It’s been a quiet few weeks on UnorthodoxY, which is strange since it’s not been such a quiet couple of weeks for me. I’ve held off on some posts partly to see how a few things turned out and also because I’m not very good at posting stuff about me. I’m going to take the time to do a bit of a ‘me’ post, some waffle written after a few bottles of Leffe. But posted the following day, ‘cos I know better than to post stuff drunk. 😉
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April 29, 2006
Quiet Few Weeks
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April 24, 2006
Google Goodness
Hmmm, no real substance over the weekend, more links then …
Last week I said:
Thinking about it it’d be nice if GMail allowed people to plug-in new sidebar content where the Chat / Labels / Invite boxes are … There’s probably a way to do it … using something like GreaseMonkey
Turns out there is, there’s a To Do list GreaseMonkey script for Google Calendar. It only stored the data locally at the moment, so it doesn’t work across computers, but it’s just a matter of finding somewhere sensible to store things. (more…)
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April 21, 2006
Less Apocalyptic Robotics …
I’d be able to put aside my previous worries about the machines taking over if everyone built robots that were less Matrix and more Wild Wild West, a steam powered centipede, for example.
Link via the nxtbot.com Blog, sorry for the blatant filler some substance may turn up over the weekend.
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April 17, 2006
Box o’ Veg
I’ve been wanting to sign up to an organic box scheme for a while, but most places were too expensive. A friend recommended East Coast Organics, and so every week I now get one of these:
Box contents and my thoughts on the whole deal are after the jump. (more…)
April 14, 2006
A few links …
Google have released Google Calendar which seems about what you’d expect from Google. The bonus, and probably the reason I’ll use it, will be the integration into GMail. I’m disappointed they haven’t added a min-calendar to the sidebar in GMail yet. Now if there was some sort of useful on-line To Do list thing that I could integrate into GMail too then I’d be sorted — or I could just keep sending mail to myself.
Speaking of To Do lists, another neat little blog is collecting them.
Thinking about it it’d be nice if GMail allowed people to plug-in new sidebar content where the Chat / Labels / Invite boxes are. Or at least let make it a bit more customisable, I’d rather have a calendar than a chat box. There’s probably a way to do it in Firefox using something like GreaseMonkey, there’s already a few GMail hacks out there. And there’s this Google Dark hack, which is great (if pointless).
Finally, if you need more distraction, here’s what happens when you let grown-ups get carried away with their marble madness sets. Enjoy.
Nod to the UnorthodoxY Moron for some of the links in this blatant filler post.
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April 11, 2006
Dining in the dark
Restaurants are big on presentation, food that ‘looks nice’ seems to taste a bit nicer. So I’m intrigued by the idea of a restaurant where you eat in pitch darkness. From their faq page:
Once deprived from our main sense, the sight, we tend to rely more on our other senses, sense of hearing, of touch and smell. Thus, they will help you to get by in the dark room to eat but also reach your table. Even though at the beginning it can be daunting, then it becomes more and more enjoyable as you start to relax. Our blind guides are carefully trained to ensure visitors’ welfare and will provide you with guidance.
Interesting. It could be a complete gimmick, just another trendy place to be (not) seen in London, but it’s certainly a nice twist.
In complete darkness everyone is equal, politicians, actors, celebrities, … they all look alike in the dark i.e. without any label as in the dark we are no longer governed by appearance and etiquette.
I look forward to visiting next time I’m in London, they also do events such as readings and debates which sound like a cool experience.
Hat tip to blogjam where I found the link.
April 10, 2006
Simple Pleasures
One of my simple pleasures is to order lots of cheap stuff from the marketplace at Amazon. Since everything is sent from different sellers all the delivery times vary. This means that for around a week I get a nice parcel posted through my door every day or so.
This makes me happy. Although I’m not so sure my postman approves.
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April 6, 2006
Resisting Technology
In a previous post I mentioned I was trying out an online calendar, and whilst it’s useful I find it very hard to abandon the old fashioned paper approach for some things.
I like to write my to do lists on paper. The very act of writing shows that you’ve accomplished something and you’re that little bit closer to doing everything on the list, after all every journey begins with a single step. Sometimes that step is enough to calm my not-doing-anything guilt for an entire weekend. There’s something very satisfying about being able to touch the list, scribble over it, move it around, get coffee stains on it and then hide it under a book safe in the knowledge that you’ve done something that day.
I like paper calendars too. I like to have a year in front of me, all on one page so I can see what’s happened and what’s coming up. I like to mark off days as they pass, so I can see the passage of time. This has a downside to it, having a year on a fairly small page means there’s not much space to write details for upcoming events. So I resort to symbols and abbreviations, this has it’s own set of problems.
What’s coming up ? Ah, ‘sd’ ? What’s that then ? Smoked Duck ? Scooby Doo ? Sultry Dandelions ?
I have no idea, but it’s in two weeks time, I’ll have to work out what it means before then.
I’ll add it to my to do list …
April 1, 2006
Optimism
Wandering home tonight I found this notice tapped to a lamppost:
As you can see the photo is terrible (sadly only had my phone on me) and I can’t remember the exact wording but the gist of the message is: “Looking for Graham/Graeme. I’m the french girl you met at some club at the Venue. Etc, etc, didn’t get number, etc, etc, please call number“.
This appeals to me for two reasons, first the sheer optimism in hoping that the man in question will see the notice (or someone who knows him will). And, second, for sheer trust involved in sticking your phone number on a lamp post. On Leith Walk. On a Friday night.
Best of luck to you, french girl.