Archive for March 2007
Technology
Often fails.
That is part of why Futurama was so funny — its very first episode had automatic doors hitting people, and so on.
Lauri Apple calls it “Twittarded”, and says
After using Twitter, I want to make a Website that consists of a plain white screen. The site does not allow you to do or communicate anything — all you can do is just look at it and develop an overwhelming feeling of boredom that will hopefully inspire you to get up and express yourself in the three-dimensional world.
She also links to this dull blog. That blog is incredible. The number of comments on each post even more so.
Management-speak
BBC – Berkshire – voices2005 – Management-speak
More by Gene Weingarten: Read it and lacrimate — Managers and PRpeople not only speak the language, they also understand it.
Indian English words
Words like “godown” are hard enough to find, but another word I just noticed I’d heard often and never seen in print:
Stepney. On Encarta dictionary, a list of unusual words, and something on the BBC site.
Short movies
There’s Movies in Fifteen Minutes by Cleolinda Jones. Writes awesomely, sometimes. Knows stuff. Has written a book. My favourite is Troy, although lots of them are good, Prisoner of Azkaban for example.
There’s Movie-A-Minute, which has ultra-condensed versions of the movies.
There’s Movies in 30 seconds enacted by bunnies. Which are great!
There’s movies in 5 seconds on Youtube, which consist of frames from the actual movie…
There’s also The Reduced Shakespeare Company, which has done things like the Star Wars movies old and new.
Justfication
A rant about justified text on the web. Linked to from here, which also links to something webstyleguide.com.
Risk
Article by TIME on perception of risk, similar earlier essay by Bruce Schneier called The Psychology of Security, essay by Bruce on not focussing on the actual tactics, and a great rant by someone on the whole thing. A picture on indexed.
And a another article and another another Schneier pointer.
Clive James at the BBC
can write! (Actually, they’re transcripts of a BBC radio show…)
Hurley burley on celebritism, the paparazzi…
Loud and clear on speaking, accents…
The name changing fidgets on names, marketing language…
Bare fists, flying bullets making fun of martial art films… (but making fun of martial art films for not being realistic, making fun of Monty Python and the Holy Grail for being made on a small budget…)
Plastic, but not fantastic on plastic surgery
Keeping up with the Jameses on “green” issues, although I’m not clear about the point…
About the man himself
Google’s superpowers
We’ve long had jokes about wanting to grep for car keys. It looks like it is Google that will eventually do the task.
Today it can find lost tortoises in your house. Tomorrow, it can find anything?
Superman
We always knew about Superman (there’s even a wiki), but now the the BBC confirms it. :-)
Edit: Oops, let down by the BBC once again. There used to be a fourth paragraph in the article saying something like “A man in a Superman costume was also observed moving about near the scene of the incident, although he did not offer to help the woman. His identity is unknown”. You had to be there…
Microsoft parody
BBSpot, saying changes “will not take effect until the company has been restarted.”
Other Microsoft news.
Headlines
Another source: http://paul.merton.ox.ac.uk/language/press.html
Another source: http://funnies.paco.to/Headlines.html
A source: http://www.btinternet.com/~knutty.knights/headlines.txt
[2011-09-04]: There’s a website for this, with links to real sources: http://www.crashblossoms.com/
“Loose nut screws washers and bolts”.
When a midget spiritualist escaped from police: “Small Medium At Large”
“General flies back to front” (perhaps not even an intentional pun.)
“Man found dead in graveyard”
A boat load of illegal immigrants landed on Jupiter Island, which is somewhere in Florida: “Aliens land on Jupiter”.
“Icelandic fish talks – not likely”
From a newspaper in Normal, Illinois: “Normal Girl Weds Oblong Boy”
“Police Murder Suspect in Court”
“Sons of Toil Buried in Tons of Soil.”
Story about Renee Zellweger’s marriage. “Bridget Jones’s dowry.”
“New Vaccine May Contain Rabies”
“Passengers Hit by Cancelled Trains”
“STRIP CLUB SHOCK: Magistrates May Act on Indecent Shows”
“Iraqi Head Seeks Arms”
“Clinton Wins On Budget, But More Lies Ahead”
“Bank Drive-in Window Blocked by Board”
Ones I have actually found myself:
Church confirms she is pregnant
The Lumber Room 