BBC NEWS | Technology | Google tool watches as you work
The new Google Desktop Search looks very good and I’d love to try it out. The ability to add RSS feeds to the search, and have a dynamic sidebar would really suit how I work. Unfortunately, I don’t have administrator access at work, so I can’t actually install it. Dammit! I’ll just have to try it out at home.
The title says it all, it was a quiet weekend. You’d have thought that after the somewhat boring first week at work I’d have done something exciting to balance it out, but no.
What I did do was calculate that I do actually have enough money for driving lessons and a new mountain bike. I miss biking about, both roads and off-road and unfortunately my old one has rusted to death in Lucy’s garden. So, it’s time for a new one once I’ve done some shopping around. I know the specs I want (alu frame hardtail), now I just need to get the best price.
The other thing I managed to do is fix registration on Endless Games. It is now possible to register multiple accounts to the same email address. Furthermore, I’ve also removed the email validation routine, which it turns out didn’t work thanks to my new host. So registration is all up and running today.
I’ll be publishing and expanding stuff for Lethe throughout this week. I just need to create the right sort of Creative Commons license first.
DeathOwl’s DireRead – Language Timothy
The PDF of the research done on swearing in the media was great reading, but I especially like some of the quotes. Here a few of my favourites:
‘I think it is everyday life now, isn’t it, swearing. I think it is accepted now. I think it isjust part of the culture or whatever, you know.’
(Group 9, male with older children, C2D, South Wales)
‘Like I swear and I don’t mind swearing. But as you said, I’d never swear at my child, like I’ve heard parents swearing at their children and it’s just awful. They call him the f-ing this and I literally like, my God, I wouldn’t even call him a bugger or anything,
you know I wouldn’t do it.’
(Group 2, single female, aged 18-24, C2D, South Wales)
‘Well, I don’t like women swearing to be honest … women and girls swearing. That is a lot worse than if you hear blokes swearing.’
(Group 9, male with older children, C2D, South Wales)
Participants in all the groups were clear about the perceived severity of words. What was labelled ‘baby talk’ was thought least offensive – words such as ‘poo’. Puns, rhyming slang and double entendres formed another group. Much of the acceptance of these came from a belief that children would not understand their meaning.
‘I think the racial comments are far more offensive than sexual innuendo.’
(Group 10, female empty nesters, C2D, Aberdeen)
‘You don’t want to switch on the TV and expect to have a true reflection of everyday life. People know that that is not the case. If you want that to be a reflection of everyday life and hear a swear word every other minute, then go outside your door instead of sitting in your front room.’
(Depth 4, Black British family with young children, North London)
‘Everyone knows what Channel 5 is good for.’
(Group 12, gay men, single/partnered, C1C2, Manchester)
And now, for the top 20 swear words by severity:
Cunt
Motherfucker
Fuck
Wanker
Nigger
Bastard
Prick
Bollocks
Arsehole
Paki
Shag
Whore
Twat
Piss off
Spastic
Slag
Shit
Dickhead
Pissed off
Arse
Apparently one of the samples of swearing shown to the test subjects (would that make them the testes?) was from the Rugby World Cup where someone was described as a “stroppy little frog”. That amused me immensely.
Phew! I actually got all the way through all of that! (Still not enough work to do)
BBC NEWS Politics ‘Extraordinary’ Mo Mowlam is dead
One of the few politicians I actually had some respect for has passed on. A strong woman who wrote a living will, asking not to be resuscitated.
technorati tag: mo mowlam
Endless Games is back up again! About bloody time!
I’ve actually been given some work to do today, but expect updates on the site sometime today. And my target for this weekend is to get multiple accounts per email address to work.
The Onion Evangelical Scientists Refute Gravity With New ‘Intelligent Falling’ Theory
Probably the best send-off of Intelligent Design I’ve seen so far…
technorati tag: intelligent design
The
Forbidden Planet events page shows the following signings:
Saturday 22nd October 1 – 2pm, Terry Pratchett signing his new Discworld novel (starring Vimes and the Guards), THUD!
Saturday 12th November 11am – 12pm, Neil Gaiman signing his new novel, Anansi boys.
I’ll probably be there for the Neil Gaiman signing, though the Pratchett signing is tempting. Maybe that means I can get my copy of Good Omens signed by both of them! Result! Next step is to find out if these are ticketed events or whether it just involves queuing for three hours.
technorati tag: neil gaiman
Boing Boing: BBC punks Wikipedia in game marketing ploy?
In brief: Wikipedia abused, BBC blamed, blogdom incensed, all a misunderstanding.
technorati tag: wikipedia
http://www.empireonline.co.uk/site/news/NewsStory.asp?news_id=17035
Mirrormask is not even out in the cinemas yet (due for release in the US in September, no UK release date yet) and Dave McKean is already talking about his next movie project, the filmisation of Signal to Noise, written by Gaiman. It should be an interesting project considering the thematic. The graphic novel is ridiculously hard to get hold of though. No appearances on Ebay, and buying it second-hand on Amazon will cost you at least £26.
I hope that MirrorMask will make it to the UK, the visuals look very good. It won’t be a major release, but when it’s finally out, it’ll probably be showing at independent cinemas like the Curzon in London.
Update: MirrorMask is being shown at the Edinburgh Film Festival on August 27th. Tickets are still available on Ebay.
Then of course there’s Gaiman’s other movie project, Beowulf. Empire announces that in addition to Ray Winstone and Anthony Hopkins, Angelina Jolie will be hopping on-board this project. Robert Zemeckis’ stop motion-capture epic is due to hit cinemas in 2007, as opposed to the rival Beowulf film, Beowulf and Grendel which will hit cinemas (though perhaps only independent ones) in 2006.
Update: Angelina Jolie will be playing Grendel’s mother, so definetly not a stereotypical character for her. Grendel was a direct descendent of Caine (at least once the Christians were finished adding a thin veneer over the top of the Anglo-Saxon epic poem), filled with hate and bile for all things alive. Grendel’s mother was worse.
In addition, John Malkovich has joined the cast! Woot!
technorati tag:
neil gaiman
BBC NEWS Politics Is the UK ready for park life?
Excellent! Let’s create ghettos for the poorer demographics. Those who cannot afford to buy a house (and decide they want to do so in the South East) and yet somehow cannot quite relate to the renting idea. What’s wrong with renting anyway? Why, when you earn less than the national average, must you absolutely desperately buy a house? Owning your own home is a luxury, not a necessity!
And so, if this scheme gets government attention we can look forward to our very own UK trailer trash. Filled with people who have somehow fulfilled their national obligation to buy a piece of property that they can’t afford, but still live as if they’re in temporary homeless accomodation. Are we doomed to repeat all of the mistakes of our American cousins? Or just doomed to end up marrying them…
technorati tag:
politics
