'Ill' worker fired over Facebook
The death of 100% (mostly-stupid article about something that truly annoys me)
Appeal for chocolate volunteers gets - surprise! - 1,500 replies
If I have this right, the choice was between compulsory school ethics lessons (the current policy) and the option not to attend ethics lessons and to take religious lessons (already exist as voluntary, occur out of school hours, poorly attended) instead. I find the idea of opting out of normal life and taking a closed scripture study group instead slightly disturbing.
So, Berlin, even though it was actually rejected by default because none of you turned up to vote, have a sanity cookie on me.
Rare albino buffalo seen in Kenya
h4x! A /b/ user explains (and claims credit for) their flooding of the Time Magazine 100 poll.
Oh for a personal army of these guys. In before not.
Twitter your prayer says Cardinal
Post your tweet ideas in the comments. 140 characters or less, must begin @our-father (or @anubis, @suitov, @narasimha or other deity of your choice. Can't speak for the others, but I don't monitor my Twitter account).
Currently enjoying this Easter-themed radio interview [MP3] from Landover Baptist Church. PTL!
edit: Saw this advert on TV and liked it (what, an arrangement of This Little Light of Mine that I didn't hate?!), and the Vimeo page adds something special to it.
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I'm getting email spam with the title "muahahahaha", which is so close to something many of my acquaintances would write that I opened one to make sure.
I mean, I knew it was spam, especially from the sender name, but still opened it. But I read through Squirrelmail, which is plain text only, so hah. Fail.
I wish MailFoundry didn't suck, though. I still get so many—sometimes 20 or 30 a day.
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And who on earth would be interested in Britney Spears porn anyway? She's a mother and a loon junkie, for hell's sake!
Also, believe me, I'm not in the market for breast enhancements, though I welcome the advent of gender equality in intrusive nuisance advertising.
This is fascinating! By 2010 there will no longer be a clear majority of white people in the USA.
("Immigrants" contrasted with "white people" = unintentionally hilarious and ever-so-slightly depressing. Anti-'immigrant' Americans = very depressing.)
Flying dog poo, BUT IS IT ARS???
Device 'steals chip-and-pin data'
It seems to require the cooperation of a staff member, or ridiculously lax security, and if you have either of those then you're going to be able to do any number of nefarious things.
Famous tent keeps burlesque alive
Why remake cult things when you KNOW the remake will be rubbish and loathed by fans of the original? Know why people liked the original? The clue is in the word ORIGINAL???
Privacy worry over location data
Targeted or personalised adverts. Some people seem to like them. Do you? Why's that? Myself, I dislike them because anything that makes ads harder to ignore is an irritation. But I never buy anything I see advertised, with the exception of going to see films.
Rat-brain robot aids memory study
Gordon Brown aide vetoes leadership question. Haha.
What stops trees getting bigger? There's a height limit on how high they can move their water.
Trees move water around by capillary action, transpiration pressure (a sucking effect from water at the top evaporating off) and osmosis. They don't have a powered circulatory system. The xylem (tissue in the stem or trunk that moves water) is in fact dead cells, wasted away so there's nothing left of them but the rigid cell membrane on the outside.
In other words, tree intra-wet is a series of tubes.
Yay! Well done! I want a Cheshire Cat shirt.
Economy 'counting' somethingorother. Accessibly explains why economics as reported in the media is balls.
White-tailed eagles released in secret location. Look at their metull hair, and listen to that chick croaking "foodfoodfood". *headbangs* I can't believe they steal chicks, though! :(
Robots in war games challenge. This kind of situation is where you'd typically think of using a dog.
Inside Beijing's 'secret' tunnels. We're very privileged to get this exclusive access, so to make the best of it, we sent a patronising blonde idiot to report on it. She can't even read whichever Chinese alphabet that is. THE BBC, DUMBING DOWN FOR YOUR PLEASURE.
Dangerous jellyfish on rise in UK
Footage of Charles mouthing off. "Conurbations of unmentionable awfulness". (Why can't you all have country homes as well as your palaces in the posh bit of London?)
