Black Dog Blog

Archive for the ‘computers’ Category

• "Ghostbusters survival horror" – tell me that's not the greatest theme for a video game! Ghost Hunter on PS2 is fun, but tricky, so far. #
• "The dog is the Arduino to the cat's iPod Shuffle." — Richard Feynman or someone #

With help and prompting from Anke, I've made our IRC channels private so we don't get any more botlike people (or personlike bots) coming in, saying "/me *" and then disappearing.

They didn't really bother me, but hey, if I can spend minimal effort removing a negligible annoyance, why not?

For those who don't know, the Profusion channel is on irc.starchat.net, channel #proelium (for legacy reasons). I also maintain #profusion on the same server. Drop in. It's not members only.

• #vss When she suggested driving with the top down I knew it was time to end it. Pity, she's hot, but I can't breathe vacuum. #
• #vss When she flicked on the sluggish light, she saw spindly legs disappear into the corners. They seemed to whisper "BecbecbecbecBECCA!" #

• #vss They're coming. I can hear. My leg won't stop jiggling, ha ha! They're outside. Or inside? My welcoming committee's loaded and cocked. #
• #vss Dear Sally, wish you were here. It is sunny. I saw a girl who looked like you but her blood was the wrong red. See you very soon. XXXXX #
• I love my job, but sometimes it makes me so, so angry. http://bit.ly/boidQf #tftd Platitude of the Day saves my sanity: http://bit.ly/9n9NLP #
• Just found myself thinking "What's the English for Luftkissenfahr… hovercraft!" Yes, I am a native English speaker. #
• RT @thoroughlygood: Rule of thumb: unless they're talent BBC people get very twitchy when there are cameras around. // YES THIS KEEP IT AWAY #

Main impressions of Alice in Wonderland (2010). Not massively spoilerish but I'll put them behind a cut:

Read the rest of this entry »

Hi Southern USA, would you mind not cheesing me off today? Oh never mind, forget it:

US school cancels prom 'over lesbian date'

Fine. OK, China, you're still on probation. Don't let me down now… oh hell, why do I bother ungrounding you lot.

Eleven rare Siberian tigers die at Chinese zoo

Australia, Australia, I hardly dare even ask. Well wait a second, what do we have here?

Atheists meet in Melbourne to celebrate lack of faith

Sounds like lots of fun. I almost wish I could attend.

Female porn director to fight Parliament seat in Kent

It doesn't say if the films she directs make an attempt at being 'healthy', or are the usual creepy exploitative crap. Either way, well, if she wants to run, best of luck to her in evading the Daily Wail and not sabotaging the whole gig for Lib Dem voters country-wide… that's what I care about most here.

Escapologist's ferret escapes

In pictures: PUPPIES! Crufts 2010

I can't remember if I've linked this older story before. Japan's patient pets

This is one of those stories where you almost don't need to read the text, because nothing could outdo the headline. (Any suggestions for a snappy term for this kind of story?)

Mummified hand disappears from Wiltshire pub again

For some time I was wondering why E-Type's song "Fall from the Sky" was in my head, then I remembered I'd seen this story:

Mystery of 75 starlings falling from the sky

Genius.

Nanometre 'fuses' for high-performance batteries

UK treenage slang. A nifty section shows how kids in different areas express this phrase in their own patois:

"John's girlfriend is really pretty. But she got mad with him the other day because he wanted to hang out with his friends rather than take her to the cinema. She got really angry and stormed off. It was very funny."

Giant croc skull

• RT @NameYourTale: In the Hall of Mountain Dew http://is.gd/a9uH7 #microfiction // 'Commissioned' (well, suggested) for @Ree ;-P #
• Brunette and acoustic guitarist busking in reception. Sweet. #
• I'm returning to the first job I ever did for the BBC: making wrong answers for multiple-choice quizzes. Rediscovering how much I enjoy it! #
• There's something magic about making plausible wrong options: fooling people, putting in hidden references for anyone who knows the subject. #
• I'm @Degsy, I like meat and I think cats are sweet. I live in a tower 'caus I like the power and I like an RDF triple with my tipple.*ducks* #

