LILEKS (James) Old Newspaper Ads
The world is a sadder place for the lack of adverts like this...
Friday, July 30, 2004
Wednesday, July 28, 2004
House of Apology Pits Survey
House of Apology Pits Survey
Furry pits on ladies - yay or nay? And what does it say about you?
Very, very amusing. Although I think I may find Worf more attractive than blondes.
Furry pits on ladies - yay or nay? And what does it say about you?
Very, very amusing. Although I think I may find Worf more attractive than blondes.
Tuesday, July 27, 2004
Wonderland: Feng Shui motherboard
Wonderland: Feng Shui motherboard
Aaah, gorgeous. Alice has a wonderfully charming attitude to technology that is entirely humanistic.
I love that these guys are actually living the old adage that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishambe from magic.
Aaah, gorgeous. Alice has a wonderfully charming attitude to technology that is entirely humanistic.
I love that these guys are actually living the old adage that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishambe from magic.
Monday, July 26, 2004
London Underground - Tube maps
London Underground - Tube maps are a bit of an obsession (well, along with 50% of other London based bloggers, it seems.
So the little flash animation on the LT site that morphs between the 33 map, the current map, and the geographical reality ROCKS.
So the little flash animation on the LT site that morphs between the 33 map, the current map, and the geographical reality ROCKS.
Monday, July 19, 2004
lemonjellysomersethousepromo
lemonjellysomersethousepromo
Aha! A track listing!
Funny, I was sure that was Winnifred Atwell, not Russ Conway...
Aha! A track listing!
Funny, I was sure that was Winnifred Atwell, not Russ Conway...
Chemical Warfare
This is your army on Drugs.
Rather fantastic footage of tests into LSD - looks like the late 40s to me.
Lovely.
Rather fantastic footage of tests into LSD - looks like the late 40s to me.
Lovely.
Friday, July 16, 2004
Vintage electrical
Vintage electrical - found this via Lee's blogroll.
That? That's my mum's hairdryer, that is.
I wonder wha it's worth on ebay?
I think I may take up collecting vintage electrical stuff, too.
That? That's my mum's hairdryer, that is.
I wonder wha it's worth on ebay?
I think I may take up collecting vintage electrical stuff, too.
Ducking and Jiving
A rather super trip to see Lemon Jelly live at Sommerset house last night. The usual Jelly fun - Play your Cards Right, and a free CD to take home.
The leaping about at the gig was puncutated by a text conversation with Sarah at home, which I've decided to preserve...
S: Custard is not an explosive
K: No. But custard POWDER is
S: What did we do wrong? Yucky burnt custard smell.
K: Try blowing it across a naked flame
S: Kaboom.
K: I'm going to be the first person to lose a fiance in a hideous custard related accident
S: Wahahaha...
(pause)
S: Bwh-ha-haa! Pyrocustard!
K: Um, where's the cat?
S: Buy cat wig.
The leaping about at the gig was puncutated by a text conversation with Sarah at home, which I've decided to preserve...
S: Custard is not an explosive
K: No. But custard POWDER is
S: What did we do wrong? Yucky burnt custard smell.
K: Try blowing it across a naked flame
S: Kaboom.
K: I'm going to be the first person to lose a fiance in a hideous custard related accident
S: Wahahaha...
(pause)
S: Bwh-ha-haa! Pyrocustard!
K: Um, where's the cat?
S: Buy cat wig.
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
Comments from strangers
Comments from strangers on this here blog are a new thing for me. The first one I got was more than a tad trollish, and probably part of a general effort to increace someone's standing in the Nigritude Ultramarine SEO challenge. But I'm going to answer it anyway.
It's not that I dislike SEO. I do a lot of SEO work with metadata as a routine part of my job. However, I do it as a public service to help people, not to sell anything.
What I dislike are SEO _Companies_ - the kind of people who charge money for doing things that any good web designer should have done for them in the first place, and pollute search engines with pointless results.
I'm a big beleiver in the semantic web, and best practice for metadata. I don't think it does anyone any favours to click through on a result and be taken to a page that is essentially garbage - having your brand or service associated with that kind of activity is ultimately going to damage public perception of that brand.