If nobody paid attention, Royals wouldn't blahblah all the time. I don't particularly want this guy openin my Parliament being my figrrhed.
Post union demands dog attack law
Owners plea over dog microchips
The contraceptive pill affects women's ability to pick out genetically dissimilar partners. The biological quirk that leads to this actually makes perfect sense in non-pill-taking females. The pill mimics the conditions of pregnancy, during which a woman is no longer looking for a studly mate but instead, I presume, more interested in a long-term supportive partner who may or may not be the dad.
Speaking of sex or gender differences, this from Philanthropy UK makes interesting reading.
And this on OCD from the Guardian because it's awesome.
Although not all people with OCD are as adorable as Mister Monk, nevertheless it's an interesting condition.
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Woman, 90, fulfils 'thong' wish (... Quite sweet, all told.)
One for steamfans. *emails to father*
People complain about a 'pregnant' shop dummy. OH NOES, THE DISGUSTING SLIGHT PLASTIC BUMP. WOMEN WITH CHILD ARE FILTHY. I DON'T WANT MY CHILDREN EXPOSED TO THIS SMUT.
Quarantine for cough rescue dogs
TV ad 'busts heart attack myth'
Health checks to stop stand-ups dying on stage
12-year-old stand-up comic. No jokes or footage.
Children 'bullied over brands'
Couple warned over bird feeding. I love the UK. Old dears enjoy feeding the birds so much (all encouraged by Mary Poppins, I tell you!!) that they get fined for chucking whole bags of corn every day and getting their gardens full of noise and bird poo.
Blue plaque for Oxford geologist. Check the portrait. Very much an Oxford geologist.
Winter homes for beach donkeys
Call to adopt UK Bill of Rights. I suspect the right not to be treated as criminals by default, the right not to be filmed everywhere and the right to have a prime minister we actually elected will be conspicuously absent. Not that I'm grumpy today.
Adult-free, booze-free music festival. Rawk. More like this please. Heck, I'd go to a booze-free festival if older people were allowed and pop acts were banned.
Sub to make deep Caribbean dive. Very awesome.
The end of horse chestnut trees? Why do they feel the need to relate this to human interest with the conker tournament rubbish? (Bacteria is plural. Bacterium is singular.)
Pasty with extra snail (no pic)
Hunt for amorous parrot's owner. Folks, if your pet can talk, consider teaching it your phone number or address (if you're confident you won't be changing it soon). At least your name would help.
Hindu festival rides into capital
One for Pratchett fans: Postcard arrives after 79 years
Shagging b... no, wait, breeding shags hit by parasites. My guess? It's pulp mites eating their paper bags.
Biker festival policing defended
Cell change 'keeps organs young'
Prophet Muhammad novel scrapped. ARGH.
Muslim all-girl school in Oxfordshire 'may have to close'.
Hanna, who wants to become a doctor or a vet, said: "If I didn't have this school, then that is really it for me.
"It's this school or nothing for me. That would be the end of my education."
Parents said they were looking at other options for their daughters, including schooling them at home, or sending them abroad.
Just... why? What's so wrong with mixed schools, for Minerva's sake? Do you really think your daughters are going to turn into Westernised sluts just like that? Do you trust them so little?
Not that there's anything, anything wrong with being a Westernised slut, and I have zero time for the outright lies a few Asian opinionmakers spread about Western women.
Bushballs, straight from "Beijing China". Amazing Grace? Edelweiss? Eh, same thing... (Yoooou look happy to meet me? Not really. Guy on left looks like he's thinking "SEND HALP".)
Beach church for sun worshippers
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Swarming robots cooperating, or not, on simple tasks. Wonderful.
On board avec le French lesson
Hidden advertising (opinion piece) *bloodsimmer*
Vet bill warning after dog deaths
Abused tethered dog found in lane. *bloodrollingboil*
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Saudi Arabia is hell. Yes, you heard me.
Whereas this is direct from heaven. World's smallest snake discovered
Row clouds Belfast gay parade. Prepare to enjoy the cultie politician-spouse opening mouth and inserting both feet.
