Outwardly Normal 2

31 December 2002

FlyGuy is incredibly amusing. (via Boing Boing) [Bump] 8:00:21 PM    comment()

Ali G Bullets. Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, who plays the spoof rapper Ali G, escaped injury when a bullet flew through his Israeli hotel bedroom. [Adam Curry: Adam Curry's Weblog] Critics, eh? Who needs 'em. 5:35:43 PM    comment()

Dave mentioned the Trademark Blog, who linked to a list of the oldest family firms on the Family Business magazine site. The list makes interesting reading. Number 34 is James Lock & Co, hatters, founded 1642. Now I know where to go if I need a new leather flying helmet, complete with goggles. I find the fact that you can buy this sort of thing strangely comforting. 5:24:49 PM    comment()

29 December 2002

Today (yikes! - yesterday) I went scouting around Smithfield and Holborn with my camera. Result: Some more pictures. I've added some more navigation to my gallery pages, so refresh if you need to. I so nearly bought a Contax G2. I'm torn between a G2, a reasonably high end SLR (Canon EOS 3 looks good), a Leica M6 or M7 (but the cost makes either of these two almost completely unfeasible), a good prosumer digital (Canon G3 or a good Nikon) or just carrying on with my old Canon AE-1 Program and my Dad's old Nikon EM. I'm tending towards the G2 (new or mint second-hand), with the Canon and the Nikon as back-up for occassions when the G2 won't do. Decisions, decisions. 12:21:37 AM    comment()

26 December 2002

Back from a few days with the family, including various unbearably cute children and pet rabbits called Maggie Rose. And Paddy, who is fast. Back home to my aggregator, which fills me with warmth and cheer as I read about the what my fellow bloggers have been up to over the past few days. This is a real community. Now to clear out some of my crap -  I'm getting a head start on my New Year's resolutions. 5:41:36 PM    comment()

a christmas tale from america. Nicholas Monahan: It's seemingly becoming the norm in America - lies and deliberate distortions on the part of those in power, no matter how much or how little power they actually wield. [Adam Curry: Adam Curry's Weblog] 4:50:27 PM    comment()

23 December 2002

The Register: Microsoft plots Macromedia coup against Java One of the strengths of Macromedia's toolset is its crossplatform nature. Especially with the increased focus on server side Java. It would be a shame to see this company gobbled up by someone who would end this strength. [Bump] Microsoft trying to buy Macromedia? Noooooooooooooooooooooooo! I'm a pacifist, but if Macromedia need me, I'll be on the barricades hurling Molatov cocktails with the rest of the web developer world. Business case for not buying Macromedia: Macromedia create through and through great software, so this acquisition would just dilute Microsoft's core business. 8:50:23 PM    comment()

22 December 2002

John Angerson John's astronaut pictures were featured in December's Black & White Photography magazine. The pictures look better printed, of course, but the versions on the web site give you an idea of their amazing quality. 9:37:01 PM    comment()

Udate update Balls. I just paid up (£16.95 for a month), and the mails from other users are basically just saying welcome to the site, and don't forget to fill out this or that in the profile. Two of the four mails were from people asking me to add information I had already added since they mailed. This includes the sporty person I mentioned previously. I'm feeling somewhat scammed, though I'm sure there is nothing illegal in what they do. Looking at the site, I see that users are encouraged to mail new joiners to welcome them. Of course, new joiners can't see that all that's being said is "welcome and good luck" until they subscribe. No refunds, obviously. Udate sent me two emails to my own email account. The first told me that three people had e-mailed me. The second mail was had the subject line "Several women are keen to meet so..." -  Hotmail cut off the title at this point. Looking at it again, the full subject shown in the opened mail is "Several women are keen to meet someone like you." (I've added the italics). The people listed in the mail are people that I happen to match highly for in the database. (My exact rating varies from person to person in the list). So far as I can see, these women have made no indication that I personally am of any interest to them at all. Surely they don't tailor their subject lines to fit the number of characters displayed in the most popular e-mail services? No, that would be a very mean thing to do. That would be misleading and manipulative. Being alerted to the fact that I happen to match (to some reasonalby high degree) a person's preferences is fine. What makes me feel a bit sick is the way that udate does it. Apart from the subject line, why not send me a list of all those people for whom I rate as their number 1 match? That would seem the logical, not to say the blindingly obvious thing to do. Do they not do that because it might be clear that the list is computer generated, and so less likely to result in my signing up? Now I've signed up, I wouldn't be surprised if I start getting sensibly targeted mails about people for whom I actually am the best match. After all, the better the matches, the more likely I am to stick-around and keep paying up. I can't yet comment on how well the actual dating side of the site will work. I still have some hopes. Who knows? Others haven't been particularly impressed. Maybe this will work out. Maybe not. Either way, I've learned a few new things to look-out for when avoiding rip-offs. And I may, just maybe, be very glad I stumped up the cash. I've also learned that the combined power of vanity and hormones will part people from their money amazingly effectively. Even mine. 2:09:40 AM    comment()