So, what I dislike is companies charging innocent souls money to perform a service that will ulimately harm their business model, and the polity of the web.
Spam-related SEO techniques just aren't cricket.
The other comment is a lovely passing comment about my NPR post; from someone who knows their onions. I wonder how on earth the nice chap found me?
It's not that I dislike SEO. I do a lot of SEO work with metadata as a routine part of my job. However, I do it as a public service to help people, not to sell anything.
What I dislike are SEO _Companies_ - the kind of people who charge money for doing things that any good web designer should have done for them in the first place, and pollute search engines with pointless results.
I'm a big beleiver in the semantic web, and best practice for metadata. I don't think it does anyone any favours to click through on a result and be taken to a page that is essentially garbage - having your brand or service associated with that kind of activity is ultimately going to damage public perception of that brand.
So, what I dislike is companies charging innocent souls money to perform a service that will ulimately harm their business model, and the polity of the web.
Spam-related SEO techniques just aren't cricket.
The other comment is a lovely passing comment about my NPR post; from someone who knows their onions. I wonder how on earth the nice chap found me?
Tuesday, July 13, 2004
Good labels make life better.
Interesting from a usability point of view - and worth thinking about when you're implimenting rich media searches?
This 404 page from the US NPR website has a lovely contextual search - not only allowing you to enter keywords, but search by date and by programme. The thing that seems really usable is the way they've entered text in the search boxes that explains the functions of each in very natural language.
This 404 page from the US NPR website has a lovely contextual search - not only allowing you to enter keywords, but search by date and by programme. The thing that seems really usable is the way they've entered text in the search boxes that explains the functions of each in very natural language.
Thursday, June 17, 2004
Monday, June 14, 2004
Sexy and Disturbing
Inertia Creeps - a great video, and a perfect combination of sleazy and disturbed.
How Websites Learn | Acts of Volition
How Websites Learn | Acts of Volition
Now, How Buildings Learn must be my all-time favourite TV show. It literally changed the way I think, and led on to me taking a masters in TV production to learn simple DV skills. It also influenced my choice of career - working for the web at the BBC lets me utilise my many fragmentary technical skills - such as solo DV shooting, editing etc, but put them into a bigger context. Or at least, a bigger hands on context than I would have got as a secretary...
I'm a great beleiver in the code in a website being as elegant as the visible surface. I think it's part of my training in fine art - especially print making - that's left me with a desire to make 'well made' things. I've never been as shocked as when I discovered that the most talented (and highest graded) sculptor in my year at college didn't know how to bend a right angle in a piece of wire.
I'm constantly shocked that whenever I'm looking at hiring people to work on the site, people question me when I stipulate that my editorial staff should be comfortable working in HTML. It's breathtaking - I simply can't understand why someone who has been working on websites for several years wouldn't have a rudimentary grasp of good practice in terms of folder structures, image compression etc. It's the equivalent of that wire bending when you find someone who is confused by tables after several years in the trade.
So, the rather long winded point I'm making is to do with professional pride. Making buildings that are adaptable - and websites that are rational - stems from the craftsman's pride, not the professional's ego. It's a case of ensuring that you are doing your current job to the best of your ability, and with a clear understanding of the limitations and advantages of your substrate. Too many people seem to carry on doing things as a stepping stone - this is nearly what I want to do, but not quite, so I'll do it halfheartedly. Why not throw yourself into it, and wring every last drop of learning out of what you're doing? Take pride in your work and you will do it well - and thus progress quicker.
I think the beauty of taking the photographs to document the hidden parts of the building is partly because it enables future users of your building to maintain it better. But it's also an absoulute testament to a job well done. The kind of builders that use empty coke cans to space the plasterboard walls in Barratt homes are not the kind of builders that I'd want working on my house; they're also not the kind of builders that would be documenting the underlying structure of their work.
They are pretty ingenious, though - it just happens that a coke can is _exactly_ the right size to space the walls; and there are lots of them to be reused on a site.
(Link via Dan at City of Sound)
Now, How Buildings Learn must be my all-time favourite TV show. It literally changed the way I think, and led on to me taking a masters in TV production to learn simple DV skills. It also influenced my choice of career - working for the web at the BBC lets me utilise my many fragmentary technical skills - such as solo DV shooting, editing etc, but put them into a bigger context. Or at least, a bigger hands on context than I would have got as a secretary...