Child matador is banned from performing in France... the reasons cited being child labour laws and health and safety, not cruelty to animals, of course. Featuring interview with the lovely little brat saying he loves bulls like his brother loves football and it's so unfair.
Pint and prayer for pub regulars. Not in my local, thanks.
Zoo celebrates new giraffe calves
Audio slideshow: Inside influential Indian madrassa
Costumed impersonators on Hollywood Boulevard. Kinda cool, definitely creepy.
Study of IMs revives that hoary old "six degrees of separation" theory.
Science news now.
Smart contact lenses dispense medication. This is awesome because they're using bits of silver to measure the pressure of an eyeball. You'd think that'd itch...
Plant parasite 'wiretaps' host. This is awesome because it's intercepting tiny chemical messages in order to synchronise its flowering with its host just before it kills the thing. Harsh, nature!
ABBA Gold tops UK chart again. There isn't a song on there of which I'm not heartily sick. More ABBA Gold has some good ones, including ABBA Does The Iliad (which could not possibly win any more coolness points... OK, well, not unless they'd sneaked a mention of a net in there).
Yay medical ethics, from the only guy the BBC ever seems to get to write on the subject.
Farmer has double arm transplant
In pictures: Tackling Ethiopia's HIV stigma
Aaaaaand finally. Pot Noodle - The Musical, helpfully bringing corporate values to the Fringe.
edit: Le Crash sends this: No, wait, I didn't mean henbane! Oh sh—
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I've been getting spam with fake headlines as the subject line.
"Tom Cruise dead in plane crash", "Facebook hacked into, millions of accounts stolen", "Clinton found hanged in hotel room".
Very clever! But when I check them and find out that yes, of course they're pen0r and ph4rma-spam, which was obvious especially because they come from random people's names (what's wrong with spoofing some news agency instead of a fake person?), they get spam-filtered and trashed same as all the other crap I get sent. So apart from wasting a fraction of a second more of my time and teasing my cruelty lobe a little, well done, you achieved nothing.
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(not news) This is dreadful and you should beware before clicking it because it's fluffy and you might die.
France wants to get into space.
Overrun by stoats and weasels!!!
Turtles released on beach (vid)
Violent games 'sold to children'
Clive Sinclair on flying cars, with embedded audio.
In "duh, just realised, have you?" news of the day, the US turns its back on big cars (vid) and the West is running out of gas (vid).
Right. Sing along, everyone! I declare this the new theme song of the end of the world.
Leisure manager peeked at woman. Yaknow, why does it make it worse that it was "for sexual gratification"? Damn right I find it creepier, but should the law?
(not news) Kitten vs pillow results in PWNAGE. (vid)
No to gays on mayo adverts!!1! Think of the sandwiches children!!!!!1111!!11122″1
My commentary is behind the cut.
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How Ubisoft makes computer games (video). I have no idea why it shows the presenter and interviewee yapping instead of what's going on on the mocap person's screen. Perhaps he was surfing Wikipedia.
New research on octopus memory. If you remember nothing else, remember to swim slowly past eight arms that octopuses are wonderful.
Advert featuring a school uniform striptease ruled inappropriate. Good.
Dementia burden 'could break NHS'
Sing with me. Where can you get poisoned by insec-ti-cide?
Nurses to be rated on compassion. Oh yes, just what we need. More retarded targets. Goody gumdrops.
Sun-free garden for girl with xeroderma pigmentosum.
More on xeroderma pigmentosum. And more.
The Caribbean monk seal is extinct. WELL DONE, EVERYBODY!
Egyptian pharaoh's 'missing' pyramid found. Meanwhile, ancient typo discovered in Discovery's headline. (Or possibly that was AP's doing.)
How not to have an Olympic mascot nightmare: have a little dignity and don't make it hideous.
(I don't really see why every darn thing needs a brand/snappy name/mascot, but my antagonism towards advertising and marketing practices is well documented.)
