Offmessage

For years I’ve wondered who that bloke on the Woodstock DVD was… Turns out it’s Wavy Gravy (or Hugh Romney, if you prefer). Sir, I salute you!

It’s not big and it’s not clever, but it is rather cool. It’s the execution that makes it.
Found at plasticbag

Although one of my English teachers was done for selling 6th formers pot…

The mother of a schoolgirl was left “gobsmacked” that police left a bag of speed in her daughter’s schoolbag.

Virus writers are exploiting Sony’s controversial anti-piracy software to hide their malicious creations.

Oh dear. This is rapidly turning into a PR nightmare. I can’t say I have any sympathy… Quick update on EMI as well… In my first post on the topic I said EMI used the same technology. I stand corrected having spoken to my friend there; they trialed it, but chose another solution.

How to find a lost object

Until now Web2.0 has systematically failed to interest my dad. He’s in his 60s. What does he care about social software and AJAX and Ruby-on-rails? Today however, I read about something that he actually really really wants… Mozy - automated on-line backup.

Admittedly these aren’t the people that are going to deliver it in the future (trade the service for the right to send you marketing email? Those days are gone, surely?). It will of course be Google and Yahoo! in the not too distant future. But this application is serious. And important

It’s going to mean that people like my dad will no longer be scared about “going digital” with their music, their home movies and their photos. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - high bandwidth into the home and upstream storage that makes back up simple and someone else’s problem is the combination of services that will truly digitise people’s homes.

You wanted one of those power leads we talked about real bad? Then you really really need one of these.

The Intelligent Chip is a one inch square, bright orange plastic wafer that, when placed on top of a compact disc player for 2-3 seconds, upgrades the disc (CD, DVD or SACD) being played at the time. The sound of the upgraded disc has more detail and articulation, better dynamics and an absence of “digital harshness.” Voices are more human-sounding and less synthetic. The upgrade is permanent. Inside the white translucent Intelligent Chip case are two ultrathin, clear polycarbonate sheets, one on each side of the Chip. The manufacturer’s product brochure states, “The Intelligent Chip should be put back into the packing case after using, because the packing case can protect the quantum material of the Intelligent Chip, preventing them from leaking.”

Ta, things

monoman kindly links us to the top 20 geek novels of all time (written in English, since 1932). What a strange selection - where are Neal Stephenson’s Baroque Cycle novels? Where is Jeff Noon (Vurt, Pollen or Nymphomation)? Where is Pattern Recognition And, I hate to ask, but come on… Where is Lord of the Rings?

He’s turned off comments, so I can’t argue with his thoughts about Douglas Coupland (possibly offmessage’s favourite author) - “too self-consciously hip to be a geek”? Nonsense - he epitomises the “I know I am, I know I don’t want to be but I don’t know how to do it” geek persona. And Microserfs is about software and lego… (well, kinda). How can you call that not geeky?

I can’t help it. Anyone who knows what I did for the last 5 years before jumping ship will understand why this piece in the Evening Standard has a special place in my heart… Robbie was one of my customers until October this year, when the site (and ecommerce infrastructure) moved to a new supplier. In the 5 years we looked after him (during which there were 3 previous tours with exclusive advance online sales for fanclub members) did you ever read about this sort of nonsense in the paper? No. That’s because it didn’t break when we designed and ran it. Oh the irony. The sweet delicious irony.

It’s the first time this Government has been defeated in Parliament. Bloody marvellous. That it’s over this particularly ridiculous terror legislation is a special bonus.

This does leave me in a quandary though. As much as I may hate Blair’s policies on Iraq and law and order there is no other Prime Minister I would prefer. Brown just doesn’t do it for me, and the other parties aren’t capable (either through lack of support or lack of leadership - or both, depending on your point of view).

So where now? The evil Blair who took us to war against our will, who kisses Bush’s arse at the first opportunity and who insists on curbing our liberties with every knee jerk press conference from the steps of 10 Downing Street has got the bloody nose that he so deserved. Unfortunately it’s at the end of his reign and there’s no one to take over, and suddenly despite all his faults I don’t want him gone.

Bugger