21 December 2002

Oh my God. Nine more women want to meet me. I'm going out for a walk. 12:26:56 PM    comment()

Thong or bikini?. Charles Taylor goes lingerie shopping and has tips for other men who want to buy this kind of Christmas present for their women. [Salon.com] [The Aardvark Speaks] 12:24:00 PM    comment()

Putting a Price on Cyber Love. The recent purchase of a British matchmaking website for $150 million is just the latest indication of users' growing love affair with online dating. By Joanna Glasner. [Wired News] Reading this article, I went to have a look at udate, and I signed up on a trail basis, just for the halibut. I've been a bit dismissive of dating agencies of any kind, being more of a star-crossed lovers kind of guy. "The Universe will bring us together". That sort of thing. Thing is, the Universe has obviously been busy doing other things recently. I found the whole registration and profiling process at udate very simple, and quite interesting in itself. The concept of being really honest about myself if quite a novel one. I'm not used to anonymity, so it's taken a few passes to get things vaguely right. I still think I need to be more specific in certain areas, so I may tweak things a bit. Anyway, results so far: 3 e-mails from women on my first day. Thing is, I have to pay for a proper membership if I want to read the e-mails. No wonder udate got bought for $150 million. Who wouldn't pay £16.95 to read more than the first line of three emails from prospective romantic partners? I just hope they say more than: "Hi Julius, I was thinking of contacting you, but when I saw the photograph you posted of yourself I backed-off in a hurry. Have you considered going to a professional photographer? They can do wonders with good lighting and a soft filter. Perhaps plastic surgery..." and so on. (Actually, I think my photo is OK). There is one person in particular who looks really attractive. She may be a bit sporty for me. (I have the athletic prowess of a sloth on barbiturates). But she did mail me. A concept I like. Even a disastrous date with her would probably be worth £16.95. Women actively taking an interest in me is unusual. I'm not sure if this is because I give out a "not looking, thanks very much" vibe, or if my extreme height puts them off (or perhaps I don't notice them down there). Perhaps it's the fact that when I go out these days I mostly go out as a woman? Who can say? High on my match list is a 6 foot tall Dane, living in London. Unfortunately, she hasn't filled in any interest nor personality details. (Mind you, being a 6 foot tall Danish girl is probably sufficient!) If I do pay-up and start dating, something I haven't done since, well, ever, really, I'm going to have to curb my imagination. I have the merest prospect of a date and already I see pain, humiliation and compromise unfolding in my mind. The pot with the rabbit in it is already boiling. She is already hiding the the bathroom with the carving knife. Her cousin Mario is already selecting a suitable building for me to become the foundations of. (You see, I had a troubled childhood. Trust doesn't come easy to me.) I would ask that both of the semi-regular visitors to this wish me luck, and please send calming vibes. I think I'm going to need them. 10:11:19 AM    comment()

20 December 2002

Centrefold models getting more androgynous [New Scientist] This also mentions the genetic basis of attractiveness mediated through body smell, which has always facinated me. 11:13:34 AM    comment()

19 December 2002

Lords of the Rhymes STRAIGHT OUTTA HOBBITON! Has to be heard to be believed! (Thanks Oli) [Pixel Surgeon] 11:42:05 PM    comment()

My life in the bush of ghosts is a weblog. It's named after one of my favorite albums (which is named after a book I have not read). May your mouse-ball run freely and you keyboard forever remain free of plaque. 12:38:39 AM    comment()

18 December 2002

Plone If anyone out there is running Plone, I would appreciate some advice on how to install it when I have an existing install of Python 2.2.2, and a full install of Zope 2.4.0 already on my (Windows2000 Pro) PC. The Plone service refuses to start, neither from the Plone control panel nor from the Windows Services window. I've tried a few times, but the service just refuses to start. I have uninstalled it for now, but I would love to have a play. Plone looks great. Thanks. 11:27:49 PM    comment()

Oblivio I want to read every page on this site. The author has just split with his girlfriend. I sympathise. 12:16:32 AM    comment()

17 December 2002

Steve: Alice: 10:36:11 PM    comment()

I've just splurged more pictures onto my gallery pages. This feels like a precursor to a new start. It's been *vocabulary failure* to look through some of my old images again. Once again, I feel like Superman in the presence of Kryptonite - ...must...create... 10:21:08 PM    comment()

New edition of This is a Magazine out now. 8:06:00 PM    comment()

12 December 2002

The story of a retired raindancer. [Photo.net] 10:22:55 PM    comment()

Just back from an evening with Steve and Alice. We ate at Pizza Express at Canary Wharf, where they had some amazing flowers on each table. Anyone know what this is? Then we went to see Die Another Day, which was entertaining in a rather mind-numbing way. We agreed to make an effort to go to more challenging, or at least more interesting, films. Fave of the year so far - probably Donnie Darko. This morning I went to see James Britton, my cranial osteopath. I went in feeling like a box of broken plates and came out feeling like a rubber ball. That guy is good. 12:43:57 AM    comment()

11 December 2002

News Service Death Match In the blue corner: Internet Filters Block Many Useful Sites, Study Finds. Teenagers who look to the Internet for health information as part of their "wired generation" birthright are blocked from many useful sites by antipornography filters. By John Schwartz. [New York Times: Technology] In the red corner: Anti-porn software 'spares health sites'. Software designed to protect children from internet porn does so without harming access to genuine health websites, research suggests. [BBC News | Technology | UK Edition] 8:03:38 AM    comment()

Another "Holiday from Hell" story? Jupiter Moon Just a 'Pile of Rubble' [Scientific American] 7:55:52 AM    comment()

10 December 2002

I'm not well, so I'm at home, feeling slightly guilty. (Things haven't changed much - almost eight years ago I wrote this). It's chilly here, damn chilly. For most of the year the huge sash windows that make up most of my North and East walls let the light of our nearest star fill my little living space and allow the photons to scatter where they will. At this time of the year, with the wind blowing in from the Urals and damp from its passage across the North Sea, it can be cold enough to prompt a brass monkey to write to his MP. I'm about to return to my bed and continue reading Bill Bryson's wonderful Lost Continent. If I don't blog again in the next few days, send help - I may be trapped under the stack of quilts on my bed. This is Julius Welby, signing off for now from London, England, wishing peace to Bloggers everywhere. * Insert suitable heart warming signing off music here. * There, that aught to hold the little bastards. 12:28:20 PM    comment()

09 December 2002

Chris Gulker is figuring out what makes a weblog popular. [Scripting News] A link from Scripting News - that's what makes a weblog popular. ;-) 11:16:42 PM    comment()

I just corrected a typo in my Welby's Law of Work post. Hate that. Bed. Bed. Bed. Now. Bye. 10:41:46 PM    comment()

08 December 2002

Inspired in part by Chris Heilman of 365-101 fame, I have been digging through some of my old pictures, and I've posted some here. 9:01:20 PM    comment()

Inside every one of us is a clostrophobe trying to get out. 1:09:35 AM    comment()

03 December 2002

Regaining the plot update Just so you know, about a week ago I decided that I had to something about my spiralling decent into sleep deprived twitching non compus mentusness. I started a sleep and meditation diary, and stopped trying to go to sleep earlier - I started to actually go to sleep earlier. I'm also meditating twice a day most days now, and that's really helping too. I seem to be able to see a bit more of the bigger picture now, which is pretty unpleasant/frightening, but I can handle it. (The bigger picture is not for blogging at this time. Don't worry - it's nothing terminal). A note to my friends - sorry if I've been missing some social events for no apparent reason. I am, as you will have noted, an (increasingly well rested) ass. Thanks. 8:39:17 PM    comment()

Welby's Law of Work Between you and the next task is an additional task that needs to be done before the next task can be done. The same is true of the additional task. 8:07:00 PM    comment()

01 December 2002

10:00:24 PM    comment()