was called the New Horizon. We drank lots of beers, did lots of saling, scuba diving, snorkelling, shark watching (only lil reef sharks though so it was ok, there were no Jaws like attacks. My bed was beside the engine room, I got very little sleep. I did see Whitehaven Beach, it is like paradise!! Then we got back to Airlie and I had a 12 hour wait ahead of me to get my night time Greyhound bus. I chilled out at the lagoon, walked about aimlessly, talked to a crazy Italian coffee shop owner and then went to the pub for our boats party. Got fairly tipsy and then swayed my way down the main street with my backpack to get on the horrible
Greyhound. I had a 12 hour journey overnight. I awoke at 6am from my beer fuelled slumber and thanked my lucky stars that we were stopping in the next 10 minutes. I downed abut a litre of orange juice in about 10 seconds such was the ferocity of my hangover.

Next stop was the Town Of 1770, so called because it was discovered in 1770. Sweet! I loved it there. Very chilled out, small town, I surfed loads (and pretty well) won the best bikini contest in my surf school for my floral number and then went on a 4 hour motorbike cruise called the Scooteroo, we ate chips and dips while watching the sun set over the ocean (that doesnt happen much on the East Coast seeing as the sun sets over the West) and it was all very pretty.

From there I went to Rainbow Beach on another bitch of a bus journey. Rainbow Beach is where you go to Fraser Island from. Apparently the biggest sand island in the world, it was sandy alright. I drove the most out of our crew of 11 people in a converted Toyota Landcruiser. We went to all the beautiful lakes there and had a great laugh camping out, getting covered in sand, drinking casket wine or goon as its called, (one word yock!!) cooking, eating lovely food prepared by me which was also covered in sand, getting sand in my ears, up my nose, in my eyes and all over everything that I owned, bickering loads because we were all in such a confined space and none of us really knew one another oh and then one night while driving on the beach one of the people from another group jumped out of the back of their van right on front of us and I nearly killed everyone in my van trying to not kill him. It was all ok in the end, jamming the breaks on in soft sand is like when you do the same on ice, skiddy skid skid, but we didnt flip or crash so obviously I am the best 4 x 4 driver in the actual world!! Fraser
Island is beautiful though, there are lots of scary dingos that howl into the night which freaked me out but that was the only thing that I didnt like about it, that and the sand everywhere! I stayed in Rainbow Beach for a few more days after getting back from the Island, I surfed in a storm and itwas one of the scariest experiences in my life because I was freaked about sharks. My surf teacher was insane.

Then it was onto Brisbane which was where the rain began but I was staying with my friend in his amazing penthouse apartment for four days so I didnt care about the rain, I wasnt staying in a scaldy hostel so I was happy as a pig in shit! Due to the rain there wasnt much we could do apart from go out loads, so we did, and then I bought two pairs of shoes on sale. I tried for two months to not purchase shoes but I am blaming the rain for this one! We went to cocktail bars, small old man pubs, night clubs, sports clubs, and GAA clubs (during the day!!) then I went to Surfers Paradise. I dont know if its nice when its sunny there, but it was lashing out of the heavens while I was there so I hated it. It is a beach with skyscrapers on it. And it rained constantly while I was there, not much of a paradise if you ask me, but then if it was sunny I probably would have loved it!

From Surfers I went on to Byron Bay which was beautiful and SUNNY and has a lovely vibe off it, small town, nice beach, the most easterly point in Australia is here and I went to Nimbin from here which was hilarious! Nimbin Museum, Rainbow Lane, Mingle Park, The Hard Wok Café, Nimbin Rocks!!

Sydney was next on the agenda. I sort of knew I wouldnt like it before I even got there though I did have a great laugh with Zoe a girl who I met the whole way down the coast, we got a City Sights open top bus tour on the only sunny day that I was there and took loads of tourist pics at the bridge and the opera house and at Bondi and all that and then the highlight of my whole trip was visiting the set of Home and Away!! Being a life long fan and all, it just really made my day, the Surf Club, the Beach, The Diner. It amazed me. The people who really live there thought that the two of us were insane because we were prancing about taking pictures and the rain was dancing off the street.

I then went back to Perth, WA to see see my peeps have an actual holiday which didnt entail me getting up at 6am every day to go do something. I loved it there first and second time round. Its small, the people are nicer, you have more time it seems to do everything, the beaches are nicer, its more chilled out, Western Is Best as they say. I didnt do anything tourist orientated when I was there the second time, oh apart from buy a didgeridoo in a shop where they were mad into Planxty (!!) and I took lots of pictures of our shenanigans, made lots of nice food, sushi, curries, cakes, buns, muffins, bread, giant salads with everything you could possibly put in a salad in there, hung about with my friends who were there and who I met there, and stayed up really late talking shite a lot. It was great.

My last day there made me really really sad because it was so perfect that I didnt want it to end. The sun was shining. We all sat outside in the courtyard drinking ice cold Tooheys and listening to lovely music and singing and then we went to the pub and got some nice grub and laughed till we cried oh and then I nearly got arrested!! Yes you read that correctly. Apparently to sit at the tables which are located outside the bar
and drink alcohol you must also be consuming a meal, there were no signs, we didnt no that, and then these two undercover cops rock up, flash the badges and I did what any normal person would do, I laughed nervously. They thought I thought they were joking, this did not go down well, thank god for one of the lads who was there who told them it was my last day there and they sort of let us off with a warning, they would have gotten $250 out of each of us if the complaint went through though, oops! Then it was leaving on a jet plane yet again to go to Melbourne for a day and half of packing shopping and drinking with my friend Dunks who lives there. I slept for a few hours, we went for lunch, dumplings to be exact, then off to The Myer for some shopping and buying more flipper flops or thongs as they call them, and then made some curry, massive curry, and then off to meet the stars of Neighbours in a bar called The Joint. It was gas, we stayed for one drink, took pics and then got the flock outta there. Went to a place called St. Jeromes where there was some interesting graffiti including kill yuppies not yuppies, c*nt which I liked the best, oh and Get Gnarly and beside it a cartoon of a willy. Ew! We drank Melbourne Bitter Tallies and then danced to Informer and some other early 90s reggae before heading off back to the apartment for some midnight snacks and dancing around, yes in the apartment, we were like children, it was fun! Sleep sleep sleep and then off to the airport to fly to Sydney where I was delayed for 6.5 hours. That was fun. The most fun part was that they were refurbishing the departures lounge so the duty free was crap and there was one place to eat which had shitty food. I was cranky, hungover, tired and hungry. And sad. Not a happy camper!

I finally got home on Wednesday afternoon and had what I can only describe as cankles my feet had swollen up by about 50%, it was not a pretty sight! Matt took pics but I dont know what has happened to them.

We all sat around in my Mam and Dads kitchen and did some Tim Tam slammers, mmmmmm!! And then I was so tired that I cant remember what else happened. I am home though and enjoying the rainshine that we are experiencing at the moment. Its only delightful.

I want to go back, sob!!

Cankles [Flickr]

2008-07-05T09:20:38-05:00

Matthew Verso posted a photo:

links for 2008-07-05

2008-07-05T12:30:39Z

50 New Videogame Classics: The Top 25

I agree with most of these, but I think only #1 and #2 will still be seen as classics in another 25 years.

(tags: videogames bestof lists)

George [Flickr]

2008-07-02T10:02:21-05:00

Matthew Verso posted a photo: