Lewis!

Pretty well done I thought, a welcome return. Didn't really engage with the plot but summertime Oxford is extremely easy on the eye at the dog end of January...

The Lethal Standby Button

Sorry to do the first environmental post of the new year - freaking out about this was one of the Fitzroy themes of 2005, and I'm sure it will continue this year. Amongst all the news of shrinking ice-caps etc, this news item made me very depressed about our incapacity to do anything about the environment. If we are struggling to do something about the TV Standby button, what hope have we got?

What's the best day for setting your auction to finish on ebay?

Read this somewhere but have forgotten, does anybody know?

Also - *still* haven't been able to get on that surname distribution site. Tried last night but no dice.

Ohrwurm

I was just telling someone in the office about the German work 'ohrwurm', or earworm, used to describe one of those annoying tunes that gets stuck in your head all day against your wishes. I checked it out on Wikepedia (to find out what the German word was), and discovered Maim That Tune, a service that offers alternative tunes that, whilst annoying in themselves, will drive the original earworm from your head...

Song Search by Tapping

Read about Songtapper in Metro this morning. Apparently, if you tap out the rhythm of a tune on your spacebar it identifies the song. Although in common with all my posts these days, I can't seem to get into the actual application...

Freecycle revisited

Had another look at the local freecycle site. It works via yahoo groups (do they all do this?) which offer a "daily digest" email option so your mailbox doesn't get too bombarded. Quite interesting, though haven't been tempted by anything on offer yet and don't have anything I want to get rid of at the moment.

Surname Distribution Profiler

This project by UCL showing geographic distribution of UK surnames looks potentially interesting. Unfortunately, it was on BBC News so is now down due to heavy traffic.

Bicycle refurbishment

There's a bike refurbishment place opened up at Waverley station. I think these schemes are excellent.

Google Analytics

Just found out aboutGoogle Analytics. Temporarily closed to new subscribers, but looks useful - let's find out if anyone else reads Fitzrovian...

Get back to work, George

Get back to work, George

The Seven Basic Plots

I got this very interesting book for Christmas. A colossal work, which I'm only 100 pages into, but already full of nuggets. The guy has spent the last 30 years consuming the world's literature and films, and distilling ever story from the Odyssey to Star Wars into one a small number of plot structures. I don't buy it all - but some of the links and commonalities he makes are very striking.

Ogre to Slay? Outsource It To Chinese

The full article's not available, unfortunately, but the gist of it is that lazy, well-off American kids are paying Chinese kids to play the boring early levels of online games for them until the point where it gets interesting and their character has lots of power/money/rayguns or whatever happens in these things.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to everyone! I'm up on the Isle of Lewis at the moment, spending Christmas with my sister & family. The main advantage to this is that my nephew is eleven, so I get to play with all the cool presents he gets....the lightsabre is very cool, and I got him a remote control hovercraft. Brilliant stuff! Hope you're all having fun and eating and drinking to excess...

CIA Chief Admits To Torture...

after Six-Hour Beating, Electrocution.

Bad Santas run wild in Auckland

Sounds like a right laugh. Let's start a Santarchy chapter.

UK Most Wanted ...

Was just looking at the new most wanted list of criminal suspects. All the crimes seem to have been in Yorkshire or Greater London, so I guess you're safe John, especially if you stay away from Weegieland. Some of the entries full of typos, e.g.:

"However it si believed that he was mundered at Stone Road address."

Wikipedia "as reliable as Britannica"

Surprised and pleased to read this

Ah, makes you proud - slight return

Homicide rate hits 10-year high

Tookie

Arnie has terminated Crips founder Stanley 'Tookie' Williams, despite there being some some doubts as to the extent of his culpability for the crimes for which he was convicted, and his apparent reformation in prison.

All the same, you wouldn't have wanted to mess with him in his heyday - if this guy was in a film you'd think it was over the top:

Best of the Fitz 2005

Well, the end of the year is approaching and the reviews are starting. I thought I'd present my Top 5 Fitzroy Tuesday trails of 2005:


Cosgrove Puts the Boot In (Feb 14)
http://fitzroytuesday.blogspot.com/2005/02/cosgrove-puts-boot-in.html

The Portable Virtual Privacy Machine (March 2)
http://fitzroytuesday.blogspot.com/2005/03/portable-virtual-privacy-machine.html

Contemporary Scottish Bar in London (May 19)
http://fitzroytuesday.blogspot.com/2005/05/contemporary-scottish-bar-in-london.html

Philosophical muti-storey car park ticket machine (November 26)
http://fitzroytuesday.blogspot.com/2005/11/philosophical-muti-storey-car-park.html

Well, the weather in Edinburgh has been ridiculously cold this week (November 19)
http://fitzroytuesday.blogspot.com/2005/11/well-weather-in-edinburgh-has-been.html