More mental maths in primary schools (video)
50th anniversary of first computer to play music. (audio) Sorry about the choice of tracks. *wince*
Cardboard bike unveiled (video). Again, apologies for horrible patronising presenter and vox pops.
Bee species outnumber mammals and birds combined. Boggling. Yay!
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That'd be a first, me actually buying something because of advertising.
You say "malicious civil action", I say "challenging you to prove your juju isn't fraudulent"...
Yes, hard luck for any hypothetical people who honestly think what they're doing is helping people in some way. Perhaps if any such hypothetical whitelighters had paid greater attention to weeding out the frauds who prey on the grieving, the whole industry—sorry, religion—wouldn't need regulating. Honestly though, I think it's shocking that anything should think it's above regulation because it's Mystick™. If I buy paint thinner, it had better do what it says on the tin. If I buy a ghost interview, likewise.
Truth in advertising, people! Why not bill it as "a bit of a laugh, and I'll cold-read you and may come up with something you construe as meaningful"? Hell, I'd go for that.
Nun with opera glasses, deacons playing baseball. ("So Josef, how about those Cardinals?")
Happenings at Holy Trinity Church in Blythburgh, Suffolk tend to make any Shuckfan prick up its ears, but unfortunately it's nothing to do with our favourite straunge and terrible Wunder. (Unless he's started emplying hoodies, which is arguably exactly Shuck's style.)
Sniffer dogs on nightclub doors with a very silly and awful illustration, do not say you were not warned of the spanielity.
Finally, your bit of non-newsy wacky religious goodness for the day: Revelation. Being a continuation of my gradual prettification of some of our longer, less-well-illustrated articles. There's some great apocalyptic art out there. Check out the mighty angel with the millstone (which I think is actually supposed to be a stone the size of a millstone according to the version I read, but anyway). And yes, Vespers and 'Tivo, horsies. :)
edit: In pictures: Lion King musical (I must see this sometime. I can already sing all the songs.)
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(Organised Dog writes news posts and forgets to post them. Organised Dog is organised.)
New BBC homepage has gone live.
Earthquake felt across much of UK
Oh yes. I woke up and found myself trapped in my room by a fall of books. One of the bookshelves behind my door had toppled. Good job the house didn't catch fire or anything, because it took me ten minutes to get out.
How can a dog sniff through concrete? Because they are that badass.
New search powers lead Firefox 3
Victorian houses. Lots of those around the prettier bits of Manchester.
'Doomsday' vault opens its doors. I hope they have pomegranates and blueberries and bananas and darn it, now I made myself want fruit. And pecans.
Cocaine's brain effect revealed
Germany cleared in Parmesan case
Huge pliosaur. Can I get a HELL YEAH!? Lots of happenings at Svalbard today; clearly it's the place to be.
("we assembled all the bones in our basement" <3 Imagine the geeks down there sipping Djew and complaining when their mums come in to do their washing.)
'Misleading' Nutella TV ad pulled. Advertisers are evil. Then again, how anyone can believe a jar of Nutella is equivalent to a handful of hazelnuts and some milk... I mean really, people, how thick are you?
Hospitals see rise in dog bites
Poor dogs with stupid owners.
Roger Waters to play 'final' Dark Side of the Moon gigs
Hah, this May in Liverpool? Do want.
Legal row over zombie video game.
Execumutt Summary™:
Romero: "Zombies in shopping malls is my thing! You can't do my thing!"
Capcom: "That isn't your thing! You don't own it, your name isn't on it!"
Romero: "There, I licked it! Now you can't use it!"
Capcom: "MOM!!"
'Da Vinci link' to chess drawings. (Waah, I want pics, not generic file photo!)
"Leonardo is thought to have understood chess" - yes, yes I imagine that would have been within his faculties. Pfft.
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The commentary today mainly concerns the various BBC shakeups, so skip that with impunity. Bring on the elephashion gurus and Astérix anniversaires!
ROFLMHHAO. +10 points for houses vandalised by mystical woogies or the electromagnetic spectrum!
("Literally" refracted light, did it?)