I'm a great beleiver in the code in a website being as elegant as the visible surface. I think it's part of my training in fine art - especially print making - that's left me with a desire to make 'well made' things. I've never been as shocked as when I discovered that the most talented (and highest graded) sculptor in my year at college didn't know how to bend a right angle in a piece of wire.
I'm constantly shocked that whenever I'm looking at hiring people to work on the site, people question me when I stipulate that my editorial staff should be comfortable working in HTML. It's breathtaking - I simply can't understand why someone who has been working on websites for several years wouldn't have a rudimentary grasp of good practice in terms of folder structures, image compression etc. It's the equivalent of that wire bending when you find someone who is confused by tables after several years in the trade.
So, the rather long winded point I'm making is to do with professional pride. Making buildings that are adaptable - and websites that are rational - stems from the craftsman's pride, not the professional's ego. It's a case of ensuring that you are doing your current job to the best of your ability, and with a clear understanding of the limitations and advantages of your substrate. Too many people seem to carry on doing things as a stepping stone - this is nearly what I want to do, but not quite, so I'll do it halfheartedly. Why not throw yourself into it, and wring every last drop of learning out of what you're doing? Take pride in your work and you will do it well - and thus progress quicker.
I think the beauty of taking the photographs to document the hidden parts of the building is partly because it enables future users of your building to maintain it better. But it's also an absoulute testament to a job well done. The kind of builders that use empty coke cans to space the plasterboard walls in Barratt homes are not the kind of builders that I'd want working on my house; they're also not the kind of builders that would be documenting the underlying structure of their work.
They are pretty ingenious, though - it just happens that a coke can is _exactly_ the right size to space the walls; and there are lots of them to be reused on a site.
(Link via Dan at City of Sound)
Monday, June 07, 2004
Notcon - file hosting
I might be able to help with hosting audio files from NotCon. If my sysops don't notice, of course. Leave a comment against this post to get in touch with me...
A thought - about books
Am having a lot of thoughts at the moment about how you could make a WMP/iTunes type application for monitoring books.
Now, kinda hard, as books are, well, big blocks of printed paper, and I'm not giving them up for anything.
But the ISBN number would seem to be the best way of tracking a book - it's a UID.
So... what would happen if you could create a google-like text ads service that looked at the metadata of whatever page (or mp3) you were looking at (listening to) and reccomended you an honest to goodness ink and tree book on the subject?
And then also looked at clickthroughs etc to relate peoples likes and dislikes.
I want an app that marries my record collection, my bookshelf, my browsing habits and my amazon ratings, and uses it to dispense timely reccomendations to me.
Well, I sort of do, only I would end up bankrupt.
What would happen, too, if it lived on your mobile? So you could tap in an ISBN in a bookshop and get it added to your system?
Now, kinda hard, as books are, well, big blocks of printed paper, and I'm not giving them up for anything.
But the ISBN number would seem to be the best way of tracking a book - it's a UID.
So... what would happen if you could create a google-like text ads service that looked at the metadata of whatever page (or mp3) you were looking at (listening to) and reccomended you an honest to goodness ink and tree book on the subject?
And then also looked at clickthroughs etc to relate peoples likes and dislikes.
I want an app that marries my record collection, my bookshelf, my browsing habits and my amazon ratings, and uses it to dispense timely reccomendations to me.
Well, I sort of do, only I would end up bankrupt.
What would happen, too, if it lived on your mobile? So you could tap in an ISBN in a bookshop and get it added to your system?
Nigritude Ultramarine: Nigritude Ultramarine
Nigritude Ultramarine: Nigritude Ultramarine
I don't like Search Engine Optimisation companies either. The whole assumption seems to bend around the fact that you can fool someone into buying something by dragging them in off the street.
Because flyering and 'Golf Sale' signs work so well, don't they?
I don't like Search Engine Optimisation companies either. The whole assumption seems to bend around the fact that you can fool someone into buying something by dragging them in off the street.
Because flyering and 'Golf Sale' signs work so well, don't they?
Wednesday, June 02, 2004
Friday, May 28, 2004
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