• Uploading and testing #TFTD mightn't be the BEST time for my brain to have a panic twitch at the sound of the speaker's voice. #fail #aspie #

• #vss Some beginning mages turn people into frogs. Some make them think they're frogs (this is funnier). Suitov… just liked to watch frogs. #
• #vss Suitov spent many months observing a captured lizard. The mannerisms he learned proved useful for disconcerting aunts and other adults. #
• #vss A spell in a poorly-researched book of his mother's needed eye of newt. Reasoning that a whole newt was better, Suitov let one observe. #

• Signing off an email full of puns about copper, with the phrase "Cu tomorrow". Wonders if it will be noticed. #
• I feel like this when I remember to take my medication. *happy!* http://bit.ly/9TJCKH #
• Usually I'm high-functioning – can talk, remember to smile and so on. But sometimes I need some time simply to be autistic… #autism #aspie #

• Help. I can't stop listening to this. http://bit.ly/bcohIU [Still Alive remix] #
• Just realised it's someone's birthday on the 15th so I can't go and see Enter the Dragon. Rats. I WANT TO SEE PUNCHING. #
• Compromising. My usual verbal slang for "certificate" is "stiff", but I'm not writing "Thanks, I already have a stiff" over staff messenger. #

• It's a wossname. Metaphor. A tradition or an old charter or something. Or maybe it's a butterfly, dreaming of being a different butterfly. #

• Mother: "Are you implying my cat is in any way disloyal?" Herm: "s slash any slash every" #nerd #perljokes #nobodyunderstandsme #

• #vss He could deal with the maggots, but not the way her face kept changing location between her torso and limbs. "Can we just be friends?" #
• #vss Orbital Station Par-Tay was founded in recognition of a simple principle: in space, nobody can thump the wall complaining of the noise. #
• #vss She was convinced his cat was a chav. Its fur was Tabby by Burberry and it had installed blue LEDs and a subwoofer under its mat. #
• Chav cat by John Riordan: http://www.johnriordan.co.uk/img/pictures/chavcat.jpg #scally #chav #cat #kitten #scum #

• Tech prog: "…trying to frag them at 2 frames per second." Herm: "Lol. See what she did there? It's a pun on FPS." … #nobodyunderstandsme #

• http://twitpic.com/15orhi – My paintings came back from the framer! Here's the star piece, showing Basaltine (middle), Suitov (r) and Weft ( #
• http://twitpic.com/15os51 – Clouded leopard and peacock, a print I bought a while ago. (In the flesh, the frame matches the wing perfectly.) #
• http://twitpic.com/15oshb – And Sherlock Holmes, framed to match the other small piece (the leopard, http://www.twitpic.com/15os51 ). I got #
• http://twitpic.com/15oso6 – "Suitov, sir, WHAT IS THAT?" "Hmm. Fascinating…" #
• http://twitpic.com/15phgh – Piper offers his advice on how to tackle anti-social behaviour in your servants, including sleeping when their s #
• http://twitpic.com/15pjek – I can't even begin to explain this one. #
• http://twitpic.com/15pkpq – Piper's tail has been brushed. LET ME OUT LET ME OUT LET ME OUT oh wait I've forgotten what I wanted to do outsi #

• Sex education – state school vs faith school http://youtu.be/MagSrvL5peA #
• Shock collars banned in Wales. http://bit.ly/c8sVWO In your FACE, Cesar Millan! #dogs #
• RT: Great, sensible & balanced analysis from @collingsa http://www.wherediditallgoright.com/BLOG/2010/02/nooooooooooooooooo.html #

Turns out you can't create multiple accounts on a Drupal site using the same OpenID identity (including if you stay logged in to your OpenID provider while trying to create/log into another account).

This is a Good Thing for Pro 2.0. We'll be enforcing the "one account, many character sub-accounts" model. You won't need separate accounts¹, and they won't be allowed.

This isn't how it's done among the old Viners who liked to pretend to be different people, but we're more about openness (no secret admin accounts, for example) and ownership of our own work – which is why our copyright rules are as they are. I try to keep those values in mind when making decisions.

¹ This software limitation does mean that I can't easily create a separate superuser account, as would be recommended practice, but I'm used to using messageboard software with the same limitation…