Elephants sense 'danger' clothes
Turn off e-mail and do some work
I couldn't do my job without email. Hardly anyone does work face-to-face in my little neck of the woods, and all things I need for my job (scripts, photos...) are sent as attachments. I like it this way, of course.
Six jailed over illegal dog fight
My personal theory is that the Nintendo Wii was named after someone's typo of "wiki".
What are the Knights Templar up to now?
As usual, things far less exciting than in the stories. I'm not good at reading between lines, but I don't think I saw any mention of orgies in there.
Superficially, I really dislike the whole "Creative Future" thing. It feels about on par with "Ministry of Peace" for accuracy.
I'm with the idea of scrapping the introduction of yet more local services. That's another visceral reaction coming from the same place that causes me to rank global news stories higher up our news pages than national.
I think we are veering too far in the direction of giving people what they want instead of what they need (and might find they quite enjoy). Inform, educate, entertain - we need to be doing more of the first two, by stealth if necessary, because nobody else is guaranteed to, whereas anyone can show videos of grannies falling over or celebrities failing to cook/dance/be funny. Your auntie isn't always your best, coolest friend, but she still has a purpose.
Then again, if I was in charge, we would already be running my little brainchildren, advert-length snippets explaining things like the Highway Code and how to use an apostrophe correctly. These would easily replace one of the about five or six self-promotion slots you seem to get in between prime-time programmes, particularly on Three.
Honestly, those things are verging on being as annoying as adverts. Idents are fine, even if I suspect too much money is being spent on persuading hippos to swim in circles. But internal plugging is still advertising and should be done with a sane limit. Don't get me ranting about the way they squash credits to one side and talk over them in order to insert yet more plugs...
Oh, and because BBC.com users "unequivocally" believed advertising would reduce their trust in the BBC brand
(The Guardian), naturally the BBC's global website is to carry ads.
Bear in mind that no method of determining where someone is browsing from is completely accurate. People in the UK, people who pay the licence fee, will see adverts - never mind when the same people go on holiday.
I'm prone to feeling like a geek-lite and generally a bit of a fraud in my junior web-assistanty job, so a former colleague, now elsewhere in the department, saying "I don't think you'll go - you're too valuable to the team" was nice.
Astérix - interview with Uderzo.
'World's smallest radio' unveiled
The WEP wireless security system is 'broken'. This is known. I've heard from a few security geeks who all say the same thing: use WPA, WPA-2 if possible, and when something better comes along, use that.
Chester's (cool, Roman-era) walls are falling to bits onoes!
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Yet another crazy morning for me and I wasn't going to do any news writeups at all, but had to get this one in for Anke.
Thousands tune in to watch cheddar cheese.
[audio] Michael Bond on Paddington Bear's new-found taste for Marmite instead of marmalade.
It's some stupid ad campaign. I don't think Marmite will start showing up in the books television series. It's a brand name, for a start.
And finally, a non-news story - indeed, creationism is about as far from 'new' as you can get. Anyway: Are people [Americans? non-Brits?] really this bad at spotting satire?
On the plus side, I learned a new term. Poe's law Poe's law yay!
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[Reposted. Bloody buggy WordPress...]
Mental health is not glamorous, exciting or high-profile enough to bother with.
I recommend Asperger's syndrome as a lifestyle choice. No more distracting relationships! Work-life balance woes will be a thing of the past! All the aspierational bright young things are doing it. Sign up today! (I hear it's transmissible through the MMR vaccine or something.)
Can the art of a paedophile be celebrated?
A follow-up to the story the other day.
Dog walks 'cause birds to take flight', reducing numbers.
Oh sure, blame dogs for everything, you racists.
Also, yes the birds take off, but don't you think they might land again? (Never mind become more aware and cautious generally, which can only be a good thing and might result in fewer sightings in itself!) This waste-of-time study apparently didn't go into that question. As the person from Birdlife International puts it: This is not a surprising result; there is already evidence that dogs can disturb birdlife[...] It would now be really interesting to see how long those reductions in bird numbers last, to see whether it is a few minutes, hours or days.
Very diplomatically-put criticism.
