maynardcase.co.uk linkfest

Just to say Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to anyone who I’ve not been in touch with - hope you have a fun time and get lots of presents!

Checklist:

• Nearly Christmas? Check.
• Flash game? Check.
• Simple to learn? Check.
• Quick to play? Check.
• Challenge your colleagues to beat your score? Check.
• Frighteningly addictive? Check.

Yup, it’s that time again: Speedy Santa

To beat: my personal best is 7.686…

Directions: Pour under warm running water

Caution: Avoid contact with eyes, if contact occurs rise thoroughly with water. If irritation persists, consult a doctor. Over 18’s only, keep out of reach of children. This is not a foodstuff and is not intended to be consumed.

DO NOT DRINK

[as seen on a promotional bottle of "Fosters" branded bubble bath]

Listening
Went to see the mighty Muse at Earls Court on Sunday night. Very good gig; I was surprised to enjoy the support (The Zutons) who did quite well despite the venue. (Note: thinking of going to see a big artist at Earls Court? Don’t: it’s a terrible venue; cold, big and unwelcoming.) Muse themselves were very good - very dramatic, a great set, great atmosphere and good songs. Minor criticism: not enough quiet stuff to balance out the noise of the rest of the tracks.

Demo
Am supposed to be giving a demo but the business user hasn’t turned up yet. Unfortunately the test env appears to be slightly broken and the app keeps crashing. <sigh>

Update: enough waving of hands works wonders.

Update v2: I am a complete fuckwit and it’s a wonder it was running at all… suffice to say that a memory related issue is now fixed and it’s going like a dream (or at least a relatively gentle nightmare).

Watching
Saw North by Northwest last night - definately keeping up with the latest releases! My gf is rather keen on Cary Grant films but hadn’t seen this one. Very good, despite the slightly old-fashioned acting; I guess I’m more used to the more realistic modern style, rather than the “handsome/suave at all costs” approach that Mr Grant appears to use through most of his films. This is a minor nit, though - there is some excellent drunken acting at the start and some quality lines throughout.

Lunch
Today was a roast beef sandwich from Birley’s in Canary Wharf. Very nice, although I would have personally gone for a bit more horseradish.

Stare at this image until you see a giraffe:

I tend to be a bit risk-averse, but once “invested” some money in a fund. I didn’t really realise what I was doing but once it plummetted in value by 50% I found out quite quickly…

There is quite an interesting article in Slate about the various psychological pitfalls that can affect investors. Definately worth a read if you’ve ever considered investing.

f(x) = x*y/2z walks into a bar and asks for a drink. The barman says, “I’m sorry, we don’t do functions in here.”

My apologies to the rest of you, and thanks to Mr C for that one.

Currently listening: A compilation that I’ve made up for a friend for Christmas. Spoiler warning: it contains Muse, Jet, Snow Patrol, Dogs Die in Hot Cars, Phoenix, N.E.R.D and others…

Cat update: He doesn’t like being brushed. It’s great, because you get to pin him to the ground, and he gets to try to scratch and bite you. Mostly I win but it’s good fun to fight and he does have some sharp claws on his side.

I took some photos of the little sod in the hope of capturing what an evil bugger he is. Here are the results:

Food: I am currently trying to assemble a roast dinner for the gf and her friend, E. Unfortunately I’ve already managed to screw up the parsnips by blanching them for too long, so let’s hope this is only a minor glitch and not a sign of disasters to come. (Update: Generally a success with quite nice roast potatoes but the parsnips were sadly too far gone for a proper rescue and were buried at sea.)

I have also been updating and proofing my recipe list and adding a new recipe stolen from Waitrose, Pork and Leek Stroganoff. A rather nice little dish well worth trying in these cold winter months.

Moonwalk: My gf is signing up for next year’s Moonwalk, a charity walk in aid of breast cancer. It’s virtually all women, walking 26 miles around London at night, while wearing bras (annoyingly, generally over other clothing). She’s collecting a cabal of her colleagues to so it should all be good fun. I have been recruited to cruise the night streets in her Saab until she’s finished at about 6am, so I can pick her up and whisk her home. No doubt foot massages will also be involved.

The real downside is that she’s wanting to go for lots of walks. Sometimes this is nice but there’s some times you just want to pollute the environment with some good old-fashioned fuel fumes… I am hoping that we can plan out some routes that end up at the best local or country pubs.

Another magnificent movie from Pixar that is a more serious affair than previous films (Finding Nemo), blending real ideas and issues with excellent animation.

After Mr Incredible is forced to retire from superhero work due to the litigious nature of those he was trying to help, he ends up stuck in a grindingly depressing job as a clerk in an insurance company. It’s no surprise that when he gets a mysterious request for help, he can’t wait to squeeze back into his outfit, despite having to lie to his wife and family.

The first act of the film may come as a bit of a surprise; it neatly encapsulates the difficulties of normal family life both at work and at home - no talking fish or magical toys here - and this is where young children’s attention may start to drift. However, for older viewers there’s a lot of underlying subtext and the characters really get fleshed-out - this isn’t a kid’s cartoon, despite appearances (and marketing). The rest of the film is spent in action mode, with very clear James Bond/Spy Kids influences, but there’s still time for the underlying conflicts to be resolved and the family to bond together.

Overall, the film is great fun but with some real depth which has eluded most superhero films before it. I thoroughly recommend it to everyone.

[For more ratings and reviews see the reviews page]

Possibly only of interest to webheads or curious amateur mathematicians, but Pagerank Explained Correctly with Examples is a nice guide to how the algorithm underlying Google’s approach to ranking web pages.

A gallery of pictures that I took at the wedding in November is now available - click here to view them. You can see larger versions of each photo by clicking on the thumbnail versions.

He has an annoying habit of trying to drink from the tap in the bathroom sink. Throwing him down the stairs doesn’t seem to help, so I poured a little mouthwash (Listerine Coolmint, for those who care) on the tap and some went on his tongue. He moved quite quickly! It should be interesting to see if he learns from this experience. My bet: he won’t…

Team Christmas seasonal festivities meal out tonight. I foolishly decided to organise this. It’s a bit early but it’s easier to book now, and there’s another two company-organised parties on the following two Thursday evenings! Truly a season for my liver to regret. Still, this evening should feature lots of lovely Belgian beer which is always good for getting horribly drunk a laugh.

Have been playing around with Photoshop in an attempt to set up an “action” (ie. a macro) to automatically frame a picture. I’m doing quite well, mostly with help from this guy’s advice (pdf). The only thing I’m stuck with is ensuring that the signature underneath the picture is positioned correctly. Any photoshop gurus want to tell me how I could create a text frame in the right place (ie a strip along the bottom of the picture), working on the principle that pictures can be different sizes and aspect ratios?

Speaking of photos: if you take mediocre photos like myself and are worried about the size of your ego, just submit some to photo.net where they have a rating system. When you request a critique it puts your photo in a forum where guests and members rate your shot on a scale from one to seven. Due to human nature and statistics you tend to get ratings beween three and six, so anything averaging above a five is a success for me. Submitting something that I consider interesting and quite good is usually a signal for a spree of ratings in the three-level. Certainly any delusions of grandeur are swiftly beaten down with a big stick.

The frustrating element is that I’m quite certain that the ratings are relatively fair - the top-rated photos view (warning, sometimes contains nudity) is full of amazing photos that just blow me away and fill me with envy. My current goal: to legitimately get a photo onto the top-rated page.