Officers have been told off for putting a Princess Diana item on eBay.
Why? Why shouldn't they have?
A chiselled stallion fighting for the crown.
People should be banned from giving their products pretentious lower-case names. "iPod" is reasonable, if silly; "iPod shuffle" is not reasonable and "iPod touch" just sounds dirty.
Who's that grimacing ape trying to sneak into shot with the cutiepie donkey?
The space fender-bender that did for the dinos.
Yes, following up the Spidey suit story, we have more super-cool powerz on their way.
I must read this The Science of Supervillains book they mention. And I didn't know that about Wonder Woman's creator. Score.
Find your partner through an MMO! (If you are an idiot.)
Moore's Law is best taken as an observation, not a roadmap. And wheeheehee, etched-atom processing!
Bears rub up against and wee on trees. This is known. However, somebody has ONLY JUST suggested that this might be for territorial scent-marking purposes instead of "using them to scratch an itch[...] trying to rub on tree sap to repel insects [...or] using the trees to attract mates."
Is this really moronic, or am I missing something?
Funnily enough, I have never felt any urge to pay for the privilege of advertising someone's products. I think my watch and earphones - carefully researched and bought to last - are the most valuable things I carry around with me, and I sure as hell don't flash those around.
Also, yes, burning all his goods was a stupid publicity stunt. Carbon footprint, eh?
Religion, not race, segregates London, turning it into "a patchwork of religious enclaves". What a surprise, when religion has always been such a force for good, tolerance and unity!
AND BENIGNITY AND MODERNITY and not EVER superstition, OH NO.
Damn, religious superstition is just so nifty.
How do you time 100,000 fireworks to go off with music? I've always wondered this!
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Aw what! Deplorable bits of dotty lion cub!
What should you do if money mysteriously turns up in your bank account?
Eagle and microlight fly together
Stuffed with a pack of lies. Advertisers should get the stiffest penalties, those deceptive parasites.
Sticky 'Spider-man' suit technology
Tar and feather attack 'barbaric'
I dunno. I find it a bit hard to fault, if the guy actually was a drug dealer. Anyway, ye gods, the delicate flower'll get over it.
What's it like to be a hairdresser? I've never wondered and now I know. Yawn.
Britons 'have cosmetic surgery for their partners'. (Or blame their partners, anyway.)
Merlin 'from Glasgow not Camelot'
Israeli anger over holy site work
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With special guests Toby Sammet, Anila Mirza and Amir El-Falaki. Ya rly.
Owners 'must defend dogs' rights'
...I have nothing to say about this reprehensible image.
UK dog undergoes first knee swap
(Alternative headline: "Nailed, nailed to the wheel..." \m/)
'Pampered' cows? Pampered? So making them lie on concrete floors was as much as they deserved? Idiotic headline.
Google Earth given celestial view
We once looked up Area 51 in Google Earth for a laugh. It's listed! But boring. Have you ever found any Easter eggs in Google Earth?
Camera scans into deepest space
Agatha Christie comic strips. Hmmm. I guess you'd have to restructure the story a lot to do the same level of clue-laying when using pictures. Then again, there are already TV adaptations, the most enjoyable of those being the David Suchet Poirot series.
I find it amusing to think of Miss Marple sharing a shelf with Miss Marvel, but why not? Christie's celeb sleuths are pretty much superheroes, albeit not in the "costume and powers" sense.
Ahem.
(Edguy video WTF, but I'm all about that gramophone section. Mmm.)
YouTube introduces video adverts
Yeah, they have to pay the bills, whatever. It's just this line that annoyed me; ads do NOT provide "value to the end user". What insulting tripe.
CIA 'launches Facebook for spies'
You can just guess the quality of most of the contributions.
Watchdog alarm at 'exam' earpiece
Worst name ever. Cute fish, though.
Is assault lawful when protecting someone? This article answers the question if you live in the UK.
OK, so T. rex could outrun the average footballer. But could it score?
(Cue crowd singing "There's only one compsognathus, one compsognathus...")
As soon as we have the technology, I propose we try this theory out on David Beckham, Wayne Rooney and... well, that's all the footballers I've heard of apart from Matt Busby, if he played, but let's just keep going until we run out of overpaid racist louts to use as test subjects.
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Buggerall religion-related in the news today, very few interesting stories of any stripe and (amazingly for a Friday) not even very many funny animals. Though I did see an underwater pogo man, which is too silly for even me to include.
Chinese gamers are enjoying taking pot shots at corrupt officials
(and their anger is well-placed)
And the prize for today’s quirkiest headline goes to:
Serbian minister joins horse row
Interesting ‘personal story’ sort of thing here. It reveals some snippets of life in the UK, and Tehran by comparison.
More video options for overseas BBC news readers. Hmmm! I still wonder how they sort out who is overseas. IPs etc are nowhere close to foolproof.
So, okay, let’s try that out with today’s cutest animal story (video)…
*squees* Lookit the baby knowing the digger’s there to help! Lookit grabbing the bucket to pull itself up! Eeeee!
Japan cash windfall creates dilemmas
Brilliant. Someone foists some money on you and you hand it in to the police. Respect, I say — quite seriously!
‘Witchcraft’ arrest in Mozambique
By the way? I totally lied! There is no such thing as too silly! Underwater man on a pogo-o-o-o! (video)
In fact it’s quite refreshing to watch something with no commentary, just the sound of the water.
I’m a great believer in minimising unwanted sensory input. There’s no need for every package to present a precisely-engineered wall of sound and visual stimulation. It’s bland and dumbed-down and attention-span-eroding.
There was a tv advert a few years back that simply showed a fish tank full of swimming fish, with only the noise of the bubbles and pump, for up to 30 seconds. The slogan (for ‘Celebrations’ chocolates) that appeared silently at the end was “Celebrate a few moments of peace and quiet” or similar. Quite! That sticks in my mind to this day as an example of superb advertising. (I was so pleasantly surprised by it that for once I even remembered what the product was.)
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Our headline news today, of a “you really, really couldn’t make this up unless you were a nine-year-old contributor to Fanfiction.net” sort…
Norway’s Princess Martha Louise says she has psychic powers and can teach people to communicate with angels.
–BBC: Norway princess ‘talks to angels’
Yes. Yes indeed.
Wasn’t it one of the Norwegian royals who said we should get rid of Islam? I’ll try to look that one up. (Later:) Ah, no, sorry, Denmark and she was somewhat misquoted.
Every time I think I detest advertising scum as much as it’s possible to, something like this comes along. Our mascara’s so good, even our advertising model wears fakies!
However, I have sorted out a suitable punishment. The average human apparently has 100-150 lashes. And that’s what these slime pouches should receive.
The plot thickens in the desperate race to kill Shambo the bullock!
Great glimpse of archaic and avant-garde Girl Guide badges. Cow-milking, lace-making and keeping house have vanished.
Treasure trove ‘found by octopus’
Poor thing! It had found a nifty new porcelain shield, and some buggers came and nicked it.
[Moon Whan-suk, from the National Maritime Museum] told Reuters news agency: “I can’t believe how such a small octopus managed to cover its shell with a such a large plate. I guess it meant for us to discover the artefacts.”
Mm-hmm. No mention of whether they killed the octo. Flippin’ priorities…
A blog linked from the BBC News site (not sure why they do that, but presumably to show they’re in touch) has this to say about the latest Hardwood Potash book:
I was afraid, like many others, that my pleasure for the book would be spoiled. My friends and I joked that we were going to cut ourselves off from Internet access from the moment the book came out until we finished reading. And for my part, I did so. No email, no web browsing, by god no games forums, and no Facebook. I didn’t want a spare comment, innocent or otherwise, spoiling my surprise.
–Mia Consalvo: When (virtual) worlds collide
Which drives home how slowly some people read how addicted some people must be to their Facebooks and their MMOs. Say what you like about the Mega Drive; no griefer has ever rushed into Home Bay (or even Leyawiin) and spoilered any hot new children’s books for me. ;)
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